A/N: One-shot written for a competition when I was given a title. I have never heard the song, so this is not directly based off of it. Sorry. :D It's a combination of both the movie and the book, so shoot me.
Brighter
He soared from that tower; she was certain that he had. No one had witnessed his fall and this made it all the more surreal to her. If he had died, how had no one watched him plummet into that cold, hard earth?
But that boy had a story, surely spun, surely fabricated in his attempt to explain why his dear professor decided to take an ill-timed nap. That boy who had lied to a disgusting degree, that boy who had regained his stature in society because of the man lying in a heap on the ground. The man was simply sleeping, exhausted from his final excursion that she begged him to forgo. But this night was slowly dawning, and the reality shook her to the core.
The man, the beautiful man was wearing the same robes- the same robes that she had purchased for him last Christmas, embroidered with the silver stars; the sapphire fabric made his eyes dance like they were on fire, twinkling as if there was no tomorrow. And so there was not. She remembered with painful clarity that this night, the longest night of her life, would never end for him. There were no more tomorrows.
Silently, with grace, she looked from him and submerged herself in the routines that were required of her. Still, her mind grappled with the impossibility of the actuality. Could it be that the boy had told the truth?
It was later still that her mind won the battle- she needed to see for herself. Dressed stark, she no longer cared as she danced down the steps. Hagrid mentioned that he had moved the Headmaster. Where would a gamekeeper place a dead man?
The notion struck her and she tore down the path, her wand clutched in a vice-like grip. Later on, she marveled that none of her fingers had broken; she held that wand so tightly that it formed an imprint on her weathered wand hand, destined to remain for three days afterward.
She opened the door to the gamekeeper's hut and received a harsh greeting from the half-giant's dog. She watched in wonderment as that dog snarled and frothed at the mouth, his purpose quite clear: he protected the still man lying on the bed. Her heart went out to Hagrid in that moment; he protected that which was most dear.
She spoke softly, kneeling upon the wooden floor of the cabin before the dog strode amicably toward her, his changed demeanor serving a striking contrast to what he had been moments before. She petted him as much as was necessary, and when she was through, she locked the door behind her before parting the quilt on the cot and looking at the man who had been her husband of over forty years. . . .
He remained unchanged, as though he was sleeping after all, but the professor could plainly see no evidence of breath traveling through his lungs. She touched his cold face with mild hesitation before she took both of his eyelids and opened them with her trembling fingers.
His eyes were still and unmoving, as though he were sleeping that eternal night, but Professor McGonagall could not help but note that those blue eyes were brighter in life.
A/N: Now review, or you too shall perish in the same manner... -cackles- Just kidding. :D