"Can I help you?" Severus' voice sounded muffled as he tried his best to remain awake.
"What is Remus Lupin doing sitting at my breakfast table?" Lucius' voice trembled with barely controlled anger. Severus was confused for a moment as to why Lucius thought he knew the answer to this question, which called so loudly to his natural sarcasm, and why, indeed, Lupin was sitting at the table of his leading competitor. He was never in the best of moods in the early morning, and had to struggle to stop himself from saying "Eating breakfast, I should imagine." in his opulent drawl.
"Erm…what?" he said instead, pushing the palms of his hands against his eyes and struggling to sit up. Lucius pulled his hands away from his face, firmly but unusually softly, and pinned them down against the mattress.
"Remus Lupin. In my house. Eating my food. Why?" It suddenly struck Severus what day it was and he half-laughed, half-sighed in relief and understanding.
"Something funny?"
"I didn't invite him, if that's what you're driving at. Harry did. For his birthday party?"
"But his party isn't until tomorrow. Why's he here now?"
"Well, he lives quite a distance away. He didn't want to miss the party, and doesn't like wizard methods of travel, so Draco said he could come down early and stay for a few nights." He paused momentarily, wondering if Lucius would reprimand him for knowing even that small amount of information about his past lover. "Didn't you know?" Lucius swept elegantly off the bed and started to walk back and forth in an eight shape at the foot of the bed.
"No. Why would Draco talk to me when he has you to share his life with. Anyone would think you were his father!" Despite his crushing fatigue, Severus climbed, somewhat awkwardly, from the tangled mess of sheets and blankets and put his arms around Lucius' waist, kissing his neck, and effectively stopping him in his distracted pacing. Lucius touched the back of his hand absent-mindedly.
"I know he may seem dismissive sometimes, but he does love you." Lucius sighed and turned to face him, leaning their foreheads together.
"I know he does. I know." He kissed Severus' forehead and stepped from his embrace. "You'd better get dressed, as we seem to have an unwanted werewolf to entertain." Severus grinned at the bitterness and disapproval in his voice, knowing that, for once, it wasn't directed at him. He disappeared into the bathroom and turned the shower on, while Lucius dithered in their bedroom, unsure of who he distrusted more. Finally he decided he could trust Severus not to be stupid enough to defy him and went downstairs to keep an eye on Harry's lycanthropic guest.
22
Severus went to take the seat closest to the door, between Remus and Lucius, but Lucius took his hand and lead him to the seat on the other side of him, embarrassing Remus. Severus liked it when Lucius was possessive. It reassured him that at least he was still wanted. Harry and Remus talked eagerly of Harry's upcoming birthday, Draco joining in occasionally, and Lucius and Severus ate in companionable silence. Severus picked gingerly at his food, wary of Lucius' comment on his weight, despitethis morning's bad moodbeing directed at someone else.Severus tried to hide his smile as Lucius scowled at Remus and the others pretended not to notice. Severus could practically hear the unspoken threats and insults running through Lucius' mind.
Severus reclined in his chair and took the time to watch the people currently sitting around the table, Lucius' hand, entwined in his and resting on his leg, making him more content than he had been in a long time.
Lucius, usually an impeccable host, seemed unhappy with having to cope with his current company so early in the morning. He'd never liked Harry, convinced that the boy had somehow altered his son, and his constant vivaciousness was enough to make him mistrust him. However, he was willing to put up with him if it meant seeing Draco smile after his tumultuous childhood.
Remus looked reasonably comfortable, but he tugged at his ear occasionally and glanced uneasily at the softly seething blond beside him. He looked considerably worse for wear than he had fourteen years ago, when his and Severus' relationship (which had really just been a series of one night stands spanning seventeen years) had ended, two years after his intimacy with Lucius had begun.
Draco had changed a lot since he was a teenager. His arrogance and hot temper had dimmed somewhat, and he'd become a quietly confidant young man, although his deep-seated pride still remained.
Bloody Gryffindors. Severus started when he realised that he'd been inadvertently snooping around Lucius' thoughts.
He'll be gone by Sunday.
Let's lure him into the forest and leave him there until then. Severus smirked.
And how do you suggest we get him there?
…We'll make a tree out of chocolate and let his own gluttony be the undoing of him.
You're wicked.
You have no idea. Severus laughed and tried to cover it with a cough, receiving strange glances from Harry and Remus. Draco lowered his head into his hands, his face flushed pink. Severus hadn't thought it possible to send someone a wink by means of a thought.
333
I avoid Lupin throughout Friday, but manage to bump into him on Saturday in one of the many corridors in the mansion, despite the size of the house. An uneasy feeling that maybe he was looking for me rises in my stomach. I recover quickly and stand patiently as he fumbles about with parchment and quills.
"Sorry, Severus."
"Quite alright, Lupin." He flinches at my use of his surname after so many years. We stand awkwardly, neither of us knowing what to say but thinking we should say something. It's Remus who finally breaks the silence with a pathetic excuse for a conversation starter.
"How've you been?"
"Fine, thank you." Then, after his hurt-puppy-dog expression, "You?" He smiles at this small sign of acknowledgment.
"Can't complain. Although…" He trails off, looks at his feet. "I miss you." Shit. He would try to make things difficult. He glances up at me, and I try to look as cold as is humanly possible, scared that the portraits will talk and the idle gossip will reach Lucius. I'm completely taken by surprise when he stands on his toes and kisses me. I hit my head on the stone wall behind me in my attempt to pull away, letting out a startled grunt. I push him lightly and see Lucius standing at the end of the corrridor. He turns on his heel and storms off in the opposite direction, his hands balled into fists. I swear under my breath and race after him, leaving Lupin looking slightly confused and rejected. The portraits mutter amongst themselves, flitting from frame to frame to talk to their neighbours.
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"What the hell do you mean, you didn't kiss him? I saw you!" It's too late to avoid his anger, and I wish I'd left him alone until he had calmed down. Lucius has locked the door and I wish I knew where he kept my wand.
"He kissed me, Lucius! I didn't mean for it to happen." I wish Lucius would stop looking at me, knock me out, blind me so I wouldn't have to look at his eyes, so dark when angered.
"No. But it's not the first time you've done this."
"What?" The knock to my head is making it hard to focus and broken images of the room swim before my eyes.
"You didn't break up with Lupin until two years after we started dating. Do you think I didn't know? There's nothing about you I don't know, Severus. Nothing." He's standing mere inches from me,and suddenly the few centimetres difference in height between us seems infinitely more. I'm scared, but the fear just makes me angry.
"You were still married to Narcissa for four years while fucking me, so you're hardly guiltless in all of this!" I feel his hand across my cheek and hear a sharp crack as the side of my skull connects with the bedpost. Unable to withstand two blows to the head in such a short space of time, I sink to the floor, but he seizes my wrists tightly and pulls me to my feet. I feel the sticky warmth of blood in my hair.
"You may intimidate others, but not me. I thought you'd learnt what happens when you speak out of turn, but evidently I was mistaken." A pause. "Maybe you need another lesson." I whimper as the pressure on my wrists increases and I close my eyes. While he hurts me I listen to Harry laughing, far away, and wonder why no one can hear my screams.
Thankyou everyone for your kind reviews! I'm sorry if the chronology of this fic's confusing. I had to draw a timeline myself.