[LUCIUS ABRAXAS MALFOY]

• Burn it down •

till the embers smoke on the ground And start new when your heart is an empty room With walls of the deepest blue

→ Home's face: how it ages when you're away. Spring blooms and you find the love that's true, but you don't know what now to do, cause the chase is all you know, and she stopped running months ago. And all you see is where else you could be when you're at home, out on the street are so many possibilities to not be alone. The flames and smoke climbed out of every window, and disappeared with everything that you held dear. And you shed not a single tear for the things that you didn't need, 'cause you knew you were finally free.

The antiqued, musky smell of old leather-bound publications. The monotonous, faint sound of aged and weathered pages slowly turning, imaginations expounding upon the hundreds of stamped letters placed upon them. The distant whispers. The feeble yawning. The gaze of eyes fixed on no one in particular. It was these, the unmistakable contents of a library, that some weary souls sought a peaceful solitude in after the events of a rushed day. And while he would never consider himself a weary soul, the young Mr. Malfoy would make this peaceable place his home no less than twice a week, amongst the wrinkled pages of knowledge, history, and power.

Not every day would bring Lucius to this place, but more often than not, when in need of a fresh breath, Lucius would step inside the novel infested walls of the library, rather than wander his way around the black lake, or scurry around the courtyards as most students did. For on the days that tired Lucius most, what he needed was not nature, but knowledge, which he supposed made him more of a realist than a naturalist, and not nearly half the romanticist some would have hoped he might be. No, Lucius was a man of mind, of tradition. Not that he was what might be called close-minded, but Lucius liked the way he had been raised - learning the ways of the old, mighty, influential wizards, the ways of might, power, and triumph - those were the things that suited him the most. For when his mind was weak and weary, the way Lucius found to cure the aches and fatigue, was to pursue even more knowledge - as all knowledge, so famously quoted as being such, was power - a statement that Lucius believed to the truest core of his being.

Drawing in a deep, frigid breath, Lucius’ cold blue eyes stayed transfixed upon the letters, his finger following beneath the words to make sure he stayed in the right place as he studied the writing, never having been the type to enjoy skimming over the same line once or twice because of inattentiveness. Once he was finished with the present page, he turned it over, his eyes fluttering up from words of time past, to the atmosphere of the present, examining his surroundings rather than the pages contents.

At one end of the room he could see a young, probably first year girl of the house of Hufflepuff, fretting exasperatedly over a book as she tried to rummage through it, obviously trying to find some sort of information that would better either her educational rank or her social standing. Finally, she gasped and clapped her hands together in jest, insinuating that she had just found whatever it was she was scouring that book trying to unearth. Just as she finished, a group of flamboyant chuckles caught his attention, coming from behind him, a pair of younger fifth-year Gryffindor boys joking with one another about a nearby Ravenclaw girl a bit older than themselves. They clearly felt some sort of pitiable attraction to her, and even more obviously didn’t mind showing it.

Shaking his head with a small huff of irritation, Lucius’ eyes fell back to the pages of the book he’d formerly been reading, finding the pair of boys far too immature to even reprimand. So, instead, Lucius tossed them far back to the edge of his mind and, with a quick smoothing out of his eyebrows with the tips of his slender fingers, focused once more upon the book. Thinking back upon the witches and wizards of old, whose triumphs in their fields or choice were recorded for future generations to know, rather than the pathetic, desired conquest of a pair of boys too young to even understand the gravity of the past and importance of the future.

TAG; OPEN! WORD COUNT; 641. NOTES; Anyone can join - I like company.
CREDIT TO FANTOME AT CAUTION.

[SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE]

NOT ALWAYS LIKE THIS

IT'S A TERRIBLE WEAKNESS IN MY NATURE, IN MY BLOOD

Ah the library. The Slytherin viewed the ancient room as an old friend, its seemingly infinite rows of books all familiar to him. Being a Seventh Year, of course he had frequented the knowledge hub of the school several times--what's more, being a bookworm, he knew the room's layout like the back of his hand.

Most people came here with a purpose, but Severus wasn't like most people. He didn't have many "hangouts," and those he did have weren't exactly the textbook definition of the word. He liked spending his time indoors and alone. Crowds of people were annoying and loud. The closest he ever really came to being somewhat happy in a large group was when he was with Lucius and his gang, and Severus usually only saw them in the Slytherin common room. In fact, it was his common room, the room most isolated from the rest of the school (minus Slytherins of course) that he was the most social. The library just so happened to be one of his favorite places to spend his free time.

The ancient texts and tomes that lined the shelves of the library always seemed to call to him. Severus had a thirst for the stories their inky footprints told that always brought him back, yearning for more. Reading was far more engaging than what most of the students did in their freetime. Besides, he liked the smell of the library. There was something refreshing about the crisp scent of paper and ink.

It didn't hurt that silence was an enforced rule here, either.

He'd read a large amount of the books there already. Severus had given himself the goal when he was a first year to read them all, but now he knew how very foolish that was. The Hogwarts library was one of if not the most extensive libraries in the world. Still, looking back on it he had to hand it to himself: he'd made a pretty significant dent. He'd almost finished the entirety of the Restricted Section, thanks to several late night escapades.

Today was a lazy day. He didn't have anything in particular he wanted or even needed to read. Frankly, he was just bored. He'd already taken out a book from his school satchel before he'd even walked to his usual seat. Instead of reading the wizard felt that a bit of writing was in order... he had some corrections to his old potions book to make, and a recent spark of inspiration had hit him in potions class after he'd been experimenting with some ingredients while the old idiot Slughorn wasn't looking.

His pale fingers clasped the tattered, incredibly worn old textbook absentmindedly as he continued down the row of shelves. Giggles and a high pitched squeal snapped him out of his thoughtful trance. Ugh. Snape wrinkled his nose as he saw some younger Gryffindors flirting with a Ravenclaw. One had just pinched her side, illiciting the squeal. The ability to think is wasted on some people.

Turning his head back forward, a glimpse of blonde hair caught his eye. As he slipped his textbook back into his bag a slow smile began to curl at his lips in recognition. "Lucius, I didn't expect to see you here," He said calmly, walking up to the Slytherin who doubled as one of the few "close" friends he had.

TEMPLATE CODING BY GOLDEN ALBATROSS OF CAUTION

[LUCIUS ABRAXAS MALFOY]

• Burn it down •

till the embers smoke on the ground And start new when your heart is an empty room With walls of the deepest blue

→ Home's face: how it ages when you're away. Spring blooms and you find the love that's true, but you don't know what now to do, cause the chase is all you know, and she stopped running months ago. And all you see is where else you could be when you're at home, out on the street are so many possibilities to not be alone. The flames and smoke climbed out of every window, and disappeared with everything that you held dear. And you shed not a single tear for the things that you didn't need, 'cause you knew you were finally free.

He’d just finished the end of a paragraph when a voice chimed in faintly from behind him. Glancing up from the vintage, fading papers he found himself staring at a familiar face; that of Severus Snape, one of his fellow seventh-year Slytherin’s. The corner of his lips quirked slightly at this spontaneous meeting, though he had come here for solstice, it was always nice to see someone who was actually a bit sensible wandering around this place, even if it wasn’t quite what he’d consider to be a timely arrival. And as much as Lucius wanted to continue reading the book cradled in his hands, he could never ignore responding to a comment directed at himself.

“One never really knows where I’m going to turn up, Severus.” He said calmly, taking a mental note of the page number he’d been reading before he let all of the pages flutter shut, the thick brown cover closing as he turned it over slowly with his hand, his eyes fixed with interest upon his fellow Slytherin. “Unless of course its in an area highly populated with Muggles. Then you’d probably be right in assuming my absence.” He admitted, pursing his lips together gently. It was true, of course. Several people didn’t ‘expect’ to see Lucius roaming about, it seemed, for people always found themselves surprised whenever he was someplace odd - like outside, or even wandering through Hogsmeade, as though he couldn’t possibly get a single day of enjoyment his entire life. “Not that I’d ever expect to see you in a room of muggles, either. I‘d probably die just of the stench.”

It wasn’t normally like Lucius to strike up conversation in the middle of the library - as they were made for silence and reading, not conversation, but Severus Snape always was a rather curious character. While they were a bit close, they had to be, given their positions in life, Severus always managed to puzzle Lucius in a way that he couldn’t quite explain, or even understand himself. Its not like he was bad, aside from hanging out with that muggleborn girl Lily when they were young, whom he finally, and thankfully seemed to rid himself from, at least to Lucius’ present understanding, but he was one of the most powerful people that Lucius knew, and that made him valuable - very valuable. And he wasn’t exactly a bad person to talk to, either. That is, whenever he felt like speaking. Severus was actually quite smart, and that’s what Lucius liked best about him.

“The real question is, what brings you here, Severus?” he inquired with a brief, devilish look of a grin. “I never thought you needed real books - I was under the grand impression that you learned everything by osmosis, and never had to study a day in your life.” He said, sitting up a little higher in his seat as he glanced at Snape. “I’ve seen you walk in here before, but I never imagined it to be a frequent visit of yours. But then again, you’re not always reading, are you?” He inquired curiously, letting his gaze drop briefly to Severus’ trusty satchel, that always seemed to be stuck to his side at any given time. “I’ve always liked Libraries best for their knowledge, but others prefer the silence.”

TAG; SNAPE! WORD COUNT; 572. NOTES; I'm a terrible person for taking so long. I'm so sorry.
CREDIT TO FANTOME AT CAUTION.

[SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE]

NOT ALWAYS LIKE THIS

IT'S A TERRIBLE WEAKNESS IN MY NATURE, IN MY BLOOD

Severus turned and leaned against the table as Lucius spoke to him. He didn't imagine this little run in would take very long, so he didn't bother taking a seat. Then again, things had been known to surprise him. Perhaps Lucius would be the first thing he'd encountered today that didn't bore him.

Ah, of course, the usual insults at the non-magical. Lucius always made quips at muggles any chance he could get. When Snape had first met him he'd been a bit offended, but by now he'd grown to like Malfoy's jokes, or at the very least tolerate them. In good humor he gave him a small grin. Severus chuckled and flashed Lucius a devilish smirk before replying.

"If the stench isn't enough, their ignorance would be. I hear talking to one long enough can actually lower your intelligence. It's a wonder there are muggleborn Ravenclaws."

Severus's artificially blue eyes glanced downward curiously at the leather book Lucius had been reading. Probably one he'd read before. Lucius continued talking as Severus reached down and grabbed the book. The one he'd had was safely tucked away in his little satchel, away from prying eyes. Severus often came to the library, not just for reading, but why Lucius Malfoy would spend a pleasant afternoon like this here of all places escaped him. Absent-mindedly he started to thumb through the pages as his friend continued talking.

"Osmosis, Lucius? Oh come now, surely I can't know all that much." Severus couldn't help the cheeky grin forming on his face. It was a lie and they both knew it. He most certainly did know all that much. "Besides, most of our professors are idiots. The books here teach me far more than their classes would."

Severus shifted, straightening his posture before sliding the book back to Lucius. Protectively he put one hand on his satchel, casually moving it so it fell behind his back and out of the other boy's view. "Why Lucius, what else would I be doing here if not reading?"

TEMPLATE CODING BY GOLDEN ALBATROSS OF CAUTION

[LUCIUS ABRAXAS MALFOY]

• Burn it down •

till the embers smoke on the ground And start new when your heart is an empty room With walls of the deepest blue

→ Home's face: how it ages when you're away. Spring blooms and you find the love that's true, but you don't know what now to do, cause the chase is all you know, and she stopped running months ago. And all you see is where else you could be when you're at home, out on the street are so many possibilities to not be alone. The flames and smoke climbed out of every window, and disappeared with everything that you held dear. And you shed not a single tear for the things that you didn't need, 'cause you knew you were finally free.

He could feel the corners of his lips quirk upward a bit more as Severus spoke, the pride of his own blood lineage sparkling a bit in his eyes. It was always good to hear his fellow Slytherin slighting a muggle-born in some way, or the entire race itself. One could never be too sure of another’s loyalties, especially when said person was known for fraternizing with a muggle-born girl back in the day. Lucius would probably be suspicious of his own loyalties, if he found a way for that to be at all possible, but he did trust Snape. Even for a half-blood, which the dark lord was himself. Severus was a smart man, and smart men didn’t challenge the inevitable.

“A wonder indeed, Severus.” Lucius nodded in agreement, already glad of his deciding to come to the Library today. “Of course, the real miracle is that there are any muggle-born wizards in the first place.” He’d never understand it himself, really. How muggle-borns were even allowed to come to Hogwarts, let alone preform magic of their own free will. He could stand muggles as well as a man could; they were useless and unnecessary, but at least they were oblivious. He’d much rather things were straight-cut shades of black and white; either you were a wizard or a muggle, instead of the way things were now, with the shades of gray with muggle-borns, half-bloods and even squibs. Of course, without half-bloods he’d never have his friend Severus here, but then again, perhaps both of his parent’s would’ve been pureblood, if things worked the way Lucius desired.

Lucius sighed as Severus took the book from him, allowing his friend to casually sift through the pages as he glanced around the room. “Always trying to make yourself sound humble, Severus. It’s a good thing I Know the better of you, or at least I pretend to.” Lucius chuckled lightly, grinning easily at his friend – a sight that was sometimes rare, but a bit more often than people gave him credit for. “You’re one of the brightest students this side of Merlin’s grave, and I have a feeling you’ll never get tired of hearing it.”

He accepted the book back with a slightly more serious face, cradling it casually in his lap, though his eyes diverted themselves back to Snape’s bag. The protective way he clutched it told Lucius there was a secret inside – or at least something Severus wanted to shelter from the rest of the world, but knowing Severus, it couldn’t be that deadly. Or, at least, he hoped that it wasn’t.

“With you, all one can do is guess.” He murmured, his interest peaked a bit by his fellow Slytherin’s behavior. “After all, you are a Slytherin, and we’re known for being a bit…devious, no?”

TAG; SNAPE! WORD COUNT; 485. NOTES; I love your severus so much, Ava! xD
CREDIT TO FANTOME AT CAUTION.

[SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE]

NOT ALWAYS LIKE THIS

IT'S A TERRIBLE WEAKNESS IN MY NATURE, IN MY BLOOD

Severus maintained the smile but didn't reply to Malfoy's last word on the non-magical. Muggles were one thing, but Severus didn't have anything against muggleborns. After all, his best friend until recently was a muggleborn herself. Though he did admit it was curious how something like that could happen. How was it that two people, void of any magic in their veins, could produce an offspring so wonderfully talented? Logic told him there must be a gene of some sort, but then wouldn't the parents have at least a shred of it? Things like this frustrated him. Severus liked answers and facts. He hated ignorance.

Severus smirked. Speaking of intellect, eh Lucius? "Well, Lucius, it would appear the pot is calling the kettle black, or so the saying goes. We both know how much of a talented wizard you are...though I may still give you a run for your money in potionwork, even if Slughorn does favor you." An impish twinkle glistened in Severus's eye as he teased his fellow student in good humor. "Slug Club indeed." He added with a little chuckle.

Truth be told Lucius was impeccably talented. Severus considered him his equal in many ways, and even had struck up a friendly rivalry with him. Both were accomplished duelists and potion brewers. It honestly wouldn't surprise Severus in the slightest if Lucius had also taken up his own hobby of creating little charms and the like. Then again, Malfoy wasn't his equal in all regards...

He followed the other boy's eyes easily enough. Nothing got by Lucius, did it? Severus easily feigned ignorance and acted as if he hadn't noticed the other boy's questioning gaze. "I like to keep them guessing. When I've become predictable I'll have lost all fun in life." Another smirk. His eyes looked over and locked with Lucius's. "Devious, Lucius? We're the House of ambition. The only reason we might be 'devious' is because rules end up getting in our way."

TEMPLATE CODING BY GOLDEN ALBATROSS OF CAUTION

[LUCIUS ABRAXAS MALFOY]

• Burn it down •

till the embers smoke on the ground And start new when your heart is an empty room With walls of the deepest blue

→ Home's face: how it ages when you're away. Spring blooms and you find the love that's true, but you don't know what now to do, cause the chase is all you know, and she stopped running months ago. And all you see is where else you could be when you're at home, out on the street are so many possibilities to not be alone. The flames and smoke climbed out of every window, and disappeared with everything that you held dear. And you shed not a single tear for the things that you didn't need, 'cause you knew you were finally free.

“I don’t pretend I’m a humble man, Severus, but I can appreciate when a fellow man is better at a subject than me.” Lucius said firmly, frowning a bit as he stared at his friend. “Slughorn prefers me because of his prejudices. Everyone knows you’re the best potion maker in Hogwarts - and you might as well enjoy that because I am never saying it again.” Lucius added seriously, but finishing with a quick, momentary smirk.  “Besides, he probably doesn’t like you because you keep him on his toes too much. Honestly, I don’t know how you come up with potions that fast, but I like it.”

His words were true, of course. Severus always had Slughorn baffled in class. He was always working, inventing, coming up with things – challenging the old ways and making new ones for himself. Severus was a Pioneer in that regard, and Lucius wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Severus wound up creating some new potion that changed the world and saved lives. As a matter of fact, he almost expected it. Snape was an excellent student, and it only made sense that he’d have his name in the history books someday.

“Yes, well, maybe someday they’ll learn not to give us rules and then we’ll always be in the right.” Lucius snickered, eyeing his friend a bit playfully, though his suspicion was still there. Severus was the type to keep secrets, he knew that already. You didn’t meet a person who was reclusive and quiet and not know they were secretive. After all, that was kind of the whole point of being quiet, was it not? Over the years he’d become a bit more accustom and comfortable with Severus’ personal secrets, but that didn’t mean he was never curious about Snape’s business. As a matter of fact, the opposite was usually the case. He was incredibly curious about what Snape was doing - he always was. He just preferred for Severus’ impression of him to be more…well, refined, rather than the busy-body that he so easily could be. “I don’t think I’ve met a Slytherin who couldn’t handle himself well - unlike those four reckless Gryffindors we all know and loathe.” He scoffed, shaking his head lightly in disapproval.

Ever since the day he saw them, Lucius knew the Marauders would be trouble. Not only did they make Sirius Black a blood traitor - a man from one of the most noble bloodlines in the entire wizarding world, but they also made fools of themselves on a daily basis, and if they didn’t have that one boy Remus Lupin with them, Lucius was sure they would have lost their heads a long time ago. And then, of course, there was that Peter boy, that no one could really figure out. Not completely, at least. But it didn’t really matter, for Lucius couldn’t stand any of them. Especially not that Potter boy. “You haven’t had a run in with them lately, have you?” Lucius inquired, scowling just at the thought of running into those four pathetic excuses of wizards again.

TAG; SNAPE! WORD COUNT; 537. NOTES; I'm sorry that my muse is so pathetic for you =(
CREDIT TO FANTOME AT CAUTION.