A/N: I don't own Harry Potter
This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Writing Club November
All Sorts of Space: 6 - Cygnus Black - Write about grief. Alternatively, write about Cygnus Black.
Showtime: 12 - Stop - (trait) Obsessive
Liza's Loves: 22 - Neil Gaiman - Write a Steampunk!AU. Alt: Quote: "What do stars do? They shine."
Film Festival: 1 - (emotion) desperation
Lyric Alley: 10 - I can't let this, I can't let this, I can't let this go
Warning: Canon character death and grieving
Word Count: 411
It was becoming harder to keep her eyes open. All around her was darkness, the blackness of a broken, a shattered heart. She felt a hand on her shoulder, heard whispered words, empty promises. She'd heard it all before, so many times, she'd lost count.
She no longer felt any comfort from their words, from their touches. No, instead all she felt was more and more alone, more and more abandoned as she watched her friends start grouping off. She watched them holding hands. She watched them whispering, giggling, blushing, all part of the dating ritual that would eventually lead to heartbreak that might rival her own, or a happily ever after she would never find. How could there ever be anything of the sort for her? How could anyone ever love her the way he had? No, it wasn't possible.
Slowly the gentle words stopped coming. Slowly the soft touches were replaced with sideways looks, whispers containing her name. Slowly the whispers became silence, she was forgotten. There was no one left that could pick up the pieces of her shattered heart, no one who could penetrate the barriers she'd created around herself. Slowly she became a shadow, a shade, a ghost of a girl, a witch.
She haunted his grave, her fingers brushing against the rough stone, tracing his name with her fingertips. Alone she cried, sobbed, screamed to the night sky. She begged the stars to take her, to let her be with him again. The stars never honored her request, they remained timeless glints of distance light.
One night she finally collapsed, her eyes closing with exhaustion. She'd cried, screamed, herself raw. That night, she wasn't alone as she thought. That night, someone saw, someone placed a blanket over her.
Someone sat next to her, waiting for her to wake. When she did, she found herself staring into his eyes, no, not his eyes. Though, they were closer than she'd ever seen. She rose to leave, but he took her hand. His hands felt like those she'd lost, but not in the same way, not quite the same warmth, but a strange warmth nevertheless.
She looked at him, her eyes rimmed in red and black. Too little sleep, too many tears. His eyes met hers and he spoke, one word. One word that made her no longer feel like a shadow, that made her feel nearly human for the first time in so long. One word.
"Stay."