One Ficlet, No Challenge
Title: A Glow to the Darkness
Summary: Lucius comes home after a battle, and enjoys the bounty he has been given. Written as a gift to lotrangel17.
Characters/Pairings: Lucius/Narcissa
Genre: Gen/Romance
Beta: None
Rating/Warnings: G
Medium: Ficlet
Word Count: 720
Can the Order post to Tumblr?: No, thanks.
Malfoy Manor loomed spectacularly ahead, the gates and trees before it covered in a layer of pristine snow. Lucius loved his home in winter, when the purity of white added a glow to the darkness. The juxtaposition was pleasing to him, and he had always had an affinity for the cold.
Coming home after a battle was his own little reward, when he could look upon the manor and smile with the anticipation of what lay within. His dear wife, Narcissa, awaiting his return. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, imagining her by the fireplace, perhaps holding a drink which she had prepared for her husband's arrival. Her hair, soft in his fingers, was nearly as white as the snow. That, too, was pleasing to him.
The gate swung open as he approached, having been charmed to recognize the arrival of its master, and Lucius swept through it quickly, savoring the gentle crunching sound of fresh snow beneath his boots. He appreciated the footprints it left behind, his claiming of Malfoy territory left for all to see. The perfection of untouched snow marred only by his own body, as though he were becoming one with the winter.
The sun had finally disappeared from the sky, and the timing only made the snow look more lovely, with the long shadows of the trees stretched upon it and the grey dim of twilight casting a hushed reverence over all. Lucius smiled as he took it in; his home, and he within it and a part of it, enjoying the scenery.
He saw a figure ahead in a long, dark cloak, and a slender wand casting the snow off the pathway in silver clouds of magic, with swirling flakes torn asunder and driven into the shadows of the bushes. Lucius increased the speed of his step, and came up behind the figure, slipping his arms around its waist and pressing his lips to its ear. "What are you doing, my dear?" he asked softly, ignoring the squeak of surprise from his startled wife.
"Lucius," Narcissa said, and her voice was a sigh of relief. She twisted in his grasp, her hands reaching for him, desperately clutching at his robes as she kissed him deeply, the kiss of a long lost lover, having found their mate brought home at last from the far away sea. She pulled back and stared at him, drinking him in, a gentle smile curving her lips as her eyes glittered with unshed tears of joy. "You're home."
"Yes, and I'm finding you destroying our manor," Lucius replied with a smirk, sweeping her soft, shining hair back. He kissed her forehead. "I ask again, my love; what are you doing?"
Narcissa looked down and around them, as though she had forgotten how she had come to be standing there, outside in the snow. "I was clearing the path," she said. "The snow has piled upon us while you were gone, and I wanted to make things easier for you, once you came back. I wanted to make a proper walkway for you."
"Ah, but darling, this is my proper walkway." He turned with her, one arm thrown back to showcase the scene, the heavy white expanse with nothing to mar it but a line of careful footprints, travelling through and reveling in the experience. "Do you not see the beauty of the snow?"
Narcissa breathed, pondering, and leaning heavily against her husband's embrace, staring with him into the dim light of evening and taking in what winter had brought to their land. "It does have a certain charm of nature," she said quietly. "I merely assumed you would not want to wet your boots."
"What better way to enjoy my homecoming," Lucius said, clutching her more tightly to him, "than to dry my wet boots with my wife beside the fire?"
Narcissa laughed then, and he spun her in a circle of delight, that he was home safe with her and they could still laugh together. He kissed her, fiercely, filled with love and happiness for the bounty that he had been given. A full life, with a war worth fighting, but with a home worth so much more, and never more appreciated than in winter, when he could watch the snow lay its blanket of beauty upon it.
Crystal/Hufflepuff/24 Points
Summary: Lucius comes home after a battle, and enjoys the bounty he has been given. Written as a gift to lotrangel17.
Characters/Pairings: Lucius/Narcissa
Genre: Gen/Romance
Beta: None
Rating/Warnings: G
Medium: Ficlet
Word Count: 720
Can the Order post to Tumblr?: No, thanks.
Malfoy Manor loomed spectacularly ahead, the gates and trees before it covered in a layer of pristine snow. Lucius loved his home in winter, when the purity of white added a glow to the darkness. The juxtaposition was pleasing to him, and he had always had an affinity for the cold.
Coming home after a battle was his own little reward, when he could look upon the manor and smile with the anticipation of what lay within. His dear wife, Narcissa, awaiting his return. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, imagining her by the fireplace, perhaps holding a drink which she had prepared for her husband's arrival. Her hair, soft in his fingers, was nearly as white as the snow. That, too, was pleasing to him.
The gate swung open as he approached, having been charmed to recognize the arrival of its master, and Lucius swept through it quickly, savoring the gentle crunching sound of fresh snow beneath his boots. He appreciated the footprints it left behind, his claiming of Malfoy territory left for all to see. The perfection of untouched snow marred only by his own body, as though he were becoming one with the winter.
The sun had finally disappeared from the sky, and the timing only made the snow look more lovely, with the long shadows of the trees stretched upon it and the grey dim of twilight casting a hushed reverence over all. Lucius smiled as he took it in; his home, and he within it and a part of it, enjoying the scenery.
He saw a figure ahead in a long, dark cloak, and a slender wand casting the snow off the pathway in silver clouds of magic, with swirling flakes torn asunder and driven into the shadows of the bushes. Lucius increased the speed of his step, and came up behind the figure, slipping his arms around its waist and pressing his lips to its ear. "What are you doing, my dear?" he asked softly, ignoring the squeak of surprise from his startled wife.
"Lucius," Narcissa said, and her voice was a sigh of relief. She twisted in his grasp, her hands reaching for him, desperately clutching at his robes as she kissed him deeply, the kiss of a long lost lover, having found their mate brought home at last from the far away sea. She pulled back and stared at him, drinking him in, a gentle smile curving her lips as her eyes glittered with unshed tears of joy. "You're home."
"Yes, and I'm finding you destroying our manor," Lucius replied with a smirk, sweeping her soft, shining hair back. He kissed her forehead. "I ask again, my love; what are you doing?"
Narcissa looked down and around them, as though she had forgotten how she had come to be standing there, outside in the snow. "I was clearing the path," she said. "The snow has piled upon us while you were gone, and I wanted to make things easier for you, once you came back. I wanted to make a proper walkway for you."
"Ah, but darling, this is my proper walkway." He turned with her, one arm thrown back to showcase the scene, the heavy white expanse with nothing to mar it but a line of careful footprints, travelling through and reveling in the experience. "Do you not see the beauty of the snow?"
Narcissa breathed, pondering, and leaning heavily against her husband's embrace, staring with him into the dim light of evening and taking in what winter had brought to their land. "It does have a certain charm of nature," she said quietly. "I merely assumed you would not want to wet your boots."
"What better way to enjoy my homecoming," Lucius said, clutching her more tightly to him, "than to dry my wet boots with my wife beside the fire?"
Narcissa laughed then, and he spun her in a circle of delight, that he was home safe with her and they could still laugh together. He kissed her, fiercely, filled with love and happiness for the bounty that he had been given. A full life, with a war worth fighting, but with a home worth so much more, and never more appreciated than in winter, when he could watch the snow lay its blanket of beauty upon it.
Crystal/Hufflepuff/24 Points