Title: The path of the serpent

Author: ejab

E-mail: ejab@keyaccess.nl

Pairing: SS/LM and a bit of SS/DM and SS/RL on the side

Rating; NC-17

Category: humour, dark, romance – the lot, I guess

Feedback: always appreciated! No flames though!

Disclaimer: do not own these lovely boys. JK Rowling does. Wish I did though

Warnings: I have no intention to insult any religous person here

Summary: Severus and Lucius are lovers but lately severus feels ignored….

A/N: I couldn't have done this without my wonderful betas Seeking Severus and lastangelincognito – everybody should worship them! They truly are the greatest!



The path of the serpent
by ejab


"Lucius! What a pleasant surprise to see you here."

"Headmaster…" Lucius looked around, amazed. He had spent his years here at Hogwarts but never had he seen this room. It had to be one of Hogwarts many secret chambers. "If I may ask, what is this room filled with exactly?"

"Ah, just the hobby of an old man, Lucius… in this room I keep all sorts of symbols…" Dumbledore wove his hand casually at the countless artefects on several tables, walls and even some on the floor. "… that represent the views of many different sections of the human population about their origin and… " he paused, giving Lucius quite a naughty look, "…shall we say, right of existence…" The curling of the corners of the old man's mouth told Lucius what he already suspected – he was being provoked. Although he was sure Dumbledore would call it `teasing'. Nevertheless, he felt it as a disparagement to his honour to give the old goat the satisfaction of starting a `debate' concerning the existence of certain breathing… creatures.

So he just nodded curtly.

"Regrettably, I have business to attend to, but please feel free to rummage around if you feel like it, Lucius. Just shut the door when you leave, will you? It was a pleasure seeing you. Good day, Lucius."

Dumbledore gave him a little smile before he walked out of the room and closed the door. Lucius sighed. That man really was incorrigible; he could never resist an attempt to convert him. But, as long as he was here, a quick look around wouldn't hurt. Despite the origin, he could always appreciate good works of craftsmanship and art. And there certainly were several beautiful pieces here.

He walked towards a painting that immediately caught his attention. The quality of the picture was appalling, and the same could be said for the composition and use of colour, but the representation itself was, to say the least, alluring – a slendour man nailed onto a wooden cross, a crown of thorns around his head, blood dripping down his face and more on his side where he was being stabbed with some kind of sword. The agony depicted on his face was simply delicious.

Yes, this he could really appreciate…

Continuing his exploration, Lucius stopped suddenly again. There, on a small delicate table right in front of him stood two of the most beautiful little sculptures he had ever seen – the first one simply was a snake with its head lifted and when his fingers lovingly caressed the fragile sculpture he could actually feel the scales all the way down to the end of its tail. Ah yes, such craftsmanship. And such dedication. Not to mention the good taste of the maker. And this second sculpture… even more beauty and good taste! He carefully picked it up and smiled at the serpent which had it fangs buried in a dying lion. Ah, the things it represented… especially here at Hogwarts. The never-ending battle with those repulsive Gryffindors, the hexes, some really memorable… incidents. Ah yes, such a breathtaking metaphor!

Not to mention the seduction of one Severus Snape. Somehow he never could think about Hogwarts without the image of a thoroughly shagged Severus creeping up into his mind. That beautiful flushed face, intense burning dark eyes, gorgeous red swollen lips (the things that man could do with those lips!) begging for more and ah, that delicate white flesh…. A certain part of his anatomy confirmed the memories. Mmm, better not go there right now – he still had some walking to do…

Smiling coldly Lucius slipped the sculptures intothe pockets of his robe and left the room. Once outside, he stopped, closed the door and looked to his left and his right. The hall was deserted and the only things moving were the shadows created by the flickering torches. Quite peaceful ambience…

Well, since he had delivered the boxes filled with cakes and other sweets to his son, he really should go back home now. Or he could pay Severus a surprise visit. He hadn't seen the man for nearly 3 months now because he had been so bloody busy with his work at the Ministry, And knowing his dark angel as he did, the man would feel very neglected and probably insulted too. There really wasn't a decision to be made here, now was there?

So without any further delay Lucius headed for the dungeons, where he found Severus sitting at his desk, grading papers. Really, how predictable could he get?

"Well, now, if that isn't one Lucius Malfoy." Severus looked up with a cold stare. "Don't tell me the wards actually still recognised you…" Yep, definitely insulted.

"Curiously enough, they did." Lucius ignored the scornful look and closed the door. "Although they seemed to have developed this sense of duty which made them rant at me about my `lack of respect and my disregard concerning your feelings' and so on. But, as you can see, they let me in." Better to raise the subject and get it over with. He slowly made his way forward.

"Well, they are very protective of me… and yes, it would have been `nice'…." Oh gods, where did that word come from? "…to hear from you sooner." Severus put down his quill and sighed.

"You are absolutely right." Lucius threw his cane on the chair closest to the desk and ran a hand through his long silvery hair.

"I usually am." No, no sign for forgiveness so far…

"Let me make it up to you… please?" The gloves went flying and joined the cane on the chair as Lucius stepped up to his sulking precious Slytherin.

"I am not simply at your disposal whenever you feel like it, Lucius. If that is your wish, I suggest you acquire a whore from Tarleton Alley. I'm sure there will be one for your liking there." Severus snarled, refusing to look around and make eye contact as Lucius was making his way to the back of his chair.

"I don't want a whore. I want you." His tongue gave a slow lick behind Severus' left ear. Offended as he still was, the potions master flinched his head away and tried to stand up. But two strong hands on his shoulders kept him pressed down on his chair. He sighed. Annoyed. Again.

"Let's have dinner together. Friday perhaps? I do miss you, you know. And we can both certainly do with some intelligent conversation… and maybe enjoy a good wine while we play some chess, mmm?" Meaning `and then I can fuck your brains out'. Unvoiced as it was, the message came across nevertheless. They just knew eachother too well.

"As I stated befo…OUCH!" Severus froze at the spot, not daring to move even one inch. Which is a very wise decision when someone else grabs your private parts. Especially when that other person is one Lucius Malfoy.

"Six o'clock will do nicely." With those words Lucius gave one very painful squeeze to what his hand had found, let go, moved around the desk, picked up his cain and gloves and left the room, without even so much as a acknowledgement of the presence of another human being. He knew that his lover would come - he had felt the suppressed little shiver going through his body. Sev longed for him as much as he did for him/ He would come.

With purposeful strides and a smug smile on his face he finally left the castle.

part 2

"What do you think is going on?" Harry asked, as an almost hysterical crying Ravenclaw first-year girl stormed out of the dungeons. He, Ron and Hermoine could barely get out of her way in time to prevent a collision.

"Snape just being Snape, I guess." Ron shrugged his shoulders. Since when would Snape need a reason to act as the downright son of a bitch he was? The mere existance of other people always had been reason enough for him.

"Maybe, but even you will have to admit that during this last week he is in an even fouler mood than usual." Hermoine looked concerned. "Something seems to really bother him."

"Yeah – us." Ron dropped his books on the table and took his seat next to a grinning Harry.

"No, something e…" Since Snape suddenly looked up from the parchment he had been writing on, she wisely shut up. As did everybody else.

"Put your books away. You will not use them today," Snape snarled. After which he smiled. Oh oh, a smiling Snape. That was not good. And a smiling Snape before class had even started was even worse…

Here and there students exchanged anxious glances while everybody put their books back in their bags as quickly and silently as they could. Still smiling, Snape slowly rose from his chair. All students held their breath. This felt wrong, so wrong!

"Let's see how good you insufferable little brats are at using those deranged braincells of yours, shall we?" He turned towards the blackboard and flicked his wand. Immediately the formula of an Attraction Potion appeared. "You will have exactly one hour and a half to make this childish potion. Now go to work."

"Eh, sir? We – eh – never made that potion before…" said a very cautious Pansy Parkinson.

"I fail to see the significance of that remark, miss Parkinson," snapped Snape haughty. "am I wrong in assuming that you can actually read?"

"N-no, sir." Pansy's face turned kind of tomato red.

"Well, then…read and get on with it. All of you!" Snape moved to the side of the classroom and watched, with his hands on his back, quite disdainful how the students picked up their required ingredients and silently got to work. In no time the dungeon was filled with boiling and steaming cauldrons and the sound of chopping knives and scraping spoons. Everybody worked quietly and timidly, hardly daring to even look up from their workspace. Snape felt the tense atmosphere and revelled in it. Even after so many years of teaching, it still felt very satisfying to scare the hell out of those intellectual wastebaskets.

He started to walk through the classroom – a predator looking for prey and then going for the kill.

"You may want to pay particular attention to this potion, miss Granger." It didn't take long for him to find his first victim. It never did. "Looking like you do and having the disadvantage of being of muggle descent, it could mean your one and only escape from approximately 3.224 Saturday nights you may not be asked out."

The Slytherins laughed out loud while the Gryffindors looked quite appalled because of this nasty hit below the belt. Ron was fuming and opened his mouth to tell Snape exactly what he thought of him when Harry saved his life by stepping on his left foot and pushing an elbow between his ribs.

"Hey, what…" Ron turned his attention away from Snape to his friend.

"Just… shut up!" Harry hissed and gestured him to go on with his work. With the mood Snape seemed to be in, he would have Ron for dinner. Ron opened his mouth once more, caught sight of a rather hopeful looking Draco staring at him and got the message. Bending down over his squashed ladybirds, he grunted something unintelligible and concentrated on his work again.

"Time is up. Bottle your potions and put them on my desk. Then clean up your mess." All too soon time had ran out. Reluctantly Harry bottled his yellow potion, which should have been purple by now, brought it to the table and went back to clean up his workspace. He felt really exhausted and very tense. A quick look around confirmed that most of the students felt that way. Neville looked as if he was about to burst into tears and even Draco Malfoy looked somewhat concerned and nervouw. And with reason, Harry thought.

This had to be one of the weirdest potion classes they had ever had. Snape tricking them into making a potion they had never attempted before was… well, Snape. But aside from that one very foul comment towards Hermoine, he had been silent. Suspiciously and nerve-rackingly silent. Oh, he had turned up behind their backs, looked over their shoulders, sniffed at the contents of a cauldron or two but that was it. No humiliating remarks, no mean sniggering, snorting, bullying… not even a look of disbelief, disgust of even pure loathing. Nothing! Absolutely nothing! And that was alarming. Very alarming. Somehow somewhere there just had to be a catch. There had to be! When even Snape's favorourite puppy Malfoy showed some signs of discomfort, there had to be something terribly wrong…

Snape took his place behind the desk and looked rather pleased with himself for some reason.

"As I am sure you all will be pleased to know – this assigment will be graded and will also be part of your markings for your OWLs this year," he informed them casually.

Stunned silence. Utter disbelief. Shock. Horror. He saw the panicky emotions on their faces and loved it. Just loved it. Oh yes, their reactions made it almost satisfying to be stuck at this ungrateful job. And it worked every time – the realisation of actually having to achieve something always made them crumble before his very own eyes. "Class dismissed!"

No one dared to comment or protest and every single Gryffindor as well as Slytherin fled the classroom as soon as they could. For once the students of both houses agreed with eachother.

"The bastard!"

"The unbearable arsehole!"

"He can't do this!"

"We never had this potion before! And it was so hard to make!"

"I think I forgot to take the legs off of one ladybird," groaned Dean defeated.

"Mine wasn't purple, more a darkish blue…" Hermoine mused.

"Ladybirds?" Neville was moving towards a panic attack.

"Well, Granger, hopefully you…"

"Fuck off, Malfoy!" Harry and Ron simultaneously pointed their wands at Draco.

"Tsk… temper temper, boys." Their eternal enemy shook his head in mock-concern before he, indeed, walked away. But only after noticing that the nearest, and only, Slytherin was Goyle. No hope for real back-up there. Oh well, some other time.

And while the dungeons and its hallways cleared with remarkable speed, the potions master locked the bottled, and no doubt pathetic, potion samples away in one of his many spell-protected cupboards. He would grade them later. Right now there was a more urgent matter to consider. Something that would not allow any more delay.

Lost in thought Severus retreated to his private rooms, poured himself a brandy and flopped down in his chair by the fireplace. Today was Friday. He had to make up his mind in the next hour or so. He still hadn't been able to do so. Even during this last class he barely had been able to think of anything else. His pride was telling him very strongly not to go and just to ignore Lucius as he had ignored him. A dose of his own medicine – that would teach the arrogant, beautiful bastard! Some other, very persistent, cells of his brain warned him. Lucius would not take kindly to his declination of the `invitation'. True, he was probably the only one who would eventually get away with it and still be relatively unharmed. But undoubtedly that had more to do with the fact that Lucius wouldn't dare to risk having Severus as his enemy. And while all those thoughts raced through his head, his body desperately yearned for touches, and frankly, a good and thorough shag. In short, decisions and plans had to be made. He poured himself another brandy and went back to his chair. With a deep sigh he leaned backwards and closed his eyes.

And suddenly, after maybe half an hour, the solution came creeping out of a dark hole in the back of his mind. Yes, that was it! It was so simple that it almost scared him…this way he could go and take Lucius up on the invitation and get back at him at the same time!

A short look on the clock told him he had just enough time to make the desired Numbing Potion. With renewed energy he got out of his chair and started to collect the necessary ingredients. The look on that man's face when he would not get any physical reaction! He knew Lucius well enough to know that he would take that as a personal insult and be very, very upset…it certainly would be amusing and, to a certain extent, gratifying. To start with.

Almost two hours later Severus left the castle in one of the coaches of the school, which were always to the disposal of anyone who had a need of one. Of course he could Apparate but arriving in a carriage really had more style. Something Lucius would surely appreciate.

The path of the serpent 3

Severus arrived at Malfoy Manor at half past five and was greeted by a smug Lucius.

"Severus! So glad you could come." As if he had any doubts he would not come, Severus thought.

"Always a pleasure." He greeted him with the same smooth lines. "How is Narcissa?"

"Very well. Unfortunately she can't join us as she has. other engagements."

"Did she know she had?" Severus just couldn't resist. He and Narcissa had declared war on each other a long time ago and avoided the other as much as they could. Lucius shook his head in mock sadness

"Let's just say that you two can make ice freeze when you're in the same room. Or shall I say house?" He stroked one of Severus' cheecks with a finger and took him to the study where they started off with a glass of brandy and some small talk. Which meant that Lucius complained about his workload at the Ministry and the extremely poor judgements being made there.

"So why stay there?" Severus asked, already knowing the answer.

"You know me - always trying to save what can be saved." Lucius smiled.

"That's one way of putting it." Severus felt if the little vial was still in his trouser pocket. Best to drink it after dinner, he decided. "I see you purchased a new painting?" His eyes fell on a small landscape next to the desk. It looked familiar somehow. A Dorean! Well now, wouldn't want to let people think we are poor, now can we?

"The Dorean! Yes!" Lucius looked quite thrilled with his new asset. "The nerve that man had - daring to ask 250 Galleons for it!"

"But you still bought it."

"Only after some negotiating." Lucius smirked meaningful. "He eventually agreed that 130 Galleons was a very fair price. But I just had to have it. It's a painting from here, before the Manor was built. Historically accurate and really a fine piece of art."

A knock on the door stopped the conversation.

"Dinner is ready to be served, Sir," mumbled a nervous looking house elf, avoiding Lucius' eyes as much as he could.

"Excellent. Severus?" Lucius stood up, shooed the elf away and escorted his friend and lover to the dining room. "You'll be pleased to know we are having game. I know how much you like that."

"And truffles?" A poorly concealed tone of eagerness in his voice.

"And truffles." Lucius chuckled. "Although I still don't understand how you can appreciate two such distinct and strong tastes in one dish."

Severus took his place at the table and shrugged. "Bad habit, I guess. Or maybe I'm just spoiled."

"Mmm, I like spoiling you." Lucius purred and gave him a very meaningful look.

"Eat, Lucius," snapped the potions master, looking at the glass of wine in front of him that just had been filled. His host obeyed with a theatrical sigh but no further comment. One of those things only he could get away with, Severus knew. Lucius would not tolerate such tone of voice from anyone else. So nice to have these little privileges.

The wine and dinner were of outstanding quality. They always were when Severus was there. Lucius would go all the way to make sure of that because Severus was one of these few people who could and would actually taste the difference between good quality food and excellence and perfection.

His lover was a lot of things, and some not 'nice' so say the least, but he also was without doubt the perfect host - his guests could always be assured that they would get the best of the best. The best of what Lucius thought they were worth, anyway. He knew that he was the only one knowing about this subtle little game his lover liked to play. On one occasion, for example, when he had to dine with Lucius and Narcissa, he couldn't help but notice that his quality of escargots were significantly better than the ones Narcissa was eating. Hers were still very good and they looked exactly the same, but even without tasting them he could smell the difference. One quick look at Lucius had confirmed that suspicion.

"Perfection as always." Severus felt very relaxed and smiled contentedly. "Is there any more wine?"

"There will be in my other study - I have something to show you there."

The other study. Another one of those little privileges. Even Narcissa and Draco were banned from it. Too many secrets hidden there.

Knowing that asking would not give any enlightment, the potions master just stood up and followed.

Once in the forbidden study Lucius shortly disappeared behind a bookcase only to return a few moments later, holding a small item in his hand. He handed it over to Severus who looked at the little stone sculpture in silence. A snake with its fangs buried in a dying lion. Slytherin versus Gryffindor perhaps? He asked.

"Precisely. Such a beautiful metaphor, don't you think? Reminds me of the good old days at school." He very obviously choose to ignore Severus' indignant snorts, ".but mostly, it reminds me of you." He walked up to Severus and whispered soft in his ear. "Your hungry eyes after a bit of fondling in the library, your beautifully swollen red lips after some serious kissing behind one of the greenhouses, your flushed and sweaty face after I shagged you." Lucius rubbed against him and pushed Severus against the desk. "For example in that little storage room next to - "

"Lucius, stop! Please, I." How could he be so cruel? How could he dare to remind him of those days? The memory was torture! All of it! Always! And he still had to be there and relive it day by day! And Lucius knew that, knew how he felt about it all. Those were the days he had felt truly happy for the first (and only) time in his life. Happy that he was living his dream; being with the one he loved. Only to have the illusion taken away, destroyed. Once and for all. It was during those schooldays after all that he learned that his lover had to get married, that he would have to share him, lose him.

"You look so gorgeous when you're shagged.so incredibly gorgeous." Soft warm lips tenderly kissed his neck while familiar hands slowly started to unbutton Severus' shirt. He shivered in spite of himself. A hungry bite in the neck. Severus hissed and shivered again. Damn.

Lucius' delicious lips slowly moved upwards, making sure that every inch of skin was greeted with a lick and a kiss, not necessarily in that order.

"No, Lucius.I.not." His lover's mouth caught his and smothered the protest while a tongue slid towards his, inviting it to come and play. The invitation was accepted. No! Why was he doing this? Why wasn't his own tongue listening to him? Hands and nails were caressing and marking his shoulders and back.teeth now grazed at a nipple.a hand firmly grabbed his ass. Severus moaned and let himself be swept away for a moment.oh, bloody hell.so good, so tempting.

NO! The vial! He hadn't taken the potion yet! He had made it for this moment, it was supposed to make him feel numb to touch and right now, he certainly felt a lot but NOT numb! Not even close to it! His hand went down to his pants. His pants! Where had his bloody pants gone?

"If you are having second thoughts about this, I suggest you ignore them. It's a bit late for that, don't you think?" As to underline his words, Lucius bit him in the chest. Hard. And again. A hand was closing around his rapidly growing cock and stroked him expertly. Another moan escaped from Severus' lips. Damn, this was not the wa.oh gods.oh no..ohnyesyesyes! He gasped and moaned even louder yet when Lucius kneeled and his cock suddenly was surrounded by hot wet silky heat. Oh gods, this was good! This was soooooo good! This was.ohhh.he was always.so, ah, good at this.oh yes oh yes.oh gods.

NO! He couldn't afford to lose control. Not this time!

By sheer force of will Severus managed to push Lucius away and in a split second changed his plans and immediately took over himself. If anyone would have control, it would be him! He couldn't afford any emotions now! He roughly pushed Lucius down to the floor, stripping him of his clothes in the process and attacked him. There really was no other word for it. The look in his lovers' eyes was a mixture of utter disbelief, bewilderment and something else he could not define but he wasn't fighting him off or shoving him away. On the contrary, he was more than willing to let Severus be the dominant one, for once. Unusual and remarkable but extremely useful for his change in plans. Which he executed with an all consuming passion and dedication. He kissed, licked, nibbled and sucked every piece of skin he could get his mouth on while his hands were caressing, groping, teasing, daring, scratching and bruising. It didn't take him long to have Lucius begging for more, gasping, moaning, writhe, curse, cry out in frustration or extasy and completely forget everything. Everything except his desperate need for a climax

By the time Severus had him on all fours and without ceremony shoved his cock into his pleading ass, Lucius could only hoarsely scream and whine. Showing absolutely no mercy Severus roughly pounded into him as hard and as long as he could. Shouting Severus' name Lucius came crying. Really crying. The feeling of all those muscles tightening around his own throbbing hard cock, Severus couldn't postpone his own climax any longer and also came. He collapsed upon a unconscious looking Lucius, before he rolled off and closed his own eyes for a moment.

"Oh Merlin.oh dear Merlin." Lucius layed splayed on the floor, completely wasted, devoured, eyes closed and still trying to get his breathing back under control. Severus smiled and kissed his lover softly on his lips a few times, suppressing a chuckle. Without false modesty he knew that Lucius just had had the best lay of his life. He had made bloody sure he had.

"I must go now," he whispered, placing another kiss on Lucius' lips. He could feel him smile and grinned. "I'll let myself out then."

He got up, dressed and covered his friend with the plaid from the couch. Lucius still did not move and just mumbled something unintelligible. Severus laughed and swiftly left the room and the Manor.

Only to see Narcissa walk up towards the house. Oh great. Just what he needed.

"Ah, Narcissa.back so soon?" He smiled a very false polite smile and nodded his head curt.

"Yes," she gave him a contemptuous stare, "but undoubtedly you already got what you came here for?"

"That I have. Indeed." His mouth formed a provocative little smirk. Oops.

"How.nice for you, Severus. I hope you enjoyed yourself during this little rendezvous. But don't fool yourself to think otherwise, because that is all you are getting from him. He still is mine, you know. He gave me his name, he shares his house with me, he shares his meals with me, at the end of the day he comes home to me and I gave him a son. What can you give him that he hasn't already got?"

"I, my dear, can make him whimper, whine, moan, beg, shiver, scream, howl, cry and break him down to nothing more than a boneless glibbering mess. Can you?"

"You bastard!" Furiously Narcissa tried to smack him in the face but Severus was already several steps away, knowing what would come. Narcissa and Lucius did not have a sexlife. They had only slept together until she got pregnant from Draco and that had been that. Lucius had refused to touch her ever since. Until this very day that was something Lucius' wife could not accept and was desperate about.

Perfect. All went perfect. Happily Severus took his place in the waiting coach and went back to school.

end part 3