A couple of weeks after being discharged from St. Mungo's, Lucius tells me to finish what I am doing in the lab and fix myself up for a meeting. I don't ask— I'm sure it's his parents come to visit from their new home in France, or Narcissa over for lunch. I give my potion one last stir, then, content, I traipse up the stairs.
"What should I wear?" I ask, coming into the sitting room.
"Something classy," suggests Lucius, "What about that nice green sweater I gave you a few years ago? Or is that too small now?"
"No, it's still a little big. Want me to wear that then?"
"No, I'll just come up and help you. This is important, and it wouldn't do for you to look out of place."
We end up deciding upon black pants, a white button-down, a light green tie, and the light gray cardigan Lucius got me for my 15th birthday.
"Listen, Severus. I have invited some of my friends and colleagues here for a little get-together. They should start arriving soon enough, but I want you to be sociable. Get to know some of them!" he says, "I also want you to make sure they are comfortable. For instance, if they say they are thirsty, get them some tea. If they ask you to do something— anything— make sure you obey them. Be good."
"What if I get nervous and say something stupid, and they don't like me?" I ask.
"Think about your words before you say them, and if you feel nervous, take a sip of your tea and take a few deep breaths. In fact, just speak when you are spoken to, alright? We'll work on your accent a bit before they arrive, too. You're sounding way too much like you used to. I worked too hard on fixing that accent for you to start talking like that again."
I follow him down the stairs and into the sitting room to work on getting rid of my accent.

When he goes to let in his guests, I mess around with the piano, softly tapping the different keys and experimenting with the different noises. Someday, I want Lucius to teach me how to play the piano, even though I know I'll never be as good as he is. He has long aristocratic fingers that can play big notes, but my small, weak fingers will only ever be good for potions. When I hear footsteps, I step quickly away from the piano and move so that I'm partially hidden behind the bookshelf. Thankfully, they all file in without noticing me. Lucius gives me a discreet look, urging me to start mingling. Sighing, I put back the book I had picked up, and walk slowly to the group that has Rodolphus Lestrange in it. When I get a few paces away, Rodolphus notices me, and puts his hand on my back, drawing me in closer to the rest of the group, "How are you, Severus? Lucius told me you would be here!" he says too loudly, grabbing the attention of the other men.
"Hi, Rodolphus. I haven't seen you since you graduated!" I try my hardest not to mutter.
"Yes, you were so tiny then! Still a first year, weren't you?"
"Severus! How've you been, buddy?" exclaims Oliver Jugson, and he ruffles my hair, "I haven't seen you in a while!"
"Hi, Oliver! I've been okay. What about you?" I say with a small smile. A tall man in the group with dark hair chuckles, and I'm suddenly very aware of how high my voice still is compared to all these men.
"I've been dandy," Oliver grins at me as if I'm a chihuahua who's just learned a new trick, "Antonin, this is Severus Snape— he's Lucius' little project!"
"I've heard so much about you! You're very talented in potions. Is that true?" the man called Antonin sneers.
"I guess I'm okay," I murmur, looking at the floor, shuffling my feet and clearing my head from the anger I feel at Oliver for calling me "Lucius' little project."
"Don't be silly, Severus!" commands Lucius, swooping down on me from nowhere. He stands behind me and puts his hands on my shoulders, saying, "Severus is only 15 years old, and already the Vice-President of Potions Club!"
"Impressive, Lucius. You've done a good job on him," says a blond wizard in front of me, regarding me with interest. Something about the look in his eyes is unsettling, and I drop my gaze again.
"Severus, this is Corbin Yaxley. He works in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," prompts Lucius. Yaxley extends his hand, and I shake it lightly, "and this is Antonin Dolohov! He works in the Department of International Magical Cooperation!" Lucius says, motioning towards Dolohov. Dolohov extends his hand, and I shake it very quickly. Just as suddenly as he came, Lucius leaves me to meet the rest of the little group. Once I have met everybody with Rodolphus, he takes me around the room to introduce me to others. Lucius drops in at random times. I have a feeling he is keeping a close eye on me, making sure things are going as planned. Sometimes it's hard to hear everybody, but I try my best to turn towards whoever is speaking.

After a while, most of the guests leave, and Lucius, Rodolphus, Yaxley, Oliver, and Dolohov settle down with some tea and begin talking about their business.
Lucius beckons me to his side, hands me a lollipop, and whispers in my right ear, "You did a wonderful job. Why don't you go work on your potion for a little while? I'll come get you when I want you again, alright?"
"Okay! Thank you!" I smile and traipse off to finish my potion. As I work, I think about each of Lucius' friends. It was nice to see Rodolphus and Oliver again, I think. I didn't like the way Yaxley looked at me and always seemed to have his hand on my shoulder until Lucius showed up, and I didn't like the way Dolohov always seemed to be standing too close behind me. The other new guys seemed alright, I guess, but they all kind of scared me a bit— I mean, they're just older guys, so it's natural I'd be a little awestruck. While I stir my potion, I start to quietly sing, "Will ye go, lassie go," but stop abruptly. I don't want to remember any of the good times I had with my dad. If I remember any of the good times, then it might make me start to believe they'll come back, and I know that won't happen. And besides, I'm not the same as I was before, anyways.

I finish my potion off, clean up my workspace, and put my potion in little labeled vials. It is completely transparent, colorless, and textureless. All in all, it looks exactly like water, just as it should, and when I put a drop into a shot glass of vodka I found from the kitchen, it still sets the little testing feather I place in the glass on fire. Feeling pleased with myself, I begin to quietly walk back upstairs. I know Lucius said he would come for me when he wanted me again, but I figure that I have enough time to sneak back upstairs to my room, grab my homework, and make it back down to the basement before I'm missed. As I pass the living room, I hear Lucius speaking softly. I know I shouldn't, but curiosity gets the better of me, and I stop to listen.
"He's mine to do with as I please, Corbin. I'm just not sure…" Lucius says softly.
"He's so timid and eager to please. And you can really tell he respects you. I'm sure he'd do anything you told him to do!" I hear Yaxley's voice from somewhere near Lucius.
"Exactly! And like you said, Lucius, he's very submissive. He probably wouldn't even struggle! At least not if you told him not to. You could be as rough as you wanted, and he'd just take it!" Dolohov's voice is clear from the other side of the wall.
"Perhaps, but even so, he trusts me to keep him safe, and he doesn't trust easily," says Lucius. I wonder who they're talking about. Maybe Dobby? And what does Dolohov mean, "you could be as rough as you wanted?"
"Well if you're not going to take what's yours, why don't you share? Then you wouldn't have to teach him everything!" exclaims Dolohov.
"I'm not interested in letting somebody else take what's mine, but thank you. If I feel like it, I'll do it in my own time. I'd be alright with letting you and Corbin borrow him for a bit, but it would have to be right here with the rest of us, and I don't want either of you going too far. He belongs to me."
"Just remember, he won't be young and naïve forever. And anyways, you do so much for him, you should be able to do whatever you want whenever you want!" Yaxley says. Somebody shifts in their chair, and I take a few quiet steps backwards. I'm beginning to feel nauseous. I don't think I should be hearing this conversation.
"See, what you don't understand is that Lucius cares about his little pet. He's spent a long time and good money grooming him, so he doesn't want him hurt or mistreated," says Rodolphus lazily.
"And he comes from a bad background. He trusts Lucius to treat him better than his parents. Why do you think he's here instead of at home?" says Oliver.
"Right, and if he stops trusting Lucius, then all that time and money will have gone to waste, and there's no place in Lucius' life for a mistrusting, disobedient pet," Rodolphus responds.
"Exactly. And besides, I don't need anything getting out that could potentially taint my reputation. We all need to be careful with how we present ourselves, and what we do in our private lives," Lucius drawls. I take a few more quiet steps backwards.
"You're probably right. Anyways, where is little Severus?" Yaxley's voice is still just audible.
"Oh, I sent him downstairs to work on his potion. He's incredibly talented, and I think he's far more powerful than he lets on, but I'll go fetch him if you want him, Corbin," Lucius's voice is muffled, and as Yaxley begins to respond, I turn and dash back downstairs as quietly as possible.

Just as I reach the lab, I hear Lucius call for me, and I take a deep breath. On one hand, I could try to hide down here, but then Lucius would find me and be angry with me. On the other hand, I could go to him and just get whatever is going to happen over with. Even though every fiber in my body is telling me to go hide, I reluctantly trudge back up the stairs, trying to slow my breathing. It wouldn't do to disobey him in front of all of his friends, and besides, if he got mad at me, where would I go? Back to Cokeworth? Like Rodolphus said, there's no place in Lucius' life for disobedience. No, it's better to forget what I heard. I didn't hear any conversation at all, in fact, I didn't even go upstairs. I was just daydreaming and got confused. I've been down here the whole time working on my potion.
"Severus! How is your potion going?"
"It's done," I mutter, looking at my feet.
"Lovely!" he says, tipping my chin up with his long, cold fingers, "Why don't you join us upstairs then? Corbin has some questions for you! And if you're good, I might have something special for you later tonight!"
My stomach churns, but I remind myself that I didn't hear anything. I take a deep breath and smile, "Okay!" I chirp.
He puts his hand on my back to guide me up the stairs. When we get back upstairs, Lucius sits me down on the couch next to Yaxley. I shoot a pleading look at Lucius, but he just smiles at me, walking away across the room.
"So, little Severus," Yaxley says, putting his hand around my shoulders. I try to lightly scoot away, but he holds me there, "what have you been up to?"
"Just working on a potion!" I say, looking at my knees. My voice comes out slightly higher than I want it to.
"Oh? What kind of potion? Come now, you can tell me," he croons, rubbing my shoulder with his big hand.
All of the muscles in my body are tense, "A poison," I mutter, squirming.
Yaxley laughs, "That's fun! What kind of poison is it? One to cause stomach aches, or something?"
I shrug my shoulders, glance at Lucius, and say, "Something like that," then, uncomfortable, I try to steer the conversation back to safe territory, "I've been studying, too."
"Oh? What have you been studying?" Yaxley begins stroking up and down my arm as Lucius stands up and starts walking to the back of the room where wine bottles and glasses are set up.
"Potions, defense, Lucius helps me with charms, too. I don't do that good in charms, but I really like potions."
"You mean you don't do that well in charms, Severus," says Lucius from the other side of the room. His back is turned, and he is pouring more wine for his friends.
"I don't do that well in charms," I mutter.
"Pardon?" calls Lucius.
"I don't do that well in charms," I say louder. I can feel my face reddening. Rodolphus and Oliver chuckle quietly, and Oliver whispers something to Dolohov from behind his hand. Lucius walks into the other room, and Yaxley moves his hand to my knee. I try to keep my breathing even as I pray for Lucius to come back.
"What do you like to do in your free time?" he says.
"Um, I like to hang out with my friends," I murmur, looking down and trying my hardest to fill my head with memories of my friends to distract me from what's going on.
"And? What do you like to do with your friends? Anything fun?"
"Sometimes we play chess, and we like to hang out by the… the water? The big thing of water on the grounds… the—" my voice cracks slightly as Yaxley slowly slides his hand up my leg and Dolohov stands up and starts walking over.
"The lake?" Yaxley purrs. Dolohov sits down on the couch next to me. I try to shift away from Yaxley, but am hemmed in by Dolohov. Yaxley moves his arm off my shoulder and onto the top of the couch. Where is Lucius?
"Mm hmm," I mumble.
"What else do you like to do with your friends?" Dolohov grins.
"Um, we— we like to practice our spells and stuff, too. And study in the library," my heart is beating at a ridiculous pace, and I can hear my voice tremble slightly as Dolohov wraps an arm around my shoulder. Yaxley's hand is now on my thigh.
I hear a quiet, muffled noise near my left ear and feel hot breath on the side of my face. I turn to face Dolohov. His face is too close to mine. He must have been speaking very quietly for me not to have heard him with my other ear.
"Did you say something?" I ask.
Dolohov looks confused, and says, "How old are you, again?"
"15," I mumble, and look away.
Yaxley takes his hand off my thigh, takes out the ponytail I had put in while working on my potion, and strokes my hair. I genuinely think I'm going to be sick. I try to force the images of my potions textbook into my brain to distract me from what is going on.
"You look a lot younger," Dolohov sneers.
I shrug, trying to pretend that none of this is happening. As Yaxley puts his hand back on my upper thigh, his fingers grope between my legs. A tiny whimper escapes my mouth, and Dolohov squeezes my shoulder. Lucius walks in and begins handing his friends glasses of wine. He holds out a glass to me as well.
"Oh, I-I-I-I don't—" I stammer.
"Yes you do," says Lucius, putting the glass into my pliant hands, "I only gave you a little bit so it won't interfere too much with the potion you've been taking," and he taps the left side of my head lightly before turning away. I wish Lucius would tell Yaxley and Dolohov to get their hands off me, but he doesn't. He just smiles at me and sits back down. As I cross my legs, he says, "You're doing so well, Severus. I'm very pleased with you," he murmurs, leaning back in his chair, crossing his legs, and regarding me with his cold, gray, aristocratic eyes, "You know, I have a gift for you. I was going to wait to give it to you, but since you're being so good, I'll let you have it tonight."
"Nice, Lucius! What did you get him?" asks Rodolphus.
"I bought it the other day when I was buying Narcissa those new emerald earrings," he says, pulling a ring out of his pocket. It's a silver snake with small emerald eyes, "Isn't it lovely? I just saw it and thought it would look nice on you, don't you think, Severus?"
"Yes, Lucius, thank you!" I smile and take a sip of wine, ignoring Yaxley's hand stroking down my spine. I feel him untuck the back of my shirt, and I can't control the shiver that runs through my body as he shoves his hand underneath my boxers. I can feel his calloused fingers begin groping at my bare skin, and it takes all my self-control not to shove him away.
Winking at me, Lucius puts the ring back into his pocket.
I take another small sip of wine and try not to make a face. I feel Dolohov's breath on the side of my face again, and turn to him.
"Pardon?" I ask, slightly frustrated. Dolohov's smile slips a bit, and Lucius exclaims, "Severus— watch your tone. Antonin, he can't hear much out of that ear. If you have something to say to him, you're going to need to speak loud enough for him to hear you, or just wait to talk to him tomorrow."
"I understand, I'll just wait till tomorrow," Dolohov purrs, "then I can bring him something nice, too. With your permission, of course."
"That's fine," Lucius sneers, and leans back again, "We'll talk about it later tonight."
I smile gratefully at Lucius as Dolohov gets up, pats me on the head like a dog, and walks back over to the other chair by the fire.

For the next few minutes, I listen to the conversation around me and pretend Yaxley isn't touching me where he's touching me, then Yaxley takes his hand out of my pants and wraps his arm around my shoulder again, pulling me to his side. Much more comfortable like this, I let myself relax the tiniest amount. I drink a few sips of wine, even though I hate the way it tastes.

After a little while, Yaxley stretches, and, as Rodolphus starts talking about what he and Bellatrix have been up to, he murmurs, "Get on the floor. I can hold your drink."
I glance at Lucius, remembering what he told me about doing whatever his friends said, and he nods almost imperceptibly at me. I give Yaxley my wine glass. I swallow the lump in my throat, slide off the couch and sit back on my knees, folding my hands in my lap, facing Yaxley.
He hands me back my wine, and whispers, "Drink. You don't want to look ungrateful, do you?"
I shake my head, and finish off the wine. I feel like I shouldn't be having wine while my head is still healing, but I don't want Lucius to be mad or to think I'm ungrateful. I wish I could just fade away.
He bends down and murmurs in my right ear, "Good boy, now hand that back to me and take off your cardigan, then you can turn around and come closer to me."
I obey him because I know Lucius is watching. With my cardigan off, I begin to shiver slightly, so I pull my knees back up to my chest and cover my legs with my cardigan. I try my hardest not to flinch as Yaxley's strong hands reach around my neck, take off my tie, shove my legs out of the way, and undo the buttons of my shirt. He brushes the sides of my bare neck with his fingers before he sits back up. I look imploringly up at Lucius, but he shakes his head at me and smiles. Yaxley pushes my hair out of the way, and starts rubbing my shoulders.
"Relax, you're so tense!" he laughs. I take a deep breath, fix my eyes on Lucius' shoes, and let my mind go blank.

I snap out of my dissociative state as I hear Lucius say my name. Looking around, I notice that it's dark outside the windows, and that I am very thirsty and tired. I must have been sitting here for a while with Yaxley.
Yaxley strokes my hair and says, "You've been a good boy. Go on back to Lucius now!"
Dolohov laughs nastily, and Lucius smiles at Yaxley. He lifts one long, pale hand and motions for me to come to him.
Gratefully, I grab my tie and cardigan from the floor, wrap my open shirt back around my bare torso, and spring up. As I stand, my head swims, and I stumble.
Yaxley catches me as my knees give out, and somebody laughs, "Did somebody have a little too much to drink?" he says, smiling nastily and gently pushing me back up. Head still swimming, I stumble over to Lucius. I am painfully aware of how disheveled I look, but Lucius doesn't seem to mind. I fall down onto the spot next to Lucius' left side. He hands me my water bottle and tells me to drink. I drink about half the water in my bottle, and Lucius pats me on the back. Finally feeling safe again, I breathe a sigh of relief. I remind myself that it's all worth it. Even though there might be moments where I don't like what's happening, I'm still better off than I would be at home. I feel dirty, but I remember my mum telling me years ago that I need to make sure to give back to Lucius, and I smile as he gently strokes my hair.

After Lucius' friends all depart late that night, Lucius carries me to my room and sits on my bed with me like he used to when I was a first-year. I wrap my arms around his neck, and nuzzle my head into his shoulder. I feel safe, secure, warm, and very tired. After a minute or so, Lucius sets me down on my bed, next to him.
"How did you like the little get together? Did you meet anybody you like? I'm very proud of you. You did so well!" he says, smiling at me and rubbing my back.
"It was cool, I guess. It was nice seeing Rodolphus and Oliver again, but Yaxley and Dolohov really scared me," I glance anxiously up at Lucius, trying to see his reaction.
"Yes, but even so, I'm glad you did as you were told and obeyed them. They are very powerful. They both work at the Ministry, remember? And both of them are rising quickly through the ranks. Also, remember the Yaxley family is one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pureblood families, like my family, and Narcissa's family, and the Rosiers. It's beneficial for both of us to make them both happy, but especially Corbin."
"Oh! Now I understand why you let them, well…" I can feel my face redden, "why you had me sit with them."
"See? I told you I'm looking out for you!" he laughs, tapping the tip of my nose, "They are very important contacts to have, and can provide a lot of help, should you ever need it. What about Rookwood and Watson? They're crude, but not bad with their wands when it comes down to it."
Thinking hard and trying to remember everything, I say, "They were okay, but I felt like Rookwood treated me like a baby! I know I'm only 15, but I just finished making a poison in the lab that could kill them all with one vial!"
He cocks an eyebrow at me.
"I mean— I mean, um…" I stammer, then, realizing I can't cover up what I said, I look down, resigned to my fate, and mutter, "I promise I didn't tell anybody."
"It's alright! You're not in trouble! What is this poison? And don't lie to me, Severus. I want to know! I happen to be very interested in your potions," he smiles.
"Um, well, it's called Moonseed Poison. I read about it in the restricted section..." I trail off, pulling at a strand of my hair.
Lucius tugs my hand away from my hair, and says, "Don't pull your hair, Severus, you'll go bald. How did you get into the restricted section?"
"I told Slughorn I wanted to know more about Polyjuice Potion, since we were gonna be practicing it in Potions Club, and he wrote me a note."
"Very nice, Severus! You're becoming quite the little manipulator!" he laughs. I chance a quick smile at him, and he smiles back, "So what does this Moonseed Poison do?"
"Well, it's colorless and odorless, and a couple drops should be enough to completely destroy the drinker's liver. Kind of like an alcohol overdose," I say carefully.
"Hmm, I see. And how much of this have you made?"
"Two cauldrons full. One normal, and one that I improved, but I won't need that much. I mean, I won't need any since it's just for research!"
"I'm sure," he sneers, "well, be careful, Severus. Coincidentally, might I have some of that poison? For, like you said, research? I know somebody who would be very interested in it."
"Yeah, of course! You can sell it, too! I'm sure it would make a lot of money, and you bought the ingredients, so you deserve it! The one I improved can go into other drinks without denaturing. The one I made a couple days ago won't do that. You can sell all of that one. It won't make as much as the improved version though."
"Deal! I'll sell a few vials, and we can split the profit. I suppose it wouldn't hurt you to have a bit of money to spend at The Three Broomsticks once in a while, would it?" Lucius smooths my hair back, "Oh! I almost forgot! Here is your present!" he says, pulling the snake ring out of his pocket. Up close, it looks even nicer than it did before!
"Wow, Lucius! It's so cool! Is this really for me?" I ask in awe.
"Of course!" he laughs, taking my hand and slipping it onto my right thumb, "It's a bit big on you, but no worries," he says, pulling out his wand and shrinking the ring to fit.
"Thank you so much!" I smile, then I mutter, "Are you sure I deserve this?"
"Why would you not deserve this?"
"I don't know."
"Severus, you're so talented and well-behaved, of course you deserve it! You're special and you do as you're told— that's why you get rewarded! I can't wait to show off your work to my friends and colleagues! I know somebody who will think it's just marvelous!"
"Really? It was pretty complicated, I guess, but I got it right in the end!"
"Of course you did! I would expect nothing less from my little Severus!" he laughs, and standing up, he says, "Goodnight, Severus. Tomorrow morning Narcissa is coming over to work on wedding plans. And we'll have lots of time to work on that accent and for you to work on your homework before she arrives. After she leaves, Antonin will be coming over. I expect you to look just as put-together as you did today, yes?" I feel my smile slip.
"Does he want to spend time with me?" I ask, not meeting his eyes.
He takes a second to respond, and then he says, "Yes, he wants to spend time with you. I'll be there the whole time, just like today, so don't be nervous. If you're good, after he leaves we can go to the store and get you a few new clothes to replace the ones we got rid of."
"Okay, thank you, Lucius. I promise I'll be good."
"Remember, you should feel honored that my friends like you so much. You get these opportunities because you're special— I wouldn't give you so much if you weren't. Sleep well, and remember to take a shower and comb your hair before you come down for breakfast tomorrow morning! And take your potion before you go to sleep. Goodnight!" And with that, he hands me a vial of my potion, turns out the light, and leaves my room.