Friday, May 9th, 2008 04:30 am
Title: Epilogue: Five Years Later
Author: Lilith ([insanejournal.com profile] lilithilien)
Fandom: Harry Potter
Summary: What happens after escaping the trap?
Rating: Gen
Length: 100 x 3
Note: [insanejournal.com profile] sansa1970's EWE World Cup entry Lamp in the Cooling Room will simply not let me rest! I have absolutely no claim on this story and I don't know if this is where she intended it to go. This is just my tribute to an amazing tale, and my impression of what might have happened a few years after.
Disclaimer: Malfoy and Potter belong to J.K. Rowling; the little girl belongs to [insanejournal.com profile] sansa1970; I own absolutely nothing.


Epilogue: Five Years Later

The Hogwarts letter arrives just as she'd known it would. Her parents are still very busy people, so she keeps it hidden, tucked into her secret box with Great Aunt Delia's letters. They smell musty, like the dusty flowers pressed in their pages, like this letter does. They go together, like Belle and the Beast. Like Malfoy and Potter.

She's not surprised when the Cat Lady appears at her door. "Have you come to take me to school?"

The Cat Lady looks surprised, but nods. She holds up her hand and the Cat Lady takes it, and together they disappear.

~~~~~


She knows she'll see them again. Like spirits darting past the corner of her eye. Like aliens beaming in, all wiggles and static. It could be today. Rain sluices through the grime on the pub windows. It would taste grey and smoky, like Diagon Alley, not cold and sweet and poured from silver. They might seek shelter here, out of the smoky rain, trusting these ancient oak beams to raise the sky.

The Cat Lady says that's unlikely. It's disappointing, knowing they've become very busy people too.

She stands, new school cauldron in hand, and watches the rain come down.

~~~~~


The train blasts another puff of smoke, turning the platform hazy. When she squints enough she finally sees them, two figures leaning into each other, one dark, one light, both waving to her.

Belle lived in an enchanted castle where the furniture came to life. Now she's going to live in an enchanted castle where she'll learn magic. Once upon a time she wanted to bring things to life, but now she knows magic can't do that. Life and death are beyond magic. She can't face the world if she doesn't have the facts.

She's not afraid of the truth.



The poem used in the original piece (which Draco calls a "dreadful song"!) is John Heath-Stubbs' Song of the Death-Watch Beetle.
Thursday, May 15th, 2008 09:08 am (UTC)
Oh, I desperately want to believe that, too. The applause at the end of the story does nudge me in that direction (besides, it's just far too sad if they don't).

But even if they did live on, I wonder if the little girl would've ever known for sure, esp. if her dad rushed her away. So I tried to keep this just as ambiguous as the original story.

Sorry I made Draco cry. *g* (Love the icon, btw!)
Friday, May 16th, 2008 02:33 am (UTC)
Hm, true--it'll be weird to have the applause with H & D dead. Hmm...

I wanted H & D to raise up the girl, but I am glad that her Dad did look for her (eventually?) T_T


lol, crying!Draco's fun ever since it became canon ;-)