Severus was punctual as always. Though Lucius was now younger than he in this incarnation, he still held the slightly older-brother-ish role in Severus's mind.
He'd once highly offended Draco by implying that he'd always rather assumed that Lucius viewed him as a valuable tool, but he'd meant no insult by it. His alliance with Lucius was based on a profound mutual understanding that probably would offend most people's sense of the word 'friendship', but Severus liked it very much. He knew he could count on Lucius for anything that didn't pose any adverse risk to his family or social status and Lucius knew he could count on Severus in a similar light. They both held similar disdain for the so-called established ruling class for differing reasons and understood one another's . . . flexibility where legal matters were involved.
But he also knew that Lucius would throw him over if it proved to be in his best interests to do so.
Severus liked the honesty of it, and wasn't any less fond of Lucius for all that. In his mind, Lucius was precisely what a brother ought to be, had he ever had one. The smile that overspread his features when he saw the familiar and yet altered form was absolutely genuine.
"Lucius, at last," he said holding out his hand to clasp the other man's. "The last time I saw you at this age, I thought you looked old," he added, laughing at how young the man appeared.