Topic 5 ~ Missing you

[WhittyLeah]

Welcome to the fifth drabble thread in Remus's Reflections. This is the place you post drabbles about the topic posted. The topic is something both important and significant to the world around us and to the Harry Potter-verse.

Please keep drabbles under a PG-13 rating and remember that everyone doesn't have the same views, so be respectful.

Also, remember that DH spoilers must be preceded by a clear warning. If you have questions about what may be a spoiler and what may not then drop me a PM (or MithrilQuill) and we will help you.

When posting a drabble use this form:

Name:
House:
Title:
Warnings: (DH Spoilers, for example)
Word count:

If you wish to respond to another drabble in this thread use this form:

Name:
House:
Title:
Drabble you’re responding to: (title and original author)
Why? (what inspired you to respond to it, what did you like most about it, etc)
Warnings:
Words:

This thread's topic is: The loss of a loved one.

Thank you, TiaBlue , for the topic idea.

Happy drabbling!

[harrypotterfangirl21]

Name: harrypotterfangirl21
House: Gryffindor
Title: Keep Fighting
Warnings: DH Spoilers, Character Death
Word count: 360

“No,” he whispered. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true. “NO!” his whisper turned into a scream of pure agony as he fell to his knees.

But it wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. His brother couldn’t have died; it simply wasn’t possible… yet the body that lay on the table was all the proof needed.

The grief coursed through his veins; made him want to scream, to hit, to kill whoever had done this.

A hand was on his shoulder, soft and caring, and he looked up. His mother stood there, looking at her fallen son, tears falling thick and fast down her face; her worst fear realised. A child was dead. It was in that moment he realised that he was crying as well.

For in the one moment he had died, George had lost his twin, his partner in mischief, his best friend. And the realisation slowly dawned on him: No matter how many people he hurt, no matter how much he screamed his name, Fred wasn’t coming back.

It’s not fair, George thought. Fred had been much too young, much too happy to be dead. Dead… George still couldn’t comprehend the thought.

The war had taken so much from him. His ear, his brother… what would it take next? His mother? His father? Himself?

And what would happen to the joke shop, the one ray of sunshine in the nighttime that the war had created? They had worked so hard on it together, trying not to let the darkness win.

And in that moment, the reality of the situation sunk in: Never again would Fred laugh. Never again would the twins finish each other’s sentences. There was no more “Fred and George”. Now it was just Fred, left alone, all alone.

A sob wrenched George’s body as he looked at his dead twin, his vision blurred from the tears that he shed.

But then he remembered the promise he and Fred had made to each other when they joined the Order: “Keep fighting, no matter what.”

George shakily got to his feet. He wouldn’t let Fred down.

“I’ll keep fighting, Fred,” George said softly, “I promise.”

This is my first drabble *ever*, so thoughts are appreciated.

MQ says: 3 points to Gryffindor!

[Gin_Drinka]

*wanders back in to write drabbles after almost two months of nothing*

Title: Tomatoe Seeds
Name: Gin_Drinka
Word Count: 492
House: Hufflepuff
Rating: 1st-2nd years
Warnings: None

He was back for the first time in more than twenty years, sitting in the chair his father used to sit in, at the head of the table. The head of the family. Now, there was no family left to scold him for taking his father’s seat.

“I hate being back here,” Sirius confessed quietly. “This place is haunted.”

Remus chuckled. “Everywhere is haunted, Sirius.” He put a plate of hot food in front of his friend, and sat down to his own. “I thought you’d be used to that by now.”

Sirius appreciated the grey mood; neither black, neither light. “I guess we’ve just said too many goodbyes.”

Remus nodded heavily his agreement, pushing his steaming food around on his plate.

“I see you haven’t changed one bit.” Sirius smirked, looking a little more like himself. “You always took forever to start eating.”

“And you, my friend,” Remus smirked back, “always ate enough for the four of us.”

Sirius barked with laughter for a while. “Touché!” He stuffed another forkful in his mouth before saying, “James was always the picky-eater. Remember, he would take the seeds out of the tomatoes, or else he refused to eat it?”

Remus wore the same nostalgic look as his friend and they were silent as the minutes ticked by. The sound of the fire crackling kept company to the noise their forks made, scraping the surface of their plates. When Remus glanced over again, there was nothing left on Sirius’s plate, but three slices of tomatoes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, frowning. “I thought you liked tomatoes.”

Sirius smiled slightly. “I do. I just won’t eat the seeds anymore.

¨¨*¨¨*¨¨*¨¨*¨¨*¨¨*¨¨*¨¨*¨¨*¨¨*¨¨*¨¨*¨¨*¨¨*¨¨*

Almost a year later, Remus sat in that same chair, exhausted after a full moon. Tonks was at the filthy counters, slicing things and cursing repeatedly as she brought the knife down upon her fingers. Remus was too deeply immersed from his memories to notice.

After a while he unglazed his eyes at the sound of her throat clearing. She was standing over him with her dull hair and a tentative smile on her face. She extended the plate of food. He took it soundlessly.

Only after gazing at it for a full minute did he notice something different.

“You took all of the seeds off the tomatoes.” His wavering voice betrayed his surprise and weakness.

Tonks gave him that sad smile again. “Remus, I know you. I know you like tomatoes, but for some reason you just won’t eat the seeds.”

It was all about the little things, he thought. Like the seeds of a tomato, hidden inside it until someone came around to cut it open. It was about the people you knew better than they knew themselves. It was about how much they were missed when they left; taking with them those little things you loved so much. The ones you miss the most, because they’re the things that just can’t be replaced.

MQ Says: Lovely! 5 points to Hufflepuff.

[Starmaiden]

Name: Starmaiden
House: Ravenclaw
Title: A Life Worth Dying For
Warnings: DH Spoilers! Character Death(s)
Word count: 483

She had adored him for years. Life with him had shown her new levels of happiness. Their son, the physical manifestation of their love, was the delight of their life together. She shouldn’t have left that son, perhaps, but less could she leave his father.

He was ashen-white, half-sitting, half-lying on the floor by the doors of the Great Hall. The opponent who had felled him was nowhere in sight.

Tonks fell, sobbing, to her knees. “Remus! Remus!” Her fingers fumbled for a warm pulse in his throat. Only the faintest of faint flutters met her touch, and it faded even as she held her breath. “Remus, don’t leave me!”

His eyes flickered. She thought that they fixed on her, and thought too that they smiled with love for her, but then they closed and he did not move again.

Tonks dropped her wand and collapsed next her beloved, wordless sobs wracking her body. She had had so little time with him! Their son would never know him…there would have been more children…more years together…he was gone. The love of her life was dead, and she might as well die too.

Footsteps sounded, followed by a cackling laugh.

Tonks didn’t care. Remus was dead and she was alone. Nothing else mattered.

“Well, well, if it isn’t my baby niece, crying for her werewolf husband.”

The hated voice came as from a distance. Remus was her whole life, and Remus lay dead before her. The promises that they had made to each other at their wedding…vows of undying love, whispered again and again in the nights and days that followed, sweet words that sustained her as food never had…. Their son…the fear that Remus had carried, finally abandoning her in trying to abandon his fear…. The way he had returned and wept in her arms, confessing his fear and his love…. The utter joy on his scarred, beautiful face when he took Teddy into his arms for the first time….

The memories overwhelmed her. She bowed her head over her lover’s body, ignoring the witch before her.

“Submitting to your fate? You should have known better than to marry a werewolf.”

Then Tonks had snatched up her wand and was throwing hex after hex at her aunt, whose maniacal laugh had faded to a fixed sneer as she fought back. Love and grief and fury flew from her wand, imbued in every spell. She fought for love of him, strengthened by love for him.

And when at last the other woman’s spell got through and Tonks fell to the hard floor, she ignored the clatter as her wand spun away. She gripped Remus’s hand and whispered, “I love you, Remus. I love you, I love you, I love you, and I will see you again soon.” She closed her eyes, twined her fingers with his and met the green light with a fearless smile.

MQ Says: 5 points to Ravenclaw!

[MrsRuebeusHagridDursley]

Name: MrsRuebeusHagridDursley/Morgan
House: Hufflepuff!
Title: Greif: It's a Funny Thing
Warnings: DH Spoilers, Character Death
Word count: 448

Disbelief. That was the only emotion I felt. I was kneeling on the stone floor of Hogwarts’ Great Hall, my twin brother’s head by my knee. They had told me he was dead, but they were wrong. He couldn’t be dead. Because I wasn’t dead. Weren’t we Fred and George Weasley, twin terrors to teachers everywhere? Weren’t we a package deal? Didn’t we go together? If that was true, how could only one of us be dead?

Quickly, starting to panic, I checked myself. If Fred really had died, didn’t that mean I had too? But, I had a pulse, I was breathing. I was alive. So why wasn’t Fred?

Silently, I raised my hands and lowered my head until they met. This was too hard to think about. I couldn’t think about it any longer. It was too confusing, too hard. Fred. He couldn’t be... Not allowing myself to finish the thought, I slowly ran my hands back over my head, like always. Then I felt it. The hole. My hole. The hole in my head where my ear should have been. In nineteen years, it was the first foolproof way of telling Fred and I apart.

And that’s when it hit me. Like how the first wave of a violent storm smacks upon the rocks on a shoreline. Crushing, violent, unbearable, but still just a taste, a sampling of horrors to come. The waves of grief, despair, and loss for my brother Fred kept coming each second more unbearable, each moment more painful than the last as I finally realized. My brother Fred was dead. And I was not. Because Voldemort and his Death Eaters did not care who died fighting here tonight, as long as their names weren’t on the list. They didn’t care that the world had just ended for so many people, for me, as long as their world kept turning on its pathetic, selfish little axis.

Finally, the waves ceased their torrent, and I found myself in a kind of limbo. I didn’t really feel anything. I was just numb. Suddenly, as my senses slowly returned to my actual body, I realized that my face was wet. I raised a shaky hand from the floor to touch it, and then lowered and examined my hand. It was not covered in a deep shinging red, but covered in clear dull liquid. Then my mind clicked. It wasn’t blood that had soaked my face, but tears. I had just been crying. How strange. I couldn’t honestly remember the last time I had cried. Why had I cried that last time? When?

I glanced back at Fred’s face, thanking god that he had died laughing.

~Morgan


5 points to Hufflepuff!

[radishearrings3]

Name:radishearrings3
House:Ravenclaw!
Title: A Different Kind of Gone
Warnings: None
Word count:499 (It took a lot of editing, but I made it!)

Bellatrix twisted up her face and turned away from us, as if she was just observing the other people on the train platform. Father was staring blankly back at me, as mother was doing a moment ago, before she began sobbing into father's arm. I tried to hold back the lump in my own throat.

I still couldn't believe what I knew. I couldn't believe I had just told them what I knew. Though she could do nothing about it, as no one in my family could, I still shouldn't of told them. They would have found out when she didn't come off the train, right? So that made it alright. It made telling them alright, but it didn't make the fact that she was gone alright. Nothing could.

I looked at my family, hoping Bellatrix wouldn't lose it. Or Father. Not in front of everyone. But she didn't. Nor did father...until we got home.

* * *

Mother wailed again. I tried to keep a tear from streaking my makeup. Father hadn't spoken. What was there to say? Bellatrix looked like she was about to say something the entire universe would hear, but didn't know exactly what.

"I'll miss her a lot." I whispered, and all eyes fell on me. They obviously had been thinking different things.

"MISS HER?!" Bellatrix burst, "She ran off with a mudblood, spited our name, didn't even have the backbone to tell us, and you say you'll miss her?!"

I tried not to cry and glanced towards mother for help. She must have missed Andromeda too. Why else would she have been crying? But mother looked just as stunned as father.

"But you all loved her!” I shouted “Won't you miss her at all?" I began to cry. I couldn't help it.

Father and Bellatrix began to yell, but I wasn't sure what was happening. Mother screamed something and everything fell silent. I wiped my eyes and looked up. Mother was staring at me intently.

“Andromeda did a wretched thing. Do you realize that Narcissa?" mother asked, sounding frightened.

"Yes mother, but-"

"And you will never follow her example, will you, Narcissa?"

"No, mother, but-"

"But what?" mother said, suddenly angry.

"But won't you miss her?" I asked quietly.

Mother sighed.

"No, Narcissa, I won't. You have no idea of the trouble I went through to find that girl someone to marry. Then the wedding arrangements, the family name, everything, it all goes down the toilet!"

"But won't you-"

"No! And if you mention that wicked girl or the fact that we should all care about her so much again, you'll end up just like her!" mother snapped.

I nodded and went upstairs to my room, wiping my face.

I could've owled Andromeda, or gone to visit her without anyone knowing, but didn't. I had said goodbye to her already, and besides, mother was right. I was better off without her. Andromeda was far from dead, but she was gone forever. And I missed her.

Hope that's alright! You didn't specifically mention death...


Yay! A Drabble in this thread that isn't about death! It's great. 5 points to Ravenclaw.

[Gin_Drinka]

*wanders back in to post some more*

Title: Man and Angel
House: Hufflepuff
Words: 499 ( exactly)
Rating: 1st-2nd year
Warning: Character Death

I had always wanted more than I could get. Ever since I was little, I wanted to fly to the highest possible cloud and wave down at the world. My father gave me a broom when I was four. I felt the farther I got, the more I lived. As if when my feet touched the ground I was sleeping, waiting for the dream to end so I could live again, borne upon wings I didn’t have.

And it was always like that for me. I grew up loving the air and learning to fly higher each time. It was poetry to me.

When I was eleven, the summer before Hogwarts, I went flying once, and lost track of time. I was gone for hours, soaring through clouds, pretending I was a bird, leaving my mother behind to worry herself sick. When I flew over home, I saw her there at the porch, yelling at me to come back down. She cried a great deal, and yelled an even greater deal. She forbade me to fly for a week, and I was miserable. I can not remember ever being angrier with her.

“Charlie, darling, you fly too high,” she had told me, once my punishment was done, and I had my broom over my shoulder, ready to live again, “One day you’ll go so high, you won’t want to come back down.”

I had laughed then, telling her I’d always come back down, because I would miss her too much. It had been enough; she’d hugged me and all had been well.

At Hogwarts, I was seen as a star, because I reached so hard for them. I played Quidditch, but my true joy was merely flying. I led Gryffindor to victory, as easily as the wind lifted the leaves in the autumn. After school I went to work with dragons. I was mesmerized; I wanted wings just like theirs. Surrounded by my dream, I still could not achieve it. It slipped through my fingers like a gust of cool air.

And then the war started, and I had to be grounded for a while. I could not fight them with my imaginary wings, or my dreams. The days grew darker, and longer. I lost a brother, after just having gotten him back from ignorance. I lost friends, and with them little parts of myself. I saw my mother’s fears, and felt them as my own. But I never stopped loving the air.

And now, the war is over, but my mother is sitting at the porch, rocking my broom in her arms, crying, “You’ve gone so high, baby. Please, come back down.”

I have wings. I finally got my dream. But my wings don’t take me down. My feet will never touch the ground again. Angels don’t fall from the sky, no matter how much they want to. I was a man who wanted to be an angel, now I’m an angel who wants to be a man.

*sniffles* 10 points to Hufflepuff!

[butter_beer_drinker]

Name:butter_beer_drinker aka Kristy
House:Gryffindor
Title: Mother of Stone
Warnings: None
Word count: 601 (sorry I really tried to cut it down)

“Death is nothing at all, I have only slipped away into the next room, I am I and you are you; whatever we were to each other, that we still are.* We have gathered here today to mourn the loss of Hermione ...”

The Reverend’s voice drifts away as I walk off. I can feel the eyes of the people gathered follow me. I don’t care; I can’t stay and listen. Someone steps in front of me and I look up into the blue eyes and freckled face of Hermione’s boyfriend, at once I am transported back to that horrible day.

“Mum we’re here.” Hermione’s voice drifted into the kitchen.

“I’m in here. How was your trip?”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “I would rather Apparate, but that can be traced. The Knight Bus has got to be the worst form of travel.”

“Well, there are always brooms.” Ron smiled while stuffing a biscuit in his mouth.

Hermione made a face, “Okay the second worst form of transportation.”

BANG!

Dust filled the air as the back door fell in. Three people in long black robes, with skeleton masks covering their faces, filled the space. A horrible cackle erupted from the one in the middle. I started to move toward my daughter but Ron’s hand encircled my upper arm, stopping me. My eyes darted between the woman and Hermione, who was standing between us.

The woman removed her mask and the cackle filled my kitchen again. “Well, lookey here, two members of the Order. I had hoped the death of your parents would bring you running, and then I could kill you and your little friends. This is so much better.”

She moved her wand so quickly that none of us could react; a light flashed out of it and hit me. Pain such as I have never known ripped through my body. It felt as if I were being burned from the inside out. A scream worked its way up from my lungs and filled my ears. I jerked and twisted to get free from the knives of pain that were stabbing into my back. Suddenly my body went limp and then Ron’s strong hands were lifting me upright.

“What do you think Miss Granger? Do you think your mommy enjoyed that?”

“Leave my mother out of this, your fight is with us. Ron, get her out of here, NOW!”

A whimper escaped me and then a horrid squeezing sensation embraced my body. I steeled myself, waiting for the pain to hit me again. Blessedly, I blacked out.

I opened my eyes to see the face of Molly Weasley swimming above me. I noticed the tears leaking out of her eyes and I knew. No one had to tell me. This woman loves my daughter as much as I do and the sorrow lining her face is all that I needed to see. An anguished scream ripped itself out of my chest and my whole body started to tremble.

I pull myself out of the horrible memories and stare into the deep blue pools of Ron’s eyes. Regret, shame, pity, what exactly is it I see there? He moves to put his arms around me but the look in my eyes stops him. I know what he sees, it has been burning through me from the moment I saw him at the Burrow. Hate. He closes his eyes and embraces me anyway. He will not let me hate him for leaving her behind. The words of a great man fill me with peace. ‘Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.'

The great man is Martin Luther King, Jr.
* Quote is from Henry Scott Holland


Ten more points to the Lions!

[BeautifulDreamer07]

Name: BeautifulDreamer07 / Hallie
House: Go, go Gryffindor!
Title: To Whom It May Concern
Warnings: Character Death, DH Spoilers
Word count: 333

To Whom It May Concern:

You were my friend. You were the first...the only person who ever saw me for what I really was. You didn't care that I wasn't handsome. It didn't matter to you that I was lousy at Quidditch. My love of inventing spells never phased you. You were the only friend I ever had. Nobody else could compare to you.

You were my rock. When life got me down and I felt like I just couldn't go on, you were there to lift me back up. You gave me the strength to carry on. You were the reason I am still here. Without you, I would have given up long ago. Nothing could compare to you.

And now I come to the point of my letter...

I love you. I have always loved you. Even when we were kids, even before Hogwarts, I loved you. I admired you. Everything about you was perfect. Your dancing red hair that caught the light when you moved. The way your green eyes seemed to grow brighter when you laughed. How your nose crinkled at the bridge when you were angry. You were the picture of perfection, in my eyes. Nothing could compare to you.

But...

I hate you, too. I hate that you gave up on me and abandoned our friendship. I hate that you didn't believe in me and, by doing so, left me to go down the wrong path. I hate that didn't give me the chance to change. I hate that you let me lose you. I hate that you died...and that it was all my fault. I hate that you are gone. I hate that you have left this child with eyes just like yours. I hate that I see those eyes staring out of the face that I despised so much. I hate that you let it come to this...I hate that you are gone.

I love you Lily Evans...but I hate you, too.

Sincerely yours,
Sev

5 points to Gryffindor!

[harrypotterfangirl21]

Name: harrypotterfangirl21
House: Gryffindor
Title: Goodbye
Warnings: Character Death, DH Disregarded, DH Spoilers, Extreme Angst/Sadness
Word count: 169

OK, this is a poem I wrote *before* DH came out, detailing how Ginny would feel if Harry had died (though I suppose she felt like this when she thought he was dead, too...). So just in case there is both a DH Disregarded and DH Spoilers warning up.

Is this the way it had to
End?
I lost a lover,
I lost a friend
And nothing I do
Will
Bring you
Back again

How many tears have I shed
Since you’ve
Been gone?
How many sleepless nights when
I couldn’t
Move on?

It wasn’t fair,
It wasn’t right
It wasn’t your time

I can’t look at you
So broken
Now I regret so much the words
Left unspoken

I never even said
Goodbye
So this is mine
My lullaby
I love you
Goodbye

Behind this smile
I’m crying
Behind this laugh
I’m screaming
Behind this life
I’m dying
Behind this calm
I’m dreaming

If I had one more minute
I’d hold you
Tight
Tell you how much I miss you
And get some sleep
Tonight

But my chance is gone,
So I’ll say it
Now
I know you hear me
Somewhere,
Somehow

I never will say
Goodbye
You’re in my heart,
You’ll never truly die
So this is mine
Sweet lullaby
I love you so much
Goodbye

(I cried when I wrote this, by the way. So if it made you cry, then I'm sorry and all, but that was kind of the point.)


2 points to the Gryffs to round off those earlier three