Weekly Drabble Challenge - Theme: Death - Results

[mugglemathdork]

Your challenge this week is to write about death.
You may not use any OCs or minor character for this challenge.

The following form must be used when submitting your drabble responses to this post -

[B]Name:[/B]
[B]House:[/B]
[B]Title:[/B]
[B]Warnings:[/B]
[B]Word Count:[/B]
[B]Author's Note:[/B] 

Winners will be awarded 15, 10, and 5 points respectively.

All drabbles must be less than 500 words; All standard grammar rules, and MNFF submissions guidelines apply.

The challenge will be up for a week, and be closed exactly a week later (November 9th).

All questions should be referred to the Question Corner #4 - Do not post questions here. Only drabbles!

Not So New Anymore for the Weekly Challenges:
Due to a major lack of quality drabbles being submitted to the weeklies, Gato Loco will require that some real thoughtful, original submissions be posted from this moment on or you'll end up like this woman here. That's your one and only warning! XD

Other than that...have fun!

~Ebil One

[Hufflepuff at Heart]

Name: Hufflepuff at heart
House: Gryffindor
Title: As I Lay Dying
Warnings: Um...character death?
Word Count: 327
Authors Note: From Bellatrix's POV. I hope this isn't a minor character...

Nobody truly understood me, did they?

Even those I professed to love; they could never truly understand what drove me to be who I was. They could not love in the same way I did. Not even him; the man, the god I pledged my life's allegiance to.

They killed.

They tortured.

They took souls.

Cowards.

They somehow believed me to be one of them.

And somehow, I in return was taken in by this belief. They saw what they were doing as the right thing. They had themselves fooled; they thought they were waging their war as the rightful rulers of Wizard kind.

They were wrong.

They did it because they were scared. Too scared to admit their weaknesses; that those they were torturing might be stronger, or might be right.

Perhaps I was the only true dark wizard.

Because where they fearfully inflicted pain, I relished.

I did not fear those I hurt. I hurt, I maimed, I tore whole families apart. Not because I feared what they in return could do to me. Not because I had to prove the size of my "manhood". I did it because I loved it. I lusted after the screams of a mudblood who had just witnessed his children executed in front of his eyes. I revelled in the pain of a dying Muggle.

I never did it to prove myself. I did it because of who I was.

My wand gave me strength.

And my wand, coupled with my desire for blood; for satisfaction, made me formidable.

This was what I knew. This was what I loved.

And now I lie dying.

Don't think for a minute that the irony's lost on me. I lived for love.

Another kind of love killed me.

Perhaps it was stronger. Perhaps it was just different. I will never know for sure.

I do not regret my death. I do not regret anything I have done. But now I wonder why.

[siriusly_pureblood]

Name: siriusly_pureblood
House: Ravenclaw
Title: A White Lie
Warnings: None
Word Count: 457
Authors Note: This is Draco's thoughts after his father's death. You get to know how Draco really feels about his father.

“Avada Kedavra!”

The black clad body fell to the stone ground somewhat gracefully. Glowing blond hair appeared as the hood of the black cloak fell down. The thin silver mask dropped and clattered revealing the handsome face of Lucius Malfoy.


Draco stood by his weeping mother. It was the day, the day of his beloved father’s funeral. He drowned out the words of a man in black robes who stood talking about how kind and generous his father was. As he stood there, memories of his past blinded his eyes.


A seven year old Draco stood by his father on Christmas Eve. As Dobby, the house elf, was walking out the room his father pulled out his wand.

“Draco, Let me show you how to entertain yourself.” He shouted the Imperius curse and made Dobby dance around the mahogany table. He did not see the shine of tears in Draco’s eyes.


An eleven year old Draco stood by his mother waiting for his father to come and wish him goodbye. His father was nowhere in sight. He did not come. As Draco boarded the Hogwarts Express, his grey eyes shined in the sun’s light.


A sixteen year old Draco sat crying on his bed cradling his left arm. His blond hair covered his silver eyes. He had done it. He had done it on his father’s orders to follow the Dark Lord. His heart was filled with sorrow, pain, and anger. It was his father’s fault he had a curse on his arm.


Draco’s mother put a hand on her son’s shoulder.

“Draco, honey, it’s time to say goodbye.” His eyes shifted out of his memories. He twitched and held his arm.

“Yes, Mother.”

Draco walked to where his father laid. He placed a white flower on the body.

“Father, oh how I will miss you. I actually don’t think I will miss being tortured and seeing others being tortured. I hope you are happy. I have the Dark mark etched on my arm, just for you. But look now, you are dead and I have your faults to mock me for the rest of my life. The white rose has no similarity to you. This should be a black rose. Black, the color of your heart. It should show how wicked and foul your heart was. Thank you, father, for teaching me to never be like you. Thank you. And I have and will always hate you.”

Draco stood and made his way to his room in the empty manor. A pile of Lucius’s old belongings was in the center of the room.

“ Incendio “ Draco muttered. The belongings burst into fire. Draco apparated to his flat. That was the end of the Malfoy Manor.

[eternalangel]

Name: eternalangel
House:Ravenclaw
Title: The Next Great Adventure
Warnings: Character Death
Word Count: 338
Authors Note: I used two quotes from the books. One was from the Half-Blood Prince page 595 and the other was from the Sorcerer's Stone (or Philosopher's Stone to others) page 297.

The night sky was starkly lit by the green sign of the Death Eaters. Its mad light echoed down from the heavens, casting everything around Albus in an odd olive hue. Dumbledore stood on the top of the Astronomy Tower roof, his eyesight fading and his strength seeping out of his body. Except for the throbbing pain that was radiating out of his black, withered hand, Albus felt drowsy and numb. All he needed was enough strength to do this one last thing; he would gladly sacrifice himself to save the lives of two boys, and maybe rectify some of the wrongs in the world.

Standing across from him, Severus was pointing his wand at him. Behind Snape the Death Eaters jeered at Albus, but it was Severus that Albus focused in on.

“Severus…please…”

A look of pity flashed across Snape’s face and Albus knew that the decision had been made; he had only seconds to live. Now as he came to the end of his life, he was not afraid of death. In fact, he welcomed it.

As he watched Severus raise his wand to perform the Killing Curse, Albus saw parts of his life flash before his eyes. It wasn’t his successes or triumphs that he saw; those were all trivial matters. It was his family that he had lost, which was fixed in his mind. He heard his sister as she used to sing, smelled his mother’s scent that was a mixture of warm baked cookies and cinnamon. He heard his father’s hearty laugh and saw his brother’s smile. It was those memories that he clung to in the last moments of his life.

Albus watched in slow motion as Severus mouthed the words of the curse and a jet of green light came hurtling at him. As it came, he welcomed it, knowing that he would soon see his family. After all, to the well organized mind death is but the next great adventure.

And his began with his family at his side.

[butter_beer_drinker]

Name: butter_beer_drinker
House: Gryffindor
Title: The Dancing Lights
Warnings: Character Death
Word Count: 444
Authors Note: For some reason things involving Tonks are easier to write in first person.

Flashes of blue, green, red and white lights dance across the ceiling above me in an extraordinary ballet. It is magical as the colors merge, twirl, dip and then disappear. They are accompanied by the roaring in my ears of people shouting, stones hitting the floor and the moans of the dying. Or are they the moans coming from my own lips?

I watched my husband fall from across the room; it was so quick, so far away, and so final. My vision narrowed and I held my breath as everything around me sped past but I didn’t see any of it, I could only see him. He took the curse to the chest and flew back, his arms spiraling to try and stop it; the crack of his head hitting the floor was loudest in my ears. Like swimming against the currents in the ocean I forced my way across the room, screaming his name but it was no use, he was already gone. His head turned in my direction, his brown eyes serene as they stared at a place far from here.

I tripped, or so I thought, until the burning between my shoulder blades spread across my back, crept along my ribs and then crushed my heart in it’s grasp. My breath forced its way out in a gasp as I fell to the floor, so close to his outstretched hand. Fire was burning through my lungs and up into my head. I belly crawled to my husband, he would make the pain go away, I lay against his still warm chest.

Pain is seizing my body and I twist and contort away from it, but there is no escape, nowhere to go. I can see him standing there now, among the dust and pretty lights. Why will he not stop the pain? Is he becoming more solid or am I beginning to disappear?

I cannot leave! I lay my hands on my now empty womb, my fingers digging into the loose skin as I fight to hold on. I begin to pant and gasp for air as tears slide down my face. A warm pool forms below me as I loose control and then the pain is gone. I look down and my husband’s hands are covering mine on my stomach. He gathers me to him and I realize it is over and we are no longer apart. Together we join the others standing amongst the battle, looking lost and confused. The dancing lights pass through us all as we wait for it to be over, wait for the outcome, wait for anyone else who is going to join us.

[Equinox Chick]

Name: Equinox Chick
House: Hufflepuff
Title: Be brave, my love.
Warnings: Fairly obvious character deaths
Word Count: 389 (yes I shocked myself at how short it was.)
Authors Note: * indicates a line taken directly from The Forest Again in Deathly Hallows.

James Potter watched his son descend the staircase from Dumbledore’s office. He could see the shock on his face fade into realisation that this last action must be done. His wife stood next to him; her lips reciting a single phrase over and over.

“Be brave, my love, be brave.”

James prayed that Albus was right.

He watched as his son took a last look around the Great Hall, surveying the dead and trying desperately not to turn back for one last kiss with the girl he loved. He could see Harry, under the Invisibility Cloak, treading determindly into the grounds of Hogwarts. James’ heart was heavy with dread. What if Harry was really walking to his death? Was it really fair to ask a seventeen year old to put himself through all this?

"Be brave, my love, be brave.”

“I know what you’re thinking,” said a familiar voice. “He’s a fighter, my godson, and he’ll do us proud.”

"It’s not about pride, Padfoot,” said James. “It’s about survival. I don’t want him here with us. He has a life back there.”

“Where’s Albus?” said Lily suddenly. “I need to see him.”

James held her close. “Hush, my sweet, Albus can’t be here. He had something else he needed to do. Something for after...” his voice trailed off. He kissed her brow.

"Be brave, my love, be brave.”

Another figure joined them – a recent arrival.

“How is he?” asked Remus. There was no need to ask who ‘he’ was.

Sirius pointed to the lone figure now walking towards the Forest. Harry had stopped momentarily to look at Hagrid’s hut, then moved onwards.

“How can he bear it?” cried Lily. “How does he have the strength for this? Were we that strong? Were we ever that brave?”

“No,” said Remus quietly. “We died quickly, without thought, living and dying by instinct. Harry is unique.”

They looked on as a seventeen year old boy reached the edge of the Forest and stopped. The Dementors sensing his dread swirled about him. They saw him trembling.They saw him fumble for his wand wondering if he had the strength for a Patronus.

“Be brave, my love, be brave.”

His hands closed around something. He pulled it out of his pockets and lifted it to his lips.

“I am about to die,”* he whispered.

“Be brave, my love, be brave.”

[x_GinnyPotter_x]

Name: x_GinnyPotter_x or Kayla
House: Gryffindor
Title: I'll See You Soon
Warnings: Character Death obviously...
Word Count: 434
Authors Note: From Harry's POV if it's not obvious.

This feeling… it reminds me of my fitful teenage years, where my emotions were pulled in every direction at once thanks to both puberty and my unnaturally stressful youth. But as much as I suffered all those years ago, none of it matches the myriad of feelings going through me now.

I look at her long, wispy white hair that is spread about her head like a halo, and remember the days when it shone like scarlet fire. I look into her wrinkled face and remember the laughs that helped form those creases over the years. I remember her stubborn frowns that would crease her brow when I was being noble or stupid. I remember how her eyebrows furrowed in pained determination as she gave birth to James, Albus and Lily in turn. But most of all I see her smile, peaceful and serene, just as it was many nights when she slept soundly next to me, her sweet breath fluttering over me in the dark.

Sadness is not what I feel – despair and emptiness are more adequate descriptions. Ginny has been more than my wife to me; she became my best friend, someone who knew me better than even Ron and Hermione. Losing her is like losing the half of my heart that was intertwined with hers, leaving nothing but an empty, lifeless shell in its place. Knowing I will have to face my coming days without her is a tormenting thought I can not yet truly grasp. A tear falls in mourning.

Yet seeing her here, with white hair, wrinkles and a smile on her face, brings a sort of gladness I did not expect. I think it is knowing that she lived her life as completely as she possibly could, and having made it to this grand old age in which it is simply her time to move on. It is knowing that unlike the countless friends I watched fall in the days in my youth, she had the chance to live the life she deserved. It is knowing that I played a part in keeping her safe, so that she and so many others could grow old in peace. And that is what I always wanted for my Ginny more than anything in the world. A tear falls in happiness.

I gently press my lips to her cool skin one last time before they close her casket. “I love you, Ginny,” I mutter, looking at her closed eyes. “Don’t have too much fun without me, darling; I’ll see you again soon.”

And so my wife begins her next great adventure.

[Phia Phoenix]

Name: Phia Phoenix
House: Ravenclaw!
Title: Much More Than Another Job
Word Count: 500 (surprise, surprise)
Warnings: Meh… none, really.
Whoa, I haven’t posted in TTB for so long! I feel like I’ve come home! And I'm really proud of this drabble - it's the first time I've ever been satisfied with my characterisation of Dumby.

“Sherbet lemon?”

The air is heavy with his lack of response.

“You’re missing out, you know,” I answer his silence, “In all my years I never did find anything that compared to the taste. Not a single sunset, nor a note of chamber music, not the scent of a crimson rose, nor the feel of star-filled ocean against bare skin – ”

“You realise that you could have mastered me?” Death interrupts. I tuck a self-satisfied smile into the corner of my mouth.

My answer is simple. “Yes.” Unconcerned, I unclothe the sweet I’d offered him. The wrapper crackles, almost loud enough to create jagged creases in the white air. I pop the sweet into my mouth.

“So… why did you not? You’ve handled all the Hallows – why did you not use them? Any other man would have.”

“You really think so? ‘Any other man’? Then why are we here?”

I gesture to the blinding nothingness around us. Death looks around, unimpressed. To him, this is simply a destination, the dumping-ground for the cargo it’s his role to deliver. He doesn’t see it for what it is; the transitory stage, the Entrance Hall if you will, to… well now, that would be telling.

“To wait. Until the time I can do my job, and you yours.”

His indifferent words fall, heavy, to the ground at our feet. I imagine the dull clunk they’d make as they hit it, and wince.

“No, my friend, there you’re wrong. Harry is much more than another job.” He doesn’t understand; I hear it in his silence.

Instead, I switch tactics. “But what would you know of a human’s reasoning, in any case? You see only the results. You are only the result. You don’t see or taste or smell or feel or hear, or even think, really, in the true senses of the terms. You can’t know about the trivial things, the butterfly’s wings that can cause the monsoon.”

Again, although he doesn’t move, I sense a sudden rigidity in his manner. “Yes… you’ve hit a nerve,” he acknowledges, and we both bathe in the accidental irony. “No matter how many millions of humans succumb to me, they always thwart me in the end. I’ve seen them obliterate lives casually, with the emerald flash of a wand and a couple of Latin words. I’ve heard their loved ones scream with grief, as they’re kneeling over the empty bodies. How can one not judge humanity based on that?”

His voice is as hollow as the wind, matter-of-fact. “But then, there’s the little girl standing in a field grinning in heady delight as she envisions herself conversing with a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. What am I supposed to think, Dumbledore? What am I supposed to do?”

My eyes meet those of my wristwatch and I haul myself to my feet, weighed down with pity for the wretched being beside me. I place a hand on Death’s shoulder.

“You’re supposed to do your job, my friend. It’s time; Harry’s ready.”

I just realised that, when you say we can’t use a minor character, you may have meant AT ALL, rather than just “use as the main character”. Then again, one could argue that Death does have a rather major part in the series.

Oh, and I need to thank Markus Zusak for the inspiration for this drabble. You reading this – yes, you – need to go and find yourself a copy of The Book Thief. Honestly, it’ll change the way you see life.

Alles Liebe,
Phia

[inspirations]

Name: inspirations
House: Hufflepuff
Title: Death
Warnings: Character Death
Word Count: 314
Authors Note: I hope this is ok, Ritta - I've took a slightly different take on it.

Sometimes, still, I look back and wonder. I wonder what my world would have been like. Always, my darling, I have been able to visualise the scene in my head. I can see my parents there, supporting me, as soon as I close my eyes – I can see my school years. I would have just been plain, young Harry. Well – maybe not plain. At one point, these thoughts caused me some pain - I have never known my parents, and it was difficult to visualise their characters.

None of that was to be, though. My parents joined the Order before they even thought of me. Trelawney bestowed the prophecy to Dumbledore, but Snape heard half of it and ran to his master (you must understand – Severus Snape was a good man, but good men still make mistakes). Soon, my parents died. I grew up not knowing my identity, and when the train whisked me away to Hogwarts, it seemed like the best thing ever. I had friends – something I had never dreamed of possessing.

Every year of school brought a new obstacle, a new pain ... Until, eventually, the second war hit. Death had haunted me my whole short life, and now he came in force, shrouded with his stories. I thought I would be able to stop him quicker, but no. People fell around me – died – and I had no clue of what to do. And still, I could not stop wondering - if Death had never penetrated my parents, would the world be any different? Would Voldemort have ruled for years on end? Would Death have invaded fewer households? I could never decide on what the outcome would have been – I try not to think of it, but I still cannot.

I hope you never have the daunting task of trying to understand, my Lily.

[mudbloodproud]

Name: mudbloodproud
House: Hufflepuff
Title: The Promise
Warnings: Character Death
Word Count: 500
Authors Note: This is set a month or so after Harry's birth.

He didn’t knock, such things weren’t necessary when you’ve been best friends for ten years. He did however, slowly open the door and enter quietly. He wanted to give Lily time if she was sitting at the table with Harry.

The last time he had shown up after midnight unannounced, he had walked in on Lily nursing Harry. Both had been embarrassed but neither ever mentioned it again. Sirius was much more cautious now walking into the kitchen late at night.

Sitting at the kitchen table, James looked up from his sleeping son’s face. “Hi,” he said simply.

Sirius walked over and looked down at his godson. Smiling, he held out his hands to take him.

“No, I just got him to sleep. He’s been a bit colicky the past few nights. I finally got Lily to leave him with me and get some sleep.” James looked down at his son.

Sighing, Sirius sat down next to James to watch Harry sleep. “So, what’s so urgent? Your note said you needed to talk to me tonight.”

James looked at his best friend. He knew he could trust him with this, his deepest fear. “I need you to promise me something,” James began. He held up a hand to silence Sirius when he had opened his mouth to blindly agree. “Hear me out first.”

“Okay, what?” Sirius asked.

“If anything happens to me, I want you to promise you’ll take care of Lily and Harry. There isn’t anyone else I would trust with them.”

“Remus? Peter? They would do this for you. We all would, you know that.”

“I know that. But, I also know there’s a traitor among us. I know it isn’t you. Do you want to know what I was thinking when you came in?” James asked.

At Sirius’ nod, James continued, “Dying. I feel deep down, I won’t live to see Harry grow up. Don’t shake your head at me, I know I’m right.” James voice started quiet and sad turned to frustration raising just enough to disturb Harry.

At Harry’s cry, Sirius reached out and took the baby into his arms. He held him close and whispered to him. Harry stopped crying upon hearing his godfather’s voice.

James shook his head. “Where have you been the past couple nights when he had Lily up all night?” he asked, not expecting an answer. “I’m serious about this though. I’m going to die and I only pray I live long enough to make sure Lily and Harry are safe.”