Disclaimer: everything remotely familiar belongs to JK rowling, because she is awesome, and I am not. I also don't own the cover picture, but I would give anything to be the person who made that. All cover credit goes to he/she.
A Thousand Words
"Frank," Alice Longbottom took a deep breath, as her husband pulled her along Hogsmeade's High Street on a hot summer night. "I really don't think this is a good idea."
Frank said nothing, but tighteneted his grip on her hand.
"I just...Neville's at home, and we're here, and I just don't think this is a good-"
Frank kissed her, then, but he pulled away angry. "I know, okay?!" He sighed. "I know, I know, and I'm scared too...but Alice, if we ever want him to be okay...we have- we've got to keep fighting."
Alice stopped dead, just outside the Hog's Head. She locked her gaze with his. She searched his eyes, for whom anyone else they would have been unreadable; because Frank was strong, and he could control his emotions. But she knew him too well.
And she saw it, what he was thinking, and it gave her strength. He believed in her, in this, in them.
And suddenly, strangely, Alice felt a burst of joy. They could do it, she knew they could do it. She reached up and kissed him hard, arms tight around his neck.
Pulling away, she made her voice strong and took his breath away. "We're going to make it out of this, Frank. We're going to make it out of here." Tears fell, but she continued, "and Neville's going to grow up, and he's going to have a little sister, and we're going to die old and grey without this damn arsehole looming over us."
His eyes flashed fire as they stepped into the pub. "Damn straight."
"Minerva!" Alastor Moody boomed, looking to her across the room.
"Evening, Alastor," she greeted curtly, "found anything out, then?"
"Now, you know as well as I do we have to discuss that in private!"
She looked up angrily, eyes flashing, and Moody took two steps back. "This was our privacy," she hissed. "And now this bollocks, blasted, insolent...spy. We have a spy, Alastor." She spat, disgusted.
And then, she noticed his attire. "Wait just a moment- what are you playing at? We're meant to take a picture tonight!"
Minerva looked into his eyes, hard and threatening: "This was a supposed to be a good night, Alastor. We were going to be happy, perhpas, if only for a moment."
"I- I'm sorry," he said quietly. But Minerva didn't know what to think anymore.
"Oi, Moony! Long time no see!" James Potter called out across the pub, seeing his long time friend chatting with Dorcas.
Remus grinned. "How did I manage without you?"
"Doesn't make any sense," Sirius agreed, making his way over with an arm looped around Marlene, who was smiling at the boys' antics. Suddenly, she spotted Lily and ducked around Sirius to run to her. They clashed in a fury of giggles and jumps.
"How long's it been, Mar?" Lily wondered.
"Hmm..." she mock-pondered, "about twenty hours, I suppose."
And they both burst into giggles.
"And how's Harry?" Marlene wondered, and James went starry-eyed.
"He's bloody fantastic, Marly," said James, wrapping his arms around her in a quick hug. "Talking and laughing and weebling and wobbling..."
Sirius let out a booming laugh, coming back over to Lily to give her a hug, "Bloody Shakespeare over there, huh? Hope to Merlin Padfoot Junior doesn't turn out like that!"
At 'Padfoot Junior,' Remus had given Sirius a hard shove, "I thought we agreed, with Lily's consent, that the baby would do best to take after me!"
Sirius rolled his eyes, but Marlene heartily agreed, and Sirius looked to her, offended. "I'm sorry, excuse me, but as your wonderful, charming, dashingly handsome-"
"Oh, wait! Don't forget modest!" Marlene cut in, and James guffawed.
"boyfriend, you should side with me! Look at all the wonderful traits Padfoot Jr. could inherit!"
"I'm telling you now, Sirius, if we ever had a child, I'd pray every day it didn't get your genes!" Marlene laughed, until she noticed Sirius's sparkling eyes had gone fuzzy.
"Really?" he looked at her with hope.
Marlene looked hesitant, but asked, "How's a 'maybe'?"
Sirius kissed her.
Peter Pettigrew looked about the room, eyeing all of the Order members. Some were in deep, serious conversation. Others, like Dorcas and Fabian and Gideon were talking and laughing.
It was really funny, thought Peter, how people could pretend to hide their emotions so easily.
They were terrified. There was a traitor amongst them, and every moment was spent in dread, awaiting what would happen next. He saw the tentativeness in their eyes, their insecurities as to who could be trusted, questioning friends they had for ages.
It was a constant cycle: dread, fear, relief.
It was chaos, and it brought a certain evil sense of achievement to his heart, impressed with himself for causing such a scene.
But there were small moments, in which someone in the Order would make it all okay for a minute. Someone would let out a genuine laugh, and the glee was so rare that they held onto it as long as possible. If only for a moment, they thought everything would be okay.
Those were the moments when Peter felt the worst.
Perhaps, if they had dug a bit harder, tried to find out a bit more information, they might have found the liar in their midst.
The rat.
But it would have been short-lived. For the Dark Lord was destined to rule: as king, as dictator, whatever it took to purify their race. The brave and stupid would be murdered.
So whenever Peter felt a bit guilty, he put up the walls around his heart, and remembered his own terrifying feelings, the horrible emotions involved with working for the Dark Lord.
But when Lily smiled and gestured for him to join them, Peter gulped and had never felt more ashamed.
As the camera flashed, the stories of the Order were immortalized, in the same way that Voldemort never would be. The tragic loyalty, lies, and love would live on always.
A/N: 1) Peter Pettigrew is an ass 2) That was so heartbreaking for me
I think this is one of the better things I've written. I like the plot, and the concept, and the flow, and I hope you agree. Please leave me a review, if you liked it, and concrit would be appreciated as well.
and, in case you didn't get it, the fic is exactly 1000 words :)
Written for:
Hogwarts School Competition: Exam: prompts: pairing: FrankAlice, word: king, heir, maybe, digging, emotion: dread, fear, glee, character: Minerva Mcgongall, Peter Pettigrew, Alastor Moody, genre: angst
Star Challenge: Dubhe: write about Peter
Honestly, I really, really love how this turned out.
Lara,