[Fic] "Fairy Tales" -- Harry Potter, G/H/D, Theme 4
Author: Elizabeth Culmer edenfalling
Fandom/Pairing: Harry Potter, Ginny/Harry/Draco
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Theme: #4 - Surprise
Warnings: none
Note: This ficlet is heavily influenced by Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles.
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Fairy Tales
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Once upon a time in the kingdom of Ottery St. Catchpole, there lived a poor knight who loved a princess. Now, the princess wasn't particularly rich either -- Ottery St. Catchpole was a small kingdom -- but she was still a princess, and she had six older brothers who weren't interested in adding yet another poor relative to their extensive family. So the knight set out to win renown and incidentally earn some monetary rewards.
He was reasonably successful (the people of Riddle, who had suffered under the oppression of King Voldemort and his dark dragons Bellatrix and Lucius, would have accused him of excessive modesty) and returned home to ask for the princess's hand in marriage.
"You're a bit late for that, mate," said the youngest prince. "Charlie and that giant -- what's his name -- oh yeah, Hagrid -- they decided to breed guard dragons a couple years ago, and some of the older dragons in the mountains got a bit peeved. They took Ginny off to their caves -- said if we took their eggs, they'd take our sister. We gave back the eggs but they still have Ginny."
The knight was not happy about this, but he left his gold at the castle and set off to confront the dragon and win back his love. He traveled for three days until he reached the mountains at the edge of the kingdom, and found the cave where the princess was held captive. The knight dismounted, drew his sword, and approached cautiously.
There was no dragon.
Instead, the princess was drinking tea with a thin, pale man who took one look at the knight's battered armor and turned up his nose. "Is this the best rescuer your family can afford to hire?" he asked.
The princess sighed and stole his scone. "We don't hire rescuers, Draco. This is Sir Harry, the knight I promised to wait for." She smiled at the knight, and it was like the sun bursting through a veil of clouds.
The pale man looked at the knight with a bit more respect. "You're Sir Harry? So you're the reason I haven't been able to convince Ginevra to run away with me."
The knight was a bit taken aback. "Erm," he said, wondering exactly who this man was.
"If you kill each other, I'll never speak to either of you again," said the princess. "I like you both, and you're both bullheaded enough to get along famously once you stop posturing." She hefted the teakettle with a meaningful look.
The knight and the pale man exchanged glances. "Right," said the pale man. "Let's imagine that we've fought and agreed to a truce. But I utterly refuse to live anywhere near that giant or your lunatic brothers. They have no appreciation of dignity."
The princess gave him another meaningful look.
"Excuse me," said the knight, "but are you implying that you're a dragon?"
The pale man sniffed. "Implying? I wouldn't stoop to implications around you -- I wouldn't trust you to have half the intelligence necessary to interpret them. Yes, I'm a dragon." And indeed, as the knight suddenly saw, he was -- his silvery scales gleamed in the afternoon sunlight as he flexed his wings. The knight nearly brandished his sword, but the princess swung the teakettle in warning. The dragon sipped delicately from the teacup in his claws.
The knight dropped into a spare chair and wished he could rub his forehead without taking off his gauntlets or his helmet. He'd thought he was done with adventures. All he'd wanted was to marry and settle down in peace. He hadn't asked for a dragon, let alone a dragon that his love seemed to have become attached to! The knight had a terrible feeling that his previous adventures were only a test for this.
Beside him, the dragon dwindled back into his human shape and the princess refilled his tea.
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Fandom/Pairing: Harry Potter, Ginny/Harry/Draco
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Theme: #4 - Surprise
Warnings: none
Note: This ficlet is heavily influenced by Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles.
---------------------------------------------
Fairy Tales
---------------------------------------------
Once upon a time in the kingdom of Ottery St. Catchpole, there lived a poor knight who loved a princess. Now, the princess wasn't particularly rich either -- Ottery St. Catchpole was a small kingdom -- but she was still a princess, and she had six older brothers who weren't interested in adding yet another poor relative to their extensive family. So the knight set out to win renown and incidentally earn some monetary rewards.
He was reasonably successful (the people of Riddle, who had suffered under the oppression of King Voldemort and his dark dragons Bellatrix and Lucius, would have accused him of excessive modesty) and returned home to ask for the princess's hand in marriage.
"You're a bit late for that, mate," said the youngest prince. "Charlie and that giant -- what's his name -- oh yeah, Hagrid -- they decided to breed guard dragons a couple years ago, and some of the older dragons in the mountains got a bit peeved. They took Ginny off to their caves -- said if we took their eggs, they'd take our sister. We gave back the eggs but they still have Ginny."
The knight was not happy about this, but he left his gold at the castle and set off to confront the dragon and win back his love. He traveled for three days until he reached the mountains at the edge of the kingdom, and found the cave where the princess was held captive. The knight dismounted, drew his sword, and approached cautiously.
There was no dragon.
Instead, the princess was drinking tea with a thin, pale man who took one look at the knight's battered armor and turned up his nose. "Is this the best rescuer your family can afford to hire?" he asked.
The princess sighed and stole his scone. "We don't hire rescuers, Draco. This is Sir Harry, the knight I promised to wait for." She smiled at the knight, and it was like the sun bursting through a veil of clouds.
The pale man looked at the knight with a bit more respect. "You're Sir Harry? So you're the reason I haven't been able to convince Ginevra to run away with me."
The knight was a bit taken aback. "Erm," he said, wondering exactly who this man was.
"If you kill each other, I'll never speak to either of you again," said the princess. "I like you both, and you're both bullheaded enough to get along famously once you stop posturing." She hefted the teakettle with a meaningful look.
The knight and the pale man exchanged glances. "Right," said the pale man. "Let's imagine that we've fought and agreed to a truce. But I utterly refuse to live anywhere near that giant or your lunatic brothers. They have no appreciation of dignity."
The princess gave him another meaningful look.
"Excuse me," said the knight, "but are you implying that you're a dragon?"
The pale man sniffed. "Implying? I wouldn't stoop to implications around you -- I wouldn't trust you to have half the intelligence necessary to interpret them. Yes, I'm a dragon." And indeed, as the knight suddenly saw, he was -- his silvery scales gleamed in the afternoon sunlight as he flexed his wings. The knight nearly brandished his sword, but the princess swung the teakettle in warning. The dragon sipped delicately from the teacup in his claws.
The knight dropped into a spare chair and wished he could rub his forehead without taking off his gauntlets or his helmet. He'd thought he was done with adventures. All he'd wanted was to marry and settle down in peace. He hadn't asked for a dragon, let alone a dragon that his love seemed to have become attached to! The knight had a terrible feeling that his previous adventures were only a test for this.
Beside him, the dragon dwindled back into his human shape and the princess refilled his tea.
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