Authors Note: So here's the oneshot that ends it all. It's not very good at all. And it's really rushed. I'll apologize, but it won't change it, so you'll just have to read on and hate me afterwards.
Magical Mayhem: The Deathly Wings
Nineteen years later
- }{ -
The cool, gentle air caressed my face as it danced by, stirring my hair into movement. It tickled its way across my cheek, sliding over my half-lidded eyes. The night was still and peaceful around me, all of the world holding its breath collectively. The brilliant, luminiescant full moon was suspended high in the black velvet sky, a pearl amongst the glittering diamonds of stars. The soothing sound of the Black Lake's waves lapping against the shore lulled me even closer into sleep.
The stark din of laughter bubbling up from somewhere close at hand shook me from this state.
"I thought I told you to let me rest?" I grumbled, cracking one eye open to see the fivesome staring down at me. When they realized I was awake they jumped back instantly, settling into a circle in front of me.
"You did. For five minutes, and according to my calculations, it's been that long . . . Give or take," the stawberry blonde-haired girl replied proudly, grinning at me. To the left of her a boy looking almost identical nodded his head in earnest. They were twins in fact; Melanie and Camden, starting their second year at Hogwarts.
"Oh please, will you just tell us a story now?" another female piped up tiredly, wearing a look of disgruntlement akin to her mother's. Luckily, there was more Hermione in Rose than there was Ron.
Harry's sons stayed silent, but I could see the excitement brimming in both their eyes.
I pretended to think about it for a moment, cocking my head to the side and staring off into space. When I had tortured them with my silence long enough, I puffed out a resigned sigh, folding my hands in my lap as I squared my shoulders to them once more.
"What kind of story do you want to hear?" I inquired, my gaze sweeping over them all.
"Make it an adventure!" Albus exclaimed, hopping in place. James rolled his eyes, but I could tell he agreed.
"Let it be romantic," Melanie swooned, her bright blue eyes swimming.
"A tradgey, actually," Rose suggested.
"Why don't you tell us a tragic romance, full of adventure," James proposed, sounding bored already.
"That's right perfect!" Camden insisted, practically glowing.
I couldn't help but laugh, shaking my head at the kids. They each had a little bit of their parents in them, with new parts surfacing every day. It was wonderful watching them grow up.
As I thought over what tale I could spin, I was aware of the fact that we were being joined by a few more audience members. Angel and Gazzy nestled themselves right into the sand, sitting cross-legged with the rest of the children. Iggy and Nudge stood a few paces back, watching with small smiles. I shared a look with the four of them before sudden inspiration hit, and I was ready to weave my story-telling magic.
"Not so very long ago, there were six kids. They weren't all related by blood, but they were the closest family you could ever meet . . ."
As I spoke I relived memories; from growing up in the School to our last stand at Hogwarts, where everything changed. The feeling I had when I thought Harry was dead, and that the war was truly over, without us in favor. Then the triumph when I witnessed Voldemort, and thereby Arawn, fall.
The time previous to that had been tough. I had to trust that Harry could keep himself safe, while he was being hunted by the most dangerous dark wizard to ever exist. Not to mention giving up our powers, when we just got used to having them.
I recalled the day I told the rest of the flock, and their shock to my proclamation. Nudge had demanded to know why. I had had a vision of the battle with Arawn, after all. Why give up our powers now? That was when I was able to tell them: It wasn't us. Those people I had glimpsed weren't us.
There was also the minor detail of having the other half of my heart ripped out . . . again. So yeah, I had that hanging over my head the entire journey as well.
Right about now you're probably wondering just what that journey was.
Well, going with my gut instinct, we took a little tour from the magical wizarding world. Instead it was just my flock and I again -minus one- on the run, destroying as many School's as we could on the way. Since a lot of Voldemort's resources were now coming from the School, it was actually quite crucial that we cut him off from that flow.
We hadn't been doing nothing, after all.
But then the war ended. Harry killed Voldemort, yada yada yada. You know the story. All returned to peace, blah blah blah. We weren't without our losses though. They delivered quite a blow when all was said and done.
I was lucky enough that my flock came out unharmed. They were my main priority after all. The lives sacrificed in that final battle though . . . I could still feel them resonating within me to this day.
People moved on though. Days passed, which turned into weeks. Pretty soon it was months, then years, in the rearview mirror. History. I still lived and breathed in that moment though, no matter how old I got. That didn't stop the world from revolving; from continuing on regardless of leaving me in the dust.
Angel, Gazzy and Nudge went back to school. They all polished off their educations, and were now working in various places of the wizarding community. They were still them though. Angel . . . devious little Angel. Gazzy . . . smelly, rambuctious Gazzy. And Nudge . . . motormouth Nudge. Gwythry help us all. She was engaged to Austin.
Iggy had quite a life of his own now as well. He had done well helping out George with Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. It wasn't the same without Fred, but George was still managing to cope. Plus, it was a dream job for Iggy. He had also ended up marrying Katie Bell. No one was more surprised than me, trust me on that one. Their marriage had produced the stawberry blonde twins before me.
I myself was a little estranged at first. The flock was starting to branch out. They wanted to live their lives, while I hadn't the inkling of an idea what to do with mine. My best friend and soulmate was gone, and I had no way of knowing when he was coming back, if at all.
Eventually I got myself together. The one thing about me was I needed a purpose. Something to strive for. After some thought I managed to lend myself into a new drive.
I was a professor at Hogwarts now, teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Who better, after all? There was even talk that I would be the new Headmistress soon. I didn't know where those rumors had started though. Being in charge of something did sound good . . . but it reminded me too much of my grandfather, Albus Dumbledore, and what could have been. The memory was still painful.
When I finally returned back to reality I was just getting to the departure of our dear heroine's lost love.
The air around me seemed to grow chillier as I remember that instant; that one inexplicable second when my heart shattered, knowing he was leaving me yet again. The shine coming from the sky seemed to dim in correspondance with my mood, which had run dry and bitter. There was an ever-present ache in my chest, yearning for him for the past nineteen years.
"He was the girl's soulmate. They were meant to be together. It had been preordained long, long ago," I explained in a hushed whisper, as the others -even the flock- sat open mouthed, rapt at attention. "They had been through so much already, perservering through the heartbreak and separation; the bitterness and the confused emotions. It was a crucial time, when all she needed was him to be there, to solidify and hold her up when she felt weak . . . But that wanting wasn't enough. When had it ever been?
"He told her that it wasn't goodbye, but he was leaving anyway. No amount of begging on her part could stop him. His choice had been made, and it wasn't her. With shallow breaths and an already wilted heart she watched him walk away, every step like an individual knife in her already bruised soul . . .
"She had been raised to know that there wasn't always a happy ending, and that most likely she wouldn't get hers. At some point along the way though, she had changed her mind. He had changed her mind. The possibility to reach that golden heaven she imagined seemed within reach for the first time . . . just to be crushed right as it came within grasp.
"She didn't get her happy ending. Through all the blood shed, and the tears, and the hurt, pain and sacrifice; after everything, she didn't get her happy ending. All she had was an empty promise: this isn't goodbye."
I finished the tale on that solemn note, lost in my own grief. Leaning back, my spine brushed against the gnarled, rough bark of a tree. The Tree. The tree where true magic happened; where love and loss mingled in the atmosphere, soaking into the roots of the earth. Images of confessions of love and crystalline butterflies danced in my vision, masking the honest pain I felt.
They wanted a tragic romance, full of adventure? Yeah, well . . . they just got my life.
"That's . . . so . . . sad!" Melanie blubbered, and for the first time I realized she was sobbing. Alarm colored my vision, before I reassured myself that it was only because of my somber story. Taking in the others I noted that they were all in similar states.
Rose was patting Melanie's arm in comfort, looking pained herself. Camden and Albus were sitting quietly together, heads bowed, while James was shuffled off to the side, staring off pointedly in the distance.
Gazzy had his arm slung around Angel's shoulders as she regarded me with anguished eyes. Iggy was staring at me with much the same look, knowing that this was probably the first time I had spoken so in-depth about my feelings towards my soulmate's departure. Nudge's eyes were glistening with unshed tears, her lower lip trembling.
None of them were speaking though, which was why it was a surprise to hear a voice come from behind me.
"You forgot something," they said, low and calm. Familiar.
"Oh?" I inquired shakily, frozen in place.
"Yes. You forgot the part where he promises to come back to her. That he will always come back to her," they insisted, voice like music; soft and soothing to my deprived ears.
On shaking legs I stood, using the tree for support. Ignoring all the others I turned with exaggerated slowness, forcing my hope down in case I was just imagining the entire exchange.
I wasn't.
"Fang?" I murmured, eyes crinkling at the edges as I stared at him. It was obvious that he had aged; grown older and taller. Yet in that moment, we were sixteen again. I was looking at the boy I had known all my life . . . been through so much with . . . loved with every fiber of my being. Here he was. After nineteen years of long, excruciating waiting.
His midnight locks still hung haphazardly in his face, curling around his chin. All his features were the same, as scarred and perfect in their imperfections as I recalled them to be. His eyes; his beautiful, captivating, soul-breaching obsidian eyes, locked with my own, were all I could see from that point on.
"Max." I've never heard my name uttered so sweetly, like honey rolling off his tongue and whispering past his lips.
"You're back," I said stupidly, unable to think of anything else. His appearance had wreaked havoc on my common sense, all thought process in a magnificent dissaray.
"Life isn't over yet, love. There's still time for a happy ending," he said strongly, stepping closer. A light wind rose, washing his now alien scent towards me. As I smelled the post-rain air though, it clicked in my senses.
In that second I couldn't stand it anymore. He was so close. His smell, his everything, was maddening. I needed to close that infinite space between us. I needed to touch him. I had been deprived of Fang for too long.
I choked back a sob, pummeling into his open arms. There was nothing else in the world besides him and I, then. Nothing.
There were just his strong, capable arms cradling me to his chest. Just his warm, callused hands pressed against my back and tangled in my hair. Just his hard torso beneath mine. Just his soft black hair tickling the hollow of my neck. Just his silken, satiny lips crushed to mine. Just the feeling of finally being content surrounding me like a cocoon.
"I love you."
The foreign, tingling sensation of his words echoing through my mind made me start, but I soon recovered enough to squeeze myself ever closer to him, reciprocating with a response of my own.
"I love you, too."
He pulled back slightly, resting his forehead on mine.
"My aer," he whispered, his warm breath fluttering across my face.
"What?" I inquired, in a daze.
"Blaze called you 'my adenydd'. My wings. But I already have wings," he said with a chuckle. "You're just the air beneath them. My aer."
I smiled, traitor tears biting at my eyes once more. They were for happy purposes though, and I think this occassion called for them.
Suddenly, and without any proper warning, there was a thundering crash, resounding like a shockwave around me. I rotated my head quickly, looking up just in time to see a spectacular show of fireworks crackle and pop into existence. On the beach a few yards away the kids cheered, as the adults clapped with them. Iggy and Gazzy shot me impish looks, wands in hand, right as another round fired off; raining gold and silver embers all around me.
"Will they never learn?" I complained, groaning. "They're grown men for Gwythry's sake."
"Silly Max," Fang murmured, his lips sending electric tingles down my spine as they brushed against my temple. "It won't ever stop. You and I both know that for a fact."
"Yes, but why?" I said in exasperation, meeting his dark eyes once more.
"There's no end to the magical mayhem."
THE END
Authors Note: Whoah. Whoah-whoah-whoah-whoah-whoah! I'm FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW! It's over. All of it. DONE. The entire series. Complete. Finished.
It's been a tough ride. I think those of you who have been along for it for the majority of the time will agree. It had it's ups and downs, that's for sure. Sadly, it had to finish off with one of the downs. This series is like my baby though. I watched it evolve and change; twist and turn on crazy whims. And this is how it all ends. I'm kind of relieved, to be honest. It's high time I put the Magical Mayhem universe I've created to rest. I had my run with it. Now it's time to move on completely.
The first story was pretty much my first major project. I'm just happy I managed to finish not only that one, but two others as well. Including this measly oneshot as an ending. I think it really displays the way my writing has changed; hopefully for the better. I'll let you be the judge.
MUCHO thanks to all those who have reviewed, favorited and/or alerted this series at ANY point in time. Also those who favorited and/or alerted myself through this series. I'm extremely grateful to each and every one of you, no matter how hard that may be to believe at times.
SUPER GIGANTIC SPECIAL THANKS to the following:
Miz636: Uhm . . . what can I say? You've talked me through a lot of this series, helped me when I needed it but was too stubborn to outwardly ask, and put up with my complaining (which is an accomplishment within itself). And need I remind you of the . . . blufadoodle? Oh Iggy. Goooood times. I really appreciate everything!
Kina Kalamari: You're one of the few that has been with me since the very beginning (or extremely close to it). I can't express just how much that means to me. Through talking to you so much and your constant reviews to pretty much all of my stories, I've come to really respect your opinion. I can't say thank you enough. I really can't.
RedRangerBelt: The one who constantly asks questions, most of which I'm not allowed to answer for the sake of keeping SOME of the story a surprise. You might not know it, but your reviews helped me A LOT during the writing process. They reminded me of things I needed to put in . . . because let's face it, I forget to include things. I have too much going on and not enough room in my mind to profile it all. You've also been with this series for a looong time. Thanks so much for everything!
eclipsed heart: I don't quite remember when you started reading, but I DO recall it's because of a review I left for one of YOUR stories. And also because you're super good at what you do, and every single one of your reviews makes me kind of giddy, because I'm in LOVE with your stories, so it's exciting that you're a fan of mine. Wow, I'm a dork. Haha. But really, thank you.
There are probably more people I should list here, but the majority of them present come from having stuck with the series for so long. If you jumped in later on, I'm still INCREDIBLY thankful to you. Don't think otherwise just because your pen name isn't listed here. These are just a few of the people that really stuck out to me.
I appreciate EVERYONE who takes the time to even read one of the stories at all.
So once again, thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-thankyou. I cannot express my gratitude enough.
And now for the last time on a Magical Mayhem story, I say:
Review please? (: