Disclaimer: First, Harry Potter is in no way mine. And nor are Victoire and Neville. Alas. Second, I'm not claiming this is a proper freeverse, either. I can only seem to write freeverses by accident, and this fic was premeditated. And third, 'exposed on the cliffs of the heart' isn't mine. I took it from a poem with the same name by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Inspiration: The poem 'Wedding-Ring' by Denise Levertov, which is about a woman wondering what to do with her wedding ring now that her marriage has ended.
Thanks to: tat1312, for betaing this and just generally being fantastic.
A/N: This is a very very very belated birthday gift for Morghen, whom I also have to thank for the pairing (M&Ms aren't just sweets). Truth be told I had it written many months ago, but I hated it. I'm still not fond of it... but it's a gift. I think I'll have to leave it to you to decide what you think, Morghen. ...In any case, I have another little gift for you that I wrote a few days ago, so maybe that'll repair the damage if you hate this.
Sorry that it's so late and that I didn't get you your dream cake. Maybe, er, next year? o_0
Anyway. Enjoy!
Promises fade o u t like light:
Under the stars man&wife loved,
but those same stars,
around the milky way - well they faded out, and they made way
for darkness.
day. night. day.,
the day. .light robbery of her marriage, her marriage
reduced to (checklist):
two broken-hearted lovers-left-behind, living the |truth| after years of |lies|
(Teddy. Hannah.)
two bro ken families, torn-i n-two
(her family . his family.)
two -run-away- adulterers, exposed on the cliffs of the heart...
(Neville..Victoire)
...and four fool's gold wedding b-a-n-d-s -
heavy on their fingers,
heavy taken off,
heavy with promises which have f a de d o u t
Like Light.
/
Everything was promised...
...nothing was gained.
/
And around, around, she twists the ring
around, around, her thoughts go
d r.
n... ...o
u
All round.
/
Everything was promised...
...nothing was gained.
/
And around, around, she twists the ring
around, around, her thoughts go
d r.
n... ...o
u
All round.
/
From 'A' t o 'H' - the alphabet of time,
the time it takes two people to realise
that what was once there isn't now;
the time it takes to see
that what once promised can be bro ken;
the time it takes
for natural processes to do their worst:
Erosion,
Floods,
Longshore Drift
Aw a y from each other; the time it takes,
the time it takes,
the time it takes;
.
The time it takes for her to take off
her ring
and realise that the mark it leaves deep in her skin is
- after all -
only skin deep.
.
The time it takes,
the time it takes,
the time that takes, and takes, and takes:
the time it takes to kill her, bit by bit,
the only thing to resurrect her: Neville's s~mil~e.
/
Those letters choked her finger 'til she chucked that time away.
The time it takes to tear the world in tw
o
then put it back together again.
Brand n-ew-.
(But can she chuck her ring away?)
/
Everything was promised...
...nothing was gained.
/
And so she sits there, won-de-ring,
what should she do with this old, faded
r
g... ...i
n?
/
Everything was promised...
...nothing was gained.
/
And so she sits there, won-de-ring,
what should she do with this old, faded
r
g... ...i
n?
/
Chosen so carefully,
this ring : now not even a ghostly presence
on her finger;
discarded so carelessly,
the love promised
(nothing) on this love.
yet if it was so
care-
-less,
shouldn't they be
care-
-free?
"I can't wear this again," she whispers to him;
"I can't wear this again," he whispers to her.
/
Their promises faded o u t like light:
Under the darkness they loved,
Under the canopies and smoke~screens they loved,
Buried under lies, they loved
through the day. .light robbery of her marriage, they loved,
her marriage reduced to (checklist):
two shattered-crystal pairs of eyes, seeing the |truth| after years of |lies|
(Teddy. Hannah.)
two broke n families, torn-i n-two
(her family . his family.)
two -embracing- lovers, exposed on the cliffs of their hearts...
(Neville..Victoire)
...and four fool's gold wedding b-a-n-d-s -
heavy on their fingers,
heavy taken off,
heavy with promises which have f a d ed ou t
Like Light -
leaving- the darkness that they love
under again.
.
Four fool's gold wedding b-a-n-d-s
but no fools to speak of now...
.
...for when Nothing is promised...
...everything is gained.
.
...for when Nothing is promised...
...everything is gained.
.
...for when Nothing is promised...
...everything is gained.
/
So still she has to sit there,
won-de-ring.
.
And still she sits there,
won-de-ring.
