RP: Bedtime stories
Date: Sunday, January 22, 1999
Characters: Draco Malfoy
Location: St. Jerome's Home for Orphaned and Lost Children
Status: Private
Summary: Draco spends some time with the children
Completion: Complete
Christmas had come and gone. With Draco's help - although perhaps actually with the help of sheer generosity of people since the Dark Lord had been defeated, if he was modest about it - a considerable amount of money had been raised for the children, affording Christmas gifts for all, as well as a replacement of all of the motheaten bedlinen which had survived for almost fifteen years.
Their kitchen had also had a little of the proceeds, which meant, incidentally, that the food was better, although the shortage of chicken was difficult on the orphanage, which had more or less relied on the soft, cheap meat for children's dinners. Beef and pork, the alternatives, were much more difficult for little tummies to digest.
Draco was a benefactor mostly. He helped with funds, which the orphanage dearly needed. If there was a shortfall, Draco filled it, and donated the same money that he donated every month. It was against every Slytherin code he knew. Working here gained him nothing. Very little people even knew about it. Oddly, Draco had decided to be quiet on that front. It was something personal. Or it had become so after he had begun to volunteer for the home.
These children were as unlike him as they could possibly be. They were young, they had lost their parents, or never had them, and they had nothing. Nothing except for these four walls, and walks in the park on Sunday, and two hours of schooling with Matron every day. Draco had always had everything he'd ever wanted, two parents who loved him more than life itself, a private tutor...
This evening, Draco had been asked, as he stopped in to make his donation, dressed in a heavy frock coat, to tell the children a story. Draco tried to get out of it, telling the Matron that he didn't know any stories, but she would have none of it. So Draco sighed and went to sit in the dormitory with the Matron and the children, and settled by the fire, wondering what to say.
Finally, Draco told them the story about the Runespoor That Agreed.
"Once upon a time there was a runespoor. Now a runespoor is a three headed snake, and it's very valuable for its eggs. This runespoor was owned by a wizard. It had been taken away from it's home in the preserves of Burkina Faso and locked in a glass box, on top of a long table, where the wizard would sit and watch it, and wait for it to lay its eggs.
Now runespoors have three heads, and three different brains, too. The planner, the dreamer, and the critic. The planner would be the head that decided what the snake would do next. The dreamer was lazy, and content to lie back and do nothing, and simply dream. The critic would pick holes in any plans, and get angry with the dreamer for doing nothing all the time. And so you see, the runespoor never got anything done. It would sit in its glass cage, even though it could get out, simply because it wasn't able to do anything else.
When a runespoor lays an egg, only one head will know that it has laid it, and if it is the dreamer, it will forget it instantly. The egg comes up, out of its mouth, and lands on the ground. But the other heads will simply see the egg as food, and eat it straight away. And so it is that runespoors are quite endangered.
The wizard desperately wanted the eggs, but as soon as one head would lay an egg, another would eat it. It made the wizard very frustrated, as you can imagine. One day the wizard decided 'If my runespoor won't lay an egg, I will have to cut it into little tiny pieces and use it for potions ingredients instead!'
Well, the critic heard this. He hissed to the planner 'Did you hear what idiot plan he's come up with now? He thinks that he can get our eggs if he cuts us up! Honestly...where did he come up with that plan? It's got more holes in it than a seive!'
The planner flicked out his tongue, then curled his neck, thinking. 'What we really need,' he said 'Is a plan.'
'Not another plan!' exclaimed the critic, who was tired of plans. 'What we need is...'
The dreamer lifted his head sleepily, and looked up at the two of them. 'You two need to relax,' he said, with a sigh. 'There's a wonderful place outside of this tank, where the grass is green, and there are birds laying their eggs. Lots of delicious eggs. I've seen it.'
'Don't be so silly!' cried the critic. 'You're always dreaming of things that aren't there. Why don't you just go back to sleep and save us from your stupid ideas?'
The planner hissed thoughtfully, and lay his head down, suddenly feeling very sleepy. The critic lay his head down too, and they all dropped off to sleep.
The next day, it was the planner that woke first. He lifted his head, looked both ways, then gently flicked their tail onto the dreamer's nose. 'Wake up!' he whispered. 'Don't wake him. Now listen...wouldn't it be wonderful if your dream came true? You'd like that, wouldn't you? Then you could eat birds eggs and doze in the sunshine as much as you like.'
The dreamer nodded, slowly. It did sound like a good idea.
'Good,' hissed the planner. 'Now go back to sleep. When I'm ready, we'll escape to that wonderful place!'
When the dreamer was asleep again, the planner flicked their tail over the critic's nose. 'Hey!' he hissed. 'I've got a wonderful plan!'
'You never have wonderful plans,' complained the critic. 'What did you have to go and wake me up for?!'
'You'll love this plan. The idea is that we stay right here and wait for the wizard to cut us up. And let him.'
'Don't be so absurd!' said the critic, angrily. 'How's that going to help?! Really. You are so thick! Well fine, if you aren't going to come up with a decent plan, we'll just have to do it my way, won't we?'
Now, the planner woke up the dreamer, and with a yawn he said 'Is it time to go?'
And so, with no problem at all, the snake reached up, fell over the outside of the glass tank, and slithered away.
Of course, it was the planner that did it. He was very clever in the end. Can you tell what he did? He let the dreamer dream, and he made the critic think that it was his own plan, when really, it was the planner's plan to escape all the time! He just tricked the critic into going along with it for once. And so that is the story of the runespoor that agreed.
Draco was done, and the children looked a little excited, but also sleepy. It was a Slytherin story, passed down through generations of Malfoys, but it was still a nice children's story, short and sweet, and not too brutal. He smiled as the Matron put the children to bed, then bid her farewell as she settled down with her nightcap, wrapping his coat about himself before she could offer him a brandy - which of course he couldn't accept - and stepping out into the chill night to head home.
NEWT classes again tomorrow, but somehow he faced them with a lighter heart. Maybe he missed bedtime stories more than he thought he had. A lot of things from his childhood he had taken for granted, and it wasn't until he came across those things once more than he realised how short that childhood had been. The Dark Lord had taken it away, just like everything else. But Draco was finally getting it back.
Characters: Draco Malfoy
Location: St. Jerome's Home for Orphaned and Lost Children
Status: Private
Summary: Draco spends some time with the children
Completion: Complete
Christmas had come and gone. With Draco's help - although perhaps actually with the help of sheer generosity of people since the Dark Lord had been defeated, if he was modest about it - a considerable amount of money had been raised for the children, affording Christmas gifts for all, as well as a replacement of all of the motheaten bedlinen which had survived for almost fifteen years.
Their kitchen had also had a little of the proceeds, which meant, incidentally, that the food was better, although the shortage of chicken was difficult on the orphanage, which had more or less relied on the soft, cheap meat for children's dinners. Beef and pork, the alternatives, were much more difficult for little tummies to digest.
Draco was a benefactor mostly. He helped with funds, which the orphanage dearly needed. If there was a shortfall, Draco filled it, and donated the same money that he donated every month. It was against every Slytherin code he knew. Working here gained him nothing. Very little people even knew about it. Oddly, Draco had decided to be quiet on that front. It was something personal. Or it had become so after he had begun to volunteer for the home.
These children were as unlike him as they could possibly be. They were young, they had lost their parents, or never had them, and they had nothing. Nothing except for these four walls, and walks in the park on Sunday, and two hours of schooling with Matron every day. Draco had always had everything he'd ever wanted, two parents who loved him more than life itself, a private tutor...
This evening, Draco had been asked, as he stopped in to make his donation, dressed in a heavy frock coat, to tell the children a story. Draco tried to get out of it, telling the Matron that he didn't know any stories, but she would have none of it. So Draco sighed and went to sit in the dormitory with the Matron and the children, and settled by the fire, wondering what to say.
Finally, Draco told them the story about the Runespoor That Agreed.
"Once upon a time there was a runespoor. Now a runespoor is a three headed snake, and it's very valuable for its eggs. This runespoor was owned by a wizard. It had been taken away from it's home in the preserves of Burkina Faso and locked in a glass box, on top of a long table, where the wizard would sit and watch it, and wait for it to lay its eggs.
Now runespoors have three heads, and three different brains, too. The planner, the dreamer, and the critic. The planner would be the head that decided what the snake would do next. The dreamer was lazy, and content to lie back and do nothing, and simply dream. The critic would pick holes in any plans, and get angry with the dreamer for doing nothing all the time. And so you see, the runespoor never got anything done. It would sit in its glass cage, even though it could get out, simply because it wasn't able to do anything else.
When a runespoor lays an egg, only one head will know that it has laid it, and if it is the dreamer, it will forget it instantly. The egg comes up, out of its mouth, and lands on the ground. But the other heads will simply see the egg as food, and eat it straight away. And so it is that runespoors are quite endangered.
The wizard desperately wanted the eggs, but as soon as one head would lay an egg, another would eat it. It made the wizard very frustrated, as you can imagine. One day the wizard decided 'If my runespoor won't lay an egg, I will have to cut it into little tiny pieces and use it for potions ingredients instead!'
Well, the critic heard this. He hissed to the planner 'Did you hear what idiot plan he's come up with now? He thinks that he can get our eggs if he cuts us up! Honestly...where did he come up with that plan? It's got more holes in it than a seive!'
The planner flicked out his tongue, then curled his neck, thinking. 'What we really need,' he said 'Is a plan.'
'Not another plan!' exclaimed the critic, who was tired of plans. 'What we need is...'
The dreamer lifted his head sleepily, and looked up at the two of them. 'You two need to relax,' he said, with a sigh. 'There's a wonderful place outside of this tank, where the grass is green, and there are birds laying their eggs. Lots of delicious eggs. I've seen it.'
'Don't be so silly!' cried the critic. 'You're always dreaming of things that aren't there. Why don't you just go back to sleep and save us from your stupid ideas?'
The planner hissed thoughtfully, and lay his head down, suddenly feeling very sleepy. The critic lay his head down too, and they all dropped off to sleep.
The next day, it was the planner that woke first. He lifted his head, looked both ways, then gently flicked their tail onto the dreamer's nose. 'Wake up!' he whispered. 'Don't wake him. Now listen...wouldn't it be wonderful if your dream came true? You'd like that, wouldn't you? Then you could eat birds eggs and doze in the sunshine as much as you like.'
The dreamer nodded, slowly. It did sound like a good idea.
'Good,' hissed the planner. 'Now go back to sleep. When I'm ready, we'll escape to that wonderful place!'
When the dreamer was asleep again, the planner flicked their tail over the critic's nose. 'Hey!' he hissed. 'I've got a wonderful plan!'
'You never have wonderful plans,' complained the critic. 'What did you have to go and wake me up for?!'
'You'll love this plan. The idea is that we stay right here and wait for the wizard to cut us up. And let him.'
'Don't be so absurd!' said the critic, angrily. 'How's that going to help?! Really. You are so thick! Well fine, if you aren't going to come up with a decent plan, we'll just have to do it my way, won't we?'
Now, the planner woke up the dreamer, and with a yawn he said 'Is it time to go?'
And so, with no problem at all, the snake reached up, fell over the outside of the glass tank, and slithered away.
Of course, it was the planner that did it. He was very clever in the end. Can you tell what he did? He let the dreamer dream, and he made the critic think that it was his own plan, when really, it was the planner's plan to escape all the time! He just tricked the critic into going along with it for once. And so that is the story of the runespoor that agreed.
Draco was done, and the children looked a little excited, but also sleepy. It was a Slytherin story, passed down through generations of Malfoys, but it was still a nice children's story, short and sweet, and not too brutal. He smiled as the Matron put the children to bed, then bid her farewell as she settled down with her nightcap, wrapping his coat about himself before she could offer him a brandy - which of course he couldn't accept - and stepping out into the chill night to head home.
NEWT classes again tomorrow, but somehow he faced them with a lighter heart. Maybe he missed bedtime stories more than he thought he had. A lot of things from his childhood he had taken for granted, and it wasn't until he came across those things once more than he realised how short that childhood had been. The Dark Lord had taken it away, just like everything else. But Draco was finally getting it back.