Severus managed to sleep for a couple of hours. When he woke up, Paige remained sleeping so he did not disturb her. He knew he had some issues he had to settle with Lucius so he left the bed. He left the room and entered the main hallway, heading towards the library since Lucius sat in there half of the time. Lucius had business to contend to so he would remain in the library, even if his business didn't include money issues but matters of evil or pureblood righteousness.
Snape knocked on the door to the library before opening the door a crack. He saw Lucius at a brown desk, reading some old book. Lucius looked up from the book as he heard the knock and saw Severus. "Have a seat." Lucius demanded as he closed his book and gave Severus his full attention.
Severus sat down quietly in one of the leather armchairs. He had been in this library a few times; many of these instances back during the Death Eater meetings. He remembered how the walls looked like they were actually made of books lined up next to each other on various shelves. He never asked where all the books came from or what they pertained to, but he knew some of them weren't good. Lucius had always been obsessed with pureblood life and extinguishing the lesser beings, which made Paige staying at the Manor quite an issue for Severus.
Lucius decided he would start the conversation like the righteous bastard he was, thinking he owned half of the world because of his pureblood heritage. "As I've mentioned earlier, you have some nerve bringing a muggle into my home." Lucius stated, believing his blood was better than most people, including muggles.
"I assure you, we will not be a problem," explained Severus. "She helped save my life and so I am helping her by doing the same. She may be a muggle, but she's also a very brave muggle, one who has earned my respect for her actions and words."
"I'm not too concerned about her. I think it's just disgusting to have a muggle in my home," explained Lucius with his arrogant attitude. "What bothers me more is that you would come here after the whole wizarding world thinks you are dead. Then, you have the nerve to use the fact that you protected Draco against this family to receive help. I do not appreciate being blackmailed, Severus."
"It's only blackmail if you agree to it, Lucius." Severus stated in his monotone voice, but with a flicker of threat in it. "And I did protect your son. He was supposed to kill Dumbledore and failed. I made the Unbreakable Vow with your wife. I'm sure you know the story, but for some people, it's not simple to kill. Maybe for you it is."
Lucius' eyes flickered with anger. "It is never simple to kill, even if you're a Death Eater. I'm sure you are aware of this conflict since you have killed Dumbledore." He stated, trying to make Severus sound like a bad guy for killing the old Headmaster of Hogwarts.
"I did what was necessary for everyone," explained Severus. "You will never understand and I would never expect you to. The matter of the fact is, you couldn't even protect your own son. You needed my help for that, so don't you dare bring your righteous pureblood heritage and arrogant comments to this conversation."
Lucius cheeks turned red with anger. "How dare you speak to me like this in my own home!" He exclaimed, even though Severus had every right to say those things. "I don't have to help you, especially some stupid muggle slut who's already wormed her way into your life!"
Snape started to lose his temper by every second that Lucius opened his stupid mouth. "You take it back," he demanded with a bit of warning in his voice. "Blood is not the most important thing in this world. She never did anything to you or to me to make her worthy of being deemed a slut. She would actually have to come on to you for that, and with the attitude you have, I'm sure that would never happen. Also, keep in mind that I have killed before. It wouldn't take much effort to kill you and if you keep up your attitude, I might take pleasure in it."
Lucius bit his tongue, as he wanted to lash out at Severus, saying more words of hurt and stupidity. The problem was, he knew Severus had a point. He had never been afraid of Severus, but he didn't want to look for conflict either. Things had been in upheaval after the Second War, and the last thing someone need to do, was go looking for more trouble. Lucius just wanted to keep things at peace instead of trying to disturb the peace so many people were trying to restore after the war.
"You can stay here, but if you cause any trouble, I'll kick you out." Lucius threatened.
"Understood." Severus said even though he could care less what Lucius had to say. He knew most Malfoys were always the same, trying to preach pureblood heritage and nothing else. It was all about blood for them, but in reality, Severus knew blood didn't make a family or anyone better. Blood could just give you certain benefits like better privileges or more money, but it didn't mean they were better. It just meant they were luckier in some aspects. In other aspects, they weren't luckier because people with more privileges and more money sometimes became corrupted, evidently shown with the Malfoy family.
While Severus had been having his heated discussion with Lucius, Paige opened her eyes. She looked around the room incoherently, the way some people do when they first wake up and can't remember where they are. After a few seconds, memories from yesterday flooded back into her mind, remembering how her father had come into the hotel room in a drunken manner. Severus had brought her to this weird Manor, another place where they called her muggle; a word she grew to dislike.
Paige removed herself from the bed and decided she would take a shower to remove all the thoughts from her mind as if they were dirt clinging to her very own skin. She walked into the bathroom, which connected to their bedroom. She closed the door and reached into the tub to turn on the water and let the water heat up a bit. Her clothes dropped to the floor as she stripped them off. After she was completely undressed, she stepped inside the bath and turned on the shower.
The hot water rinsed her body clean of any dirt or grime that might have collected on her skin during the past day. The heat soothed her nerves as she thought about her life. She had managed to live with her drunken father for years. He would hit her and leave bruises or breaks, things that could heal over time. The emotional pain he inflicted upon her, would never heal. It left invisible slashes inside of her mind, ones that were too painful to ever get rid of. He was supposed to be her father, but instead, he had turned into a man of hatred, one who took his problems out on his daughter.
Paige slammed her palm against the tile wall of the bath and started crying. She let the tears consume her. They were well earned tears after everything she had been through in her life. Because of her father, no one understood her pain. She had virtually been alone in life with no friends or other family to turn to. Even the family she did have wouldn't do anything because they adored her father so. If only they could have seen the man he had become. If only they could have seen the way he treated her.
The tears managed to stop flowing after several minutes. Paige finished her shower and stepped out of the bath like it had never happened. She wanted to forget her past and just move on, no matter how difficult it would be. She grabbed a towel from the rack by the sink and dried off her delicate body. A silk robe hung on a hanger on the door. She grabbed it and covered her body with it like a shield once she had finished drying off her body.
Paige entered the main room again. Just as she did, a younger blonde-haired boy entered the room. He carried a stack of folded clothes and set them down on the bed. "My mother told me to bring you these clothes." He said, his eyes on Paige like a vulture ready to swoop down and snatch his prey.
"Thanks." Paige uttered, not paying much attention to Draco Malfoy, but his attention was focused on her. He crept closer to her, as if sneaking up on a prey silently. His curiosity overwhelmed him, as he never saw a muggle before. "So this is what a muggle looks like?" He asked with eyes that could pierce through her like an x-ray machine. He wanted to see all of her, every fragment of her being. He wanted to see the parts that not even she could see as if he were studying her for an experiment.
Paige rolled her eyes and made a sound of disgust. "You people really need to stop calling me a muggle," she explained. "It's annoying and I don't like being called words that aren't really in my vocabulary."
Draco crept closer to her, forcing her up against the wall. It didn't help that the silk robe from the bathroom clung to her body, showing every curve since she had been slightly wet from taking a shower. It just added to Draco's curiosity since he had was still a hormonal time bomb willing to explore the female side of life for an ego boost amongst his friends. He pulled out his wand and pushed it under her chin as Paige was pressed up against the wall. "You shouldn't talk to me like that. Very few purebloods even associate with muggles." Draco threatened with an almost seductive tone in his voice.
As Paige was pressed up against the wall, fearing for her life, Severus Snape walked back into the room. He grabbed Draco by the back of his clothes and dragged him towards the door. Draco landed out in the hallway with a thud as Severus had thrown him out there. "You stay away from her," he demanded. "The next time you're thrown out, it will be out the window." Severus slammed the door shut and turned to Paige.
"Are you alright?" He asked, stepping closer to her.
"Yes." She replied simply.
"I should have never left you alone." He explained with a ping of guilt in his voice. "Then again, wearing a robe like that doesn't help your situation any."
"It's not like I had anything to wear until that stupid git brought me some clothes," she explained. "We left everything behind in the hotel."
Severus stepped closer to Paige, pressing her up against the wall like Draco had, but not as if she was prey. He placed his hand on her cheek and looked her up and down, taking in the whole sight of her in the robe. "So damaged and abused," he stated. "You deserve to be touched by a real man." He slowly undid the tie on her robe, letting it open up but still cover the major parts of her body. He moved his hand from her cheek and ran it down her body, starting with the neck and ending at her waist.
Paige trembled slightly at his touch and looked at him. It felt good to be touched by someone who wasn't doing it to cause her pain.
"Are you afraid of me?" Severus asked while looking into her eyes.
"No." Paige uttered from her lips quietly.
"What if I told you I have killed people?" He asked while running his hand down her neck like she was a goddess.
"I don't care," she replied. "We have all done things we are not proud of."
Severus raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. "You should care." He stated before brushing his lips against hers ever so gently.
Paige kissed him back so hard, like she had wanted someone to treat her the way she had deserved. She shoved Severus towards the bed as they kissed, causing him to fall backwards. She laid on top of him with her robe open, but still hanging on her delicate body. She kissed his lips again, even harder this time, but Severus grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her upwards and way from his lips. "We shouldn't be doing this." He stated as if it were a bad idea. "You're young and impressionable."
"I'm a big girl. I know exactly what I'm doing." She replied before kissing him again to shut him up.
Severus hands slid underneath her robe and forced the robe entirely off of her body. It fell off to the side as the two of them continued to kiss with heated passion. Her hands ran underneath Severus shirt and caressed his skin gently, the same skin which had become so fragile over the years. She was the first woman to touch it in many years for a sexual purpose. A moan escaped into her lips as he kissed her and ran his hands up and down her body.
Paige practically ripped his shirt from off of him and then started undoing his pants. She didn't have to put much effort into it as he allowed her to slide them off with such ease. After a little undressing and a little bit of effort, the two of them laid naked together in each other's arms. Severus grabbed Paige gently and flipped the two of them so he was on top.
With one easy move, their bodies connected as one. For once in a very long time, Severus let himself belong to someone else. He left go of everything hurtful and bad in the world, and gave himself to someone who had experienced the same hurt and pain. Most of all, for once he had let go of Lily, the one woman he always thought about. This one moment in life, Severus had thought about himself and what he wanted and not about Lily. For a moment, he was free.
