That one line just captures this whole fic perfectly -- dark, but not TOO dark (thank you thank you for that) -- the sheer need that they both have is most compelling. I love the thick description here; it suits the story very well.
The cameos of Draco and Lucius, and the ambiguity about their motives, worked nicely as a lead-in to Harry finding Snape, whose survival in and of itself is of course explained, but why he's hiding under Malfoy Manor still when he could have gone elsewhere, that's a nice bit of mystery.
The smut is gorgeously hot, and hurrah for Parseltongue and Harry being so pushy -- Snape would never have cracked otherwise. Thank you so much, mystery author!