Path of the serpent

Title: Path of the serpent
Author: ejab
Pairing: SS/LM with a little SS/RL and SS/DM on the side
Rating: story is slash and NC-17
Feedback: oh yes, highly appreciated
Disclaimer: according to the money I DON'T have, J.K. Rowling still owns these boys.
Warnings: none here
Category: all over the place
Summary: Lucius tricks Severus by using his own son
A/N: beta was underlucius. All remaining mistakes are mine.
25/?

After a gruesome night in which the pain prevented Draco from getting much sleep, if any at all, his father finally gave his permission and Narcissa cured her son's body with magic. She had her doubts about his mental health though. Father and son had had one brief private conversation just before Draco was put on the train and ever since then her son had been remarkably silent and withdrawn. Draco just smiled at her faintly and left.

The minute he arrived at Hogwarts he did as his father had ordered him to do and walked to the dungeons. Only to find his Head of House just putting on his outher robes in order to be dressed for dinner.

"Ah, Draco, I take it you had a satisfactory holiday?" Snape greeted him with a smile and opened his arms. But in stead of coming in for physical contact (as he would have done previously), Draco stepped back.

"Draco?" The potions master frowned.

"I-I'm sorry, sir. It's just that…" Draco took a deep breath in search for strength, "… my father has promised to disown me if I ever let you touch me again. And that would only be the beginning…" The boy was obviously very scared. And knowing Lucius, rightfully so.

"I see." Severus carefully hid the smile that threatened to creep up. Excellent! So Lucius knew!

"He was upset then, was he?"

"Um… that would be an understatement, sir."

"Did he harm you?" Snape stayed focussed on buttoning his robe.

"Not … lastingly, sir," Draco was not about to give any details. He was sure his Head of House would get the idea anyway.

"I see," Snape said again, now giving his pupil a stoic glare. "Do you need something for the pain?"

"That will not be necessary, sir. You do understand that I no longer will be able to become your apprentice?"

"Yes, and what a shame that is… well, you better head back to the Great Hall, Draco. Dinner is about to be served and you don't want to be late for that. Go and see your friends."

There was a dismissal if there ever was one! No encouraging words, no indication the man even really cared about what had happened to him or that his dreams for the future just were smashed to pieces… nothing! Just 'go and see your friends'…

Draco gave his Head of House a pained look of disbelief before he left for the door. Then he stopped and turned on his heels.

"You knew, didn't you?" He had to know. He just had to know. Even if it meant getting hurt.

"What?" The potions master turned to face him in all innocence.

"That my father would find out."

"That was just a matter of time and something I warned you about upfront," Snape reminded him in a bored tone.

Draco felt a cold knot form in his stomach when another realisation dawned on him. "You did it on purpose! You marked me deliberately, knowing he would see and start aski-"

"A TRUE Slytherin would never let his hormones get the best of him, Draco," the potions master reprimanded him sharply. "Consider it a lesson. I could have had you killed if I had wanted to. Kindly remember that."

"A LESSON? This was all about teaching me a lesson?" Draco's mouth fell open while he stared at his Head of House in complete disbelief and shock. "You played with my feelings just to teach me a lesson?" Merlin, that hurt!

"Did you, for even one minute, ever truly stop to consider what your future will hold for you? Did you?" Snape stalked closer and whispered rather threateningly in his left ear. "What the name Malfoy truly STANDS for? Well? Have you? Have you any idea how many people will happily go out of their way to try and destroy you, just because you ARE a Malfoy? And please remember that there is also a Dark Lord who will want you to join him soon, expects it even. How are you ever going to survive if you are not able to control even such a minor distraction as hormones? No - I don't want to hear another word from you. Remember what I just said and think it over carefully. THEN you may come and visit me again. Dismissed." The potions master turned his back on Draco and disappeared in his private quarters. Draco, feeling sick to his stomach by now, slowly regained his posture and left, confused about how he should feel about all of this.

And while Draco made his way back to his fellow housemates, Snape ran his hands over his face and sighed. The last thing he wanted was for Draco to join The Dark Lord but would there be a way out for the boy? He seriously doubted that. The fact Luc Lucius hadn't betrayed HIM to The Dark Lord did not indicate that the man had also lost his beliefs - he just wasn't prepared to pay the price by handing over his lover to his Master. In his optimistic moments Severus would call that a true miracle but during his darker moments it was probably just cold calculation.

It would mean losing his lover. And a Malfoy never gave up what was his. Not willingly or without a very handsome compensation. A scary thought. They would definitely have to talk a bit more on this subject. Right now he had to face another horror - children and colleagues.

Monday went by without much happening. Tuesday was almost the same. The only memorable incident was Flitwick's lack of height finally getting the better of him. The stupid dwarf, as he always liked to call him, had managed to fall from a stack of books when his enthusiasm over a student's performance had him cheering wildly and in the process seemed to have forgotten that he was a teacher (that little man really had no sense of dignity) - a broken leg and bruised ribs landed him in the hospital wing. Oh, how he wished he could have seen that, it would have been so much fun! Instead he found himself introduced to a new teacher by the name of Dairmuid Connolly on Wedsnesday. He gave the young temporary staff member one of his curtly nods before focussing on his breakfast and ignored all of the man's attempts of trying to start a conversation with him.

During dinner on Friday evening he couldn't help but notice Lupin and Connolly getting on well. Very well. Extremely well even. He could have sworn that one of Connolly's hands rested on the werewolf's leg for several minutes while they talked rather amicably. It irritated the hell out of him. Not because of the two people involved but because it seemed to underline what HE was missing out on. He exp expected Lucius to come down to see and punish him for what he had done with Draco, but nothing happened so far. And that was something he really couldn't figure out. When provoked, Lucius was never the man to hold back long - he would lash out immediately, fed by his incorrigible temper. And provoked he was. The potions master had carefully seen to that. So why hadn't he turned up yet? What was this? What kind of sick game was that beautiful bastard playing this time? And why? Maybe because he KNEW Severus expected him to turn up soon? Or was this his way of tormenting him? If so, it certainly worked. Ever since Monday evening he found himself increasingly restless and hardly able to focuss on anything. Even the ever-relaxing process of making potions didn't help much this time. All he could think of was Lucius and the punishment he would surely receive. Damn, how long would it take Lucius to break? He wanted him to break so Lucius would break HIM. He needed to be broken. SO badly! It was all he yearned for these days. The only way for him to feel totally free and to let go completely - to purify himself of all the build up stresses and anger he had accumulated inside during the last months. And Lucius was the only one who could give him that. Who he would accept it from. The man was a master in giving exactly the right amount of pain, loved doing it and never took advantage of the trust he'd placed on him - the only person Severus dared to show his vulnerabilty to and be just that. And that was mutual. He was sure to be the only person alive having watched Lucius truly cry out of grief or hurt. He shook his head and decided he really prevered the privacy of his chambers right now - it was highly undesirable to get all melancholic in front of students or colleagues. Snape stood up from the dinner table and walked swiftly through the busy corridors filled with students who also just had finished their meals.

"Sir?" A soft tap on his arm made the potions master stop and turn around.

"Yes?" Blaise. Obviously straight from the Quidditch pitch, judging by his costume and sweaty
smell.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, but we were practicing Quidditch on the fields…" the boy started, clearly somewhat nervous.

"Please tell me something I couldn't figure out for myself, Blaise," Snape sighed.

"Well, um, one of the Bludgers… I kind of struck it too hard, I guess…"

"A casualty? Fatal? A Gryffindor perhaps? Potter?" He really shouldn't get his hopes up too high.

"No, sir. It went to the Forbidden Forest and well, Draco went after it to get it back and he hasn't returned yet…"

"I don't believe this… of all the stupid… " The potions master took a deep breath. "You and the team go to your dorms now, practising time is over. And will be for the next week - I'll get Draco."

Ignoring the insulted glare Blaise secretly gave him Snape got his thicker robe and headed for the Forest. What had that stupid boy been thinking? Now he had to go in there and look for him! It crossed his mind asking Hagrid and Fang to assist him but decided against that. The boy would surely be wise enough to not go very far and besides, asking for help from someone like Hagrid would devastate his reputation as a fearless and threatening evil potions master. That didn't mean he would go in blindly. Slowly Snape took out his wand, then he started to walk into the Forbidden Forest, with all senses sharp and on high alert.

It didn't take long before he saw green sparkles through the trees. Ah, there was Draco. And he had been wise enough to stay where he was and not drift any further. At least the boy had SOME brain cells still functioning.

"Draco, please accompany me back to the school where we-"

"I don't think so, Severus." Another voice made itself heard. A cold, hard voice.

"Lucius?" The potions master looked at the two figures stepping out from behind a tree.

"So nice you still recognise me," his lover drawled. Then he turned to his son. "You did well. Go back to school now, Draco, and do not forget to mention how your Head of House saved you from this dreadful place and now wants to be left alone."

Draco nodded and without looking at his Head of House even once, quickly made his way back.

The two adults remained standing in silence. Severus noticed Lucius using his magic to make sure his son got out of the Forest safe and once that was accomplished, his lover turned to him. With a sickening predatorily smile. Oh Merlin, he was in trouble. Very much so.

"If you value your life even in the slightest way, I suggest you to follow me." Lucius looked at him in a rather peculiar way. Snape felt fear creeping up his spine and suppressed a shiver.

"Where are you taking me?" Had he gone too far this time? Had Lucius changed his mind and would he now turn him over to The Dark Lord still?

"Silence!" his lover hissed, immediately smashing his always present cane on the potions master's head. "I do not want to hear you speak. Not. A. Single. Word." The last four words were underlined with the same amount of blinding strokes against his head. Snape took the blows and pain as proudly as he could, feeling blood trickling warmly down his face.

The next moment Lucius apparently activated some portkey because all of the sudden he was flowing through the swirling air . Oh Merlin, maybe this time he would get more than he had bargained for…