Author's Note: Characters belong to JK Rowling, not me, but the scenario is mine.

I crimini di Passione

He stopped in front of his reflection. He had been walking through his dark hallways wearing nothing but the last shreds of his dignity. The tiny blonde hair that peppered his skin stood on end and tiny bumps surfaced as another breeze swept past him. Somewhere, a window was open. He couldn't remember which one it was. He knew he had opened it. He had opened them all.

The reflection that had made him pause was against the glass cabinets. They lined the hallways. Each one held trinkets of his past. He glared at them. They were pointless. He was nothing now. His reputation... his family... everything that was his was in ruin. His wife had left him; his son was under the wing of the Dark Lord in his place... He had no one.

He couldn't threaten anymore. No one feared him. The dementors had done him in... almost. If it hadn't been for Snape... he would have died.

He knelt down to the cold floor, putting his handprints on the clear glass. If only he hadn't let the boy go... If only he hadn't hesitated. He had killed so many before... Why couldn't he raise his fatal blow to Potter? Why? What was it that stopped him? If he had been his old self, he could have taken everything from the boy and be rejoicing now in his Dark Lord's glory, instead of haunting his once home in a shell of a body left to him after Azkaban.

"You should be thankful you're alive," said the hoarse, cold voice of his rescuer.

"Severus..." he replied softly, picking himself off the chilled marble- tiled floor. "I thought you were sent on a mission."

"I was," Snape replied, looking over his body. "My mission is here with you... Lucius."

Lucius slunk back into the shadows at the sound of his name. "Did he send you here? Are you going to finish it?" Suddenly, his whole body shivered. He didn't want to die. But, he didn't entirely want to live. He was caught in between two planes. Only one thing was clear to him. He needed to live. He had to survive. As long as Draco was serving the Dark Lord, he needed to be alive to try to win him back. He would offer him anything, as long as his son was safe.

"You're pleading would be in vain," Severus said, having picked his mind. "You know that as well as I do."

"I can't give up on my son," Lucius said firmly.

"No one's asking you to." Snape stepped forward, a curious expression playing across his crooked features. His eyes glinted with a morbid amusement Lucius was all too familiar with. He reached out to touch Lucius, and when he recoiled further, he said, "I'm not here to kill you."

"Why are you here?" he asked, the gut feeling of suspicion growing with each second Severus lingered here. It didn't matter if he did save him from the clutches of the dementors. Severus was slippery. No one could trust him. Not fully.

"Must I always have an agenda?" Severus let his gaze wander over the naked body of Lucius. He was drinking it in, secretly relishing every detail.

"You always do," Lucius replied, feeling more and more uncomfortable. "Just tell me... I don't like you being here."

Severus narrowed his eyes as he finally managed to back Lucius into a corner. "Azkaban took its toll on you I see."

Lucius swallowed down his rising fear as his back was pressed against the wall. It wasn't just Azkaban that had changed him. He was still furious with himself for letting his own flesh and blood be taken into the Death Eaters. That is what changed him the most. He lost the one thing he had hope for. Once Draco was completely gone from him, he would have no reason to exist. No amount of money or power could bring that back.

He eyed the wand Severus still held at his side. He had yet to make a move and it was no comfort to Lucius's nerves. He knew Snape's style. He liked prolonging his victim's suffering. He teased them. He made them believe he would help them and then he struck hard and fast. But then he would relent only enough to keep them alive one more day. Then he would begin again. A little talk, a little torture. It was almost laughable when you witnessed it. It was entirely different when you suspected yourself as the next animal caught in the snares.

"I told you, I'm not here to kill you," Snape said, bringing Lucius back from his thoughts. "Let me help you."

"I don't want your help," Lucius snapped.

Severus laughed. "Oh, yes you do. I can see it. You want my help. You need it. You need comfort." He brought himself closer to Lucius, so close that Lucius could almost see the veins in Snape's eyes. "I know what you want. It's what you always want."

Lucius closed his eyes. "Not from you."

Severus chuckled to himself and pocketed his wand. "From me..." he whispered, pressing against Lucius, pinning his arms against the wall and forcing a kiss. "Always from me," he stated, pulling away.

Lucius glared at him.

"You could have stopped me. You know it. You're stronger than I am," Severus said, backing up from Lucius. He waited for a reply. "I'll leave then," he said after receiving none. He started to turn when Lucius grabbed hold of his arm.

"Don't... Don't leave me," he said, pleading with him. He didn't want to be alone tonight... He couldn't stand it.

Severus chuckled. "Say please," he laughed.

Lucius frowned.

Severus lost his laughter, looking at his broken friend. He leaned in and kissed Lucius, a tender kiss this time, leaving the violence he usually took to the bed behind him. This one was special. Lucius pulled away. "You know what I like," he said, disappointed in Snape's attempt at gentleness.

"I thought you'd had enough force for one week, Lucy," he smiled, calling him by the childhood persona he had enjoyed in his boyhood at Hogwarts. Only then, he was the one being taken advantage of. He was the one being punished with delicious brutality.

Lucius tilted his head sideways, gazing at Snape. He grabbed both of his arms and shoved him against the wall where he had just been cornered. "Don't call me that," he growled in Severus's ear. Snape shuddered, delighted at the hot breath caressing his ear. It tickled him in the right ways.

Lucius tore at Snape's robes, tugging them off in a forceful way that made Severus laugh. It always did make him smile to see the little boy expression Lucius wore when he couldn't get something right the first go around. "Let me," he whispered to his lover, untying his shirt and letting hang open.

"You're a tease," Lucius smiled, nuzzling Severus's neck with his mouth, giving him light kisses. He pulled the shirt up over Snape's head, tossing it aside. He ran his fingers though the long, dark waves of hair that framed the pale face. He kissed Severus lightly, caressing the erect organ still buried underneath two layers of fabric.

"You're the one who keeps coming back," Severus said breathily, clinging to Lucius's shoulders.

Lucius held an intent gaze downward, still trying to release Severus's trapped organ. Snape laughed at him and pushed him away. He unbuttoned his slacks and let them fall to his ankles. He grabbed Lucius by the hair and shoved him down to his knees. Lucius hit the floor with a resolute slack as his skin connected with the silky marble.

"On all fours," Severus demanded, still holding Lucius's blonde mane in his fist. He knew Lucius liked this. He was the only one Lucius would trust to surrender his control to. No matter what the circumstances.

Lucius flinched at the painful grip Severus had on his hair. He held his weight on his hands, his skin sticking to the marble. It brought back memories. He heard a soft rustle as Snape let his underclothing fall as well. If only he could see him. He couldn't turn his head, but part of him preferred not to look at the man having him. There still lingered a bit of him that despised being taken so often, and so pleasurably, by the boy he used to care nothing for. It was true; they had not been friends at Hogwarts. They weren't even in the same year, but that did not stop the circumstances that came around one Hallowmas night. There had been a House party. Everyone was in costume. They found each other, probably be accident. Lucius had been searching for one of the girls in his own year. Snape had such a frail body then, and masked, resembled the very girl he had been looking for. He took him back to his bedroom with no complaints from Severus. It was as though he had meant to fool him... until of course, they disrobed. By then, Lucius didn't care who is was, or what. And thus, their love affair started.

Snape jerked Lucius back by the hair and rode him forcefully, knowing full well how far to push his luck with him. He loved seeing Lucius's hair wrapped in his hands. He loved the way it felt, so soft and long. He was surprised that Lucius was still as toned and firm as he was when they fooled around in Hogwarts. It had been a while since they last...

Lucius let out an involuntary moan as Snape mounted him, though it was barely audible. He didn't think Severus even heard it. He felt himself flush as his skin began to break out in sweat. His knees ached against the marble, but he wasn't about to complain. The fact was, he loved it. Pain and pleasure were so similar... Together, they were as fireworks. He felt his own manhood swell to an almost insufferable size. He longed to wrap his hands around it and pump out its juices, but he knew he couldn't. Not now. Not when Snape was so close.

Severus let out a few low, breathy grunts as he came, releasing his grip on the wad of gold he had used as the reins on his man- horse. He leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. Lucius leaned back on his knees, taking his hands and immediately enclosing his aching organ in them, desperate to fulfill its demands. Severus smiled at this and kneeled down beside his lover. Lucius let his head fall back over his shoulders as Severus took the swollen commodity in his own hands and massaged his long fingers up and down. It didn't take long for Lucius to come, covering Snape's hand in a warm, sticky mess.

The two men leaned against each other, their breathing matched in quickness. Lucius's face was flushed pink, while Snape only shimmered with sweat. Lucius leaned in and kissed him, letting his tongue burrow its way into Snape's own mouth.

For an instant, he felt at peace. The simplicity that had been when they were boys at school came back for one moment, and he felt wonderful. It was almost believable. He could almost think he would wake up and his whole life had been a dream.

But this was not so. The men broke apart upon the high- pitched laughter that made its way to them. A shadow slithered across the hallway, stopping in front of them. The hiss of the Dark Lord's voice said, "Boys will always be boys, no matter how many priorities should come first."

Lucius stared wide- eyed at Voldemort, then to Severus, who had dressed quietly in the corner while his back had been turned. "What is this?" he demanded, standing.

"I told you..." Severus said, brushing past Lucius and standing well behind the Dark Lord. "I wasn't sent here to kill you." He gazed sadly at his old friend before saying, "I was sent to keep you occupied."