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rarepair_shortsTitle: Truth in Terror, Part II
Character Pairing: Lucius/Amos
Prompt: the horizon is near
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 963
Summary: "I don’t care if you’ve never killed, by taking this route you are a murderer. And I can’t associate with murderers, Lucius.”
Author's Notes: The eleventh fic.
Link to Prompt Table: http://briony-tallis.livejournal.com/34122.html
Amos crumpled, his hands over his stomach as he fought the urge to cough up his dinner into the grass. He had tried so hard to be a good Prefect, assisting first years and scolding delinquents, and now here he was faced with real trouble and he was powerless to stop it. The Slytherins would murder him if he showed himself, murder him as they wanted to murder the young Muggleborn Ravenclaw sitting helplessly before them. It was insane.
But how could any respectful Diggory stand by and watch injustice? Amos wanted to run away and hide beneath his covers, to avoid death, when in fact he would only live to regret such an act of cowardice. It didn’t matter if he weren’t quite clever enough to come up with a plan, not quite brave enough to leap into a fray; he simply had to do what was right.
His arm trembling, Amos lifted his wand and aimed at a tree across the clearing. Whispering the incantation, he sent a spark of electricity arcing over the heads of the Slytherins and crashing directly into the tree in a shower of fizzing sparks. Then Amos ducked behind his own tree and prayed it would be enough.
“What was that?” Selwyn stopped torturing the Ravenclaw boy and stared at the struck tree with narrowed eyes.
“That was no normal lightning,” Yaxley declared. “Someone’s here.”
Lucius smiled tightly. “Well, perhaps we’d better investigate, shall we? Selwyn, take your boys over there and see what you find; Yaxley, you and the others take this scum back up to the castle before we’re caught with him.”
“And I’m sure I don’t need to remind him to keep his mouth shut,” Yaxley snarled as he yanked the broken boy to his feet.
Amos clutched his wand so tightly he thought it might break, watching Yaxley and two other boys march the Ravenclaw past his hiding place. It was lucky they didn’t notice Amos, lying low in the bushes, and Amos wasn’t about to jeopardize his plan by cursing the boys directly. He could decide on a proper course of action later, in safety; for now, it was better to wait.
Lucius busied himself with putting out the fire and sweeping away the tracks of the others. Once everyone else had gone, and Selwyn’s group was busy examining the struck tree, Lucius lit the tip of his wand and walked steadily in Amos’s direction. “You can come out now,” Lucius said simply, casting light upon the bushes.
“How did you know?” Amos asked with a splutter, emerging slowly. But it was a useless question; somehow Malfoy always knew.
“I had hoped to keep this side of myself from you,” Lucius said instead of answering, glancing back towards Selwyn as he spoke. “Mostly just to keep myself out of trouble.” He smiled at Amos. “But I suppose we are now forced to address the situation.”
“The situation is extremely dire, Lucius,” Amos said, feeling his own familiar anger rising like a tide. He had been too frightened before, too dumbstruck, to be angry, but it was back now, and overwhelming in its heat. “You’re one of Them, aren’t you? You-Know-Who’s followers.”
“No,” Lucius replied, and his eyes were dangerous. “Not yet.”
“But you want to be,” Amos said, shaking, struggling to keep his voice down so that he would not be heard by the others. “You want to run about torturing Muggles, and Muggleborn wizards. You’re a murderer. I don’t care if you’ve never killed, by taking this route you are a murderer. And I can’t associate with murderers, Lucius.”
“Come now, Amos. You’re a Pureblood yourself, are you not? Surely you can see how we belong at the top of things. Muggles have been after us for ages, and their children are muddying the waters.”
“I can’t believe you can say that to me,” Amos said quietly. “I’m going to bed, unless you plan on torturing me like you did that Ravenclaw. I’m going to bed, and I’m not open to frolicking about with you anymore. I should have listened to you that first night on the train, when you said we shouldn’t speak to one another. When you said Hufflepuffs were beneath you. I should have known you meant decent people were beneath you.”
“I won’t hex you, Amos,” Lucius said silkily. “We’ve come too far for that.”
“And we shan’t be going any farther,” Amos replied, and walked away.
“Lucius!” Selwyn’s shout came from close by, and Lucius spun about quickly, hardening his gaze as he faced his fellow Slytherins. “Lucius, there’s no one over there. Did you see anything on your end?”
“No,” Lucius replied coldly. “Go to bed, Selwyn. Take your friends with you. I’m sure it was an anomaly of some kind, but I’ll make another round alone.”
“Shouldn’t we back you up, in case someone’s hiding?” Selwyn asked cautiously.
“Just leave me be,” Lucius replied, and the others left reluctantly. Slytherins never questioned Lucius Malfoy.
When he was alone, Lucius stood in the center of the clearing and looked out at the forest, the blackness of the trees amongst the gray of night. It had started as a game with Amos, a diversion from his school duties. It had been simply humorous to play with Diggory, to watch him grow flustered and angry with Malfoy’s harassment. But somewhere along the line, Lucius had actually come to care for the Hufflepuff, which was ridiculous, yet unfortunately true. It bothered Lucius to watch Amos walk away from him, to hear Diggory scathingly reject his plan to join the Dark Lord. Lucius could not see the horizon through the trees, but he felt it near. An ending was coming, and he hated how he felt about it.
Character Pairing: Lucius/Amos
Prompt: the horizon is near
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 963
Summary: "I don’t care if you’ve never killed, by taking this route you are a murderer. And I can’t associate with murderers, Lucius.”
Author's Notes: The eleventh fic.
Link to Prompt Table: http://briony-tallis.livejournal.com/34122.html
Amos crumpled, his hands over his stomach as he fought the urge to cough up his dinner into the grass. He had tried so hard to be a good Prefect, assisting first years and scolding delinquents, and now here he was faced with real trouble and he was powerless to stop it. The Slytherins would murder him if he showed himself, murder him as they wanted to murder the young Muggleborn Ravenclaw sitting helplessly before them. It was insane.
But how could any respectful Diggory stand by and watch injustice? Amos wanted to run away and hide beneath his covers, to avoid death, when in fact he would only live to regret such an act of cowardice. It didn’t matter if he weren’t quite clever enough to come up with a plan, not quite brave enough to leap into a fray; he simply had to do what was right.
His arm trembling, Amos lifted his wand and aimed at a tree across the clearing. Whispering the incantation, he sent a spark of electricity arcing over the heads of the Slytherins and crashing directly into the tree in a shower of fizzing sparks. Then Amos ducked behind his own tree and prayed it would be enough.
“What was that?” Selwyn stopped torturing the Ravenclaw boy and stared at the struck tree with narrowed eyes.
“That was no normal lightning,” Yaxley declared. “Someone’s here.”
Lucius smiled tightly. “Well, perhaps we’d better investigate, shall we? Selwyn, take your boys over there and see what you find; Yaxley, you and the others take this scum back up to the castle before we’re caught with him.”
“And I’m sure I don’t need to remind him to keep his mouth shut,” Yaxley snarled as he yanked the broken boy to his feet.
Amos clutched his wand so tightly he thought it might break, watching Yaxley and two other boys march the Ravenclaw past his hiding place. It was lucky they didn’t notice Amos, lying low in the bushes, and Amos wasn’t about to jeopardize his plan by cursing the boys directly. He could decide on a proper course of action later, in safety; for now, it was better to wait.
Lucius busied himself with putting out the fire and sweeping away the tracks of the others. Once everyone else had gone, and Selwyn’s group was busy examining the struck tree, Lucius lit the tip of his wand and walked steadily in Amos’s direction. “You can come out now,” Lucius said simply, casting light upon the bushes.
“How did you know?” Amos asked with a splutter, emerging slowly. But it was a useless question; somehow Malfoy always knew.
“I had hoped to keep this side of myself from you,” Lucius said instead of answering, glancing back towards Selwyn as he spoke. “Mostly just to keep myself out of trouble.” He smiled at Amos. “But I suppose we are now forced to address the situation.”
“The situation is extremely dire, Lucius,” Amos said, feeling his own familiar anger rising like a tide. He had been too frightened before, too dumbstruck, to be angry, but it was back now, and overwhelming in its heat. “You’re one of Them, aren’t you? You-Know-Who’s followers.”
“No,” Lucius replied, and his eyes were dangerous. “Not yet.”
“But you want to be,” Amos said, shaking, struggling to keep his voice down so that he would not be heard by the others. “You want to run about torturing Muggles, and Muggleborn wizards. You’re a murderer. I don’t care if you’ve never killed, by taking this route you are a murderer. And I can’t associate with murderers, Lucius.”
“Come now, Amos. You’re a Pureblood yourself, are you not? Surely you can see how we belong at the top of things. Muggles have been after us for ages, and their children are muddying the waters.”
“I can’t believe you can say that to me,” Amos said quietly. “I’m going to bed, unless you plan on torturing me like you did that Ravenclaw. I’m going to bed, and I’m not open to frolicking about with you anymore. I should have listened to you that first night on the train, when you said we shouldn’t speak to one another. When you said Hufflepuffs were beneath you. I should have known you meant decent people were beneath you.”
“I won’t hex you, Amos,” Lucius said silkily. “We’ve come too far for that.”
“And we shan’t be going any farther,” Amos replied, and walked away.
“Lucius!” Selwyn’s shout came from close by, and Lucius spun about quickly, hardening his gaze as he faced his fellow Slytherins. “Lucius, there’s no one over there. Did you see anything on your end?”
“No,” Lucius replied coldly. “Go to bed, Selwyn. Take your friends with you. I’m sure it was an anomaly of some kind, but I’ll make another round alone.”
“Shouldn’t we back you up, in case someone’s hiding?” Selwyn asked cautiously.
“Just leave me be,” Lucius replied, and the others left reluctantly. Slytherins never questioned Lucius Malfoy.
When he was alone, Lucius stood in the center of the clearing and looked out at the forest, the blackness of the trees amongst the gray of night. It had started as a game with Amos, a diversion from his school duties. It had been simply humorous to play with Diggory, to watch him grow flustered and angry with Malfoy’s harassment. But somewhere along the line, Lucius had actually come to care for the Hufflepuff, which was ridiculous, yet unfortunately true. It bothered Lucius to watch Amos walk away from him, to hear Diggory scathingly reject his plan to join the Dark Lord. Lucius could not see the horizon through the trees, but he felt it near. An ending was coming, and he hated how he felt about it.
