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lomonaaerenTitle: Ravished By Life
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling and associates own these characters. I am writing this for fun and not profit.
Pairing: Harry/Abraxas Malfoy
Content Notes: Angst
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 1100
Summary: A mysterious force has chased the Malfoys out of their Manor. Auror Harry Potter, brought in to investigate, finds the impossible in a glittering room.
Author’s Notes: This is one of my Solstitial Shorts, very short stories being posted between Halloween and the winter solstice.
Ravished By Life
Harry paused outside the room and held out his hand. Yes, even through the door, he could feel how the magic radiated.
Lucius Malfoy had said, his expression haunted, that this was a room full of mirrors, statues, and portraits. The mirrors were positioned so that the Malfoy ancestors in the portraits could see themselves reflected. And presumably the statues, although it wasn’t like the statues would care about that.
Early that morning, something or someone had entered the room and begun breaking the glass and sending waves of magic flooding through the Manor. Lucius, Narcissa, Draco, and a pregnant Astoria Greengrass had fled and contacted the Auror Office.
And Harry was the lucky one who got sent to investigate.
Harry grimaced. His superiors could say everything they wanted about how Harry was the best at dealing with dangerous situations or how he had been in Malfoy Manor before and would know his way about. He had really been brought here to appease the Malfoys.
It wouldn’t do to have a less prominent Auror investigate, after all, Harry thought snidely. He gathered his own magic around him and flung the door open.
He winced away from the brightness that promptly flashed at him. Even with some of the mirrors lying on the carpet in pieces, there were still plenty on the walls, and they caught and concentrated the sunlight. So did the gilded frames of the portraits, and what might be crystal plinths under the statues.
The portraits didn’t start clamoring, the way Harry had thought they would, but neither did anyone else call out a challenge. Harry moved forwards in a slow crouch, hand tight around his wand.
He came around a corner and slammed to a halt. In front of him was a crystal plinth that had cracked in half, and lying next to it were shattered bits of stone. The nameplate on the plinth had been struck through by what looked like a curse, but Harry could make out enough to guess that the first name had said Abraxas.
And standing next to the broken bits of the statue was a man examining his arms in evident wonder, stretching and turning his head, feeling at his shoulders, reaching up to run his hand through his hair.
Harry blinked some more. He looked like a Malfoy. He had the pale skin for it, and the shining pale hair, even more snowy than Draco’s or Lucius’s. And he had brilliant grey eyes that turned warmer when he caught a glimpse of Harry and faced him.
Do they have some distant relative who wants to take over their house or something? But this man didn’t act like the maniac Harry would have assumed was in here breaking mirrors and statues.
“Who are you?” Harry asked.
The man laughed in what sounded like pure joy. “Abraxas Malfoy, once owner of this house.”
“Did someone cast a curse that Transfigured your stone to flesh?” Harry asked, staring around. Then he realized how stupid he’d been. It wasn’t like the statue would have an answer. It was just an object, granted a semblance of life by an odd spell.
Abraxas laughed again, more darkly this time. “The other way around.”
Harry narrowed his eyes. “That means…”
“Yes. My ungrateful son wanted to get me out of the way, so he could get on with steering the family the way he wanted to do. Lucius was always overly fond of spending money.” Abraxas shook his head and clucked his tongue. “So he Transfigured me into a statue, and spread the rumor that I’d died of dragonpox.”
Harry stood there, blinking, and then shrugged. The only thing that mattered, he thought, was getting the Malfoys back into the house as soon as possible. They would have to deal with Lucius’s father coming back to life.
“If you’ll come with me, Mr. Malfoy…”
“Are you arresting me, then?” Abraxas sounded delighted by the prospect. “I do hope that we’ll have to spend some time together in an interrogation room.”
Harry stared at him. “What?”
“I haven’t seen anyone as pretty since my dear Lucrece died.” Abraxas was grinning at him, and he came closer while Harry was still gaping and slid an appreciative hand down Harry’s arm. “Hmm, they make the cloth of the Auror robes finer than they used to in my day. The muscles, too.” He leered at Harry.
Harry tried to cope with the experience of being leered at by a man he suspected had been one of the original Knights of Walpurgis, and ended up shaking his head. “Come on, Mr. Malfoy. Your son will probably be eager to see you.”
“But I’m not eager to see him. You’re sure that we can’t spend some time together in an interrogation room?”
Harry looked hard at Abraxas, who beamed back. There was no sign of deception in those brilliant grey eyes. Not that he necessarily would have seen it if there had been, Harry had to admit. He’d been tricked by Malfoys before.
Or maybe babbling like this is just a symptom of returning to life after having been a stone statue for some years. Assuming that Harry believed Abraxas about that.
Harry let a small smile play around the corners of his lips. He had to admit that, at the very least, it was unlikely Abraxas knew who Harry was, the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing. It was flattering to have someone who knew nothing about his fame or what the scar on his head meant compliment him like this.
“We’ll spend some time together,” he said, and added when Abraxas perked up, “On the Apparition there.”
“Are you sure it can’t be longer?”
Harry chuckled despite himself, and Abraxas edged a little closer, grinning. Harry reached out and pushed two fingers into the middle of the man’s chest. “A little less randy and ready, sir,” he said. “We still have to figure out what happened here.” Among other things, Harry had to decide if he needed to charge Lucius Malfoy with a crime for imprisoning his father as a stone statue.
Was that a crime? Well, it should be, and there was probably some obscure law somewhere that made it one, knowing the magical world.
“I love the way you say randy.”
Harry gave in and smiled despite himself as he escorted Abraxas out of the room, smiled despite the fact that he intended to remain strictly professional with the man for as long as the investigation lasted.
After that, assuming Abraxas turned out to be real and would continue existing and still acted interested in Harry…
Well, who knew?
The End.
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling and associates own these characters. I am writing this for fun and not profit.
Pairing: Harry/Abraxas Malfoy
Content Notes: Angst
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 1100
Summary: A mysterious force has chased the Malfoys out of their Manor. Auror Harry Potter, brought in to investigate, finds the impossible in a glittering room.
Author’s Notes: This is one of my Solstitial Shorts, very short stories being posted between Halloween and the winter solstice.
Ravished By Life
Harry paused outside the room and held out his hand. Yes, even through the door, he could feel how the magic radiated.
Lucius Malfoy had said, his expression haunted, that this was a room full of mirrors, statues, and portraits. The mirrors were positioned so that the Malfoy ancestors in the portraits could see themselves reflected. And presumably the statues, although it wasn’t like the statues would care about that.
Early that morning, something or someone had entered the room and begun breaking the glass and sending waves of magic flooding through the Manor. Lucius, Narcissa, Draco, and a pregnant Astoria Greengrass had fled and contacted the Auror Office.
And Harry was the lucky one who got sent to investigate.
Harry grimaced. His superiors could say everything they wanted about how Harry was the best at dealing with dangerous situations or how he had been in Malfoy Manor before and would know his way about. He had really been brought here to appease the Malfoys.
It wouldn’t do to have a less prominent Auror investigate, after all, Harry thought snidely. He gathered his own magic around him and flung the door open.
He winced away from the brightness that promptly flashed at him. Even with some of the mirrors lying on the carpet in pieces, there were still plenty on the walls, and they caught and concentrated the sunlight. So did the gilded frames of the portraits, and what might be crystal plinths under the statues.
The portraits didn’t start clamoring, the way Harry had thought they would, but neither did anyone else call out a challenge. Harry moved forwards in a slow crouch, hand tight around his wand.
He came around a corner and slammed to a halt. In front of him was a crystal plinth that had cracked in half, and lying next to it were shattered bits of stone. The nameplate on the plinth had been struck through by what looked like a curse, but Harry could make out enough to guess that the first name had said Abraxas.
And standing next to the broken bits of the statue was a man examining his arms in evident wonder, stretching and turning his head, feeling at his shoulders, reaching up to run his hand through his hair.
Harry blinked some more. He looked like a Malfoy. He had the pale skin for it, and the shining pale hair, even more snowy than Draco’s or Lucius’s. And he had brilliant grey eyes that turned warmer when he caught a glimpse of Harry and faced him.
Do they have some distant relative who wants to take over their house or something? But this man didn’t act like the maniac Harry would have assumed was in here breaking mirrors and statues.
“Who are you?” Harry asked.
The man laughed in what sounded like pure joy. “Abraxas Malfoy, once owner of this house.”
“Did someone cast a curse that Transfigured your stone to flesh?” Harry asked, staring around. Then he realized how stupid he’d been. It wasn’t like the statue would have an answer. It was just an object, granted a semblance of life by an odd spell.
Abraxas laughed again, more darkly this time. “The other way around.”
Harry narrowed his eyes. “That means…”
“Yes. My ungrateful son wanted to get me out of the way, so he could get on with steering the family the way he wanted to do. Lucius was always overly fond of spending money.” Abraxas shook his head and clucked his tongue. “So he Transfigured me into a statue, and spread the rumor that I’d died of dragonpox.”
Harry stood there, blinking, and then shrugged. The only thing that mattered, he thought, was getting the Malfoys back into the house as soon as possible. They would have to deal with Lucius’s father coming back to life.
“If you’ll come with me, Mr. Malfoy…”
“Are you arresting me, then?” Abraxas sounded delighted by the prospect. “I do hope that we’ll have to spend some time together in an interrogation room.”
Harry stared at him. “What?”
“I haven’t seen anyone as pretty since my dear Lucrece died.” Abraxas was grinning at him, and he came closer while Harry was still gaping and slid an appreciative hand down Harry’s arm. “Hmm, they make the cloth of the Auror robes finer than they used to in my day. The muscles, too.” He leered at Harry.
Harry tried to cope with the experience of being leered at by a man he suspected had been one of the original Knights of Walpurgis, and ended up shaking his head. “Come on, Mr. Malfoy. Your son will probably be eager to see you.”
“But I’m not eager to see him. You’re sure that we can’t spend some time together in an interrogation room?”
Harry looked hard at Abraxas, who beamed back. There was no sign of deception in those brilliant grey eyes. Not that he necessarily would have seen it if there had been, Harry had to admit. He’d been tricked by Malfoys before.
Or maybe babbling like this is just a symptom of returning to life after having been a stone statue for some years. Assuming that Harry believed Abraxas about that.
Harry let a small smile play around the corners of his lips. He had to admit that, at the very least, it was unlikely Abraxas knew who Harry was, the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing. It was flattering to have someone who knew nothing about his fame or what the scar on his head meant compliment him like this.
“We’ll spend some time together,” he said, and added when Abraxas perked up, “On the Apparition there.”
“Are you sure it can’t be longer?”
Harry chuckled despite himself, and Abraxas edged a little closer, grinning. Harry reached out and pushed two fingers into the middle of the man’s chest. “A little less randy and ready, sir,” he said. “We still have to figure out what happened here.” Among other things, Harry had to decide if he needed to charge Lucius Malfoy with a crime for imprisoning his father as a stone statue.
Was that a crime? Well, it should be, and there was probably some obscure law somewhere that made it one, knowing the magical world.
“I love the way you say randy.”
Harry gave in and smiled despite himself as he escorted Abraxas out of the room, smiled despite the fact that he intended to remain strictly professional with the man for as long as the investigation lasted.
After that, assuming Abraxas turned out to be real and would continue existing and still acted interested in Harry…
Well, who knew?
The End.
