A/N: With my pretty new Christmas MP3 playerplaying this songin my ear, I am typing this one-shot. This song is very sad, and beautiful, but sadly, is not mine.
Disclaimer: The Lighthouse's Tale was written, produced, and preformed by Nickel Creek. I'm just borrowing it.
I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
I keep my lamp lit, to warn the sailors on their way.
She had always been an adventuresome type, my Hermione. Soon after we were engaged, she had found a historic old lighthouse by the sea. She begged me to take her for a trip to the sea, for some fresh air. I slowly, reluctantly, agreed. The world was still dangerous after the Dark Lord's fall, but I let her have her happiness.
I'll tell a story, paint you a picture from my past.
I was so happy, but joy in this life seldom lasts.
There was a small cottage, right in the ocean. She managed to coerce the owner into renting it out to us for a week. It was filled with sand, tumbling down, but she loved it. She cleaned it up so that we could enjoy a holiday, even if I was edgy and reluctant to leave her alone anywhere. I knew the Dark Lord's followers were everywhere, and wanted her gone. Just like they wanted my best friend gone. He was in hiding after killing his enemy, and not likely to come out soon. I mattered to nobody except them. My family, except for my little sister, my best friend's wife, had been killed in the war.
I had a keeper, he helped me warn the ships at sea.
We had grown closer, 'till his joy meant everything to me.
And he was to marry, a girl who shone with beauty and light.
And they loved each other, and with me watched the sunsets into
night.
We took it upon ourselves to clean the old lighthouse out. It was a royal blue and white striped building; it was really quite lovely when it was cleaned up. Nearly as lovely as her. She radiated sunshine and light from everywhere, and everyone was drawn to her. She had grown taller, and her once bushy hair had softened into draping curls. Sunlight was her passion; she would run outside just to spin in the sun, the beams reflecting off her hair, her face, her skin. She was radiant.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me, of what has been, and what
can never be.
She'd had to leave us, my keeper he prayed for her safe return.
But when the night came, the weather to a raging storm had
turned.
She wanted to go out there so badly. There was a real learning opportunity, she said. She could explore the oceans safely, with no fear of being caught. I said yes, because it made her happy. I told her she could leave me, just for the night, to see the ocean one last time. We would leave the next day.
He watched her ship fight, but in vain against the wild and
terrible wave.
In me so helpless, as dashed against the rock she met her end.
Nobody could have predicted what happened next. The ground began to rumble and shake, as if quivering with fear, or shaking with tears. I was in the lighthouse at the time, lighting it for the first time in years. I looked out the window, and there, building itself up, was a wave. Not just your average, everyday wave; this was a monster. It swallowed everything in its path. I had heard about these waves. And she was out there, in the middle of it. I could barely see the ship, hitting a rocky ledge, slicing the wood into splinters. I took a deep breath and turned away. I had an idea of what would happen, and now was not the time to think about it.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me, of what has been, and what
can never be.
The wind crashed that night, rattling the lights. I could hear each wave as it boldly ran towards me, only to hit the lighthouse and retreat. The trickled through the cracks sometimes, but always faded away eventually. I eventually drifted off to sleep, just like those drips of water.
Then on the next day, my keeper found her washed up on the
shore.
He kissed her cold face, that they'd be together soon he
swore.
I found her the next morning. The others had been washed away, but she was there. Her features were smooth and smiling, like an angel. A small beam of sunlight peeked out to light her face. I kissed her on each cheek, knowing it would be that last time I did so. Her fate had been decided by the word Yes. I swore to myself that I would never utter that word again. And even though she was dead, life was moving around, progressing, not stopping even a second for her. Around me, the small seaside town was rising to pick up the pieces.
I saw him crying, watched as he buried her in the sand.
And then he climbed my tower, and off of the edge of me he ran.
I let a few tears fall as I dug out a deep grave for her in the early dawn light. I didn't want a child finding her in ten or fifteen years, and I packed the sand tightly around her. It looked almost as if she had never been there.
I walked towards the lighthouse, knowing I would reach it just in time to hear the first screams of the waking town. I climbed the spinning, swerving steps that she had scoured so effortlessly, using her amazing magic. I could still barely boil an egg, but she could prepare a whole feast in a matter of minutes. We had tried to limit our magic, though, as people could easily trace it. The walls, the light room; everything I passed was clean and cheerful. I felt the urge to knock over a bucket of coal just to see something mournful, but I resisted the urge. It would ruin her work.
I walked to the window, and stood right on the ledge. I could see the whole town from here, with the window open. A salty breeze blew in, ruffling my hair. It was cool and sweet, the perfect calm after the storm.
Suddenly, I heard a scream tear out into the morning. A woman was covering her face, looking out her window towards the remnants of the ship. I knew how she felt. We were alike and different. We had both lost the one we loved most in the world. But she was not about to do what I was.
I backed up from the edge, took a running start, and jumped.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me, of what has been, and what
can never be.
I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
And though I am empty, I still warn the sailors on their way.
Finite.