A/N: Draco has a run in with one of the peacocks in his backyard. Warning for cigarettes? Is that really a warning?

Submission for:

Return of the Daily Weird Prompt Thing [Speed-writing Competition]: Lucius is a peacock animagus

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.


Draco walked across his backyard as quickly as he could while still looking unconcerned. His eyes darted all which way around him as he fiddled with the object nestled at the bottom of his pocket. He had been left alone today, as what often happened during his summer days back home. His mum had gone off to have tea with a friend, while his father was who knew where. But still, he couldn't afford for either them to catch him while he was doing this.

Eventually, he found himself in the back of his mother's flower garden, half-hidden by a couple of high, lush rose bushes. He pulled the object out of his pocket to reveal a short white stick.

Blaise had called it a cigarette, and apparently the Muggles used it to feel good and forget about their problems. Draco had only tried it once before he had boarded the train back home, and though he had the worst coughing fit of his life, he remembered the lovely tingle on his tongue which seemed to travel through his veins.

"It'll get better," Blaise had said, blowing a puff of smoke into Draco's face as they hid under the Quidditch stands with a white stick of his own. "You just have to keep doing it."

So here he was with the wind blowing through his hair as he studied the stick in his palm. He was about to bring it to his lips when there was a slight rustle behind him. He turned, his eyes wide and his heart racing, to see one of his father's albino peacocks strutting around the bush.

Draco scowled. "Go on. Get. You know you're not supposed to be in Mum's garden."

The peacock ignored Draco's voice and stepped closer to him, prompting the young man to step backwards. He had had a horrible encounter with one when he was younger when he had gone outside without permission, and he had developed a slight aversion to them.

"Go on! Get!" he shouted, making wide shoo-ing motions with his hands.

Instead, the peacock lunged for Draco's hand, his sharp tiny teeth sinking into the boy's flesh. Draco screamed, dropping the white stick to the ground as he drew back his hand, allowing the bird to pick it up and run away.

Draco gave chase, knowing if his parents found the stick, he'd be in serious trouble, but the peacock was simply too fast for him. It evaded the young Malfoy before it jumped onto the high wall which surrounded the property, giving him a very angry, disapproving glare. Draco let out a frustrated noise before he turned around and walked back inside, holding his injured to his chest. He had better things to do than fight with a stupid bird, and it'd drop the stick eventually.

Once the boy had disappeared from view, the peacock jumped down from the wall and transformed. Its long white feathers shrunk into the base of its spine. Its wings morphed into long cloaked arms. Its neck shortened and long platinum hair flowed down its back. Soon, it was no longer a peacock, but Lucius Malfoy, standing in the garden while turning over the white stick in his hand.

He had seen these before. Muggles got dependent on them and some ruined their lives trying to maintain the habit. He threw it to the ground and rubbed it in with his heel. His son would not succumb to some Muggle drug. He would search the boy's room later for anymore.