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: a true gift!
Disclaimer: Well, I could try and make a deal with her, but she’d probably laugh and say that the deal is off. “Off?” I would ask. “Yes, as in ‘sod’” she would probably answer. So – J.K. Rowling still owns them.
Warnings: slash, remember? A bit of smut to please the werewolf.
Category: all over the place.
Summary: Remus takes what he can get and Fudge learns a lesson from Lucius.
A/N: this is a shorter chapter and not particular crucial for the story. Consider itrantransitional phase. Betas are underlucius and silentpawz.

32/?

He always had been a good swimmer but this sea was wild and determined not to let go of its victim. Coming down on a wave he could see the shore in the distance for a moment. Damn, he’d already drifted away far too much! Another wave came crashing down and dragged him under. Severus forced himself to stay calm, brushing his wet hair out of his face as soon as he surfaced again, taking a deep breath. He could do this. No reason for panic. He spat out the filthy taste of salt water and turned the front of his body towards the shoreline. All he had to do was swim. And he goo good at that. He took a moment to gather all his strength and determination and started swimming with powerful long strokes.
He didn’t know how long he had been swimming but at some point the shore did seem to get closer and closer and he was able to recognise the white cliffs of Dover. Dover? What the hell was he doing in Dover? He was staying at Cardiff! He could not be THAT much off course, could he? Ah hell, the sodding place could be called Poppy’s Isle as far as he was concerned – as long as it meant getting solid ground under his feet, everything else didn’t matter.

“No, goddammit!” He shouted from pure frustration when a big strong wave pulled him several feet back into the cold sea again.This sea was impossible! If he didn’t know better, he would have sworn that it had a mind of its own. It was playing with him, teasing him, because every time he started to get close to the shore, a wave would come crashing down on him and the undercurrent grabbed his legs and relentlessly dragged him back into the white foam and darkblue water. And he was getting so tired, so bloody tired, from fighting and resisting...
A voice told him to relax and give in but when the next wave took him down again, the potions master struggled nevertheless. Surfacing again, Severus frantically splashed his arms around and took in huge gulps of life giving oxygen, at the same time wondering why he bothered. It was not as if it was of any use anymore. He would never make it to the shore. Oh Merlin, this was just too ridiculous – he was drowning, disappearing and never to be found again. Why couldn’t he die a heroic death on the battlefield or something like that?
The voice told him to relax again, to let go, to just let go. He desperately tried to fight it, stand up to it but Severus felt he was losing the struggle, no matter how hard he tried. Panic took over as he felt himself slipping away.

“No, no no, gods, no!!” His hands wildly looked for something to hold on to and, just seconds before he went down for the final time, found a wave solid enough to grab and get some support from.
The moment his hands touched the wave however, it changed into shoulders. The potions master opened his eyes, extremely confused for a moment, and was greeted by soft brown loving eyes. And then the final wave came and took him down nevertheless. A wave of, horror of all horrors, the purest, deepest and mostenstense emotions. And it kept on coming, wave after wave.

Lupin looked at the reaction to the seemingly overwhelming orgasm Severus experienced with quite some pride, carefully hiding a smug grin, holding his wildly convulsing body through it all with tenderness. And maybe a tiny, tiny bit of guilt. After the potions master had passed out, Remus had permitted the wolf to fuck the man twice more. Rather roughly, too. So when he woke up this morning and found Severus still asleep, he immediately decided to pay him back with love and tenderness this time. Since there would never be another time or change...
Every caress, touch, stroke, every movement had been filled with all his love for this stubborn man and it had been surprisingly satisfying to make love to his sleeping body. It just got better when Severus got into the stage between sleep and wake and his body started to respond. Even if it was in a rather weird way at times: one moment he could feel the body relax, see his cock start to swell and even hear a soft moan or two and the next moment he went all rigid, froze and fought him off like a wildman only to relax and surrender soon again.
By the time his orgasm awoke him, his body had been tended to thoroughly for more than two hours so it was no wonder he was climaxing this violently.

“You really do completely lose it when you come, don’t you?”us sus smiled and brushed some hairs out of the face of the potions master, wondering if he’d passed out on him again.

“You made your point - I like being fucked by werewolves. Satisfied now?” Snape grumbled, stubbornly trying to ignore how sated and relaxed his whole body felt. There was no way he would give Lupin the satisfaction of knowing how much he had enjoyed all this physical contact.

“Since that is all I am getting... yes, I suppose so.” The DADA teacher stretched contentedly.

“How do you feel? Is the wolf still there?” Snape sat up, eyeing the other warily.

“Oh yes...” Lupin gave him a feral smile.

“Stop that. I am going to take a shower. Alone. You stay here.” Well, the man had already fucked him and sucked him off so there was no point in getting modest now. The potions master got up and walked into the bathroom without worrying about covering himself up.

“Woof.”

Snape shook his head and closed the bathroom door. Within 15 minutes he was back and dressed himself again. Lupin lazily remained on the bed and just watched.

“I want you to keep a journal for the next couple of days. Write down how you feel and when the wolf is gone... you know what I mean.”

“I will and thank you,” the DADA teacher sighed and gave him a look of worship.

“Oh, please... “ Snape grimaced and then left, musing about how it all had turned out. He felt no guilt about the sex and was very astonished himself about how the potion had turned out. He had made history with it and knew it - recognition at last.
He straightened his shoulders and continued his way through the empty hallways. And was met by a reeling house-elf going from one end of the wall to the other. Was the blasted elf drunk or something? Snape stopped to watch. The elf stopped too.

“Professor’s getting many of Howlers... “ the elf greeted him, smiling sheepishly while even his eyes seemed to bounce around in their sockets uncontrollably. A nauseating sight.

“Well, open them in a room with less acoustics then,” the potions master snapped before heading for his dungeons again.


Blissfully unaware of what his lover had been doing, Lucius went through an almost normal day at the Ministry. It would have been a normal day if he hadn’t noticed all those stares behind his back. Everywhere he went people gave him secretive looks. Just for the fun of it, he occasionally turned on his heels and stared directly back at someone, asking politely if he could be of any assistance. It usually scared the hell out of them and they all would react as if they just had been caught red-handed, mumble some faint excuse and quickly walk away. By the end of the day even Lucius himself was getting tired of that game and refrained to staring back haughtily with his notorious cold stare. There was so much even a Death Eater could take.

“Sir? Minister Fudge would like for you to join him for his afternoon tea. That is, if it is convenient for you?” Ah, there was that Robin again. Or Roderick? Ralph?

“Of course. In a few minutes.” With a dismissive wave of his hand Lucius sent the boy away again and looked at the clock on the wall. It was 3.00 pm – Fudge obviously had needed quite some time to build up the courage before meeting with him. Suppressing a yawn, Lucius put all his paperwork away and went to Fudge’s office, ignores ses secretary and walked straight into the private chamber of the minister himself.

“Lucius! So glad you could come! Care for some tea?” Fudge greeted him enthusiastically, this time not bothering to stand up. The aristocrat understood and grinned internally – the pathetic idiot was under the impression of finally having a weapon against him. Ah yes, this could be interesting...

“Please,” Lucius nodded, sitting down in the chair opposite the minister.

“Well, I must say... you really managed to surprise me, Lucius. I never knew you.... er, you favoured men,” Fudge smiled, trying to make it all sound like a big joke.

“Who says I do?” the blond aristocrat smiled back faintly, feigning wonder.

“Well, er... come on now, Lucius... you are marrying one,” the Minister chuckled, feeling rather superior.

“I see... and because I marry a man, I love them? Since when does marriage has anything to do with love?”

“So you didn’t love Narcissa?”

“I liked her, yes, but love? No, love is just a fool’s weakness,” Lucius smirked, taking another sip of his tea.

“Why did you marry her then?” Fudge clearly felt confused now.

“Minister! You should know how these things go... oh, no, of course you don’t. Forgive me.” It always felt so good to remind Fudge of his place. “For a moment I forgot you don’t belong to the aristocracy...” Lucius smiled conceited. “We, the more traditional families, have pre-arranged marriages, you see. Narcissa was already promised to me by birth. We both knew that and did as was expected.”

“So why divorce her now?”

The aristocrat shrugged. “She did her duty and gave me a heir. We had no further use for each other and she desperately wanted to go to her family on the continent. Who was I to withhold her from her wish?”

“But why now? And why marry Severus Snape?” Fudge was losing the advantage he thought he had and knew it. It made him feel extremely frustrated.

“This new law has met some rather fierce opposition and it will take a long time before it is accepted. Time we don’t have – the number of purebloods diminishes every day at an alarming rate. Someone has to be willing to make the first move. It so happens that professor Snape and I both feel very strongly about the continuation of the lines of pureblood wizards and we decided to set an example.
As demanding and tiring as it can be to live a life in the spotlights, I finally found a way to use it for some good at last. If that means sacrifices have to be made... so be it.” A resigned sigh for extra effect was thrown in.

“So you are just setting an example?” The disappointment on Fudge’s face was priceless.

“We hope to encourage others to do the same, yes.”

“Ever the noble one, aren’t you, Lucius?” the minister said through gritted teeth, for a moment not caring that he gave away his real feelings and therefore intentions, not once believing a single word Malfoy had said but unable to prove it.

Bending forward, the aristocrat smiled smug and answered with a significant look. “That pretty much explains who has the real power here, don’t you think?”

There was a short awkward silence during which Fudge clenched his fists and his face turned an unhealthy shade of red before he finally managed to calm down enough to act civilly again.

“So good to know you have our best interest at heart, Lucius,” the minister snarled.

“As always, minister, as always. And now – if you will excuse me? There is some other business I have to attend to.” The blond aristocrat gave the other man a curt nod and left, leaving a defeated and disillusioned Fudge.