Snow had started to fall outside the stone-glass windows of the dungeons. Soft at first—then cruel, relentless, burying the world in silence.
Severus sat in the Potions classroom long after class had ended, staring at the cauldron's empty mouth like it might swallow him whole.
Lillian was gone.
Not expelled. Not missing. Just—absent. Withdrew from class. Didn't come to meals. And the last thing he'd said was:
"You'll come crawling back when he's finished with you."
And now, Severus wasn't sure who was finishing him off faster: the absence of Lillian...
Or the presence of Lucius.
The blonde Alpha was everywhere. Not loudly. Not obviously.
But he was there.
In the hallway, when Severus dropped his bag—Lucius picked it up.
In the Slytherin common room, when the fire died—Lucius relit it without looking.
In the corridor after curfew, where Severus tried to vanish like smoke into stone—
Lucius cornered him.
This time, there was no smirk.
Just quiet eyes.
Silver. Cold. Unreadable.
"You look like death," Lucius said.
"I feel like it," Severus muttered.
A long silence.
Then: "You miss him."
Severus looked away. "He was the only one who loved me without wanting to break me."
Lucius's jaw flexed. "Do you think that's what I'm doing?"
"I don't know what you're doing," Severus snapped. "I never do. You kiss me, bite me, leave me bleeding in bathrooms—then pretend we're nothing in public."
Lucius didn't deny it.
He only stepped closer. The hallway was empty. Echoing. Silent as a tomb.
"I never said we were nothing," Lucius murmured.
Severus swallowed hard. "Then what are we?"
Lucius leaned in until their foreheads touched. Cold breath. Wand heat. Scent-slick, spell-soaked chaos.
"You're the first person I haven't been able to control," Lucius said, almost tender.
"That's not love," Severus whispered.
"No," Lucius agreed. "But it's the closest I've ever come."
And then—
His hand slipped behind Severus's neck.
And bit again harder and deeper.
Severus gasped, body going taut, scent spiking uncontrolled—something between Beta and something else entirely—wild, unregistered, unclassified—
And Lucius just held him as his knees buckled.
And Severus—Didn't stop it.
Somewhere far above the dungeon, in a room thick with fire and grief—
Lillian watched the window frost over.
And whispered, "He chose him."