The Obscurity of the Anonymous Sort

If it hadn't been for Lucius there most likely wouldn't be a story.

Isn't that a strange feeling….? To be complimenting such a light on someone so evil.

If it hadn't been for Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape would have never been attending such an event. A room full of suit-ties and decorated robes that slipped over the dance floor without touching it. An event that called for high collars and tightly fastened edges. The building is a museum and the event takes place in the red-carpeted, wooden paneled function hall. Lucius was at his best so of course, Severus would be as well. His tie is the half-blood presence of black monochrome off a soft black and dark green dress robes of traditional fashion. Monochrome isn't a fashion here and it's been mentioned a few times now, all favorably. He does it because he's not one of them, and this is his subtle hint to that.

He tied his own shoelaces before left his home. He passes the plate to the cabinet by hand. He will never be like those around him who live their lives on magic and ease. And neither would she…. She was on the podium which was right where she belonged…. In an open cubical advertising her own product right under the glass dome ceiling that cast the perfect light to watch her without what she was showing reflecting back into your eyes. Lucius was here to buy into business and stocks and Severus was just to attend and do what he would but from that point on, he would only be there for her.

"A man after my own mind."

She had projected this towards him with a flick of her eye and without a miss of her words as she spoke her speech aloud to the audience who watched her intently. Her product was something Lucius would never be interested in but for him, was a claim that grabbed his attention immediately.

On the wooden table she had laid a gun. A muggle gun.

"Advanced with an inlay core..." She'd explain.

A rifle. The exact brand he doesn't know but it's a solid black, angry looking rifle.

".. and with the power of wandless magic.."

It had to look scary, he notes as he takes his place before the booth with a straight-faced, thin lipped Lucius in tow.

"With the pull of the trigger…!"

These magic kind wouldn't take old fashion muggle anything seriously….

"You wouldn't believe this power."

And this tactic was paying off.

He could feel the heat of Lucius as the man bit his tongue, controlling the urge to insult the half-blood, so he talks first.

He leans back, "What happened the last time I showed interest?"

This would silence the rattle of the snake, and Lucius would fall back and try to pay attention.

In all truth, the idea was sublime... but it was a subject that wouldn't really affect the life of Lucius. The man was not a military man. He was not mixing magic and muggle in everyday life, type of man. He's a man who had spent very little time around guns in his entire life and Severus couldn't blame him for the disinterest.

"You go on." He releases his friend who gives a huff and walks away rather quickly.

"Halfbloods….." He'd hear the blond mutter.

He ignores this comment as Lucius retreats and returns his attention to the cubicle where the woman is now closing up and taking questions from the badge-wearing officers standing around him. I.W.P agents, Aurors, and like-minded investors surrounded, and for the first time, he noticed the glances. No wonder Lucius was impatient; now that he noticed the type of crowd, he immediately felt the push to leave as well. People like he and Lucius had no place showing interest in weaponry such as this... and he knew there would be a note somewhere in some official paperwork stored away because he stayed.

"I think I'll go for lunch after this…."

The sudden airy voice waves through the space like the ghost-cry of a child in a crowd. He barely hears it but hears her nonetheless. Legilimency. He'd glance her way and their eyes would meet and hold for just a moment of silence as he raises his glass and takes a sip of his amber alcohol that burns his throat. Just as quickly, and again just as fluidly, their eyes drop and Severus turns and walks away.

Daring... is what he'd call her as he made his circle around the function hall to take longer, allowing her time to buy and settle in a seat he assumed he'd join her in. To pass a message through a space of security; a message he assumed was just for him. The actions were in itself…..foolish. Or was it? His circle began to close and he had yet to see Lucius when that usually wasn't the case. They could usually find each other quite quickly, but no, not this time... It didn't matter though, he landed on this passive state of mind as he neared the large double doors that lead to the other showrooms and cafe, but he'd give one more look out into the area before turning and starting out of the hall. He'd at least give Lucius that much.

Carpet lanes on marble floors. White walls and bright portraits and statues. Floor touching windows with heavy, floor touching drapes. No house elves, those who carried trays were hired, finely dressed waitstaff of people that more resembled himself than the people who passed by him in the hall. He passed the richest individuals he'd ever meet in his entire life and would shake hands with the manicured hands of the most exquisite woman he'd ever touch the skin of. Eventually though, he's down the hall and walking into a glass-paneled cafe with a kitchen and buffet setups among scattered roundtable sets.

"You came."

He hears her voice in the space between his ears but when he looks around he can't find her.

"When you find me you should tell me, that in this light I remind you of an angel."

He smirks at the nothing. A rare event, even rarer with women.

He'll soon find her though, sitting alone at a double set table right by the windows overlooking the sculpture garden. Indeed the sun shines on her in an almost angelic way, and if he could, he'd say the words she wants to hear. But he won't, because he's just not that kind of man. She's looking at him as he approaches, even when she takes a bit of the salad that sits before her. He remains calm. Straight-faced. Pose. His brow is tightened, but he attempts to cool his constant simmer. He has a responsibility to be something he's not, something more like Lucius and less like this woman.

Her ankles are crossed under the seat. Her elbows are on the table, her thin fingers are laced and placed so she's blocking her expression but her cheeks tell of what she's hiding. A smile. She watches him with a stare that flashes like a fox as her legs twitch back and forth on their toe like it's flickering tail. She's teasing him, drawing him in.. Something very Slytherin and reflecting his own green bleeding veins.

It's when he finally lands by the table and his feet are placing together does his arms wrap around his back when he realizes he doesn't know what to say. He was never invited, he was informed. He was never officially welcomed, just noticed. He didn't know her name and knew nothing beyond the end of a performance. He wasn't asked to sit, so he'd stand above her. He'd watch her hands break apart and drop around the coffee mug that sat by her nearly empty plate of sandwich foods and leafy salad side.

"You remind me of a shadow."

Her first words… and he didn't know how to feel about them. Was she dismissing him? Was she mocking him? Well, she wouldn't be mocking him... He was a supposed buyer and she was an…. Antripunure… Here, they were worlds apart in a world where he was the Lucius to the lesser form. He likes this feeling he notices, but he's still thankful for her sun-bright smile as she shakes her head and takes a sip from her cup.

"Sit down, will you?" She motions with her hand. "After too long, this turns into more of a murder creepy feel than a secret meet up."

He pauses.

"Secret meet up?" His response is more or less just him repeating her last three words just so that he can say something at all.. A tactic he learned and a tactic that often worked out in his favor.

"Yesssss," She smiles as she picks up a potato fry while he lowers himself into the seat across from her. "You, a strange man worth so much more than me, willingly arrive here at this table after a randomly sudden, suddenly amazing conversation of secrets within the most powerful and official of military."

He waits. Daunted by what's being said.

"Why is that?" Her eyes flash towards him as she drinks down the fry.

She leans forward almost theatrically, seemingly completely comfortable with his silence, "Military, I know you have run-ins with by the way….."

She winks at him and lifts from her seat. "Well. I have another show. It was great talking to you."

She leaves the empty plate for those hired to pick up but he saw her go to take it. He saw the muscle memory that comes from repetitive movements those like Lucius didn't have. He watched her fast thinking and on spot correction. He watched her as she walked away, leaving him completely confused, uncomfortable and in a state of between where he didn't move for a good few minutes.

…..

"Hello," He speaks into the ear of Lucius as he appears behind his friend.

"I could feel your aura booths away." Lucius's voice comes back just as quietly before he turns away from the presentation he was watching. Resting a hand on the back on the Severus's shoulder he guides him away.

Public but secure, Lucius would stop them in a quiet corner and he would turn to face Severus, the hand twisting on the man's shoulder as he steps out in front of him.

"Severus." Lucius breaths out as he looks out into the room. "We've been invited to an after party of sorts. Will you be attending with Narcissa and myself?"

"What time are we expected?" He questions passively even though Lucius never actually said he was invited.

"10 o'clock."

Severus passes a glance his way and Lucius picks up a question he sees written all over the sullen man's face. "We'll go to dinner, before that of course." He pats his shoulder. "If you come, we'll go to that place you love on, Billzmark."

The restaurant on Billzmark was indeed his usual first choice when Lucis was the one who would pay. A stone, underground restaurant set in a mine with echoing piano music and soul singing women. A beautifully dark place of stone and wooden panels, it was a favorite of Severus and Lucius knew it.

"Also," Lucius dips his hand into his robe. "I was granted permission to bring a plus one but…." He shrugs as his wrist flicks out, the envelope held between his fingers. "Narissa isn't a plus one. She's the only one."

Severus slowly takes the envelope and Lucius drops his hand.

"Try to pick a lass, will you?" Lucius pushed with his first steps away.

…..

He's slipped into the canopy of deep red heavy curtains, and he's found where she's set up to return to between shows. A squared tent just off the stage lit by just one light and with a desk, buro and storage chests. Here, he sits and waits and listens to her sale pitch again. He hears her finish and would have risen from any seat had he'd taken one, but instead, he slips more into the corner he's been standing in the entire time. He masks his face with his hair and shadows himself with the natural darkness of the tent as well as with his ominous aura so when she comes down the stairs, he's already waiting for her. He catches her off guard, it's true, even she knew he noticed it... But she recovers quickly in a fashion much like herself. Her weight shifts onto one foot and the foxish smile is back, dancing on her lips and twinkling her eyes.

"Mysterious messages," She starts quietly stepping towards him. "that lead to mysterious cafe settings, now arrive in the secret passings in private unexpected movements." She's approaching slowly, confidently, bravely, and with the tips of her flashy white teeth reflecting like fangs. He can't find it within himself to be able to explain what she's going, but it's the same thing she'd done before. Set off balance, he stands stiff as stone when she lands in front of him. Even his head doesn't tilt, it only cocks to the side like a vultures glare cast over its curved, beak.

Her finger lands on his chest and drags down to his sternum, "what have you for me my most shadowed stranger?"

He grins, and from his pocket he pulls out the invitation but doesn't give it to her. He knows this game and is quite adept so instead he places the envelope on the side table between them. No nod, no grin, no motion of accepting, he left as coldly as he would appear but he wouldn't leave the same way she had seen him; he'd walk.

…

He hated people.

He hated crowds.

He was what they called anti-social and there was only so much social he could handle.

The day at the investors market, the afternoon at dinner and admittedly, a pub...or two… and now they were here. Loud music, dancing, crowds, drinking and happy chatter. He was running low on tolerance and energy. His first indication of her would be her touch. Something he wasn't used to and would flinch involuntarily under because it had come without warning and he had come from a life of trauma. He's had a hard past, but it's something he tries not to show and hates when he does.

"Mysterious shadow stranger." Her voice cooed in the air between them as she slipped into view from behind him, her hand trailing on his back as she came around him.

He doesn't look at her and he keeps his hands together in front of him, one hand clasped on the wrist of the hand that holds his glass. Her hand though, it touches the space between his body and his arm, and this time when he moved, it wasn't because he flinched. Her hand doesn't stay though, she drops her hand and he lowers his arm back against his side that he had just slightly opened for her, ignoring the rejection as he watches Lucius dancing with his wife.

They say nothing for a long time but it isn't a time where he feels uncomfortable or that the air between them is strained. It's somehow warm and he's only more relieved when she asks him if they wanted to go hang out in the hall.

Hang out.

That's the phrase she chose to use with him and he wasn't sure if that was intentional or not but he'll oblige and follow her out of the room, unaware of the eye of Lucius who catches him doing so.

Those fancy couches that sit in the empty, dim lit halls of expensive party halls were made for moments like this. Moments for strangers in dark spaces where they can know won't be intruded on. She knew the building so well that when she moved she moved through the halls in a fluid motion of experience. Again, this is new for him, but he had followed her and now they were here. He slows to a stop and she takes a slow step through the hall before turning to face him.

"Super secret conversations and anonymous meetings have to lead to shadow passed messages and sophisticated ballroom parties." She smiles that fox smile that skipped his heart."What comes next?"

He knows that look within her eyes and fangy smile and he'll step closer and closer which only makes her smile turn that much darker. With a step away from him but no change to her expression, she'll drive him to a place he wants to push towards. With his hand, he'll grasp her with the firm touch he knows she wants and as his palm falls over her collar his fingers wrap around her throat like snakes. She likes it, he knows that because when he presses into her, she backed away and into the wall so willingly. Once her back touches the wood of the wall he'll tilt himself where he's blocking the escape but will land his list hand in the pose of what would be a smack, he lands his hand gently on the opposite side of her jaw and pushes her head to the side so that she's watching down the way they came. It's her job to watch, and it shows a trust he doesn't want to give her.

"Who are you to play such games?" He whispers gruffly into her ear as his cheek pressed against her and his breath warms her skin.

"I am that who plays with shadows." She responds through a tightened throat; not only from him but her own rising heat he takes in with every breath.

"But what draws you to such evil things?"

Her hands are still free and now her finger wraps around his belt loop, something he wouldn't allow and would quickly move to prevent. He snaps his hand around his wrist like a snake around prey and he slams her hand above her head.

"You don't touch me." He informs with well-practiced authority.

Whether or not she believes his charade of wealth that he'd never actually claimed to have, he doesn't know. But, she knows her place as well as what she likes. He can feel her fingers loosen and can almost hear the racing of her heart. But this is all just a tease. Everything from the fact they both know such things will not happen here, to the fake placed smiles and expensive people in the room they both don't want to be in. His fingers wave over her jugular and his grip tightens for a moment as he thinks. Control over everything is the name of the game here. Control over being too happy, control over being too expressive… His hand drops and Severus backs up a fair step.

"What's your name?" He asks her.

"We will have no names" she whispers with that foxish grin.

He looks her over and watches her move off the wall.

"You're so odd." he turns with her circle as she moves around him.

"You're so obscure." She smiles, touching his biceps this time as she passes by as she starts down the hall.

He watches her for a moment before asking, "does that make me memorable?"

She stops and turns against to face him. "We'll see."

She takes out her wand and presses the tip against her forehead. A moment passes before she pulls the tip away and with it, a silver string of memory that she waves in the air. It was like she knew him, like she knew his potion master's mind because in fact, yes, he did have an empty vial with which he pulls out for her to take. She taps the memory into the vial before putting her wand away and handing it back.

"Come, we should get back." Her hand extends open for him and he takes it, though will not keep it. Her hand will slip up his arm and fall into that crevice he had offered her before and together they would walk down the dimly lit hall back towards the party they both don't want to be at.

…..

.