Severus turned to his Prince warily, almost scared to look at him. For it could only be his sub that had caused the unnatural stillness that had swept the busy ballroom.
"You dare," Dorian hissed to the man standing with his arms wrapped around Severus, "to lust after what belongs to me?"
Barton looked nervously up at Severus but quickly realized that he would get no help from the taciturn man. He let go of the taller man and took a hasty step away from the potions master.
Dorian continued, ignoring the pathetic attempt at placating his anger. As if stepping aside now would make up for the grievous fault the man had committed. "You dare to touch my property?"
Severus hid a wince. This would not end well. His sub was bloody well furious about something and would undoubtedly not calm down until he had taken it out on some hapless person. Hopefully it would not be himself.
"My Prince, I-I—"
"This man is mine—my own. Mine!"
The soldiers backed away nervously, trying to avoid any stray spell fire. They pushed as far away as they could, crowding each other into the corners and leaving a large gap around the Prince's lover and the other soldier.
Severus and Barton were left alone to face the Prince's wrath.
"How long have you been fucking him Severus?" he demanded, turning his burning eyes to his Master.
"My Prince…" Severus began, at a loss for words. "I have never met this man before this evening. I have never touched him before."
"Do you consort with all of your lovers before your Prince's very eyes?" Dorian asked scathingly. "Are you so secure in your position that you think to display your dalliances before me?"
Barton spoke up, perhaps believing honesty to be his best defense at this point. "We have never had sex, my Prince."
"Do not presume to address me. You are no soldier of mine."
"The boy speaks the truth, Prince," Severus said, trying to sort out how he had gotten into this mess in the first place.
"I can smell his desire, I can smell his lust. The boy reeks of it," Dorian snapped. "His desires are rolling off of him, infecting the room with his poison. The room stinks of his licentiousness." He was nearly hissing by the end, he was so furious.
"My Prince," Severus nearly begged, "you must believe me. I have never touched this man before this very moment."
"This creature dares to touch my mate before my very eyes and you have the audacity to renounce him? I know what stands before me Snape, and I know when my mate tries to play me for a fool."
"My Prince," Barton begged, "you must believe us. We are not lovers."
"In truth, I do not even know his name," Severus added, growing frustrated. "He sought me out for a dance, nothing more."
"If you would dangle your lovers before me then I shall do so as well," Dorian announced bitterly, drawing his wand and hissing a spell.
Barton's body was suddenly snapped up off the ground, his feet dangling above their heads. The soldiers held back gasps as they saw the thick rope twisted around the man's neck as his legs kicking wildly in a desperate effort to find the ground.
Severus stared at the dangling man in horror for a moment, knowing full well that the boy would die for the simple fact that he had an inopportune crush and had displayed it at the wrong time. "My Prince, I swear that I have never touched him. Please do not kill him for a school boy crush."
Dorian turned his icy gaze to Severus, an unreadable expression in his eyes for a moment before it was replaced by cold anger. "Crucio."
Severus stared at him in disbelief for a moment before the pain grew too great. He fell to the floor in convulsions, biting back his screams.
The curse lifted mercifully quickly.
The feet above him twitched, still seeking purchase.
"My Lord, please," Lady Barton foolishly begged Voldemort, desperate to protect her son. "Surely my son did not mean to offend."
Lord Voldemort looked at her dispassionately, and then turned to the still twitching boy. He had ordered his soldiers, on the very night that Dorian had demanded Severus from him, that they were not to touch the potions master.
He had not meant it quite so literally at the time, but once the order had been given, and the whelp had dared to disobey, he had no choice but to support his ally's decision for the punishment.
Even if he had disagreed though, he would never have shown it publicly. They needed to present a united front. Their position was more secure than it had been in years, but they could still fail.
"Please!" she begged again.
Voldemort shook himself from his thoughts and sneered at the woman and her idiot son. How dare the impudent woman attempt to turn one leader against the other? The boy's life was nearly spent anyway. He lifted his wand and added another length of rope around his neck, choking the life out of him more quickly.
Dorian stepped closer to Severus' side, releasing his sensual pull entirely for the first time in his life. The ballroom was flooded with nearly blinding lust.
"You belong to me," he said firmly.
Severus could barely crawl his way through his haze. He simply pulled himself to his knees and bowed his head. "Always, my Prince."
Ginevra stepped forward slowly, shaking her newly blond curls to dispel the heady lust that her brother had released onto the room. "Brother."
Dorian swung his gaze to her for a moment. He looked surprised to see her there.
"Perhaps you should take your mate back to your rooms."
Dorian stared at her blankly for a moment then nodded. He glared once more at his Master, giving him the silent order to follow. Without a word, he turned and left the ballroom.
Draco rushed to his godfather's side, desperate to help him up. "Severus, are you alright?"
Severus waved him away urgently before Draco could reach him. "Don't touch me," he said hoarsely. "He'll be able to tell if your scent is on me."
"You're hurt. Let Ava tend to you."
"Get away from me you stupid boy! This will seem merciful in comparison to his wrath if I should go to him with another's scent on me—male or female."
"Severus, let us help you!" Draco argued, desperately fighting back tears.
"I need to go to him."
"He'll kill you!"
"He's over his anger. He needs to calm down, away from people. I must go to him."
"Sev—"
"I will not test his anger again tonight!" Severus said in a near shout. He pushed himself to his feet and swayed for a moment, trying to ignore the feet that dangled in front of his face.
They no longer twitched.
He turned slowly and followed his Prince.
Bella approached Draco, who stared after his godfather in shock. "Come away, dear. Come away."
Rodolphus stood at his other side, helping him to withdraw to a more private corner. "Your godfather can take care of himself. You know that our Prince would never harm him irreparably, regardless of his fury."
Draco allowed himself to be led away in shocked silence.
Remus fought his way to Lucius' side, and the two pushed over next to Lord Voldemort. The three withdrew quickly to a side room, leaving the other Elite to hold the celebration together in their absence.
"Something is wrong with him," Remus said quietly.
"Clearly," Lucius snapped.
"No—something is really wrong. He has never hurt Severus before. Not in any way. For Merlin's sake—he's never even topped before! He is always so completely submissive in everything with Severus. To use a pain curse on him…"
"The boy might have a temper at times but he has never been so irrational before," Voldemort agreed.
"You agree that something was off about that?" Remus said quickly.
"To hang a boy for his crush?" Lucius asked incredulously. "How can that be anything but completely irrational?"
"No, it wasn't that which surprised me," Voldemort said, drawing a quick nod from Remus in agreement and a look of blank shock from Lucius. "It was the way that he ignored every word that Severus said. He has never before discounted him like that. Did his father ever display similar characteristics?"
"Somewhat," Remus said, buried deep in thought as he tried to recall the events of nearly nineteen years ago. "Around a year or so before Lily became pregnant with Dorian, Sirius became completely irrational. He couldn't tolerate her being away from him and he would become violent if she was near any other people—men or women. He forced her to move out of her home with James and into his manor. Once she was pregnant though, he calmed down and allowed her to return to James."
"How the hell did that fool ever think the Prince to be his son?" Lucius asked incredulously.
"When she returned she 'made up' with James. He believed the child to be from that union."
"More fool, he," Lucius muttered.
"Never underestimate the power of denial," Remus said, smirking.
"But Severus is a man. Dorian cannot possibly be feeling the call to breed," Voldemort pointed out.
Remus sighed. "I fear that, like many other magical creatures, Dorian may be able to bear children."
"Are you serious?" Lucius asked incredulously.
"I have heard rumor of that before, but no firm fact. Do you think it true?" Voldemort asked.
"I'm nearly certain. It is rare, and appears to come only in males who are extremely powerful and those who are solely attracted to males. A defense mechanism, as it were, to protect the race from extinction."
"Is Severus aware of this?"
"Yes. I informed him of my fears shortly after their first time together. He performs the appropriate charms every week to ensure that he could not impregnate Dorian. We weren't certain if Dorian could get pregnant, but neither of us wanted to find out the truth through trial and error, especially while we are at war."
"Even still, the Prince would be the one breeding. To become so blindingly protective of his mate is incomprehensible," Lucius argued. "It's not like Severus could get pregnant by a union with another man."
"You must understand, Dorian is one of the last Incubi-human hybrids. His behavior has no recorded precedent to compare it to. To an extent, I can compare it to his father's behavior but even that often fails due to the differences in their sexual orientation and desires."
"How old was Sirius when this happened?"
"A few years older than Dorian is now. I fear that the recent upheavals of their relationship, the extended period of starvation earlier in the summer when he could not feed, and the stress of their new positions might have spurred an early onset in Dorian.
"Now that I think of it," Remus continued, "it is not surprising that his incubus side is pushing him to breed, to reestablish his position and to secure the future of his kind. Given the wild vacillations in his recent behavior, the possibility is looking more and more likely. Not even Severus has been able to calm him sometimes, and he has needed to feed more than he did even six months ago."
"A defense mechanism to firmly establish Severus as his mate?" Voldemort confirmed.
"As well as I can tell. It seems a bit early for him to be breeding but given recent events, it makes sense. I really don't know though. It could be something completely different. No one really knows about any of this. We are walking into it blind."
"Is Severus in danger?" Voldemort asked.
"As far as I can tell, no. I believe we should go to their private rooms and check on them. Perhaps we can help to get Dorian back under control."
"I must go and check on my son. He was quite shaken," Lucius said, clearly worried about Draco's reaction to the recent events.
"Go. We will check on the Prince's progress. Come to his rooms when you are finished with young Malfoy. Send him back to your Manor when he has calmed down," Voldemort ordered.
Lucius gave a shaky smile. "I would never dream of bringing my son anywhere near the Prince while he is in the mood that he is. I will follow you shortly. My Lord," he murmured, bowing low before leaving the room in search of his son.
"Shall we?" Remus asked nervously.
The two walked quickly toward the Prince's private rooms, their fear growing as they were immersed in the icy anger that had infiltrated the halls surrounding the Prince.
Remus looked up at Voldemort for a quick moment in confirmation that they were both prepared for whatever they might find behind the door.
Voldemort gave a slight nod, and stared steadily at the door, waiting for Remus to open it.
Remus pushed the door open.
They both stopped in horror at the sight before them.
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A/N: the "never underestimate the power of denial" line is from American Beauty—or at least a line almost exactly like it.
Does anyone have an opinion on whether or not Dorian should get pregnant? I'm leaning toward no, simply because this wasn't cut out to be a m-preg fic. Yes, it discusses it, but that wasn't going to be the focus. If anyone has an opinion, let me know.