This was written for the second round of The Diversity Challenge. It was supposed to be Marauder Era and centering on friendship. I chose two characters from the era but the fic takes place after the era.
Disclaimer: I own none of this and I am making no money from it. Thanks to JKR for giving us this world to play in.
I am also dedicating this to Snarky64 on her birthday.
Always
It's hard for him to breath now. He can feel his heartbeat slowing. He knows he is going to die. Strangely this doesn't scare him. He always thought it would. He doesn't feel fear, only regret. He regrets being too weak to tell her how he felt...feels. He regrets putting his faith in cold unfeeling power, rather than warm engulfing friendship. He regrets his tongue and its poison, that destroyed his only friendship. He had never had any other friends but her. It was too painful to open up. He never wanted to lose her. He had wanted only to escape his past and the pain of his home. He ended up sacrificing his only friend for the false escape that power offered.
His eyes cloud and lose focus. He sees only green. The emerald green of the spring, of rebirth. The green of her eyes. If he tries he can almost remember her face, before he poisoned their friendship. His eyes clear and he sees the face of the frantic boy. The boy who, through no fault of his own, was a constant reminder of failures. The boy, her son, must be told. He lets go. He lets go of his memories he had previously hoarded like a miser.
"Take them," he cries, as the memories mix with tears he has held since the day she died.
His heartbeat stutters. He knows he is dying. He feels only the cold stone and smells only death and decay.
"Look at me," he begs the boy.
He sees the green and feels his heart slow.
-000-
He opens his eyes and winces against the light. He sees the emerald green of the grass and the arching canopy of green leaves. He feels the warmth of the earth beneath him. The air is alive with spring smells. The man breathes deeply wanting to expel the filth from his lungs. He lies back and closes his eyes. If he concentrates he can almost feel her lying next to him. Just like in his memories, before the poison and the power, when they were friends and nothing else mattered but that friendship. He longs for the time when he was a better man, even though he was only a boy.
The man's eyes snap open when a hand touches his. He sees the green, the green he had been without for too long. She smiles, her teeth perfect and white like the morning sun. The man melts into that smile.
The man has so many questions. "Is this real? Am I dead? Why are you here?"
The questions pour from him like tears.
"Yes, yes and I am here," the woman says, touching the man's chest, "because I am here."
"What happens now?" he asks feeling like that lost little boy, who was rescued by her friendship.
"Oh Sev, my brave hero," the woman says kindly. "That is completely up to you. If you choose you can move on."
The man looks around at the tree and the carpet of green. "Can I stay here?" he asks his voice even smaller.
The woman shakes her head. "This is just a way station. You can choose to move on or go back."
The man knows if he goes back he would be a formless spirit, without substance.
"If I go on, will you be there with me?" the man asks.
The woman smiles and looks in the man's eyes.
"Friendships never die, you know," she says.
"You're still my friend?" the man asks in awe.
The woman smiles again, warming the man's soul.
"Always have been, always will be," the woman says.
"I think," the man says, looking at his surroundings, "that I will move on."
"I knew you would," the woman says, holding out her hand.
The man holds her hand. It feels warm. The warmth spreads through the man and he feels his spirit start to glow.
"Are you sure you'll be there with me?" the man asks, looking into the woman's eyes, betraying his true fears.
The woman squeezes the man's hand and smiles.
"Always."