Reality twists 33/39
Nov. 17th, 2011 04:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
herumtreiberChapter: The wedding
Author:
Genre: Post DH, romance, adventure, time travel
Rating: R
Epilogue compliant? No
Chapter length: ~3,060 words
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or related characters, nor do I make any money from writing these stories.
Warnings for the fic: Angst, threesome, violence, noncon, character deaths (not the protagonists)
Summary: Harry/Draco/Daphne. Draco in Azkaban, plus time-travel. Explores the idea of powerful magic pitted against a nuclear bomb and the implications for the world. Noncon - evil Hermione and Ron – Atlantis may appear later on, and another meaning of the Prophecy. How a Time Turner can win a game. Very ecological use of the Fidelius charm; Dementors abound, but...
Table of contents
32. New horizons
Time passed; enough for Harry's paintings to become very valuable objects. His reputation as a keen observer of the intricacies of magical and mundane life grew with time. One day, Draco and Daphne, after the use of some judicious sneering and pouting, convinced him to use a blindfold.
He was Apparated side-along and presented with Atelier Potter, a studio facing the wharves of London, which just happened to have light of the best quality he'd ever seen. A large enough place to store his paintings and posters of the photos he took to prepare for the picture itself. Draco had ordered the elves to move his painting materiel here.
Harry turned to the blonds and said, "Thanks! I really appreciate it."
Daphne went up to him and embraced him, ending up with a heated kiss. Draco just approached and held his two green-eyed lovers in his arms.
Meanwhile, the preparations for the wedding went on, amidst the rising malaise and concern of Harry. One morning, when they were discussing it, Lucius asked Draco to allow the free movement of any persons to the Manor during the wedding. Harry asked what that was about and Draco replied that since time immemorial, when a Malfoy got married, any person could attend, even if they were enemies or Muggles. The wards were lowered and no harm could come to those who entered, of course, the guests had the same strictures, and if they broke them, they would be hurt.
One cold January morning, they received the visit of Goyle, Blaise, Millie, Pansy, Neville and Ginny. They fell to discussing the wedding, much to Harry's discomfort, and he hastily made his excuses and went out to the garden.
He heard footsteps behind him, he turned and saw Pansy. She frowned at him. "What's wrong, Harry?"
Harry replied a little desolately, "It's all about the wedding. Of course I'm happy for them, but it makes me think that I'll never be an equal in their eyes, if I'm not worthy of a wedding."
Pansy answered briskly, "They have to get wed, Harry, if they want to have an heir that will inherit the Malfoy Estate in its entirety and without legal problems. Of course you're not aware of the story of the Weston family. They were among the five wealthiest families in England . Phedrus Weston fell in love with a man and a woman, like you and your mates. He loved them so much he married both of them. In the Wizarding world there is no discrimination against same sex marriages, like the Muggles do. Ugh, how barbarians! At any rate, the Westons had a son. Unfortunately the fathers and mother died in an accident, and the child was poised to inherit the fortune, until the will was contested by innumerable contenders, who claimed the child was not Phedrus', that it was a child of his male partner. Those claims never ended, and eventually the Weston fortune was destroyed, given piecemeal to the greedy relatives. The son was well-off, but nothing to compare to the wealth of his father."
Pansy crossed her arms, huffing. "Draco is intimately aware of such pitfalls, and will do what he can to avoid them. To appease the hyenas, he must be legally wedded to the mother of his son. He will also enter into a bond with you and Daphne. Magically the bond is just as strong as the marriage, it entitles your offspring to the protection and wealth of all of you."
Harry glared at her.
Rolling her eyes, she said, "Draco likes tradition, but not when it interferes in his plans, however, even he must bow down to it from time to time. Do you know that in the event of his death, he leaves you a fifth of the Malfoy Estate?"
Harry shook his head.
Pansy continued, "Well, he does. He is fidgety, seeing the effect this is having on you. I'm sure he's tried to be supportive the only way he can, through acts, and not through words."
Harry remembered himself in that moment when he had donned the blindfold and been taken to his new studio, the great light and the fact it denoted Draco's care in a much more tangible and lasting way that any mere words could have.
Pansy left Harry and went to talk to her fellow Slytherins who seemed a little too slow on the uptake, according to her tastes. She cornered the blonds and made sure they knew that Harry felt somehow inferior because they would not wed him.
oOoOo
The next day at lunch, Draco and Daphne talked with Harry. They told him that the wedding plans were progressing nicely, there were no important points in the agenda, Daphne had asked for a little vacation from the Sorbonne and they were free to do as they wanted, seeing how Harry only needed his canvas, his colors and brushes, his inspiration to create his masterpieces.
Draco asked gently, "Given this, Harry, how amenable are you to staying a month in the Marauders' Cottage?"
Harry goggled, and it was all he could do not to launch himself at Malfoy. He just nodded and said, "Thanks!" Draco made it over to Harry's side and hugged him, murmuring softly in his ears, "You are as important to me, Harry!"
They were rudely interrupted by the concerted attack of a blond-raven-haired little boy gleefully shouting "Har!" whilst he made motions with his arms to effectively convey his wish to be picked up and held, plus his two hyperactive plushies, the griffin and the dragon.
Harry picked up Antares and promptly was smacked in the face by his pacifier. Draco laughed gleefully and smirked, or tried to smirk until he was smacked in his turn by the irrepressible Antares. Daphne just smirked mentally, not wanting to be third on the list.
Next the elf Stidgit came in. He was carrying a baby with blond hair, the baby's mother was just behind, furiously writing down items and annotating a list. The quill she was using changed color according to the importance of the items she chose. It was a great tool for planning revisions, or weddings.
Narcissa took them all in, and glancing at Daphne, said, "We need to finesse some details."
Daphne exchanged a look with Draco and replied, "Actually, I think that we have planned it very well. I'm sure you will be able to deal with any late development. Narcissa, we three will go to our home in Canada , we will stay for a month."
oOoOo
They had a wonderful month in Toronto. Harry spent many a day just observing the cold beauty of the land, painting like mad. Even when the temperature was freezing, he stayed using a warming charm. He was amazed at the stark simplicity of the white snow on the trees, the promise of new life after all this seeming death. The paintings he did during this time came to be known as the Marauder period. They would confirm what the knowing public had suspected: Potter was an incredibly gifted and accomplished artist.
The secluded setting gave them the chance to talk to each other, to get to know each other deeper. Draco told them about the limits placed on the behavior of a Malfoy, by society and by his family. How it felt to be rid of them, what he endured, how he came to the realization that maybe he'd found a partner amidst all the turmoil.
Daphne told them about the difficult feat of growing up a Greengrass, strict adherents to neutrality who saw their freedom drastically curtailed and would have eventually been forced to serve the Dark Lord if he had survived. How it felt to take care of her kin, to look out for them.
Harry spoke about his poor family life with the Dursleys, he told them about being beaten up by Dudley, being forced to live in the cupboard under the stairs until Hogwarts, about them giving him so little to eat that his health was compromised.
Draco and Daphne fumed and seethed, inwardly they planned schemes of burning revenge, but they knew they wouldn't do anything unless Harry gave the OK.
Daphne continued with reviews of Healer spells, under the supervision of Draco, and Draco continued his convoluted plans to help the world, manage the Malfoy Estate and live happily, of all three tasks, the last one was the hardest.
Supervising Daphne's work in Healing reminded him of the time he spent as a Healer in St. Mungo's. He felt he was an exceptional Healer, but he was often belittled, never recognized and eventually took a better paying job elsewhere. It was before he discovered Potter's deception with Ginny and used the Banishment Charm.
Surprisingly, Draco decided that communication through owls was just too time consuming. He took to carrying his laptop everywhere. At first Harry looked at this with fondness and superiority, Draco didn't know that magic affected the functioning of electrical systems and batteries, so there was no way he could make the laptop work near magic.
Soon Harry realized how wrong he was. Apparently Draco was the main investor of a Wizarding factory that produced magic-resistant batteries. So Draco Malfoy was able to lord it over with his laptop. He used it everywhere, in the kitchen, in the gardens when he was persuaded by Harry to make an appearance, in the bedroom, Draco was happily typing away on his damned laptop like a ferret hiding nuts – thought Harry uncharitably.
Draco transmitted all his communication by laptop to the web, it arrived in the Malfoy offices in England and was dispatched to other correspondents via owls.
Surprisingly Draco had prevailed over the Headmaster, his godfather, to use a laptop in his office at Hogwarts. He spent many an hour trying to simultaneously find out about Severus's and Iolande's relationship and trying to convince Severus to commit himself to the budding relationship. Unfortunately Severus didn't know anything about the theft of the Sword of Gryffindor, except that several goblin bodies had been discovered near Knockturn Alley, horribly mauled and hexed to death.
Apparently, Severus was in a bad mood lately because his 'Ioly' had left him alone. She said she had to treat a patient in Azkaban. She had been gone for two weeks and would return in two days. The Headmaster looked to be downcast and a little depressed, judging from his terse e-mail comments, with none of his customary scathing retorts.
This set Draco to thinking a plot about getting a laptop for Iolande, so she could communicate with Severus. Maybe they would exchange heated commentary, which he would just happen to record and read at leisure, through the use of those viruses things the Muggles talked about. As a matter of fact, there was one of them that had arrived with the mail, and if he would just open it, then maybe he could use it someday on Severus' machine.
Fortunately Draco did not just jump into unknown places. He asked Harry how he felt about using this virus thing, and Harry, after a customary nagging talk about ethics and stuff, replied that the virus he was about to open would probably destroy the content of his computer. It was kind of like the Trojan Horse. He should take a jaundiced view of all such programs that came from outside, only trusting them if he knew where they came from.
Eventually the month ended and they returned to England, ready to face the stresses of the wedding.
oOoOo
When they got to the Manor, they found that the Malfoys had invited Blaise, Pansy, Millie, Goyle, Ginny, and Neville to spend the days until the wedding with them.
They had a glass of firewhisky each and started talking about what they had done. Blaise, Goyle and Pansy worked in the Ministry. Millie remained at home, undecided about her future, Neville had taken the post of Herbology professor at Hogwarts, and Ginny had signed with the Falmouth Falcons as reserve Seeker.
Neville was jokingly branded a traitor to former Hogwarts students. Everyone laughed when Draco reminisced about Trelawney's class, and how she had found the correct use for her teacups. He warned Neville not to use his teaching implements to try to kill people.
Daphne said, "I want to hear a toast from our Magical Valedictorian!"
Neville blushed and got up, he said, "I drink to love, to compassion, to justice. May we serve the three faithfully. Of course, I want to wish eternal happiness to Draco and Daphne." He looked at Harry and winked, "I'm sure the bonding ceremony will be equally beautiful."
Draco explained his occupation as managing the Malfoy enterprises, Daphne talked about her classes to become a Healer, and Harry took out and showed them some paintings to document his growth and range.
All of his former classmates were astounded by his talent. They suddenly recognized that it had always been there, in Harry's eye to find detail, to grab it and run with it. The keen-eyed sight that detected the Snitch at long range was also able to grasp the beauty of a scene and make it permanent for the observer.
Harry noted that the Slytherins were sparing in their praise. Nevertheless, they were sincere. The Gryffindors were exuberant when they liked you, trouble was, they changed their minds awfully fast, as Harry had painfully endured.
The Slytherins and Neville slyly floated the idea of a stag party, and were sonorously trounced by the combined anger of Daphne, Pansy, Millie, Ginny and Harry.
They did decide on a small party for themselves, where the House elves plied them with delicious food, including a great cake. Harry had learned from his birthday, though, and kept a respectable distance between himself and Daphne.
oOoOo
The day of the wedding came. Draco woke Harry up and gave him a set of dragonhide underclothes. He explained, "I'm worried about our safety due to that open door stupid policy. Please just wear this, it will deflect major curses and attacks. I must warn you, it itches. Daphne and I will also use something like this."
They had a light repast and Narcissa and Daphne surveyed their handiwork and declared themselves satisfied. Andromeda, left to care for Antares and Deneb, just look martyred with the hyperactive blond kids. Lucius smirked on, and looked almost with awe at his oldest son.
The Manor was filled with flowers, among them a generous profusion of daisies, narcissi and lilies. There was a magical spell in place to permit dancing in the garden, where the tables laden with food were artfully disseminated. It looked to be the pinnacle of simplicity, and it was very hard to achieve.
The Malfoys were cordial to all newcomers, although it was plain to see that they did not like some of the guests.
Their friends from Hogwarts arrived, as did many other Hogwarts students and graduates.
Harry had gotten up and gone to the refreshment table to grab a drink, when a voice drawled, "Long time no see, Harry!"
Harry turned and saw the scarred face of Padma Patil. She spoke very slowly, enjoying the pain her words would cause the little four-eyed freak, "It must be very hard to stand here and see your lover getting married so he can get what you can never give him, Harry. What does it feel to have vanquished the Dark Lord and end up becoming someone else's second best? I never imagined you as a simple slut, Harry."
She was interrupted by a cold drawling voice, "I never imagined you were a slut, Patil one. No, I imagined perfectly well because I saw it!"
Draco started to shout then, attracting everyone's attention, "Yes Patil one, I saw that you were the bitch of Patil two. Not only that, but you sold yourselves to the highest bidders. It's not everyone who can gloat of having had twins. Of course, by the time your studies at Hogwarts ended, many classmates could claim to have had you, including your pimps Zacharias Smith and Justin Fletchley or whatever."
An irate Draco continued, "Get out, slut, and take your useless other half with you! I don't want to see you again."
Padma tried to argue her way into the party, "But this is the open admission day, you are forced to let us stay."
Draco replied angrily, "No, I'm not. I can defend against damages done to me or my family, the injuries may be verbal or physical, and tradition gives me weapons to fight back."
Draco grabbed Harry and took him back to their table. He asked concernedly, "Are you OK, Harry?"
Harry nodded desolately.
Draco continued, "It amazes me how you can take the insults of the Gryffindors seemingly passively. You don't react at all. I wish you'd shown more strength and manage to curse that bint or whoever from Gryffindor that tries to belittle you. Yet when the taunts come from the Slytherins, you react at once!"
Harry frowned at him. "I think it had to do with my upbringing. The way I was raised, I saw no way out. It was really hell on Earth, with no hope of succor. Until the letter from Hogwarts arrived and I discovered the Wizarding world. All first encounters in that day and the train must have been carefully programmed beforehand, from Hagrid's casual comment that all Dark Lords came from Slytherin to Ron's opportune meeting with me. All this led me to regard Gryffindor as my true home, it also inspired a sense of commitment, of offering myself up for their security, that must have been also prepared."
Crossing his arms, the Gryffindor surveyed the party whilst he said softly, "These are mind tricks, very difficult to get out of. I'm watching things differently now, thanks to you and the Slytherins. Someday soon, I'll stand up to any Gryffindors that taunt me."
Harry was ribbed good-naturedly by the Slytherins and Neville, and had to listen to Blaise's and Millie's awful jokes, which appeared to be lifted from similar Muggle jokes.
Finally Harry escaped and made his way to the hors-d'oeuvres. When he was selecting some appetizing morsel, a voice surprised him, the voice he had thought he'd never hear again.
