Some pictures are worth more than 1,000 words

[snowgall]

"That Picture" Scenes

The 'That Picture' flash fest at hd_remix has just ended and I am in awe of all the amazing stories inspired by Alekina's fantastic art:

 

He wants to laugh at the irony, he really does, as he lets Potter
brand his arm and override the dark mark with a new one.

credit (art and quote): Alekina

 

The old saying is that 'a picture is worth a thousand words', but in this case it was actually worth over 92,000 words from 11 different authors :)

I thought it would be cool to excerpt quotes from each of the fest fics of the scene which most closely resembles Alekina's picture. In order of publication:

 

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Like Diamonds We Are Cut With Our Own Dust by raitala, PG-13, 10,900 words

Harry casts on and on and the mark is burning like the night it was laid on me. The snakes rear and hiss and the curse-light they radiate reflects off the lenses of Harry's glasses. There is smoke too and a stench of burning flesh. I don't know if I am burning. It feels like it, but then it felt like it before and when I came round, there I was, whole, and my skin completely unmarred but for the mark.

My breathing is speeding up. I try to control it, but this feels so wrong, this feels like losing, and the sensations awake memories I'd buried deep of another voice incanting in Parseltongue and my own tears and cries and vomit.

"Hold still. Don't look." Harry snaps at me and letting go of my arm he thrusts my head aside.

Even through the turbulent misery the term 'wanker' swims into my consciousness. I will truly be dead when I can't muster an invective for someone who pisses me off. I am anchored by the familiar irritation with his dismissal even as I am by the warmth of his hand on the thin skin of the back of my scalp.

 

Unexpected Consequences by lauren3210, NC-17, 39,200 words

"Stop looking at me, I can't-" Harry cut himself off and turned into Draco. They were standing so close that their noses almost brushed, and one inch closer and they would be kissing. Merlin, how Draco wished they were kissing.

Harry set his jaw and let go of Draco's arm, lifting his hand instead to Draco's head. He pressed down lightly, but still with enough pressure to force Draco's head away from him. Draco felt Harry's fingers in his hair, thumb rubbing ever so slightly against the indent behind his ear, and he closed his eyes. He held his arm out for Harry, resigned to this happening now. His wand was in his other hand, but it was pointed at the ground, useless.

"Okay," Harry said, his voice wobbling slightly, and Draco had a moment to wonder if Harry was as reluctant to do this as he was, before he felt the tip of Harry's wand pressing against the inside of his arm. Words poured forth from Harry's mouth, and Draco could see the same blue-green light from behind his eyelids as the counterspell was spoken in a firm, confident voice. A small part of him wanted to laugh, because he was finally being freed. He'd gone from being under the thumb of his father to living in fear of the Dark Lord, to being ordered around by Harry Potter, and now for the first time he was really going to be free, when all he wanted was to crawl into Harry's arms and stay there forever. He couldn't decide if it was ironic, or just awful, terrible coincidence.

 

Give Anything to Laugh Louder by calypso_mary, NC-17, 2,700 words

"Stay strong, Draco." Harry murmured. "Just... don't look right now."

Draco looked at the floor, still tense, as he heard more hisses from Harry. Suddenly, a pain ripped through his arm and he cried out, eyes wrenching open as his gaze whipped to his arm.

"Fuck! For fuck's sake, don't look!" Harry planted his hand on Draco's head, forcing away his gaze. "Don't look."

 

Rise of the Phoenix by leontinabowie, NC-17, 6,400 words

"I'm using my wand for now," Potter explained as he withdrew it, "because I need the accuracy. It's for channeling the pure magic, only. By the way, this time might sting a bit."

Then he pushed Draco's head to the side and pressed his wand against Draco's Dark Mark.

Potter had lied; it didn't sting a bit - it stung a lot. The Mark felt like it was sizzling against Draco's skin, and he gritted his teeth against the pain.

Mehen slithered onto Draco's arm, looking up at his master. Draco spared Potter a glance, too; he was focused entirely on his magic, the green glow coming from his wand lighting up his face and coating his body like a mist. His hand on Draco's head was strong and powerful, holding him in place.

 

Decisions That Matter by aether_sprite, PG-13, 9,500 words

He stepped closer, wand in hand, and gestured for Draco to give him his arm. Draco did so, rolling up his left sleeve to bear the Dark Mark. Potter didn't even flinch, just raised his free hand and pressed it to the back of Draco's head, turning his face away.

"This might hurt. I'm sorry," Potter whispered. A chill ran up Draco's spine. This felt weirdly intimate, but in a good way. Much better than the Dark Lord's uncomfortably seductive hiss. "Levitas!"

Nothing happened at first and Draco tried to look to see if something went wrong, but Potter kept his head firmly bowed and his face turned away even as Draco could see him staring intensely at the Dark Mark out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, a screaming pain raced up his arm from the Dark Mark and Draco felt himself echoing it. Potter glanced at him worriedly and made shushing sounds as chairs scraped against the hard floor in the background.

 

Where Darkness Follows by alpha_exodus, NC-17, 12,000 words

Knowing that it's probably a bad idea to touch Malfoy with no explanation whatsoever, he decides to do it anyway. Feeling reckless, empowered, he stalks forward, slipping a hand into Malfoy's hair and forcibly turning that blond head away. He hears a small gasp from Malfoy, but the man doesn't resist - why? Nothing is going as he'd expected - Malfoy is being incredibly pliant, and Harry wants to curse because he honestly finds it kind of hot. But he's not supposed to be thinking about Malfoy like that, not now, not ever - only in dreams.

"Potter," Malfoy murmurs, but doesn't continue. Harry feels that he owes him at least some explanation for all of this.

"I'm removing your Mark," he explains quietly.

It's only then that Malfoy flinches. Why then, and not before? Harry doesn't know, but he's in too deep to stop. He steels himself, readying his wand, and looks down at the darkness that is Malfoy's Marked arm.

 

Whole by charmed310, PG-13, 1,500 words

'Potter, stop,' he says again.

But it seems Potter can't speak to him and he shakes his head.

They must go on.

Draco still feels the snakes writhing in his arm, and he hears Potter hiss angrily. Bright jade green light erupts from his arm with a scream that's not his, and he turns his head to look at his arm.

'No!' Potter shouts, and he's forcing Draco's face in the opposite direction, his fingers splayed over the back of his head to keep him from turning again. Draco stares at the floor to where the sweep of Harry's robes lies at his feet.

Pain stabs at Draco's arm again and he groans through his teeth. He wonders why Potter doesn't want him to look. Is it because the spell has indeed failed? Is it because his arm is even more grotesque than it was before? He should have set fire to himself when he'd had the chance, but he'd been too much of a coward.

 

An Aural Fixation by themightyflynn, R, 3,200 words

“Don’t stop, Potter... Don’t stop.”

He knew it was hurting; all of the removals had so far. Why Malfoy had to be having the reaction to it that he was, though, was beyond Harry. Lust swirled in his stomach when Malfoy groaned.

“What... What’s happening?”

Distracted as he was, Harry had missed the strange reaction the Mark itself was having to the removal process. He glanced down to see something begin to slither. Reacting on instinct when he heard Malfoy gasp in pain again, he let go of his elbow and placed his left hand on the back of Malfoy’s head, turning him away from the sight. Watching enraptured as a small, smoky snake slithered out of one of the eye sockets of the Mark, Harry was unprepared for what happened next.

 

Harry Potter and the Mysterious Portrait Painter (or How Harry Came To Realise Draco Has A Magnificent Arse) by create_serenity, PG-13, 1,600 words

“There’s a snake, Potter,” said Draco eventually, his tone suggesting he thought he was speaking to a very small child – or possibly just that he thought Harry was stupid. “And I appear to be wearing a waistcoat. And you are messing up my hair.”

“It’s not real,” Harry pointed out, slightly unsure what direction Draco was going in with this.

“Yes,” said Draco testily, as if this was simply a minor inconvenience, “but what are you doing?”

“I don’t…” Harry stopped, frowned and then glared at Draco, feeling that somehow he was being made a fool of. “Is this some sort of joke, Malfoy? How the hell am I supposed to know what’s going on? Go find whoever painted it and ask them.”

“Maybe you’re removing the Mark,” Draco speculated, apparently deciding to ignore Harry’s suggestion and fixing his gaze on the picture instead. “Or maybe it came to life somehow. Or maybe…”

“You really aren’t getting this are you?” Harry snapped, exasperated beyond belief that Draco was pursuing the point when he had no answers. “Listen very carefully, Draco. I. Didn’t. Paint. It.”

 

Harry’s Serenade by scarlet29683, PG-13, 4,400 words

Note: excerpt heavily edited for spelling and grammar

Harry took my arm, pointed his wand to the dark mark and spoke magic which I had never heard before. And it was some powerful and dark magic.

The green beam from his wand was held against the dark mark. Suddenly, my body went numb; in that moment my heart seemed like it forgot how to work when I saw there was something coming out of it.

It was two snakes.

Real snakes.

I heard Harry speaking Parseltongue to the snakes. I don’t know what he said but he looked so furious. The snake left like it had never been there. And my dark mark was gone too.

 

The Artist by lumosed_quill, PG-13, 1,200 words

The tip of his wand touches to my arm, and all thought vanishes.

There is only the sudden agony of transformation, something beyond pain.

I gasp, my elbow pulling into my side reflexively. I make a fist as the burn tendrils down to my wrist.

There is a sickening flash of green, the beginnings of a whisper. Parseltongue erupts into the air around us.

"Look away," he instructs.

But I can't. My skin is prickling with heat, and the ink is moving, the black siphoned into his wand even as the snake comes alive and strikes from my skin.

"Away, I said!" And before I know what he means to do, his hand comes up and pushes my head to the side, capable fingers spanning the back of my skull.

I pant and stare down at the ground, at how the magic reflects there in a rancid puddle. But I can breathe now. I feel my pulse through my whole body. I feel it in the unwavering palm of his hand, warm against me. He casts a spell I've never heard, and the steadiness in his voice soothes me instantly.

 

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Note: my previous rec list of Dark Mark removal fics were not inspired by Alekina's art, so I will be posting a new set of selected recs from this fest shortly! here.

 

Comments

[alpha-exodus.livejournal.com]

Oooh this was such a great idea! And you managed to do it without being spoilery or anything, either! It's so fun to contrast everyone's interpretations of the picture. <3

[frnklymrshnkly.livejournal.com]

Can I just say, your focus on numbers is so, so, very pleasing. This quote put a huge smile on my face and made me see yet another lovely layer to "that picture" and the flash fest it inspired:

The old saying is that 'a picture is worth a thousand words', but in this case it was actually worth over 92,000 words from 11 different authors :)

[snowgall]

Thanks! Yeah, trying to find an appropriate passage to quote that would evoke the picture without giving away any spoilers wasn't always easy ;) But I had fun doing it, and I like seeing the contrasts too!

Actually, I'm just fascinated by how many *different* stories came out of this fest. Some were dark, some were fluffy, some had successful removals while others had failures, some had Harry replacing the mark rather than removing it, some were 'meta' and some were mystery, and on and on. It was awesome!

[snowgall]

What a lovely thing to say, I'm chuffed :)

I tend to collect bits of data like this for my own amusement, and it's so nice when I find out that other people enjoy it too. So thank you!

[frnklymrshnkly.livejournal.com]

I think it's totally lovely, and I'm starting to wish that my brain recognised the value of data in a similar fashion--I know it's dead useful, but it seems a lot more fun than I ever gave it credit for...

[vaysh]

This collection of quotes is beyond awesome. You are the best, sweet. I have not time today to savour this goodness (*kicks rl*) but will be back. THANK YOU for being such an enthusiastic fest participant. ♥ ♥ ♥

Once we put up the Masterlist of the Flash Fest, is it okay to link to this post?

[snowgall]

Of course you can link to the post - thank you so much!

The fest was awesome, and was even better than I had hoped it would be :)

[alpha-exodus.livejournal.com]

Yes, too true!! Honestly, when I first saw the fest, I really expected a LOT of dark fics. But that didn't really end up happening in the end! This kind of thing makes me really happy because I really love seeing tropes twisted and turned on their heads, and this is a similar type of thing :D