Working for the Holidays - Nine
Jan. 8th, 2014 01:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alisanneTitle: Working for the Holidays - Nine
Author:alisanne
Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Word Count: 1010
Rating: PG
Challenge: Written for![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
dracoharry100/![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
dracoharry100's 2013 Christmas Challenge. Prompts: In a snowy forest/Woolly mittens/A Santa suit/Letter to Father Christmas/ Licking a...candy cane/ Reindeer/ Ice-skating. This is the next in my Working for the Holidays Series.
The other parts are: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, and Eight.
Warning(s): None.
Betas:sevfan and emynn
Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are not mine. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.
~
Working for the Holidays - Nine
~
Harry sighed. “I never thought I’d say this, but...I’m bored.”
Malfoy, who had purloined Ron’s usual desk, looked up from the book he was perusing, something to do with Arithmancy. “Perhaps the criminal element has decided they need a holiday, too?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Well, now that you’ve complained about it, something is sure to come up to make you regret saying that.”
Harry opened his mouth to respond to that when an interoffice memo whizzed in through the door and hovered anxiously in front of him. “Apparently I did speak too soon.”
“Ask and you shall receive,” murmured Malfoy. “Well? Are you going to open it or ogle it all day?”
Rolling his eyes, Harry plucked the memo out of the air and started to read. Half way through he swore.
Malfoy sat up straight. “What?”
“I hate cases like this,” Harry said, handing it to Malfoy. “That family must be going out of their mind with worry. And over the holidays, too--”
“She’s only been gone a few hours,” Malfoy said crisply. Summoning his robes, he stood and started for the door. When Harry didn’t move, he spun. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
Harry smiled faintly. “I didn’t think you’d want to come with me,” he said. “You’re not my partner, after all.”
Malfoy snorted. “Clearly I am this week. Now come on. The longer we dither here, the less chance we have of finding that little girl.”
Harry nodded. “Right.”
They Apparated to the girl’s home in Cheshire, and after spending a few minutes with her frantic parents, and after getting a description of the missing girl, conferred outside the house. “It’s possible she just wandered off and got lost,” said Malfoy, pointing his wand and doing a magic sweep for her presence.
“Or she was abducted.” Harry sighed. “But you’re right, we should start in a small area and then expand the search.”
Malfoy frowned. “It doesn’t help that the house backs up to that forest,” he muttered, gesturing with his chin. “One of us should search there, too.”
“We’ll both search there,” said Harry, tone firm. “If she was abducted, we’ll need backup.” He raised an eyebrow. “Plus, it’s regulation.”
“You mean you actually read something in the manual?” Malfoy smirked. “Colour me surprised. Right, into the snowy forest it is.”
The forest was eerie, if beautiful, reminding Harry of the Forest of Dean. They made as little noise as possible as they searched. Harry was almost ready to suggest they turn back when Malfoy nudged him and pointed. There, in the snow, lay a small, woolly red mitten.
“She came this way,” whispered Malfoy, picking it up. “This was part of the description.”
Harry nodded. “So it seems,” he said, still scanning. He squinted. “Hey, what’s that over there?”
It proved to be a scarf. Malfoy held it up and cast a couple of spells on it. “She was here within the last hour,” he said.
“Right.” Harry turned in a slow circle. “Patronus search?”
Slowly, Malfoy nodded. “Good idea.”
They cast, Harry’s stag and Malfoy’s wyvern dashing off into the forest. Malfoy smirked. “A reindeer, Potter? How...seasonally appropriate.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “It’s a stag, you berk. And what’s your anyway? Some sort of winged lizard?”
“It’s a wyvern, which is a species of dragon.” Malfoy huffed. “What else would I have?”
“Well I don’t know, do I--?” Harry froze as his stag pranced up to him. Reaching out, he touched it and it dissolved. “This way,” he said, pointing.
Malfoy nodded and followed. “I wonder where mine is?” he muttered.
Within minutes they skidded to a stop having come to a clearing. There, at the edge of a pond, sat a little girl, one red mitten on, the remnants of a candy cane in her mouth. She was struggling to put on ice skates. Behind her hovered a ghostly wyvern. When it saw Malfoy it dissolved.
“Katie?” said Harry.
Katie looked up from her task. “Hullo.”
Harry sighed in relief. “You’re parents have been looking for you, sweetheart. Why don’t you come with us and we’ll take you home.”
Katie’s eyes narrowed. “Mummy and Daddy say never to trust strangers,” she said.
Malfoy stepped forward. “You’re quite right,” he said. “But we’re Aurors, you can trust us.” He pointed to his Auror badge. “See?”
Katie squinted, then nodded. “I just wanted to go ice skating,” she said. “I asked Santa’s helper to get a message to him for me.”
Harry frowned. “Who?”
Malfoy coughed. “You mean the nice man in a shop dressed up in a Santa suit?” he said, shooting a warning look at Harry.
“You mean people really do that?” Harry asked under his breath. “I thought my cousin was making up stories to make me jealous--”
Malfoy’s eyes narrowed speculatively. “What did the man in the shop say, Katie?” he said after a long look at Harry.
Katie smiled. “He told me to write a letter to Father Christmas asking for them. So I did. And then I saw skates in Mummy’s closet this morning, so I thought he’d come early and I wanted to go skating so I took them and--”
Malfoy nodded. “I suspect your Mummy and Daddy will want to be there when you first go ice skating, however,” he said. Holding out his hand, he continued, “Now come on. They’ll be getting worried. We’ll take you home.”
“I love this bit,” whispered Harry as he and Malfoy watched Katie be reunited with her parents a few minutes later. “Makes it all worthwhile.”
Slowly, Malfoy nodded. “You’re right. It does.”
Turning away, Harry sighed. “Right. Back to the office?”
Malfoy pursed his lips. “Actually, I’ve an idea.”
“Oh?” Harry’s heart sped up. Something about the look in Malfoy’s eyes reminded him of his dream. “We really should report in--”
“If they need us they can find us.” Clasping Harry’s hand, Malfoy pulled him down the street. “There’s something we need to do first.”
~
Author:
alisannePairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Word Count: 1010
Rating: PG
Challenge: Written for
dracoharry100/dracoharry100's 2013 Christmas Challenge. Prompts: In a snowy forest/Woolly mittens/A Santa suit/Letter to Father Christmas/ Licking a...candy cane/ Reindeer/ Ice-skating. This is the next in my Working for the Holidays Series. The other parts are: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, and Eight.
Warning(s): None.
Betas:
sevfan and emynnDisclaimer: The characters contained herein are not mine. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.
~
Working for the Holidays - Nine
~
Harry sighed. “I never thought I’d say this, but...I’m bored.”
Malfoy, who had purloined Ron’s usual desk, looked up from the book he was perusing, something to do with Arithmancy. “Perhaps the criminal element has decided they need a holiday, too?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Well, now that you’ve complained about it, something is sure to come up to make you regret saying that.”
Harry opened his mouth to respond to that when an interoffice memo whizzed in through the door and hovered anxiously in front of him. “Apparently I did speak too soon.”
“Ask and you shall receive,” murmured Malfoy. “Well? Are you going to open it or ogle it all day?”
Rolling his eyes, Harry plucked the memo out of the air and started to read. Half way through he swore.
Malfoy sat up straight. “What?”
“I hate cases like this,” Harry said, handing it to Malfoy. “That family must be going out of their mind with worry. And over the holidays, too--”
“She’s only been gone a few hours,” Malfoy said crisply. Summoning his robes, he stood and started for the door. When Harry didn’t move, he spun. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
Harry smiled faintly. “I didn’t think you’d want to come with me,” he said. “You’re not my partner, after all.”
Malfoy snorted. “Clearly I am this week. Now come on. The longer we dither here, the less chance we have of finding that little girl.”
Harry nodded. “Right.”
They Apparated to the girl’s home in Cheshire, and after spending a few minutes with her frantic parents, and after getting a description of the missing girl, conferred outside the house. “It’s possible she just wandered off and got lost,” said Malfoy, pointing his wand and doing a magic sweep for her presence.
“Or she was abducted.” Harry sighed. “But you’re right, we should start in a small area and then expand the search.”
Malfoy frowned. “It doesn’t help that the house backs up to that forest,” he muttered, gesturing with his chin. “One of us should search there, too.”
“We’ll both search there,” said Harry, tone firm. “If she was abducted, we’ll need backup.” He raised an eyebrow. “Plus, it’s regulation.”
“You mean you actually read something in the manual?” Malfoy smirked. “Colour me surprised. Right, into the snowy forest it is.”
The forest was eerie, if beautiful, reminding Harry of the Forest of Dean. They made as little noise as possible as they searched. Harry was almost ready to suggest they turn back when Malfoy nudged him and pointed. There, in the snow, lay a small, woolly red mitten.
“She came this way,” whispered Malfoy, picking it up. “This was part of the description.”
Harry nodded. “So it seems,” he said, still scanning. He squinted. “Hey, what’s that over there?”
It proved to be a scarf. Malfoy held it up and cast a couple of spells on it. “She was here within the last hour,” he said.
“Right.” Harry turned in a slow circle. “Patronus search?”
Slowly, Malfoy nodded. “Good idea.”
They cast, Harry’s stag and Malfoy’s wyvern dashing off into the forest. Malfoy smirked. “A reindeer, Potter? How...seasonally appropriate.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “It’s a stag, you berk. And what’s your anyway? Some sort of winged lizard?”
“It’s a wyvern, which is a species of dragon.” Malfoy huffed. “What else would I have?”
“Well I don’t know, do I--?” Harry froze as his stag pranced up to him. Reaching out, he touched it and it dissolved. “This way,” he said, pointing.
Malfoy nodded and followed. “I wonder where mine is?” he muttered.
Within minutes they skidded to a stop having come to a clearing. There, at the edge of a pond, sat a little girl, one red mitten on, the remnants of a candy cane in her mouth. She was struggling to put on ice skates. Behind her hovered a ghostly wyvern. When it saw Malfoy it dissolved.
“Katie?” said Harry.
Katie looked up from her task. “Hullo.”
Harry sighed in relief. “You’re parents have been looking for you, sweetheart. Why don’t you come with us and we’ll take you home.”
Katie’s eyes narrowed. “Mummy and Daddy say never to trust strangers,” she said.
Malfoy stepped forward. “You’re quite right,” he said. “But we’re Aurors, you can trust us.” He pointed to his Auror badge. “See?”
Katie squinted, then nodded. “I just wanted to go ice skating,” she said. “I asked Santa’s helper to get a message to him for me.”
Harry frowned. “Who?”
Malfoy coughed. “You mean the nice man in a shop dressed up in a Santa suit?” he said, shooting a warning look at Harry.
“You mean people really do that?” Harry asked under his breath. “I thought my cousin was making up stories to make me jealous--”
Malfoy’s eyes narrowed speculatively. “What did the man in the shop say, Katie?” he said after a long look at Harry.
Katie smiled. “He told me to write a letter to Father Christmas asking for them. So I did. And then I saw skates in Mummy’s closet this morning, so I thought he’d come early and I wanted to go skating so I took them and--”
Malfoy nodded. “I suspect your Mummy and Daddy will want to be there when you first go ice skating, however,” he said. Holding out his hand, he continued, “Now come on. They’ll be getting worried. We’ll take you home.”
“I love this bit,” whispered Harry as he and Malfoy watched Katie be reunited with her parents a few minutes later. “Makes it all worthwhile.”
Slowly, Malfoy nodded. “You’re right. It does.”
Turning away, Harry sighed. “Right. Back to the office?”
Malfoy pursed his lips. “Actually, I’ve an idea.”
“Oh?” Harry’s heart sped up. Something about the look in Malfoy’s eyes reminded him of his dream. “We really should report in--”
“If they need us they can find us.” Clasping Harry’s hand, Malfoy pulled him down the street. “There’s something we need to do first.”
~
no subject
Date: 2014-01-09 03:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-11 03:07 am (UTC)And now the romance can recommence. ;)