Hahaha! "Maybe ... He'd consider it." That Severus; what a Slytherin. And Lucius, the former ultimate Slytherin, begging him! This is a great character study of the two. It's like their entire history is in this encounter - but without stooping to the tedious ol' backstory technique. (Ah, you clever writer you!)
In fact, it dawns on me for the first time, reading this, how truly horrible the Dark Lord is for the House of Slytherin. He's undermined Lucius' power, authority and confidence, unsettled the carefully formed hierarchy that has always dictated Severus' and Lucius' relationships ... the greatest destruction Voldemort will do in the long run is to Slytherin, his own base of support. Now that's crappy.
Thanks for writing such a thought-provoking fic! Lucius and Severus seem terribly IC, and it fills in some sorely needed gaps in canon.