The Knight of the Rose
Here's my very first HP fan fic. The fic is based on my favorite opera. Fifty points to whoever guesses which one (no fair cheating if you've already seen the answer!). Please let me know what you think!
Summary: What does a woman do when her young lover finds the love of his life...again? Can she find the nobility of heart to let him go? This is a story of young love, lustful love, and sacrificial love. This has a non-canon pairing at first, but is H/G at heart.
The Knight of the Rose
Act I: Werdenberg Manor, Late December 1998
CHAPTER 1
A beam of sunlight crept slowly up the brocaded walls of the lavishly appointed bedroom as morning broke upon Werdenberg Manor. Across the large bedchamber, in a large, richly furnished bed of red brocade and silk, a messy head of black hair rose from a pile of pillows to gaze at the woman next to him.
The young man propped himself up on his arm and watched as a tousled head of dark brown hair turned and a pair of bright blue eyes opened slowly to greet him.
“Good morning, love. Sleep well?” asked the woman as she stretched her arms above her head, a sleepy smile on her lips.
“Best sleep ever,” he replied. “Well, the best sleep since the last time I stayed with you here, which was, um, let me see,” he tapped his finger to his lips, pretending to think. “Two nights ago?”
Marie Therese von Werdenberg giggled and leaned up to give him a quick kiss on the lips before falling back into the pillows.
“I sleep so well when I’m with you, Therese,” he said, looking down at his lover and stroking her hair, which was fanned across her pillow. “No more nightmares, a soft warm bed, and a beautiful woman whom I adore. What more can I ask for?” He stretched out next to her and draped his arm across her soft body.
“I used to hate nighttime because of my nightmares,” he continued, stroking her arm. “But now I wish it could always be night - then we can always be together, here in this bed.” He rolled over and propped himself back up on his arm and stroked her hair. “During the day you belong to the world, to your charities and your committees, but at night you are all mine,” he said, leaning over and kissing her bare shoulder. “Only mine.”
Marie Therese smiled back at him, amused by the young man in her bed.
“I hate the mornings now,” he said, sitting up on his knees, the sheet slipping down to his hips. “Let’s board up the windows and pretend it’s always nighttime so we never have to leave this room!”
“I think you’d eventually get a little bored, wouldn’t you?” she teased, giggling softly and running her fingers across his lightly muscled chest.
“Never!” he cried as he leaned over her, placing his hands on either side of her head on the pillow and kissing her deeply.
She reached her hands into his hair to pull him closer but was interrupted by a tapping at the window. Harry Potter groaned and rolled out of bed, wrapping a blanket around his waist and shuffling to the window.
Marie Therese leaned back on her elbows and watched her lover cross the room. She considered his back and shoulders, which had broadened and developed fine muscle tone from his auror training. He had been quite skinny when they first started sleeping together right after the war ended six months ago, but he’d filled out nicely with regular meals, nightmare-free sleep, and the training he’d started in September.
She watched the way his hips moved under the low-slung blanket as he made his way to the window. She fell back onto the pillows, thinking about how nice his body had felt only a few hours earlier when they’d made love before drifting off to sleep in each other’s arms.
Harry opened up the window just far enough for a large black owl to hop onto the window ledge with a dignified hoot and lift its leg with a proffered piece of parchment. Harry untied the letter, gave the bird an owl treat from the bowl sitting on a shelf beside the window and pulled the window shut behind the animal as it winged away from the house.
He shuffled back to the bed, unwrapped the blanket and hopped back under the covers, handing the letter to Marie Therese. He slid in next to her, throwing his leg over hers and resting his head on her shoulder, sighing happily.
Harry loved Marie Therese’s bed. After spending eleven years of his life on a thin and dusty mattress in his cupboard at the Dursleys, he had taken great pleasure in the luxury of his four-poster bed in the boy’s dorm at Hogwarts. With its soft pillows, canopy and curtains, he reveled in the privacy and comfort it afforded him for the first time in his life. However, his dormitory four-poster didn’t compare to the luxury of Marie Therese’s bed, which was twice the size and had twice as many pillows and silk, plus the added bonus of a beautiful woman with soft skin and luscious curves. Therefore her bed was his favorite so far and he hated to leave it in the mornings.
“My cousin Sebastian will be visiting this morning,” she said, interrupting his thoughts, glancing through the letter. “I’d forgotten that he’d written me about coming by to talk with me on some matter.”
“Oh great, that bloody oaf is just what we need this morning,” Harry sulked.
Marie Therese swatted him on the arm with the letter in a mock scold. “Harry, you know he’s my cousin and I have to see him. I’ve put him off for a week now.”
Harry had only met Sebastian Ochs once but knew he didn’t like the man. He was Marie Therese’s first cousin and was as obnoxious and oblivious as Ludo Bagman and as arrogant and elitist as Lucius Malfoy, but without the sadistic streak. Ochs had been an open supporter of the Death Eaters during the first war, and helped them with covert financial contributions during the second. When his support was discovered after the second war, he had made generous donations to the rebuilding effort to buy himself out of Azkaban. The Ministry had put him on probation, meaning that for three years his movements and magical signature would be tracked, but he was otherwise free to carry on his business as long as he stayed in England. Since then he’d secretly bribed his way into a lucrative reconstruction contract with the Ministry and was starting to rebuild his fortune. He was arrogant, obnoxious, and corrupt, but as the only other remaining member of her family, Marie Therese still felt loyalty to him. She thought he’d reformed somewhat since the war ended, but she didn’t think he’d ever fully change his ways.
Their conversation was interrupted by a small pop, as Winky, the house elf Harry knew from Hogwarts, popped into the room. Harry had suggested that Marie Therese bring Winky to work for her after the war because a beloved elderly house elf that had served her family for over a century had died the previous year. Marie Therese had helped Winky get over her butterbeer addiction and the elf had settled in well with the other house elves in the household.
Winky brought with her a tray of hot chocolate, which she knew Harry loved. Dobby had once told her that Harry drank it every morning at Hogwarts because he was never allowed to have it as a child.
“Winky brings hot chocolate, Mistress and Sir Harry,” the house elf said, setting the tray on the bedside table.
“Thank you, Winky,” said Marie Therese. “Please let the other house elves know that my cousin Sebastian Ochs will be visiting this morning.”
“Yes, Mistress, Winky will let the others know,” she said with a curtsey and disappeared with another small pop.
Marie Therese had a staff of a dozen house elves that had been in her family since she was a child. She didn’t need quite so many but they needed a place to work and live, so she kept them on. She treated them well but did not pay them wages because she knew it would be futile to try. They kept up the house and grounds and managed the stables but otherwise had time to pursue hobbies and leisure activities. She provided for them in their old age and encouraged them to marry and raise families.
Marie Therese poured cups of hot chocolate for each of them from the little pot and handed one to Harry. They sipped their warm drinks in companionable silence, enjoying the quiet start to the day. She loved mornings like this, sitting in the comfortable bed with her favorite companion by her side, talking about anything and everything - the war, the reconstruction, his training, their mutual friends. Today, though, they couldn’t lounge about for long.
“You need to get going, love, if you’re going to get to training on time,” she said, with reluctance.
“I wish I could just stay here forever, lying in bed with you. It’s my favorite place in the whole world,” he said, barely avoiding spilling his drink on the bedclothes as he waved his arm at the room.
“Ah now, Harry you know you can’t. Stephan returns tonight,” Marie Therese reminded him, laying a hand on his arm to still his movements.
Harry groaned and lay back against the pillows, sipping his hot chocolate with a scowl. He had reason for his sudden change in mood, for he knew very well that Stephan was Marie Therese’s husband.
Summary: What does a woman do when her young lover finds the love of his life...again? Can she find the nobility of heart to let him go? This is a story of young love, lustful love, and sacrificial love. This has a non-canon pairing at first, but is H/G at heart.
The Knight of the Rose
Act I: Werdenberg Manor, Late December 1998
CHAPTER 1
A beam of sunlight crept slowly up the brocaded walls of the lavishly appointed bedroom as morning broke upon Werdenberg Manor. Across the large bedchamber, in a large, richly furnished bed of red brocade and silk, a messy head of black hair rose from a pile of pillows to gaze at the woman next to him.
The young man propped himself up on his arm and watched as a tousled head of dark brown hair turned and a pair of bright blue eyes opened slowly to greet him.
“Good morning, love. Sleep well?” asked the woman as she stretched her arms above her head, a sleepy smile on her lips.
“Best sleep ever,” he replied. “Well, the best sleep since the last time I stayed with you here, which was, um, let me see,” he tapped his finger to his lips, pretending to think. “Two nights ago?”
Marie Therese von Werdenberg giggled and leaned up to give him a quick kiss on the lips before falling back into the pillows.
“I sleep so well when I’m with you, Therese,” he said, looking down at his lover and stroking her hair, which was fanned across her pillow. “No more nightmares, a soft warm bed, and a beautiful woman whom I adore. What more can I ask for?” He stretched out next to her and draped his arm across her soft body.
“I used to hate nighttime because of my nightmares,” he continued, stroking her arm. “But now I wish it could always be night - then we can always be together, here in this bed.” He rolled over and propped himself back up on his arm and stroked her hair. “During the day you belong to the world, to your charities and your committees, but at night you are all mine,” he said, leaning over and kissing her bare shoulder. “Only mine.”
Marie Therese smiled back at him, amused by the young man in her bed.
“I hate the mornings now,” he said, sitting up on his knees, the sheet slipping down to his hips. “Let’s board up the windows and pretend it’s always nighttime so we never have to leave this room!”
“I think you’d eventually get a little bored, wouldn’t you?” she teased, giggling softly and running her fingers across his lightly muscled chest.
“Never!” he cried as he leaned over her, placing his hands on either side of her head on the pillow and kissing her deeply.
She reached her hands into his hair to pull him closer but was interrupted by a tapping at the window. Harry Potter groaned and rolled out of bed, wrapping a blanket around his waist and shuffling to the window.
Marie Therese leaned back on her elbows and watched her lover cross the room. She considered his back and shoulders, which had broadened and developed fine muscle tone from his auror training. He had been quite skinny when they first started sleeping together right after the war ended six months ago, but he’d filled out nicely with regular meals, nightmare-free sleep, and the training he’d started in September.
She watched the way his hips moved under the low-slung blanket as he made his way to the window. She fell back onto the pillows, thinking about how nice his body had felt only a few hours earlier when they’d made love before drifting off to sleep in each other’s arms.
Harry opened up the window just far enough for a large black owl to hop onto the window ledge with a dignified hoot and lift its leg with a proffered piece of parchment. Harry untied the letter, gave the bird an owl treat from the bowl sitting on a shelf beside the window and pulled the window shut behind the animal as it winged away from the house.
He shuffled back to the bed, unwrapped the blanket and hopped back under the covers, handing the letter to Marie Therese. He slid in next to her, throwing his leg over hers and resting his head on her shoulder, sighing happily.
Harry loved Marie Therese’s bed. After spending eleven years of his life on a thin and dusty mattress in his cupboard at the Dursleys, he had taken great pleasure in the luxury of his four-poster bed in the boy’s dorm at Hogwarts. With its soft pillows, canopy and curtains, he reveled in the privacy and comfort it afforded him for the first time in his life. However, his dormitory four-poster didn’t compare to the luxury of Marie Therese’s bed, which was twice the size and had twice as many pillows and silk, plus the added bonus of a beautiful woman with soft skin and luscious curves. Therefore her bed was his favorite so far and he hated to leave it in the mornings.
“My cousin Sebastian will be visiting this morning,” she said, interrupting his thoughts, glancing through the letter. “I’d forgotten that he’d written me about coming by to talk with me on some matter.”
“Oh great, that bloody oaf is just what we need this morning,” Harry sulked.
Marie Therese swatted him on the arm with the letter in a mock scold. “Harry, you know he’s my cousin and I have to see him. I’ve put him off for a week now.”
Harry had only met Sebastian Ochs once but knew he didn’t like the man. He was Marie Therese’s first cousin and was as obnoxious and oblivious as Ludo Bagman and as arrogant and elitist as Lucius Malfoy, but without the sadistic streak. Ochs had been an open supporter of the Death Eaters during the first war, and helped them with covert financial contributions during the second. When his support was discovered after the second war, he had made generous donations to the rebuilding effort to buy himself out of Azkaban. The Ministry had put him on probation, meaning that for three years his movements and magical signature would be tracked, but he was otherwise free to carry on his business as long as he stayed in England. Since then he’d secretly bribed his way into a lucrative reconstruction contract with the Ministry and was starting to rebuild his fortune. He was arrogant, obnoxious, and corrupt, but as the only other remaining member of her family, Marie Therese still felt loyalty to him. She thought he’d reformed somewhat since the war ended, but she didn’t think he’d ever fully change his ways.
Their conversation was interrupted by a small pop, as Winky, the house elf Harry knew from Hogwarts, popped into the room. Harry had suggested that Marie Therese bring Winky to work for her after the war because a beloved elderly house elf that had served her family for over a century had died the previous year. Marie Therese had helped Winky get over her butterbeer addiction and the elf had settled in well with the other house elves in the household.
Winky brought with her a tray of hot chocolate, which she knew Harry loved. Dobby had once told her that Harry drank it every morning at Hogwarts because he was never allowed to have it as a child.
“Winky brings hot chocolate, Mistress and Sir Harry,” the house elf said, setting the tray on the bedside table.
“Thank you, Winky,” said Marie Therese. “Please let the other house elves know that my cousin Sebastian Ochs will be visiting this morning.”
“Yes, Mistress, Winky will let the others know,” she said with a curtsey and disappeared with another small pop.
Marie Therese had a staff of a dozen house elves that had been in her family since she was a child. She didn’t need quite so many but they needed a place to work and live, so she kept them on. She treated them well but did not pay them wages because she knew it would be futile to try. They kept up the house and grounds and managed the stables but otherwise had time to pursue hobbies and leisure activities. She provided for them in their old age and encouraged them to marry and raise families.
Marie Therese poured cups of hot chocolate for each of them from the little pot and handed one to Harry. They sipped their warm drinks in companionable silence, enjoying the quiet start to the day. She loved mornings like this, sitting in the comfortable bed with her favorite companion by her side, talking about anything and everything - the war, the reconstruction, his training, their mutual friends. Today, though, they couldn’t lounge about for long.
“You need to get going, love, if you’re going to get to training on time,” she said, with reluctance.
“I wish I could just stay here forever, lying in bed with you. It’s my favorite place in the whole world,” he said, barely avoiding spilling his drink on the bedclothes as he waved his arm at the room.
“Ah now, Harry you know you can’t. Stephan returns tonight,” Marie Therese reminded him, laying a hand on his arm to still his movements.
Harry groaned and lay back against the pillows, sipping his hot chocolate with a scowl. He had reason for his sudden change in mood, for he knew very well that Stephan was Marie Therese’s husband.