A story that came into my head when I listened to that song. I thought it fit the Baron perfectly.
song fic for 'A thousand Years' by Christina Perri.
The Baron looked at the seventeen year old next to him. "Are you sure this will work?"
The girl sighed. "Men. It won't make her love you but it will show her how much you love her. She might be able to forgive you. Maybe. It's hard to explain. No man can ever understand a woman."
The Baron sighed. "Let's do it then. You said Myrtle is bringing her here?"
The girl nodded and went back to setting up the instruments. She finished and left through a door on the other side of the room. The Grey lady would be coming from the other end of the castle so she wouldn't see her there. She would leave completely but the Baron needed her to use the spell on the instruments. The floor of the room was covered in Daisies and Buttercups, Helena's favourite flowers. There was rose incense burning away and candles set around the room.
The Grey Lady floated into the room and looked around in confusion. She saw the flower petals on the floor, the candles on the tables at the edges of the room, the incense burning. She scowled at the Baron but startled when the instruments at the back of the room began to play a soft melody.
The Baron took a deep breath. As he sang he put all of his feeling into the words. He needed her to know. "Heart beats fast, colors and promises, how to be brave. How can I love when I'm afraid to fall? But watching you stand alone, all of my doubts suddenly go away somehow."
By this point The Grey Lady looked like she wanted to leave but was too curious to do so. The curse of all Ravenclaws.
The Baron took this as a good sign and carried on. "One step closer. I have died every day waiting for you. Darling don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years, I'll love you for a thousand more."
By the end of the chorus the Grey Lady frowned at him but it wasn't with her usual venom. The Baron smiled, which was a rare thing in itself, and started on the second verse.
"Time stands still. Beauty in all she is."
The grey lady shook her head.
"I will be brave. I will not let anything take away what's standing in front of me. Every breath, every hour has led to this."
He dropped to one knee and placed his right hand over his heart. Helena shook her head and looked around the room, trying not to look at him.
"One step closer. I have died every day waiting for you. Darling don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more. All along I believed I would find you. Time has brought you here to me. I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more."
He stopped singing and let the music play the instrumental part.
The grey lady shook her head. "I hate you. Why do you do this?"
The Baron sighed. "I need you to know how I feel. I need you to know I love you. More than anything."
Helena shook her head. The Baron sighed and sang the last part of the song.
"One step closer. One step closer. I have died everyday waiting for you. Darling don't be afraid. I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more. All along I believed I would find you. Time has brought you here to me. I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more."
The music trailed off and the Grey Lady glared at the Baron. "Why do you do this? Do you think you can convince me to love you?"
The Baron shook his head. "No. I cannot ask for your love after what I have done. I only seek your forgiveness. I love you with all of my heart. I will always love you, no matter what. It pains me to have you so furious at me. You know I regret what I have done. These chains are obvious enough. I ask for your forgiveness for I shall never be able to forgive myself. I beg of you, please. Forgive me." He bowed his head and stared at the ground.
There was a long silence. "Even after all this time? We have not spoken in the past thousand years, yet you still love me? You still offer me your heart?"
The baron smiled gently up at her. "My heart will always belong to you and to you alone. Whether you offer me your own in return is your decision."
Helena shook her head. "You killed me."
"And then took my own life. I could not live with what I had done."
She glared at him. "They why choose to remain as a ghost?"
"I had to pay for my sins. I did not deserve to move on in the afterlife. I chose to stay so I could pay for my sins here. I live like this as punishment for what I had done. I did not know you would also choose to stay."
Helena sighed. "I don't know if I can forgive you Baron."
The Baron looked pleadingly up at her. "I am not expecting your forgiveness right now. I know it is a lot to ask of you. I want your forgiveness but if I push you then you will never forgive me. Your opinion is the only thing that matters to me. I love you."
Helena held her eyes tightly shut and took a deep breath. "I will try. I will think about it."
The baron grinned up at her. "Thank you." his voice came out as barely a whisper. "Thank you." he bowed his head again before standing up.
Helena sighed. How was she supposed to stay mad at him after all of this? She would never love him, but maybe she could forgive him, he had been repenting for the past thousand years and was still in love with her.
She looked around the room. He remembered she loved daisies and buttercups, and the smell of roses, and those candles were her favorite ones to study by, they glowed the brightest and lasted the longest. He knew these little things about her that many people wouldn't pay attention to. She sighed. Out of everyone he was the one who knew her best when they were alive.
It was a shame she couldn't love him.
But maybe she could forgive him.
Maybe.