Ice Prince Lions Pride
Chapter One
The building was probably one of the most spectacular Ron Weasley had ever seen in his life, marble floors polished to perfection, high arches gleaming in warm creamy shades.
Malfoy Incorporated
Straightening the lapels down of his expensive Armani suit he sighed before stepping further into the lobby area unable to keep his face turning to take in every dimension of the first floor
The place was huge but then he expected nothing less from a Malfoy
Stepping up to the immaculately dressed blonde receptionist he gave her his most dazzling smile and what Hermione called his I'm a little lost boy look
"I'm here to see Mr Draconis Lucius Malfoy" he said matter-of-factly
The blonde gave him a vacantly bored look as though she already knew who he was here to see, he caught the slightly frosty look she bestowed and managed to choke back a laugh
Trust Malfoy to hire people who could give him a run for his money in the arctic category
"I trust you and Mr Malfoy have a pre-ranged appointment" she said her meaning clear, obviously something about Ron wasn't up to her par and he had the inkling feeling that he had been severely talked about
"As a matter of fact I do" he smiled lightly
The woman behind the desk couldn't hide her astonishment and again Ron suppressed the urge to grin he loved to shock people, it was one of his many traits that Hermione had always been telling him off for, his smile turned into a grin when he thought of his newly married friend
Who'd have thought that Hermione Granger would have ended up marrying Blaise Zabini?
"So if you'd be so kind as to point me in the right direction" he said good humouredly and she gave him a piece of paper
Office 1 floor 100
"And there's me thinking it wouldn't be big" he muttered sarcastically pressing the up button on the nearest elevator, the doors opened with a ping and the tall young man stepped inside
He smoothed his hands over his grey suit and ran a weary hand through his dark blonde hair, amazing what a bottle of what muggles called dye could do to the colour of your hair
The pinging of the door brought him out of his thoughts with a jolt and he remembered the reason he had come here
He spotted the office he was meant to go through straight away, it was flanked on either side of the huge doors by two large serpent statues each one with jade green eyes
Ron took one deep breath before knocking on the door
"Come in"
******************** *********************** ***************************
Draconis Lucius Malfoy was tired
He was sick of the huge amounts of work he took home with him every night, sick of feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders but most of all he was sick if the impeccably high expectations people had of him
Checking the large ornate clock that hung on the wall above his office door he frowned when he realised what the time actually was
Weasley was late not that he hadn't expected it
Just as that last thought entered his mind there was a loud knock on the door, exactly fifteen minutes after the allotted time they had been arranged
"Come in" he barked and the door opened hastily and shut with a silent click
Draco arched an eyebrow at Weasley's hair but other than that the man hadn't changed since the last time he had seen him two months prior to this meeting
"Well Weasley sit down surely they could afford to teach you manners when you lived at home" Draco drawled and noticed Weasley instantly bristled at his sarcastic tone
"Now see here Malfoy, it was you who instigated this meeting not the other way round so I'd appreciate it if you kept your unwanted remarks about my family and my upbringing to yourself" Ron bit out
"Instigated!..............my my my Weasley that's a big word for you. But as we have other more pressing engagement I shall let your knowledge of such a word slide" Draco replied but was unable to bite back the smirk that appeared on his lips
"Look Malfoy you either want the information or I walk out the door, I had a lot of rescheduling to do today because of your sudden urgency to meet and its going to take me a while to sort the extra work load out" Ron snapped his face becoming a most unbecoming shade of red "so either shut up and listen to me or stop wasting my time"
Draco chuckled
"By all means Weasley the floor is all yours"
Ron lifted his briefcase onto the oak table, Draco couldn't help but notice it was an incredibly expensive make and design and suppressed the urge to remark about it to Weasley who was pulling a folder from within it before snapping it closed seemed to be look slightly apprehensive
"Well here you are Malfoy I'm sure that you know better than I all the details within the folder but there is no mistaking it, it is most definitely him" Ron finished his voice rather hollow
Draco traced the man pictured on the glossy prints carefully with his fingertips as though caressing a long lost treasure
"Why was he not apprehended on sight" Draco questioned and Ron looked away
"YOU CANNOT LET PERSONAL FEELINGS GET IN THE WAY WEASLEY" Draco bellowed out making Ron squirm in his seat
"I still don't understand why you want him brought in so badly Malfoy" Ron queried his face impassive, he knew that he had been requested through private hire to locate and capture his best-friend but all the while he had been searching he never knew why
"Because Weasley if you would read the Daily Prophet you would know like the rest of the Wizarding world that our once national golden boy is a wanted man" Draco sneered
"Wanted" Ron gasped thinking he'd misheard "what the bloody hell for?"
Draco's head lifted up with a fire in his eyes and for once Ron was truly afraid of the usually emotionless man who sat before him
"For the deaths of Vernon, Dudley and Petunia Dursley and the cold blooded slaughter of Lucius Malfoy.....................oh yes Mr Weasley I intent to see him pay for the death of my father especially after what it reduced my mother to" he snarled and Ron continued to gape
He'd just delivered his best friend into the hands of someone who wanted him imprisoned possibly in Azkaban for something that he himself would have done in his place. But kill the Dursley's? he could never imagine him committing a murder against them no matter what they had done to him, he looked down at the picture Malfoy had discarded and gave a hopeless sigh wishing that once again he had been wrong..................but there was no mistake the young man in the picture was definitely who he had been searching for...........................the best friend he hadn't spoken to in seven years
Harry James Potter
**************** *************** ********************** ********************** ******************** ****************
Harry Potter looked if nothing else the worse for wear
After setting up his home in the shrieking shack he realised with utter desolation how totally alone he felt, the mass amounts of adoration he had received had once hindered him to no end.
Now he'd rather have been miserable while adored than miserable on the run
He never thought he'd see the day where the Wizarding world despised him for something he hadn't even done
It kind of made him realise how Sirius had felt when he'd been on the run for something he hadn't done either, the reigning fear that he would one day be caught
But thanks to Dumbledore, and professors Lupin, Snape and most of the other Order members Harry had been able to stay out of the public's sight for seven years and one step ahead of the Azkaban guards
He remembered when he had gone to see the Dursley's after much prompting from Lupin, the way the house had been in total destruction his chubby cousin's hand sticking out from the debris
His Uncles once purple face mangled from the fallen rubble, and his Aunts body still twitching her eyes staring at Harry as though he was the answer to all her prayers
"Arry" she gasped having difficulty speaking
"Need...............healing.....................Duddykins.....................Vernon..................dead" she couldn't string her sentences together
"So.....sorry Arry" she stressed "it's.............he's..................oh god" and with one last shuddering breath Petunia's eyes rolled back into her skull and she moved no more
He'd been so surprised when the tears had fallen gracefully silent from his eyes; he'd thought that he had hated them after everything they had put him through he knew that he had every right to. But when he had seen them watched the lights slowly fade out of his Aunts eyes he felt neither happiness or elation but a deep sadness that the very last of his family was truly gone
He was alone in a world that neither needed nor wanted him
He was still coming to terms with the fact that a world who he had done so much for could find him capable of such crimes he had been accused of
He hadn't even killed Lucius Malfoy but he wished to god that he had, he'd been a convicted Death Eater part of the clan who had taken everything from him. His parents, his godfather and now the last of his family that he had ever really known
Ironic really that people still disbelieved him after the whole saga with the return of the Dark Lord, when they had all thought he was barmy
Now that he had actually disposed of Lord Voldemorte it appeared that the wizarding world was quite happy to sit back and wait for his demise even if he was an innocent man
A knock on the door brought him from his brooding
"Come in" he said throatily and a grim looking Professor Snape emerged through the ram shackled door
"Severus" Harry said lightly and the other man gave a polite smile and moved over to make way for a slightly rumpled looking Professor Lupin who grinned when his gaze landed on a slightly rumpled Harry
"Moony" Harry gasped in delight and moved to give his new guardian a hug
"Glad to see you too Harry" Lupin wheezed finding it difficult to breath in the vice-like grip Harry had him in, managing to pry the young man away from him he dealt him a small smile
"So what brings you here?" Harry questioned "would you like something to drink?" he asked and both professors shook their heads in silent refusal
"Ah" Harry sighed "I take it that this visit isn't a social one?" he queried to which again he received simultaneous shaking of heads as an answer
His green eyes took on a note of apprehension, judging from the strained lines on both his ex-professors faces he knew that what he was going to hear was not pleasant
"I think you might like to sit down for this Harry" Lupin said quietly and on the prompt Harry found himself sinking into a slightly warn cushiony chair fixing both his ex-professors and newly appointed guardians a confused look
"You see Harry, Ron messed up" Snape said not one for beating round the bush
"What do you mean Ron messed up" Harry questioned not entirely sure he liked the tone Severus used when referring to his best friend who he had been unable to see for so long
"Well you see Harry Ron was to give Malfoy the pictures we created of you in the south of France to hopefully draw him away from the area so that we could move you to a safer location. But the pictures were messed up, instead of the created ones he took the few that we took locally by mistake" Lupin added and Harry still continued to stare confusedly at him
"What are you trying to tell me guys?" Harry questioned not able to grasp what both the men before him found so easy to see
"It's Draco" Snape finally cleared up "he knows that your back"
Harry gasped oh god, this was it everything that he had been hiding from was about to come shattering round his feet as his world began to dissolve
"Oh god he'll come for me I know he will" he cried out flinging himself out of the chair his eyes wild with fear
"He can't find out" he added beginning a maddening pace about the room casting desperate looks at the two men who did nothing but watch his motions
"Rest assured Harry Draco will not find out, only those most loyal to you know and I swear to you they would rather die than give Malfoy any power over you" Lupin ground out fiercely and Severus nodded his head in honest agreement
Harry seemed to relax a little under his guardians comforting words as they soothed him telling him that everything would be alright, but deep in the back of his mind he couldn't rid himself of the doubt
It was only a matter of time before he and his rival came face to face, and Malfoy finally found out what Harry was!!
Chapter One
The building was probably one of the most spectacular Ron Weasley had ever seen in his life, marble floors polished to perfection, high arches gleaming in warm creamy shades.
Malfoy Incorporated
Straightening the lapels down of his expensive Armani suit he sighed before stepping further into the lobby area unable to keep his face turning to take in every dimension of the first floor
The place was huge but then he expected nothing less from a Malfoy
Stepping up to the immaculately dressed blonde receptionist he gave her his most dazzling smile and what Hermione called his I'm a little lost boy look
"I'm here to see Mr Draconis Lucius Malfoy" he said matter-of-factly
The blonde gave him a vacantly bored look as though she already knew who he was here to see, he caught the slightly frosty look she bestowed and managed to choke back a laugh
Trust Malfoy to hire people who could give him a run for his money in the arctic category
"I trust you and Mr Malfoy have a pre-ranged appointment" she said her meaning clear, obviously something about Ron wasn't up to her par and he had the inkling feeling that he had been severely talked about
"As a matter of fact I do" he smiled lightly
The woman behind the desk couldn't hide her astonishment and again Ron suppressed the urge to grin he loved to shock people, it was one of his many traits that Hermione had always been telling him off for, his smile turned into a grin when he thought of his newly married friend
Who'd have thought that Hermione Granger would have ended up marrying Blaise Zabini?
"So if you'd be so kind as to point me in the right direction" he said good humouredly and she gave him a piece of paper
Office 1 floor 100
"And there's me thinking it wouldn't be big" he muttered sarcastically pressing the up button on the nearest elevator, the doors opened with a ping and the tall young man stepped inside
He smoothed his hands over his grey suit and ran a weary hand through his dark blonde hair, amazing what a bottle of what muggles called dye could do to the colour of your hair
The pinging of the door brought him out of his thoughts with a jolt and he remembered the reason he had come here
He spotted the office he was meant to go through straight away, it was flanked on either side of the huge doors by two large serpent statues each one with jade green eyes
Ron took one deep breath before knocking on the door
"Come in"
******************** *********************** ***************************
Draconis Lucius Malfoy was tired
He was sick of the huge amounts of work he took home with him every night, sick of feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders but most of all he was sick if the impeccably high expectations people had of him
Checking the large ornate clock that hung on the wall above his office door he frowned when he realised what the time actually was
Weasley was late not that he hadn't expected it
Just as that last thought entered his mind there was a loud knock on the door, exactly fifteen minutes after the allotted time they had been arranged
"Come in" he barked and the door opened hastily and shut with a silent click
Draco arched an eyebrow at Weasley's hair but other than that the man hadn't changed since the last time he had seen him two months prior to this meeting
"Well Weasley sit down surely they could afford to teach you manners when you lived at home" Draco drawled and noticed Weasley instantly bristled at his sarcastic tone
"Now see here Malfoy, it was you who instigated this meeting not the other way round so I'd appreciate it if you kept your unwanted remarks about my family and my upbringing to yourself" Ron bit out
"Instigated!..............my my my Weasley that's a big word for you. But as we have other more pressing engagement I shall let your knowledge of such a word slide" Draco replied but was unable to bite back the smirk that appeared on his lips
"Look Malfoy you either want the information or I walk out the door, I had a lot of rescheduling to do today because of your sudden urgency to meet and its going to take me a while to sort the extra work load out" Ron snapped his face becoming a most unbecoming shade of red "so either shut up and listen to me or stop wasting my time"
Draco chuckled
"By all means Weasley the floor is all yours"
Ron lifted his briefcase onto the oak table, Draco couldn't help but notice it was an incredibly expensive make and design and suppressed the urge to remark about it to Weasley who was pulling a folder from within it before snapping it closed seemed to be look slightly apprehensive
"Well here you are Malfoy I'm sure that you know better than I all the details within the folder but there is no mistaking it, it is most definitely him" Ron finished his voice rather hollow
Draco traced the man pictured on the glossy prints carefully with his fingertips as though caressing a long lost treasure
"Why was he not apprehended on sight" Draco questioned and Ron looked away
"YOU CANNOT LET PERSONAL FEELINGS GET IN THE WAY WEASLEY" Draco bellowed out making Ron squirm in his seat
"I still don't understand why you want him brought in so badly Malfoy" Ron queried his face impassive, he knew that he had been requested through private hire to locate and capture his best-friend but all the while he had been searching he never knew why
"Because Weasley if you would read the Daily Prophet you would know like the rest of the Wizarding world that our once national golden boy is a wanted man" Draco sneered
"Wanted" Ron gasped thinking he'd misheard "what the bloody hell for?"
Draco's head lifted up with a fire in his eyes and for once Ron was truly afraid of the usually emotionless man who sat before him
"For the deaths of Vernon, Dudley and Petunia Dursley and the cold blooded slaughter of Lucius Malfoy.....................oh yes Mr Weasley I intent to see him pay for the death of my father especially after what it reduced my mother to" he snarled and Ron continued to gape
He'd just delivered his best friend into the hands of someone who wanted him imprisoned possibly in Azkaban for something that he himself would have done in his place. But kill the Dursley's? he could never imagine him committing a murder against them no matter what they had done to him, he looked down at the picture Malfoy had discarded and gave a hopeless sigh wishing that once again he had been wrong..................but there was no mistake the young man in the picture was definitely who he had been searching for...........................the best friend he hadn't spoken to in seven years
Harry James Potter
**************** *************** ********************** ********************** ******************** ****************
Harry Potter looked if nothing else the worse for wear
After setting up his home in the shrieking shack he realised with utter desolation how totally alone he felt, the mass amounts of adoration he had received had once hindered him to no end.
Now he'd rather have been miserable while adored than miserable on the run
He never thought he'd see the day where the Wizarding world despised him for something he hadn't even done
It kind of made him realise how Sirius had felt when he'd been on the run for something he hadn't done either, the reigning fear that he would one day be caught
But thanks to Dumbledore, and professors Lupin, Snape and most of the other Order members Harry had been able to stay out of the public's sight for seven years and one step ahead of the Azkaban guards
He remembered when he had gone to see the Dursley's after much prompting from Lupin, the way the house had been in total destruction his chubby cousin's hand sticking out from the debris
His Uncles once purple face mangled from the fallen rubble, and his Aunts body still twitching her eyes staring at Harry as though he was the answer to all her prayers
"Arry" she gasped having difficulty speaking
"Need...............healing.....................Duddykins.....................Vernon..................dead" she couldn't string her sentences together
"So.....sorry Arry" she stressed "it's.............he's..................oh god" and with one last shuddering breath Petunia's eyes rolled back into her skull and she moved no more
He'd been so surprised when the tears had fallen gracefully silent from his eyes; he'd thought that he had hated them after everything they had put him through he knew that he had every right to. But when he had seen them watched the lights slowly fade out of his Aunts eyes he felt neither happiness or elation but a deep sadness that the very last of his family was truly gone
He was alone in a world that neither needed nor wanted him
He was still coming to terms with the fact that a world who he had done so much for could find him capable of such crimes he had been accused of
He hadn't even killed Lucius Malfoy but he wished to god that he had, he'd been a convicted Death Eater part of the clan who had taken everything from him. His parents, his godfather and now the last of his family that he had ever really known
Ironic really that people still disbelieved him after the whole saga with the return of the Dark Lord, when they had all thought he was barmy
Now that he had actually disposed of Lord Voldemorte it appeared that the wizarding world was quite happy to sit back and wait for his demise even if he was an innocent man
A knock on the door brought him from his brooding
"Come in" he said throatily and a grim looking Professor Snape emerged through the ram shackled door
"Severus" Harry said lightly and the other man gave a polite smile and moved over to make way for a slightly rumpled looking Professor Lupin who grinned when his gaze landed on a slightly rumpled Harry
"Moony" Harry gasped in delight and moved to give his new guardian a hug
"Glad to see you too Harry" Lupin wheezed finding it difficult to breath in the vice-like grip Harry had him in, managing to pry the young man away from him he dealt him a small smile
"So what brings you here?" Harry questioned "would you like something to drink?" he asked and both professors shook their heads in silent refusal
"Ah" Harry sighed "I take it that this visit isn't a social one?" he queried to which again he received simultaneous shaking of heads as an answer
His green eyes took on a note of apprehension, judging from the strained lines on both his ex-professors faces he knew that what he was going to hear was not pleasant
"I think you might like to sit down for this Harry" Lupin said quietly and on the prompt Harry found himself sinking into a slightly warn cushiony chair fixing both his ex-professors and newly appointed guardians a confused look
"You see Harry, Ron messed up" Snape said not one for beating round the bush
"What do you mean Ron messed up" Harry questioned not entirely sure he liked the tone Severus used when referring to his best friend who he had been unable to see for so long
"Well you see Harry Ron was to give Malfoy the pictures we created of you in the south of France to hopefully draw him away from the area so that we could move you to a safer location. But the pictures were messed up, instead of the created ones he took the few that we took locally by mistake" Lupin added and Harry still continued to stare confusedly at him
"What are you trying to tell me guys?" Harry questioned not able to grasp what both the men before him found so easy to see
"It's Draco" Snape finally cleared up "he knows that your back"
Harry gasped oh god, this was it everything that he had been hiding from was about to come shattering round his feet as his world began to dissolve
"Oh god he'll come for me I know he will" he cried out flinging himself out of the chair his eyes wild with fear
"He can't find out" he added beginning a maddening pace about the room casting desperate looks at the two men who did nothing but watch his motions
"Rest assured Harry Draco will not find out, only those most loyal to you know and I swear to you they would rather die than give Malfoy any power over you" Lupin ground out fiercely and Severus nodded his head in honest agreement
Harry seemed to relax a little under his guardians comforting words as they soothed him telling him that everything would be alright, but deep in the back of his mind he couldn't rid himself of the doubt
It was only a matter of time before he and his rival came face to face, and Malfoy finally found out what Harry was!!