Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story, they are all J.K.'s brillaint creations.
Just Like Before: Nostalgic
Her eyes looked out at the black sky; could it really be so dark and peaceful at once? Was it really possible for them to be here with so much danger just across the bay? Her dark brown eyes were concentrated on the small steamboat plowing through the calm water. What she would give for a moment like this, if only the situation were different. If there weren't this war, if she could be home with her family, settle down and have a family of her own, without having worry about watching them die.
As always, he was silent, letting her have her space as he ran his fingers through her mop of long chocolate colored hair. It was this was a lot now; him just sitting there holding her as she let her mind wander, lost herself to these thoughts. It was the only time that she felt at home any more, that she didn't feel that familiar emptiness, instead there was only the hope and longing for a victory.
She wondered if the others ever sat like this, just watching the sky, the water, the life around them, just to see that what they were doing made a difference. She wondered if they felt lost and a sense of desperation at times. But she wondered most of all, how they managed not to go void, not to feel like she did, where she could simply sit, staring blankly for hours, letting him hold her close. Of course she couldn't be the only one who felt herself looking back on the days when they were at school, all of them together, all of them happy, and safe; most importantly, they were all safe.
"What are you thinking about tonight, Alice?" Frank's voice cut through the silence, softly and calmly, reserved for her alone. He stopped playing with his hair but shifted himself to face her, looking into her eyes with his warm blue ones, a brilliant warmth she could distinguish even in the cover of night.
"I was just remembering how our school days were, before we had to worry about this war." She sighed, her voice thin and uncharacteristically small. Alice wished that this war could pass, and she hoped to Godric that the lot of them would somehow manage to survive because with the way things were shaping up, the whole of them would be nothing but a piece of history within the end of the year. "Frank, I wish we could go back. It was safe then, and we were all together."
Frank ran his fingers through her hair, moving it back from her face before he leaned in and his lips touched her forehead gently before he took to sitting across from her once more. "Alice, I miss those days too. But we're not meant to be there anymore, you know that. We have a bigger purpose in life now."
"I know we do, I just wish… Sometimes it's so hard. I can't even look at a paper anymore without seeing names of friends that have been killed, kids that were safe at Hogwarts only months ago." A small tear escaped from the corner of her eye but Frank stopped it before it could trail down her cheek.
"It's hard. Sometimes I think that if it weren't for you, Alice, that I would never survive from one day to the next." Frank was too kind; he gave her too much credit. She was a foolish girl, with a hopeless heart, a dreamer if ever there were one. He was her solid ground to stand on, that one firm foundation that kept her in this place, kept her from falling and breaking. "I'm being serious, Alice. Without you, I would be more careless, I'd have no reason to live."
This was so much like the day that Frank had taken her down by the Black Lake before he left Hogwarts, when they were about to face a year apart. He'd snuck her out, taken her for a walk under the stars, just the two of them, and there he'd told her for the first time that he loved her. Nearly two years ago, to the very day, Alice had gotten a speech much like this, but having it retold, having the sentiment renewed, meant so much to her.
"You're too much, Frank. I don't know what I ever did to deserve you." Alice nestled her head into Frank's shoulder and looked up at him from behind her thin lashes. "What would I ever do without you?"
A/N: I love Alice and Frank, but sadly, they won't be resurfacing for a short while. Please R&R.