A/N: This chapter was posted in a hurry. Don't be surprised if it ends up being revised in the near future.

The song that appears in this chapter is "Possession" by Sarah McLachlan. The inspiration from this chapter came from "Until the End of the World" by U2 and "Sweetest Perfection" by Depeche Mode.

Thanks so much to everyone who continues to review this story. Reviews encourage me to dust off my keyboard and get back to writing, so please keep them coming.

The sound of glass breaking is followed by a tense silence and a withering stare from Gabriel. "Sorry," Michael apologizes rather lamely, looking at the remnants of a vial of potion that had shattered on the floor of Lucius' bedroom. Gabriel closes his eyes and takes three deep breaths before he explodes.

"Get out, all of you! I am tired of tripping over all of you any time I want to get near my patient."

"But—" Sebastian begins.

"No, Sebastian, I know that you are all concerned about Lucius, but at this rate, your concern will kill him. Get out!"

"But—" Lestrange starts.

"You can come back in the morning. By then, I will have given Lucius all of the potions we need and none of you will be able to get in the way."

"I thought you weren't supposed to be giving him any potions but the ones Weasley sent over," Lestrange says, trying to read the label of the smashed vial.

"These are clarifying potions. They will remove the last traces of the other potions I've given to Lucius—unless you want to wait a week for them all to clear out of his system. Then, I can give him Miss Weasley's potions," Gabriel explains, vanishing the bits of glass with a wave of his wand.

"But, Gabriel—" James tries.

"Stay if you'd like, but I will bite the next person who drops anything or gets in my way." Gabriel snarls a little, showing just enough of his eyeteeth to give his threat some weight. Harry, Sebastian, James and Michael exchange tired and nervous looks. "Fine," Evan agrees. "We shall leave you to it. I think we could all use some sleep anyway," he says.

There is no sleeping for Harry. He spends an hour staring at the canopy of the bed and then takes to pacing. After a while, he begins to count his steps. At the three hundredth step, there is a knock on his door.

"Come in." James opens Harry's door with a flourish.

"Can't sleep either, can you?" he asks. Harry shakes his head.

"Come on, you," Michael says, grabbing Harry by the hand.

"What gives?" Harry asks.

"We are going out," Michael says.

"We are?" Harry asks, bemused.

"None of us can sleep and Gabriel has just forbidden us, on pain of a very gory death, to enter Lucius' room until tomorrow morning, so we have decided to leave the manor entirely," James explains.

"Dare I ask?"

"Clubbing," says Michael.

"I have nothing to wear," Harry protests. James smiles.

"I was hoping you would say that," the redhead says. Harry gets a sinking feeling in his stomach.

The five of them meet in Lucius' study. Rosier has the nerve to look quite refreshed and dapper in a slim-cut Muggle suit and a brocade vest. James and Michael are dressed as debauchery incarnate. Harry is wearing his favorite shirt with many zippers and a pair of matching pants that James had conjured up from seemingly nowhere. Sebastian looks as Harry has never seen him. Dressed as he was in a long white shirt with a leather corset over it, pants that Harry had a fleeting suspicion were painted on, and a pair of boots with high, slender heels and lots of straps and buckles, one glance at Sebastian causes Harry loses all ability to think as his supply of blood is rerouted from his brain.

It seemed like a travesty to call him "Angel," but never had he looked less like what Harry had come to know as "Sebastian."

"Shall we?" Sebastian asks, tossing floo powder into the fireplace. Before anyone can reply, he steps through and vanishes.

"Did everyone just see what I thought I just saw?" Michael asks, after a moment of very stunned silence.

"Sebastian dressed to get molested? Yeah, I think we all saw that," James says with a grin. Harry sighs.

"How am I supposed to chaperone that?" he asks, with a glance at Shadow, who looks astonished for what Harry is sure is the first time in his life.

"I think you'll need to spank him for bad behavior," says James, still grinning. Harry glares at him.

"You are so very unhelpful."

"I do try."

xxxxxxxx

Sebastian is dancing… or at least that's what Harry chooses to call it when Sebastian is swaying his hips in time to the music. Sebastian is also singing in a much lower voice than Harry was used to. His voice is husky, intimate, and it did nothing to help Harry's concentration, but it isn't Harry that Sebastian is focusing on.

Sebastian crooks a finger in invitation to Shadow, who, unable to refuse, joins Sebastian on the dance floor. Sebastian's arms encircle around Shadow's neck, hips still grinding, his lips close to Shadow's ear as he sang along to the music in the club:

"And I would be the one
To hold you down
Kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away"

Harry feels for Rosier as he watches Sebastian work on him. It was the most transparent Rosier has ever been, his expressions playing across his face for anyone to read: lust, yearning, pain. One of Sebastian's ungloved hands slides into Rosier's hair. With the fingers of his other hand, Sebastian traces the curve of Shadow's jaw. Shadow looks physically pained as Sebastian touches him. His gaze turns to a look of pure worship as Sebastian's fingers brush against his lips.

"Nothing stands between us here and I won't be denied…"

Rosier leans forward and kisses Sebastian as if he has wanted to do it his entire life. Maybe he has. Harry watches as Sebastian first tenses and then melts into Rosier's kiss. Slowly, almost reluctantly, Shadow releases Sebastian and vanishes into the crowd.

"And after I wipe away your tears, just close your eyes…"

"Watch Sebastian," Harry calls to James as he dives into the crowd after Shadow. He finds Shadow in the alley directly behind the club. Thinking that Shadow is about to apparate, Harry tenses.
Instead, Evan simply collapses against a wall. He changes several times in quick succession: male, female, young, old, and finally back to himself. He looks calmer, but he is breathing harder than normal.

"Are you ok? Do you need to go to a doctor?"

"What?" Shadow asks, looking at Harry blankly. "Oh. No, changing so quickly in succession is uncomfortable. It also requires a lot of focus. It calms me down when I get…overexcited," he explains.

"I see. Is that what happened just now? Sebastian got you… overexcited?" Damn, Harry thinks, that was more awkward than the eunuch comment.

"He already has me wrapped around his finger. He has all of us, really, but that wasn't enough. He had to prove it. He just had to. Damn him!" Harry admits Sebastian was cruel to expose so brutally what Rosier had taken such pains to hide—to lay his heart bare for everyone to see. Shadow undergoes another series of quick transformations. When he is himself again, he is shaking.

"Whoa," says Harry. "Don't do that again. It's scary." Shadow chuckles and nods in agreement "Now do you want to tell me what's going on or are we going to spend all night keeping the garbage company?" Harry asks, settling down next to Rosier. Rosier stares blankly at the wall in front of them for so long that Harry is starting to worry that something may be seriously wrong when Rosier finally speaks: "Did you ever want something so badly that you were terrified of what would happen if you ever got it?"

Harry nods and waits for Shadow to continue, but that seems to be all that Shadow has to say for the moment. Harry waits for a few minutes.

"You know, you're not going to taint him by loving him. His innocence—"

"Damn his innocence. I'm less worried about what I'll do to him than I am about what he'll do to me," Rosier says darkly.

"I was going to say a lot of his innocence is contrived."

"No, it isn't. It's that bitterness that's contrived. The iciness and the cool cynicism-- that's the contrivance. It's the mask Sebastian puts up to remind us that he's capable of taking care of himself. He pulled this little stunt now because angry at me."

"Angry at you for what?"

"Because he can't read me. Because I won't let him read me."

"Why?"

"All my life has been deception and secrecy. There's never been anyone in the world I couldn't deceive if I chose: children have taken me for their mothers, wives for their husbands, Voldemort for his followers. Sebastian is an empath and a Legilimens. There would be no keeping anything from him, once I let him in. He'll always know me."

"And you're afraid to let him in." Rosier nods. "Evan, the war is over. Voldemort is dead. You're not in danger anymore. Perhaps it is time that you let yourself be seen and known."

"What if he doesn't like what he sees?" Evan whispers. Harry reaches for his hand and squeezes it. Rosier returns the squeeze with a grip like iron.

"Have you thought about what you're going to do about Lucius?" Rosier asks, after a moment. Harry sighs.

"He wants me to be Draco's heir."

"It's what Draco wanted, isn't it?"

"I guess. He didn't even tell me what the brooch was about. He just gave it to me, said that he was giving up his birthright and asked me to wear it—for my own safety. He didn't mention that it was a contract."

"Would you have accepted it, if he had told you?"

"No, which is probably why he didn't say anything."

"What do you want?"

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it does. If you don't want to be the Malfoy heir, you could certainly argue that you were duped into accepting a contract unawares. If you do want to be the Malfoy heir, then all you have to do is accept Draco's gift and Lucius' hand."

"Like in marriage?"

"No, as in a handshake. It's the simplest way to conclude such an agreement: you shake on it. With the right exchange of words, it's magically and legally binding."

"What would it mean to be the Malfoy heir?"

"What does it mean to be the heir of any family? I'm sure that Lucius could fill you in on the specifics, but generally, you would be the public face of the Malfoy family and responsible for its honor, its properties, its wealth, and its continuation."

"If I refuse this offer, will Lucius ever speak to me again?"

"Of course he would. How else could he convince you to change your mind?"

"What are you two doing sitting in a pile of garbage?" Lestrange asks, looking absolutely baffled.

"Talking," Evan replies.

"Does trash make a particularly good audience?" Michael inquires, wrinkling his nose.

"I don't know, I always thought you were a good listener," Harry replies, teasing.

"In case you haven't noticed, your opinion on breeding is not worth considering, Potter. Your education in such matters is woefully inadequate. If you are quite done regaling the rubbish bins with tales of glory days, shall we get out of here? I'm having quite a hard time keeping an eye on both Angel and Baby."

"We'll be along in a minute," Evan says, standing. Michael nods and heads back into the club.

"You should tell Sebastian how you feel," Harry says, rising to his feet.

"And you should tell Lucius how you feel." Harry shoots Rosier a look of severe doubt. Rosier chuckles.

"If the war is over for me, then it's over for you, too," he says.

"Is that a threat?"

"Most definitely. If I have to move on, I'm going to drag you with me, kicking and screaming," Rosier promises.

"I think I liked you better when you were estranged," Harry replies with a bit of a frown. Rosier smiles.

The more reviews I get the faster I write. That's my theory, anyway. Shall we test it? Review, darlings!

Love,

J. Silver