Severus & Lucius

A man clothed in all black stands by the windowsill at midnight. He's anxious, obviously. For what? He moves from the window and back to his desk. He nervously fumbles with a vial of an unknown liquid. His mind, however, is very far off. In his minds eye, he sees himself, but not alone as he is now, but accompanied by another man. Long, platinum blonde hair falls down his back and on his broad shoulders like a seductive silk waterfall. In comparison of physical features, he is much lighter than his seemingly shadowy friend, the black clothed man. The man in all black has black hair that hangs...

Innocently, Elsbet steps out from behind Malfoy and goes to the man she loves most in all the world, wraps her arms around him and hugs him tightly. He looks down at her, grateful someone--Lupin--covered her with his jacket, and hugs her to him. He notices the Yew wand behind her ear and wants to ask about it, but she lifts her gaze to him and reaches up a delicate hand to caress his face. "Renich i lú i erui govannem?" she asks, and it takes him several seconds to realize what she's asking. Oh yes, he remembers vividly the day they met. "Nauthannen i ned ôl reniannen," he tells her, and...

Elsbet crawls on her hands and knees through the bushes, with absolutely no idea where she's going. Well, her heart knows. Her heart tells her to keep going, no matter how prickly the ground is, no matter how thirsty or hungry she is, or how tired she is. There is time for drinking and eating and sleeping and healing after she has done what she has to do. As she crawls through the leaf-litter and sharp rocks, she puts her right hand down hard on something sharp, and it cuts her, cuts her deep. She cries out and jerks back, knocking her stick out from behind her ear where she'd put it for safekeeping....

As soon as they leave the Hall of Chronicles, the birds take wing toward the white-stone home of Brother Perdurabo. Except, that is, for Alphion. Snape watches him peel away from the flock and head north. You are not accompanying us to Ironwood? he asks Cambion's brother, and the raven replies, I tell my kin you know now. He feels Elsbet and Malfoy behind him, feels their gentle touches, and watches until the raven disappears from sight.

Severus? Malfoy thinks, resting his hand on Snape's shoulder, and the ebon-haired wizard turns slowly to his partners. There is much more to that bird than...

As Remus has his experience, Tonks has hers...

Tonks smiles up at the figure at the top of her fountain. It's a dancer, slender, elegant, and graceful; Tonks laughs because the dancer's face and hair resemble hers, and she is none of those things. She watches a butterfly, ghostly white and fragile, alight on a dry patch on the rim of the fountain. "Wotcher, flutterby," she says softly, then laughs when the tiny thing flits up and lands on her shoulder. It's there for only a second or two, just long enough to uncoil its tongue, then coil it up again. She barely has time to smile at it and then...

Just for us...

Malfoy pulls Snape to him and slides his free hand down to the Dark wizard's pants. He plays with the top button and Snape smiles wickedly, saying, "so eager, Lucius...shall I make you work for it? Or, shall I be merciful and give it to you?" Malfoy's eyes flick downwards, then back up to Snape's, and an impish grin speads across his lips. "Well, it seems to me my King, that you're just as eager as I," he says, and Snape turns his head slightly away from his lover. He tells him, "that may be, my gentle healer, but you know I can restrain myself," and Malfoy lets his fingers graze...

Malfoy's blood strikes the parchment and there is a very loud hiss, like icy water on a red-hot hotplate, and the crimson fluid seems to boil. They are alarmed, of course, but the Chronicler laughs. "Ah, I nearly forgot! You are part of the Silhouettes, Lucius, yes?" Malfoy nods, not taking his eyes away from the sight, and tells the Chronicler that The Great Mother gave him part of her heart. Everyone relaxes once the parchment sorts out the differences in Malfoy's blood, and like a flash-fire, his family tree spreads out over the parchment. He watches as the name of Brutus Malfoy appears...

Elsbet feels her wizards' mental call, and the giggle she gives as she leaves Layne's new room tells him and Therion all they need to know. She hurries up the stairs and into the luxurious bathroom, and finds her beloved wizards waiting patiently for her. She can feel the zing of anticipation in the air and she knows they have something special planned. "Such a lovely sight," she says, gazing at their naked bodies slick with water, and she smiles at the slight blush that rises in their faces. They turn their backs to her almost boyishly, glance at each other, back at her, then at each other...

He's so relaxed that he doesn't even feel Malfoy prick his finger, and his blood has hit the parchment by the time the tiny wound is healed. That drop of blood flattens out and soaks into the parchment, then suddenly, tiny avian shapes spread up and out, and everywhere they flit appears information. The birds gather around Therion's feet to watch, and chatter excitedly to each other. "Hmmm..." he says, "so it is true." The little tribe gathers closer to him as he reaches up and taps the parchment. "It wasn't always Bonecastle. See here? Eoward Castlemount wed Egrane Bonesteel. They had no children,...

Narcissa hears Bellatrix cackling downstairs, and doesn't want to know what has brought her sister such amusement. Quickly, quietly, she packs an emergency bag, then stuffs it into a safe hiding place. She wants to delay her departure for as long as she can; she fears that if she leaves too soon, Snape will be exposed, and her son will be in even greater danger. She wonders where Lucius is right now and what he's doing, and if he thinks of her. She wonders too if they truly are lovers, Snape and Lucius, and if they are, what would she have done if she had caught them together...the idea does...

After Snape had shut the door, Malfoy seemed as if he was going to go and bring her back. Snape took his seat and Malfoy reluctantly finally sat down, and they began their breakfast.

They eat in silence, until Malfoy can't take it anymore. "She's hurting, Severus, why did you let her go?" Snape sighs and tells him as gently as he can, "because she needs healing that only the horses can give." Malfoy closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, then takes a bite of bacon. Remus smiles to himself and muses about how extraordinary it is that someone who had caused so much pain for so many now can not...

When Malfoy emerges he catches Snape's eye, but before he can communicate anything to his Dark lover, Elsbet happily wraps her arms around him and asks if they had a nice chat. He forces the best smile he can muster and tells her that they did, and he knows what he, Snape, Therion and Layne are doing. Keeping Ellie, Remus and Tonks ignorant of the Old Man's fate. In a way, they are his Secret Keepers, and it hurts. Being open-hearted hurts...he remembers how it was when he felt nothing for anyone but his wife and child. It was so much easier then...he kisses the top of Elsbet's head and hugs...

Remus and Tonks find the Teller's Court full of music, with Dance and Sing in the center, entertaining those gathered. They are graceful, their movements reflecting both the appreciation of the musicians' skills, and their love for each other. As the werewolf and his Auror wife take the space Snape and Malfoy made for them, the performance ends, and Dance and Sing bow to one another. For some reason, there seems to be a strange air of discomfort, and the four companions look at each other questioningly. As Snape is about to speak, they hear shouting from behind them and the Dark wizard is the...