[Fic:]Fulfilling of the secret Wish
Title:Fulfilling of the secret Wish
Author/Artist:
smirkingcat
Pairing(s):Remus/Draco
Prompt: a combination of: 2018 Nr 75: Romantic Christmas together; AND 2012 Nr 58: t else can you give a man who has literally everything? Remus struggles to find the perfect Christmas gift for his much younger, incredibly gorgeous and rich lover
Word Count: ~2880
Rating: PG
Contains (Highlight to view): *mentions of blood rituals with animal sacrifice; much fluff, not so much plot * Please warn for possible triggers and squicks.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: 1. Thanks to my beta F for being as helpful as only she can be, all remaining mistakes are my own. 2. Thanks to the mod for hosting manifest- Christmas would not be the same without it <3 For me this is the first year as an author on the fest, I hope I made it worth your while
Summary: Remus decides in the spur of the moment what he will give Draco for Yule. But he has also given it some serious thought.
AO3 Link:here
Fulfilling of the secret Wish
With a heavy sigh, Remus puts back the beautiful dragonhide gloves. The green is rich, and Remus is certain that Draco would love them, but he doesn't feel like buying them. This year he will spend his twelfth Yule with Draco and so far all the presents he has given to his lover were dragon related.
Certainly, Draco had loved going to Romania and flying a dragon. And finding the books with onethousand and one dragon stories had been a moment of luck. They had both enjoyed the three years when, alternating each night, they would read one of the stories. It has become such a habit that even today, they end their nights with reading to one another.
Or hot sex, that completely drains them as well.
Draco once asked him, which he prefers. Remus is still undecided about it, which Draco uses exhaustingly for some teasing.
With another heavy sigh, he nods good bye to the shop owner and leaves the specialty store. He has been with Draco for more than a decade, and even if he says so himself, he thinks he knows his lover well. Knows most of his little habits and oddities, the things that only are known to those living together. Like the fact that Draco easily gets out of bed, but then needs more than two hours for breakfast and grooming. Or that he likes to wear long cloaks inside, because it makes him mysterious. Remus also believes Draco dresses the way out of admiration for his late godfather Severus Snape, so he doesn't have the heart to tell Draco that he looks far less imposing and far more like a lost kitten. Some things don't need to be mentioned.
As for knowing Draco so intimately, he is well aware that Draco doesn't wish for much, and certainly not random items. Draco hopes for health for his family, which he likes to help along with his potions if need be; some quality time away from everybody, which they tend to get during summer holidays, and acceptance for the traditions of his family, to which most of them Remus has complied. However, as the Malfoy family is an incredibly old family that takes much pride in its extensive heritage, some of the traditions are hard to understand, even when he was raised a pure-blood himself. It doesn't help that his best friends have mocked, ridiculed and condemned every pure-blood tradition that there is. Sirius especially had hated the traditions involving blood or fire magic.
And though Remus loathes to admit it, some of that prejudice undoubtedly has rubbed off on him. His family had never been pureblood enough to know about the truly old traditions, and so his only source of information had been Sirius, since James' family didn't bother with tradition that much either.
Now as a researcher, he finds the traditions fascinating and interesting. The Malfoy family must be one of the last families to celebrate Beletane as a blood cleansing ritual and not as a sex-ritual. But it is especially the blood rituals he has troubles with, because of how much value the Black family put on blood.
Certainly, most of the rituals require their own blood, but Beltane for instance means also the offering of animal blood. The Malfoys use lamb for that. And the lamb is to be served as dinner later on, so nothing goes to waste, as back in the day when the traditions were first conceived, it would have been sacrilege to waste a good lamb like that. The Samhain ritual is even more objectionable to Remus. To prepare the property for the winter, a drop of unicorn blood is infuse into the wards in each cardinal direction.
As far as Remus has so far seen, the blood is already in Malfoy possession, and ever since the latest changes in the unicorn preservation laws after the war, Draco has had an extensive exchange of letters with the Ministry about his ritual. Last year, he started the communication back in May because, the year before, the letter with the Ministry approval only arrived on the day.
It angers Draco that he has to get approval for what was once considered a normal ritual every year, and he does so by grinding his teeth and a lot of stomping all over the house. Ever since a huge fight in their third year into this relationship, Draco has decided to no longer tell Remus about the rituals he and his parents, sometimes even visiting friends or extended family, are going to perform.
Remus can still see Draco, his cheeks deep red from anger, his hair tousled and his eyes on fire, as he complains about why the Ministry thinks they have a right to demand so many things from him because he wants to follow a traditional ritual. Remus has made the mistake of mentioning that he can't understand why Draco still bothers, if it is such a hassle. That some rituals may be better forgotten. The words Draco spewed in his face, he still remembers clearly.
"You are just like them, thinking just because it involves blood magic, and because it is an old ritual, it is a dark ritual. You don't even want to see what these rituals mean for me or my family, you want to believe in your books and your pre-formed opinion without ever being part of a ritual. I see that now, and I shall no longer bother you with my family rituals, and shall consider myself lucky that at least our more modern traditions do not cause you concern."
Ever since that moment, Draco has never mentioned a single ritual again. Usually it would be Lucius inquiring if he will be present for the ritual. And Draco would answer that Remus has other things to do. And that would be that. Except for the knowing look that Narcissa would throw his direction.
In an odd way, he now knows better than anybody else why Severus has become such good friends with the elder Malfoys. Though Lucius and Narcissa were older, they never judged Remus for his age, either in regards to them, as too young or in regards to their son as too old. It made conversation with them more interesting: Lucius has a deep knowledge about the Dark Arts and how to defend against them as well. But his approach is so different to what Remus has been taught. Lucius prefers attack as his first choice of defence. They often spend Saturday afternoon discussing various topics of their interest, or the latest books they have read, in the Malfoy library.
Narcissa, on the other hand, likes to talk about family. Not only about Draco, or the Malfoy family, but also about the Black family. And, in a way, it was nice talking about Sirius and his antics with someone who knew that Sirius was not all good, like Harry tends to pretend. It is also Narcissa who seems most disappointed when Remus is going to miss another Rrtual. But that is most likely because Draco simply refuses to acknowledge that he would even like Remus to be there.
It is only as he looks around again that he notices the jewellery in the shop window in front of him. He knows what Draco wants most of all. And whilst at the beginning he would have been aghast even considering such a thing, he has learned to come to appreciate the Malfoy rituals, even when watching them from the inside.
He lets his eyes slide over the jewels in front of him, already knowing that what he is searching for, he will never find here. No, he needs to go to Knockturn Alley, and either he will find what he is looking for, or he will find someone who can make him what he is looking for.
~**+**~
"I think I now know why there is so much dancing involved during the Yule season," Remus jokes lightly, while making another slow turn with Draco.
"Oh, dare I even ask?" Draco jokes back, overly dramatic.
"Of course you dare, otherwise you would waste away wondering what sort of enlightenment I did not share with you," he replies in kind.
"If you want me to call you a jester, you only had to ask." Draco rolls his eyes.
"Marauder, if you please, and do you want to know or shall I change the topic?"
"Oh, please tell me now, before we both have to suffer through more of this conversation. You are aware that this is a bit of a romance-thing, right? A young couple in love dancing? Or is this your way of telling me that the romance between us has died?" Draco replies. And though he tries to make it sound like a joke, Remus can see and smell the soft hint of panic in Draco.
"No, Draco, romance will never die between us," he reassures his lover first, and steals a quick, short kiss. "There is so much dancing because there is so much food. If I have to sit through tea, I think some of the buttons of my trousers may not survive this evening," Remus jokes cheekily.
Draco laughs softly, and it's the most beautiful sound; Remus can never get enough of it. "Now you did it, you killed romance effortlessly. But, sweetheart, let me reassure you, you still look like a fine man, and your scars still give you the rakish, daring appearance that makes it hard to take my eyes off you. I on the other hand, am the one who has to worry. Have you noticed that my hair is starting to grow thinner?" Draco whispers the last words.
It is such a typically Draco-ish answer that it is Remus' turn to laugh. "You are still the most beautiful person to me," Remus replies, adding a bit faster turn.
Draco shakes his head, mumbles a soft "dimwit" before he leans close to Remus, putting his head on Remus' shoulder, an easy grin on his lips. These were the moments, that made Remus' heart beat faster. The boy that always had everything had grown up into the man that makes Remus feel like he is the most loved and cherished person in the world.
They make another slow turn, and it takes Remus a moment to realise that the gramophone has already stopped playing, but neither Draco nor himself want to stop dancing. With a quick flick of his hand, he sets the music playing again.
"I thought that was our cue to go to bed," Draco speaks softly.
"You won't deny me one last dance, will you?" Remus asks, moving them around slowly.
"Never, but it must be close to-" before Draco could finish the sentence the bells of the Manor went off. "-midnight."
"Perfect," Remus replies and makes them stop.
He catches Draco's dubious look, but says nothing. Instead he reaches into his pocket and fishes out a small item.
Over the years, Narcissa has made so many hints that Remus is certain he knows how it is done.
"By the darkness of night-" he starts softly and is rewarded with a sharp intake of breath from Draco.
"-by the vigour of my blood, by the honesty of my love and the loyalty in my soul, I offer myself to thee," he goes on before sliding a hollow-looking white pearl ring over Draco's right ring finger.
Draco stares at the ring before he looks back at Remus, his eyes shiny, but his lips tight. "Are you even aware of what you are saying? Or did my mother finally get to you?" he asks, his voice raw.
"I am asking you if you would like to join with me in a bond of blood and soul," Remus replies, stroking over the ring on Draco's finger.
"You hate-"
"I don't hate them Draco, I never did, I simply did not understand. You didn't want to explain them to me. You expected me to just be fine with them whatever. But you are lucky, because your mother and, on occasion, your father, are quite good at explaining things you refuse to talk about," Remus answers, and moves even closer to Draco so that their lips are nearly brushing. "You have yet to answer me," he whispers softly.
"In the darkness of night, in the vigour of blood, in the honesty of love and the loyalty of soul, I shall take thee to be my bonded ceorl," Draco replies, before he kisses Remus' lips, his chin, his nose and his forehead.
With a sense of awe, Remus watches as the ring slowly takes on a red hue. Draco will wear it the next nine months, will continue to bleed into it, until the white has turned into a deep, dark red. In the end, the ring will be given back to Remus, as he will have to give his blood during the bonding. And though it was crude and archaic, in a way Remus could acknowledge the romance of it.
"I love you, you bloody wolf," Draco whispers, and tries to get another kiss off of Remus.
"I am not going to be insulted by you stating the bloody obvious, you know, brat," Remus replies instead, leaning a bit further away.
"Who wants to insult you? I just made a declaration of love, what were you doing, since you clearly were not listening?" Draco retorts, clearly getting annoyed by the lack of kissing and romance again.
"Thinking about you, it's all I do these days anyway," Remus replies, and finally gives in, and kisses Draco deeply, as he deserves to be kissed.
This entry was originally posted at https://smirkingcat.dreamwidth.org/127132.html.
Author/Artist:
smirkingcat
Pairing(s):Remus/Draco
Prompt: a combination of: 2018 Nr 75: Romantic Christmas together; AND 2012 Nr 58: t else can you give a man who has literally everything? Remus struggles to find the perfect Christmas gift for his much younger, incredibly gorgeous and rich lover
Word Count: ~2880
Rating: PG
Contains (Highlight to view): *mentions of blood rituals with animal sacrifice; much fluff, not so much plot * Please warn for possible triggers and squicks.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: 1. Thanks to my beta F for being as helpful as only she can be, all remaining mistakes are my own. 2. Thanks to the mod for hosting manifest- Christmas would not be the same without it <3 For me this is the first year as an author on the fest, I hope I made it worth your while
Summary: Remus decides in the spur of the moment what he will give Draco for Yule. But he has also given it some serious thought.
AO3 Link:here
Fulfilling of the secret Wish
With a heavy sigh, Remus puts back the beautiful dragonhide gloves. The green is rich, and Remus is certain that Draco would love them, but he doesn't feel like buying them. This year he will spend his twelfth Yule with Draco and so far all the presents he has given to his lover were dragon related.
Certainly, Draco had loved going to Romania and flying a dragon. And finding the books with onethousand and one dragon stories had been a moment of luck. They had both enjoyed the three years when, alternating each night, they would read one of the stories. It has become such a habit that even today, they end their nights with reading to one another.
Or hot sex, that completely drains them as well.
Draco once asked him, which he prefers. Remus is still undecided about it, which Draco uses exhaustingly for some teasing.
With another heavy sigh, he nods good bye to the shop owner and leaves the specialty store. He has been with Draco for more than a decade, and even if he says so himself, he thinks he knows his lover well. Knows most of his little habits and oddities, the things that only are known to those living together. Like the fact that Draco easily gets out of bed, but then needs more than two hours for breakfast and grooming. Or that he likes to wear long cloaks inside, because it makes him mysterious. Remus also believes Draco dresses the way out of admiration for his late godfather Severus Snape, so he doesn't have the heart to tell Draco that he looks far less imposing and far more like a lost kitten. Some things don't need to be mentioned.
As for knowing Draco so intimately, he is well aware that Draco doesn't wish for much, and certainly not random items. Draco hopes for health for his family, which he likes to help along with his potions if need be; some quality time away from everybody, which they tend to get during summer holidays, and acceptance for the traditions of his family, to which most of them Remus has complied. However, as the Malfoy family is an incredibly old family that takes much pride in its extensive heritage, some of the traditions are hard to understand, even when he was raised a pure-blood himself. It doesn't help that his best friends have mocked, ridiculed and condemned every pure-blood tradition that there is. Sirius especially had hated the traditions involving blood or fire magic.
And though Remus loathes to admit it, some of that prejudice undoubtedly has rubbed off on him. His family had never been pureblood enough to know about the truly old traditions, and so his only source of information had been Sirius, since James' family didn't bother with tradition that much either.
Now as a researcher, he finds the traditions fascinating and interesting. The Malfoy family must be one of the last families to celebrate Beletane as a blood cleansing ritual and not as a sex-ritual. But it is especially the blood rituals he has troubles with, because of how much value the Black family put on blood.
Certainly, most of the rituals require their own blood, but Beltane for instance means also the offering of animal blood. The Malfoys use lamb for that. And the lamb is to be served as dinner later on, so nothing goes to waste, as back in the day when the traditions were first conceived, it would have been sacrilege to waste a good lamb like that. The Samhain ritual is even more objectionable to Remus. To prepare the property for the winter, a drop of unicorn blood is infuse into the wards in each cardinal direction.
As far as Remus has so far seen, the blood is already in Malfoy possession, and ever since the latest changes in the unicorn preservation laws after the war, Draco has had an extensive exchange of letters with the Ministry about his ritual. Last year, he started the communication back in May because, the year before, the letter with the Ministry approval only arrived on the day.
It angers Draco that he has to get approval for what was once considered a normal ritual every year, and he does so by grinding his teeth and a lot of stomping all over the house. Ever since a huge fight in their third year into this relationship, Draco has decided to no longer tell Remus about the rituals he and his parents, sometimes even visiting friends or extended family, are going to perform.
Remus can still see Draco, his cheeks deep red from anger, his hair tousled and his eyes on fire, as he complains about why the Ministry thinks they have a right to demand so many things from him because he wants to follow a traditional ritual. Remus has made the mistake of mentioning that he can't understand why Draco still bothers, if it is such a hassle. That some rituals may be better forgotten. The words Draco spewed in his face, he still remembers clearly.
"You are just like them, thinking just because it involves blood magic, and because it is an old ritual, it is a dark ritual. You don't even want to see what these rituals mean for me or my family, you want to believe in your books and your pre-formed opinion without ever being part of a ritual. I see that now, and I shall no longer bother you with my family rituals, and shall consider myself lucky that at least our more modern traditions do not cause you concern."
Ever since that moment, Draco has never mentioned a single ritual again. Usually it would be Lucius inquiring if he will be present for the ritual. And Draco would answer that Remus has other things to do. And that would be that. Except for the knowing look that Narcissa would throw his direction.
In an odd way, he now knows better than anybody else why Severus has become such good friends with the elder Malfoys. Though Lucius and Narcissa were older, they never judged Remus for his age, either in regards to them, as too young or in regards to their son as too old. It made conversation with them more interesting: Lucius has a deep knowledge about the Dark Arts and how to defend against them as well. But his approach is so different to what Remus has been taught. Lucius prefers attack as his first choice of defence. They often spend Saturday afternoon discussing various topics of their interest, or the latest books they have read, in the Malfoy library.
Narcissa, on the other hand, likes to talk about family. Not only about Draco, or the Malfoy family, but also about the Black family. And, in a way, it was nice talking about Sirius and his antics with someone who knew that Sirius was not all good, like Harry tends to pretend. It is also Narcissa who seems most disappointed when Remus is going to miss another Rrtual. But that is most likely because Draco simply refuses to acknowledge that he would even like Remus to be there.
It is only as he looks around again that he notices the jewellery in the shop window in front of him. He knows what Draco wants most of all. And whilst at the beginning he would have been aghast even considering such a thing, he has learned to come to appreciate the Malfoy rituals, even when watching them from the inside.
He lets his eyes slide over the jewels in front of him, already knowing that what he is searching for, he will never find here. No, he needs to go to Knockturn Alley, and either he will find what he is looking for, or he will find someone who can make him what he is looking for.
~**+**~
"I think I now know why there is so much dancing involved during the Yule season," Remus jokes lightly, while making another slow turn with Draco.
"Oh, dare I even ask?" Draco jokes back, overly dramatic.
"Of course you dare, otherwise you would waste away wondering what sort of enlightenment I did not share with you," he replies in kind.
"If you want me to call you a jester, you only had to ask." Draco rolls his eyes.
"Marauder, if you please, and do you want to know or shall I change the topic?"
"Oh, please tell me now, before we both have to suffer through more of this conversation. You are aware that this is a bit of a romance-thing, right? A young couple in love dancing? Or is this your way of telling me that the romance between us has died?" Draco replies. And though he tries to make it sound like a joke, Remus can see and smell the soft hint of panic in Draco.
"No, Draco, romance will never die between us," he reassures his lover first, and steals a quick, short kiss. "There is so much dancing because there is so much food. If I have to sit through tea, I think some of the buttons of my trousers may not survive this evening," Remus jokes cheekily.
Draco laughs softly, and it's the most beautiful sound; Remus can never get enough of it. "Now you did it, you killed romance effortlessly. But, sweetheart, let me reassure you, you still look like a fine man, and your scars still give you the rakish, daring appearance that makes it hard to take my eyes off you. I on the other hand, am the one who has to worry. Have you noticed that my hair is starting to grow thinner?" Draco whispers the last words.
It is such a typically Draco-ish answer that it is Remus' turn to laugh. "You are still the most beautiful person to me," Remus replies, adding a bit faster turn.
Draco shakes his head, mumbles a soft "dimwit" before he leans close to Remus, putting his head on Remus' shoulder, an easy grin on his lips. These were the moments, that made Remus' heart beat faster. The boy that always had everything had grown up into the man that makes Remus feel like he is the most loved and cherished person in the world.
They make another slow turn, and it takes Remus a moment to realise that the gramophone has already stopped playing, but neither Draco nor himself want to stop dancing. With a quick flick of his hand, he sets the music playing again.
"I thought that was our cue to go to bed," Draco speaks softly.
"You won't deny me one last dance, will you?" Remus asks, moving them around slowly.
"Never, but it must be close to-" before Draco could finish the sentence the bells of the Manor went off. "-midnight."
"Perfect," Remus replies and makes them stop.
He catches Draco's dubious look, but says nothing. Instead he reaches into his pocket and fishes out a small item.
Over the years, Narcissa has made so many hints that Remus is certain he knows how it is done.
"By the darkness of night-" he starts softly and is rewarded with a sharp intake of breath from Draco.
"-by the vigour of my blood, by the honesty of my love and the loyalty in my soul, I offer myself to thee," he goes on before sliding a hollow-looking white pearl ring over Draco's right ring finger.
Draco stares at the ring before he looks back at Remus, his eyes shiny, but his lips tight. "Are you even aware of what you are saying? Or did my mother finally get to you?" he asks, his voice raw.
"I am asking you if you would like to join with me in a bond of blood and soul," Remus replies, stroking over the ring on Draco's finger.
"You hate-"
"I don't hate them Draco, I never did, I simply did not understand. You didn't want to explain them to me. You expected me to just be fine with them whatever. But you are lucky, because your mother and, on occasion, your father, are quite good at explaining things you refuse to talk about," Remus answers, and moves even closer to Draco so that their lips are nearly brushing. "You have yet to answer me," he whispers softly.
"In the darkness of night, in the vigour of blood, in the honesty of love and the loyalty of soul, I shall take thee to be my bonded ceorl," Draco replies, before he kisses Remus' lips, his chin, his nose and his forehead.
With a sense of awe, Remus watches as the ring slowly takes on a red hue. Draco will wear it the next nine months, will continue to bleed into it, until the white has turned into a deep, dark red. In the end, the ring will be given back to Remus, as he will have to give his blood during the bonding. And though it was crude and archaic, in a way Remus could acknowledge the romance of it.
"I love you, you bloody wolf," Draco whispers, and tries to get another kiss off of Remus.
"I am not going to be insulted by you stating the bloody obvious, you know, brat," Remus replies instead, leaning a bit further away.
"Who wants to insult you? I just made a declaration of love, what were you doing, since you clearly were not listening?" Draco retorts, clearly getting annoyed by the lack of kissing and romance again.
"Thinking about you, it's all I do these days anyway," Remus replies, and finally gives in, and kisses Draco deeply, as he deserves to be kissed.
This entry was originally posted at https://smirkingcat.dreamwidth.org/127132.html.