amanuensis1 | Drabble Night, May 21, 2004

Four drabbles tonight. The theme was "Structures," as in houses or places or what have you.

Harry/Sirius, "The flavor of morning" (challenge by

sparrohawk)

Sirius has given Harry all the water in the pail, and his fever still won't break, and the scrap of cloth that was Sirius's shirt doesn't have enough dampness left in it to sponge anything. Not Harry's fevered face, not the wound in Harry's thigh with its now-sweetish smell, not the ugly red streaks starting to spread into his groin and torso.

He bangs on the cell bars for nearly an hour at a time, using the empty pail. Yelling. Pleading.

No one comes.

Five days later, a host of dead Death Eaters in his wake, Dumbledore finds them.

Sirius's presence, draped over the corpse, lips pressed to Harry's forehead, has kept the rats at bay.

Too blinded by tears to be sickened, Dumbledore brings Sirius out of the dungeon cell, and takes him to face the impossible, hateful morning.

Snape/Sirius -- Every force evolves a form. (challenge by

cluegirl)

"You cannot possibly sit down."

"Why not?" Sirius shrugged as he did exactly that, plopping himself down onto the floor of the dodecahedron. "Our wands aren't having any effect on the walls of this thing. Might as well get comfortable and wait for rescue."

"You cannot 'get comfortable' in this thing, Black! We've got a pentagonal space one-twelfth of the surface structure to stand upon in here. If you sit I can't--you'll be--"

"Touching you?" Sirius leered.

"Yes! A fucking pox on all Death Eaters who can count beyond three. A triangular pyramid trap would have accomplished the same thing and given us more standing room."

Sirius appeared to consider this. "But standing in a triangular pyramid, our heads would be awfully close together, wouldn't they?"

"You--! That's not what I--!"

Sirius snagged his robe and pulled him sprawling. "Shut up and give us a kiss."

Harry/Ron -- The beauty is that everything changes (challenge by

cluegirl)

"Your mum expects to see you under that, one day," said Harry in a quiet moment, looking at the gazebo.

"Yeah, well. 'Spect she thought I'd be under it before Ginny." Digging his hands deep into the pockets of his formal attendant's robes, Ron turned to look at his sister. He'd never seen a girl look more beautiful, in those white bridal robes of hers. From the way her groom's besotted smile never wavered, neither had Neville, apparently.

"Maybe--" Harry wasn't speaking loudly, but none of the guests were near--"Maybe another night we come out here. Just by ourselves. Your mum doesn't need to know."

Ron snorted. "For what? A private ceremony, or just a good al fresco shag?"

"Bit of both, maybe."

"You're an absolute nutter, you know." But Ron's smile said he didn't think it was a bad idea at all.

Snape/Draco: "You've got everything now" (challenge by

cursive)

"Very nice," said Snape, making a show of studying the Malfoy Manor entryway with his hand under his chin. "Of course, the front door will have to go. That crest. I might paint the whole door magenta, actually."

Lucius wheezed. Poor Lucius. Azkaban really had been hell on the man's lungs, hadn't it?

"You...!" Narcissa was ready to say more, but her husband's hand gripped her arm. "Not. Another. Word," Lucius snarled.

Draco, however, had words. "I always knew you were a bastard, Snape, but this tops everything. The ministry said we could stay if you agreed! You didn't have to throw us out!"

Snape smiled. "'Us'? Dear boy, you are not going. In fact, I insisted you stay."

"...You did?"

"Of course. The ministry terms guaranteed me a concubine. Lucius, Narcissa, you've overstayed your welcome. Good-bye. Tweezle, please show Draco the outfit he'll be wearing. With the corset."

"DAA-AD!"