Severus told himself it had been nothing.
A lesson. A manipulation. A single kiss meant to bind him tighter to Lucius's leash.
But the lie dissolved each time he remembered the weight of Lucius's hand at his neck, the press of his mouth, the way the world had narrowed to the singular reality of being wanted.
It had not been tenderness. Lucius Malfoy did not deal in tenderness. Yet to Severus, it had been enough. More than enough.
And against his will, he began to crave it.
Lillian noticed first.
"You've changed," he said quietly one morning, catching Severus alone outside the library. His green eyes were troubled. "You don't look at me the same."
Severus's throat tightened. "Maybe because I'm tired of being looked down on."
"I've never looked down on you," Lillian said, hurt flickering across his face. "I've always—"
"What?" Severus snapped. "Pity me? Protect me from James's games? I don't need your charity, Lillian."
Lillian recoiled as though struck.
Severus hated himself for the words, but he hated more the thought of admitting how deeply Lucius had already burrowed beneath his skin.
James, of course, pounced on the change.
"You've got a new master, Snivellus?" he jeered across the courtyard, voice carrying. "Funny, I always thought you liked licking boots, but Malfoy's? Bold choice."
Students laughed. Severus's fists clenched, but before he could retort, Lillian's voice rang out, sharp with fury.
"James, stop it!"
James's grin faltered, guilt flickering, but pride kept him from backing down. "What? I'm only saying what everyone's thinking. Look at him. He follows Malfoy like a dog."
Severus's cheeks burned. He spun on his heel and stormed away before the shame could choke him.
That evening, Narcis found him.
He leaned against the wall outside the dungeons, smirk curling. "So. Malfoy finally kissed you, didn't he?"
Severus froze. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, but I do." Narcis's voice was honeyed poison. "I know him better than you ever will. And I know what he does to boys like you."
Severus bristled. "Shut up."
"Make me." Narcis's pheromones flared, sharp and suffocating. Severus staggered, but forced himself not to yield.
Narcis's smile widened. "There it is. His lessons in your spine. But don't fool yourself, Snape. He's not lifting you up. He's hollowing you out, making you into something that serves him. When he's done, you'll be nothing but a fathomless pit."
Severus's pulse thundered. "You're wrong."
"Am I?" Narcis's eyes gleamed. "Or do you already know I'm right, and that's why it hurts?"
Severus shoved past him, chest heaving, fury and longing knotted so tightly he could barely breathe.
When he reached the classroom, Lucius was waiting. Of course he was.
"Potter humiliated you again," Lucius murmured, stepping into the lamplight. "Narcis provoked you. And Lillian—sweet Lillian—looked at you with sorrow in his eyes."
Severus froze. "You were watching?"
Lucius smiled faintly. "Always."
Something inside Severus cracked. The shame, the mockery, the warnings—it all dissolved beneath the single, undeniable truth: Lucius saw him.
And Severus wanted nothing more.
He dropped his books with a thud, crossing the room in two strides. His hands fisted in Lucius's robes, desperate, pleading without words.
Lucius let him.
The kiss this time was fiercer, rawer, Severus pouring all his loneliness and hunger into the press of lips, the scrape of teeth. Lucius allowed it, guided it, but gave nothing tender in return. His hands controlled, commanded, claimed.
When they finally broke apart, Severus's chest heaved. "I—" The words tangled. He could not say need you. He could not say love you. Not yet.
Lucius silenced him with a fingertip against his lips. "Good boy."
The praise sent a shiver down Severus's spine, humiliation and elation colliding until he could not tell them apart.
Lucius's smile was slow, triumphant. "Now you're learning where you belong."
And Severus, trembling, already knew: he was falling.
Falling, even as every warning screamed that Lucius Malfoy would never catch him.