"Green Eyes" -- a Harry Potter adaptation of "The Frog King"

Green Eyes by lilian_cho
A birthday fic for why_me_why_not,
Beta: why_me_why_not
Rating: PG-13 (slash subtext for the guttery mind), Gen
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Draco, Harry, Lucius and Narcissa.
The work is based on: Grimms' "The Frog King"
Spoiler: Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets
Warning: ColorCoordinated!Draco, Blackmailing!Harry
Length: 2,182 words
Archive: please ask permission first

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made, and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.


Green Eyes
His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad

IN THE OLD times of the previous century, there lived a rich pure-blood family whose descendants were all fair. However, the current heir was so fair that he would not hesitate to hex the sun itself if it dared shine in his face—or anywhere on his skin, for that matter.

Close by the manor stood a great dark forest, filled with every Dark Creature imaginable. Under an old holly tree at the edge of the forest was a fountain, which was built the year the heir was born. The fountain was masterfully shaped like a dragon, down to each pearly scale, which gleamed in the faint light. The dragon breathed cool water, which was charmed into red as vivid as flames. The heir loved his namesake, which was as fair as he, as it provided a cool respite against the glaring sun.

On one very warm day, the heir went out to the edge of the forest and sat down by the dragon’s side. As his day had been dull, the boy took out from the folds of his robe a golden ball with silver wings. This golden ball commemorated the fastest capture in history: three and a half seconds. It had been in his family for four generations.

The golden ball was not his until he went to school in a few months, but the boy was bored and so had taken it down from the glass case in his father’s study. He threw it up high and caught it, over and over. When he grew tired of this, he let the golden ball unfurl its silver wings and fly away. The golden ball was enchanted to remain in his vicinity, and so he was not worried about losing it.

His hand still open, he watched the golden ball fly toward the dragon fountain, straight through the vivid red water, where it suddenly vanished. He stared into the dragon’s jaws, but the water was such a vivid red that he could not even see the roof of the dragon’s mouth, less so the bottom of its throat.

At this he became more and more upset, for he had not even had the chance to flaunt the golden ball. Sulking, he said, “The best robes money can buy. What use are those when I don’t have the fastest captured golden ball in history?” He then remembered that he would be deprived of a broomstick his first year in school. He started listing the injuries against his person when a voice interrupted his thoughts. "What’s wrong with you? You are sulking in front of a stone statue."

He whipped his head around to the side from whence the voice came, and saw a frog leaping out of the dragon’s mouth. The frog looked ordinary in that it had a thick, ugly head. However, the frog’s eyes were an unnatural green.

The boy brandished his wand in front of him. What was a talking animal doing in his family’s water fountain? Animagi could not talk in their animal form, and no Dark Creature took on the appearance of a frog.

"Don’t threaten me with your wand," said the frog. "I can help you, but do refrain from hexing me when I bring your plaything up again." It did not wait for the boy’s reply and dived back into the dragon’s mouth.

The boy absently noted that such green as the frog’s skin should not be allowed to exist in nature. He hoped that his House colors would not be that shade of green.

In a short while, the frog leapt out of the dragon’s mouth again. However, the golden ball was nowhere to be seen. The boy crinkled his forehead. If that filthy creature dared put the ball inside its mouth…

"Ahem," said the frog, clearing his throat and managing a half-croak. "There has been a slight complication."

"I should say so, green eyes," the boy snapped. "I don’t see my golden ball anywhere."

"Yes, that," the frog looked abashed. "I did manage to capture your golden ball, but I don’t have human arms, so..." It demonstrated by unfurling its long tongue to catch a lacewing fly darting nearby.

The boy looked properly horrified. "You touched my golden ball with your vile appendage! That’s a family heirloom, you green-eyed beast!"

Then, realization dawned. "You somehow managed to swallow my golden ball! Eww!"

The frog interjected, "It was an accident. I meant to hold your golden ball in my tongue as I swam up, but the ball had different ideas and flew down my throat. I almost choked on my own tongue."

The boy was not in the mood to listen to the frog’s problems in retrieving the ball. "Now what am I supposed to do?" Exasperated, he said, "The golden ball is enchanted to stay near me. But now it’s in your stupid stomach!"

"Take me with you," the frog said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "The ball ought to come out again somehow."

It watched interestedly as the boy’s fair face turned a few shades paler at that. The frog croaked loudly: once, twice. The boy resigned himself to the bizarre situation and ran home to the manor. The poor frog, having the enchanted ball in his stomach, was forced forward with invisible tendrils of magic.

The boy ran all the way to the sun room to find his father and mother, who were calmly sipping their afternoon tea. A house-elf materialized and set a place for him in his customary seat. Seeing the little golden plate of éclairs next to the golden teacup on its golden saucer, the boy was about to say something scathing regarding this latest choice of colors, when he heard a splish splash, splish splash, on the marble floor.

It bumped against the door and cried, "Oomph! Open the blasted door for me!" Instead, the boy hastily sat down to his afternoon tea, and was quite anxious.

His father saw plainly that he was violently trying to look innocent, and said, "Draco, what have you done this time? Is there perchance a giant outside who wants to whisk you off?"

The boy pouted at being found out. "No, father," replied he. "It is no giant but a green-eyed frog with the most disgusting shade of skin I have ever seen."

"What does a frog want with you?" His father cast disapproving eyes on him. He had told his son repeatedly to stay away from the forest. His wife always pointed out that it was his fault for erecting the dragon fountain near the edge of the forest instead of closer to the manor.

"Ah, dear father," the boy used his most cajoling tone. "Earlier this afternoon as I was sitting by the fountain playing, my golden ball flew into the dragon’s mouth." His father’s eyebrow shot up at the mention of the golden ball.

Unrepentant, the boy continued, "This talking frog then leapt out of the dragon’s mouth and insisted to bring the ball out again for me. He did not give me a chance to reply, but leapt back into the water and swallowed my ball." The boy shuddered at this. "And now he is outside there, and is pulled by the enchantment to my person."

In the meantime the bumping against the door had not ceased, and the frog cried, "You pale—oomph—pointy-faced boy! Open the blasted door for me! Is this how you repay me for retrieving your ball—oomph—out of the fountain? You vain spoiled brat! Open the door now or I’ll give you warts—oomph—all over your pure-blood skin!"

The boy’s eyes went wide at the threat. Then said his father, "An accurate assessment, don’t you agree? You do look rather pointy right now, but rest assured you will grow into your Malfoy features."

The boy looked torn between being anxious at the frog’s threat and being affronted that his father, of all people, called him pointy. One whole minute passed before his mother solved the boy’s dilemma for him. "Go and let him in, Draco."

He went and opened the door, and the frog hopped in with an accusing stare. It followed him, hobble by hobble, to his chair. There it sat and cried, "Lift me up beside you."

When the boy delayed, the frog grumbled, "I’m bruised all over because you slammed the door behind you. The least you can do is to lift me up." The boy grudgingly complied, noting that the frog did not look any worse for all its purported bruising.

Once the frog was on the chair, it wanted to be on the table, and when it was on the table it said, "Now, push your little golden plate nearer to me so I can eat also." The boy did this with a sneer, to his parents’ amusement. Whereas the frog enjoyed the divine éclairs, the boy could not bring himself to take even a single bite out of his favorite dessert.

At length the frog said, inclining his head to the boy’s parents, "Thank you for the afternoon feast." A slight tremor passed its body as it seemed to yawn. "Now I am bruised and tired instead of bruised and hungry." Giving the boy a significant look, it said, "Carry me into your room and make your bed ready, so I can lie down and take an afternoon nap."

The boy began to sputter with rage, for he abhorred the frog’s slimy green skin, which would defile his beautiful, clean bed. Not to mention that the frog’s complexion would look hideous against his silver grey silk sheets.

But his father saw this as a perfect punishment for the boy’s reckless behavior. Shooting his wife an amused glance, he said, "He is bound by enchantment to your person, Draco; he must share your bedroom. Unless you want to relocate to a guestroom?"

So the boy took hold of the frog with two fingers, for he loved the comforts of his bedroom more than he hated the frog’s skin. He carried it upstairs and put it in a corner.

But when he was in bed, it crept to him and said, "I am tired, I want to sleep as well as you. Sleeping in the dragon’s stone mouth is not the most comfortable experience." When the boy stayed unmoving, the frog threatened, "Lift me up or I will give you warts."

Then the boy grew terribly angry. The frog had stolen his golden ball, slobbered over his golden plate, defiled his two fingers, and now it wanted to defile his fair skin in addition to his silken sheets. He took the frog up and threw it with all his might against the wall. "Now you will have your sleep, you green-eyed monstrosity!"

But when it fell down it was no frog but a boy his age with beautiful, kind green eyes. "Whew! I was starting to think that the enchantment would never wear off." The green-eyed boy gave a disarming grin and handed the golden ball to the fair boy.

Then he told him how a boy wizard had hexed him for insulting the wizard’s pet toad. He spoke also that no one had broken his enchantment because all his friends, being animal lovers, would not throw him against the wall no matter how horrid he was. He said that this following school year they would attend their first year together in the school of witchcraft and wizardry.

With the permission of the fair boy’s parents, the green-eyed boy was now his dear companion for the rest of the summer. The fair boy was happy to have someone appreciate his beautiful treasures. He proudly wielded a snake with white scales fairer than his own white gold hair. The boy’s smirk turned into ecstatic laughter when his green-eyed companion started to hold a conversation with his snake.

After a few moments, green eyes turned at him with suspicion. "Draco, did you contemplate to feed me to your snake so that you can get your golden ball back?"

The fair boy flushed, and said, "Well, either that or dissect your brain for potions ingredient. But then I decided that I don’t want to touch slimy green skin more than strictly necessary."

His companion broke into mirthful laughter, which the fair boy soon joined in. The green-eyed boy shook his head in amusement, "Imagine me meeting such a utilitarian demise, just for making an unwise comment on a friend’s choice of pet."

Lowering the snake to the garden stones, he then stretched out his hand to the fair boy. “Coming?” Grey eyes met green eyes as the fair boy took his companion’s proffered hand. The fair boy smiled contentedly. “Yes.”

Then they went to sleep, and next morning when the sun awoke them, the fair boy’s parents brought them to the train station. Once at the welcoming feast, the boys impatiently waited for their sorting, looking forward to their seven years together at school. But that’s a story for another day.


*******

Vocabulary:
The dragon statue is an Antipodean Opaleye.
The Golden Snitch was the one captured by Roderick Plumpton (1889 – 1987) in 1921. A Seeker for England’s Quidditch team, Plumpton holds British record for fastest capture of Golden Snitch during game: three and a half seconds.

Resources:
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. “The Frog King.” Household Tales. Margaret Hunt, translator. London: George Bell, 1884.

Heiner, Heidi Anne. The Annotated Frog King: Part of the SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages.

Klein, Cheryl. “A comparison of the editions from the Brothers Grimm”

Author’s notes:
This is a birthday fic for why_me_why_not.

Please leave comments. Concrits are most welcome *g*

Icon art: The icon is a cropped image from the jacket of Stephen Mitchell’s The Frog Prince (Harmony Books, New York). The illustration is done by Christopher Wormell.

And see the real albino python, hatched by Ralph Davis.

Trivia: There is a specific, obscure Biblical reference in this story.

Read the answer here