"lucius' zebras" by gingerbred
May. 29th, 2019 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
christmasspiritJuly 1999. Draco and his family are planning a party...
A 4.6 K 'Drabble' written with oodles of love forlostangelsoul3's birthday off a prompt from too_dle_oo. (We were discussing Baroque donkeys, as one does, and things sort of evolved from there... *smooches*)
Just a bit of fluff.
Originally Published: 2019-05-29 on LJ / DW
Words: 4.6k, one shot, complete
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Characters: Draco, Narcissa, Lucius, Harry, Severus, Hermione
"Mother? Mother?" Draco calls as he enters the kitchens, pausing in the doorway as he discovers his mother deep in conversation with a number of the family's elves. Planning for the fete that weekend, no doubt. "Have you seen..."
Narcissa turns to face her son with a benevolent smile, interrupting both his question and her instructions to the elves. They'll wait. They're well trained, after all. "Draco, darling. Come give me a kiss."
He crosses to her, indulgently, and busses her cheek, a slightly sappy grin on his face that just doesn't seem to want to disappear these days. She smiles to see it, lifting a hand to caress his cheek with the backs of her fingers. It warms her heart to see him this way. She'd been so worried about him last year in the days just after the war. She'd feared she'd never see him like this again.
Although, considering... She's not entirely sure she's ever seen him quite like this before.
She shakes the spell off to peer around him, he's grown much too tall to easily peek over his shoulder, and then with a slight note of concern on detecting someone's absence, asks, "What have you done with Miss Granger?"
"'Hermione'," he corrects gently. "It's 'Hermione', mother. You really must practice this. How will it look otherwise?" She nods, if he's told her that once this year, he's probably said as much a hundred times. But he's right, of course. With the press invited to the engagement party, a simple slip like that... would easily put the lie to the closeness they've agreed it would be... beneficial to portray.
She sighs. He's still so young. Her little boy. He'd only just graduated. Much too young to be running off and getting married and starting families like so many of the Order rabble had done in her generation... She'd have hoped this generation would have learnt from the previous one's mistakes, and then has to try not to think about how most of the 'rabble' hadn't survived long enough to have had families later had they waited as she and Lucius had done. Potter's, Harry's family included. She adds it to the ever increasing, and dangerously long list of unsafe topics, and none but those who know her very well would have spotted more than a pained flicker in her eyes at the thought.
"Draco, are you quite sure this is what you wish to do? To be engaged so young..." She knows he's happy, she no longer questions the evidence of her eyes - although she had asked Severus to thoroughly check his godson for the influence of spells, potions, or magical artefacts. Severus had been amused at the prospect, highly - he'd been wholly convinced of Draco's happiness, after all - but he agreed the pairing was superficially so unlikely that he could understand Narcissa's reluctance to accept it had occurred... naturally. It was a testament to their long years of friendship that he'd humoured her and done as she asked without hesitation; the esteem he held her in readily evident when he'd spared her the sarcasm as he presented the apparently inevitable results. It was all exactly as he'd thought and she's since come to accept.
Draco was well and truly smitten.
But 'smitten' might be a passing thing. It's a state that can come and go, and she sees no reason it should have led to an engagement at this juncture.
That's not true in the least, obviously; it's nothing more than a concerned mother's purely emotional response. There are any number of reasons why it's advantageous to bind oneself to a member of the Golden Trio, intellectually she knows it, and all three have been sought after and hounded by the press this past year for just that reason.
Miss Gra... Hermione had suggested they capitalise on that. Given the... happy couple had every intention of an eventual marriage, she had suggested they take advantage of the press' interest to help put the Malfoys in a more positive light.
Severus, too, for that matter. That shouldn't be forgotten. His Order of Merlin, first class, had been one of the most hotly contested decisions of Minister Shaklebolt's fledgling administration, and had led to demands for sweeping changes to his cabinet. Potter, Harry had insisted on the OoM. They'd pushed it through, held course despite the backlash, but it had been a valuable lesson. If the testimony of Potter and Granger in addition to support from the Minister, the Headmistress of Hogwarts and Arthur Weasley, acting Leader of the Order, themselves hadn't been enough to sway public opinion in Severus' favour... Well the Malfoys were quite logically going to have a much rougher go of things. And had done.
Their luck had only begun to change with Draco's unexpected match, and there were many who were all too convinced it was a purely mercenary manoeuvre on his part.
Miss Gra... Hermione seemed to think a more public display, the celebration of the engagement could work in their favour.
And yet... Having nearly sacrificed Draco to appease the Dark L... Voldemort, Narcissa is reluctant to do that again. That's a lesson she's learnt. This is a mess of their own making, she will not have Draco sacrificing his contentment, his well-being for their benefit. Not after everything that had already been asked of him.
She smooths his hair with tenderness, the sadness in her eyes now very visible. It's Draco's turn to sigh. He doesn't know how to make this any clearer to his mother, and of his parents, she's the one he thought he had a prayer of convincing. Oh, his father won't hesitate to take advantage of the opportunities presented, but understanding? Approval? For the relationship on its own merits? Most certainly not.
"Do you believe I am happy?" He asks her. Her expression softens, answering for her; she nods her head as though unaware of that. "Have you ever seen me happier?" He prods gently.
"I have not," but she sounds as though she regrets that fact. He thinks he takes her meaning - she regrets that the last several years haven't been happier. Don't they all. But his mother isn't adverse to the source of his current joy, he's sure of it now. That had been a significant concern of his when things began.
"An engagement isn't synonymous with a wedding in the near future," he endeavours to reassure her. "And we're planning a lengthy engagement." He drops a kiss on top of his mother's head, and she smiles now, most of the tension disappearing.
"And where did you leave Miss... Hermione?"
"She's in the greenhouses with Severus. She's still trying to select flowers for the decorations that won't... How did she put it? 'Send the wrong message'." Draco had been quite satisfied to select on the basis of appearance alone - admittedly, he'd had a number of thoughts about that - and he'd allow scent could be a legitimate concern, but Victorian flower codes? Absolutely not. It was taking things too far, he thought. He'd been surprised when his mother had agreed with Hermione wholeheartedly.
And inconvenienced, but that was another matter.
Still, it was good to have the two of them on the same page, for once, and he was more than willing to encourage it. And so presently Hermione was combing through the greenhouses, texts metaphorically in hand - that's what Wingardium Leviosas were for - trying to find flowers that met the aesthetic and olfactory requirements, without suggesting to members of the public that his intended was secretly a kidnap victim pleading for rescue via the bouquets.
The thoughts that entered her bushy little brain sometimes... Never ceased to amaze.
Not, when he stopped to think about it, that that didn't sound exactly like a 'Daily Prophet' headline. No, he could see it now, quite clearly before his mind's eye. Which was precisely the reason this was such a good idea.
"Then she's in excellent hands," his mother agrees, the last traces of concern disappearing from her features. There was always a chance she might encounter something dangerous in there; the fallout from that would be unimaginable. Unexpectedly, Severus seemed to know a great deal about fair variety of flower codes, which he felt (quite sensibly) should be subordinate to their practical uses. His inclusion in the floral selection process meant it would border on a wonder if they had anything but roses when finished, which, rather ironically, Severus doesn't happen to like.
He and Hermione had debated the selection of some of the flowers rather heatedly.
Draco smirks. Secretly, he can't help thinking those 'excellent hands' might be a sight more literal than his mother supposes. His godfather is utterly besotted, not that he cares to show it publicly much. But privately - and there were a good many private moments since Hermione had begun her apprenticeship at the start of the year - Severus seems to have as much difficulty keeping his hands as his eyes off the little witch these days. The two were ridiculously happy together, and all but inseparable.
Draco isn't entirely sure if they were rubbing off on him and Harry or it's the other way around. He was certain, however, that the more comfortable Hermione had been despite the initial near universal resistance to her relationship with the much older, erstwhile Headmaster and right hand man to the Dark L... Voldemort, the more comfortable Harry in turn had become with the response to his homosexuality and relationship with an ex-Death Eater. Severus, at least, had been a spy for the Order... Most kindly, he frequently tries to reassure Draco that before he'd been a spy, he'd been a Death Eater himself, but then the length of that time ago makes that less of a consolation than Severus would like.
Draco has the suspicion that on more than one occasion, Hermione - almost assuredly with Severus' cooperation, but the incipient idea will have been hers - had deliberately drawn the press coverage to themselves with some absurd headline to help take the scrutiny off of Harry.
It had been a little prickly, in the beginning, reconciling their antagonistic mutual history, his and Granger's. There'd been issues with his pride, and ironically he'd had more difficulty letting the past go than she had, but then that was much the same dynamic that meant Harry - acting on Hermione's almost relentless encouragement - had to be the one to propose. As the aggressor, the social outcast? Draco couldn't. He never would have. In time Draco had come to trust that her support of their relationship was completely sincere, and they were now fast friends in their own rights.
"Where's father?" Draco asks.
"He took receipt of a few new animals for the Tiergarten. He wanted something special on display for the fete, and he's been saying for a while now that it was past time to expand the collection." A fact made possible by the veritable army of House elves that cared for the animals and every other aspect of the Manor. He and Harry had had to listen to more than one of Hermione's lectures on the topic in the past week alone. But that's probably only what he deserves for pressing her into service with the preparations.
"I need to have a word with father before Harry gets here," he explains. Narcissa can well imagine. Lucius hadn't been best pleased to discover his son was... well, there had been a number of unpleasantries initially. Lucius could be... Well. Yes. He hadn't quite freed himself of many of his prejudices. Miss Gra... Hermione said it was best to view it as a work in progress.
There was something to it.
Only after Severus had been able to assure him that Draco's sexuality in no way precluded both a marriage and a family of his own - one that would be recognised by wizarding law, Hermione had made sure of ascertaining that - had Lucius begun to become more accepting. The obvious benefits to his son's partner's identity went a long way to facilitating that acceptance, a fact that seemed to grate, and sadly the more support Lucius had eventually shown, the more annoyed Draco had become.
As such, this exchange of 'words' before Harry's arrivals were commonplace.
"Try not to be too hard on him, Draco. He does love you very much."
Draco wisely holds his tongue; they've had that argument before. These days, it doesn't seem to matter as much. As a matter of fact, it seems to matter less with each passing day. He's coming to realise his definition of 'family' is changing. Harry... Harry is his family now. Severus is definitely a part of that, too. Even Hermione, unexpectedly enough. Draco no longer needs his father's acceptance. It's simply... a 'nice to have'.
It's almost amusing that that coincides with his father's increased acceptance of the life Draco has chosen.
He busses his mother's cheek again in parting and leaves for the Tiergarten, thinking of Harry as he makes his way down the gravel paths. It still strikes him as odd, as wonderful that Potter's in his life. He'd gotten incredibly lucky there. Harry is more than just his family. He's his future. Draco can say what he likes about a long engagement, when he comes home in the evening from his apprentice work at St. Mungo's, the person he wants to find there is Potter. And long after he's retired as a Healer, Draco imagines that will still be true.
He finds his father fussing over a few new animals in a pen and only too pleased to show off the new acquisitions. It's a small number of white animals, just like all the others. Draco hadn't expected anything else. The Baroque donkeys are something he hasn't encountered before. Lucius takes great pleasure in explaining that's because there are perhaps two hundred exemplars in existence, he's apparently agreed to take part in a breeding programme in order to be permitted to add them to his collection. Draco can't help thinking that's progress. There'd been a time his father wouldn't have hesitated to employ an Imperius or Obliviation to acquire the rare animals. He has to wonder if this was somehow the result of the discussion Hermione had had with Lucius on conservation last week.
"How can you tell they aren't albinos?" Draco asks, genuinely curious.
"Their eyes are blue," Lucius explains, and now that he mentions it, Draco realises that was what had struck him as odd about the creatures. "As they aren't without pigmentation, they aren't albinos. Their coat colouring is white." Which naturally meant they were just the animals for his menagerie.
"That one is yellow," Dracos take some pleasure in pointing out.
"Ivory." The correction sounds quite definite, and Draco bites back his smirk. "It's a young animal. He'll become lighter with age."
Lucius wants to lead him to the next enclosure, the zebras are a marvel and there are more animals to see after all, when Draco interrupts him to get to the point of his visit. "Harry's due any moment now. I wanted to speak to you beforehand..." He's barely started when Lucius' face falls. They've had these talks so often, he's confident he can carry on both sides of the conversation by himself if need be. Not that he'd choose to...
"Speak 'to', not 'with'."
Draco looks only marginally apologetic, but one thing he has grown increasingly sure of, until his father treats himself, his boyfriend and their relationship with the appropriate respect, he'll have no qualms addressing him just like the rude little boy he sometimes acts.
Draco ignores the objection. Instead he takes one of the seats dotted about the garden, makes himself comfortable and tells him in no uncertain terms, "I expect you to behave. You are to treat Harry with..."
"The utmost respect. Tolerance. Hospitality? Was 'indulgence' one of your requirements?" Lucius snarks. He's as tired of hearing it as Draco is of the apparent need to repeat himself. But the disagreement that was likely to have sparked is interrupted by the arrival of its subject. "I don't need you to remind me each and every time," he hisses at his son as Potter enters the terrace.
"Harry," Lucius smarms with all the warmth humanly imaginable, almost as if a Warming Charm could be applied to his voice. Draco refrains from rolling his eyes, only just. He's thankful Harry seems to have no issues treating the greeting as though it were sincere. Apparently that had been Granger's suggestion as well, and Potter had already employed it with great success with Severus. (Which is to say he was no longer openly hostile. Harry maintains they need to take their wins where they get them.)
"Lucius," Harry greets him every bit as warmly, and Lucius looks a little wrong footed at that. Draco is back to trying not to smirk. No, Harry doesn't mind this at all. Sometimes for a bit of variety, he asks Lucius if he's quite sure he shouldn't address him as 'father' instead. Lucius' look the first time had been priceless, his struggle to remain polite... epic. Brilliant, really.
Harry leans over to give Draco a welcoming kiss the blond could swear he feels down to his toes, whispering a soft, "Malfoy," in greeting as he nips his ear. Merlin. No, no question, he's marrying Potter alright. He nuzzles Harry's cheek back with his nose while his father stares awkwardly at the sky above them. The sight is enough to make Draco do it again. Harry smirks in recognition of that incentive. He doesn't mind, he only profits from it. He plants another kiss on Draco's lips before straightening.
"New donkeys?" Harry asks cheerily, crossing to their enclosure.
And like that, Lucius is off and running. He expounds on the differences between this particular donkey and other (clearly inferior) breeds, and Draco decides to let Harry manage this. Unexpectedly, he's proven to have a much better handle on the Malfoy patriarch than Draco does. And it's often fun to watch.
Draco sends for one of their elves. Macy appears without delay and takes the blond's order for an Earl Grey Mist, something Severus had discovered on an outing with Hermione in Muggle London. More suited to the summer than their usual tipple, Severus had been absolutely correct.
The drink materialises on the small table beside Draco just as his father and Potter move on to the next pen. He's just taking his first sip when Harry, making an effort to ingratiate himself with his future father-in-law, rather enthusiastically calls out, "What beautiful horses!"
Draco nearly chokes. At least he has the excuse of imbibing something. Lucius does not, but that doesn't keep him from sputtering up an indignant storm. "Zebras!" He cries. "Zebras!" The indignation rolls off him palpably, Draco can feel it from where he's sitting, but Harry's sat in Severus' classes for seven years. This? Is nothing to compare to it. He stands there, unfussed.
"Well, if they're all white, how can you tell it's not a horse?" He asks mulishly.
Ah. This should be good. Lucius is sputtering again, visibly trying to prove his claim he needn't be schooled to mind his manners. He's turning an unhealthy shade of red at the effort. It looks to be another battle of noteworthy proportions.
Draco draws his wand and dispatches his Patronus - a ferret, happy thought: his and Harry's first kiss - to fetch Severus over from the greenhouses so he can watch this play out as well. "Severus, your presence is requested in the Tiergarten. First terrace. Now, if possible." And off the energetic little Mustelid flits. Hermione had cheerfully pointed out it was the same family as her otter. Severus had smirked at Draco's discomfort every time she mentioned it. Right up until his own Patronus changed that is. Then Draco had got some of his own back. But he has a great deal of affection for his godfather, and he knows with a certainty, the man will enjoy watching this.
Severus materialises a moment later, one of very few able to Apparate within the Manor's grounds. His wand is in hand, just in case, a leftover reflex from difficult years past. Draco shakes his head, gesturing for Severus to be quiet, and waves him over to the seat next to him. "Father is trying to teach Harry the difference between horses and zebras," he explains in a stage whisper.
"Indeed," Severus replies, returning his wand to its sheath and taking the seat with an arched brow. He conjures his Patronus - an otter, happy thought: the first time Hermione told him she loved him - wandlessly (show off; but then he'd maintain it's good practice) and dispatches it to Hermione with the message, "No emergency. There's no cause for concern." Draco's smirk says he's whipped more clearly than words could. But then he should be one to speak.
As the otter disappears in the direction of the greenhouses, Draco lifts his glass enquiringly, the Potions Master nods, and the blond orders a second Mist. It appears beside Severus just as Harry redoubles his efforts.
"Zebras have stripes. This one doesn't. No stripes, no zebra. If it quacks like a duck, and... whatever else it is ducks do... Looking at its hooves and shape, I'd say that makes it a horse."
Silently, Draco has to agree with Harry, at least a bit. Knowing his father, it wouldn't be as simple as a white horse - of course not, how mundane - but Harry isn't as familiar with Lucius, and he makes the mistake of applying a logic that excludes considerations of Lucius' many... idiosyncrasies.
Lucius raises typical objections, but Harry blithely carries on, "As you pointed out with the donkeys, this can't be an albino, her eyes aren't red."
"His! His eyes aren't red. And he's a zebra!"
"Repeating it doesn't make it so." Harry is so altogether sanguine, the perfect picture thereof, they really need to capture this moment for 'Oxbridge's Wizarding Dictionary'. Perhaps a Pensieve memory would do...
Lucius begins again, trying with little evident success to explain the characteristics of zebras to a stubbornly unconvinced Harry. Severus winces in sympathy. Lucius attempts a different tack, endeavouring to illuminate the qualities of various ungulates in general, much to Severus' amusement - he's actually taught Harry (or attempted to, which is rather the point) for years, and, well, the best of luck with that.
Draco extends his glass to his godfather. "I thought you'd like this." They clink glasses.
"Cheers," Severus replies. He's not even bothering to try to hide his smirk at this point.
Which is when Hermione wanders in, trying to find where on earth Severus has gotten to, only to overhear bits of the Great Zebra Debate of '99. It should be patently obvious that she feels called upon to add her input.
"Really, Harry," she sighs in utter exasperation. "Anyone can see that he's a zebra. Just look at the mane growth characteristics." And that is the precise moment Lucius decides he rather likes theMudblood, er, Muggle-born witch after all.
Severus is forced to hide his smile behind his glass. He always knew it was only a matter of time before his Hermione won them all over. And then, much to his consternation, he finds himself forced to think more kindly of Potter, because Merlin knows, he'd grasped Hermione's true worth long before any of the rest of them had even an inkling, a fact that never ceases to leave Severus conflicted...
Draco raises his glass towards his father, a peace offering. "Would you like one as well?"
"What are you drinking?" Lucius asks, taking the seat next to his friend.
"A discovery of Severus'." Draco orders another Mist from Macy.
Severus waits until Lucius expresses his approval before pointing out. "It's Muggle, and technically a discovery of Hermione's."
Lucius raises a hand in a gesture of surrender. "Owl received. No more lobbying required."
Trying to escape from Hermione's lesson in all things zebra (technically, it was no longer an Ungulata, as such, but a member of the taxonomic order Perissodactyla), Harry casually strolls over to the other side of the terrace where another pen holds a pair of large white snow leopards. Still hoping to make points with Malfoy's father, he turns to the trio of men sitting there and calls out, "Those are some gorgeous white tigers!"
"Harry!" Comes Hermione's plaintive wail in response.
Severus barks his laughter. Lucius rolls his eyes in exasperation and turns to his son, the look on his face plain. "Tell me he does that deliberately."
"I highly doubt it," Severus answers with a chuckle.
Draco - somewhat evilly, but then, he comes by it honestly and learnt from the best of the worst - informs his father, "I don't love Harry for his brains." He can tell Potter heard him, because the Gryffindor shoots him the biggest grin, the lust plain in his eyes. That's one of the very best things about him (besides the lust); Harry isn't the least bit offended because he gets his fiancé's sense of humour better than anyone else ever has. Plus Potter rather likes being told he's sexy. Constantly. And of course the blond will more than make up for it tonight.
Lucius goes a bit green about the gills - something that never ceases to amuse the others, given he's an ex-Death Eater, after all - which was rather the point of the entire exercise.
Hermione, quite typically, starts in on the characteristics of large cats without hesitation. It's quite evident in the facial features, surely Harry can see that? Lucius, resigned, decides to let her field this one all on her own. Having failed - thoroughly - to make any sort of headway on the zebra question, he now understands some of the things Severus has complained about over the years. He orders a second Mist and sotto voce allows, "She demonstrates remarkable patience."
Severus nods. "She must. She's helping plan Draco's engagement party, because he's ever so easy to please." He shoots Draco a look, but his godson wouldn't dream of contradicting that statement; he simply shrugs his agreement. "Here. At the Manor of all places. After everything that happened here last year." Lucius has the decency to look uncomfortable. That... incident was something he's come to be highly ashamed of.
Hermione catches something in Severus' tone if not the words, and with a questioning look comes over to see what's wrong. Severus gives her a bittersweet smile as he folds her into his lap and finishes, "And of course the ultimate proof: she's with me."
Hermione isn't entirely sure just what that's supposed to have proven, but there's something almost stricken in his eyes... She leans over and plants a kiss on top of his head and unabashed, so all can hear, remarks, "Which is the loveliest thing in the world," as she wraps her arms around him. Severus can't decide if she's miraculously gained the ability to lie, or thoroughly lost her grip on reality, but he can't fault the results. One day, he thinks, one day he'll marry this witch.
If she'll have him.
There's something in the way she looks at him that suggests she just might.
As Lucius watches years of cares and worry leach from Severus' face, he has to acknowledge - if only to himself - he probably should have liked the witch for that reason alone.
Of course when they promptly begin snogging, he rises in irritation to seek out a refill for his now empty glass. From the elves in the kitchens, in person should go without saying.
Written with much love forlostangelsoul3. Happy Birthday and many happy returns, sweetie!
🎈🎂🍰🧁🥳🎉
The story is mirrored on Dreamwidth and LiveJournal.
Other works by gingerbred can be found on Dreamwidth and LiveJournal.
ADDITIONAL STAND ALONE ONE SHOTS PLANNED FOR THIS UNIVERSE.
NOTE TO SELF: NOT CROSSPOSTED. Published on LJ and imported to DW.
A 4.6 K 'Drabble' written with oodles of love for
lostangelsoul3's birthday off a prompt from too_dle_oo. (We were discussing Baroque donkeys, as one does, and things sort of evolved from there... *smooches*)Just a bit of fluff.
Originally Published: 2019-05-29 on LJ / DW
Words: 4.6k, one shot, complete
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Characters: Draco, Narcissa, Lucius, Harry, Severus, Hermione
July 1999
"Mother? Mother?" Draco calls as he enters the kitchens, pausing in the doorway as he discovers his mother deep in conversation with a number of the family's elves. Planning for the fete that weekend, no doubt. "Have you seen..."
Narcissa turns to face her son with a benevolent smile, interrupting both his question and her instructions to the elves. They'll wait. They're well trained, after all. "Draco, darling. Come give me a kiss."
He crosses to her, indulgently, and busses her cheek, a slightly sappy grin on his face that just doesn't seem to want to disappear these days. She smiles to see it, lifting a hand to caress his cheek with the backs of her fingers. It warms her heart to see him this way. She'd been so worried about him last year in the days just after the war. She'd feared she'd never see him like this again.
Although, considering... She's not entirely sure she's ever seen him quite like this before.
She shakes the spell off to peer around him, he's grown much too tall to easily peek over his shoulder, and then with a slight note of concern on detecting someone's absence, asks, "What have you done with Miss Granger?"
"'Hermione'," he corrects gently. "It's 'Hermione', mother. You really must practice this. How will it look otherwise?" She nods, if he's told her that once this year, he's probably said as much a hundred times. But he's right, of course. With the press invited to the engagement party, a simple slip like that... would easily put the lie to the closeness they've agreed it would be... beneficial to portray.
She sighs. He's still so young. Her little boy. He'd only just graduated. Much too young to be running off and getting married and starting families like so many of the Order rabble had done in her generation... She'd have hoped this generation would have learnt from the previous one's mistakes, and then has to try not to think about how most of the 'rabble' hadn't survived long enough to have had families later had they waited as she and Lucius had done. Potter's, Harry's family included. She adds it to the ever increasing, and dangerously long list of unsafe topics, and none but those who know her very well would have spotted more than a pained flicker in her eyes at the thought.
"Draco, are you quite sure this is what you wish to do? To be engaged so young..." She knows he's happy, she no longer questions the evidence of her eyes - although she had asked Severus to thoroughly check his godson for the influence of spells, potions, or magical artefacts. Severus had been amused at the prospect, highly - he'd been wholly convinced of Draco's happiness, after all - but he agreed the pairing was superficially so unlikely that he could understand Narcissa's reluctance to accept it had occurred... naturally. It was a testament to their long years of friendship that he'd humoured her and done as she asked without hesitation; the esteem he held her in readily evident when he'd spared her the sarcasm as he presented the apparently inevitable results. It was all exactly as he'd thought and she's since come to accept.
Draco was well and truly smitten.
But 'smitten' might be a passing thing. It's a state that can come and go, and she sees no reason it should have led to an engagement at this juncture.
That's not true in the least, obviously; it's nothing more than a concerned mother's purely emotional response. There are any number of reasons why it's advantageous to bind oneself to a member of the Golden Trio, intellectually she knows it, and all three have been sought after and hounded by the press this past year for just that reason.
Miss Gra... Hermione had suggested they capitalise on that. Given the... happy couple had every intention of an eventual marriage, she had suggested they take advantage of the press' interest to help put the Malfoys in a more positive light.
Severus, too, for that matter. That shouldn't be forgotten. His Order of Merlin, first class, had been one of the most hotly contested decisions of Minister Shaklebolt's fledgling administration, and had led to demands for sweeping changes to his cabinet. Potter, Harry had insisted on the OoM. They'd pushed it through, held course despite the backlash, but it had been a valuable lesson. If the testimony of Potter and Granger in addition to support from the Minister, the Headmistress of Hogwarts and Arthur Weasley, acting Leader of the Order, themselves hadn't been enough to sway public opinion in Severus' favour... Well the Malfoys were quite logically going to have a much rougher go of things. And had done.
Their luck had only begun to change with Draco's unexpected match, and there were many who were all too convinced it was a purely mercenary manoeuvre on his part.
Miss Gra... Hermione seemed to think a more public display, the celebration of the engagement could work in their favour.
And yet... Having nearly sacrificed Draco to appease the Dark L... Voldemort, Narcissa is reluctant to do that again. That's a lesson she's learnt. This is a mess of their own making, she will not have Draco sacrificing his contentment, his well-being for their benefit. Not after everything that had already been asked of him.
She smooths his hair with tenderness, the sadness in her eyes now very visible. It's Draco's turn to sigh. He doesn't know how to make this any clearer to his mother, and of his parents, she's the one he thought he had a prayer of convincing. Oh, his father won't hesitate to take advantage of the opportunities presented, but understanding? Approval? For the relationship on its own merits? Most certainly not.
"Do you believe I am happy?" He asks her. Her expression softens, answering for her; she nods her head as though unaware of that. "Have you ever seen me happier?" He prods gently.
"I have not," but she sounds as though she regrets that fact. He thinks he takes her meaning - she regrets that the last several years haven't been happier. Don't they all. But his mother isn't adverse to the source of his current joy, he's sure of it now. That had been a significant concern of his when things began.
"An engagement isn't synonymous with a wedding in the near future," he endeavours to reassure her. "And we're planning a lengthy engagement." He drops a kiss on top of his mother's head, and she smiles now, most of the tension disappearing.
"And where did you leave Miss... Hermione?"
"She's in the greenhouses with Severus. She's still trying to select flowers for the decorations that won't... How did she put it? 'Send the wrong message'." Draco had been quite satisfied to select on the basis of appearance alone - admittedly, he'd had a number of thoughts about that - and he'd allow scent could be a legitimate concern, but Victorian flower codes? Absolutely not. It was taking things too far, he thought. He'd been surprised when his mother had agreed with Hermione wholeheartedly.
And inconvenienced, but that was another matter.
Still, it was good to have the two of them on the same page, for once, and he was more than willing to encourage it. And so presently Hermione was combing through the greenhouses, texts metaphorically in hand - that's what Wingardium Leviosas were for - trying to find flowers that met the aesthetic and olfactory requirements, without suggesting to members of the public that his intended was secretly a kidnap victim pleading for rescue via the bouquets.
The thoughts that entered her bushy little brain sometimes... Never ceased to amaze.
Not, when he stopped to think about it, that that didn't sound exactly like a 'Daily Prophet' headline. No, he could see it now, quite clearly before his mind's eye. Which was precisely the reason this was such a good idea.
"Then she's in excellent hands," his mother agrees, the last traces of concern disappearing from her features. There was always a chance she might encounter something dangerous in there; the fallout from that would be unimaginable. Unexpectedly, Severus seemed to know a great deal about fair variety of flower codes, which he felt (quite sensibly) should be subordinate to their practical uses. His inclusion in the floral selection process meant it would border on a wonder if they had anything but roses when finished, which, rather ironically, Severus doesn't happen to like.
He and Hermione had debated the selection of some of the flowers rather heatedly.
Draco smirks. Secretly, he can't help thinking those 'excellent hands' might be a sight more literal than his mother supposes. His godfather is utterly besotted, not that he cares to show it publicly much. But privately - and there were a good many private moments since Hermione had begun her apprenticeship at the start of the year - Severus seems to have as much difficulty keeping his hands as his eyes off the little witch these days. The two were ridiculously happy together, and all but inseparable.
Draco isn't entirely sure if they were rubbing off on him and Harry or it's the other way around. He was certain, however, that the more comfortable Hermione had been despite the initial near universal resistance to her relationship with the much older, erstwhile Headmaster and right hand man to the Dark L... Voldemort, the more comfortable Harry in turn had become with the response to his homosexuality and relationship with an ex-Death Eater. Severus, at least, had been a spy for the Order... Most kindly, he frequently tries to reassure Draco that before he'd been a spy, he'd been a Death Eater himself, but then the length of that time ago makes that less of a consolation than Severus would like.
Draco has the suspicion that on more than one occasion, Hermione - almost assuredly with Severus' cooperation, but the incipient idea will have been hers - had deliberately drawn the press coverage to themselves with some absurd headline to help take the scrutiny off of Harry.
It had been a little prickly, in the beginning, reconciling their antagonistic mutual history, his and Granger's. There'd been issues with his pride, and ironically he'd had more difficulty letting the past go than she had, but then that was much the same dynamic that meant Harry - acting on Hermione's almost relentless encouragement - had to be the one to propose. As the aggressor, the social outcast? Draco couldn't. He never would have. In time Draco had come to trust that her support of their relationship was completely sincere, and they were now fast friends in their own rights.
"Where's father?" Draco asks.
"He took receipt of a few new animals for the Tiergarten. He wanted something special on display for the fete, and he's been saying for a while now that it was past time to expand the collection." A fact made possible by the veritable army of House elves that cared for the animals and every other aspect of the Manor. He and Harry had had to listen to more than one of Hermione's lectures on the topic in the past week alone. But that's probably only what he deserves for pressing her into service with the preparations.
"I need to have a word with father before Harry gets here," he explains. Narcissa can well imagine. Lucius hadn't been best pleased to discover his son was... well, there had been a number of unpleasantries initially. Lucius could be... Well. Yes. He hadn't quite freed himself of many of his prejudices. Miss Gra... Hermione said it was best to view it as a work in progress.
There was something to it.
Only after Severus had been able to assure him that Draco's sexuality in no way precluded both a marriage and a family of his own - one that would be recognised by wizarding law, Hermione had made sure of ascertaining that - had Lucius begun to become more accepting. The obvious benefits to his son's partner's identity went a long way to facilitating that acceptance, a fact that seemed to grate, and sadly the more support Lucius had eventually shown, the more annoyed Draco had become.
As such, this exchange of 'words' before Harry's arrivals were commonplace.
"Try not to be too hard on him, Draco. He does love you very much."
Draco wisely holds his tongue; they've had that argument before. These days, it doesn't seem to matter as much. As a matter of fact, it seems to matter less with each passing day. He's coming to realise his definition of 'family' is changing. Harry... Harry is his family now. Severus is definitely a part of that, too. Even Hermione, unexpectedly enough. Draco no longer needs his father's acceptance. It's simply... a 'nice to have'.
It's almost amusing that that coincides with his father's increased acceptance of the life Draco has chosen.
He busses his mother's cheek again in parting and leaves for the Tiergarten, thinking of Harry as he makes his way down the gravel paths. It still strikes him as odd, as wonderful that Potter's in his life. He'd gotten incredibly lucky there. Harry is more than just his family. He's his future. Draco can say what he likes about a long engagement, when he comes home in the evening from his apprentice work at St. Mungo's, the person he wants to find there is Potter. And long after he's retired as a Healer, Draco imagines that will still be true.
He finds his father fussing over a few new animals in a pen and only too pleased to show off the new acquisitions. It's a small number of white animals, just like all the others. Draco hadn't expected anything else. The Baroque donkeys are something he hasn't encountered before. Lucius takes great pleasure in explaining that's because there are perhaps two hundred exemplars in existence, he's apparently agreed to take part in a breeding programme in order to be permitted to add them to his collection. Draco can't help thinking that's progress. There'd been a time his father wouldn't have hesitated to employ an Imperius or Obliviation to acquire the rare animals. He has to wonder if this was somehow the result of the discussion Hermione had had with Lucius on conservation last week.
"How can you tell they aren't albinos?" Draco asks, genuinely curious.
"Their eyes are blue," Lucius explains, and now that he mentions it, Draco realises that was what had struck him as odd about the creatures. "As they aren't without pigmentation, they aren't albinos. Their coat colouring is white." Which naturally meant they were just the animals for his menagerie.
"That one is yellow," Dracos take some pleasure in pointing out.
"Ivory." The correction sounds quite definite, and Draco bites back his smirk. "It's a young animal. He'll become lighter with age."
Lucius wants to lead him to the next enclosure, the zebras are a marvel and there are more animals to see after all, when Draco interrupts him to get to the point of his visit. "Harry's due any moment now. I wanted to speak to you beforehand..." He's barely started when Lucius' face falls. They've had these talks so often, he's confident he can carry on both sides of the conversation by himself if need be. Not that he'd choose to...
"Speak 'to', not 'with'."
Draco looks only marginally apologetic, but one thing he has grown increasingly sure of, until his father treats himself, his boyfriend and their relationship with the appropriate respect, he'll have no qualms addressing him just like the rude little boy he sometimes acts.
Draco ignores the objection. Instead he takes one of the seats dotted about the garden, makes himself comfortable and tells him in no uncertain terms, "I expect you to behave. You are to treat Harry with..."
"The utmost respect. Tolerance. Hospitality? Was 'indulgence' one of your requirements?" Lucius snarks. He's as tired of hearing it as Draco is of the apparent need to repeat himself. But the disagreement that was likely to have sparked is interrupted by the arrival of its subject. "I don't need you to remind me each and every time," he hisses at his son as Potter enters the terrace.
"Harry," Lucius smarms with all the warmth humanly imaginable, almost as if a Warming Charm could be applied to his voice. Draco refrains from rolling his eyes, only just. He's thankful Harry seems to have no issues treating the greeting as though it were sincere. Apparently that had been Granger's suggestion as well, and Potter had already employed it with great success with Severus. (Which is to say he was no longer openly hostile. Harry maintains they need to take their wins where they get them.)
"Lucius," Harry greets him every bit as warmly, and Lucius looks a little wrong footed at that. Draco is back to trying not to smirk. No, Harry doesn't mind this at all. Sometimes for a bit of variety, he asks Lucius if he's quite sure he shouldn't address him as 'father' instead. Lucius' look the first time had been priceless, his struggle to remain polite... epic. Brilliant, really.
Harry leans over to give Draco a welcoming kiss the blond could swear he feels down to his toes, whispering a soft, "Malfoy," in greeting as he nips his ear. Merlin. No, no question, he's marrying Potter alright. He nuzzles Harry's cheek back with his nose while his father stares awkwardly at the sky above them. The sight is enough to make Draco do it again. Harry smirks in recognition of that incentive. He doesn't mind, he only profits from it. He plants another kiss on Draco's lips before straightening.
"New donkeys?" Harry asks cheerily, crossing to their enclosure.
And like that, Lucius is off and running. He expounds on the differences between this particular donkey and other (clearly inferior) breeds, and Draco decides to let Harry manage this. Unexpectedly, he's proven to have a much better handle on the Malfoy patriarch than Draco does. And it's often fun to watch.
Draco sends for one of their elves. Macy appears without delay and takes the blond's order for an Earl Grey Mist, something Severus had discovered on an outing with Hermione in Muggle London. More suited to the summer than their usual tipple, Severus had been absolutely correct.
The drink materialises on the small table beside Draco just as his father and Potter move on to the next pen. He's just taking his first sip when Harry, making an effort to ingratiate himself with his future father-in-law, rather enthusiastically calls out, "What beautiful horses!"
Draco nearly chokes. At least he has the excuse of imbibing something. Lucius does not, but that doesn't keep him from sputtering up an indignant storm. "Zebras!" He cries. "Zebras!" The indignation rolls off him palpably, Draco can feel it from where he's sitting, but Harry's sat in Severus' classes for seven years. This? Is nothing to compare to it. He stands there, unfussed.
"Well, if they're all white, how can you tell it's not a horse?" He asks mulishly.
Ah. This should be good. Lucius is sputtering again, visibly trying to prove his claim he needn't be schooled to mind his manners. He's turning an unhealthy shade of red at the effort. It looks to be another battle of noteworthy proportions.
Draco draws his wand and dispatches his Patronus - a ferret, happy thought: his and Harry's first kiss - to fetch Severus over from the greenhouses so he can watch this play out as well. "Severus, your presence is requested in the Tiergarten. First terrace. Now, if possible." And off the energetic little Mustelid flits. Hermione had cheerfully pointed out it was the same family as her otter. Severus had smirked at Draco's discomfort every time she mentioned it. Right up until his own Patronus changed that is. Then Draco had got some of his own back. But he has a great deal of affection for his godfather, and he knows with a certainty, the man will enjoy watching this.
Severus materialises a moment later, one of very few able to Apparate within the Manor's grounds. His wand is in hand, just in case, a leftover reflex from difficult years past. Draco shakes his head, gesturing for Severus to be quiet, and waves him over to the seat next to him. "Father is trying to teach Harry the difference between horses and zebras," he explains in a stage whisper.
"Indeed," Severus replies, returning his wand to its sheath and taking the seat with an arched brow. He conjures his Patronus - an otter, happy thought: the first time Hermione told him she loved him - wandlessly (show off; but then he'd maintain it's good practice) and dispatches it to Hermione with the message, "No emergency. There's no cause for concern." Draco's smirk says he's whipped more clearly than words could. But then he should be one to speak.
As the otter disappears in the direction of the greenhouses, Draco lifts his glass enquiringly, the Potions Master nods, and the blond orders a second Mist. It appears beside Severus just as Harry redoubles his efforts.
"Zebras have stripes. This one doesn't. No stripes, no zebra. If it quacks like a duck, and... whatever else it is ducks do... Looking at its hooves and shape, I'd say that makes it a horse."
Silently, Draco has to agree with Harry, at least a bit. Knowing his father, it wouldn't be as simple as a white horse - of course not, how mundane - but Harry isn't as familiar with Lucius, and he makes the mistake of applying a logic that excludes considerations of Lucius' many... idiosyncrasies.
Lucius raises typical objections, but Harry blithely carries on, "As you pointed out with the donkeys, this can't be an albino, her eyes aren't red."
"His! His eyes aren't red. And he's a zebra!"
"Repeating it doesn't make it so." Harry is so altogether sanguine, the perfect picture thereof, they really need to capture this moment for 'Oxbridge's Wizarding Dictionary'. Perhaps a Pensieve memory would do...
Lucius begins again, trying with little evident success to explain the characteristics of zebras to a stubbornly unconvinced Harry. Severus winces in sympathy. Lucius attempts a different tack, endeavouring to illuminate the qualities of various ungulates in general, much to Severus' amusement - he's actually taught Harry (or attempted to, which is rather the point) for years, and, well, the best of luck with that.
Draco extends his glass to his godfather. "I thought you'd like this." They clink glasses.
"Cheers," Severus replies. He's not even bothering to try to hide his smirk at this point.
Which is when Hermione wanders in, trying to find where on earth Severus has gotten to, only to overhear bits of the Great Zebra Debate of '99. It should be patently obvious that she feels called upon to add her input.
"Really, Harry," she sighs in utter exasperation. "Anyone can see that he's a zebra. Just look at the mane growth characteristics." And that is the precise moment Lucius decides he rather likes the
Severus is forced to hide his smile behind his glass. He always knew it was only a matter of time before his Hermione won them all over. And then, much to his consternation, he finds himself forced to think more kindly of Potter, because Merlin knows, he'd grasped Hermione's true worth long before any of the rest of them had even an inkling, a fact that never ceases to leave Severus conflicted...
Draco raises his glass towards his father, a peace offering. "Would you like one as well?"
"What are you drinking?" Lucius asks, taking the seat next to his friend.
"A discovery of Severus'." Draco orders another Mist from Macy.
Severus waits until Lucius expresses his approval before pointing out. "It's Muggle, and technically a discovery of Hermione's."
Lucius raises a hand in a gesture of surrender. "Owl received. No more lobbying required."
Trying to escape from Hermione's lesson in all things zebra (technically, it was no longer an Ungulata, as such, but a member of the taxonomic order Perissodactyla), Harry casually strolls over to the other side of the terrace where another pen holds a pair of large white snow leopards. Still hoping to make points with Malfoy's father, he turns to the trio of men sitting there and calls out, "Those are some gorgeous white tigers!"
"Harry!" Comes Hermione's plaintive wail in response.
Severus barks his laughter. Lucius rolls his eyes in exasperation and turns to his son, the look on his face plain. "Tell me he does that deliberately."
"I highly doubt it," Severus answers with a chuckle.
Draco - somewhat evilly, but then, he comes by it honestly and learnt from the best of the worst - informs his father, "I don't love Harry for his brains." He can tell Potter heard him, because the Gryffindor shoots him the biggest grin, the lust plain in his eyes. That's one of the very best things about him (besides the lust); Harry isn't the least bit offended because he gets his fiancé's sense of humour better than anyone else ever has. Plus Potter rather likes being told he's sexy. Constantly. And of course the blond will more than make up for it tonight.
Lucius goes a bit green about the gills - something that never ceases to amuse the others, given he's an ex-Death Eater, after all - which was rather the point of the entire exercise.
Hermione, quite typically, starts in on the characteristics of large cats without hesitation. It's quite evident in the facial features, surely Harry can see that? Lucius, resigned, decides to let her field this one all on her own. Having failed - thoroughly - to make any sort of headway on the zebra question, he now understands some of the things Severus has complained about over the years. He orders a second Mist and sotto voce allows, "She demonstrates remarkable patience."
Severus nods. "She must. She's helping plan Draco's engagement party, because he's ever so easy to please." He shoots Draco a look, but his godson wouldn't dream of contradicting that statement; he simply shrugs his agreement. "Here. At the Manor of all places. After everything that happened here last year." Lucius has the decency to look uncomfortable. That... incident was something he's come to be highly ashamed of.
Hermione catches something in Severus' tone if not the words, and with a questioning look comes over to see what's wrong. Severus gives her a bittersweet smile as he folds her into his lap and finishes, "And of course the ultimate proof: she's with me."
Hermione isn't entirely sure just what that's supposed to have proven, but there's something almost stricken in his eyes... She leans over and plants a kiss on top of his head and unabashed, so all can hear, remarks, "Which is the loveliest thing in the world," as she wraps her arms around him. Severus can't decide if she's miraculously gained the ability to lie, or thoroughly lost her grip on reality, but he can't fault the results. One day, he thinks, one day he'll marry this witch.
If she'll have him.
There's something in the way she looks at him that suggests she just might.
As Lucius watches years of cares and worry leach from Severus' face, he has to acknowledge - if only to himself - he probably should have liked the witch for that reason alone.
Of course when they promptly begin snogging, he rises in irritation to seek out a refill for his now empty glass. From the elves in the kitchens, in person should go without saying.
Written with much love for
lostangelsoul3. Happy Birthday and many happy returns, sweetie! 🎈🎂🍰🧁🥳🎉
The story is mirrored on Dreamwidth and LiveJournal.
Other works by gingerbred can be found on Dreamwidth and LiveJournal.
ADDITIONAL STAND ALONE ONE SHOTS PLANNED FOR THIS UNIVERSE.
NOTE TO SELF: NOT CROSSPOSTED. Published on LJ and imported to DW.
Happy Birthday, Lostangelsoul3!
Date: 2019-05-29 07:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-29 08:51 pm (UTC)L x 💙
(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-29 09:14 pm (UTC)I’m glad you liked it. 😘
(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-29 11:35 pm (UTC)I like this sweet short Drarry with a twist of Grape. (Granger + Snape = Grape)
Eagerly anticipating the next standalone.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-30 12:44 am (UTC)Yeah, my other story is a 600k+ celebration of Grape. So much Grape, in fact, it’s practically a character. 😉
Probably won’t happen until Christmas. Always puts me back a week or two on ‘wandpoint’. (I have no idea how people work on multiple things at once... Especially with the same characters.)
(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-30 05:37 am (UTC)Oh I remembered the authors of the book series I found that tidbit, W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear. It's officially called "North America's Forgotten Past, but I've always called it "People of the . . ".
Yeah, and the working on multiple stories . . . they definitely have to have a lot of notes or the stories need to be totally different in subject matter.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-30 08:42 am (UTC)Hell, I’m trying to keep track of the motivations of about sixty characters in the other story, and any time I have a scene with a bunch of them, it takes me longer just to make sure i haven’t been untrue to their individual characters. And that’s despite what are now hundreds of well sorted pages of notes.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-30 04:52 pm (UTC)Well one of the most problematical aspects would be trying to Google your Dreamwidth username. If I spell it wrong, or don't specify things I'd definitely take a right turn in Albuquerque.
There was a writer for another fandom who used the web-name of 'Mary Christmas', (crack fic writer but highly entertaining) when the fandom's main server went the way of Geo Cities I never could find any of her other cross-posts. I had forgotten to copy down any of the other websites and now as far as I can tell she's purged the only two that were left.
[And once I catch up on the rest of my 'to read' list, *COUGH* 'Inkstains" *COUGH* I'll get back to "Wandpoint"]
(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-03 03:36 pm (UTC)No worries, wandpoint will be there whenever you do. Plus, seriously, never any pressure to read. (I am not my work... 😉)
(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-03 03:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-03 08:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-05 10:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-29 11:40 pm (UTC)Well done!
(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-30 12:46 am (UTC)Lucius is just so easy to annoy. And given his track record in the books, he’s a character deserving of some of that.
For an encore, Harry will probably suggest that Draco ride into the engagement party on the back of a white horse...
(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-30 04:12 am (UTC)Severus' patronus changing to an otter!
The slight misleading at the beginning, I almost thought it was a dramione!!
Then the snark, the banter, the teasing with Lucius and Harry, Severus and Draco watching and smirking while Hermione tries to educate. Then the perfection that is Drarry flirting and Grape cuddles and reflection, swoon!! I could re-read this over and over!!
(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-30 08:56 am (UTC)Yeah, I snuck the Drarry in in christmas spirit, too, but there’s probably a limit to how many times I can get away with that, especially in the same universe. 😉
It seemed like possible versions of the lot of them, and most of them are enjoying themselves. (With cocktails in the garden, even. 🍸) Just right for the season, I think.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-30 09:06 am (UTC)Lol Lucius and Harry arguing! Hermione coming in at the end.
Brilliant!
Awwwww Draco.... ❤️
(no subject)
Date: 2019-05-30 11:22 pm (UTC)Yeah, I figured someone else should get a chance to enjoy the Harry experience Hermione has had all these years... Who better (or more deserving) than Lucius? 😉
(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-01 11:25 pm (UTC)Have I told you lately I adore your brilliant brain and your wonderful writing? Well I DO! Great stuff, as always.
❤️
(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-03 03:29 pm (UTC)Purely by coincidence, that brilliant brain of mine went off and did some thinking for you and came up with another not!'Drabble'. Same universe, prolly not what you're expecting, but it seemed fitting and proper to mark the day. You're in my thoughts, sending good juju. 🍀 *hugs*
(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-09 06:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-13 01:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-02 05:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-03 03:33 pm (UTC)Thanks, E, you are such a love. ❤️ I think I need to post the recipe for the cocktail. I'll try to remember to do that tomorrow. (Today I not!Drabbled instead...)
(Oh, I'm all for redundancy when it's positive. Seriously. *nods* 😉)
*smooches* 😘
(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-03 04:20 pm (UTC)At this point I feel whipped by the flu, slowly gaining strength, just crazy tired all the time.
Aww thanks love! Enjoyed the not!Drabble, though more into SSHG than RW??
Well alrighty then, being occasionally redundant will ok, but just for you! 😊
💋
(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-05 11:09 am (UTC)You and me both. lol (Eventually I'll post the scene from Harry's and Hermione's side when Ron scarpers, I thought it would be helpful to bank some positive stuff for him first, because you *know* Hermione doesn't take it all that well. Current plan, do that Christmas-ish.)
(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-05 02:01 pm (UTC)Well, only Half a year to wait for it... I can do that. :-D
(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-13 01:58 pm (UTC)I just don't want Hermione to be that forgiving... You walk out, there's a *hell* of a lot you have to make good before you're welcomed back into the fold...
I *vastly* prefer Neville.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-06-13 10:01 pm (UTC)Agreed!!! Hermione SHOULD have given him *hell* and never let him forget his utter lack of character.
He's freed, to be the Neville that the Sorting Hat recognized that he had the potential to be. Neville was never given the opportunity to shine as he Could have, think he would have been a better, more stable friend that RW EVER was.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-09-26 02:18 pm (UTC)It didn't help Neville that his family was forever tearing him down. Molly wasn't great (what are we, the neighbours?), but there was a sense of familial belonging and pride (deserved or not). It also didn't help that he spent the majority of his school years with a wand that wasn't suited to him. While that may have made him stronger in the end, probably did in fact, the fact is he made a poorer showing than he should have through most of the series, and that cost him unnecessarily as well.
Wonderful! Marvellous!
Date: 2019-08-07 05:29 am (UTC)RE: Wonderful! Marvellous!
Date: 2019-08-07 08:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-01 03:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-01 03:18 am (UTC)You had written this: He's still so young. Her little boy. He'd only just graduated. Much too young to be running off and getting married and starting families like so many of the Order rabble had done in her generation...
but what I read was: He's still so young. Her little boy. He'd only just graduated. Much too young to be running off and getting married and starting families like so many of the Order RABBITS had done in her generation...
giggle giggle snort
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-11 09:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-05 01:53 am (UTC)I'll do that, probably write a little short to go with it. Have to do one for the German fire punch as well. (The notion people are doing without... *shudder*) Currently working on the Lavender arc which connects back up to SS/HG and interweaves with Drarry in the near future.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-01 01:24 am (UTC)What you wrote: She sighs. He's still so young. Her little boy. He'd only just graduated. Much too young to be running off and getting married and starting families like so many of the Order rabble had done in her generation...
What I thought you wrote: Much too young to be running off and getting married and starting families like so many of the Order RABBITS had done in her generation...
This fic promises a long lifetime of similar adventures with this family. I loved it :D
(no subject)
Date: 2021-03-06 04:54 pm (UTC)I think what I enjoy most about this series is the ability to pop in and visit certain scenes and experiences. What I dislike is HHR's seventh year still happened more or less as it did in the books, and for me that means many of the characters are in worse places than they'd have been in had the year gone better. On the other hand, I get to change that, so it's all good. 😉
(no subject)
Date: 2021-04-19 07:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-09-26 02:13 pm (UTC)