A/N: OK, I didn't get as many reviews as I would have liked for the last chapter (what an understatement), but I'm going to carry on anyway because I like this story. Please review, because I like reviews, and if you want to give me constructive criticism, just do it, for Christ's sake, because that's the point of the review.

*****

WINTER EYES, WINTER HEART

Chapter 2

Harry and Snape regarded Lucius for a very long time, and the man did nothing to alleviate their fears as he smiled back with obvious anticipation. 'May I have a word, Severus?' he asked pleasantly.

'What do you want?' Snape growled, although Harry easily caught the terror in his voice.

'Unfinished business,' Lucius stated shortly. 'Might we go into your office?'

'No. I have a detention, and I'm not taking the risk of Potter upsetting a cauldron or something equally stupid.'

Harry was not offended, and somewhat relieved that Snape had remembered to call him 'Potter,' but was still extremely concerned, and shifted slightly until he was standing between the two men.

'Out of my way, Harry,' Lucius commanded, evidently straining to keep his voice light. 'I'm not going to eat him, you know.'

'That's not what I'm afraid of,' Harry said quietly, 'and you know it.'

'Oh, for God's sake!' Lucius exclaimed, his face surprised but his eyes worried and angry. 'Severus and I are old friends, Harry, but we can't just talk about anything in front of you. We need a little privacy.'

'If you're old friends,' Harry said, a false frown creasing his forehead, 'then why does he not look totally … anxious to talk to you?' This was true; Snape was looking less happy by the second.

Harry … get rid of him, make him go away.

Of course! 'I might also remind you, Lucius,' Harry began, 'that by threatening people, or even implying that you might consider thinking about threatening people, you're well on your way to being thrown out of the castle. And I am quite able to do it …'

'Frankly, Harry, I no longer care,' Lucius said firmly, as if he were speaking to a ten-year-old. 'I will speak with Severus, as I mean him no harm, and I haven't done anything yet that could justly provoke my expulsion from Hogwarts. We can talk in here, Severus.' He walked slowly to Snape's office, his fingers trailing along the wall in a way that Harry could only interpret as … seductive … and then turned and stood in the doorway, framed by the glow of the candles inside. Slytherin Angel, Harry thought. Then Lucius turned and went into the office, and the illusion was gone.

Harry moved closer to Snape, holding a finger to his lips. 'I could fetch Dumbledore,' he said in a low voice.

Snape shook his head, and jerked his head at the door to his office. 'He'll come back; he'll never leave me alone. I have to face him, someday. We're fighting against him, I can't afford to be afraid of him.' He turned, and took a few deep breaths.

Harry watched, anguished that he could not help Snape with this, that Lucius' danger went deeper than a simple Avada Kedavra.

Slytherin serpent versus cowering meerkat, round one.

Resigned, he turned his attention back to the questions Snape had set him, but suddenly his attention was distracted again when he heard a muffled thump from inside the office. A muffled thump that could quite easily be mistaken for a body hitting a piece of furniture.

Ah. Slight complications.

Harry sat for a few seconds, ears pricked, waiting to see if there would be any more. He was not kept waiting long. There was another thump, louder this time, a shout and a cry of agony.

Shit.

A shoved back stool, a quick flash of feet, and Harry was standing outside the office door, his heart thumping. He could hear a hissing voice, blending eerily with the hiss from a cauldron on the stove. Potions is a Slytherin subject, after all.

'Severus … too far … our Master … the Game, Severus …'

Harry couldn't hear the whole of the conversation, but the parts he could make out did not bode well. But his suspicions were confirmed. This was something to do with the Game.

There were more cries, some angry and some terribly afraid and painful. Harry shuddered when there was an unmistakeable cracking of bone, and his hand moved involuntarily towards the door handle. But he jerked it away again as he felt the heat of magic in the lock – evidently Lucius had already considered that Harry might interfere. And he wanted to beat Severus up good and proper.

After about ten minutes of flinching at every noise, Harry was rewarded with the sound of the door being unlocked. He jumped aside just as the Serpent strode from the office, his white shirt and his hands smeared with blood. As Harry had expected, he did not look hurt at all.

'He's all yours, Potter,' Lucius snarled as he passed him. 'I'm going to see Draco, then I'm leaving. So don't bother kicking me out.'

Harry forced his eyes to stay on this unpleasant sight until he was totally gone, and then turned and almost ran into Snape's office. He had to clap his hands over his mouth to keep from gagging.

Shit, shit, shit!

The teacher was prostrated on the floor, lying quite still. Harry bent down and checked his pulse, which mercifully was still there, before turning Snape over onto his back and ticking off the injuries with the noises he had heard.

Snape's wrist was broken, which could possibly be seen as being a good thing, considering what Harry had been dreading. His robes were badly torn, and he had a very long cut stretching from his shoulder down to his waist - obviously, Lucius had a policy of carrying a knife around with him. Various other abrasions and bruises completed the image of a broken man.

The bastard, no wonder Draco's going to kill him, he deserves it, he deserves the pain of the Mark, he deserves everything bad that's ever happened to him if he can do this to Snape.

Harry performed the few healing charms he knew, which, luckily, were enough to bring Snape back to consciousness. He stirred, and then opened his eyes and gazed sleepily at Harry. 'Is … he …'

'Gone?' finished Harry.

Snape made a slight sound, which Harry interpreted as a 'yes.'

'Yeah, he's gone. Do you want me to get Madam Pomfrey?'

'No … potions … third shelf … left … blue bottle … one measure … soon …'

Harry nodded quickly and darted across the room into Snape's stores. He easily found the potion the teacher had mentioned, and, in between marvelling at how good the man's memory was, even when he was injured, gave Snape a measure of the blue liquid.

Almost immediately Snape sat up, rubbing his head. 'That's better … only lasts an hour or so, though … then I'll go to Pomfrey.'

Harry shook his head in amazement. 'My God,' he murmured, and then added cautiously: 'Tell me what happened … please.'

Snape nodded slightly, as if he knew now that he had to tell someone about his and Lucius' relationship. 'I'm not sure if Draco has … filled you in about certain … hobbies … that Snapes and Malfoys have shared for more than a century …'

'The Game. Yes, he told me. He even played for a few months, last year, with Blaise Zabini.'

'Well, with Lucius and me, it went slightly wrong. Horribly wrong, in fact. I was the dominant one, quite easily, I did some terrible things to Lucius … but then something happened. You know the basic idea of the Game?'

Harry nodded.

'Well, one of its main principles was that the players were never to feel any sympathy or affection for the people they tormented. But suddenly I met one … one girl … and she was so perfect … she broke me. I couldn't play after that. Lucius was sympathetic at first, I think he was slightly in awe … but then he began to get … a little annoyed with me for it. Annoyance grew to hatred, and hatred grew to the lust for revenge.

'One day he cornered me … he told me that I was a failure, that everyone hated me. He knew I wanted to die, so he asked me to come with him to Voldemort, to be his sacrifice. I refused. Perhaps Lucius had planned it … I don't know …' Snape's eyes blazed as the memories of what had happened took over his emotions.

'Yes?'

'He forced a liquid down my throat. I didn't realise what it was until I felt my will draining out of me. You found out about this liquid in your first year, Harry. Unicorn blood.'

Harry's skin tingled, and his breath grew short. Unicorn blood? No wonder Snape hated Lucius. My God … 'A half life …'

'Yes.'

'How could he … I don't believe it … but you'll be free of him soon.'

'What?' It seemed that Snape could not manage anything more than single syllables after his uncharacteristic speech.

'Draco's going to kill his father. Not today, but at the final battle. You'll be free …' Harry stopped, because suddenly Snape's face had gone deathly pale, much paler than when he had first seen Lucius in the school.

'He can't … please … he can't do that …'

'What?' Harry asked, confused.

Snape suddenly leaned forward and grabbed the crouching wizard's robes. 'Please, Harry, don't let him kill Lucius. He doesn't have the right … not to kill his own father, Harry, he can't …'

'But I thought you hated Lucius, won't you be pleased once he's gone?'

Snape's face was anything but what Harry expected it to be … relief, happiness, sense of freedom … but instead written in those fine lines were worry and fear … a fear that seemed even greater than when Lucius had slammed open the doors of the Great Hall, a fear deeper and more soul-breaking than anything Harry had ever witnessed. The fear even frightened him.

Then he realised that Snape had not yet answered, and voiced his question again. 'Professor? Won't you be pleased?'

Snape's eyes searched around the dungeon, as if looking for some suspected spy who could hear anything … everything … and report to its master … Lucius, Snape still needs you, he can't bear to have you killed …

Then he appeared to decide that there was no one, that the dungeons really were his domain, the place where he was safe. 'No, I won't. I'd really … prefer … if he didn't … die. Please, talk to Draco, Harry. He can't do that.'

Harry studied his teacher cautiously. Snape seemed to be panicking at the thought of losing the man who had just assaulted him, who had broken his wrist and slit his chest open, I'm a Death Eater, Lucius … a laugh … Bullshit, Severus, you're not and you never really were. I know it, you know it, all the Death Eaters know it.

At that moment, Harry suddenly wanted more than anything to comfort Snape, to release him from his fears and liberate him from the Serpent's domination … he wanted it more than he wanted to hold Draco, to kiss Draco, no, he wanted to help his teacher, the teacher who had once hated him …

And yet, to stop Draco killing his father would be to let the most notorious Death Eater walk free, for the sake of a few ancient faded emotions, the dark emotions, fear, desire, pain, hate … and love.

Harry knew about love. He knew what it would be to him if Draco was gone – there would be no way he could carry on living, not without the person he loved the most in the whole world … funny, Draco used to hate me too … Perhaps Snape's and Lucius' relationship was slightly different to Harry and Draco's, but it was quite clear that Snape still loved Lucius, if only as a deep bond forged by years of Snapes and Malfoys being together, a love hate relationship, governed by assault and domination and shifts of power, and playing with others. It was clear that Snape needed Lucius.

Slowly Harry nodded. 'Fine, I'll talk to him. I can't guarantee that he'll listen … hell, I don't even understand why you're doing this, why I'm doing this, but I will talk to him.'

'Thank you,' Snape whispered. His eyes were all-consuming in his pale face, eating away at the flesh and consciousness that was his body, presenting a haunted being that lived off the love and hatred bestowed upon him by another person, unable to survive without emotions to feed on, a parasite, a sad and lonely parasite of a creature whose sustenance was twisted and cruel.

God, what a life … poor Severus, his whole life has been … bullshit.

Then Harry turned and left the dungeon, allowing himself to shudder at this horror only when he had rounded the corner. As the shivers in his body subsided, he felt a terrible yearning for the safety of the Gryffindor common room, where he knew he had friends and where he knew he could find salvation, a desire to run away from this sickening spectacle that was the bruised and injured Snape, a rising nausea …

He began to sprint, instinctively heading for the common room, his feet pounding … or was that his heart? The beats faded … going … going … gone, and Harry sank down onto the floor, weaker than a lamb and unable to move as he succumbed to total and utter exhaustion.

*****

Draco felt the cold sweat on Harry that night, and raised his eyebrows curiously at this taste of wintry salt on his lover's neck. 'Are you all right?'

Harry rose from his side of the bed in the small room they had found in the depths of the castle, and walked to the end of it, pulling on a dressing gown. 'Draco, I have to talk to you.'

'That doesn't sound good … the words of the beginning of the end of any relationship, Harry, we need to talk.' Draco's tone was jokey, but Harry could sense his unease. He really did love Harry … he didn't want to lose him, not now.

'No, it's not about us, Draco, it's about … about your father.'

'My father?' Suddenly Draco's eyes were narrow, his tone cold and unforgiving as it always was now when he spoke of Lucius.

'Did he see you this evening?'

'Yes … I made sure it was the last time, I said my farewells and everything. He didn't look too happy … he almost had me convinced that it was his worst nightmare to die by his son's hand.'

'Perhaps it is, Draco,' Harry replied gently.

Draco considered this for a moment. 'Do you suppose he loves me, Harry?'

Harry did not answer this. 'Snape loves him,' he said matter-of-factly.

'What? You're joking! Snape, and my father? What a …' Draco's eyes widened in horror. 'The Game. He never told me what happened, though.'

'Well, it seems that your father despises Snape. And I'm sure Snape hates Lucius … on the surface. Lucius assaulted Snape in his office today. While I was doing detention.'

'He … he … my god. He didn't rape him, did he?'

'I don't think so … but he broke his wrist and gave him a massive gash all the way down here.' Harry gestured to his body. 'Anyway, I talked to him afterwards, and I was trying to reassure him, you know? I told him that you were going to kill Lucius.'

'That's good news for him, I expect.'

'No, no, that's the point, Draco. He went mad, he kept saying "he can't, he can't" and he was really pale and everything. I really think he doesn't want you to kill him. And he asked me to ask you not to … he definitely loves him, Draco, if only in a twisted, affection-starved way. I think you might well kill him … Lucius gave him unicorn blood in their seventh year. He doesn't have much of a will to live, as it is your father may have been Snape's worst enemy, but he's his closest companion, too. The bond between Malfoys and Snapes goes back over a century – you know that. Please don't kill him, Draco. Not yet.'

Draco almost involuntarily glanced downwards, eyes seeming to seek out the dungeons, to claim testimony from Snape, to confirm that this was true. 'Harry – this is between my father and me. Snape has nothing to do with it, he probably doesn't even understand half of it -'

'Believe me, Draco, he knows your father a lot better than you do!' Harry snapped.

'How do you know that? He hasn't seen my father since they were at school together, I know that much.'

'But Snape knew him when he was growing up. He knows the sort of man Lucius grew into.'

'If they were such good friends at school, why does my father hate Snape now?'

Harry related to Draco what Snape had told him, his voice wavering dangerously when he reached the part about the unicorn blood. He could not suppress another shudder at this point, but he was almost glad of it – it added dramatic and emotional effect to his whole narrative.

Draco listened reluctantly, only really accepting what was being said because it was coming from his lover. At the end he frowned. 'Did Snape tell you who that woman was? The one who made him fall?'

Harry thought back to the conversation of earlier that evening … no, looking at the clock, it was yesterday evening … had Snape told him? 'No, he just said she was perfect. I didn't think to ask.'

The blonde boy's eyes flickered, and Harry was certain for a moment that Draco knew something he didn't. Or at least he suspected something. Did he know who the woman was? 'Draco? You don't have any idea, do you?'

'No, of course not,' Draco replied quickly, but Harry knew he was lying, he could see it in the young man's grey wintry eyes, the eyes that betrayed how like his father he was, deep down, inside, he had the same ruthless power, the power to lie to get what he wanted, the power to equivocate and tell half-truths. Draco suspected, but Draco wouldn't tell him.

'Fine. When you want to tell me, Draco, I'll be waiting. In the meantime, I forbid you to kill Lucius. Is that understood?' Harry's voice had sunk to the authoritative tone he usually used during Order meetings. It saddened him that he had been forced to use this authority over his lover, but he knew enough of the Game to know that Draco's blood, his very essence, were still tied to it, and he could still play.

Draco's face was one of fury as he searched desperately for an opening to counter the order. But he knew that Harry had the power to do what he did now, and the power to go to Dumbledore and accuse him of being a traitor. Yes, the two loved each other, but there was a war being fought, and Harry was at the head of it. He would do his job.

Eventually Draco nodded. 'Understood. I'm going back to my dormitory. See you in the morning.' He dragged on his pyjamas, making sure that Harry did not glimpse any flesh below his waist, and then slipped on his silk night robe over it and strode from the room.

Harry flung himself back onto the bed and pummelled the pillows in frustration. He had hoped at least that Draco would have seen sense and told Harry his suspicions about who this mystery lady had been. Did she still exist, was she alive? Perhaps it was Draco's own mother, and Draco did not want to compromise her reputation. But perhaps not.

Eventually he drifted off to sleep, not caring that he would have to return to the dormitory tomorrow in full view of his schoolmates, with their questions about where he had been the previous night, ooh, the Boy who Lived has a girlfriend, what a lucky girl she must be … How little they knew. The Boy who Lived is GAY? He can't be, he's a hero …

Bullshit.

*****

A/N: Please tell me what you think of this chapter … it's all in the master plan, so I can't really change anything, but I would REALLY appreciate a review or two, coz I love them!