Written for Eclipses Riddle for my July gift-giving. Pairing: Teddy/Victoire, Prompt: St Patrick's Day by John Mayer
Written for the Greek Mythology Competition (Hades: write about death) WARNING for death.
Snowflake
He's like a snowflake falling from the sky. Unique, different.
He's the moon to your earth, the Romeo to your Juliet. One cannot survive without the other.
The day begins like any other. An alarm sounds in the bedroom you share, and like clockwork, he rises, dresses, eats breakfast, and then comes to kiss you goodbye. He tells you he will see you when he comes home and you nod drowsily. You're asleep again before he Disapparates from the room.
You wake an hour later, rested from your lazy morning. It takes you another hour to get ready.
Today you're going to see your mother. With Dominique and Louis at school, and your father working, she gets lonely sometimes. You visit her on your day off. Sometimes it's helping with housework; other times it's coffee in Diagon Alley.
Whatever you feel like, really.
By midday you return home and begin your own housework. He sends you an owl to remind you that he loves you, and you smile. You would reply, but he knows it, anyway.
December is coming on fast, and it's your first Christmas living together. You've decided that combined presents for everyone will be the easiest way, but he's not really good at buying presents. Last time he tried he gave your father a t-shirt that said 'I love my son in-law'.
You're not even married yet.
You're planning to next year, though. March Seventeen. St Patrick's Day. You have it all planned – the dress, the flowers, and even the music you'll walk down the aisle to. He bought you a ring last winter and it's been the talk of the family ever since.
You buy your mother a pair of magical earrings. Not only do they look stunning, but they also increase the hearing of the wearer when in big crowds, or busy places. She'll like that.
Your father is getting the latest record of the Weird Sisters. He likes them for some reason.
Dominique will be delighted with a dress she's had her eye on for months, but unable to afford, and Louis will cry with joy at the miniature dragon figurine which is virtually a pet.
You stop for a moment, looking at your gifts.
He has always been the hardest to buy for. You want it to be perfect, but it can't be cheesy, or cliché, either.
It needs to be special, unique. Just like him.
After much deliberation you decide on new dress robes. He's always going into the robe shop, staring at the new designs. It drives you mad, actually, but if it makes him happy…
It's three in the afternoon when you return home. You pick up the book you've been trying to finish for two months now.
You're one hundred pages from the end when an owl floats onto the window sill. His owl. You smile, hurrying over to retrieve the letter.
Hi love!
There's been a bit of an incident at work today. I might be a little bit late. Maybe seven. I love you.
You fold the parchment up. It's not unusual for him to be late occasionally. Aurors work hard, and he the hardest out of all of them. You'll just make sure you have dinner prepared for when he comes home.
You're cooking his favourite tonight. Roast.
You're still fifty pages away from the end when there's a knock at your door.
You get up, frowning. You rarely have visitors.
It's Uncle Harry.
You smile, welcoming him in, for it's unusual for him to pay a visit to you. You're surprised he even knows where you live.
It's when he says nothing that you realise he's not there for social reasons. Your heart sinks when you remember that Harry was working with your fiancé.
You ask him what the matter is, and gravely, he tells you.
There was an accident. They unexpectedly ran into a small group of Death Eaters, and were attacked. Him, Uncle Ron and a few others have been taken to St. Mungo's for treatment.
Thankfully no one was dead.
You rush with him to the hospital and are taken to a room that he's sharing with Uncle Ron. Uncle Ron his awake, smiling, for he's okay.
But…
You hurry to his bed side, taking his hand in yours. You whisper his name over and over, as if that will wake him up.
The Healer tells you he is under a sleeping potion and can't hear you.
You cry.
While you wait, Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron tell you the full story. He'd been very brave, protecting a colleague from a stinging jinx. At the same time, however, he'd been hit by a confundus and a stunning jinx.
The three combined had left him like this.
Uncle Ron is dismissed and goes home, so it's just you and him alone now. You talk to him, tell him of your day, but he doesn't wake.
You fall asleep and when you wake, he hasn't. It's morning now.
A Healer tells you it's unusual for a sleeping potion to have such a long effect. You ask if anything is wrong.
They tell you it isn't. Just give him time.
You give him three days. The family have come and gone, but you haven't left his side. The Healers whisper to each other, but not to you. They don't need to, though. You know what they're saying.
Three powerful jinxes at once is too much for even him to handle.
Another day passes and it's finally too much for you. You stand up, look at them, and yell at them. They try to sooth you, but it doesn't work. You just want to know what's happening.
So they finally tell you, regretfully.
He should have woken now, but he hasn't. His brain has stopped, his heart is slowing.
He is dead. As good as.
You refuse to leave his bedside, and even when your parents come to get you, you force them to stay. You can't let go of his hand, despite it slowly becoming colder.
How could this even be? On the morning of the accident, he had woken not knowing his fate. You had fallen back asleep, taking for granted seeing him again. You hadn't replied to his owl, his declaration of love.
What if you had? Would things be different?
You feel your mother's hand rest on your shoulder, and you look up with a tear-stained face.
She tells you it's time to leave, but you're not ready. You'll never be ready, because he was your love, your snowflake. Your one of a kind.
His heart finally stops completely and you are taken away by your parents. They have arms around you, holding you. But you don't want them. Their arms were for the child you. It is his arms that you want now.
The Healers take away his body as you are taken away by your parents. You watch, tears running down your cheeks. You want to go back, but you know you can't. He's gone now. You'll never see him again.
As he is taken from your sight, the last time you see him, you whisper to him through your tears. You are one, so he will hear you.
So you tell him.
"I love you, Teddy."
I hope you enjoyed this... in a sad way? I'm actually quite pleased with the way this turned out. Eclipses Riddle, I hope you enjoyed it.
Also, I have November and December vacant still for gift fics, so if you would like me to write you a story in one of those months (over 600 words) please PM me with AT LEAST 3 pairings/characters and AT LEAST 3 prompts. First come, first serve!