It was like a conspiracy. All through the feast, and for nearly an hour after it, a series of people who were not Lucius commandeered Severus's attention – some with more questions about their mediocre offspring, others with what he found to be almost offensively friendly small talk. He had no desire to hear about Bertram Bartleby-Crouch's exhaustive tour of the magic-imbued caves of the Peloponnese, nor to explain to Harold Abbott exactly what was on the third-year Potions syllabus. On another occasion he might have been interested in the new law on Auror selection the Bones sisters were attempting to steer through the Wizengamot – but all Severus could notice was that Lucius remained on the other side of the room, prowling around with a glass of Firewhisky, clearly impatient for him to be free. Severus lost sight of him, managed to produce a few minutes' focused, passable conversation with the Boneses, then remembered he had to go and check on the Slytherins, and excused himself, swearing under his breath all the way down the stairs.
Unsurprisingly the Slytherin common room was riotous with students, sweets, and various small animals and charmed objects which formed a sea of continuous movement around his ankles. He waded through, grabbed his prefects by their collars and delivered a series of icy warnings about early morning detentions which he knew perfectly well he had no intention of following through on. The common room cleared quickly, the students disappeared to their dormitories to pack their trunks, the prefects fervently swore that they would keep things under control, and he was able to leave a scene of relative calm – but the whole expedition had lost him nearly half an hour, and he had no doubt that when he did another check later on he would be greeted by much the same chaos.
And when he finally made it back into the staff room he was accosted by Felicity Merrythought, who had drunk enough wine to hail him as 'Severus, darling!' Severus ignored the grins from his colleagues – none of whom, he knew, would ever dare address him this way – and stood gravely while Felicity gave him an account of her mother's funeral. 'The Thestrals formed a guard of honour for the coffin,' she said, 'and after she was buried they stood vigil over her grave for a month. Tomorrow I will go into the Forest to visit them and express my gratitude, but' –
He was only half-listening, was ever more aware of Lucius's grey eyes, which, when he briefly met his gaze across the room, burned intently for a moment. His breath faltered, and had to catch himself and refocus on Felicity's face.
'Severus, are you well?' she said with concern.
'Quite well,' he muttered. 'You were saying?' He tried to listen to her. But he felt numb with it, the desire was humming in his ears like the approach of a thunderstorm, and it was all he could do not to lapse into a state of blank, blissful wantonness. He had not felt so intoxicated, so destabilised, for a very long time. He let Felicity finish her narrative, responded briefly, then made a slight bow, and escaped.
At last, at last, he made it across the room to Lucius without being intercepted. But, curse it, Lucius was no longer alone. Somewhere in the minute or so it had taken Severus to get away from Felicity Merrythought, Lupin had appeared from nowhere, and was talking to Lucius again. And when Severus got to them, it was immediately clear that both men were enjoying themselves somewhat more than he had been.
'Severus, finally you've found us again,' Lucius said warmly as he joined them. 'Everyone seems to want to talk to you tonight.'
'Apparently so,' Severus said, trying to wrestle his desire back into a manageable form. 'Quite baffling.'
'Not really. Everyone knows how fearsomely clever you are. And how rarely you are out in society. They want to take advantage.'
'Or just to make you feel really uncomfortable,' Lupin said, taking a sip of Firewhisky.
Lucius laughed, then raised a hand and squeezed Severus's shoulder. 'Some of us,' he said to Lupin, 'think Severus should be out in the world achieving miraculous things, not stuck in a school teaching children how to slice beetles' legs.'
'Some of us,' Severus said, stepping calmly away from Lucius's hand and trying to conceal the shiver it had sent down his back, 'think that my career is my own business and no one else's.'
'I don't think Severus has been on the Firewhisky as much as we have,' Lupin said to Lucius.
'Indeed,' Severus said. Bolts of weakness were still going down his back and even his legs, from Lucius's touch. Christ, of all the reckless, ostentatious things to do.
'As I understand it,' Lucius said, 'Severus has always kept stubbornly, resolutely sober when he's at Hogwarts.'
'He does work very hard,' Lupin said. 'How's the chess going, Severus?'
Severus blinked. 'Oh. Not well.'
'Oh, you're playing chess again?' Lucius said.
'A little. I remain very mediocre.'
Lucius laughed, and looked at him. 'I have trouble believing you could be mediocre at anything.' He held the gaze for long enough that when Severus saw his eyes gleam, and his mouth crease into a smirk, he felt his legs weakening again, and he had to resist the urge to subside forward into Lucius's arms.
'Of course he's not mediocre, he's just trying to shut down our questions,' Lupin said, smiling, having apparently noticed nothing. 'So will you go and play with your chess partner in London over Christmas? Or is he no longer there?'
'The latter.'
He could feel Lucius listening hard, those grey eyes watching him intently: absorbing this new information, saving up questions to ask him later. And Lupin – well, so this was what he was like when drunk. Disinhibited and overconfident, treading all over things he should have known were private. How he managed to keep his condition a secret was a wonder.
'A pity,' Lucius said. 'I didn't realise you'd had a regular chess partner.'
'It was a long time ago.'
'I see. So have you any other plans for the holidays?'
'Working, mostly.'
'Really?' Lucius said. 'I thought all teachers spent their holidays lounging around, recovering from the term.'
Severus smiled faintly. 'Only people who've never taught think that.'
'Ah,' Lucius said, also with a smile playing around his lips. 'My apologies.' He raised a hand and swept a strand of pale blond hair back over his shoulder, and Severus had to lower his eyes immediately to stop himself gazing at the beauty of the man. God, this was exhausting.
'It's true,' Lupin said. 'I've got so much to do, I'd been planning a nice long rest, but I just can't see when it'll happen.'
'How frustrating for you,' Lucius said. Then he turned back to Severus. 'So – you'll spend your entire holiday here, working?'
He understood immediately. 'Well – I may go to London for a few days. Make sure my flat hasn't been burned down. Enjoy some milder weather. You?'
'Well, as it happens, I've been invited to a rather glamorous-sounding party in Rome for New Year's Eve,' Lucius said.
Severus inclined his head. 'That sounds – up your street.'
'I'm not sure I'll go,' Lucius said, tilting his head sideways, the heavy line of his hair moving against his grey silk. 'It depends a little on family considerations. But it's pleasant to receive these kinds of invitations and not feel entirely out of society.'
'Entirely out of society is pretty much how I'd describe myself,' Lupin said. 'I never get invited to anything.'
Lucius looked at Lupin thoughtfully. 'I'm rather curious to know where you've been for the last decade. Have you been away on brilliant and exciting explorations? Or working the whole time just down the corridor in some corner of the Ministry?'
'No, no, I've been pretty absent,' Lupin said. 'Mostly abroad, but – well, anyway, I was living in Yorkshire when Dumbledore came to offer me the Defence post.'
'How intriguing,' Lucius said. 'You may not be an experienced teacher, but you at least bring a little mystery.'
Lupin smiled. 'This is a Slytherin speciality, isn't it, the grudging compliment.'
'Of course,' Lucius said. 'Though in this matter I bow to Severus, who naturally is the real master.'
Severus made no answer to this. He felt completely wrong-footed by the whole situation: too surprised at the banter between the other two men, too addled by lust, too wary of what Lupin and he needed to make sure Lucius didn't find out. There seemed to be nothing he could safely say.
'Very true,' Lupin agreed. 'Earlier this term he told me that I clearly had a certain competence, those exact words.'
Lucius laughed. 'What had you done to deserve that?'
'Oh, I'd brewed some difficult potion. But it's Severus. Even if, I don't know, even if I'd beaten a dragon in single combat, and then tricked it into giving me its entire hoard of treasure, I'm sure it would be the same. Merlin knows what he puts on his students' reports. Not without some modicum of potential. Occasional moments of adequacy.'
Lucius laughed again, darted a sly look at Severus, and tipped back the rest of his glass of Firewhisky. 'I can well believe it. What's he like to work with?'
'Ha, well, it varies,' Lupin said. 'Some days he does a good job of hiding how inferior he thinks we all are. Other days, you know, not so much.'
Severus watched Lucius laugh, yet again. He was feeling increasingly unhappy – beginning, in fact, to wonder about the dignity of standing here watching his lover laugh at another man's jokes. If Lupin wouldn't go away and leave him and Lucius alone, perhaps he himself should leave them to it, and head back to the Slytherin common room to keep an eye on his students for the rest of the evening.
Then Dumbledore appeared, beaming, drink in hand. 'Severus, Remus, Lucius, how are you all, are you having a pleasant time?'
'If enjoyment correlates directly with consumption of fine wine,' Lupin said, 'then I suspect the answer is me, yes, and Severus, no.'
'And me, moderately,' Lucius added. 'We're just discussing all the ways in which Severus is incomparable.'
Dumbledore gave Severus a brief, penetrating glance – for a moment Severus had a vivid sense of the older wizard's surprise, and a hint of concern – but the next second he was smiling. 'We've always known that about Severus, of course, ever since he came to us as a boy. He is truly incomparably knowledgeable and hardworking. And for any student who really wants to learn, he is a gift.'
Severus snorted. 'Not to mention impatient, intolerant, and bad-tempered.'
'And also incapable of seeing that I would go on believing the best of you even if I were given incontrovertible proof of your wickedness,' Dumbledore said, still smiling. 'Anyway, it's Remus I came to steal away, if I may – Remus, will you come and meet a few of the governors? I want to show off the fact I've employed a competent Defence teacher for once.'
Lupin seemed to straighten up, as if he'd remembered he was meant to be a professional. 'Of course.' He turned and bowed briskly to Lucius. 'Good to meet you. Enjoy the rest of your evening.'
Lucius inclined his head. 'Likewise.'
Lupin hesitated for a second – long enough that Severus could see his face becoming flushed again – and then he turned and walked away with Dumbledore. Severus closed his eyes in relief. Finally, after nearly four long hours of waiting, he had Lucius to himself.
'Well,' Lucius said, summoning a new glass of Firewhisky from a nearby table, 'that was fun.'
Severus raised an eyebrow. 'Was it?'
Lucius turned, so the two of them could stand side by side with their backs to the wall, surveying the room. 'Lupin seems good company.'
'If you say so.'
'He clearly has a lot of time for you.'
'I suppose. But he's not exactly the kind of company I'm interested in tonight.'
'Indeed not.' Lucius turned his head to look at him, and Severus met his eyes, now only a few inches away. For a moment his lover's hair, his eyes, his whole body, seemed to shimmer as if through a heat-haze, and Severus's desire took a leap in his chest, so high it could have leapt right into the Astronomy Tower. He took a long, shaky breath and spoke in a low voice. 'If you don't stop that I'll do something highly regrettable.'
Lucius laughed and looked away, and the shimmer stopped. 'Well. As my note said. I'm enjoying how oblivious the old man is to the fact that' – he turned, saw Severus's mouth twitch in understanding, and continued very softly – 'the fact an old Death Eater is fucking his cleverest employee right under his nose.'
'Not yet, you aren't,' Severus said acidly. 'So far your charms have been more – equitably distributed.'
He hated himself for saying it – surely Lucius would be irritated by his jealousy – but Lucius only smiled. 'Poor Severus, having to wait so many hours. You need to learn how to endure these things. The Rome party will end much later, and we can't have you starting the New Year as grumpy as this.'
He couldn't help a small smile. 'I thought you said you might not go.'
'Of course I'm going,' Lucius said. 'And you're coming with me. And you still haven't answered my question.'
'Which?'
'Whether you'd rather I confiscated your wand for the night, or you take mine.'
'Ah,' Severus said, trying to ignore the jolt of excitement in his stomach. 'I haven't reached a conclusion yet.'
'Rubbish. You knew the answer as soon as you read the question. What time will you come to my room?'
'Perhaps midnight. Or a bit after. Whenever things go quiet enough.'
'All right.' Lucius deposited his empty glass on the table behind him. 'I'd better go and continue being generally pleasant to everyone. Don't forget the robes, will you.'
'It hardly seems necessary now I have somewhere to wear them.'
'True,' Lucius said, 'but I want to see you in them tonight.' He held Severus's eyes for one more second, then bowed slightly. 'Pleasure to see you, as always. Sleep well.'
Severus allowed himself the pleasure of watching Lucius walk off, his chin lifted, his grey silk flaring around his ankles. Then he inhaled deeply, took a consolatory piece of stollen from the nearest plate, and left the party.
