"Is it my turn for a lecture?" Lucius sat back in his seat, crossing his long legs out in front of him. "Goody."
Thunder stormed across Snape's features, eyes flashing dangerously as he approached his friend, bending close and planting his hands on the arms of the chair. "What in Merlin's name are you doing? Do you have a death wish?"
Lucius sipped the drink he'd poured himself in anticipation of this conversation, unperturbed by the potion master's furor just a foot away. "It is completely consensual, Severus. I hardly have the girl in my dungeons- though I do plan to ask if she would indulge an old man with a game or two there. A change of venue is always nice."
"What do you think is going to happen when people find out?" The words were forced through a tight jaw, the chords of his throat harsh edges disappearing into the shadow of his collar. "And they will find out, Lucius, based on that little domestic scene I walked in on. What if Draco comes while you two are engaged? How do you think he will react?"
"We were hardly engaged in the library, Severus. Really, sit down. If you insist on having this discussion, we should at least be confortable."
The other man grudgingly took a seat across from his host.
"Now, what did Miss Granger say whilst you were interrogating her?"
Severus' eyes stared like the abyss for any sign of weakness or deceit. "That she was hurting herself before you made the gracious offer to do it for her."
His lips curled at that. "Yes. It was quite crude, her attempts at satisfaction. Using her wand to cut and burn, pounding her little fists into herself. She was missing at least half the picture in doing so. Oh, don't look at me like that. I did not pressure her, Severus. I made the offer one morning over a cup of tea and I did not mention it again until she came to me a week later. Nor," he continued at the narrowing of the other's eyes, "did I do anything to increase her turmoil. I informed her what she might expect and I gave her a bloody safeword as well."
Snape rubbed at drumming temples. "The girl needs a chance to heal, mind and body. You have not exactly been gentle with her. The injuries on her. I had assumed it was non consensual before she told me otherwise."
"You thought I would take such a chance? I may be frustrated and powerless, but even I know better than to take one of the heroes of the war by force, unwilling house guest or not." The blond shrugged with all the levity that came with whiskey. "It is what she craves."
"I'm sure that you are not at all dissuading those cravings. And that you will not hesitate to satisfy your own, even if that means leading her there yourself."
"Of course not." There was that damnable Malfoy smirk. "And she is aware. It's quite lovely, the blush darkening her cheeks whenever I give her a command. Especially the more degrading ones. She seems to enjoy dirty talk."
Snape Summoned the bottle to himself and poured himself a helping. "I do not need to hear all of this."
"No, but I thought you might enjoy it, hearing that the know-it-all Gryffindor is a dirty little slag for older men like us. You know…"
Oh, did Snape know. That sneakily offhand tone had been many the predecessor to some of his more foolish pursuits. "Absolutely not. The girl was my student little more than a year ago. And I will not be party to damaging her further."
"Spoilsport."
They drank in silence for a moment, both men staring into the void as he considered his own mind. When Lucius' cultured voice broke through, it was measured and soft. "I am trying to go about this the right way, Severus, but it has been quite some time since I introduced a partner to anything, let alone one so young."
"You know Draco will be furious when he learns; he will feel personally affronted as he battled his own loathed crush on the girl for years." Snape snorted. "He tormented her especially at times for daring to be desirable despite her heritage. That hatred may transfer to you, at least in part."
Lucius laughed bitterly, twirling his tumbler and watching golden light dance and refract. "My son has abandoned me for his mother and a place in a society that may end up barely tolerating him as long as he kowtows to the new regime." He side eyed his friend. "I am alone, Severus. My mistakes have cost me my wife and reduced my presence in Wizarding society to a mere shadow. The time the Dark Lord occupied my home has wreaked havoc on me, and that was after the ravages of Azkaban. The girl is here. She is available and isolated and in need of something herself. I am not a saint. Whether this is good for her or not is not my concern; she is an adult by any legal definition and she has agreed to engage with me of her own will. So yes, I plan to take full advantage of the opportunity to bathe myself in something other than misery."
"There are other options."
"Yes, but none are nearly as lovely as the little thing willing to crawl to me and suck my cock." His sharp grin punctuated the space between them so that Severus scowled. "You're not even the slightest bit curious?"
Snape glared over his drink. "When I first met Miss Granger she was a buck toothed preteen with a flat chest and an overly eager disposition"
"And when I first met you you were a scrawny little eleven year old who was willing to talk through fire to please his prefects." Said former-prefect sipped his whiskey with the main of a cat with cream. "I did not hold that against you, did I?"
A ruddy blush rose to Snape's sallow cheeks. "There are six years between us, Lucius. Granger is young enough to be my daughter."
"You've slept with women significantly younger than yourself before-"
"Would you please stop this."
The teasing mirth leaked from Lucius' face until he was left with an emptiness that echoed through the manor. "If you are so concerned then you should visit more regularly. Perhaps with another person around I will be less inclined to seek out her company."
"Is that what this is all about?" Snape frowned, the contrition in his voice now gone. "You are not just alone; you're lonely." He wiped a hand over tired eyes. "Very well. I shall visit at least once a week. Saturday evenings? I have no staff meetings planned those days."
"You're still Headmaster?"
Snape nodded. "Until the break, if not for the remainder of the school year. Minerva wishes to preserve what stability she can. Merlin, this is all a mess."
"One of our own making." The warmth of the whiskey was bleeding through some of the icy barrier Lucius swathed over himself, and with it he could peer into the shallows of the thoughts usually kept at a distance. "We were fools to ever willingly push toward a war of this magnitude rather than find some peaceful alternative we could live with."
"Anyone may see into the past," began Snape, and Lucius joined in for the rest, "but only those gifted See into the future."
"Yes, well. It shouldn't take a seer to See following a madman leads to ruin." He swallowed the rest of his drink and Summoned the bottle. "Would you care for another?"
