By Any Means
Another random drabble.
Fic: "By Any Means" [FFN] [AO3]
Pairings/Characters: pre-Yaxley/Daphne Greengrass, mentions of Daphne/Lucius
Rating: K+
Words: ~570
Additional info: romance, cross gen, sequential, Next Gen era, 3rd person POV
Summary: Yaxley is bound to command the respect that Lucius does. Surely. Surely, one of these days… Why do the others still kowtow to Lucius…?
Weren't they the same?
Surely, barely anything separated them?
Always these thoughts cycled through Yaxley's mind. During their years at school, through their early years in the Dark Lord's service, through two wars—just as Lucius Malfoy had survived, so had Emrys Yaxley. Yet, despite Lucius constantly failing to please the Dark Lord, Yaxley was still not the Dark Lord's right-hand man.
Yaxley quietly snarled as Lucius and Narcissa said their greetings to their guests at this secret soiree. If anyone of the old crowd was alive, they were here tonight. Well, Greyback was missing, and the Lestrange brothers hadn't spoken with any of them in a long time, but Yaxley didn't care much. His eyes were following the target of his hatred.
Lucius Malfoy—he had it all. Despite running from the Dark Lord upon discovering Draco was alive, he still could lead a room with his charm. Despite having his family fall apart, he still spoke and chuckled as though his life were a model one. Despite Narcissa hating his guts, he had still managed to find a woman that adored him, fawned over him…
Yaxley wasn't quite sure he liked this Daphne Greengrass or wanted to serve her head on a platter to Lucius.
At one point in the night, Daphne did leave Lucius' side, and Yaxley stiffened, an idea forming. What if he didn't have to serve her head on a platter…? Though that would also be fun, Yaxley shook his mind of his murderous thoughts and sipped his champagne, plastering on a stunning smile.
Daphne came his way to grab a new flute of bubbly. Yaxley waited for her to notice him, and her eyes locked with his over the rim of her glass. She lowered it. "Good evening."
"Good evening to you, as well, Miss…"
"Daphne Greengrass," she supplied, understanding they had not been formally introduced even though Lucius had shown her off a bit to most of the others in the room.
"Emrys Yaxley," he supplied.
Something flashed in her eyes, and her hand was cold as he took it to kiss politely. "Are you enjoying yourself?"
Yaxley's eyes briefly darted from Daphne's face to Lucius', but she didn't seem to notice. "…I'm starting to."
Her expression hardened. "I know what the lot of you are like. I've been with Lucius for years—you aren't going to fool me with your pleasantries, Mr. Yaxley."
He frowned. "Dear girl, no one is charming you tonight. I know just as well as the next wizard in here that anything of Lucius Malfoy's is off-limits."
Daphne scowled. "I do not belong to Lucius, Mr. Yaxley."
"Could have fooled me," he snorted, smirking at her over the rim of his glass, taking a long, long sip.
It was enough. He could see the gears grinding in that pretty blond head of hers, her teal eyes dropping to the floor and seeking out Lucius. Perhaps she was already making connections—how Yaxley was just as dangerous as Lucius, as tall, as pale, as blond, as intimidating, as devilish…
Yaxley lifted his glass to her and smiled gently. "Have a good evening, miss."
Daphne looked back at him, her cheeks flushed with a bit of nice color in this cold room. "Have a good evening yourself, Mr. Yaxley."
Oh, he already was. Seeing Lucius' life starting to unravel was just the icing on the cake…
Nice. B) A little bit of desire, really…but who knows what will happen? This is like a prologue, a forward to a oneshot that was posted after this, "Coveted," so please read that, too! Will Yaxley get his way? Or will Fate intervene…? *to be continued, dun-dun-dun!* And I hope no one minded that I gave Yaxley a first name… -.-
Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!
~mew
2017 note: *lol* The Daphcius in me won out. :P As for Yaxley… "Coveted" is a favorite of mine, so go read it! :3c