Golden rays of sun filtered through the sheer ivory curtains, and onto the parquet. The room was tiny, but it's emptiness saved Lucius from claustrophobia. At the far end, a very rudimentary kitchen along with a small table with a single seat. Behind him, the Louis Philippe meridienne with its silken cerulean material embroidered with pale silver thread; before him, a long ebony coffee table laden with worn leather bound books. Above the mantelpiece, a frame adorning a sketch of the Virgin Maria bearing her child, breathtaking by its beauty.

No photos, no letters from relatives, nothing.

Only the parchment Lucius had let drop on the floor...

The words he'd just read seemed to refuse to sink in, even though he'd carefully analysed every sentence. The letter had found its way to his memory, but not to his wits.

"Signor Malfoy,

My life has brought me to take several decisions I won't be able to come back on. Many will raise a fair number of questions from your part, as well as Severus'. I feel that, in order to answer as many as I can in this final letter, I am obliged to give you an extensive depiction of my ancestors, as well as my researches.

For generations, my family has worked on eugenics, searching for an alternative to the philosopher's stone. After decades of dissecting, analysing, brewing, we uncovered the secret to eternal health, by finding a counter-curse to the use of unicorn blood, and a way to generate it from our own. Every male of the Santa Cruz family was henceforth blessed with the virtue of self-healing and longevity. However, the wars and battles that ailed our world prevented us from revealing our discovery.

Nevertheless, few aspects of the malediction subsisted, in a bizarre way. While drinking unicorn blood would save a dying man, yet curse him for the rest of his miserable existence, drinking blood from a "bearer" saves the drinker, but curses the former with death.

I had always had the power to save Severus, yet I knew he would've been greatly despaired if he heard I had sacrificed myself for him. I must confess that I made him believe I felt my demise approaching in order to administrate the cure without arousing suspicion.

I flatly apologise for having shared my last night with Severus within your home without your acknowledgement, Signor Malfoy. By the time you'd read this letter, my fate will have fallen into the Lord's hands, but not Severus', for even though his flesh is healed, what lays below isn't.

I implore you, please take care of him, if only to grant the wish of a man who loved too much.

Adios, Signor Malfoy.

Antonio Felipe Santa Cruz"

Lucius gazed at the heavens.

What now?

The house elves had carried Antonio's body to another room, casting spells onto it to conserve it until the burial.

Severus was asked to remain in bed while an owl was sent to Master Malfoy. He didn't protest.

The ventilator was turned off, even though Severus had trouble breathing and felt excruciating chest pains. But he knew they weren't due to pneumonia any longer.

Antonio had asked him to carry on without him, but who did he have, now that Lucius despised him? For why else would he have slapped him in such a demeaning way?

"If that doesn't prove how much he hates me..." Severus sighed.

Or to what extend he loves you...

Severus stood stock still.

That voice didn't come from his mind.

"What the fuck is happening?" he muttered softly, ears alert and eyes darting across the room. Footsteps resounded in the corridor.

The door opened abruptly, and entered Lucius. Severus involuntarily shrank back into his bed, making Lucius frown.

"Severus, look at me", he pleaded, reaching for the raven locks framing the Potions master's face, but Severus jerked away.

"Severus, I beg you, listen to me! I regret shouting at you before leaving, I was just afraid for you, I... I..." Lucius stammered, but broke off by Severus blazing eyes.

"Afraid, you say, Lucius", Severus said, his voice ice cold. "Afraid seems to be a befitting word. It excuses each and every one of your actions, is that what you please yourself to believe? Oh, but you can toss me aside at leisure, after all I did to grant your wildest fantasies, because you were afraid. You can tear me away from death, only to abuse me afterwards, because you were afraid. But I don't care anymore, Lucius, I've stopped caring long ago for your sorry soul, and what you decide to do with it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm afraid I must leave." Severus rose to his feet, still stark naked, and began searching for his robes.

Lucius grasped his arm.

"Let go", Severus snarled. Lucius caught both of his wrists and slammed him against a wall, arms raised above his head. Severus winced in pain.

"What do you want?" he hissed. "To bed me, in compensation for all your fears? A blow job or two, for all your trouble?"

Lucius tightened his grasp, baring his teeth, but Severus wasn't impressed. He carried on with more venom still.

"You can do whatever you wish with me, I don't care, not any more, I don't need you, I won't waste myself on your behalf... Do anything you want with me, and let me go... LET ME GO!"

Severus squirmed furiously, and with a brisk kick in the shins, he was finally able to free himself. He made it to the night table and grabbed the silver dagger Antonio had used previously. Lucius froze. Severus' chest was heaving violently, and his black eyes fixed on Lucious. Slowly, he positioned the dagger's blade against his neck. His eyes were gleaming ominously.

"Don't think I won't do it..." he whispered. His voice had somehow lost its harsh quality. "Tonight I lost the single person left who was dear to me... and... and..."

Both men remained silent. The dagger being goblin-made, Lucius was unable to summon it with a spell. Severus' hand trembled slightly, but the blade was still held firmly against his jugular. The tension was at its highest point.

Little by little, the room became colder. A few seconds later, the whole room shook faintly. Severus scrutinized his surrounding nervously, trying to find the source of this bizarre phenomenon.

"What the..."

He hardly had the time to finish his sentence when a pearlish shadow jolted from the floor and rushed through him, making him plummet. Lucius dived to catch him before he crushed down, and reached him only just. The dagger had fallen from his hand, but a thin trail of blood was visible where his blade had lain moments before. Lucius looked down at Severus, who laid motionless in his arms.

The raven-haired man had fainted.

Lucius checked his pulse and temperature. Both were lower than average, but nothing a good lie-down couldn't mend. Drawing out his wand, he healed the benign cut on Severus' neck and brought him back to bed, before picking the dagger up and pocketing it. He then searched the entire room for anything Severus could use to maim himself, found nothing remotely dangerous. The mirror and glass panes, if broken, could become lethal, of course. Severus' leather belt might easily become a mean to hang himself... Lucius sighed. Nothing short from using a full body-bind curse could protect Severus from himself, but Lucius knew it would be like trying to put out fire with gasoline. He decided to go through the less pleasant option, and face his would-be lover once again.

He drew his wand once again and pointed it to Severus' chest.

"Enervate", he muttered. Severus started.

The skeletal man looked left and right before gazing up at Lucius, and down again. Lucius found it most peculiar. He'd never seen Severus so lost in his life. His eyes met Lucius' again, and he was startled by how innocent they appeared. Big, black eyes adorned by long black eyebrows, doe eyes, sad eyes, that pleaded for something, that spoke more than words ever did...

They screamed a single word.

Why?

Lucius had thought that, by now, Severus would've started crying his heart out. But he didn't. Instead, he settled into bed, shifting pillows and covers, before letting himself drop upon them without a word.

Lucius chanced a small caress upon Severus' cheek. When the latter didn't recoil, he patted gently Severus' head, and to his amazement, Severus repositioned himself to give Lucius better access. The blond man blushed a few raven locks away from Severus' ear and leaned forward.

"Do you feel able to force down a little food?" he asked. "I think you're coming up with a slight cold, and I don't want to risk feeding you potions with an empty stomach."

Severus nodded tiredly. Lucius called for some chicken soup, which was brought by a house elf a few minutes later. He carefully fed Severus, who was much to worn-out to do so himself. Heck, the man was even too tired to complain!

After a few spoonfuls, Severus shook his head, unable to swallow anymore. Lucius helped him take a small vial of Pepperup, before letting him rest. Severus subordination was starting to make him concerned.

"Severus?" he called quietly. Severus opened his eyes, letting out a soft groan.

"Do you fell alright?" Lucius asked, feeling awfully stupid. Of course he doesn't, you dimwit.

Severus nodded slowly, before pausing and shaking his head. Lucius took his bony hand into his and brought it to his lips, kissing it. To his surprise, Severus curled into a foetal position and started shivering, clenching his eyes closed. Lucius was sure he was fighting back tears.

"Why... did he come back?" Severus uttered shakily. "Why... did he come back... after all these years... just to leave..."

Lucius observed Severus attentively. Small beads of sweat were materializing upon his forehead. He was quivering very slightly, and his gaze was unfocused. The blond man pressed the back of his hand onto his patient's cheek. It was burning.

Lucius cursed himself for giving Severus Pepperup without adapting the dose. Due to his extremely light weight, the man was bound to develop a fever because of the relatively large amount he had gulped down. With a sigh, Lucius gathered Severus in his arms and carried him to the bathroom and undressed both of them with a wave of his wand. He then prepared an ice cold bath for them both, determined not to let Severus alone in the tub, for fear of his falling unconscious or even drowning. However, before sinking into the water himself, he cast on his body what his Healing professors called an E.T.T.E.C., an Extreme Temperature Tolerance Enhancing Charm, used for working with patients in need for freezing or burning environments in order to be cured. He remembered the first one he had ever cast, for entering a furnace in which an old warlock had been placed to get rid of severe skin infections caused by Spattergroit. Rustic, yet efficient.

The water he knew was now about at 16°C felt like room temperature to him. He made Severus rest upon his body, head leaning onto his shoulder. The dark man first relaxed into the invitingly refreshing water, but after five minutes began shivering. Lucius cast a warming charm on the water and cancelled the E.T.T.E.C. in order to check whether its temperature was right or not, for a normal human being, that is.

Satisfied, he dedicated himself to caressing the long black mane that now fell upon his torso. Severus curled against him, now craving for body warmth. Lucius tilted his head up against the porcelain. It felt heavenly.

Severus was drowsing, his bony frame covering Lucius' muscular one. With a small smirk, the latter ran his fingertip over each patch of bare skin, each hollow, each protruding bone he could reach. When his hand sneakily slithered lower to reach the one piece of flesh Severus couldn't thin, he heard a small cry of plea.

"Don't..." Severus begged feebly. "Please don't..."

Lucius wanted to ask why, why he couldn't prove his adoration to such a pure, godly body. Severus answered him with great difficulty.

"An... Antonio... not yet..."

Lucius blanched. He did it again. He had demonstrated yet again how hideously self-centred he could be... Just after his first realization, after all his resolutions...

Without being aware of it, Lucius was cradling Severus against him, his hands holding Severus' head upon his shoulder. He felt lost, completely lost. Antonio had been for him, too, some kind of fatherly figure he could rely on. All of a sudden, the whole weigh of his lost collapsed on him, and he started crying.

Quietly, at first. He cried because he was alone with Severus and all he seemed able to do was worsening his state. A little harder, because he wanted to understand Severus better and the only person who could have helped him understand the dark man had just kicked the bucket. Sobs came when he realized how much he wanted to be loved, but how close he was to losing everything. He had a wonderful wife who was beautiful and intelligent at the same time, and a son that represented all his pride. But all he ever did was spend hours conquering the magical world, and by the time he was done, his darling Narcissa had found occupations of her own and his cherished son grown too much for Lucius to take him on his lap.

He pressed his wet lips against Severus' temple, whispering, as though to reassure himself, "It's alright... Everything is going to be alright..."

Severus was speechless.

Never had he witnessed Lucius being so gauche. His eyes filled with tears, too, but he tried to hold them back, if only to remain strong enough to support his friend.

My friend.

Could he ever consider Lucius a friend again? The word tasted wrong on his tongue and troubled his mind. They had been through too much to be "friends".

Ex- lovers?

He didn't want to think about it that way. It sounded too final. Even after all Lucius had done to him, a part of him knew it hadn't been on purpose, and didn't want to let go. The sole idea of leaving Lucius forever made his chest lurch.

Maybe Antonio was right... Maybe holding a grudge for this long was wrong...

Severus lifted his chin and, as slow as his pounding heart allowed him, he approached his lips to Lucius, startling him.

It didn't take long for him to respond, however.

The kiss deepened, and Severus bent forward lazily, his long arms tangling behind Lucius' back. Lucius lifted Severus' slender body out of the water effortlessly before ending the kiss.

"We'd better dry ourselves before one of us catches death..." he muttered. Severus nodded.

A simple spell would have sufficed, of course, but where would've all the fun been?

Lucius wrapped himself into a large, fluffy white towel and sat upon the ceramic floor, inviting Severus to sit in between his spread legs. Severus did so, letting himself slide onto Lucius soaking body. Pale golden strands entwined with inky black ones. Lucius enveloped them both with the towel and wiped Severus vigorously, from chest to stomach, and stopped.

He rubbed Severus' hips timidly, then proceeded under his navel, but didn't dare go nearer the other man's... more interesting regions. Severus didn't encourage him. Lucius understood.

When both were done drying themselves, Lucius led Severus back to bed and asked for him to wear pyjamas, instead of sleeping naked, if only to prevent his fever from worsening.

The stubborn man sniffed disdainfully at the garments, but accepted them none of the less. Lucius sneered. He knew about Severus' habit to sleep in the bluff, however cold it was.

As the thin man sled under the heavy covers, Lucius kissed his forehead before going to the door.

"I have to business to attend to, Severus. Please excuse my absence for an hour or so", he said resolvedly. Severus nodded silently. Lucius carried on in humbler tones.

"Would you... consent to let me sleep... in your bed?"

Severus smirked slightly.

"It is your home, Lucius", he started, "and it would be... my pleasure if you were to join me later on."

Lucius hoped his jubilation wasn't as apparent as he thought it was.

"I won't be long", he promised, and with that he left the room with a slight spring in his step.

The small office was covered with a thick layer of dust, and Lucius' shoes were tolling bunnies of the same nature. The house elves had been ordered to leave the room as it was, ever since its owner had passed away. Only a large portrait of said person animated the room. It was a woman, more of a goddess really, with china white skin and curly tresses of pure gold outlining her clever face and almond sapphire eyes. She was the icon of serenity, studying Lucius with a broad smile through half lidded gaze. Lucius straightened himself before her.

"Mother", he inquired, "I'm in the need for your help."

The woman quirked an elegant eyebrow.

"My son, how could I be of any use to you, after you've grown up into the superb young man you now are?" she teased. Lucius turned pink at the complement.

"Ahem... As you very well know, you are the only soul aware of occurrence in Malfoy Manor."

The lady giggled.

"I very rightly am, my darling, and might I add I've found you clumsy enough around our good friend Severus", she said with eyes full of mirth.

"Mother!" Lucius cried, scandalized.

"One passes eternity like one can, Lucius, and to get to the point, I am very well aware of the ghost who gave you quite a shock, actually... He only just arrived a few hours ago, and has kept me company for the better part of the afternoon."

"You already know who assaulted Severus?" Lucius asked, impressed.

"Of course I do. If you would just follow me, Signor."

Lucius' mother ethereal form walked out of the portrait, leading another ghost by the hand.

Lucius couldn't believe his eyes.

"Buona tarde, Signor Malfoy."

A.N.: I do declare, there are some characters I just can't let go... My bad, my bad...

I wanted to, first of all, thank you all for reading and reviewing, then ask you whether you liked the previous chapter's "bonus" part, because I'm thinking about carrying on in the next ones, with Severus and Lucius. Please tell me what you think about it. Like it? Hate it? Just tell me, I don't bite (well, rarely).

Arrivederci,

Princesse Sarah