Title: Pharo
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tigersilver Prompt: #100; Draco Malfoy is a 17th C. rake.
Pairing(s): H/D, R/Hr, BZ/GW, TN/PP, LM/NM, implied SB/RLSummary: It is some years after the Battle of Waterloo and peace settles leerily over Muggle England and the Continent. The Beau Monde is a glittering chandelier at which all the lights of the world gather, Wizard and Muggle, and for a gentleman of means and perhaps also title, there’s only a few items of importance to consider: the Season, the gossip and the perfect construction of one’s cravat,not necessarily in that order. However, the Viscount Malfoy’s papa has just been cruelly ruined, his fortune lost in a game of Pharo to the scurrilous Lord Voldemort, an elder rake with an eye toward rapid political advancement. The Viscount, darling of the Ton, faces a loss of face in the world of Polite Society, on par with the unfortunate Beau Brummell’s, and feels he must serve comeuppance to the villain, plus settle a few old scores along the way. Harry Potter, fellow veteran of Wizarding Waterloo and Malfoy’s longtime compatriot from their schooldays at Hogwarts, is of the decided opinion the Viscount goes much too far when he sets up a Pharo-Banque in his own drawing room, scheming to reverse his endangered fortunes.
Rating:NC-17Disclaimer: The recognizable characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and legal assigns; no profit is intended or made via this work of fiction. Credit is also duly attributed to the collected works of Georgette Heyer, specifically the novel ‘Faro’.
Warning(s): Explicit descriptions of sexually-oriented male-on-male behavour. Entirely AU & EWE. Bottom Draco.
Word Count: 34,000+/-
Author's Notes: This fic requires that your suspension of disbelief be left firmly at the coat check. In fact, don’t bother with any sorts of canon expectations or requirements: they do not apply here, except for in one specific case only (I hope): character. Literally, I’ve lifted the characters from HP and set them down wholesale and as I saw fit, right in the midst of the insular, extravagant world of the British Regency period and squarely amongst the Muggle Upper Ten Thousand. I’ve rearranged their pasts, their timelines (as well as a few Muggle events) and their futures to suit my nefarious purposes. Further, this owes a great debt to the Muggle author Georgette Heyer, author of Faro. Heyer was the acknowledged Queen of the Regency Romance; this is my homage, as I teethed on her as a cub. Not literally, of course! Prompter, I owe
you an immediate apology: this is set approximately fifteen years after the end of the Georgian era. My excuse is that I cannot, for my life, write convincing late 17th C. dialogue, forsooth, and the fic would’ve suffered. Please forgive me. I hope this suits as a replacement. Lastly, I owe an incredible debt of gratitude to the wonderful, patient Mods and my more-than-amazing, equally patient betas: My Patient Built-In Beta, the Demi-Goddess, the Wicked One and my Darling Spice Girl, Nutmeg (lonerofthepack, demicus, eevilalice and megyal), for their feedback, comments, and willingness to romp with me unimpeded through Almack’s and private gaming hells, Bond Street and Vauxhall. I cannot thank you sufficiently,
ever. NOTE: Pharo (aka Pharoah; Faro) is a card game in which much advantage is perceived to the players (or ‘punters’). The dealer (or Banquer, Banker, Tailliure) deals two cards at a turn from a closed box after shuffling, and bets (cheques) are placed and paid on those two cards dealt: one the punter’s favour and one the Banquer’s. The cards are kept track of by a cardkeeper, who ably wields an abacus-like device and also by individual tally cards, but there is much room for cheating on both sides of the baize-cloth table. The game was immensely popular with the nobility of France in the 17th and 18th centuries, and then spread throughout Europe and the Americas. Fortunes were lost and won on a turn of a card, and passions ran high and feverish. For more information on Pharo, please consult the sources listed at the end. Chapter titles used here are based on terms from the game, as appropriate. It is not necessary to be conversant in Pharo to read this piece; one only needs accept that gambling, particularly with card games, was perfectly acceptable and expected in the Regency Era.
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