First week of January, 1996

Snapes' family home

Florence walked downstairs with baby Sophie in her arms, calling her older kids to follow her to have breakfast. But as she reached the living room, she found a very worried Severus sitting on his usual armchair, reading the newspaper as he did every morning.

"What happened, Sev?" She asked, before kissing him. "You look troubled, love." She sat on the sofa, sitting Sophie on the rug near her toy box.

Severus sighed, lowering the paper, before speaking: "Dolohov, Yaxley, Travers, Nott, Mulciber, Rookwood, Avery, Rodolphus, Rebastan and Bellatrix Lestrange have all escaped Azkaban."

Florence looked at him in shock. "What?" She whispered. "How?"

"They used muggle bombs, believe it or not." Severus looked down to see Sophie pulling on his sweatpants, asking her 'Dada' to pick her up. "Plus," he continued, after his baby-daughter was on his lap. "their escape was only possible for the same reason two dementors attacked Harry last year: the Ministry no longer controls the Azkaban guards, someone else does."

"That someone being my father." Florence said, nodding. "Fuck. Bella's on the loose again. We should've killed her when we had the chance."

"Who should you have killed, mom?" asked James, walking downstairs.

"Bellatrix Lestrange." Answered Florence.

"Right." James smiled, looking at his mother, not sure if she was joking or not.

Nicholas looked at his parents, "You two seem worried, dad. What happened?"

"Ten death eaters have escaped from Azkaban." Said Severus, playing with Sophie.

Both twins fell silent, but suddenly James laughed:

"Good one, dad!" he looked at Nicholas, but his brother didn't seem amused.

"I don't think dad's joking, James."

"What?" James asked, sitting down beside his mother. "For real?"

"Yes." Said Florence. "The Ministry no longer controls the dementors." She shook her head, getting angry: "The students at Hogwarts should be learning how to cast a Patronus Charm! Instead they're copying children's textbooks in Umbridge's class!"

"Let's hope Harry teaches it during the Dumbledore's Army meetings." Said Nicholas.

Florence and Severus looked at him in surprise and confusion.

"How do you know about that?" she asked.

"Fred's part of the Army. He tells me all about it." Nick explained.

That gave Florence an idea: "So you could send him a letter mentioning they should start learning how to cast a Patronus, since the dementors are going rogue."

And her words gave Nicholas another idea: "Better yet, mom: I'll send him a Patronus message inviting him for dinner at a nice restaurant, and then I'll tell him about them needing to learn that Charm." And he got up, going back upstairs to his bedroom.

James looked at his brother running upstairs and shook his head. "You have no idea the kind of things I know about those two."

Severus looked at him, frowning: "Why don't you use occlumency to block your bond out for a moment? It works for your mother and I."

"I do that, dad, but... apparently I have the worst timing ever and tend to walk in on them a lot." James grimaced.

Florence laughed. "So it's not just with us? You actually have the gift of being a cockblocker?"

James rolled his eyes, "Can you just not say the work 'cock'? I don't want that coming out of my mother's mouth."

His poor word-choice had his father snorting. And James growled in annoyance. "Geez! I'm out. You two are worse than teenagers sometimes."

And Florence and Severus laughed at their son. But it was a short lived laughter.

Florence looked at her husband playing with their baby daughter and let out a worried sigh, "What about the escapees? What will we do?"

"There's nothing we can do, love. I'll certainly be seeing them all next meeting."

Florence shook her head, concerned – fearing for her husband as usual.

Severus put Sophie down on the rug again and reached out his hand for his wife, pulling her to his lap. "I don't even need our bond to understand that look of yours, my love."

Florence hid her face in his neck, her hands in his hair, and just breathed, feeling him close to her and trying to stop the fear growing inside of her.

That night

The Fountain of Fair Fortune Restaurant

Fred Weasley apparated in front of the restaurant and walked right into the fancy place as if he was used to going there – which he was.

Nick had taken him there at least four times already and he loved it. He hadn't been used to going to such a nice place and felt a little embarrassed at first – specially with Nicholas taking him places and paying for everything; however, Fred soon found out he enjoyed being pampered – no matter how much his twin brother mocked him about becoming 'as spoiled as a Malfoy'.

He approached the receptionist.

"Mr. Weasley!" she happily greeted him. "The other half of the cutest couple I've ever seen! Your Mr. Peverell is already waiting for you, sir. Do you want me to accompany you to your table?"

Fred smiled, "No. I can find him myself, thank you." And he entered the restaurant's main dinning area, easily spotting his boyfriend.

He moved slowly towards the dark haired young man sitting alone at a table and his smile grew. Nicholas was so handsome and sexy; his shoulder-length black hair had some waves to it and his green eyes sparkled every time he smiled – and he had the cutest dimples. And he smelled so good.

Fred sighed, watching Nick bring a crystal goblet to his lips, remembering the way those elegant hands caressed his body. His boyfriend was the most passionate lover he had ever had – not that he had had that many partners, but still Nick was incredible.

Nicholas stood up as Fred got closer and smiled, easily interpreting the hot look in his brown eyes. "Thinking about dessert already, babe?"

"Definitely." Fred replied, kissing Nick's lips briefly. "Can we skip dinner?"

"No." Nick chuckled. "We have all night and I have a surprise for you, after dinner."

Fred sat down and gripped the table all of a sudden, making Nicholas frown. "Is everything alright?"

"Y-yes." Fred moved on the chair, letting out a soft moan. "I just... I have surprise for you too... at least it should have been a surprise but... I forgot about having to sit down slowly..."

Then Nicholas froze, understanding: "You're wearing a plug." he whispered, his green eyes looking at Fred hungrily.

"Yes. And when it moves... it's so fucking good." He said breathlessly.

"Fuck, Freddie. You can't do that to me. How will I sit here looking at you all flushed and shivering in pleasure in front of me?"

"I'm the one shivering here and... a bit frustrated too."

"Frustrated?"

"Yeah, this plug thing... it hits the right place but... it's not long enough. Or thick enough." Fred blushed.

Nicholas growled, "Damn, babe. Now I can't stop thinking about dragging you to the bathroom to give you something satisfactory long and thick."

Fred bit his lip and smiled coyly at him, picking up the menu. "Oh, well, but you said we can't skip dinner."

Nick narrowed his eyes at his naughty boyfriend: "I'm gonna have your ass for this."

"I sure hope so." Fred replied, winking.

Fifteen minutes later, they were already having dinner and Fred was sitting still enough on his chair that the toy in his ass didn't make him crazy with lust anymore.

But suddenly Nick, who was still struggling to forget his boyfriend had prepared himself for him, felt said boyfriend's foot between his legs. He put both hands on the foot to stop him and pulled on it a little, the sudden movement making Fred buck in his chair, gripping the edge of the table with white knuckles and closing his eyes, the plug pressing hard against his prostate and nearly making him cum in his pants.

"We're done eating." Nicholas declared in a serious finalizing voice.

"Yes, please." Fred was able to whimper.

Nicholas tapped the bill with his wand and walked to Fred, helping him up.

"I want to bend you over this table and have my way with you." Nick said in a desire-filled voice, caressing his boyfriend's face.

"I'm not sure I'd stop you."

Nicholas rubbed his thumb on Fred's lips and whispered: "You're a fucking tease." Then he led him out of the fancy restaurant and apparated them before they were arrested for indecent exposure.

"Where are we?" asked Fred, looking around what looked like a Quidditch Pitch.

"Have you ever heard of the Tutshill Tornados?" Nicholas asked, knowing it was his boyfriend's favourite team.

Fred gasped, it was just too good to be true: "Wait. This is..."

Nicholas smiled: "Their stadium. Yes."

Fred looked at him in shock. "How the fuck did you get permission to apparate here?"

Nick shrugged. "It turns out knowing Viktor Krum is not as useless as I thought it to be."

"Holy fuck!" Fred looked around.

"There are no players here at this time of night, though. But I thought you'd like to fly a broom around their pitch or maybe try beating on their bludgers."

"Fuck yeah!" Fred shouted, but then he remembered: "Wait. I won't be able to ride a broom with..."

Nicholas smirked. "We'll be solving that problem first, you can be sure of that, love." And he took Fred's hand, pulling him towards a door and down a corridor. "How about going back in the closet?"

"What?" Fred snorted, "Were either of us ever in one?"

"We will be now." Said Nick, a second before opening a door on their right and pulling Fred inside.

"Welcome to the Tornados' broom closet." He said, turning on a low light and tangling his hand in his boyfriend's long red hair, kissing him sensually, probing his lips with his tongue, touching Fred's in a slow and drugging kiss.

And Fred melted under his boyfriend's expert touches.

Nick kissed down his neck and he moaned softly, looking around the room at the huge number of brooms of all colours models and sizes, hardly believing they were snogging in his favourite Quidditch team's broom closet.

"This is amazing, Nick." He whispered, smiling at the thoughtfulness of his sweet boyfriend, taking him to a place he would certainly love.

Nicholas pushed him against the wall "I'm glad you liked it, babe. But I need to feel you against me." then he murmured a Divesto, getting them naked in seconds. The cold air of the temperature-controlled room making them both gasp since their skin had been pretty warm for they had been wearing winter clothing.

"Are you sure we can do this in here?" Fred whispered.

"No. We can't. But we will." Nicholas replied, lowering one hand between his boyfriend's legs and easily finding the buttplug behind his balls. "Fuck. Let me see it, Red."

And Fred slowly turned around, arched his back a little, and parted his legs, showing the silver end of the buttplug between his firm asscheeks.

"Fucking gorgeous." Nick hissed, kneeling on the floor and looking closely at the toy, pressing on it and watching his boyfriend shiver.

"Did you cum as you were putting this in, Freddie?"

"Almost. But I... I wanted to have you make me." He admitted, "You know I love to have you making me cum hard enough to pass out."

Nick closed his eyes, lust threatening to take over his control and have him pound his boyfriend's sweet tight ass right then. But he forced himself to keep it slow; he wanted to make Fred crazy with pleasure.

He crawled between his legs, getting between Fred and the wall and smirking before licking the head of his cock.

Fred moved his hips in reflex, sliding half of his hard flesh between Nick's lips. "Fuck, I won't last..." he whimpered.

Nicholas sucked hard and tugged on the plug, watching Fred tremble and shout.

"Damn! Nicky! That's... fucking good! Again! Suck me! Play with... with the thingy." He was having trouble finding the words to describe what he wanted.

Nick chuckled, sucking his cock deep into his mouth while moving the plug in a circular pattern inside his lover's ass.

"Fuck! I'm not... I can't... any longer!" Fred gasped incoherently, trembling against the wall; one hand reached out, needing something to hold on to and gripping the closest broom, pushing on it accidently and making six brooms fall onto the floor.

Then he held onto Nick's dark head of hair, fucking himself on the plug and into Nick's mouth. "Yes... oohh, fuck yes!" and he screamed, filling up his boyfriend's mouth with cum.

Then he begged sweetly, still panting: "Take me, Nicky. Fuck me. Use me."

Nicholas groaned and slowly removed the buttplug from his ass, murmuring a lubricating spell, before standing up and grabbing his hips, switching their positions, Fred's back hitting the wall again as Nick took his lips and hoisted him up, holding under his thighs; the head of his cock bumping teasingly against the puckered entrance.

"Stop teasing me!" Fred moaned.

Nick growled, "You're a fucking bossy bottom, babe." and he got balls deep into his ass, kissing his lips again.

Fred trembled in pleasure, there was no close-mouthed caress, it was just Nick's tongue plunging inside of his mouth while his dick pounded his ass.

"Fuck." Nick groaned, feeling Fred's hands grabbing his hair as he rolled his hips, getting his dick deeper. "You love this, don't you, babe?"

"Yes! Nicky... love how you own me... fuck me."

And Nicholas moved, angling his hips just right to hit his boyfriend's prostate at every stroke.

Fred arched, his nails digging on Nick's shoulders, whimpers and moans leaving his throat as he felt an all-consuming pleasure while being taken against the wall, a hard cock up his ass, his own cock getting fully hard again, being deliciously trapped between their bodies, beginning to leak precum over both of their stomachs.

"Fucking paradise..." Nicholas moaned, losing himself in the feeling of that hot ass gripping his member.

"Take me harder!" Fred shouted.

"Fuck." He obeyed, pounding his ass, feeling the hot channel clenching deliciously around his dick.

Fred was whimpering: "I'm cumming again, Nicky!"

And he couldn't stop following him into bliss as he watched his boyfriend shooting cum all over them both without having his cock stroked once.

Nick held his hips and entered his ass as deep as possible, cumming long and hard as he kissed the redhead's lips between gasps, wetly and messily.

"Holy fuck." Nick groaned, as one last jet of cum shot from his dick into his boyfriend's ass. "Fucking love to fuck you."

"Love being fucked..." replied Fred, panting. "But I really want to try one of these brooms at the pitch."

Nicholas smiled, slowly taking his dick out of his ass. "I'd love to stick that plug back in, keep you filled with cum until we get home."

Fred kissed him hard, "I really like that idea. But tonight I want to fly around the Tutshill pitch with you, my love."

Nick bit his bottom lip, sucking on it to ease the pain. "I love you too, babe."

And the two got dressed quickly, choosing their brooms and going to the pitch.

Later

Nicholas walked inside his family home a little past two in the morning, a huge smile on his face as he removed his snow boots. He heard a noise in the living room and looked up, surprised to see his father was still up, dressed in black sweatpants and a white long-sleeved shirt.

"Hey, dad. Why are you still up?"

Severus looked at him with a serious expression, "Waiting for you and for your brother."

"James went out?" Nicholas was surprised to hear that.

"By that question, I can assume he didn't tell you anything."

"No, he didn't." Nick frowned, James never hid anything from him. "He probably went partying in London again."

"I sent him a Patronus a while ago, let's hope he..."

Then Severus was interrupted by the sound of steps in the backyard.

"That's James." Nicholas said with a frown, putting a hand on his stomach and feeling weird.

Then they heard the sound of something falling into the pool.

And Nick walked to the back door, "Something's not right, dad."

"Of course not, Nicholas." Severus rolled his eyes. "He's probably drunk. The pool is half-frozen!"

But the teen gasped loudly, terror filling him up all of a sudden. "He's drowning!"

And they ran outside, not even worrying about getting boots and coats. Nicholas jumped into the pool, rescuing his twin from the bottom and his father helped him get the unconscious teen out of the pool.

James fell onto the snow-covered ground completely unresponsive, his lips turning blue at an alarming rate.

Florence, get down here! Severus desperately shouted inside her mind.

"We need mom here!" Nicholas was trembling and crying, in full panic mode.

In twenty seconds, Florence appeared at the backyard door wearing a black nightgown and a long sleeved robe.

She saw James on the ground and ran to him. "What happened?" She kneeled beside her son, quickly passing her wand over his body.

Then James coughed, spitting water and breathing with difficulty – but breathing. He opened his eyes and looked at Nicholas, smiling before passing out again.

Florence held his shoulders to stop him from hitting his head on the pavement around the pool.

"Idiot's drunk." Severus said, taken by anger. "Once he's coherent, I'll..."

"No." Said Florence, still working her wand over James's body. "There is alcohol in his system, yes, but... there's something else too."

Nicholas and Severus froze.

"Drugs?" her husband asked, fear in his voice.

"No." She replied, working nonstop on the acute inflammation taking over James' blood vessels. "He took a bezoar but... it wasn't enough. This... whatever this poison is... It's strong."

"How did he have a bezoar?" Severus frowned.

"We always carry one with us. Since we were thirteen." Nicholas quickly explained, looking at his mother working on his brother's still body, unable to feel his connection with his twin. "Why... why do you think someone would want to poison James?"

"The war, Nicholas." Severus explained. "You two look too much like me. Everyone knows about you."

"We need to get him inside." Florence said, quickly conjuring a gurney under James and getting up. "We're all freezing here."

Florence. How is he? Severus asked, almost as terrified as Nicholas.

She averted her eyes, but he could see the fear in them.

"Mom?" Nicholas tried to make her tell him anything. "Mom, I can't sense him like usual. Mom... please." he whimpered.

"I need to work on his bloodstream a little longer, Nick. You two get a Golden Potion for me and two Wiggenweld vials."

They just nodded and watched her float the gurney upstairs.

Florence lay James on his bed and worked hard on healing every organ the poison had damaged. She was able to identify he had drunk the poison a little over an hour ago, and taken the bezoar thirty minutes ago.

"Clever boy." She whispered, touching his face. "You knew something was wrong and you took it as a precaution."

That's what helped him survive.

Whatever he had been given, without the bezoar stopping the poison at least a little, Florence wouldn't have been able to save him – for a moment she had actually feared she wouldn't.

Right then Severus and Nicholas walked into the bedroom, giving her the vials she had requested.

But before giving James the Golden Potion of her creation, Florence transfigurated a hair-tie she found on the bedside table into a crystal vial and got a sample of his blood to try to identify the poison later.

Afterwards, she made him drink the Golden Potion and caressed his face, trying not to imagine what could've happened if he hadn't apparated home.

James inhaled sharply – and so did Nicholas, at the same time.

His breathing slowly normalized and James opened his eyes, blinking at the ceiling and slowly turning his face towards the people in the room.

"Mom." He said hoarsely, sitting up on the bed and throwing himself at her, into a tight hug.

Florence held him and finally allowed herself to cry, bawling as she touched his back, his hair, kissed his cheek, caressed his face, desperately needing to assure herself he had survived.

James clung to her just as hard. "I nearly died, didn't I, mom?" He whispered.

"Yes, baby. Yes. But you didn't. You're here. Oh, Merlin, you're here!" She touched her forehead to his and just breathed.

They felt the mattress move and looked up to see Nicholas sitting there, looking at his brother with an anguished expression.

Florence kissed James's face once more and walked away from the bed.

Severus approached the bed and touched James's face. "You know you're grounded for life now, don't you?" He said.

James chuckled. "I gladly accept it, dad. Wouldn't settle for less."

Severus sighed and kissed his head, before hugging him.

Florence was looking at them with tears running down her face. They got dangerously close of losing their son – her first baby – their firstborn. She knew she'd have nightmares for weeks.

Severus felt her desperation and walked to her, embracing her.

Will he be ok? He asked, looking at the twins hugging and crying on the bed.

Yes. He will.

"What happened, James?" Nicholas asked, his voice strangled by the tears. "Where did you go?"

"To that same muggle pub I always go. You've... been there too." He had a coughing fit and Nick handed him a glass of water. He sipped a little and continued: "I had just finished my beer when a beautiful girl approached me. She had two glasses in her hands and offered me one."

"You idiot took it." Said Severus, in a reproachful tone.

"Yes. I did." James winced. "I... I was careless, dad. I drank it and we went to The Corner."

"Do I even want to know what that corner is?" asked Severus.

"It's the upstairs of the pub." Explained Nicholas. "It's a motel. They rent rooms by the hour."

"I'm aware of what a motel is, Nicholas." Replied Severus dryly.

"So," continued James. "I walked upstairs with her but I felt weird. In the room, I went to the bathroom and saw dad's Patronus and suddenly realized how dumb I'd been. So I quickly swallowed the bezoar and waited. But I didn't feel any better after twenty minutes. That was when I apparated home."

"And fell into the pool." Added Nicholas, shaking his head, finally feeling less desperate – seeing his brother was alive and being able to feel his presence through their bond again.

James frowned, "That wasn't an accident, Nick. I didn't fall, I threw myself in the pool."

The three looked at him with similar confused expressions.

Nicholas was the one who voiced what they were all wondering: "Why? It was bloody frozen, man!"

"All I saw was the water under the ice. I just had this need to be drenched. As if my whole body was parched."

Severus immediately noticed Florence went rigid, as if she had suddenly remembered something. But before he could ask her anything, she grabbed the vial containing a sample of James's blood, kissed his forehead and left the room.

Twenty minutes later, Severus walked into their basement lab and saw Florence standing by the workable, the blood sample, half a dozen lab vials, tools and a piece of parchment in front of her.

He approached her and wrapped his arms around her waist, glancing at the parchment she was staring at.

"What's that?" he asked, reading the ingredients listed and slowly realizing what it was. "That's a rare Noxious Poison recipe, Florence, with Ridgeback venom and bloodroot."

"No. That's not rare, Severus– it's ancient." She corrected him. "And that's what nearly killed James."

He frowned, "That's why the bezoar alone didn't make him feel better."

"Exactly, it wouldn't. This poison damages the blood vessels, while the Ridgeback venom dries out the skin." She paused. "When James said he felt the need to be drenched – it reminded me of something I read a long time ago, when I was researching potions and antidotes to create my Golden Potion. The Noxious victims always begged to be wet; and many were considered mad because they drowned themselves."

"The Mad Go-Unders." Severus said, nodding.

"Yes. However, they weren't mad, but poisoned." She turned to look at him, knowing that what she was about to say would make him furious. "And do you know who owned an apothecary at the village where the first Go-Under cases happened?"

"No. All I know about that story is how the victims were called and that that Noxious recipe has long been deemed unreproducible."

"Well, either someone was successful in brewing it or..." She exhaled. "Or they found an ancient vial of it just lying around their house." Her eyes turned light-green in fury as she told him: "The best Noxious Potion recipe, the one that took Ridgeback dragon venom and an infusion of Bloodroot, used to be produced Master Libatius Malfoy."

Severus froze, anger rising inside of him as he absorbed that information. "You're saying... Lucius did this? He tried to murder my son?"

"Yes... and I didn't want to tell you this before, but..." She took a very shaky breath. "He almost succeeded, Sev. There was a moment when I feared I wouldn't be able to save him... I thought we'd be burying Jamie come morning." she embraced his waist and cried against his chest, her whole body shaking.

He held her tightly and growled: "Lucius doesn't know what's coming for him. I'll deal with him, Flor."

"If I see him, Severus, he's a dead man." She spoke with conviction.

"He sure is one already, love. I just have to decide the when." He replied just as certain.

Second week of January 1996

Little Hangleton

Voldemort was waiting for his son-in-law to arrive to discuss his next plan with him.

"Why do we have to wait for the half-blood?" Asked Bellatrix. "He wasn't by my Lord's side when he was most needed! And Cissy tells me my Lord now takes council from him?"

Voldemort crossed the room and grabbed her by the chin. "Are you questioning my methods, Bella?" he spoke softly.

"No, my Lord. Never." She whimpered, looking at him adoringly.

There were knocks on the door and Voldemort ordered them to walk in, expecting it to be Severus – but it wasn't. "Lucius?" He asked angrily. "Why are you here?"

"M-my Lord, Bellatrix mentioned to Narcissa that there was going to be a meeting tonight... I assumed I should come."

"You assumed wrong!" shouted Voldemort, brandishing his wand, ready to curse the blond man.

But before he could torture him, another person walked into the room and Voldemort suddenly ceased his angry-fit.

"Ah, Severus. Come in. Have a seat." He motioned the armchairs in front of the fireplace.

Lucius looked at Severus in anger, comparing the way he – a pure-blood wizard – was received: with anger and near-torture, to the way Snape – a half-blood – was welcomed: with a greeting and an invitation to sit down.

Severus walked to the armchair with his eyes fixed on Malfoy, his lips closed so tightly in anger that they were but a line bellow his nose. He wanted to kill the blond man right then and there.

Lucius gulped, feeling the weight of the man's gaze, realizing that somehow Snape had figured out who had tried to murder his firstborn son.

"What can I do for you, my Lord?" Asked Severus, sitting on the armchair in front of Voldemort, his voice as calm as ever, nothing showing the all-consuming anger he felt inside.

"My original plan to retrieve the Prophecy failed, Severus. Nagini was unable to touch it, and then she encountered the blood-traitor Weasley."

"Yes. I heard it, My Lord. Potter saved him."

"Yes. But it wasn't all a loss; now at least I know there's a strong connection between my mind and Potter's. So I'll find a way to make the boy get the Prophecy for me." Voldemort looked at the flames in the fireplace. "The right moment will present itself."

Severus just waited quietly for the Lord's next words.

But the silence was interrupted by Lucius: "I'd like to offer my knowledge of the Ministry to lead the mission, my Lord."

Voldemort looked very displeased by the man's words, but he seemed to have an idea and then he said: "Alright, Lucius. Enough with the eager-puppy act! When the time comes, you'll be the one to get the prophecy from Potter and bring it to me. Satisfied?"

"Yes, my Lord. Thank you, my Lord."

Severus knew the man would be extremely full of himself from then on, so he decided to show him that his life had got an expiration date – and it wasn't a long one.

"My Lord, I request permission to speak."

Voldemort frowned, surprised for Severus never spoke in front of others unless he had been asked something or were spoken to.

"Granted, Severus."

"I'd like to report a murder attempt against my firstborn son's life last week."

The room fell silent; so far everyone had heard the rumours, but Snape had never publicly claimed to have sons.

Voldemort leaned forward – someone had tried to murder his older grandson. Florence's firstborn. Someone had attempted against his own blood – unknowingly, but still. "Do you know who did it, Severus?"

Severus glanced at Malfoy before replying: "I believe we both know who did it, My Lord. And he'll pay, soon."

"Yes. He will. You have my full authorization to seek your revenge as you see fit." He sat up straight again. "And the boy is fine?"

"He'll survive. His quick thinking and his mother's healing abilities saved him."

The Dark Lord nodded and smiled, "She's truly something. Your wife." He was purposely vague, for he didn't want to reveal who Florence was just yet. "She must be furious."

"She is, my Lord."

"So am I, Severus."

And the glint Severus saw in the Lord's green eyes was the same one he saw in his wife's.

Lucius Malfoy would be doing himself a favour by lying down – for he was already dead, he just didn't know.