𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

Part 10

Wings Eclipsing Night
Part 10: Eggshell Wings
by KC

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Harry, Draco and all the rest; they'd do a lot more stuff than they do in the books and it'd all be rated R through X. Alas, however, I do not.
Other info: Post-HBP, dark!Harry, veela!Draco.
Summary: A little crack in Draco's cage.

Eggshell Wings

Following Harry like a candle in the dark, Draco heard nothing on the way to the Great Hall, only his master's footsteps. He wondered if Harry had a silencing charm on the castle, or if his master kept the hallways clear whenever his veela was allowed out of his cage. Draco decided to ask later, but only if Harry was in a good mood.

"We're here," Harry said for his benefit. He led him up the steps to the throne, guiding him to the floor. "Just sit and look lost and scared."

With a nod, Draco found his cushion by touch and sat. He didn't have the luxury of draping himself in Harry's lap, so he huddled against the throne and brought his legs up off the stone floor. Empty of hundreds of students and candles, the Great Hall was always cold, and his wings felt as if they were covered in ice. He opened his mouth to ask Harry for a warmth charm, but then the doors opened again and he had to turn away.

A dozen different footsteps came towards the throne, all of them heavy and important, but they slowed when they noticed that something wasn't right. Harry's pet, as they usually referred to Draco outside Lucius' hearing, always lounged against Harry's side, head in their lord's lap or on his shoulder, his wings clipped and still.

Today the royal pet looked broken. There was no other word for it. Draco held himself together, certainly, but his wings weren't gracefully curled. One lay caught between him and the throne, the other hanging open and dragging down his back. His head lowered as they came in. His shoulders slumped at an angle. And when they saw his eyes, his pure white eyes--

"There's no need to be afraid," Harry said, addressing his ministers.

Draco felt his master's hand stroke his hair, and he made a show of tensing up and making his wing fasteners clink. Keeping still was surprisingly difficult when Harry's fingers made him want to close his eyes and nuzzle in return.

"He's merely being punished," Harry continued. "Now, I believe you had some concerns you wished to raise? Changes you think are important?"

"Nothing--nothing as dramatic as that, my lord," came a nervous laugh that grew smaller and smaller. "Merely some ideas we'd hoped to bring to your attention."

"Yes," another said. "Suggestions, nothing more."

Draco frowned slightly. Being blind meant he couldn't match voices to faces, although he would've sworn before that he could recognize the purebloods without seeing them. Perhaps Harry had chosen a few mudbloods for his vassals over his father's recommendations.

His father.

Draco tensed. His father was here. He had to be. Harry had told him not to be late to this meeting. What did Lucius think about seeing his son like this? Bad enough he was a half-breed. How did his father stand looking at him like this? Lucius hadn't said anything yet. Did he even notice him?

"Come now," Lucius finally spoke in annoyance. "You said yourself you had to see our master on pressing matters. Surely suggestions alone aren't pressing."

"That--that depends on the suggestion, doesn't it?"

Snorting would have ruined the illusion, but Draco nearly let slip listening to their stammering. Judging from what Harry had said earlier, he imagined that these men had grown confident as weeks went by without numerous executions or imprisonment, growing comfortable with the power they had been granted. As his father had told him before, from time to time a king had to use force to show he was in control. It was a lesson Draco kept in mind, lest he prompt Harry to use force against him again.