The Challenge: 5 prompts, 1 drabble per prompt. Must be related to Harry Potter in some way, and is limited to no less than 85 words, no more than 125. I ended up winning the contest, which was conducted by 3 different Sorting communities on livejournal, each community choosing a 'champion' to represent them in each category. The Tri-wizard Tournament went for a few weeks with many different challenges including art, longer fiction, and trivia. It should also be noted that -HBP SPOILERS- are 'all up in' these stories. You were warned.
Note: We were encouraged as much as possible to find as creative a way to incorporate the prompts as possible. I think one of the judges commented that it took them a few reads on some of them to even find the prompt…
The Prompts:
-ring
-'all
over you'
-babylon
-the
boys (or girls) of summer
-fire
The Drabbles:
RING
It was time, then. He felt weak and old as he stared into the grey eyes
of the child in front of him. A child sent to do a man's job—but
the man would be along, soon enough. He heard a ringing in his ears
and imagined it was Harry, desperately trying to break free of the
spell he'd cast.
No,
Harry. Only one sacrifice is required this night.
He
struggled to retain his dignity as he welcomed his new guests, hoped
he could hang on long enough to greet the last one. Would he
have the courage to do what the other could not? Would he see the
necessity?
Severus, please…
His last thought was to wonder what Draco would make of Thestrels.
all over YOU!
I
can't believe I skipped dinner to sulk in my room—they were even
serving shepherd's pie, my favorite—all over you.
I
don't know what's wrong with me.
(long
pause)
I
hate Lavender Brown.
(longer
pause)
I
think I'll hex her tomorrow.
I
wonder if you'll enjoy snogging her so much when her teeth are two
inches long.
(gasp)
I
can't believe you've got me thinking about breaking school rules,
all over YOU!
babylon
Remus
was going to go crazy if Peter continued to babble on about how
brilliant he thought James had been, and what a genius
idea it was.
Normally
he wouldn't care, he'd have taken it in stride. After all,
bewitching Quidditch balls to switch personalities had been a pretty
great prank. Pettigrew was missing a key component of their friend's
character, however.
James
Potter would never have messed with Quidditch.
As
Wormtail began fawning all over Prongs again, Moony's patience
snapped.
"It
was ME, all right?"
The
three of them just stared.
"I'm
a Marauder too, you know!"
Girls of Summer
Diagon
Alley in August. Fred and George were in absolute heaven. More and
more young witches these days were forgoing their hot, stuffy robes
for Muggle clothing—tight, Muggle clothing.
George
wanted to send a customized daydream to whatever genius had thought
up halter-tops.
Fred
had concluded that August was the perfect month to have a
special on love potions.
Both
of them decided that Harry was hands-down the best friend a
bloke could have, and that summer was a fantastic time of
year.
Now,
if only they could find a way to design a work uniform for Weasley's
Wizard Wheezes that incorporated the very best of summer attire. Oh
well. Just their luck, Ginny would decide she wanted to work there
next year…
FIRE
—They
were gone.
Sirius stared blankly at the lifeless bodies of
James and Lily, and then at the sleeping baby in his arms. The
dichotomy was palpable—innocence and the profound loss of it.
—What had he done?
His heart felt both full and achingly empty.
Harry's tiny hands clung to his robes, and
Sirius felt an unreasoning anger. He wanted to tell the boy, 'Don't
trust me! Look what happened to them!'
—Oh, James…
His heart beat in a tattoo of a single name.
Peter, Peter, Peter. Sirius Black cradled his best friend's son as
his heart burned with murder for his best friend's betrayer. Peter,
Peter, Peter. If it took his life, he would avenge. He owed Harry
that much.
—Wait for me.
oOoOoOoOo
The intent for the last one is for the italics to be able to be read as a counterpoint to the statements in between. I can't make the formatting do this as well on this site, but hopefully you get the idea. I'm also being poked (spouses are funny that way) to tell the readers that these were my first ever attempts at drabbles. Considering that stories like TSIK are my preferred medium of writing, I think limiting myself to fewer than 125 words was one of the most difficult and rewarding things I've done as a writer.