Malfoy Manor was not the most pleasant of places. There was a dark mystique that hung over the place, surrounded it, encoded it, that enthralled Severus and many of the other Death Eaters. There were conscious differences in admiration and attraction to the place, of course. To Severus, it was evident, but he often needed to remind himself that only he was aware of his true motivations. His loyalties were unclear- even concerning personal awareness- but the Slytherin knew as much that shadows were more inviting than revealing brightness. Sunlight revealed the cracked flaw of every person, no matter the nobility of moralistic agenda. The Death Eaters preferred the isolationism of the location; and more shamefully the brutality that had transpired within in. The numerous tortures that ensued and the troubled pleas for death which were only fulfilled once a person was writhing in terminal agony. Severus tried not to be present for such scenes because the moral man within him often wanted to jump forward; to snatch the wands from the masked demons; and to cry for his own damning behavior for compliance and conformity. But this never happened. He remained quiet and kept his intentions tucked within his tampered unconscious, never revealing them. Severus enjoyed Malfoy Manor's dark appeal simply because he did not belong in the light. He had been told as a cynical teenager that he could join the path of goodness and be readily accepted. Severus knew all too well that this optimistic mindset was foolish and to be disdained as much as the speaker whose lips it departed from. She spoke out of Hufflepuff tendency to be kind and to be loyal, but even she could not have meant her words genuinely. Severus was a lost soul who ambled on broken feet, with a broken psyche on his own path of solitude. Lily Evans was his light. Lily Evans was the guiding star in his sky, complemented- but not mixing kindly- with his desire for recognition and power after a helpless upbringing. The two lifestyles did not produce a homogeneous mixture, and only seemed to heighten Lily's disheartened frown and occasionally fearful orbs of green. When she inched away from him and sighed longingly, sometimes spoke of wanting her childhood friend back, Severus felt his soul fragment into a slew of broken pieces that were torn with indecision. He knew that his love for Lily had to win out in the end- to end his blind submission to the dark crowd; but she might have been gone by the time that he came to his senses. His footsteps had been quiet, but not quiet enough. Severus was mightily aware of James Potters' unwanted presence around the corner. A smirk almost cracked the pale young lips, but it did not. As much as he despised Potter, Severus would not cast a spell at him. He would not hex him, but perhaps warn him with grand cynicism to leave the property before he would have to. Harming Potter would only worsen his relationship with Lily, selfishly so, and because Severus at least wanted to consider himself less of the Earth scum that his colleagues sufficed to be. Hesitantly, he rounded the corner and lifted the long black wand smoothly- a method of defense should it be necessary. He had dozens of spells at the ready just in case James was not in the mood to reason with him. "Potter," Severus spit almost venomously, but then reminded himself to lessen the harshness of his tone. The pale lips curled in evident distaste. "It was not on my social agenda to harm you, nor my professional task, therefore, I request that you remove yourself from these grounds. It is in the best interest of both yourself and myself."