Written for lowi, courtesy of the Gift-Giving Extravaganza 2013. I hope you enjoy! Also written for the As Strong As We Are United Competition and the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition.
Note: this is a dystopian AU. Yes, I realize it has absolutely nothing in common with Harry Potter except for the names, but whatever.
It's dark, and everything's quiet, and Molly is sleeping over at Roxanne's house, because despite all the things the government has outlawed, that's still legal. (Surprisingly). There's nobody around to hear them or see them, and Roxanne leans over so that her lips brush Molly's ear, sending a tingle through her whole body.
"If we could run," she whispers, "would you?"
o0o0o
They're fenced in like animals.
It isn't that each city is contained and independent. Trucks come in with food and other supplies practically every day, it seems, and in some cases, planes fly in with enormous loads. But the people - no, they're not allowed to leave, for the most part. Only a few special people - those who fly the planes and drive the trucks, for instance, or the important government people - are allowed outside the boundaries of whatever city they were born in.
Apparently it's a way to control the population, to ensure that no place gets too crowded. It's the same reason that criminals are killed instead of rehabilitated, the same reason people are sterilized after having two children.
The world has gone to hell - the world is hell - and Molly and Roxanne are in the middle of it.
o0o0o
"It must be amazing," Molly says wistfully, "to be one of them."
She points downward towards the trucks entering through the main gate. She and Roxanne are standing on the roof of their school. From the ground level, it's impossible to see, but the school rises four stories up, and from the top they have the best view in the neighborhood. Technically, they aren't supposed to be up there, but it's lunch and nobody is looking for them.
"I don't know," Roxanne replies. Even up here - where everything is open and free, with no people or cameras watching them - her voice is quiet. "They're under the government's control, too. You know they're only allowed to leave when they're delivering something."
"I know," Molly says, but to her fifteen-year-old mind, even that sounds like paradise.
o0o0o
At night - every night, it seems - Molly dreams of escaping the city. Sometimes it's as simple as being one of the drivers; sometimes she thinks up a full-fledged escape plan that would never work in real life. And in one, memorable time, she simply runs at the gate and jumps right over it, even though it's thirty feet high.
The dreams all have one thing in common besides escape.
In every dream, Roxanne is by her side.
o0o0o
"Would you ever actually do it?" Molly says. "Escape, I mean."
"Absolutely." Roxanne says the word with so much conviction that it startles Molly, and for a few beats, neither girl speaks. It's Molly who breaks the silence.
"Are you actually going to try?" she asks, fearing the answer. Because as much as she wants escape, it terrifies her. The chances of dying are much greater than the chances of living, and she wonders if it's better to live in caged safety or free danger. She can't make up her mind alone.
Roxanne hesitates before replying, but when she does reply, her answer is firm. "Yes," she says. "And if you'd like, you can come too."
o0o0o
It isn't easy to plan. The fact that they're only fifteen and seventeen doesn't help at all; with their ages, it's nearly impossible to pose as truck drivers, which was Roxanne's initial brainstorm. Molly is the smart one - at least in school - but this is a lot different than anything she's ever puzzled out in class.
They can't write anything down; it's much too risky. Roxanne doesn't even think they can trust their own parents. After all, if their parents happened to find any of these plans laying around, they'd be obligated to tell the government, or they could get killed for breaking the law as well. Roxanne doesn't think family loyalty extends that far, and Molly can see where she's coming from.
It takes weeks and weeks to plan, weeks and weeks of spending time huddled together in quiet places where nobody can see them, and Molly thinks that maybe, just maybe, she's enjoying this a little bit too much.
o0o0o
The night that they plan to leave, Roxanne sleeps over at Molly's house, because it's easier to exit. Molly's father Percy is a tad bit obsessive, and as a result, all of the doors are perfectly-oiled, the floorboards fresh and new and non-creaky. Most of the time, Molly gets irritated with it, but tonight she can't help but praise him in her mind, because getting caught is the worst possible outcome.
Neither girl tells anybody. It's the same reason; it puts their families in danger. They sneak out undetected, and Molly summons up all her courage and stops Roxanne before they leave the yard.
"Wait," she says, whispering - as always. "Just one second."
"What is it?" Even in the dark, Molly can see the concern on Roxanne's face.
"Before we go...I just wanted to tell you something." She steps forward so that there's barely an inch and a half of space between them, and whispers the words that she's been waiting to say for a year. "I...I'm in love with you, Roxanne. And if you don't love me back, okay - I just wanted to let you know, in case we don't make it out of here." She stretches up on tiptoes and lightly brushes Roxanne's lips with her own, soft as a feather.
Roxanne stares at Molly for a brief second as Molly pulls away, and then she grasps the back of Molly's neck with one hand and pulls her in again, this time really kissing her, passionate and wild.
It's a kiss that says 'we just might die' and 'our last night, maybe'. It's not a kiss that says 'you're my one true love' - or maybe it is, because would Roxanne really run away with somebody she didn't love at least a little bit? Molly can't be sure, but nor can she really bring herself to care. She's kissing Roxanne, and, at least for a few moments, she finds her paradise in the middle of hell.