Glimpse

A ficlet by Sunny (who owns nothing but a smile)

They talk to you about many things, and a part of you listens, while the other part sinks down between your heart and your navel and settles there in contempt. You certainly don't feel like a winner, especially because they didn't even let you wash away the blood, and you look like copper and bronze braided into one. Who are you to be drinking champagne in the comforts of his home, just because the war was won and to the victor go the spoils?

It was the first place they went to as soon as the battle finished, because clearly it was the finest, and that's what they deserved. You forgo sleep and food and agree simply because in a morbid way it brings you closer to him. He is your only love, but somehow, you have eluded each other for years. And now no one knows where he is, no one, not even you.

You walk out of the party, tired of the brave new world that you have helped to create. You wonder why you are so sick, why you wish the war had been lost on both sides and the slate was simply wiped clean. But to get these thoughts out of your head you search, trying to find his room, which is impossible because Gringotts will have to come in and break all the defensive spells on his kingdom before they can sell it to the highest bidder.

So instead of finding his room you find his portrait, and you suck in your breath because you haven't seen him since the war began. You forgot how clear his eyes are and how his shoulders carry the tension of a condemned man, which somehow makes him seem all the more magnificent. He is the greatest thing you have ever laid your eyes upon.

You approach the painting and muster you're courage. "You're beautiful," you whisper. "Where are you now?"

He leans towards you, something sad and hopeful in his eyes. And it's all so innocent and absurd that you almost start to cry. "Why? Will you come for me?" He asks quietly, looking like Alice before she stepped into-out of the mirror.

"Yes. I'll come for you. And I'll buy you a house, because soon you will be homeless. I'll fill it with things that remind you of your family." You say slowly.

He seems pleased by this answer. He watches you lovingly, and even though it is just a painting, it really is as if you are talking to him again. And for a moment you are swept away by how right this feels, and you know that if you could ever be happy again it depends on what he is about to tell you. He slowly decides that he's lived a million lives and been disappointed by each one, so one more heartbreak is not so much to risk, and he tells you everything.

"I am in the field where you fought the last battle. You didn't see me, but I was with you. I was watching because I thought you would lose, and I wanted to take your body away before they could tear it apart. One of the spells reflected and hit me where I waited. I'm in a hovel, unconscious but alive. I'm dreaming about you."

And you smile and your eyes shine because you had a feeling you had caught a glimpse of him before those final moments, and it was solely that tiny flicker of hope that had allowed you to win.

"Wait for me." You whisper, and you stand on tip-e-toe to give the portrait a kiss, and then in a flash you are gone and running through long bloodstained fields.

And when your friends stumble from the party they walk peacefully through his house, collecting their own severance pay for being good little soldiers. All the pieces of his kingdom are slowly stolen away, but that does not matter now.

Only one of them does not take his gold or his jewels. Instead she stares at his portrait, seeing him as you did. In the portrait he is now young and blushing, a sweet smile playing on his lips because he knows that you are coming.

And she grins when she sees him because she knows that you have finally run away, and she couldn't possibly be prouder.