Poses

Draco squirmed away from Snape\'s grasp and assessed the room he was in. The light waned in the already dreary stone cottage, but he could still make out trite details of a room decorated with an obsessive loyalty to Slytherin. Forest green velvet couch, inky black leather chair by the fire, teak Chippendale-knockoff coffee table; it was like a claustrophobic representation of the common room.

\"I realize it\'s not the spacious grandeur that you are used to...\" drawled Snape.

Trying to calm himself so that he could gather his wits about him, Draco gave a noncommittal gesture. If he didn\'t calm down and focus, he\'d be easy prey, he reasoned. \"I suppose it works.\"

\"Have a seat.\" Seeing Draco\'s eyes flitting to the lonely chair, he grabbed the boy\'s bony shoulder and shoved him onto the couch. Snape took the spot next to him.

The eerie light of the room concentrated on Draco\'s pale blue robes, lighting him up with an ethereal glow. He appeared angelic until he spoke. \"What the shit am I doing here?\" His expression was somewhere between anger and grief as he gave up on observing his surroundings and concentrated his gaze on Snape.

\"I was protecting you, Draco. I told you that Potter would turn on you and look at what he did,\" he said as he pointed out the strained buttons on his robe.

Covering them with his elegant hand, Draco looked away. \"It was a misunderstanding, obviously. I need to get back and sort it out.\"

\"I am not taking you back. What did I tell you about them, Draco? They will never trust you, not really. They will never believe in you. At the first opportunity, Potter turned on you, didn\'t he?\" asked Snape as he slipped an arm along the back of the couch.

That stung, but Draco held fast to his stoic sneer. He still had no idea what happened to Hermione that made Harry turn on him, he hoped that if he kept Snape talking that it would come out. \"There must have been a reason. Something happened. I don\'t know what\'s going on, I need to get back and find out so that I can explain. He seems to think something was going on with Ron and me, and Hermione was hurt?\"

Snape balked. \"Ron? Hermione? I do believe that is the first time I have heard those names pass over your lips in such a familiar fashion.\" Had Draco made friends with those Gryffindors? That would put a kink in things. Then again, Snape had faith that if Harry didn\'t trust Draco, that the others would soon follow and that he\'d be covered.

Draco gave a deferential shrug. \"The point is, there\'s a mess there and I\'m... here. I need to be there to find out what happened and to explain.\"

\"I brought you here to protect you, Draco. Potter has gone quite mad, and I can only assume that Weasley hadn\'t found out what happened to Miss Granger or he would have been attacking you as well,\" he purred as he slid his hand down to Draco\'s shoulder.

Immediately, Draco\'s body twitched and he turned his head to eye the pallid hand until it was back on the couch. He cast his defiant grey eyes on the Potions master and growled through his teeth, \"But I didn\'t do anything. I\'ll go there and we\'ll sort it out. Take me back. Now.\" One thing he was certain of; whatever happened didn\'t have to do with Hermione losing her virginity. This had to be much more serious than that. Feeling Snape\'s lecherous hand back on his shoulder, Draco gave him a scathing look.

The older man ignored it. \"Draco, it is no coincidence that I showed up when I did. The reasons that I did come will be dubious, but I should have to ask you to hear me out on them.\"

Draco closed his eyes and flexed his jaw. \"Professor Snape, let\'s pretend for a moment that I am an upset and traumatized student who has experienced one of those shatteringly horrid days. A day where everything I thought I could depend on has gone pear shaped and that I\'m being attacked on all sides. In fact, let\'s go on to make believe that I\'ve been attacked by the only person left in this world that I truly care about, but before I got the chance to find out why, some lecherous old man who\'s been trying to feel me up for months dragged me away. Not to another room for a quiet chat. Not to someone who could help sort things out easily like Dumbledore. No, instead he dragged me away to. His. Home.\"

Draco reached up and shoved at Snape\'s hand. In response, his hand squeezed tighter. Draco\'s eyes flared with fury and his hand automatically moved to where he kept his wand. Fuck. Fucking Potter still had his wand, didn\'t he? Fuck. \"Do you think you\'d really want to sit here and hear them out?\"

Draco\'s speech making left Snape unimpressed. His face moved right into the insolent boy\'s personal space and he peered deep into Draco\'s eyes. \"I would guess that if a boy, we\'ll call him you, found himself disarmed and in this \'lecherous old man\'s\' home with no visible means of escape... I\'d suggest he learn some manners. Otherwise the \'lecherous old man\' might well take what he wanted from the \'upset and traumatized student\' and there would be little said student could do.\"

It took a moment for the threat to register completely. When it did, his jaw dropped and his accelerated breath fanned Snape\'s face until the man withdrew. Draco blinked a few times and scanned the cottage like a frightened rabbit. He licked his lips and smoothed out his robes in an attempt to look composed. \"I-I-I-see,\" he stammered as he stared down at his lap, too terrified to make eye contact.

\"No, you do not see, Draco. But I will tell you now,\" he cooed. Would he have hurt Draco? No, he would not. But the threat had its desired effect of subduing Draco enough so that he would pay attention. \"I knew what was going to happen, as it was done on order of the Dark Lord. He desires you to come back to the fold. He sees that your killing of your own father in defense of what you want means that you are strong, bold and ruthless. You are everything that your father was, and more.\" Snape released his grip on Draco\'s shoulder and slid his hand up and down the boy\'s arm.

Draco recoiled. Not just from the touches, but to the very notion that he was like his father. He was not that ruthless, was he? Killing his father wasn\'t something he did for his principles; his father was a threat to his life and probably Harry\'s. Well, no, not Harry\'s. He knew that now. But at the time he had no idea. Still, to get what the wanted, he\'d murdered his father, and that was rather cold-blooded. \"I\'m not becoming a Death Eater. Bind me up and do whatever your perverted heart desires. I\'m not betraying Harry. I don\'t care what the Dark Lord thinks I did or why I did it. I refuse.\"

Snape cackled at him. \"Dear boy, perhaps you were miss-sorted after all. What a brave and noble sentiment. Or perhaps Potter is rubbing off on you.\"

\"We do a lot of rubbing,\" he snapped, hoping it would bother the older man. \"Or perhaps it\'s my new Gryffindor sperm diet.\"

\"There is no need to be crude, Draco.\" Snape\'s nostrils flared at the visual Draco\'s words evoked.

Draco took a small measure of pleasure that the barb struck home. He sneered in satisfaction.

\"Why you must still stick up for that selfish, spoiled boy...\" started Snape.

Whipping his head up, he eyed Snape in disbelief. \"Spoiled? Harry? Oh, well I suppose he did grow up with that whole luxurious cupboard all to himself.\"

\"Since he\'s gotten to Hogwarts...\"

\"He\'s repeatedly had his life threatened, and been bullied and badgered...\"

\"You being chief amongst his bullies,\" Snape pointed out.

\"Well I didn\'t know. I didn\'t know how he\'d grown up, I didn\'t know... any of it. And besides, I was 11. You... you KNEW. You knew this boy had grown up abused and you were... horrid. Horrid to a child! Who could ever love you? Who could ever want to be with someone as-\" Draco\'s speech was cut off by a slap to his face. Draco wasn\'t adept when it came to Muggle fighting, yet he raised a shaky fist. Then he caught sight of Snape\'s wand. Fear coursed through his veins and his hand dropped into his lap.

\"We\'ve gone off track. Potter and his tormented childhood is beside the point.\" Snape kept his wand poised at Draco as he settled his other arm around him. He watched the rapid rise and fall of the boy\'s narrow chest, but there was nothing for it. He needed to get this all out to Draco whether he liked it or not. \"I had hoped to talk to you about this without interruption before something as dramatic as the attack on Miss Granger happened. However, you are as stubborn as your father.\"

\"And I\'m as patient as my father, so move it along,\" Draco hissed as his hand moved up to the burning flesh of his cheek. It wasn\'t the hardest slap he\'d ever endured, but it still infuriated him.

There were so many things Snape wanted to say to Draco. He wanted to explain to him how he wanted this whole conversation to go. He wanted the boy to know how much he truly cared about him and his welfare, and that pinning all of his hopes and dreams on a boy whose life may imminently be cut short was foolish. That Snape had a toe in on both sides and that no matter what happened in the end, he was covered. He idly stroked Draco\'s flaxen hair, which radiantly shone in the final rays of daylight.

Snape sighed to stall as he arranged his thoughts. \"I realize that you do not wish to betray Potter, and I wouldn\'t goad you if it were more probable that the boy would prove victorious. However, by joining the Death Eaters, you could be like me. Work with me playing both sides. You could get invaluable information for your boyfriend by working within the system. You already have the Occlumency skills required. All you have to do is come with me. Work with me. Take the Mark. Then, should Potter and the Order not prove victorious... you would be counted amongst the faithful with the Death Eaters and survive.\"

Draco detested Snape touching him, but he was trapped and now he was burdened with the decision of whether he should join up with the Death Eaters to spy. He brought his hands up to his face and rubbed at his eyes. Then he squeezed pressed his fingers to his temples as he considered. \"Does the Order even need another spy? Wouldn\'t Vo- Vo... the Dark Lord be suspicious of me? How much information would he trust me with?\"

Snape was taken aback with that astute observation, and he took some of pride in it. Draco was a clear thinker, and that was definitely in his favor. It improved the odds for his survival in this mess. However, it would make talking him into this thorny. \"The Order needs as much information as it can get. He may not trust you with much information at the start, but as the final battle nears, you will be trusted out of sheer necessity. Also, remember that your friends are being indoctrinated as we speak. Perhaps you could keep Crabbe and Goyle out of the line of fire.\"

Goyle. Damned if Draco hadn\'t thought of Goyle even once over the whole summer. He may be brighter than those two, he thought, but he wasn\'t a good friend at all. He winced and rubbed at his forehead. It all made sense on the surface, but very deep into it, it just sounded like a good way to get himself slain. Just how would he keep Goyle \'out of the line of fire\' anyway? If Goyle wasn\'t on the Order\'s side, he\'d be imprisoned at the conclusion of the War anyway. Goyle wasn\'t really clever enough for the amount of deception that would be required to join him in spying.

Still, the idea of being a hero, saving Harry, being someone who helped to turn things further in his boyfriend\'s favor was appealing. Very appealing. He leaned back against the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling. \"And this is all you wanted to talk to me about all summer?\"

\"Yes, Draco. This is why I\'ve been so desperate to talk to you. Before the Lord went to extremes to get you out of that house,\" he said as he watched the boy furrow his brows as he weighed his options. \"Of course, should you go this route... you will be withdrawn from Hogwarts. And because of the possibility of the Dark Lord using you against Harry, you will be required to end your relationship with him. That shouldn\'t be difficult, given the state of things.\" Snape scooted forward and rested his hand on Draco\'s sternum. He expected Draco to shove him away, but he didn\'t; the boy didn\'t even seem to notice that Snape was touching him.

\"Break up... with Harry? End it?\" Draco swallowed hard as he felt everything inside of him ice over. It was nearly impossible to breathe at the very concept of not going to Hogwarts. Not seeing Harry. Not touching him. Not waking up to him. He let out a quiet whimper and squeezed his eyes shut. Could he do this? Make this sacrifice to protect his lover?

Snape moved closer, practically on top of the boy now. Draco hadn\'t noticed the first few buttons on his robe being yanked undone, nor how close the teacher had gotten. \"There are... other people who love you, Draco. Other people who would make you happy and could keep you safe. Even from yourself,\" he whispered before pressing his dry lips against the warm, youthful ones.

Grasping Draco\'s chin, his thumb pushed against the bone and forcing the teen\'s mouth open to deepen the reluctant kiss. His other hand slid down, jerking open the buttons down the front of the garment to his waist. With decisive wrenching, Snape forced the robe to give way, flinging buttons around the darkened cottage. Snape\'s hand snaked in for his prize; his fingers curled around Draco\'s flaccid length and began to stroke.

Draco\'s eyes opened and darted wildly around the room as he felt the tongue in his mouth. His body stiffened and he made whining noises of protest into Snape\'s mouth, which were cut short when he felt the waxy fingers circling his manhood. Mind flooded with panic, Draco was unable to come up with ideas for how to get out of this. He was pinned him against the couch, too small to push the larger man off. Snape threatened to have his way with him, and with Draco being unarmed, he likely could.

Not having time to plan, Draco decided that the best defense at the moment was offense. He started to participate in the kiss hesitantly; dragging his tongue lightly over the back of Snape\'s yellowed teeth. Even Snape\'s breath was stale and foul, like old licorice and wasted garlic.

Feeling Draco participating, Snape smiled into the kiss and then broke it. He looked at the boy and then down his lithe body to the soft, pink prick in his hand. Draco looked away in humiliation of Snape seeing it, but the older man didn\'t notice that. \"I knew you would see reason my boy, my beautiful, brilliant boy. You are too good for Potter. You need someone more refined that could understand you, that wouldn\'t treat you... like that,\" he said as he continued to fondle Draco\'s prick. \"Spread your legs, Draco,\" he ordered. The boy sat still, though again his breathing picked up.

\"Draco,\" he intoned. Draco moved his legs a fraction wider. Frustrated, Snape thrust his hand under the boy and prodded at his opening. Draco\'s face flushed and he bit back his revulsion at being manhandled by this repellant man. He wanted to be a hero. Harry\'s hero. If Harry needed someone who could find out what Voldemort was up to, someone who could get that information for him, then Draco wanted to be that person.

\"We must do something about this, Draco,\" grumbled Snape as he gave the young man\'s disinterested prick a squeeze. Snape lowered himself to the floor. His dry-lipped gaping maw was approaching Draco\'s prick when the youth\'s arms shot out to Snape\'s shoulders, halting him.

\"Wait. Wait-- I... \"

\"Draco, you need me. If you want to help Harry, you need me. Perhaps in time you\'ll realize what\'s important, but for now... just try to relax,\" he said as his fingers breeched the tight band of Draco\'s muscles to feel the heat inside.

Draco\'s hips jolted up and out of the path of the probing finger as he yelped and twisted away. \"I... it\'s... just... maybe... could we just... maybe some tea... or... something... stronger, like... firewhisky?\"

Snape gave Draco an indulgent smile and nodded. That sounded like a very good idea. Given how reticent the boy was, perhaps an extra bit of one of his potions to induce arousal wouldn\'t hurt, just to help him, naturally. \"Of course. Of course. Just relax. Are you hungry? Some biscuits, perhaps?\" he offered.

Draco nodded as he pulled his robes back around him to avoid Snape\'s leering. \"Biscuits would be good. Just-- yes. Please.\"

Please sounded a little odd out of Malfoy\'s mouth, but then again, the boy was quite uneasy. Snape moved off of his knees and into the kitchen. He contained his triumphant smile until he was sure he was out of eyesight. Then he began to prepare a proper tea and searched through his cabinets to find where he\'d hidden a vial of an amorous potion.

Draco sat numb on the couch, using this stalling tactic to debate his options. If he were to do this, become a Death Eater and work with Snape, this wouldn\'t be the end of the fumbling attempts to seduce him. In fact, he was apparently expected to allow Snape to fuck him. Chances were that after this he\'d be pressured into some manner of disgusting affair with the man. That concept was just as hideous as the idea of not seeing Harry until the war was over. No Hogwarts? No green eyes? No soft kisses and being held till he dozed off? Not seeing the boy he loved more than anything?

He probably should stay. He should be Harry\'s hero. It was the righteous and self-sacrificing thing to do. He was never so glad to be a Slytherin. Hearing Snape puttering around in the kitchen, Draco jumped up and began buttoning whatever buttons were left on his robes.

First stop was the fireplace. He scanned the area for Floo Powder, but of course, none was to be found. He looked under the couches, over the mantle; he tried the books in the bookcase beside the fire, all to no avail. He even checked the wing back chair for a hidden spot under the cushion and then under the cushions of the couch. It was possibly the quietest ransacking in history.

The distinctive Wizard whistle of the hot water being ready for tea brought Draco back down to Earth. Even if he had found the Floo powder, he didn\'t know the address he was going to. He didn\'t know? Or did he not remember? Was it the Fidelius Charm? Or was Draco just really scatterbrained? He stood frozen in the middle of the room in indecision until he heard the clattering of china on a tray. This was it. If he was getting out, he needed to go now. But where? Where in the world was he? Snape\'s house, but where in the hell was that? He didn\'t know. On a normal day Draco wouldn\'t care either. But today it was dreadfully important.

Eyes cutting riotously around him, he spotted a door and flung himself towards it. Draco silently prayed that this wouldn\'t thrust him into an alternate dimension. Or worse, it could open to Snape\'s bedroom. He threw the door open and saw that it was nighttime in what he believed to be the absolute middle of nowhere. Faintly, he could hear water lapping to the shore. A decrepit, boxy car with its lights on caught Draco\'s eye as it passed by on the road atop a fairly steep hill that started a few yards away. It was unlike than the cars the Ministry loaned out to get him to King\'s Cross. It was not nearly so shiny or pristine as those vehicles were. His nose wrinkled at the idea of being trapped in a confined space with a Muggle, but at least there was a reduced chance of being forcibly penetrated. No guarantees, however.

Hearing the loud clatter of the tea set being hastily dumped onto a tray was enough to spur Draco on out the door and into the great, wide Muggle world. Wandless. Helpless. Terrified.