In a High Place by wind rider

In a High Place

Read In a High Place

In a High Place

 

It was quite unnerving to hear festive voices and music one moment and be greeted by absolute silence afterwards, just in the blink of an eye. It was even scarier to look down the snowy slopes – and down, down, down, down, down – and find that flat plain was so far down from one’s current perch. And it was totally mind-boggling to find not the silvery rays of the moon in the sky, but *(1)the constantly-shifting whitish brilliance of something with no visible source at all. Lucius Malfoy, the proud patriarch of the Malfoy family, could not deny that he was utterly terrified in the present. Garbed in a blood-red set of formal robes, he also could not be more visible among all the snow and ice. Where was he? What had transported him away to this alien place? He had been striding towards the greater ballroom of his manour, where the annual Malfoy winter ball was always held, but suddenly he was here.

 

And he got company.

 

An invisible field of power encased him and dragged him off his feet, thankfully away from the precipice and towards—

 

A woman?

 

Granted, she was beautiful in the unearthly manner of a Veela, but… a woman? Not even *(2)Cissy’s insane cousin *(3)Bella was that powerful! This feat would place the strange woman even above the Dark Lord and what rumours said of Dumbledore! And why was he not attracted towards her like all sane males were towards the Veela?

 

Well, he could remedy this particular problem himself. Cissy was not here, and nor was Bella. (The latter was still languishing in Azkaban, thank Merlin.) And the woman’s hair was so beautiful, as if tiny stars were sewn into them, like what he found in her black eyes – so dark, bottomless, like the night sky…

 

— “Let go of my sister this instance!”

 

Lucius jerked back, slipped on the snow-covered ice-sheet and tripped over his own feet, sprawling gracelessly on the lightly-booted feet of the woman. He had not been aware that he had been released from the invisible prison, nor that he had been advancing on her, but he certainly had not yet touched any part of hers! He had been wanting to touch those cherry-red lips though…

 

A hand roughly jerked him upright. Lucius squawked indignantly. He was quite a respected – and feared – member of the Wizarding society, for Merlin’s sake! The ruffian had no right whatsoever to treat him as if he were a Mudblood!

 

Well, a ruffian with similar features to the woman but with much more aggression in his bearing, with a pair of sky-blue eyes currently glowing with fury and trained fully at him… (How could eyes glow so brightly?)

 

Before Lucius could muster any retort worthy of his title and position in the society, however, the strange – so, so bright – man and woman grabbed his arms. And without any noticeable change whatsoever, they were deposited on the middle of an airy but ornate palace-like room. (Were they Apparating? So seamlessly… But they did not look human at all!)

 

Lucius struggled immediately when he spotted two regal-looking persons sitting in throne-like chairs on the other side of the room, to whom his captors were dragging him right now. (Merlin! What was in their muscles? They were as strong as *4)Crab and Goylle without the bulkiness – and the stupidity!) What did they want from him? Money? Prestige? Vengeance? Well, he still wanted to live!

 

But perhaps, these scary people were just Fudge in prettier guises? He might be able to play his tricks on them. He was a Malfoy after all, and Malfoys were supposed to be cunning and resourceful – well, and not dragged like a filthy criminal like this, too.

 

“Let go of me!”

 

Still walking, still silent, not budging.

 

“Let go of me, please.”

 

No chance.

 

“Let go of me, please? I shan’t run away, I promise.”

 

He hated being reduced to begging and grovelling, but at least it achieved what he desired. And the word of a Malfoy was only as true as the owner intended, anyhow.

 

With a deep breath, Lucius Malfoy straightened and strode confidently towards the thrones, trying not to think that he was walking to his doom. When he was near enough, he opened his mouth, about to greet the important-looking people sitting before him with the niceties he always showered the Minister of Magic. But before he could do so, his male captor bowed to the two personages and spoke up first. “Lord Manwë, Lady Varda, Ilmarë found this stranger on the side-yard before I came. He was ogling my sister and thinking most discourteously of her when I arrived.”

 

Then the woman piped in, “He is a most puzzling enigma, my lady, my lord. He did not seem to know where he was and did not look and behave like any of the Firstborn. We were afraid that he might be an agent created by Lord Melkor’s servants to lure us into a sense of false security.”

 

What?!! Sense of false security?!! He was not weak at all! Lucius Abraxas Malfoy had blackmailed and tortured and raped countless Muggles and Mudblood during the Dark Lord’s first reign! People hated and feared his name as well as the sight of him. He was a threat and proud of it.

 

His train of righteous thoughts ground into a halt when the male sitting on the right-side throne spoke up. In fact, his mind floated into a sea of blankness when the pale-blue eyes of the man regarded him with steady scrutiny. And when the man spoke in the lilting dialect that these people seemed to have, Lucius was entranced as if by the luring song of the Siren-flower. “He has much darkness in him and he is proud of it, but I do not think that he belongs to my brother Melkor. In fact, I think he does not belong to this time at all. We should send him back to his own time and modify his memory.”

 

On the phrase “modify his memory,” however, Lucius snapped back to awareness and bristled. “I’d have you know that you cannot just tamper with my memories, Sir!” he sniped in his most intimidating manner, straightening up stiffly and glowering at the man on the throne. “Do you know who I am? I’m Lucius Malfoy, and I can make your life and the life of your family miserable, even without help from the Dark Lord. Now return me back to my manour with no funny business, and I might be inclined to forgive you.” How dare those creatures even think of messing up with his mind? He would make their kin from seventh generation to seventh cousin-removed regret the day they had been spawned! He would… He would…

 

The steady gaze latched onto his own never faltered nor changed, and Lucius found it highly disconcerting. He got more and more apprehensive when the man rose from his throne and calmly, slowly approached him. In fact, if he had no sliver of pride left, he would have wetted himself. As it was, he was shaking incontrollably when the man stopped right in front of him like a looming bird of prey, still saying nothing.

 

And also in mute, the man raised his right hand and lightly touched his temple with a fingertip. Lucius’s world spiralled into darkness, and he woke up an indeterminate time later still striding towards the ballroom in his manour.

 

Not knowing why, he quickly strode back to his living quarters and shed his confusingly snow-soaked, snow-flaked robes. Afterwards, without further ado, he crawled into his bed and hid under his blankets, shivering away the night. Not even a befuddled Narcissa Malfoy could coax him to hosting the annual ball.

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Chapter End Notes

*(1) Borrowed from Philosopher at Large’s description of how the Trees shone in the sky and sprinkled with the author’s own imagination of those primordial lights.
*(2) & *(3) Narcissa and Bellatrix, respectively, as shown in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
*(4) The Crab and Goylle Senior, of course. Lucius might be able to shrug off their juniors with some effort.
Author’s Notes: I’m sorry if this fic doesn’t satisfy you. I’ve been racing to finish the prompt and my fingers had a mind on their own; I didn’t pay much attention to what I was writing. But I hope to better this (perhaps with help of a beta-reader?) when this crazy month is over. Still, I hope you enjoyed it