Bi-Weekly Drabble Challenge - Theme: Music - Results

[kehribar]

Name: kehribar
House: Gryffindor
Title: The Last Lily of Summer
Warnings: None
Word Count: 284
Song Used: The Last Rose of Summer as played by André Rieu, just the instrumental version (flute and horn with orchestra).
Authors Note: The first drabble I have ever written about Snape. I'm not a Snape/Lily shipper or something, but I found myself in a Snape mood, hence this drabble.

It was a hot summer day when little Severus had seen a lily for the first time. He had waddled towards the water in excitement, his hands stretched forward, an excited laugh on his tiny face. The lily was so shiny on the lake, so lovely as it moved gracefully on the surface of the water, and Severus wanted it so much.

"Severus, come here."

Severus had ignored her mother's lazy voice; he could feel his feet getting wet and cold, and he laughed at the cool feeling. The lily was so close now and the water so calm, and he was almost there...

He felt himself being pulled from the waist as roughly as possible. The lily was suddenly at a great distance, and his feet instantly began feeling warmer.

As his mother carried him away, his tiny hands were still stretched towards the flower.

~ * ~

A cold and icy November morning was when Severus saw Lily for the last time. Tall, lean, and drenched in sweat, he hid himself behind a century-old oak tree. His nails dug into his palms as he watched the mass of black-robed people ebb and flow around the coffins.

"Severus, come with me please."

He ignored Dumbledore's voice and continued staring down at the ceremony. Lily had always been so shiny, so graceful, so beautiful all the time. Severus had always been enchanted by her.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and didn't resist the gentle guidance out of the graveyard. Lily was suddenly at a great distance, and his heart instantly began getting colder.

As Dumbledore led him away from Lily's final resting place, his nails were still digging into his bleeding palms.

[mudbloodproud]

Name: mudbloodproud
House: Hufflepuff
Title: Her Sympathy
Warnings: None
Word Count: 462
Song Used: Sympathy by The Goo Goo Dolls
Authors Note: I only included the last verse of the song. I orginally was going to include most of the song but I had to cut them out due to word count. The drabble follows the verses in the song.

As Lucius Malfoy closed the bedroom door, he tried to close out the world beyond this room. How had his life come to this? His home taken over by the Dark Lord, his life and that of his family’s under constant threat. Shaking his head, he looked at the bed in which Narcissa was sleeping.

‘How beautiful,’ he thought. He walked over to sit gently on the bed next to her.

He had pushed her out of his thoughts and mind over the past few months, thinking that if perhaps she didn’t seem too important to him, the Dark Lord would not target her as a way to keep him in line.

He was beginning to doubt his choice in following the Dark Lord. When he was younger and carefree, it seemed like a great idea. But, now that he had a family, he was unsure if he had made the correct choice all those years ago. His family was now in danger from the very person he thought would make the world a better place.

Standing, he undressed for bed. Sliding into the bed next to Narcissa, he rolled over to face her. Gently as not to wake her, he kissed her on the forehead, then wrapping his arms around her, he thought more about his decisions and how they have affected his life.

He was raised with in a house where being a pure blood was of utmost importance. Muggles were beneath worry or notice as were Mudbloods. Though his views on purity of blood hadn’t changed, he was beginning to regret his choice of allegiance.

As he started to drift off to sleep, he cleared his mind of these thoughts. Thoughts such as those he had just been having would only lead to getting himself or worse, Narcissa or Draco killed.

***

As the first rays of sunlight filtered into the bedroom, Narcissa awoke. Lucius’ arms were wrapped firmly around her. Turning gently to face him, she looked at his handsome face.

As Lucius opened his eyes, he found himself looking directly into the eyes of one of the two people in this world he never wanted to disappoint.

How could he make her understand, this is not what he wanted from their life? This was not what their life was supposed to be? He knew he would have to explain this to her someday. Someday, he hoped, he would get the chance to tell her this person before her was not what he seemed.


And I was in love with things I tried to make you believe I was
And I wouldn’t be the one to kneel before the dreams I wanted
And all the dark and all the lies were all the empty things disguised as me

[saizine]

Name: saizine
House: Slytherin
Title: Solar Eyes
Warnings: Slight depression/sadism, violence towards small rodents.
Word Count: 428
Song Used: “This Velvet Glove” by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Album: Californication
Authors Note: Anything in italics is a line from the song (chorus, mostly).

Her black hair had once been gleaming, shining. It wasn’t anymore.

The years that she had spent sitting in the cell, looking at the same four bricks, at the same bloodstains, at the same little chalk messages near the lowest set of bricks and dust, had been wasted. She knew they had. Lucius hadn’t been trying to get him back. Neither had Barty.

She had tortured that couple. That’s why she was here. This was torture. The pain that had coursed through her from his wand was never torture. Being away was torture. Not knowing where he was wasn’t abnormal, but not knowing whether he would come back was torture.

She narrowed her eyes as a miniscule mouse popped through the small hole in-between crumbling rocks, and it’s tiny pink nose twitched and moved as it unknowingly edged closer to the woman, her thin limbs reaching out for it. Her slender but still capable fingers closed around its tiny neck, lifting it from the floor and watching it’s limbs flail as its lungs failed to fill.

“Your solar eyes are like nothing I have ever seen.” she murmured as the mouse stopped wriggling and lay still, and in her head his eyes still glowed garnet. She smiled, a small kind of sinister smile that should have been accompanied by a sharp bark of a laugh.

She threw the mouse to one corner of the cell, some of its bones cracked as it hit the wall and slid, slowly, to the floor. She could hear someone moving, and not very subtly. Her husband. “Somebody close that can see right through.” she murmured as she heard his feeble attempts to break through the grey rock.

He wouldn't have joined him, his cause, if he hadn't wanted her. She loved somebody else so much more.

She turned towards where she knew the moon would have shone, where it would have illuminated her high cheekbones, her heavily lidded eyes, and her dull, monotone hair.

She remembered him, she longed for him to be there, blasting through the walls to save them. No, not them, her. He would have her.

She knew he wouldn’t. But she loved him enough to put her faith in him.

“I’ll take a fall and you know that I’ll do anything I will for you.” she whispered.

She had taken a fall. She had taken falls for him so many times.

She would have still given her life for him. For him, nothing and everything was good enough recognition of his power. He was her lifeline.

He was her life.

[Elmindreda]

Name: Elmindreda
House: Gryffindor
Title: What You've Become
Warnings: none
Word Count: 499
Song Used: The Heart of Everything by Within Temptation
Authors Note: The plot of the song is not exactly 100% corresponding to the situation, but I found myself using mostly the theme of the chorus.

"Well, well, Snape."

Black's voice resembles that of his Gryffindor relative so uncannily that only the weight of Advanced Transfiguration in your lap prevents you from reaching for your wand.

Without looking up, you lean down to take a spare piece of parchment from your bag, fold it carefully and mark the page – and only then grace Black with a glance.

"Good evening, Black."

"You weren't so courteous with my brother earlier today."

You briefly wonder whether he saw the incident or only heard about it, and are surprised with how little it really matters to you at the moment. Nor are you concerned with the fact that more will question you about today yet. You will handle it. You have survived worse. And the worst thing is yet to come.

You smile darkly.

"To each their own, Black. He will get his due."

"Plotting revenge now, are you?"

There is something very different on your mind now. It takes up most of your thoughts, and even the book in your lap is only something to occupy your hands and eyes, something to hold on to quite literally so as not to clench your fists, or the armrests of your chair, something to concentrate on, turning the pages at relatively regular intervals to create the illusion of reading.

You lift the edge of the book to demonstrate the cover to Black.

"Transfiguration O.W.L. tomorrow."

"Studying? For someone who has been hanging around upside-down in the courtyard half the afternoon, you seem pretty calm."

The knowledge that the façade you are putting up is working well to fool someone – at least Black – comes as a small relief. The first one on this day, certainly. Unfortunately, it is short-lived, as you know all too well the saying of masks being apt to become one with the face. You almost missed the moment. At least, you hope that it is almost, and not too late yet. That she will also believe it is not too late.

You raise an eyebrow skeptically.

"What would you expect me to do? Seek a shoulder to cry on?"

Black leaves, obviously disappointed. You open the book again, and it takes you a few turned pages to understand that you are actually reading this time, instead of flipping the pages blankly like you used to do before his arrival. The calm you were faking seems to settle inside you and leave no room for emotion – not even for the horrible empty feeling of some minutes ago. You try to seek it, desperately, to shut down the defenses that sprung up out of their own volition and refuse to lower now.

She will not believe you unless you act like you are actually feeling something.

Stop thinking like this! Stop this instant, damn you! You can still feel, you still have a heart, you have not yet become… that which you are trying to seem to everyone. It is not too late yet… It is not.

Isn't it?

[h_vic]

Name: h_vic
House: Hufflepuff
Title: Silent Dawn
Warnings: Alcohol consumption
Word Count: 500
Song Used: Tequila Sunrise by the Eagles
Authors Note: I didn’t follow the exact plot of the song, but I drew inspiration from some of its elements and the general mood of it.

Charlie trudged wearily back into the camp. From the thin trail of smoke rising lazily behind the trees, just visible in the half-light, he guessed someone was up. It was probably just the others from the night shift, not delayed by a nasty encounter with a nesting mother, indulging in quick drink and a bite to eat before bed, but he couldn’t help but hope it would be Tatiana. Her soft smile would be just what he needed to lift the deep lassitude from his bones, even if that smile was never meant to be for him. He was too tired even to feel the burn of the usual guilt that thoughts of Serghei’s wife provoked.

As he stepped into the clearing, his heart sank to see only Serghei and Mihail, eating out of tin bowls beside the meagre fire.

“Bad night?” Mihail asked. Charlie just held out his right forearm in response so that they could see the livid burn that rippled across his pale skin. Mihail nodded in comprehension as Serghei passed Charlie a bowl of the unappetising-looking stew.

“Sorry,” Serghei offered, “the women went down to the town last night. This was the best we could rustle up between us.” Charlie’s heart dropped, although he knew it had no right to – Tatiana wasn’t even there. They’d be back soon though, as the morning had come; perhaps he could wait up.

“This’ll take the taste away.” Mihail slugged a shot of tuica into a glass and handed to him. Charlie accepted the strong spirit with a grateful nod. “Afraid we were about to head off and get some sleep though. I know you’ve only just got in, but it’s been a long night."

“It’s fine,” Charlie grunted, applying himself to the food as the other two left him to his own devices.

Once he had eaten his fill, he set the bowl aside, picked up his glass and set of towards the ridge. The camp was positioned on the hillside, and only a couple of minutes walk through the trees was a ledge with a view across the valley through which the women would walk on their return. He settled himself on the ground with his back pressed against a tree. The rough bark snagged his shirt as he shifted to sip his shot of tuica. It’s soothing warmth spread through him as he watched the mist, tinged orange in the morning sun, drift between the trees below.

It didn’t touch the hollow chill deep within him though. He closed his eyes and pictured Tatiana’s face, hoping that would help, but all he felt was the empty ache of guilt and loneliness. He knew that he’d never stand a chance with her, even if he were to ever string more than two words together in her presence, and that he shouldn’t dream like this of his friend’s wife, but somehow he couldn’t stop himself.

He took another gulp of his drink in the empty silence of the dawn.

[BeautifulDreamer07]

Name: Hallie
House: Gryffindor!
Title: One Last Gift
Warnings: Character Death, DH Spoilers
Word Count: 244
Song Used: Go Rest High On That Mountain - Vince Gil
Authors Note: I was listening to this song and I thought that it fit very well with Severus' life.

“Take…it…Take…it…” *

It was his one last gift to the boy he had worked to protect for the better part of his life. It was the final thing he could do to ensure that Lily’s son would not die in vain.

As the memories poured out of him, he relived them. They flashed through his mind, one by one, each more painful and more bittersweet than the last.

It had been painful, excruciating, to see her eyes set in a face he hated so much. To see the physical manifestation of everything he had always wanted, but could never have. He could never truly care for James Potter’s son…but he could protect Lily’s. And he had done just that. Every breath he took, every spell he uttered, and every moment he lived, had been in service to his memory and his love of her.

But towards the end, he had felt cheated, as though his pain and his work had been for nothing. Because the boy he had worked 17 years to protect would fall. Because saving Harry Potter meant condemning him to die.

When the last of his bittersweet memories were expelled, he felt his grip becoming weaker on the boy’s robes. Desperately he searched through the rapidly falling darkness.

“Look…at…me…” **

And as black eyes met the green, contentment spread through him. Severus knew that his pain and his suffering had not been for nothing. Even in death, Harry Potter would save the world.

* - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, PG. 657, US Hardback Edition
** - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows PG. 658, US Hardback Edition

[Merlynne]

Name: Merlynne
House: Slytherin
Title: Words
Words: 489
Warnings: None
Song: Mysteries - Beth Gibbons
Note: JKR has said that Charlie never married. That doesn't mean he never fell in love.
This song played in my head while I wrote the drabble, and the last line of this is the last line of the song.

To Daniela,

One day, you will know English, and the one day you will read this. I forbid you to translate it. This will be better in time, because right now I am sure nothing that I say will convince you that I am anything other than another man who got lost in your eyes.

But I had to say it, or to write it, because to keep the thought within me a moment longer would be pure agony, and I do not want to risk it slipping out through my clumsy lips in the few words I might gather to tell you. Everything I might say to you in Romanian is memorized from Wizarding Wireless songs and barely original. I was never very original.

I don’t feel that I should explain to you who I am and what kind of a man I am, because you are clever, and I am sure you know exactly what kind of a man I am. I am not a man for love letters, and yet I am writing this one to you. Should that be any indication of my feelings for you, I hope you understand them, if not these words. I’m not asking anything from you, only to understand.

Understand that this is something I don’t completely understand myself.

Understand that the clichéd arrow through my heart is there to stay, whether or not you drift out of my life. Whether you love me, hate me, flee me, remember me, I will always be staring at you as you walk away. I will love you forever, and that exhausting, unstopped love will bleed my dry over a lifetime, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Haemophilic love.

RIP

The scroll of parchment was rent in a straight line at the bottom of the phrase, Haemophilic love. The wet ink ran in several places as the upper half was crumpled into a ball and tossed in the general direction of a rubbish bin. The writer didn’t care whether or not it made it, so long as those hated, useless words knew that they were not good enough.

Resting his head on his ink-stained hands, Charlie Weasley let out a heavy sigh of exhaustion. His words would never be good enough. His words would never be more than his words—not the words of a poet, not the chords of a guitar, or the whistle of an accordion on the last note played, when the player held on to that sound, unable to relinquish himself to the silence. That, Charlie could not write. Charlie could not put words to that sound, and even if he could, they would be English words, and those were useless to her.

So he would write nothing. She would never know.

Perhaps it was better that this love remained a mystery. Its potential untapped. Perhaps this way it could remain true that way. No, Charlie decided. It was pure cowardice.

I’ll be there anytime.

[tc015]

Name: tc015
House: Gryffindor
Title: Lost
Warnings: Character Death, Mental Disorders
Word Count: 443
Song Used: “Wake Me Up When September Ends” by Green Day
Authors Note: This song was originally written by Billie Joel Armstrong in memory of his father, who died when he was ten years old. My drabble focuses on this meaning of the song.

I was ten-years-old the first time my grandmother took me to see my father. At the time, I knew nothing of his real state. All I knew was that both my parents were very ill, and were going to have to stay in the hospital for a very long time. Every year, I would always ask my grandmother when they would be able to come home. She would just nod mournfully and leave the room. I never understood why she did that until I finally met them.

Gran was clutching my hand tightly as we walked up the stairs leading the floor that held my parents. She looked tense, and I knew not to say anything rash. We ended up the fourth floor. Gran went to check in at the Healer’s station. The Healers all gave me sympathetic looks. After a few minutes, I was getting impatient and decided to wander down the hall. I saw a sign on the one door. It listed Frank and Alice Longbottom as patients – that’s where they must be! I ran over to my father’s bedside. “Daddy!” I yelled over and over again. But he didn’t look up or notice me at all. I started to scream and cry; how could my own my father not know who I was. Gran came running in; she scooped me up and led me out of the room. There, she explained to me my parent’s condition, about how they would never know who I was. For the first time in my life, I saw my grandmother cry, and I joined her. I don’t know how long we stood outside the door, sobbing over my lost parents.

Seven years later, at the young age of seventeen, I fought in the Battle of Hogwarts. I killed Lord Voldemort’s snake, Nagini. That day, I watched my parents’ injury avenged as I saw Mrs. Weasley murder Bellatrix Lestrange. I was living up to my father’s legacy; I was a soldier just like they were. This made my Gran so proud.

Twenty years after I first met my parents, I am a professor at Hogwarts. I found the love of my life, Hannah Abbott, and married her. We just had our first child, Frank Adam, three months ago. Today, I watched my parents die. Hannah came with me.

“Are you okay, Neville?” Hannah asked me.

“I’m fine,” I replied, smiling.

“Are you sure?” Hannah questioned. “Your parents just died.”

“Not really,” I said. “They’ve just gone to a better place.”

Hannah looked puzzled; she had never really understood my parents’ condition. After all these years, they were finally at peace. And this made me happy.

[butterflykisses]

Name: butterflykisses (Mari)
House: Slytherin
Title: It's all wrong; it's so right.
Warnings: Mild Language
Word Count: 494 words
Song Used: Come On Get Higher -- Matt Nathanson
Authors Note: Scorpius/Rose

The day was drawing to a chilly close as Scorpius Malfoy wandered aimlessly through the streets of London. He had no idea where he was or how he’d gotten there and neither did his mind. Thoughts of the past few days infected his mind. Oh Rose…

As if by some external force, he ended up directly in front of her building. He looked up to the third floor and saw the lights on in her flat. He wondered what she was doing. Was she baking her famous pumpkin pie? Was she happy? Had she already moved on? His heart ached at the last thought. No, she loves me as much as I love her. At least, she did.

He trudged up the steps of the building, stood in front the switchboard, found her name, and stared at it. R. Weasley. One lift of a finger and he could see her. One small action could drastically change the future. After all, he couldn’t lose her anymore than he already had.

He shook his head. Hadn’t she said that she wanted nothing to do with him? Could he blame her after what he did? Hadn’t he earned this punishment? But never being able to be with her ever again? No, he couldn’t bear it.

All he’d done today was wander. No direction. No Rose. No smile. No nothing. He’d lost the one thing that was dearest to him, and for what?

He couldn’t bear to dwell on it anymore. He couldn’t bear not being with her; he ached for her. He ached for her touch, for her voice, for her body, for her scent, for her. Anything just to have her back.

At the sounds of steps, he glanced up; someone was coming down the stairs. A pang of hope and jealousy flared in his chest. If she was with someone else then he’d leave her alone. If she was alone, he’d confront her. Blue sneakers popped into view, followed by tan feminine legs. Damn, not her. Ache and loss kicked back in at the memories of his hands on her fair skin. His mind swarmed with thoughts of her smiling up at him after a shared kiss, and the beautiful flush of her cheeks every time he did something unexpected. Oh, how he missed running his hands through her hair.

He stepped aside, when he realised it was Victoria, Rose’s flatmate. She held the door open for him and said, “You’d best do whatever it is that’s on your mind. You’ll regret it if you don't, Scorpius.”

He grabbed the door and took the stairs two at a time. When he finally reached her door, he halted. Just on the other side of the door was Rose. He was just a few feet from holding her, his heart flipped at the idea. Finally, he lifted a loose fist and held it inches from the door.

He brought it down on the door twice and waited.

[GinervaPotter213]

Name: GinervaPotter213/Carly
House: Hufflepuff
Title: Loving Advice
Warnings: None
Word Count: 478
Song Used: I Don't Want to Miss a Thing--Aerosmith
Author's Note: Harry/Ginny

I could stay awake just to hear you breathin’.
Watch you smile while you are sleeping,
While you’re far away and dreamin’.

Harry paused on his walk from Ron’s room to the kitchen to gaze through Ginny’s open door. Her face was turned towards the doorway and she looked so peaceful. He watched her sleep for a few moments, then wretched his gaze away from her face and continued on his path.

Meanwhile, Ginny awoke to the feeling of being watched. When she opened her eyes, she saw Harry turn and walk downstairs. She got up and pulled on her dressing gown to follow.

She walked into the kitchen and found Harry sitting at the table with his head in his hands.

“Are you ok, Harry?” she asked, sitting next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. He just shrugged and continued examining his palms. Ginny sighed and moved to get up when he grabbed her hand. She looked back into his face and he looked up into her eyes. In the reflected light of the full moon outside, she had to admire how his eyes sparkled. Neither said anything, but Ginny could see the anguish in his sparkling eyes. She squeezed his hand and told him “It’s alright, we’re all fine.”

Harry just nodded and turned away, but he didn’t let go of her hand.

Ginny was beginning to wonder what time it was when Harry spoke.

“I know that we’re all fine, but what about Tonks, Lupin, Fred, Colin, and all those others? They’re all gone, all because of me.” He croaked, tears swimming in his eyes.

“Harry James Potter, do you think that this is how any of them would have wanted you to act?” He looked away, surprised as she was at the ferocity of her voice. “They knew what they were getting into, coming to help you, and yet they still came. Did it ever occur to you that maybe they love you? They wouldn’t want you to just sit here and brood. You know that Fred, Tonks, Lupin and even Sirius would be telling you to move on and have fun.” Ginny wound up her speech and Harry looked at her. “Don’t live in the past. Remember what you have here in the present and live for now.” She finished, giving his hand a squeeze.

Harry continued to gaze into her eyes, but Ginny was glad to see that there were no more tears in his. He slowly smiled a small hesitant smile. “Thanks Ginny.” And he kissed the back of her hand.

Both teens stayed up the rest of the night at the kitchen table talking, neither letting go of the other’s hand.

I don’t want to close my eyes,
I don’t want to fall asleep cause I’d miss you babe,
And I don’t want to miss a thing.