Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Written for; Hogwarts Assignment 10 - Women's History, Task 10. Anne Frank. A diary entry.
Other Challenges listed at the bottom.
Beta'd by the lovely Sam
Word Count - 1244
For Gus-Gus just because I can :D
Set In Stone
Dear Diary,
It's such an antiquated term that, isn't it? 'Dear Diary'. Of course, nowadays, people are giving their diaries names and personalities so it doesn't feel as strange to be writing to a piece of paper as though you're expecting an answer.
I'm not here to write about my day, or the bad things that have happened to me, or anything about me really. Sorry, Dr Marvel, but you already know why I'm the way I am. You've made me talk about it enough since… well. Since it all happened.
Instead, I'm going to put down everything I saw and felt about my sister. My big sister, Daphne. I want to commit part of her story, arguably the most important part, to paper, so that many years from now, people will be able to read about her.
I want to make her eternal.
She deserves that.
Daphne was beautiful. Everybody thought so. She had long blonde hair, and the brightest blue eyes. I'm plain in comparison, not that I ever resented her for that. All the boys in her year, and the years above and below for that matter, tried to gain her favour but she ignored each and every one of them.
She was never interested in dating. At least, that's how it seemed. She kept almost everyone at arm's length, uninterested in the politics of who was dating who, and who was in favour at any given moment.
She kept to herself.
At least… that was what everybody but me thought she was doing.
I knew better, you see. I was my sister's confidant.
Daphne was in love.
In the world we grew up in, it was a love that would never be approved. Not by our parents, and not by public opinion, though Daphne never cared much about that anyway.
Daphne was in love with a girl, a Hufflepuff, who was on the light side of the political battles that all of our parents were embroiled in.
Susan Bones was the moon to Daphne's stars.
They met in secret much of the time, not even daring to pretend to have a friendship during the daylight hours. The war was getting more and more apparent as the years passed us all by, and they were supposed to be standing on opposite sides of the battle lines.
Susan, no matter that she was a pureblood, was firmly on the side of the light, her father had died for the cause, her aunt was a leader against the dark.
Daphne and I, as Greengrass's, had little choice but to stand on the side of the dark, no matter how unwilling we were.
Personally, I had little opinion on the war. As far as I could see, both sides were fighting for the wrong things, and neither of them appealed to me. The only fight I can think of that would be worth fighting for, would be one of true equality for all. But that's an argument for another day.
Only the thought of my family stopped me from declaring myself neutral.
Daphne found it harder. She didn't particularly want to join the light side, but nor would she ever even contemplate fighting against Susan. Caught between a rock and a hard place, my sister struggled for quite a while.
The two of them had a few arguments over how their relationship would work but Daphne refused to let Susan go.
It was love of the truest variety, a beautiful connection that I was lucky enough to be able to witness.
Their relationship, it wasn't fancy. It was simple. It was pure. It was the love that everybody on the planet should count themselves lucky to feel once in a lifetime.
As the war got properly underway, after the brutal murder of Susan's aunt left her an orphan twice over, and Hogwarts was taken over by the terrible reign of the Carrows, the two of them faced even more difficulties.
Susan was forced into hiding midway through the year, when her life was put in question. She'd refused to torture first years and brought the wrath of the Carrows down on herself.
I know for a fact that the hardest thing Daphne had ever done was to stand back and watch the girl she loved get tortured with the Cruciatus curse.
Daphne apologised to Susan with a single white rose, an apology that Susan assured her was unnecessary, but did not assuage Daphne's guilt at all.
Finding time for each other was harder after that. Susan was in hiding, and Daphne's mask as the cool, calm, collected Slytherin was slipping by the minute.
Through all of it though, she assured me that her and Susan were still in love. That they would always be in love. They exchanged notes, found the briefest of minutes to press soft, affirming kisses to each other's lips.
And then battle arrived at Hogwarts, and lines had to be drawn.
The fights were brutal. I tried to escape with the other students, but I couldn't leave my sister behind and there was no way was she going to leave Susan behind.
Daphne fought viciously. We all did, but Daphne more so, her concentration not on herself but on protecting me and protecting Susan.
Her face when she realised that she could only save one of us will be painted in my memory for years to come. I don't think i'll ever manage to forget it.
It was an impossible choice for her to make, and yet she made it, because she had no other option.
She saved my life.
And she lost her own in the process.
As I write this, I'm sitting in my sister's hospital room, with my feet up on the chair, and this book balanced on my knee. If my writing is less than stellar, you can blame that.
Daphne has been in the Psychological Damage unit at Saint Mungo's since the morning after the Battle of Hogwarts. The healers pulled her from the floor, where she'd been lay, white faced and wide eyed, clutching the cold, lifeless body of her girlfriend.
I could only watch as they took her away, before someone else covered up Susan's body with a white sheet, along with the other bodies laid out in the Great Hall.
My sister hasn't spoken since. Her eyes are lifeless. It makes me wonder, sometimes, if her soul is still in her body or if it is long vacated, gone to wherever Susan was forced.
All I know, is that the battle cannot be the end for couple such as them.
Dr Marvel, you told me that writing a diary would enable me to further understand the happenings of my youth, but I'm afraid that I still cannot believe that my sister made the right choice in saving me.
All I understand now, is what I understood before I began writing.
My sister is not my sister without her Susan.
That I live while they don't (Daphne might still breath, but she doesn't live) doesn't make sense to me and it never will. They deserved an eternity, and they didn't even get a decade.
Where is the fairness in that?
So Dear Diary, one day, I hope there will be someone who reads this. Someone many years from now who can share my sister's story.
They may not have had eternity together, but I can make them eternal; their story set in stone.
Written for;
Character Appreciation - 16. Hufflepuff
Disney - C3. Mufasa - Someone dying while protecting their family.
Shannons Showcase - Azerbaijan - Moon / Overcoming difficulties
Showtime - 17. Equality
Cooking Corner - Beef - Argument
Scavenger Hunt - 12. Daphne / Eternity / Rose
Insane House - 946. Diary Style