For the Kiss in the Rain Challenge at HPFC. A one-shot under 1000 words that includes a kiss in the rain with two characters- Filch and Umbridge.
Hope you enjoy!
Changed
Wet drops raged at the castle's walls, making dark marks. The wind blew through the new leaves of April and whistled at the walls. The lake roared and swayed. But even then, one man ventured out into the grounds, alone.
His unkempt hair was even worse in the wind, and he could barely see in the darkness. It was noon on a Sunday, and yet it was as dark as midnight. His clothes were dirty, and therefore barely affected by the storm's wrath upon him. The rain blurred his vision till he was almost blind, no matter how he tried with his arms to cover his eyes. But he prevailed on, moving by memory.
The memories flashed before his eyes as he made his way to his destination. Those long past sunny days, when life had been free and young. For him, at least. It had been then that he had been happiest; saying his gayness boiled over wouldn't have been a hyperbole at all.
He finally reached a gap like opening in the castle, no larger than a broom cupboard, but it shielded him from the element nonetheless. He shook like a dirty, wet dog, trying to make himself presentable in the slightest. When he thought he could do no more, he leaned against the wall, and began to wait.
It felt like an hour to him, and he was usually good with time, when she came. She had performed a charm, a charm he would never have been able to perform himself, that repelled the rain and wind. She stood before him, looking as if she had simply walked down a corridor, and not the grounds, to get here.
She looked him with her beady eyes over before saying, "Why are we here?"
He couldn't help but snort. "You bloody know why,"
She glared at him and gave him her best cough. "Argus, I am your superior now. Show me respect,"
"Why did you make me wait?" The man called Argus demanded.
"I told you when you asked me to come here I would. I had business,"
"I wasn't talking about that!" He scoffed. "I was talking about the last few decades! You told be you would come back to me one day when you were seventeen, Dolores. Do you know how long ago that was?"
"Of course," The woman called Dolores told him. If she was uncomfortable, she hid it the best she could.
"Then why?" Argus pleaded. "Why didn't you ever tell me you changed your mind?"
"People change," Dolores told him. "I changed. I told you to wait for me while I made my life, and you did. I soon made my life, and changed my mind with it."
"But I didn't,"
"I assumed you would get the picture and figure it out!"
"I didn't want to,"
"Argus!"
"It's the truth!" He yelled. "Will you throw me into detention and force me to write 'I will love Dolores Umbridge no longer' till you tell me to stop?"
"Be reasonable,"
"How can I?" Argus spat at her. "How can when I'm a simple Squibb? How can I when I have no magic in me,"
"Argus, stop-"
"Listen," He broke her off. "I told you to come here to tell you I still want you. I still need you," He looked into her heartless eyes, pleading in vain. He knew it was, too. "I just wanted to make sure you knew,"
"Argus, I… Cannot accept-"
"I know," Argus laughed humorlessly. "You 'changed',"
Argus took a step towards her. When she didn't take out her wand and threaten him, he advanced the rest of the way and pulled her short body towards him. "I'll always love you, Dolor," Argus whispered quietly in her ear. He then kissed her the way he had so many years before, but broke away quickly. Dolores hadn't closed her eyes at all.
He walked away, back to the castle. Everything was silent except for the pitter-patter of rain falling from the roof, for the storm had finally stopped. The sun's rays broke through as Argus reached the great oak doors. He hadn't once looked back.
If Argus had, he could have seen Dolores Umbridge, the great headmistress, cry for the first time since she had been seventeen, and had told the boy she had loved- ever loved- good-bye.
A/N: Hope you liked it and review!