Written for:
February Event at Hogwarts: (quote) "My six word love story: I can't imagine life without you." and (word) lovesick
200 Characters in 200 Days: Xenophilius Lovegood
If You Dare Challenge: 520. Lost Life
Chocolate Frog Cards Challenge: Benjy Fenwick - Write about someone/something missing and never found.
Myths and Legends Classroom at Hogwarts: Athena - Write about a Ravenclaw.
Gringotts Prompt Bank: "The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out, you left me in the dark." - Cosmic Love, Florence and the Machine, "Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery, "Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell." - Edna St. Vincent Millay and "I've fallen in love many times... always with you." - Unknown
Words: 746
Gardening
Xenophilius patted down the earth, straightening the surface around the stem of the plant, before looking back to admire his handiwork. Four dirigible plum plants now stood proud along the wall of the house, spaced evenly. They were still young, and not yet flowering, but once they established themselves, they'd come back year after year, blossoming and bearing fruit. He looked up at Pandora and smiled, briefly glancing behind her at the falling sun. She picked up the watering can and stood beside him, nurturing the plants in their new home.
It had been a long Sunday of gardening, but the Lovegoods could now say they're front yard was home to a fine collection of Gurdyroot and Dirigible Plums, not to mention the Snargaluffs and other potions ingredients. They were proud of all they had achieved, and the foundations they had laid for their future.
"Well, that's the hard work over and done with for the next few years," Pandora commented with a smile.
"Don't worry, you'll find something else," Xenophilius teased, knowing his wife's penchant for obsessive hard work. She'd find something that interested her and puzzle over it for months, scrutinizing every detail until she was satisfied.
The couple turned their backs on the dirigible plums together and found themselves looking out over the rolling green hills as they walked around the house to the front steps.
"It really is beautiful here, isn't it?" Pandora asked, taking in the view.
"I hope we never tire of the scenery," Xenophilius replied. He reached out for her hand, taking it in his, tracing his thumb over the detailing on her wedding band. A small engraving of a dirigible plum, upright on its vine, was cast with an amber stone. In loving each other, they believed they'd opened their minds to the extraordinariness in each other.
.o0o.
Xenophilius was in his bedroom, turning over piles of parchment and clutter, muttering the word lost over and over again. Luna was at school, so he was in the house by himself, panicking frantically.
He'd been searching for most of the day, turning the house upside down in his effort to find the item. He knew it was pointless, that he wouldn't find it, but he had to look. He had to do something.
It was nearly sunset when he finally gave up, his shoulders sagging in disbelief as tears fell silently. He sat down on an old chair in the living room only to stand back up immediately, shaking his head. He crossed the room towards the front door, opened it, and stepped outside.
He circled around the house a short way until he came across the small patch of dirigible plums. There, he stopped still and sighed.
"I'm sorry, Pandora," he muttered to the wind. "I lost my life when I lost you, as you lost yours. Now, I've lost the one thing of yours I promised to always carry. The rings that bound us are as lost without each other as I am without you."
He slipped his own ring off his finger and held it in the palm of his hands like it was Merlin's own wand.
"The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out. You have left me in the dark," he continued, a private vigil as the sky turned to pinks and oranges behind him. "Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world. I find myself constantly walking around it in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you. No matter how many years pass me by, I will still love you. With or without the ring, I am still yours."
He smiled a little to himself as he considered something, through his shaking lips. "I've fallen in love many times… always with you. I read your old journal last week, the one you never finished. I fell in love with you all over again as I remembered your words. I'm still a lovesick old fool, Pandora.
"The ring has gone. Gone forever. The ring was my lifeline to you, my connection. The symbol of you I would comfort myself with on the darkest nights. Without it, I am lost in despair once again. But, my dear Pandora, your memory will live on in mine for as long as I live. I will keep you safe, and I will keep you warm inside my heart."
He sighed, taking in the dirigible plums once again, and turned away, heading back inside the house he'd built with Pandora.