Forever Silver

Forever Silver

The Silver Cycle part 3

By Elf Flame

*3*

Once he had set Snape up in the guest bedroom, he returned to the hallway where Potter was waiting. Those green eyes held pity in them, and it was all Draco could do not to hex him into next week. Good thing he'd already given up his wand. It would hardly help Severus if he were arrested as well... "You wanted something, Potter?"

Potter looked at him warily. "Yeah. I need to take the body and the sheets as well, and we'll need statements from both of you."

Draco stiffened at this. "Severus has just lost him, and you want to take him away and...do what to him? I won't allow it," he growled.

"Malfoy, we need to examine the body. You know, for evidence?"

"Severus is in mourning, Potter. I will not allow you to take the body and make him worse. If you need something, let me know what you need, and I will make sure that our undertaker gets the information for you."

"I'm sorry, Malfoy, but that's not good enough. We can't be sure that the report he gives us won't be altered in some way."

Draco narrowed his eyes. "What are you saying, Potter? That Snape or I were involved, and I'm trying to cover it up? You saw him in there! Did that look like a man who'd just killed the person he was mourning? And would I have called the Ministry at all if I'd been involved?"

"Malfoy, calm down. I have to insist. It's procedure."

"Well then damn your procedure! I will not allow you to hurt Severus more than he already has been! If a magical document isn't enough, what would be?"

"I'm sorry, but at the very least, we'd need to have one of our people there, but..."

Draco growled. "Fine. But only one, and then they leave, and I want to hear no more about this, Potter."

"Wait a minute. Malfoy, I don't have the authority..."

"Then who does?" Draco hissed at him. "I will not put Severus through more than he has already been through. Up to and including having Silver taken from him. He needs to know that he can say good-bye to him however he needs to, when he needs to."

Potter closed his eyes for a minute, obviously gathering himself. Finally, he spoke, his eyes hard. "All right. I think I can pull a few strings. But if we find anything fishy, Malfoy, the deal's off, and you'll both be put in cells right along Lucius's."

Draco glowered at him, but nodded. "Deal."

"And we'll still need the sheets, and statements from both of you."

"I'll have the house-elves send the sheets to the ministry, but as for the statements, Severus is in no condition to answer any questions right now, and I need to deal with a few legal matters, and calling the undertaker. Can they wait?"

Potter's lips thinned. "I suppose. But the sooner the better, Malfoy. The longer your father sits in the holding cells, the more chance he'll have to escape again. I want to close this case so we can send him back up to Azkaban and have done with it."

"For once, we're in agreement, Potter. We'll come in as soon as I can get him to respond, all right? I'm not sure how long that will be, but hopefully it won't be too long."

Potter nodded. "Contact us when you have your undertaker coming in, and we'll send along our specialist. It won't take much. Just a few spells to verify what happened, and to verify his identity."

Draco felt a moment of panic at that. Silver was his clone, and didn't yet exist, as far as the wizarding world knew. "How will he be entered in your report, Potter?"

Potter looked at him startled. "I...that hadn't even occurred to me, Malfoy. But I guess that depends on you, really. How do you want me to identify him?"

"I've been working on papers to have him recognized as my twin brother. That would be...acceptable, I suppose."

Potter nodded. "It will also explain why he'll scan as you." He sighed. "Did you want me to wait until you've filed the papers before turning in my report?"

A wave of gratitude swept over him that this man, who had once been the bane of his existence, was willing to put his job on the line to help him. He smiled sadly at him. "I'd appreciate that, Potter. I'll send off the paperwork tonight, and it shouldn't take my solicitor more than a day to file them, all right?"

Potter's grateful smile made him wonder what their school lives might have been like had they somehow managed to be friends. "Thanks, Malfoy. Guess I'll see you soon." He hesitated for a moment before digging into his pocket and retrieving Draco's wand, handing it to him handle-end first. Draco was rather shocked at the trust this showed. Then, smiling, he turned and made his way down the hall, Draco watching until he was out of sight.

Draco turned back to the door, his hand to the handle before the memory of Severus stroking Silver's hair from his face caused him to turn away once more. He would let Severus have some time alone with Silver. It wouldn't be long before all he had to remember him was a cold marble slab. Better to deal with other matters and return later to make sure he had eaten, and to coax him into sleep.

He returned to his father's study, where he contacted Daniel, and asked him to stop by the flat to pick up the papers so that he could file them the next day. Daniel assured him he would make sure they were filed immediately, and hurried off to pick them up.

Draco then flooed the only undertaker his family had ever used: Mr Threnody. Draco had no idea how old the man was, but he knew he'd buried at least three generations of Malfoys so far. He asked the man to come to deal with the body in the morning, and told him he hoped the man would accept assistance, as a forensic healer would need to be on hand to collect evidence. Mr. Threnody simply nodded calm as ever, and told him he would be there with a slight smile on his face. Once Draco had shut off the floo, he couldn't help but shudder. The man never seemed quite all there to Draco. Perhaps it was the fact that he spent so much more time among the dead than the living. Nothing seemed to ruffle the man. It was just eerie.

Draco was at a loss as to what to do after that, so he decided to see if Narcissa had left yet. He called for Rolie, who assured him that "Mistress Narcissa be on her way to Naxos, Master Draco."

Draco nodded. "Thank you, Rolie. Make sure some dinner is sent up to Professor Snape. I don't think he'll be up to leaving Silver just yet."

Rolie smiled. "Yes, Master Draco, is already taken care of."

"I'll be having dinner in the small dining room. Something simple. A salad, perhaps. And maybe one of the dryer whites with it."

Rolie nodded. "Yes, Master Draco." Then he vanished once more.

Draco sat in the study for a good while longer, simply looking around him and recalling the time he had spent here with his father. Certainly not all the memories were happy ones, but there were enough fond memories of the room to make Draco sad at the loss of innocence. He missed the lack of knowledge that he'd had about his father then. Then, his father could do no wrong. He was perfect, powerful, and everything Draco had wanted to be when he grew up. Now he realized that even then, his father had been far from stable. To have kept a clone of his son to do such things with...Draco shuddered at the thought. His father had been a consummate actor, he had to give him that.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, Draco stood and left the room once more, checking on Severus and Silver before heading down to dinner. There was a plate of food, totally untouched, by the bedside, and Draco hoped that the man would eat at least a little. Turning away from the room, Draco sighed. He knew it would take time, but he hated to see Severus in such pain. He wished that he could do something for the man.

Dinner was quiet and dull. Draco was unable to keep the stream of images from flashing through his mind. Meeting Silver for the first time. The knowledge of who he was, who had made him. The man who had called Draco Silver once, at the age of eight. Silver's face...was it really just this morning that he'd come to Draco's flat, supposedly to help Severus? He remembered the sadness in his clone's eyes. Had he already been planning then to return to Lucius? Had he known Lucius was waiting for him? Or had Lucius come to the flat, and found Silver there, knowing immediately who he was? How had Lucius gotten Silver here? And why, if the note was how it had sounded, had Silver gone to him willingly? And then, the unfolding horror. Knowing Lucius had him, moving quickly through the Manor, and the horrible image of Lucius and Silver on the bloody bed. The green light that had taken Silver's life. Severus. Would he ever be the same?

Draco left his plate half-full, and went upstairs. There was nothing he could do further at the moment, so he might as well go to sleep. There would be more than enough to deal with in the morning.

His room was just as he had left it the last time he had visited the Manor, and he gratefully undressed and climbed into bed wearing nothing more than his underwear. He fell asleep almost instantly, the stress of the day quickly overtaking him.

<*^*>

He had no idea how long he had been asleep when the sound of his door opening woke him. He scrabbled for his wand, lighting it only to see Snape standing by the now-closed door.

"Severus?" he asked, his voice still hoarse with sleep.

The man's black eyes raked his half-covered form as he approached. "May I?" he asked in a low whisper.

Draco's breath caught in his throat. Surely Snape wasn't suggesting... "O--of course, Severus." He moved slightly to scoot over, but Snape had already crossed the room, and caught his arm before he could shift.

"Please." The word was soft, but unmistakable.

Even in the darkness of the room, Draco could see Snape's eyes glint with a whirlwind of need and pain. He had never seen so much emotion in the man's eyes before. "Is this wise?"

"Please. I just need to forget."

Draco pulled away from his grasp carefully. "Severus...I won't be his substitute. I understand if you don't wish to be alone, but..."

Snape crawled onto the bed, and bent over Draco. "Just one night. I will not ask more..." The whispered words tickled Draco's mouth, and he was unable to keep himself from pressing forward to meet Severus's lips. Long, slender arms enveloped him, and all his breath was gone. He knew this was wrong. Silver had not even been dead a day, but he couldn't deny that he wanted it. Not with Severus right here.

Severus lay out along Draco's body, nipping at his neck, and suddenly Draco was unable to do more than whimper. He wasn't even quite sure when Severus's robe had disappeared, or when the man had done away with his underwear, but he didn't care, so long as that hot mouth stayed at his neck, and those fingers kept doing what they were doing. Then Severus shifted so that his mouth left a trail along Draco's collar bone, and licked his way down to his nipples, and Draco had never truly understood before just how marvelous a mouth on his nipples could feel. "Please, Severus..." he moaned, though he wasn't too sure exactly what he was asking the man to do.

But Severus seemed to know exactly what he wanted, as his weight shifted, his knee sliding between Draco's legs, and those clever fingers shifting lower, causing Draco to gasp when they reached their goal. Severus muttered something into Draco's chest, and then a cool slickness filled him, and Draco threw back his head as Severus continued with his ministrations.

"Yes..." he whispered, his breath coming thick and heavy. Had this really felt so wonderful the first time? Draco couldn't remember feeling quite so overwhelmed that first time, but that thing Severus's tongue was doing to his navel was causing any memory of it to fly entirely from his mind.

Draco spread his legs wider, loving the sensations Severus was causing. "More, please," he sighed, and Severus complied, causing Draco to shudder even more. . "Oh, gods. Please..." And then Severus's lips surrounded him, and the pressure was too much causing Draco to shout as he released.

And then Severus shifted once more, and took him, causing Draco, still recovering, to groan. He opened his eyes to see that Severus was looking down at him. Draco reached a hand out to smooth the hair from the other man's face, but the hand was snatched and pinned to the bed as Severus clenched his teeth almost in pain. His eyes narrowed almost to the point that they looked closed, but for the dark glint beneath the lashes. The man shuddered over him, then collapsed against him, rolling to Draco's side before pulling him tight to his chest.

Draco smiled into his chest. His doubts vanished. Right up until Severus whispered, "My Silver..." into his hair before falling immediately into sleep.

Draco stiffened in horror. Had Severus thought he was Silver this whole time? Had he simply wanted to pretend? He pulled jerkily from the other man, who merely sighed and turned to his other side before beginning to snore.

Draco glowered down at him before sliding from the bed and walking stiffly to the bathroom. He had to wash himself. He felt...unclean. This would not be happening again.