A Mother's Love
"No! Mother, no!"
The pleading words pierced her heart. She buried her face in her husband's arms. She could feel him stiffening under her touch but she wasn't strong like him. She couldn't bear to stoically face her son's tearful cries and his anguished face.
"I am your son! I am your son!"
'He's your son!' the mother inside her cried in anguish. The sobs she desperately held inside her escaped. She heard Bartemius hiss in discomfort as her grip on his arm tightened. But she paid no heed to him. She dug her nails in his crisp onyx robes in a desperate attempt to hold herself and to not run to her son.
"You are no son of mine!"
The woman gasped as she broke away from the clutches of the familiar nightmare. Huddled in a dark corner, she quietly pressed her knees against her chest to hold on the precious little warmth she could. Her chattering teeth rattled inside her sound, the sound eerily sounding like the rasping laughter of the dementors. The pain in her bones had returned fiercer than ever. It felt like someone had broken each of her bones and was slowly welding each one to another. She pressed her aching back against the stone wall; its icy chill seeped through the threadbare robe and heartlessly bit her pale skin. But she didn't complain, not if it helped numb the never-ending pain...
She shivered as the familiar chill approached her cell. It was different from the icy cold of the winter. It was oppressive as if one was being crushed under a giant, it was hopeless like the last burning breath of a drowning man, it was apathetic like the heart of a terrible monster. Mists clouded her vision. Her lungs burned under the assault of the dark chill. The hooded creature glided to the front of the cell. A scabbed hand pushed a plate-
"Please, Barty, for my sake!" she desperately clutched his hand, as if it was her last lifeline.
"He tortured Auror Longbottom and his wife into insanity!" Bartemius Sr. hissed quietly before going back to the file.
"He didn't do it. He was just with the wrong crowd at the wrong moment."
"We went through this, here and at the trial. He has committed a crime and he has to pay for it."
"Please, Barty, if you ever had any love for me, please listen to me." She had fallen to her knees, true to her begging. The tears splashed against his wrist still held in her hands. For a moment, his features softened and she saw her own anguish in his wrinkled face. After, he had a lost a child too. But it was only for a moment.
"No!" With the cruelty matching his brusque tone, he wrenched his hand and walked away.
Her eyes fluttered open. The fear's grip on her heart remained tight. Her laboured breaths came as mists, swirling and bodiless like the her foggy depressing memories. The dementor was gone but its icy cold still lingered in the air. With a deep breath, she crawled to the plate in front of her. Her legs burned as if on fire. Her spine felt as it would never straighten again. But she had long learnt to live with the pain. She slowly ate the burnt bread with the moldy cheese. Each morsel felt cold and dry, scratching her irritated throat. She didn't touch the bowl of water, not right away.
"Hey little Bartikins, still missing your mommy?"
She paused in her meal. She lifted her head and looked at the woman staring at her from the cell in front of hers. Lank dull hair, which was probably once shiny and luscious, hung lifeless over her gaunt face. Her heavy-lidded eyes shone with an inherent madness.
"Don't worry. Our Lord will come and free us. We will reign over the pests that brought us here. And if- if this is to end in fire, then we should all burn together. We will burn the world!"
A loud cackle punctuated the end of her crazy ramblings but the laughter faded to nothing as a dementor drifted to their cells. She shivered, the cold drawing once again the worse of her memories. The morsel of bread felt from her hand. She tried to crawl back to her corner...
Their loud steps resounded through the large fortress and they passed through the cells. Two dementors walked ahead of them while a number of them lurked behind like a conspiracy of ravens. Her husband's fox patronus ran around them, warding off the dark creatures' chill.
Bartemius Sr.'s hand held her frail body. She glanced at him; his face remained as stoic and cold as ever. Though, she could see the concern in that thinning of his lips and the tightening of the wrinkles near his eyes - concern for her. A small sad smile graced her dry lips. She softly squeezed his hand. He didn't react though she could see a minute softening in his chilly blue eyes.
The tiny joy vanished at the sight of her son. His once pale pink cheeks had become gaunt and ghostly white. His unfocused eyes stared ahead, unable to recognise even his parents! With a cry, she launched herself at him. She cradled his cold face between her weak hands.
"Please, please, Barty, look at me."
"Mother?"
A sharp gasp left her lips as she woke inside her cell. The fear of her lost son still lingered on her lips. A fear that would have became read if she hadn't intervened. Goosebumps broke through her pale skin. She drew the grey robe around her. Wetting her lips, she dragged the bowl of water closer. With baited breath, she glanced at her reflection. A face stared back – so familiar yet not hers. She gazed at the pale blue eyes, which she had read to sleep for so many years. She recalled seeing a tumbling toddler with the same sleek blond hair. Lost in the moment, her hands caressed the image only to disturb the reflection. But the brief glimpse of her son was enough to calm the anguished mother inside her. She would brave every horror if it meant none for her son. A rare smile reflected back on the bowl of water. And for a moment, the fearsome chill couldn't touch her.
Small Note: Part of the first flashback was taken from HP and Goblet of Fire
Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Year Five: Transfiguration/ DADA/ Arithmancy)
Word: And ; Mood: Hostile ; Emotion: Fear ; Colour: Onyx ; Colour: Pink ; Food: Cheese ; Animal: Raven ; Adjective: Shiny ; Upper Word Limit: 2497 Lower Word Limit: 1009
Written for Ultimate Battle
Prompt: min. 1000 words, the setting must be someplace cold AND the main character must be female
Written for Greek Mega Mythology Challenge
Prompt: Write about a protective mother.
Written for School of Prompts:
Prompts: numbers, giant, laughter (700 words or more)
Written for Pinterest Prompt Challenge
People prompt 4; phrase prompt 7