Hey everyone!
So, this is another ficlet for the Plot Bunny HQ challenges (this one is #2). The prompt was to take the first and last letters of your name (either your username or your real name: so for me, I chose H for Hannah and E for the end of Louise, which is my middle name) and use the six words which Ella - Bellamort500 - picked out, which also started with those letters. So, my 12 words were:
Happy, Hope, Help, Hammer, Heat, Hold, Excellent, Exit, Emergency, Emerald, Entwined, Entrance
All of these words will be put in bold so they are easily seen. Enjoy!
It's strange, I thought, staring into the glass of Firewiskey held between my entwined fingertips. We're so alike.
I mean, sure, he has emerald eyes and I have crimson; he's a Gryffindor and I'm a Slytherin. But really, we are the same person.
Literally.
Sighing, I take a sip of my drink, pausing to marvel at the heat sliding down my throat.
Of course, one has to take into account our choices. I chose the dark path, where thorns and vines drag you in deeper, where once you step foot on it, there is no way back; no exit. He chose the light path - or, rather, was thrust onto it - where everyone is happy and everywhere is filled with wide-eyes and hope.
I offered him the world, I told myself. I offered him a different path. But he refused.
My mind wondered for a while like this, when suddenly I thought about the upcoming battle. It was bound to happen any time soon. I've trained my Death Eaters up well, I thought. They are excellent warriors.
"Bella," I murmured. What about Bella? She, to, was capable - perfectly capable - on the battlefield. She was strong, she was knowledgeable; she knew what to do and when.
But Bella loves to take risks. She loves the sense of danger and the thrill of adrenaline.
No matter what you do, she will find a way out of it, I reasoned. She doesn't want, nor need, the help. She is a strong witch.
Suddenly, with the strength of a sledge-hammer, the emotions which I had bottled up - buried for so many years - smashed against me, and then I did something I haven't ever done. Not even as a baby.
I cried.
Standing at the entrance of Hogwarts, I steeled myself and pep-talked my soldiers into motivation. "This is not some emergency drill," I told them. "This is not a practice. This. Is. Real. And we will win. We will come back out of these gates victorious. Failure is not an option. And you will be the ones rewarded."
A hearty cheer went up from the assembled crowd, and for a fleeting moment, I felt proud.
Please review to tell me what you think, and also check out Plot Bunnies HQ for me. Everyone there is super-nice (including yours truly, obviously) and you can also get involved in the challenges (and crazy random chats that everyone has on there). Thanks for reading, and I shall see y'all soon! :)
- Lolerator xx