Written for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition - Season 11, Round 5

Team: Holyhead Harpies

Position: Keeper

Word Count: 1,314

Prompt: The Pyramid of Giza

Summary: Harry and Draco take an accidental detour when look for an old Black relic in the attic of Grimmauld Place

Notes: It's been a long time since I've written Harry or Draco, so they may be out of character while I tried to wrap my head around this prompt, as I had nothing. Enjoy my nothing!

The Afterlife of a Pharaoh

Harry watched Draco peruse the scattered items in the attic of Grimmauld Place. Draco moved his lit up wand, causing the shadows to shorten and lengthen. Even with the small lights scattered about, it was like the room could never be fully illuminated.

"What exactly is it you're looking for?" Harry asked, looking at each item that Draco dismissed, his own wand glowing at the tip.

"Nothing nefarious, Potter." Draco looked over his shoulder at him, his usual smirk lifting the corner of his mouth.

Even after five years of a mutual understanding, old habits die hard. Especially when a former foe was looking through the relics of his maternal heritage, knowing that nothing good could be usually found in them.

Draco continued to the next set of shelves. "It's just something my mother said was here that belonged to her favourite uncle— a Muggle-lover, if you must know," Draco added the latter quickly. "He was always kind to my mother, which was in short supply when she was a child."

Harry looked at the broken ornament of a Demiguise Draco had barely glanced at, wondering why he still kept half the stuff here.

"This isn't a Black artefact."

That got Harry's attention. He tried to act quickly, grabbing on to Draco's wrist, but it was too late. Draco's fingertips grazed the edge of a miniature marble pyramid.

The familiar pull behind the navel still made Harry grunt out in discomfort, even after all these years of experience with Portkey travel.

"Harry!" a deep, gravelly voice echoed around them before they could adjust to their new surroundings. "You said you wouldn't be as long last time! It's been seven years!"

"It has not been seven years, Khufu," Harry said indignantly, still trying to stop the roll of nausea taking over. "It's been six and a half."

"You think because I'm in this tomb I cannot count the days? I assure you, I can!" Khufu's voice boomed around them.

Harry shoved Draco in the shoulder, causing him to side-step to keep his balance. "What is the number one rule of items in the Black household, Malfoy?"

"Don't touch anything you haven't seen before," Draco said along with Harry.

Harry gave him another shove, while Khufu continued to berate him for staying away so long.

"Ah, Harry! You have brought a friend this time!" Everything Khufu said seemed to be sharp, excited statements. "You are forgiven!"

"Where exactly are we?" Draco asked as quietly as he could while Khufu started to introduce himself.

"Oh, you're about to find out." Harry took a seat against the dark brown wall. "You may as well take a seat, you're not leaving for at least an hour."

Draco took a seat next to him, both of them cross-legged. Harry watched Khufu gesticulate wildly as he spoke, resplendent in white with a gold belt, as well as a gold sash that hung down his front, and a black and gold striped headdress.

"Welcome to my humble home!" Khufu finished.

Harry snorted. "Still using that one?"

"Harry, do not test me! Henutsen has been in a bad mood for the last eight weeks!"

"I still don't understand where we are," Draco cut in before Harry could argue.

"The Great Pyramid of—"

"And that's it!" Khufu cut off Harry. "Just that! The Great Pyramid!"

There was a silence as Khufu eyeballed Harry and Harry tightened his lips closed.

"Of Giza?" Draco asked.

"NO!" Some dust sprinkled off the ceiling of the large square room. "No Giza! It is the Great Pyramid and there are no others like it!"

Draco looked at Harry and Harry closed his eyes with a shake of his head. Draco took the moment to look around at their surroundings. It was a plain room, brightly lit with no visible source of lighting, with a large sarcophagus in the middle. The carved face was a poor representation of Khufu.

There was a cool breeze that didn't seem to come from anywhere that took the edge off the stuffiness. And not much else could be said for the room.

"Why is your tomb so… boring?" Draco asked, staring at the walls like he would find hidden paintings that he hadn't spotted before.

"Why are you so boring!" Khufu retorted.

"Khufu didn't quite catch onto that fashion when he died," Harry whispered.

"So you are a ghost?" Draco asked, half-looking to Harry for confirmation.

"Harry, who is this peasant you have brought me?" Khufu asked in the first normal tone since they'd arrived.

"Peasant?" Draco asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"This is my final resting place! The pyramid should be enough! It is enough! A tomb for my love and me!"

Harry's ears vibrated slightly as silence took over the room once more. "The tombs you're thinking of are…" Harry glanced at Khufu to find him watching them with narrowed eyes, "They're later pharaohs. The not-so-classy pharaohs."

Khufu nodded with an appreciative smile. "I hear the people out there, looking at my chamber, talking about Tutankhamun, like he was the only pharaoh! At least I didn't die without an heir! I produced many heirs! Good, strong heirs! With good bones!"

"Can I at least see the rest of the pyramid then?" Draco asked.

"You can, but not today," Harry answered. "You'd have to go through the Muggle entrance, and even that only takes you to the Grand Gallery, or a chamber underneath, which Khufu put in to fool anyone who tried to look for his sarcophagus."

"Only people of the magic come here! As I decreed!"

"By Portkey?" Draco asked Harry, now starting to look around for a non-existent door.

"Sort of. It was one of Bill Weasley's, but Khufu did something to it and won't fix it. As Bill is about to have a child, he didn't want it around the house for the moment."

"Which means?" Draco demanded, standing up.

"That you stay with me until I say so!" Khufu said happily.

"Not quite." Harry stood up as well. "The Portkey will pull us back anywhere between an hour to eighteen hours from arrival."

"Please! Sit back down! I have yet to tell you about my first wife!"

A distant scream could be heard from below them.

"Ah! She is still visiting my pyramid! I knew she wasn't really angry with me!"

Harry took off his jumper and made a pillow. "Don't mind me. I've heard about Meritites enough to feel like I've been married to her," he explained to Draco as he lay down, letting Khufu's voice wash over him.

An hour or four later, Harry woke with a jolt, his glasses skewed on his face, and Khufu was still talking.

"Sometimes my father takes credit for the pyramid!"

"I understand how that feels," Draco said earnestly.

"And if he tells me he built three of them, which is why mine exists, I will spit on his sarcophagus! Mine is a wonder of the world! Can he say that?"

"No!" Draco pointed fiercely at Khufu. "That is yours and yours alone!"

"Bonding, are we?" Harry asked, sitting up.

"We understand each other!" Khufu answered for them both. "Now I will tell you about my second wife!"

As a distant shout was heard this time, Harry sighed with happiness as he felt the pull behind his navel, the Portkey calling them back. They landed heavily on the dusty attic floor, the marble pyramid Portkey still on its shelf, looking very pleased with itself.

"So no touching the pyramid?" Draco asked, still lying on the floor.

"I wouldn't. Henutsen is lovely, but when she's angry… let's just say I still don't have a toenail on my right foot from the last visit," Harry said, flinching as the memory remained fresh in his mind, even six and a half years later.

"Understood. I never liked the pharaohs anyway."