Bride of the HP Dragon

Severus Snape was a chronic insomniac.Whenever he tried to soothe the strange moments that kept filling his head with strange noises, his sleep would be shortened, and he would be tormented by fits and starts of dreams that would turn an ordinary person into neurotic and incoherent for hours mental illness.

Restful sleep was what he craved, which might have been ironic for a Potions Master who couldn't, or indeed didn't want to, brew a potion that would give him a few hours of blissful relief.

Oh, and of course there were plenty of potions to choose from: black, seething, menacing potions that would rob him of all waking consciousness for as long as possible.But he never brewed it for himself, and the reason he gave was that, after all, he was a masochist.

There are probably only a handful of people on this planet who can actually get that kind of restful sleep, and he's clearly not one of them.Despite the futility, Snape still went to bed early in the evening, ignoring the crumbling pile of chicken-fried chicken skin trying to get away with student work.

He felt that the years were rushing, because of irresistible fatigue, and recently he felt that he could no longer hold a quill and work awake until the early hours of the morning.

During these days, the coldness of the cellar penetrated into his bones more easily, but the cellar used to be so cold.It was as if the cheerful moods, warm thoughts, and tenderness in the castle were like hot air, slowly rising and warming, and slowly strangling the inhabitants of the cellars in peaceful sleep.But Snape would have given up half his life to sleep like a first-year Hufflepuff.

A soft crackle from the fireplace at the back of the bedroom made Snape rise from the bed.Frowning deeply, he pushed the thick bedcover aside, reached for his wand from the bedside table and cast a lumos.It was late at night, but judging by the sound, he might be welcoming a Floo visitor.

By the time Snape went to his study to take a closer look, the Night Visitor was already waiting for him, in the icy green flames of the fireplace.

Lucius Malfoy's silvery eyes looked up and down Snape, from his velvet slippers to his pajamas and his long, slightly tousled hair.

"You don't often fall asleep so early." Lucius greeted.

Snape's lips were pursed because he felt the pain on the tip of his tongue, which meant it was going to be another sleepless night.

"In addition to supervising the tedious and noisy Junior Potions class, I was asked to take over from Lupin this afternoon," Snape replied.He decided to succumb to his insomnia and arm himself with a cup of strong black coffee.The desire for sleep that had begun in the evening had now turned into a hopeless endeavor.

"Ah," Lucius smiled, tilted his head to one side, and pretended to look out of a nearby window: "I didn't realize that wandering werewolf was back, is it a full moon tonight?" Lucius spoke eloquently: "I didn't even notice."

Snape was working on his potions in his kitchen, which was not yet occupied by his ever-expanding potions laboratory.He likes coffee strong enough to burn through a rock, and he prefers to brew it without magic.

"It was a full moon last night and he is recovering today."

"You look terrible, Severus."

"Thanks, Lucius." Snape stroked his chin, he always had the habit of grinding his teeth every time he forced himself to sleep. "It appears that your imprisonment has not improved your manners at all."

Lucius furrowed one of his platinum-blond eyebrows. If you squinted, it would be perfectly normal to mistake Lucius for Draco.Snape had probably seen the same expression on Draco's face many times, and the resemblance was always terrifying: "Should it be improved?"

"No, I don't think incarceration would do that," Snape sighed, "It's not your thing to make silly jokes, Lucius, and I'm assuming you're interrupting my rest for something important. .Your Floo clearance has been extended to one hour this week, I suggest you act fast and tell me what you want."

There was a time when Snape's mean remarks would be laughed at by Lucius, a laugh that would make the tender petals of a daisy wither.But those days are gone, but the past is not forgotten, and you can still see the hidden spark of hatred in Lucius' eyes.

Lucius Malfoy, in his current state, was a hurricane of anger locked in a tight iron box.The wizard had once inspired great fear and awe, and now his influence was slowly waning.As fate would have it, he was stripped of his wand and hope.Without those two things, Lucius is just a name.

Snape entertained Lucius' fate, even felt that he deserved it, but their pasts were so closely linked that Snape couldn't pretend to stand on a higher moral ground.

In particular, some of the past is forever imprinted.

Lucius' handsome head lifted slightly, as if he was struggling to speak.Snape was immediately intrigued, and old Malfoy never hesitated, even when he was obviously wrong.That's why he is such a strong person, not everyone can be so determined, although he is on the wrong team.

Only Lucius can turn a deer into a horse and turn black and white.

"Draco," Lucius said simply.

"I understand." Snape's voice was smooth, with a false softness: "I'm afraid your topic is not new at all."

Lucius responded by raising a hand and touching his earlobe with a long finger.The implication is clear that this is a conversation that only two people know about.This requirement is almost impossible to do, because Lucius' flyway is monitored.However, there are always ways to ensure privacy.This required submitting a report to Dumbledore in the morning, which was a perk of being a double agent - the special freedom of a special practitioner.

Snape raised his wand forward and cast the required spell.

"Did he tell you he'd be back to see me over the weekend?" Lucius continued, getting more pointed.

Snape nodded, looking very cooperative: "Your son just told me to go home before he returned to school. This kid's absence has already aroused the ideas of several of his classmates. They came to confirm to me that your son is graduating Got drunk at the party, and then accidentally fell into a hidden hole in the castle that no one has discovered so far."

"I forgot how tall he is now."

Lucius did have a dark voice, which is not often the case.Snape knew him so well that even the slightest slur in his voice could not hide it.Perhaps this was a night that should be recorded in a Pensieve, Snape frowned.

"I hope you can explain why you're here soon. I'm not in the habit of talking to criminals, and I'm a ridiculous Death Eater who gets drunk during the day. You know, it's not a reputation."

Lucius' eyes flashed cold anger: "You bastard."

Facing Lucius' undisguised anger, Snape felt a sudden joy with peace of mind, but his expression was still cold: "To each other."

"We've got a problem and need your help," Lucius said impatiently, sounding annoyed: "Draco has a problem."

Snape snorted, "When will the fruit in your crotch stop causing trouble?" He sat comfortably in the leather armchair and took a sip of coffee.The chair once belonged to Dumbledore and served in the hands of the previous owner for 80 years.

Lucius frowned: "This is a trouble that only Emmanuel Bokin can help you, you arrogant waste."

This brought Snape's full attention, and he thumped down his glass and stood up with the expression on his face like a first year cowering before a cauldron.

"Lucius, for Merlin's sake, what have you done?"

Lucius felt insulted: "I didn't do this."

"Well, what's wrong with my goddamn godson that he needs Borgin's inexplicable help?"

For some reason, the question amused Lucius: "Hermione Granger, obviously..."

Snape blinked, "What?"

"They got married! The two of them went to FidaMia over the weekend and Draco brought the girl home and told me the news. I think I could have handled things better." Lucius sighed , staring at the torn carpet in front of Snape's fireplace.

Lucius was right, they were in some sort of trouble now, "These two little idiots..." Snape said angrily, "Insanely stupid!"

He rationally prevented himself from asking how Lucius had taught Draco a lesson, and Snape thought back to when Draco told him to return to Malfoy Manor, the kid looked tired, but nothing else not bad.

"This is the consequence of a lack of rational judgment, but it will be remedied soon." Lucius was quite confident.

Snape took a deep breath, Lucius knew little about Draco's upbringing, and at the same time, he loved his child so deeply.And that's one possible reason why Draco would rather go back and face his furious father than meet his Headmaster.

If Draco was trying to get his father's full attention for this absurdity, then he had succeeded.

But he had inadvertently drawn Hermione Granger into it.

What the hell did you do, boy?

"Lucius, this is not the result of a momentary lack of judgment. FidaMia is irreversible! Are you willing to send these two children to Emmanuel to toss, just to break the spell?"

"On the contrary (French: Aucontraire), dear Sif," Lucius folded his arms, with a sharp expression on his elegant face: "If we don't try, we will never be able to."

Snape frowned tightly: "Dark magic?" He snorted: "I don't think Granger would agree."

Lucius was full of confidence: "I talked to that girl, and she is willing to try her best to make up for this almost immortal mistake. In exchange, Bo Jin will provide help."

"Two things..." Snape began, pacing the study.

Lucius motioned for him to continue.

"Technically speaking, FidaMia's anti-curse has yet to be invented, but in order for the spell to work, both parties must agree to annul the marriage completely voluntarily. Considering the complexity of this matter and..." Snape paused, his face Weary across the top: "The intimacy of the primal ritual, I assume neither Draco nor Miss Granger succumbed to external forces to receive the tattoo?"

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked, though his tone suggested he understood.

"It's not that Draco doesn't like that girl," Snape said, ignoring Lucius' extremely theatrical choked expression. "If they're going to try to reverse the spell, it's best he faces the fact."

Lucius looked distressed: "Yeah, I noticed that too, when I was going to talk to her alone, he was concerned."

Snape's hand to get the cup stopped: "Shouldn't he?"

"Maybe." Lucius shrugged, as if they were just talking about the weather. .

"I don't think your joke is funny," Snape advised. "You must have told him what you've been doing to innocent Muggles for a long time."

Lucius smiled, and then stretched out his hand in a pleading motion, but his expression was full of unscrupulous malice.This was the old Lucius, full of ridiculous charm.

"As far as you can see, my dear Severus, I don't lack motives, but the means are another matter. What concerns do you have?"

Maybe he shouldn't have been told, Snape decided, but there was little they could do about it right now.

"The Order of the Phoenix has reliable news that the recruits recruited by Voldemort have arrived at Hogwarts again." Snape still said.

This bad news brought a long silence, Lucius' expression was dark and inexplicable, just like Snape's.Both of them were lost in thought, but they were very alert to the status quo.Snape took a swig of black coffee.

"Draco is neither leader nor vassal," Lucius said cautiously.

"He won't join, and he won't try because of any temptation." Snape was sure, and he was satisfied with Lucius' attitude: "But recruiting recruits will make the status quo worse, and your son is very important in the eyes of others." Valuable, specific... factions won't get malicious speculation about his contradictory stance on the Dark Lord, but there will be backlash, especially if his marriage to Granger comes to light."

Lucius frowned: "Then make sure it's not exposed."

"It's going to be a challenge for them," Snape went on, "but it's also timely. If he maintains his marriage to Granger, recruits will bypass him. As they say, see If you can't get it, you can't catch it. Boys are naturally very curious, which makes him more prone to conflict. Sorry for the harsh words, but given their inclination towards each other, maybe in the time they spend together Here, Granger will be a positive influence on Draco."

"A good influence?" Lucius snorted coldly, "This girl is very brave, I admit it, but she is hopelessly naive. She always likes to speak loudly at inappropriate times."

The corners of Snape's mouth were slightly raised: "If you try it, you may be surprised to find that you are addicted to this honest habit."

"Oh, now I think it's your turn to tell me what the hell you mean by that?"

Snape could hardly contain his delight. "When did you tell him about his mother?" he asked softly.

"What do you want me to tell him? I refused to give him to Narcissa, and then that vain woman hit me in every possible stupid way?" Lucius gritted his teeth with hatred.

"Merlin's teeth, Lucius!" Snape retorted. "His mother didn't die simply out of shame in exile, she took enough drugs to kill a centaur. She had been dead for months, You have to tell Draco!"

Lucius' answer was as soft as a whisper: "He doesn't need to know now."

"Draco's not a fool. If he went to his Gringotts account and looked up the so-called gift of Narcissa, he'd find that the money came from me. His mother died, Lucius. Regardless of the fact What is it, he will know about this matter eventually. You must tell him, otherwise there will be no remaining father-son relationship between you two. "

"Will it be scary?" Lucius asked, "For him?"

Snape didn't think he was going to back down: "No," he admitted, "he wouldn't do terrible things like you. And Lucius, you have to thank God that your son has something you don't have." , There are also shortcomings that you don't have."

Lucius looked away, and to Snape's surprise, he looked exhausted: "He's supposed to be ours, Sev, yours and mine..."

Snape chuckled, but the laugh was dry and devoid of glee: "Even if modern magic found a way to bypass the reproductive system, he'd be a recognizable monster. Thankfully, he's Inherited the grace of Narcissa."

"Yes," Lucius agreed, even softening his eyes: "You always look like a big fool."

This is a common way of teasing each other between them, which has not been seen for many years.The jeers would have been funnier in the first place, considering that the grown-up Snape was much calmer and more serious than when he was Draco's age.

Snape looked into Lucius' numb eyes, through his pupils clouded by alcohol, and realized that he could still see some remnants of the man he'd followed relentlessly since twenty years ago.Sitting in Draco's own class can be unnerving at times, and when he's listening intently to what he's teaching or making eye contact across the air, Draco's youthful face is haunted by Lucius' iconic sneer.

So much like his father, Snape thought, that was worrying.But thankfully, the ambition that almost drove him off the cliff in Lucius was neutralized by Narcissa's mediocrity.

Draco was undeniably cunning, and sometimes malicious.But the boy never let others use him as a gun, like his mother, he was very selfish.

Snape himself was no stranger to the allure of blind faith, and he followed it without scruple, intellectual or emotional.At the age of 17, he survived the initiation ceremony of the Dark Lord and grew up with the help of his mentor, the extremely unpredictable Lucius.Years later, standing among the guests at Lucius' wedding, he watched Lucius kiss Narcissa Black's icy red lips, saw those gray eyes look at him through the crowd, and gave him a A shallow smile that only the two of them could understand.

"I suddenly had the urge to kill," Lucius said.At that moment, he looked like a middle-aged man in his 40s, a frightened father.

"You reminded me, Lucius," Snape said, his velvety voice adding some depth and coldness: "If you use any means to hurt your son again, next time you see him, It is behind the bars of Azkaban. My help is conditional, don’t get me wrong, this is not friendship.”

Lucius' smile couldn't hold back: "Oh, Severus, I won't, there won't be a next time."

Snape didn't need to pull out his pocket watch to know that it was time to Floo, the smoke rising from the green flames drowning out the flames.

Lucius noticed too: "I'm sure you'll keep me updated on what's going on anytime, right? Getting a word from Draco is as hard as casting a Lumos underwater..."

Snape understood that, and he was suddenly glad he wasn't a father.There is now a new saying for Draco's "I will not speak when I die".

"My godson is the most important thing now, and of course I'll let you know how it goes."

"Thank you, Severus."

"Oh, Lucius, one more thing."

"Ok?"

"You can think I'm satisfying your own strange curiosity, but can you answer a question?"

Lucius watched him.

"What do you plan to do if you are free one day?" Snape asked.

Lucius' answer, without hesitation or pretentiousness, disturbed Snape.

"Take my son, like it or not, and run," said the former Death Eater.

"You're really going to put him in that situation?" Snape asked. "He has to cut himself off from everyone he's ever known, and keep running and hiding?" The flames died out, only a wisp of green smoke drifting, Lucius' figure began to fluctuate.

"I will," Lucius said, his voice echoing: "Without hesitation."

With a muffled bang from Mars, the Floo call was terminated.

The conversation had ended in soot and smoke, and Snape was, in fact, sleepless, sane, and, if he didn't want to admit it, shaken.

He walked to the desk and sat down. It was a good table, with claw-shaped legs, made of sandalwood, with a mother-of-pearl luster on the surface, and it had been used by his family for three generations.It was one of the few things he had in his life, on which he pinned his affections.

From the outside this desk has four sizable drawers with brass handles, two on each side.But when Snape pulled his wand from the center of the table and muttered a short spell, a fifth, much smaller drawer appeared.

The hidden space popped open to reveal a bundle of green velvet.Snape stared at the bundle for a moment before taking it out, his hands trembling a little, but he was a Potions Master and his professionalism left him no room for weakness.

He unfolded the cloth carefully, and wrapped in it was a shiny golden key.

The author has something to say:

The dialogue between the two old men is so ambiguous. I have studied it over and over for a long time, and I am sure that I am not mistaken.

A reasonable explanation is that Voldemort's membership-based underworld introduced some very ancient traditions. For example, in ancient Greece, in order to cultivate wise and healthy citizens, adult men were asked to become mentors to young people one-on-one, teaching knowledge and philosophy of life.

Go out together, of course, if you want to eat and sleep together, social customs are also encouraged~

If the author uses this kind of intention to explain the past relationship between the two old men, it is actually better than the purely danmei way of handling it.This is a community of life that shares outlook on life and ambitions. Sometimes it is not just love, but a more ambitious pursuit that only men understand.

Just like a 300-man legion recorded in the "History of the Peloponnesian War", it is legendary that it is invincible and invincible. The entire legion is composed of male partners.Their goals are the same and lofty, and they can give their backs unreservedly to those they trust and attach to, and they have become legends.