Bohemian Rhapsody

moment twenty-four: the name of the game (March 24, 1978).

James walked to the arranged meeting place, his heart uneasy. Lucius had asked to meet him, and so James had come, but he'd been unable to ignore the rumours that had sprung up recently, ones that spoke of how Lucius had followed in his grandfather's footsteps and aligned himself with powers blacker than night.

Luce was waiting, as he always was on the edge of the Quidditch pitch, looking at James with a mixture of fondness and sadness. James wrapped his arms around the man he loved, kissed his cheek, felt Lucius melt into his embrace, and asked the one question he didn't want to.

"Are you a Death Eater?"

He rocked Lucius in his arms for a few moments before the older man replied with a soft "Yes", in James' ear. James didn't know whether to scream, laugh or cry, or all three at once, and absently stroked the other man's back.

"Why? How could you do such a thing?"

Lucius stepped back, and looked at him. "They're just Muggles, James," he said, as if discussing what he was going to eat for breakfast.

This was the first argument they'd ever had, and James was suddenly struck just how different he was from the man he loved, and how little he actually knew him. "They're not just Muggles," he retorted back, his voice getting heated. "Just because they don't use magic doesn't make them any less people."

"Perhaps not," replied Lucius, getting defensive. "But you've got to admit they thrive on hate and violence. Look at their history; look at the way they treat the world."

"Oh, and your solution is to kill them all? Who died and made you fucking God, eh?"

"Don't be juvenile," snapped back Lucius, his eyes narrowing. "Those in charge have always made decisions about who's fit to be included in society and who's not. Next thing you'll be telling me that the Ministry doesn't have a right to sentence people to Azkaban."

James looked at him, silent, and Lucius spoke still heated with emotion, determined to shrug off the power that silence had over him. "It doesn't matter what you think, anyway. I can't see you again."

The raven-haired man's eyes opened wide in shock behind his glasses, and he gaped in surprise. "Merlin. You're doing this cause he told you, didn't he? This mysterious leader of yours, this Voldemort? Just told you to dump me and you scurried off to do it, like a good little pet." There was bitterness in his voice, and beneath that, a keening pain.

Lucius reached out, attempting to make things better, although he felt the truth of James' words sting him. "James-"

James snapped his arms up, warding off the other man's touch, backing away. "No, fuck off." He stood there, his chest heaving, his tone intense with anger. "I love you, I fucking loved you, and now I find out I don't even know you. For I know, everything might just have been a ruse. Everything a lie. What, is this your master's new plan? Seduce all the good wizards, and then break their hearts so they don't have the guts to fight you? Guess I was just a bit too pro-Dumbledore for his liking."

"I never used you, James, I never lied."

"And you expect me to believe that? Playing people like fucking chess pieces for all I know. Got me where you want me now, too broken to keep playing, eh?"

Lucius held his arms at his side, his hands tightly curled into fists. "James, don't be stupid-"

"Don't you fucking call me that, Malfoy." James retorted. "Just....go and torture some innocent fucking Muggle, why don't you?" he hissed, his eyes streaming with tears. "Probably gets your rocks off." He staggered back a few steps, still facing the other man. "I never want to see you again. I know you have to come to graduation as a Governor, and because I'm Head Boy I'll have to smile and shake your hand. But you come near me for any other reason, and I'll report you to the Ministry."

James turned, still shaking with emotion, his shoulders slumped, and walked back the way he came.

Lucius stood there, his lean frame as still as a statue. You could only tell he was alive due to the constant rising and falling of his chest. A twig snapped behind him, and he whirled, wand at the ready.

"Whoever you are, you'd better make yourself known to me," he said darkly. "I'm in no mood for games."

A shape detached itself from the shadows under some trees and made itself known to him. A young man, James' age, in Hogwarts robes. He seemed pale, almost sickly, a Slytherin scarf wound around his neck for warmth. His two most distinctive features were a large, prominent nose and dank, limp black hair, down to his jaw. "Who are you, boy?", Lucius called, keeping his wand fixed. "I know I've seen you around."

"Severus Snape," the boy said, quaking with fear. "I'm in Potter's year."

"Oh yes." Lucius smirked with recognition. "I've heard about you. You were always getting James and his friends into trouble." His eyes widened. "Didn't Black nearly get you killed, oh, two years ago? They don't like you at all, from what Ja-Potter used to say."

"The feeling is more than mutual," Severus muttered, glowering. "They don't like me because I act against them. They break the rules," he blurted out. "It's not fair to have one set of rules for one people and another for everyone else. I just point this out to the Professors."

Lucius ignored him. "How much did you hear?"

If anything, Snape's face drained of colour even further. "Everything," he whispered softly.

Lucius immediately considered killing him where he stood, and then just as quickly dismissed it. There were wards surrounding the campus; the body would be too difficult to dispose of; his absence would be noticed in the morning. "Well then" he murmured, moving forward. "What do you want? Money? I can give you that."

Snape immediately lowered his eyes, refusing to meet Lucius' clinical gaze. "N-no," he stuttered. "I want...to join you. To become a-" he looked around, and lowered his voice to a whisper. "-A Death Eater."

Lucius snorted, incredulous. "You? Why?"

"I want to make the world a better place," Severus said earnestly, tripping over words. "The Muggle are chaos. They make no sense. The world needs...order. It should be like a Potions experiment: everything in its correct place and a clear set of instructions."

Lucius considered this. He'd heard worse excuses. But there was something more in the young man's demeanour, something more than fear. By Morgaine, he realise, resisting the temptation to grin, he wants me. This scared little boy of a man wants me. He reached out with a hand, grabbing the other man's chin, and kissing him hard, forcing his tongue between Severus' lips to ravish his mouth. The young man, so very inexperienced, clutched at Lucius' shoulders and moaned softly, offering no resistance.

James was a weakness, Lucius decided. And it is time to be strong. But he didn't quite believe it.