Chapter 17 – Taking Care of Malfoy

"Do I know you?"

"Likely not. I attended a Christmas party of yours once, but I'm afraid we didn't have much opportunity for conversation."

"I see." Malfoy seemed vexed, and rightly so, though he was doing his best not to show it. If someone had waltzed right through Cameron's wards, he'd have been more than a little put out. Unlike his own, which he'd placed himself, the wards on Malfoy Manor were probably centuries old and, judging by the pinched look on Malfoy's face, had never been breached before.

Malfoy looked like he was trying to decide whether to offer Cameron tea or brandish his wand and like he was wondering if it was foolhardy to chastise Cameron for his breach in etiquette when he was so obviously more powerful than Malfoy. "Is there something I can do for you, Mr…?"

"Sage. And, yes, there is something you can do for me."

Malfoy narrowed his eyes. "I've seen you somewhere else besides the Manor."

Cameron gave him some time and could see the moment he remembered finding him in Snape's sitting room.

"Yes, you have, Mr. Malfoy. You caused irreparable damage to someone very dear to me."

Malfoy scoffed. "Snape? That man is dear to no one. He got what he deserved."

Cameron consciously held himself in place. "You'd best watch your tongue if you want to keep it. Severus is the most important thing in the world to me, and you'll do well to remember it. And he most certainly did not deserve what you did to him."

The blond faltered and tried to regain his customary contemptuous and pompous expression. "He damaged my property."

"You and I both know that book was not your property and you shouldn't have been playing with it." He could see that Malfoy was reeling, trying to figure out how much Cameron knew and how he might have found out.

"I ask you again, what is it you want from me?"

"Turn yourself in. Confess to your crimes. You have one week—if I don't see headlines by next Wednesday, I'm coming for you. Trust me when I say you'll prefer the Dementors' methods to mine."

And with that, he Disapparated right through the anti-Apparition wards he'd been silently deconstructing during their conversation.

XXX

"Snape? Snape! You here?"

Odd. He'd checked the lab and office on the way down and, as he'd expected, they were empty. He hadn't been to the classroom, but it was well after normal detention hours. It was Friday—Snape didn't have patrol this evening.

So where the hell was he?

"He's not here. Stop shouting."

"Well, where is he, then?"

"You're awfully anxious to find him." He wondered if snakes could leer.

"Just tell me where he went. Please."

"Through the fire. Some man needed a favor, though I can't see as it's any of your business."

Who would Snape have gone to do a favor for? And why did it give him such a queasy feeling?

"Did the man say who he was? Did you recognize him? Or hear the floo direction when Snape left?"

"What's in it for me if I tell you?"

Bloody fucking snake. "How about I refrain from strangling you and feeding your infuriating corpse to Fuzzy as a treat?"

"You're no fun. Malfoy Manor," Thessa answered, and Cameron's stomach clenched as he lunged for the floo powder.

The moment he stepped out of the fire, he fell to the ground. He had a brief moment to berate himself for not Apparating or at least erecting a personal shield prior to flooing into hostile territory before he lost consciousness.

XXX

His first awareness was of a blinding headache. Or maybe the blindness was only due to the utter darkness of his location. The air was damp and stale and he could feel cold stone under his fingers. Dungeon?

The next thing he noticed was the sound of labored breathing. Someone was hurt. Someone…Snape?

Other than the already fading headache, which was an unpleasant side-effect of the Stupification he'd been subjected to upon arrival, he seemed to be uninjured. He rolled to his knees and crawled toward the person he both wished and hoped was not Snape. It'd be nice to know where he was, but all things considered, he'd rather not know he was hurt and being held in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor.

He touched painfully familiar hair and followed it to stroke over a clammy cheek.

"Snape? You awake?"

Snape groaned and pressed his face into Cameron's hand. He took that as a yes.

"Where does it hurt?"

Snape took his hand and pressed it against his throat then his abdomen.

"I've got you now," he murmured. He concentrated on gathering his magic to heal his lover, but it was like slogging through wet cement. Magic-dampening field. Great. He concentrated harder, and was able to fix Snape's throat enough that he could speak and heal the cracks in his ribs to hairline fractures.

He was sweaty, panting, and shaky when he finished. It would have to be enough for now.

This was all his fault. He should have told Snape what he was doing with Malfoy. If he had, Snape never would've come here to do his 'favor'. He'd thought he was protecting him. More fool he.

He was just about to ask Snape what had happened when the door was flung open. He blinked against the sudden brightness.

Malfoy, silhouetted against the light, twirled his ridiculous cane. Cameron wanted to rip him limb from limb. He hadn't been foolish enough to think Malfoy would actually go to the authorities, but he'd felt obliged to give him the chance. This he should have seen coming, and it rankled that he hadn't.

He stood, placing himself between Malfoy and Snape, and let his eyes adjust.

Malfoy smirked. "You've noticed the field, I presume." The bastard was in his element, sure he had them at his non-existent mercy.

He forcibly restrained himself from rolling his eyes. True, he wouldn't be able to use magic against Malfoy here. It took too much concentration and too much time to circumvent the field. But he, unlike Malfoy, knew magic was not the be-all and end-all of existence. Silently, he thanked Mr. Mustache for the daily exercise regimen and 'survival skills' he'd hammered into Cameron's brain. Luckily for him, Mr. Mustache's idea of 'survival' had been 'get the other guy before he gets you'.

In less than ten seconds, Malfoy was pinned against the stone floor with his own cane pressed hard under his jaw and his wand across the room. His eyes were wide with surprise and he clawed ineffectually at Cameron's hands. His aristocratic complexion blanched even further when Cameron gave him an evil smile.

XXX

"Where have you been?"

"Oh hush, it hasn't been that long. The healers would've kicked me out for most of it, anyway. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Where were you?" Snape was trying to look imposing from his hospital bed, but it wasn't really working.

"Had to take care of Malfoy, of course."

"Would you care to elaborate on what you mean by 'take care of Malfoy'?"

"Are you sure you're all right? You're still sounding a bit hoarse."

"I'm told it will pass. Don't fret—the mediwizard said whoever did the initial healing was amateur but adequate about the job, as far as it went."

Thank the Founders for that. He hadn't thought much about it at the time, but afterward he'd been terrified his clumsy attempt at healing might have caused permanent damage.

"Now are you going to answer my question? Or is it too likely you'll be tossed in Azkaban forthwith if someone overhears?"

Cameron cast an Imperturbable on the room and sat on the bed with Snape. "I didn't do nearly as much as I wanted to. Apparently I don't have the stomach for torture, which I suppose is a good thing. But don't worry, he's been punished and he's not going to be able to hurt you again. If he does somehow manage to, I certainly won't have any qualms about ripping his legs off and feeding them to him whole, queasiness be damned."

"Sage, just tell me what you did."

"Right. Well, I thought it would be fun to take the things he loved most away from him. Not terribly original, but poetic and all that. So first I drained his magic."

Snape made a strangled noise that sounded like an aborted whimper. "You can do that?"

"So it would seem. Wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. Anyway, next I gave him a very pretty scar across his pretty face. The kind that makes people grimace and turn away shuddering when they see it. Most of his left ear is gone, in fact. Then I gave him a painful, pronounced limp so he could actually use that cane he's so fond of. And then I castrated him."

Snape flinched. "Really?"

"Yep. I dumped him outside his wards. They were tuned to his magical signature, so he won't be able to get back in unless someone invites him, and I don't think that's likely. He doesn't have any muggle assets, so best case scenario he can't afford food and dies of starvation within the week."

"I think he's much more likely to kill himself. He'd think death far preferable to being a muggle."

Cameron shrugged. "That works, too." He ran his fingers through Snape's hair in the silence, reassuring himself that Snape was alive and whole. Finally, though, he couldn't hold it in anymore.

"I'm so sorry about what happened. I should have told you what was going on, then you never would've…And I should have found you sooner—how long were you there? It was all my fault…"

"Sage, stop babbling. Yes, you probably should have informed me of your plans. Come to think of it, it all would've been avoided if I'd done the same. You didn't and I didn't, and what's done is done. Your oversight does not make you responsible for anything Malfoy did. Besides, I've always been quite aware of taking my life into my own hands every time I do that man a favor." Snape pulled him down so his head was resting on Snape's chest.

"I s'pose. What did he do? Will you tell me?"

"He firecalled around six—"

"He had you for four sodding hours! Oh gods, I'm sorry—"

"Hush. It wasn't that bad. He used the Cruciatus a few times, hit me with his cane, crushed my throat under his boot heel. Then he tossed me in the cell where I hit my head and promptly lost consciousness."

"Not that bad! You say it like it's a potions recipe or something. He hit you with that cane hard enough to break several ribs, you know. And I've felt the Cruciatus enough times to know it's no fucking picnic!"

Snape tightened his arms around Cameron's shoulders. "You've…? I didn't know."

"I have. So forgive me if I think being Crucio-ed 'a few times' is sort of a big deal."

"I suppose I shouldn't have tried to downplay it. But it didn't last as long as it might've, and I spent most of the recovery period unconscious. And when I woke up you were there. I could smell you and feel your hands and hear your voice. You took most of the pain away. You had come for me, and I knew everything was going to be all right."

Cameron blinked. "That was…remarkably sappy."

Snape shifted uncomfortably. "Hmph. See if I ever try to make you feel better again."

Cameron tilted Snape's face back toward him and kissed the scowl off his lips. "Don't be embarrassed. It was sweet. That's how I feel every morning when I wake up with you. I feel your warm body pressed against me and hear your breathing, and I smile because I know as long as you're there with me, everything will be fine."

Snape's face twisted in the way that meant he was suppressing a smile. "Right. Are we through with sappy now?"

Cameron nodded. "Quite."

"Good. Now go run down a healer and get me released from this infernal place. Use the Imperius Curse, if you have to."