Vera
The waves beat against the shore in their timeless, ceaseless rhythm. The moon was the merest sliver in the sky. Two men stood on the shore, one stripped down to bathing shorts, the other encased in warm robes. The robed one gently touched the other shoulders, but the near naked other shook it away.
"Luminesanse Menos." A white glow pulsed from within the swimmer as he walked into the surf and plunged into the murky depths, leaving a faint trail of glowing particles behind him.
)*(
The sheets and duvet were a burgundy weave so soft it could have been silk. The bed was large enough for three very active partners, but at the moment it was occupied by only one young man. He lay on his stomach, dressed only in a pair of loose black trousers, legs bent up at the knee, ankles crossed. The spine was picked out in clear relief on the thin back. His chin was propped on one hand, black hair falling unevenly about his face. The book he was patiently deciphering was written in Hebrew. A single finger traced the lines right to left.
In the hall, a door opened and closed. Bare feet padded against plush carpeting. The young man on the bed appeared to take no notice, but from beneath shielding hair he watched. The other man was built far more solidly with a far more commanding presence. Thick brown hair had only a touch of steel gray at the temples and the sharp attentive face could range from avuncular to commanding to passionate to sinister at a moments notice. He wore his tailored black robes with solemn pride and his eyes glowed red around edges.
He divested himself of watch, robes and socks until he was left a pair of crisp white trousers. Only then did he direct his attention to the man on the bed.
"Still reading the mishnah?"
"I finished it this morning. This is something else." The younger man spoke with little deference to the elder.
"Finished?" A graying eyebrow raised. "You've not been out all day, then?"
Bare shoulders tightened, but the younger man's tone betrayed no emotion.
"You know how I burn."
"Did you eat at least?"
"I believe so....."
"I mean after breakfast."
"Oh....no."
"Sev...." The bed dipped as the older man sat. He stroked soft loving fingers over one pale shoulder. "I don't care if you don't feel like going out, but at least order something in."
"I wasn't hungry." Came the petulant reply. "Leave it, Tom."
Fingers caught Severus' chin, forcing his gaze to dark, red rimmed eyes.
"You would tell me if you were ill?"
"You know that I would. I've never had a large appetite." Severus reassured. "I am told that my father didn't either."
"Will you eat dinner with me, at least? One of the house elves will be delivering some shortly."
"Of course." Black eyes blazed. "Welcome home."
"Such a long day..." Tom leaned down to touch his forehead to his young lover's. They kissed slowly, stoking the ever burning flame between them.
It had been this way since they day that met at one of the many Malfoy soirees. It was ostensibly a celebration in honor of Lucius' first promotion within the Ministry. Only a year out of Hogwarts and he was already the head of a department. Severus had been invited only as an after thought. Lucius liked to surround himself with people and it was often necessary to have a few 'fill-ins." Like any good Slytherin, Severus attended for his own reasons. His own time as a protected minor rapidly coming to an end, his need for connections became greater. Yet, at parties like these, he felt an overwhelming need to cling the walls.
"Surely there is something more interesting in the ballroom then the floor, Master Snape."
The sweet purr took him entirely by surprise and he spun on his heel to face the intruder. He recognized him immediately. It was impossible to be a pure blood and not recognize that face. The Snapes had remained neutral in the recent stirrings. Parties like this always brought many persuasions. Yet, never before had Voldemort himself approached.
"That may well be, sir. But I find myself unable to locate it."
"I've heard that you are unfailingly impolite. I did not believe it until this moment."
"What qualifies for impolite in this particular crowd rather limits someone of any intellectual ability." Severus replied without thought. Internally, he winced. His mother had always warned him that his mouthing off would get him in trouble. Now, it looked as though her dire predictions would come to pass.
"Is it that you have no fear or no love of life that you persist in this manner?" There was a growl lurking in that question. A well in for a sickle....
"Neither, sir. I am simply bad at play acting. " He shrugged. "I find it tiresome to simper and flatter. There are those that deserve flattery and they are few and far between."
"Are you worthy of it, then?" Was that amusement?
"None have so far ventured any and I suspect that if they should, it would be only because they wanted something."
"What if I were to tell you that I find you attractive?" The question was strange that Severus almost dropped his glass.
"I would say that you most definitely wanted something. I am many things, sir. Good looking is not one of them."
"I would beg to differ." Voldemort inched forward. "I know you have no allegiance in this battle of mine. That is not why I approached you. There are many who would kill to share my bed."
"I am not one of them." Was the swift reply. "No bedmate is worth the guilt of blood."
"For a Slytherin, you're not particularly sly or cunning." Definitely amused.
"I was sorted for my ambition, not my skills of deception." Severus returned. "If you object, take it up with the Sorting Hat."
"Sir? Dinner is being served." A polite servant had materialized at Voldemort's side.
"Very good." Red tinged eyes turned to the younger man. "I *will* have you in my bed."
"Then you will have to impress me first."
Over a period of six months, Severus found himself being wooed in the most unique manner. He had been so sure that it was all a manipulative farce until it occurred to him that he had nothing to offer. There was no reason for the Dark Lord to go so far out of his way just to pry something from one useless graduate student. By Febuary, Severus did indeed become a regular visitor to Tom's bed. Without intending it, he got rid of all the others who might have taken their own place there. By March, he was living with the dread dark lord.
They never spoke of what it was that Tom did every day or how little interest Severus had in involving himself with it. They made no plans until the summer was upon them. Disturbing rumors had begun to reach Severus' ears and his mind was constantly turning over the question of alliance.
"We're going to Brighton for the summer." Tom announced in May as they sipped tea one evening. "I have a well concealed house there. Right on the channel."
"And if I don't want to go to Brighton?"
"Severus...." Tom exhaled slowly. "This is the last of it. My plans....they'll be moving into motion in the autumn. There are some things I need to tend to there...."
"The time has come, hasn't it? I need to decide."
"No!" The table rattled under the force of the exclamation. "Not until the end of the summer.... If you choose to remain neutral...it will be the last of us. If you come to me, it may be the end of it anyway. Let us have the summer untainted."
And so they did. Worry kept Severus off food more then ever and Tom's eyes reddened with every passing day, but for the most part when they were together, everything went as they wished.
"Shall we have a swim after dinner?" Tom purred rolling them until he straddled the younger man.
"It will be pitch black."
"Afraid?"
Severus rolled his hips, sparking delicious waves of pleasure through both of them.
"Never."
Tom down his lover's body, resting his head against the concavity of his stomach. Careful fingers threaded through his brown hair and massaged his scalp. They lay together quietly, breathing in tandem. Tom sighed and shifted until he could rest his chin on flat hands, looking up at his semi-recumbant companion.
"You smell good."
"I mixed a new vial of cleaning solution this morning." He paused for a long moment. "And some fresh lubricant."
"Why, Master Snape! Are you making sexual innuendo before dinner?"
"Isn't it absolutely scandalous?" The deadpan added everything.
Already conveniently located, Tom slid black trousers from thin pointed hips and shed his own. Severus watched with heavy lidded interest. There was no set formula to sex between them. It came as it would. Initially, he had expected Tom to be overly dominate and sadistic. It was soon proved that while Tom would not stand for a submissive role, there was very little demand in him. After days of organizing and initiating hundreds of plans and people, he easily assumed an air of passivity, if Severus showed the slightest initiative.
Tonight was one of those times as Tom gave way to demanding hands that dragged him back up the bed and to awaiting lips. He was thoroughly kissed and rolled onto his back. Slithering at his snake best, Severus made his way to Tom's burgeoning erection. Careful and insistent lick brought the dormant beast to its full length. With long practice, Severus swallowed almost the entirety, letting his nimble fingers handle the rest. On either side of his hips, Tom's hands dug into the soft duvet and twisted. Soft panting moans split from his lips as talented fingers wandered from their task and explored the heavy sac and silky sensitive skin of the inner thigh.
"Close..." He managed to pant. Smoothly Severus pulled off and caught the spurt in the cuff of his discarded pants. "Not polite even in bed."
"I don't swallow." Severus reminded him primly. "It tastes like ill-prepared Veritaserum."
"Should I ask how you came to know what that taste like?" Tom asked between resorting gasps of breath.
"A professor made us test our potions on one another more then once. One particular dunderhead added marsupial puss to his." Severus sneered at the memory, but it vanished quickly from his lips as he pressed them to Tom's neck. "And if you're going to quibble about bedroom etiquette, there is something that still needs looking after."
"Give an old man a break, Sev."
"You're not old." Was the staunch reply. "And I've known you to go four or five times a night."
"Only when you spike my food with illegal aphrodisiacs."
"It was that one time! And I didn't know it was that potent or I wouldn't have used it." Severus huffed indigently. He hated being reminded of his failures. Particularly with his beloved potions.
"You are far too honest to be a Slytherin." It was far from the first time Tom had said such a thing and Severus had come to ignore such comments. Secretly, he thought that it was the traits that Tom teased him for that most drew the older man to him. Dealing with manipulative purebloods all day must have driven him round the bend.
"So you say. Now, are you going to deride me farther or attempt to animate your pile of wretched bones?"
"You know, when you raise your left eyebrow like that I get goosebumps." Came the sultry reply. "No matter what comes out of that mouth afterwards."
"Do you really?" Severus purred. And lifted said eyebrow up further. "I shall have to remember that."
"You forget nothing." Was the quick and flattering reply. "I've seen that mind of yours at work, cataloguing and indexing."
"A regular library." He agreed, scoffingly. "So useful around the house."
"Don't." Tom pulled him in again for a long kiss. "I think you're brilliant. One day you will do great things with your glassware and mint leaves."
Severus snorted.
"I will do nothing that has not already been done." He shook his head. "There will be time enough for me to despair of myself. I wish to enjoy this time." He looked pointedly down at his erection. A rough laugh caressed him as thoroughly as one enticing hand. The other searched for the oil kept by the bedside.
"What a difference this year has made on you." The older man whispered as he plunged a preparing finger into his wantonly thrusting lover. "When I first saw you, I was sure you were a sour sullen young thing, who had happened upon good looks."
"I thought you were a pompous arsehole." Severus shot back promptly, arching into searching fingers.
"And now...look at you...so...alive..."
"I feel more alive..." Admitted freely with those delicious strutting fingers within him.
"How do you...."
Severus clamored to his knees, ignoring the chuckles behind him. He didn't care if he was predictable. This was by far his favorite. Kneeling with Tom pressed tightly against his back, so he could rest his head on one strong shoulder and have those lips pressed into the flesh of his neck. They could carry on for nearly an hour this way, rocking into each other, crashing like waves on the beach.
There was no more talking now. There was no more room in the air for anything more then guttural noises and inarticulate encouragement. In this they were agreeably silent, partners in the creation of something neither felt they deserved. Lancelot before the grail.
When they shuddered to completion, Severus first and then a flare of ruddy light as Tom's power broke it's boundaries and momentarily flooded the room with ruby. It would flash through Severus mind as quick and sharp as a second orgasm, wringing him dry and spent on the burgundy sheets.
"Mordred!" Severus swore. "You've doubled in strength since last week."
"I am gathering...." Tom trailed off, tracing invisible lines into his lover's pale back. "It doesn't matter."
"No...no. I suppose it doesn't."
Dinner was cold by the time they reached it. Both wrapped in robes and still languid from post coital lassitude. They ate in a heavy silence.
"A swim now?" Tom asked finally, breaking the silence.
"All right."
The ocean water lapped blackly at pebbled beach. Severus watched with appreciative eyes as Tom let his robe pull at his feet. Calloused hands reached up to a caress his face.
"I don't wish for you to forget this moment." Tom said softly into the darkness. "It is falling into place and in time there will be naught left of us."
"Couldn't forget if I tried." He promised, feeling circles tugging under his eyes.
"Do you know many memory charms?"
They passed the spell between them, a kiss, a promise and a thousand unspoken meanings, locking the memory to simple words and actions. Together they dove into black surf, Tom's strong, languid strokes and Sev's long, even pace keeping them in contact as they dived farther from shore, leaving trails of white sparks. The moon moved across the sky, waxed and waned, Tom faded from view and there were only the horrible rushes of memory. Betrayal at the summer's end, years of deception and none of it to any real good. A decade of nursing old hurts, turning bitter, becoming old before his time. A second war and nothing left of his love in Tom, only rotten remains by another name. Seven years, final victory.
The waves took him back to shore.
)*(
"There you are!" The waiting man greeted him with a thick warm towel. "I lost sight of you."
"I'm quite capable of handling myself." He responded tartly, folding himself deeper into the towel.
"Of course you are." Remus agreed amiable. "Now, let me fuss over you."
They'd had their time in the waning years now. No time restrictions, no high ideals to be upheld. It lacked the crazed passion of youth, their follies having long ago been spent on other, deceased partners. Nor did their whole lives lie in the balance. Instead, there was comfort that Severus had never before known and sure knowledge that no matter the argument between them, someone would cave and apologies would be made. No tawny strings of wild lust, but instead steel bonds made to last.
"I'm hungry." He announced abruptly.
"Really?"
"Oh, don't look so startled. I can't survive off air particles all the time, you know."
Remus let out a startled bark of laughter and led him away from the darkest surf where waves rolled over stone and the last trembling silvery lights faded from view and memory.
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