Strange Weather
Lucius woke to the sound of rain. About time, he thought. So far it had been a warm autumn, quite unusual. A little rain would be familiar, comfortable, and maybe a little romantic. Lucius grinned, yawned, and slid out of bed in a quick feline motion. He took his time getting ready for what he was already sure would be a wonderful day, and it was nearly an hour before he bounced happily into the common room in search of company. Severus was sitting on the couch, as yet unaware of his boyfriend's entry.
"Hey lover." Lucius announced his presence cheerily, flopping bonelessly onto the cushion next to Severus. "What're you doing?"
Severus looked up with a smile. "Reading." He closed his book and dropped it, leaning over to give the blond a slow kiss. Lucius grinned awkwardly into the kiss. Yep, this was definitely going to be a good day.
Pulling back, Lucius smiled amiably. "Want to go for a walk?"
Severus raised an eyebrow, smirking not unpleasantly at his boyfriend. "In this pouring rain?" He asked. "Whatever for, when we have the whole common room to ourselves, with a nice warm fire, and a big comfy couch…" Severus trailed off, letting his fingers play over Lucius' arm lightly.
The blond shivered. "Please?" he pleaded. "It'd be fun." The look Severus was giving him clearly stated that he'd better explain how walking in the pouring rain could possibly be fun. "We'd get all wet, and we could run through puddles. It'd be really romantic."
Severus snorted. "I think you're mistaking romance novels for reality Luc. But if you really want, we can go for a short walk. Note short."
Lucius gave a happy little shout and jumped up, pulling Severus up as well. "Come on Severus! It'll be so much fun, I promise." Boyfriend in tow, Lucius made his way up to the main door. There seemed to be quite a lot of noise coming from the Great Hall, but Lucius wrote it off as an extended breakfast. They were almost to the door when they caught sight of Sydney.
"Hey Sydney!" Lucius waved at the tall Ravenclaw, who hadn't seemed previously aware of their presence. Now he smiled, walking over with his hands in his pockets.
"What are you two up to?" he asked, still grinning. "Trying to fit a Sunday morning shag into your routines?"
Lucius blushed, momentarily unable to answer. Thankfully, Severus was already speaking. "We're going out for a walk in the rain."
"Oh, you can't do that!" Sydney looked surprised. "Didn't you hear the announcement?"
"What announcement?" Lucius found his voice in time to ask.
"At breakfast it was announced that there's a Magic Storm. It's expected to last the week, and students are to remain inside at all times. Classes are being cancelled though, since most of the professors are going to Hogsmeade to help the villagers keep the storm from wreaking total havoc." Sydney grinned again. "So, no walks."
"Damn." Lucius scuffed the stones uneasily with his shoe. He was getting that same uneasy feeling again, and judging from the death grip Severus had on his fingers, he wasn't the only one.
"Yeah, but you don't have classes or homework. A week off! Everyone is in the Great Hall celebrating now. It'll be-" Sydney stiffened mid sentence. His face, previously jovial, turned sour. He almost looked pained. Muttering a quick farewell, the seventh year disappeared down the hall. Lucius watched him go, half relieved that he was gone, and half unsettled by his relief.
"I guess it's back to the common room," Severus remarked. "I've got some reading to do."
"Oh no you don't!" Lucius tugged his boyfriend's hand. "You can't waste your Sunday like that. Come on, I know some place else we can go."
Floo was a very useful invention at times, Lucius reflected. Rather than hiking up the many flights of stares, he and Severus stepped through a fire and into the neat little room in the abandoned tower. Lucius smiled at his boyfriend before flopping into a couch and lighting the fire. The missing wall revealed rain falling heavily downwards. Sort of romantic, mused Lucius.
"This is Annie's secret hide out," the blond explained as Severus sat down beside him. "No one else knows about it. Except Sydney of course."
"Nice place." Severus scooted closer, wrapping an arm around his boyfriend.
"What's a Magic Storm?" Lucius cursed his mouth for moving because Severus sat up slightly at his words, moving marginally away. Still, curiosity always got the best of him. "What is it?"
"It's…a storm…"
"Well, duh."
"Lucius, if you want to know, will you please shut up? It's hard enough to explain without you jumping in with snarky little comments." Lucius blushed. "It's a storm, but it only ever happens in places with a high concentration of magic. It's different from normal storms because it affects magical creatures, including wizards, differently than normal rain. All the diseases that wizards are usually immune too but muggles catch all the time are amplified, and magical medicine can't be used against them."
"Funny," Lucius sighed. "I've never seen one before."
"Well, you wouldn't. They're not common. Some wizards say they foretell upcoming hardships."
Lucius sighed again, nestling closer to his boyfriend. Whatever else it was, the Magic Storm was lovely to watch, up there all alone with Severus. Lucius smiled and pressed a kiss against the older boy's neck. He was tired of talking about serious things. Wrapping an arm around the front of Severus' waist, Lucius snuggled in against him. Severus chuckled.
"Are you quite comfortable?" Dark eyes flashed happily down at him and Lucius gave a slow smile in reply. "Well, I guess we should count our blessings. No class for a week!"
"I know," murmured the blond. "What are we going to do with all that free time?"
"I can think of a few things." Long fingers brushed through Lucius' hair.
"Oh? Like what?"
"Well, we could always curl up with a nice book…" Lucius made a sour face. "Or we could play exploding snap." A low whine issued from the blond. Severus chuckled. "Or we could stay in bed all day snogging…"
"Now you're talking!" Lucius rewarded him with a quick kiss. "See? You have beauty and brains."
Severus turned an alluring shade of pink. "You think I'm beautiful?"
Lucius blinked. Oh, this was adorable. For once, he wasn't the one fumbling through compliments with a burning face. He smiled sweetly up at his cherry faced boyfriend. "Of course I do. Especially when you blush." Severus blushed harder, and shifted in his seat. Lucius, feeling rather encouraged, decided to keep talking.
"I like your hair, the way it feels soft and easy to touch when I kiss you. I like your nose, even if it is a bit large, you'll grow into it. I like your eyes, because they're so dark they seem like holes, tunnels into your mind. They could give you away." Severus shivered against him, closing his eyes slowly. His mouth hung open slightly, and Lucius took the opportunity to run his index along the bottom lip. "I like your lips, soft and full and good for smirking. And kissing. Your mouth is the most expressive part of you. I like the way you smile, which you don't do often enough. Your smile is sort of lopsided, cute." Lucius smiled himself. "Of course I think you're lovely."
Severus grinned, still an endearing shade of red, and leaned down to kiss the flattering blond slowly. Lucius half moaned into the kiss, feeling Severus' talented tongue lick languishingly at the roof of his mouth. His mouth is definitely his most expressive part, the boy thought. Then he forgot to think as Severus' teeth caught the soft flesh of his lower lip just firmly enough to hurt.
Lean, strong hands found their way into Lucius' hair, holding his head at an angle as Severus' mapped it thoroughly with his tongue. Lucius whimpered, thrusting his tongue feebly back against its assailant. When Severus finally pulled back he did so slowly, letting the kiss linger between them. Lucius found that his words, so recently plentiful, had suddenly dried up, and chose to gaze at his boyfriend's mouth from beneath lowered lashes. He felt one hand disentangle itself from his hair and brush against his jaw.
"You're the only person to ever call me lovely." Those bruised lips smirked under Lucius' gaze. "I've been called greasy, slimy, ugly, big nosed, and gitty. As well as some more colorful things. But this is a first for lovely." Lucius sighed and closed his eyes completely, leaning in for another kiss.
When they broke apart again Severus seemed content to simply sit, arm still wrapped tightly around Lucius shoulders. Lucius snuggled closer, unconsciously humming to himself in contentment. He pressed his ear against Severus' chest, listening for the slow, steady pulse of life within. He focused on it; trying to will his heart to beat in time with it, make them closer than they already were…
Lucius wasn't aware that he had fallen asleep, but suddenly strong hands were shaking him awake.
"Lucius? Are you okay?" Severus dark eyes gazed at him in concern. Lucius nodded, bringing a hand up to rub his eyes and finding his cheeks wet. "What were you dreaming? You started screaming like someone was trying to kill you…" Severus gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed his boyfriend's arms. "Alright?"
"Yeah," Lucius nodded shakily. He tried in vain to remember his dream. There had been several tall figures, all dressed up in black, like living shadows. They'd had familiar faces, Sydney, Pettigrew, the Hufflepuff called Crouch, Anemone, some more Slytherins, and, worst of all…
"I dreamt about you," Lucius stammered, trying to remember anything else. But the dream, the distorted face of his perfect boyfriend, all faded away.
"Dreaming of me makes you start screaming and shaking like that?" Severus had a skeptical look.
"It wasn't just about you." Lucius shook his head. "I can't remember it. Let's just…forget it, okay?" He snuggled closer in Severus' arms. The older boy smelled comfortable, like vanilla and spices. He yawned, wrapping fingers in that inky dark hair.
Severus sighed, shifting against his boyfriend. Lucius seemed perfectly content to cling to him, no doubt already allowing his nightmare to slip away. It did not bode well. Severus was no firm believer in divination, but a Magic Storm coupled with a dream of that force did raise suspicions. And of course, there was always Sydney…
He sighed again, holding the smaller boy closer. Times, he felt, were changing. And whatever else happened, he would stand by Lucius, for better or worse.