they live to tell a fairytale
Luna can feel her lover's legs thrashing about in the bed beside her. Cho often has insomnia—it's something Luna's learned to live with. But today's been long, and it's two in the morning, and she really wants to go to sleep.
So she turns on the light.
Cho rolls over. "What did you do that for?" she asks. "Was I bothering you? I'm sorry, Luna, I can go in the other room…"
"No, no." she says, because even though Cho was keeping her up, she could never, ever, annoy her. "Are you having trouble sleeping?"
Cho closes her eyes briefly. "Yes. Every time I try to go to sleep…I see them. I see their faces. Cedric, Fred, Lupin, and all the faces that didn't even have a name." Her eyes fly open and she trains them on Luna's. "They didn't have a name, Luna. I didn't know them, and they died, and I'm here."
Luna reaches out her hands and finds Cho's cold ones underneath the covers. "My mother used to tell me stories when I couldn't go to sleep. She called them fairytales. They come from the Muggles."
"Fairytales? Luna, we're a bit old for those. After everything we've seen, after everything we've gone through, you still believe in fairytales?"
"Oh, yes." Luna answers without hesitation. "Fairytales are the best of us, you see." When it's clear that Cho isn't going to argue, she begins. "Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Ella. She was very much like you or me at a young age. She had a mother and a father who loved her very much, and a dog, too. One day, her mother suddenly passed away and she was left with her father to grieve. Her father loved her so much that he couldn't stand to see her without a mother, and married a respectable woman with two daughters of her own to keep her company."
"But did he love her?" Cho finds herself more swept up in the tale as she cares to admit, but cannot resist asking the question.
"Not particularly," Luna says. "He only wanted what was best for his daughter."
"Oh."
"But little did he know that Ella's new stepmother was cruel, and her daughters just the same."
"That's terrible!" Cho says, quietly.
"Yes, quite. And sadly, a short time after, Ella's father passed away."
"How is this a fairytale, Luna? This is only making me sadder." Cho shifted underneath the bedcovers, hunching into herself.
"It must get worse before it gets better, dear." Luna tucked a piece of hair behind Cho's ear. "Ella's stepmother treated her cruelly, making her do the chores and become a servant to her and her daughters. She even cleaned the fireplace, and the stepsisters grew to call her Cinderella." Cho scrunches up her nose in disdain for the sisters, and Luna laughs softly as she continues. "One day, an invitation to the prince's ball came for all the unmarried young maidens in the land. Cinderella was so excited that she made her own dress, but at the last moment, the stepsisters, jealous of her beauty, destroyed it."
Cho gasps.
"Cinderella was so distraught that she was left behind by the stepmother and the stepsisters, and she ran out to the garden where she used to spend time with her mother. There, she cried, and it is then that her fairy godmother appeared to her." Luna's voice begins to take on an air of magic and amazement. Cho is able to lose herself in that voice; in those eyes. "Her fairy godmother gives her a new dress, and sends her off to the ball looking like a princess. But…"
"Oh, there's always a but."
Luna smiles. "Cinderella has to be home by midnight, or the spell will be broken."
"Well, that's easy. Just don't stay out too late partying." Cho sniffs.
"Cinderella had such a wonderful time at the ball, though. She ended up dancing with the prince." Luna's expression becomes dreamy. "When he first saw her, he fell in love, and they danced the night away. But before she knew it, the clock was striking midnight. She had to run home, but she accidentally left a glass slipper behind."
"Well, that's no big deal. The prince will find her tomorrow."
"But the prince didn't know her name. So his father issued a royal proclamation that all young maidens in the land must try on the glass slipper. Cinderella's stepmother, who didn't know that Cinderella had been at the ball, locked her in her room so that she couldn't try on the shoe."
"Meanie."
"But with the help of her mice friends-"
"Mice friends?" Cho inturrupts. "What mice friends?"
"Gus, and Jacque." Luna answers, confused.
"You never mentioned them."
"Oh. Well, she escapes from the room, tries on the glass slipper, and finds her prince. And they lived happily ever after together for the rest of their lives. The end."
Cho frowns.
"What's wrong, love?" Luna squeezes her hands.
"So she loses everyone she loves, becomes oppressed by her evil tormentor, and finally escapes with her prince."
"Yes, I suppose so. But isn't it beautiful?"
"Kind of sounds like a metaphor for our lives, minus the prince."
Luna is silent. "I suppose so," she eventually concedes.
"But we still don't know what happened after that. What happens to Cinderella after the fairytale ends?"
"It's up to your imagination, Cho."
"But where does she go from there? What does she do? How does she move on?"
"This isn't just about Cinderella, is it?" Luna asks, but it's less of a question and more of an observation.
"What do we do, Luna? How do we keep living, every day?" She almost sounds angry.
"You just keep living," she answers, and before Cho gets even madder—and she knows she will—Luna continues. "Look at your arms, or look in the mirror. Your scars tell a story, and you live to tell that story. Every day you remind me that if Cho can do it, I can do it. We all go on together. It's no easier on you or me than it is on Harry or Ginny or Neville. But we don't give up, because we do it together. We do it so that our children will know what it is to fight and to never back down. We can't let him win after he's dead, you see? We have to live, to tell the story."
Cho closes her eyes. "Tell me another fairytale."
Luna sighs softly, and runs her fingers through Cho's hair. "Not yet."
"Why?" Cho burrows into her pillow.
"Because you're still sad."
"So what?"
Luna moves closer to Cho to take her into her arms, and it is then that Cho collapses. She cries warm tears onto Luna's shoulder, but Luna doesn't mind.
"I'm sorry," she sniffs, as her tears begin to dry.
"Don't be sorry."
"I won't let him win, you know. I swear to you, I won't." Cho's voice becomes stronger.
"I know you won't."
"Will you tell me another fairytale?" Cho asks, resting her head underneath Luna's and briefly taking a moment to enjoy the warmth of another human being who cares for her.
"Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a princess named Cho who lived high in a tower…"
"Luna," Cho mumbles, already beginning to get sleepy for the first time in months.
Luna laughs quietly and plants a kiss on Cho's nose. "I didn't think you would notice."
"Can't fool me that easily."
"It was worth a try, my darling. Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a princess named Rapunzel who lived high in a tower. She hadn't always been there, you know…"
And slowly, but surely, Cho falls asleep listening to Luna's lilting and melodic voice. As soon as she is sure Cho is asleep, she turns off the light and settles in next to the only person she wants to share a bed with. She lives to tell. Cho lives to tell. Together, they will find a way. And they will not let him win.
A/N: This was written for the amazing and beautiful Amber, for her gift fic in the Gift-Giving Extravaganza 2013. I'm sorry this is late, darling, but I hope you enjoy it. I've decided to write you a twoshot, so your next one will hopefully be coming soon! I know this was a little short, but there is another :)
Also written for the Harry Potter Femmeslash Challenge, theme: Fluff, prompts: fairytale and insomnia; the If You Dare Challenge for the prompt 'I live to tell.'
I'd appreciate it from my heart of hearts if you'd leave a review, even if it's short.
Finally, thank you to Liza, for giving me her time and her thoughts.
Allie