Author's Note: This is where I will post any short, mostly unedited drabbles (350 words or less) I may write for the HPFC forum that take place in the Fixing the Timeline series.
The first one was written for Aenaris for a drabble exchange in the 3rd anniversary party. It takes place just after the final battle in the 'original' universe of "Fixing the Timeline." Pairings: Hermione/Ron, Hermione/Luna, implied Hermione/Krum.
Before the Fall
Before the fall, there was happiness.
Before the fall, there was long blonde hair, sweeping around as she danced, flowing through Hermione's fingers, cascading down her back.
Before the fall, there were wide silver eyes, gazing unseeingly at the expanse of the ceiling in the Great Hall, staring into Hermione's own eyes until all the Gryffindor girl could see was pools of steel.
They were never really together, were they? There was always Ron, and if it hadn't been Ron, maybe it would have been Harry, although she's never thought of him that way. Maybe it would have been Viktor, who would have liked nothing better, but she knew from the start that it was nothing more than a fling.
She was allowed to dream, though. She'd dream of silver eyes and silver hair, shining in the moonlight or the sunlight. It was easy, strangely easy, to fall asleep to images of a ghostly pale girl with radishes on her ears and bottle caps around her neck.
Once, that same girl admitted that she fell asleep to images of a bushy-haired girl with big front teeth and a tendency to talk very fast.
Now… after the fall, it's too late for those dreams to come true. Hermione kneels beside her, blinking back tears as she looks into unseeing eyes one last time. She slides her fingers under Luna's, squeezing a cold hand until her skin starts to burn. She strokes Luna's lovely hair, feeling it give under her touch as it always did, but the head underneath is chilled.
Maybe she ought to be crying over Ron's body, at the other end of the battlefield. They were, after all, together. But neither Ron nor Luna is here to see whose body she chooses, and besides, Harry and Ginny are both with Ron right now. Hermione doesn't think Ron would mind, not really. She thinks maybe he knew already.
After the fall, there is long blonde hair, spread out across the ground.
After the fall, there are wide silver eyes that Hermione presses shut.
After the fall, there is nothing.
