Ten thousand words pass between them, yet none of them are spoken.

Malfoy knows instinctively that he has crossed a line, and with his wand in his hand, there is no way he can deny his intention. He knows too that before he would even be able to form a complete spell of defense, Snape's hands would be at his throat.

Those powerful hands...

...which are now clenched into fists. He knows, oh yes he knows, just what the younger wizard is capable of; he remembers with vivid clarity what agony Snape inflicted upon Rastaban Lestrange last summer, when Rastaban had been foolish enough to पार करना, क्रॉस him. Malfoy...

Elsbet crawls on her hands and knees through the bushes, with absolutely no idea where she's going. Well, her heart knows. Her दिल tells her to keep going, no matter how prickly the ground is, no matter how thirsty या hungry she is, या how tired she is. There is time for drinking and eating and sleeping and healing after she has done what she has to do. As she crawls through the leaf-litter and sharp rocks, she puts her right hand down hard on something sharp, and it cuts her, cuts her deep. She cries out and jerks back, knocking her stick out from behind her ear where she'd put it for safekeeping....

He steps into the White Room and sits down at the Art Deco-style table. Every single thing in the room is white; the walls, the curtains over the non-existant windows, the furnature, the nude and anatomically correct female mannequin in the corner. Even the painting, which took him द्वारा surprise the first time he saw it. It's not the रंग one is supposed to appreciate, obviously; it's the shapes formed द्वारा the plaster beneath the paint.

He waits patiently, hoping for the best. The conditions outside the structure indicate how Elsbet is feeling; the streets were empty and the weather was calm,...

Snape finds the school calm and quiet, and he is relieved that it is so. He sometimes, just sometimes, longs for the old days, though; the Quidditch rivalry with McGonagall, the friendly debates over the best uses for verbena with Sprout, the surprisingly spontaneous conversations with Madame Hooch, and the talks with Dumbledore that just aren't the same anymore. He heard a song once द्वारा that Muggle band The Beatles called In My Life; it has always haunted him. First, it was about Lily, then gradually, as the years have passed, it has come to have so much और meaning. Sometimes, when he's alone...

It is a small house, much smaller than the one Snape created, but it was ready for her at the right moment. There is a single bedroom, and for now it will suffice, but as the two wizards claim it and size up the bed, neither is sure how three प्रेमी are going to fit on it later, let alone the two of them right now.

They'll make due.

There is no talking; mouths are put to better use the moment Snape's bag is on the dresser. चुंबन each other passionately, it is difficult to tell which of the two is the और dominant, या rather, the hungrier. चुंबन eyes open adds to the intensity and the need,...

Snape looks at Malfoy directly and says, "that would depend on how well आप convince me you're worthy of her." There is a challenge in Snape's statement, albeit a teasing one, and Malfoy is और than prepared to meet that challenge. He nods politely to Elsbet first, then leans आगे and kisses Snape again. It's a long kiss, long and sensuous, and before it's done the two wizards are fumbling with each other again. Elsbet giggles when Snape groans softly and she begins to undo his trousers. Their lips part and Malfoy glances down, then catches her hands. "Shall we हटाइए this to your room?"...