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One Life Ends…	By : SpeedyTomato Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 47406 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 3
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Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Chapter 4

Sitting in the back of the noisy bar, Harry watched the
crowds as they milled around and groups sat together talking. It was a couple days since he had spoken with
Snape at his place and he was here to meet the man again. Really, he knew that it was a bad idea and
went a long way towards jeopardizing who he truly was slipping out, but he
couldn’t help himself. He wanted
to talk to the man and play catch up.
Things were different now that the war was over and his old professor
didn’t know who he was. That had
made things freer between them and the antagonistic relationship that had been
in place while he was in school wasn’t there. Honestly, he enjoyed the talk and wanted to
do it again. It was like he was able to
reconnect with the past without bringing all the drama that came with who he
was back in, something he adored. In his
mind, he justified what he was doing with the knowledge that the Hogwarts
professors were only going to be here for two weeks, then they would go back to
Britain. For two weeks, he would be allowed to
reconnect with things then life would go on as it usually did. At least that was the plan.

Settling back in his seat, he sipped at his bottle of beer
and waited. The day before Snape had
left him a message at the Cote de Café about setting up another meeting. After a couple owls back and forth over it,
they decided to meet at the Sorcière Errante, it was Cote de Magie’s
version of the Three Broomsticks where everyone and their aunt met up to
talk. Though it would be loud, they
thought it would be better since no one would pay them any nevermind and they
could talk freely. Since he did have
some connections here and there, seeing as he lived in this place year round,
he was able to kind of reserve a booth way in the back out of the heavy traffic
areas. Though it would still be loud,
they would have some privacy and most would leave them alone. That was acceptable to both of them. Because he wanted to make sure that he was
able to get the booth, he had come early and parked in it, sipping at a beer
while he waited.

Lounging back in the booth, one arm draped casually over the
back of it, he thought this whole situation over. Sure, he liked the idea of somewhat
reconnecting with the events back home, but there was a niggling somewhere in
his mind that told him this was all a very bad idea. Sure, after two weeks, those from his past
would be gone but he didn’t think that anything would ever go back to the
way it was after they left. He was sure,
once they were gone, that he would long for his past life. It seemed that this had opened a door in him
that he wasn’t sure he could close again.
Since talking to Snape that night, he had longed to go back to Britain
to reconnect with some things in person.
No, he didn’t want to reveal who he was and go back to that
nightmare, he was certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that Harry Potter would
never be left alone, even after all these years, but he wanted to go
‘home’ and live there once more.
Yeah, he would probably miss the weather here and his friends but he
could live with that he thought. Right
now, he was missing those he had left behind more than he had in a very long
time. In fact, it was a palpable thing
that he was finding hard to fight off.
He would run a litany through his head as to why he shouldn’t even
think of going back and what could come of it, but that seemed to be trounced
by the longing he felt to do so. Part of
him wanted to go back just to walk the streets he once did and see how things
had changed since he had been gone. He
would assure himself that he could just Apparate, do that, then be back here in
a few hours. But he was wise enough to
know that if he did that, it wouldn’t be enough. He would have to have more. It was that rationale that kept him from
doing it. However, in the last 24 hours,
it had gotten harder to fight off.

If that weren’t enough, there were other problems as
well. Knowing Remus and Sirius were
around, he was finding it hard not to go see them and reveal who he was. Sure, he didn’t think that they would
reveal who he was to anyone else, but he knew that if they knew where he was
and where to find him that he wouldn’t be left alone. Not only would they do everything they could
to persuade him to come back, but he was sure that they would reveal his
location to those close to him. Then he
would have all kinds of visitors. Once
that started happening, it was only a matter of time before it slipped out and
everyone got wind of where Harry Potter lived then all hell would break
loose. He would then have to either move
or put up with it. Neither option was one
he liked. So, for now, he was going to
force himself to do nothing. Before the
two weeks were up, he would decide on something but for now the best course of
action was to do nothing and continue on as he was. Sure, guilt twisted in his gut about being
around them and saying nothing, but for now, he could live with that. At least he thought he could. He would have to wait until they left to see
how well he did about it.

xxx

He sat there, slightly melancholy, pondering all that until
Snape swept into the place. As usual,
with his dark robes, demeanor and such, it was hard to miss the Potions
professor since he cut an intimidating figure and people seemed to part to give
him room. Quickly, his sharp eyes lit on
Harry and he made a beeline for the booth.

Scooting over to give him room to sit, Harry signaled for
one of the servers to come and take his order and ordered a fresh drink for
himself as well as something to munch on.

Sliding into the booth, tucking his voluminous robes around
him to make it easier, Snape quickly ordered something to eat then settled
back. It hadn’t been the best day
in the world and he was looking forward to just relaxing with some good
conversation. Nodding to the being he
knew as Jay, he took a sip of his drink when it came and sighed softly. Scanning the room quickly, an old habit he
found hard to break, he then truly began to mellow out. “This place is busy, isn’t
it?”

Nodding, taking a pull from his bottle, Harry then explained,
“Yeah, it is but we’re far enough in the back that we won’t
be bothered. Plus, like most other
places here, people keep to themselves and don’t bother you or pay attention
to what you do unless you intend for it to be seen by all. We’re good here and no one will bug
us.”

Nodding, relieved, Snape, leaned back against the soft back
of the booth and focused on Jay.
“We will probably have someone joining us soon. One of my colleagues needs to get out and
away from things for a while so he might turn up.”

Nodding, Harry didn’t think that was a problem, it was
something that he might actually enjoy depending on who it was. Curious, he asked, “Who is it?”

“Lucius Malfoy,” Snape said in an off-handed
way, not thinking anything of it.

Slamming his bottle on the table, Harry glared at the
Potions professor then hissed, “No!
I don’t want to be anywhere around him!” The last being he wanted to deal with closely
was the one that had caused so many problems for him over the years. He had left home to get away from dealing
with that idiot and his family, well it was one of the reasons he did, so he
didn’t want to be forced to sit here with him and have to play nice. No way!
That was not going to happen.

Shaking his head, Severus gave an internal sigh. This wasn’t going to be easy. So many still had a prejudice when it came to
Lucius over all that mess in the past.
Though he had earned that reputation and did what so many talked about,
the man had changed since the end of the war.
“Jay, I assure you that Lucius has changed. The war and its aftermath have changed him a
great deal, humbling him over the years.
I’m not sure exactly when you left Britain or what you heard since
then, but I assure you that Lucius is not the same being. Draco may not have changed much since that
time and still deals with situations as he always did in the past, but Lucius
is not that way. I would just ask that
you give him a chance. If, after dealing
with him for a short time, you can’t handle it, I’ll ask him to
leave. Does that sound like a fair
compromise?”

Thinking it over, Harry decided that was something he could
work with. Though it galled him to even
have anything to do with the elder Malfoy, let alone sit and try to be polite
to him, he was willing to at least give it a try. After all, if he found he couldn’t take
it, he could just get up and leave. It
wasn’t like he hadn’t done things like that before. Nodding to his old teacher, he relaxed
slightly then said, “Alright, I can handle that.”

Nodding, pleased, Severus relaxed more. There was still plenty of prejudice against
Lucius even ten years after the war. His
old friend had changed, for the better, but he would admit that his reputation
and things he had done in the past was still his worst enemy. He could understand Jay’s reluctance to
be around him since the young man hadn’t been to Britain in many
years, nor been around his old friend to notice the changes that had taken
place. He just hoped that Lucius would
be on his best behavior tonight and not pull the superior attitude he sometimes
did with beings he didn’t know. If
that happened, he would get off on the wrong foot with Jay and the evening
wouldn’t end well. As it was, he
was looking forward to talking with the young man once more. Their last discussion was something that he
most assuredly enjoyed so he was hoping for a repeat of that. Not only was talking about the past soothing,
but he wanted to hear more about some of what he had learned in the Far East. Though
the young man hadn’t talked much about it the other night, what he had
said had been fascinating.

After the food was delivered and they both began to sample
some of it, Severus asked, “Where did you learn to do your animagus
transformation? I know that isn’t
taught anywhere in Europe.”

“Oh, that? I
learned it in Japan. Apparently, they teach such things in what
would be the European-equivalent of University there,” Harry replied.

After that, the conversation flowed fairly easily and
smoothly until Lucius finally showed up.

xxx

Walking into the bustling pub, Lucius held his head high as
he always did, aristocratic manner firmly in place. Once a glance around told him that no one was
paying attention to him or planned to
confront him, he relaxed and gave an internal nod. This pleased him. Unlike what happened at home, no one here
seemed to give him a second thought and didn’t try to say anything. No, unlike Draco, he didn’t confront
those that had anything to say to him, but he made sure that they knew he heard
and his regal demeanor was firmly held in place. The relaxed atmosphere here was something he
found he was enjoying.

Glancing around, he tried to find Severus in the darkened
place. Though, he knew from his
reaction, Snape hadn’t been completely thrilled with him inviting himself
along to the drinks he planned to have with the young man Jay, he fully planned
to enjoy himself. It had been a trying
couple of days and he needed some time to unwind from it.

Since coming here, Draco was seriously getting on the last
nerve he had. Yes, he understood his son
was having a rough time with things, but his manner and the way he was going
about dealing with it weren’t improving the situation either. The confrontation on the beach the other
night, from what he heard from Severus, was a prime example of it. That kind of behavior was wearing thin on him
and he was about at his wits end as to how to deal with it. Now, however, since Severus had made it clear
to his son after the debacle on the beach that he needed to knock off the
shenanigans, his son had chosen to stay in their room for the most part,
sulking. As far as he was concerned, his
son sulking and pouting about the wrongs done to him was just as bad as the
other behavior. That is the reason he
jumped at the chance to join Severus out for drinks.

After a glance around again, not seeing his old friend, he
finally spied him and the young one from a couple days before seated way in the
back, out of the way of the heavy flow of traffic in the main area. That seating arrangement also pleased
him. It meant that they wouldn’t
be in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of the busy place. Taking off his gloves and hooking his cane
over his arm, he strode back to the table with purpose. After nodding to the two seated there, he sat
down by Severus, laying his gloves on the table and leaning the cane against
his leg. After signaling for one of the
waitstaff to come over, he nodded to both of the men at the table. “Severus, Jay,” he said politely.

“Lucius,” Severus said with a nod while sipping
his drink.

Harry, just glared at him though it was a toned down one and
nodded, saying nothing, then took a long pull of his beer.

After giving his order to the young witch that came over, Lucius
settled back and looked between the two, “So, what are we talking
about?”

“Jay was telling me about some of what he learned in Japan
about the animagus form and how they do their magic differently, including
potions. It’s quite fascinating
really,” Severus told him with a nod to the younger man seated at the
table.

“Really? I
heard about your animagus form from my son.
By the way, I do have to say here and now that I do not approve of what
he did the other night. I just thought I
would add that in there,” Lucius told him with a nod. Then he continued on, “How is what they
teach different from what we know?”

Nodding to Lucius for the apology, Harry was stunned. He hadn’t ever expected such a thing
from any Malfoy but especially the patriarch of them. That alone shored up Severus’ word that
the man had changed. How much though
remained to be seen. But, for now, he
would ease up a bit and keep an eye out to judge that later on. No sense in ruining what was turning out to
be another enjoyable night with Severus. “Well, I think, from what I
learned, that most of what they teach is far older than what is taught here and
more strict of a discipline.”
After that, he began to detail what he saw as the differences between
the two.

xxx

The three of them were still in the place when last call was
announced. Startled that time had so
slipped away from them, they were also pleased with how things went. Because Severus and Lucius had to once more
rise early, they decide to part ways for the night. However, before doing that, they made plans
to meet up once more in two days time.

After shaking both their hands, Harry disappeared out the
door and headed towards home.

Both Lucius and Severus then began their walk back to the
hotel together.

For a while, both of them were quiet, lost in their thoughts,
then Lucius observed, “I believe that is the most pleasant conversation
I’ve had in a while. The young man
is quite interesting to talk with.”

“I agree,” Severus nodded.

“Is Jay his real name?” The blond asked, curious about that.

“That I have no idea about,” Severus
conceded. “He never said when I
asked him. All he did tell me was to
call him Jay, not mentioning whether it was his real name or not.”

“Hm… interesting. A mystery is always an appealing thing to
keep your life from getting boring,” Lucius commented airily.

Snorting, Severus smirked, “That is only because you
find him attractive.”

Smiling, the elder Malfoy lifted his chin slightly, sticking
his nose in the air. “That, my
friend, I won’t deny. But, then
again, I think I could accuse you of the same thing.”

“Like you, I won’t deny that end of things. He is, after all, a very handsome young
man. However, I will admit that I find
the two talks with him just as stimulating.
At this point, that is my interest in him, not following up on the
attraction part of it.”

“That, I agree, is just as attractive, but you have to
admit that if offered, you wouldn’t turn the other down,” Lucius
smirked.

“I will admit that,” Snape said grudgingly. “But neither of us even know if the
young man bends that way.”

“Very true,” Lucius nodded.
“Maybe that is one of the mysteries about him that we should
endeavor to find out. I mean, I doubt
either of us wants any kind of real, long-term attachment of any kind, but a
summer fling might be just the thing that both of us need to put us into a
better frame of mind before the school term starts.”

Snape just grunted at that, saying nothing. But he felt that Lucius did have a point
there. It might be just the ticket to
stave off the impending gloom of facing another term teaching the woefully
inept students an art form that they had no chance of mastering.

xxx

Meandering his way home, Harry thought over the whole
evening with the two men. Honestly, he
had been surprised with Malfoy. He had
expected what he had always known of him in the past, a sarcastic, stuck up
bastard, but that isn’t what he saw.
The Lucius Malfoy that he had talked to was one that he enjoyed. He had been intelligent, inquisitive and
interesting when they spoke of all kinds of things. The questions that he had asked about what he
had learned overseas had been well thought out and he seemed to be genuine in
his interest in hearing about it. That
he liked. But it put him in an odd frame
of mind on the topic.

He couldn’t, no matter how hard he tried, put aside
the image he had held for so long of the man.
The Malfoy he had encountered so many times wasn’t a being he
liked. No, he loathed him was a more
accurate term, but this one seemed to be different from that long ago
image. He was also having a hard time
forcing himself to give the man a chance like he had promised Snape he would
do. But now, he was finding that old
image and the new one not meshing well.
He kept telling himself that he would give him a chance and not let the
past taint what he was seeing, but was finding it hard to do. On that end, he assured himself that this
would only be for a couple weeks then both would be gone and things would go
back the way they were. Even he could do
it for that length of time. On the heels
of that, he had reminded himself that he once felt that way about Snape as
well. After all, the greasy git had been
on his hit list of people he despised forever until he realized all he had done
over the years and what it had cost him.
For Snape, he promised himself, he would try to do that. Even if it was just for a couple weeks. After all, he owed the man more than he could
ever repay.

On the heels of that came another thought that made him
grin. Sitting there tonight, he realized
for the first time that both of the men were attractive.

In school, if he had thought about Snape that way he would
have drown himself in Moaning Myrtle’s toilet for such thoughts, sure he
was going off the deep end. But now,
being older and seeing the potions master in a different light, he would admit
that there was something about him that was attractive and sexy. No, he wasn’t the kind of man that
anyone would term handsome or gorgeous, that hook nose of his would kill any
notion of that. But he was confident and
self assured in a way that was attractive.
Then there was that voice of his.
Hell, that was downright sinful in the way it was sexy!

Malfoy, well, most beings would find him attractive. That long blonde hair, classical good looks,
aristocratic style, all were things that
were attractive to many, including him.
Especially now that he was older.

When he was younger, right after he left Britain, he would have balked at
the idea that he would have found men old enough to be his father attractive,
preferring someone closer to his age.
But as he grew up and matured, he found that he liked the company of
those older than he was. Not only were
they great conversationalists, but were not as likely to want to jump you on
the spot, preferring something that was slower going. That went from everything to talking and
getting to know each other to in bed. It
was, as he found out, something he enjoyed.
Sure, if he wanted, he could get laid any night of the week, several
times a night if he was feeling like it, but he found that he preferred
something that was slightly more involved, like getting to know someone and
having fun or talking before the sexual gymnastics. To him, that seemed to make it more
satisfying and less of a faceless, meaningless act. No, he hadn’t been in any long-term
relationships with anyone, but many of those he slept with were still friends
and they still talked. That he liked. With just a quick, meaningless fuck, he
wouldn’t get that and it was a turn off to him.

On the heels of that, his mood turned downwards a little
when the thought came to him that he doubted both the men would be so open and
accepting of him if they knew who they were really talking to. Especially Malfoy. Snape may accept it, probably understanding
just why it was he left, but he doubt Malfoy would want anything to do with
him. That didn’t settle right and,
in a way, he felt like he was deceiving and lying to them. Though he made it a point to never say Jay
was his real name and shunted aside any questions about his past in Britain
or Hogwarts with the curt statement he didn’t want to talk about it, he
still felt bad about not revealing who he was to the two that knew him. However, he was able to soothe his conscious
with the fact that they would only be here a couple weeks and it wasn’t
like it was going to amount to anything.
Hell, if anything did come of it, it wouldn’t last.

Keeping that thought firmly in mind, he hurried home,
thinking about nothing but finding his bed for the night despite the nagging he
was feeling somewhere in his mind.
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