And since this will be home to my fanfiction, I've decided to post all of my old works here.
Tick-Tock
“Here,” Lionel Lovegood said, handing a steaming cup of coffee to the tall dark haired man in front of him. They were in a café in a small town in Cornwall , taking a short rest from Gideon’s frantic search for his cousin. It had been early that morning, when he had woken up to find the tall man pounding loudly on the door of his flat asking Lionel to help him find Cassandra’s hiding place.
“I don’t want any.” Gideon said firmly as he pushed the cup away. “She’s here Lionel, I know it; and we’re wasting time sitting here like idiots.”
“Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps Cassandra doesn’t want to be found?” Lionel asked him tiredly, sufficiently earning a sullen glare from his companion.
“You do know who you’re talking to, don’t you?”
**
Three hours later, both men sat on a street bench with aching feet and nothing to show for their efforts. They had spent all day scouring the town for signs of the Slytherin alum but had found no trace of her. She wasn’t at the local library trying to read the entire buildings’ contents, neither was she in any of the offices in the town. They had checked the hospital twice and there were no staff or patients there that looked remotely like Cassandra. Even the townspeople were of no help, particularly because most of them seemed too busy to spare a moment for two strangers and frankly, they were out of ideas.
“Gideon,” Lionel began in a quiet voice. “Maybe we should just head home, yeah?”
Gideon shook his head stubbornly. “No, Lionel. I’m telling you she’s here. I swear she is, and I have to find her before its too late.”
Lionel ran a hand wearily through his hair. “Too late for what?” he asked curiously as the tolling of the church bell caught their attention. “Oh look, someone just got married. What say you, we look in on them? Small towns like these have a knack for hospitality and great food.”
He stood up and crossed the street forcing Gideon to follow hesitantly after him. The ceremony was over and the people were busy throwing rice at the newlyweds, every face glowing with a jubilance that was so infectious both men found themselves smiling too.
Finally, the bride and groom reached their line of sight. The groom’s blond hair shimmered in the sunlight as he and his new wife glided out of the church. Gideon knew him of course; the lopsided grin and mischievous gray eyes that had once asked him for advice on girls hadn’t changed a bit. Jeremy Corner was now a married man.
“Maybe we should go…” Lionel murmured from beside him, shifting a bit as if to shield the bride from his view but the move was a second too late. His insides felt like they had been liquefied.
The pale light of the afternoon sun shone down on her, making her look like an angel in her white dress. Her hair hung in ringlets around her face and her blue eyes sparkled with happiness; she looked beautiful.
“Cassie.” He whispered feeling his world crumble around him. Now he understood the urgency he had felt, a part of him had been telling him, screaming, that he was loosing her and that he had to do something to stop it, but he had failed.
“Gideon, mate, let’s just go.” The Ravenclaw kept his eyes averted as he reached for Gideon’s arm. “Before they—“
“Lionel?” Jeremy had spotted him.
“see us.” Lionel finished under his breath, dropping his hold on Gideon’s arm. All at once, they were surrounded by a multitude of hands pushing and pulling every which way towards the couple.
“Lionel, mate!” Jeremy greeted, clapping his former classmate on the back. “Excellent to see you again, Cassie and I didn’t think you could make it! And you brought Gideon too! Let me tell you, it’s absolutely brilliant to see you again! You must come to the reception, it isn’t very far, just around the corner…” and on it went as the happy young man took Lionel by the arm and with a quick kiss to his new wife, walked off.
Gideon watched all this bemusedly and wondered how Jeremy could abandon his wife like that so easily. If it had been him, he’d never have let her out of his sight, let alone wander from the reach of his arm.
“Hi.” She greeted softly, as she watched her husband waltzing off with her cousin.
“Hi.” He answered back, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking determinedly at the ground.
“You have to forgive him,” she apologized. “He hasn’t seen many of our people in so long; he’s desperate for someone male to talk to.”
Gideon nodded, and said nothing as they started walking after them.
“It’s going to be a quiet reception,” she told him, her voice was as soft and sweet as he remembered. “Me, Jeremy and a few of the closer neighbors, oh and now you and Lionel. It’s really great that you two managed to come. I can’t tell you how much it means to me, I know how hard things have gotten since Daddy found out. You’ve had attacks left and right. So, thank you.”
Again he merely nodded, his throat felt unbearably tight and he didn’t trust himself enough to speak. The pavement lines passed them by one by one as a silence settled over the both of them and the only thing that could be heard was the pattering of her shoes on the stone.
‘Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen,’ he counted the lines, hoping that it would distract him enough from the pain he was feeling. ‘Eighteen, nineteen, fingers, wait what?’ A hand was waving in front of his face; a hand which belonged to Cassie.
“Hey, I’m over here.” She said, smiling in amusement. “Since when have you been so interested in the pavement?”
“Sorry,” he answered, forcing a smile onto his face. “I was just thinking.”
“What about?” she questioned, picking up her skirts and skipping lightly.
“Nothing you should worry about.” He assured her.
“You’re thinking,” she told him, a smirk playing on her lips. “That alone is more than enough reason for me to worry.”
“ Sandy !” Jeremy called from the open doorway. “There you two are; we were just about to send out a search party.”
‘ Sandy ?’ he thought blanching. ‘Since when has she been Sandy ?’
Cassie laughed and took her husband’s arm, poking him lightly in the tummy. “Let’s not forget who left who, dearest.”
“Sorry, love.” Jeremy whispered, kissing her cheek and turning to Gideon. “You’re not planning to steal my wife are you Prewett? Because if you are, you’ll have to kill me first.”
Gideon forced himself to laugh as he was ushered into a seat and served food; while all throughout the first course he wondered what the best method for getting rid of Jeremy would be.
**
“No, no wait don’t sit there!” a plump woman carrying a camera barked excitedly at the newlyweds as she gestured for the bride to sit on her husband’s lap. “There, that’s better. Oh, you both look adorable! Now, smile!”
“Thank you, Doris .” Jeremy beamed, taking the camera. Music was pumping out of a large stereo as happy couples danced across the living room floor. Gideon watched as Jeremy snapped more pictures of his wife, feeling his heart clench horribly for what felt like the millionth time that night. It should be him standing beside her; him who should be stealing kisses when he thought no one was looking and him who should be holding her in his arms at night.
He had made a lot of mistakes in his life, but he had always found a way to fix them, but this time he knew he couldn’t make this right again.
“You alright, Gideon?” Lionel asked sitting down next to him. The former Ravenclaw focused his gaze on the dancing couple, a small smile on his face. “They make a lovely couple don’t they?”
For a minute Gideon felt compelled to shake his head in disagreement, but caught himself just in time. “Is she happy?” he asked, softly. “I haven’t really gotten around to asking.”
“I suppose she is,” he answered vaguely, and Gideon wondered what he meant. “What is it that you were so keen on telling her, by the way?”
“I—it’s nothing important.” Gideon supplied, standing up. “Listen Lionel, I’m going to go ahead. It’s been a long day and I need some time to myself, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I’m sure you’ll want to stick around, Cassie’s only going to get married once.”
“Thanks mate.” Lionel said appreciatively. “You be careful now, I won’t tell her you left.” Gideon nodded gratefully and stood up, bidding him goodnight and heading out of the house.
The air was cool and crisp when he got outside, the smell of freshly cut grass tickled his nose and the empty streets soothed the ache in his heart that had steadily worsened the longer he had stayed inside. That morning when he woke up, he had been determined to tell Cassie the truth, explain to her that what happened between them two years ago was a mistake, one of the biggest mistakes he had ever made in his life and hope that she could find it in her heart to forgive him.
“Where has the day gone?” he asked himself in a whisper, walking away from the house that would now hold the woman he loved. “How did I go from searching for her so I could tell her how much I loved her to watching her marry someone that’s not me?” He turned around at a random corner and found himself in a beautiful park, where he sat down on an empty park bench.
“The stars are pretty tonight aren’t they?” Cassie asked, sitting down beside him in a flurry of white silk and brocade and looking up at the sky with a content smile on her lips.
“Beautiful.” He murmured, his gaze never leaving her upturned face. The dim light made her wedding dress look more like the one she had worn at the Black Ball all those years ago, and it took all his willpower to resist the urge to kiss her.
“You weren’t even going to say goodbye, then?” she asked quietly as she tucked her feet underneath her. He looked away, and said nothing. “I suppose I should have expected it, you do have a habit of leaving me without warning.”
Her tone was mild, but the undertones were clear and sharp. “Cassie, I—let me explain please.”
She shook her head and smiled. “No, Gid. You don’t have to explain anything to me; two years earlier I’d have listened but not now, not anymore.” She stood up and brushed the dirt off of her dress, her every word coming at him like a slap in the face. “Come back to the house, we have cake.”
“No.” he muttered before he could stop himself. “I bloody well, will not go back to that house with you; how can you even ask Cass?”
“It’s my wedding, Gideon!” she countered, whirling around to face him. “I should think that would be enough reason for you to come back! This is one of the most memorable events in my life, or did that nor come through to you?”
“I can’t go back there, Cassie.” He said shaking his head and holding up his hands. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” she demanded, taking a few steps towards him. “What is so horrible about my wedding that you can’t bring yourself to celebrate it?”
“You want to know what I find so horrible about this whole thing?” he asked angrily. He knew he was ruining this night for her, but he couldn’t help himself. His repressed emotions were getting the better of him. “Gee Cass, where do I start? How about the fact that I wasn’t invited to the damn thing? Or how I practically had to threaten your cousin just to find out where you were, and even then we had to spend all day searching for you. But you know I could have dealt with all that as long as I found you. No, what really gets to me is that you’re in front of me, wearing a wedding dress and looking so fucking beautiful but I know that it’s not for me.” He swiped angrily at his eyes, wiping away the tears that were threatening to reveal themselves as he waited for her reaction.
“You left me remember?” she snarled, blue eyes flashing angrily as she tugged at her hair. “You chose Amelia over me, and it hurt. Merlin knows just how much, but I moved on. You made it very clear that you didn’t want me in your life, so I stayed away. I didn’t write to you, I didn’t try to talk; I disappeared from your life because you said you didn’t need me. Now you just barge back into my life and tell me that you don’t like my husband and I’m supposed to be alright with that?”
Tears were running down her cheeks now too, but whether they were from anger or anything else, Gideon didn’t know. His heart felt like it was going to burst as he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. She struggled and thrashed against him, trying to get away but he refused to let her go.
“Everything I did, I did for you Cassie.” He murmured into her hair, feeling her tears soaking through his shirt as he struggled to keep his own at bay. “I love you more than I’ve loved anyone and because of that I had to keep you safe. If any of the people from the other side found out about us, they would have killed you and I—I couldn’t let that happen. I—I couldn’t stand the thought of loosing you, Cassie.”
“So you broke my heart and sent me away?” she pulled away, an incredulous expression on her face. “How is that supposed to help?”
“You stayed away,” he answered miserably. “You stayed alive. I made a mistake, okay? If I could do it all again, I’d do things differently, but I can’t Cassie. I can’t, the only thing that I’ve been holding onto is the fact that I’m madly in love with you…but now it looks like that’s been taken away from me too.”
He watched her sob helplessly beside him and wished he could take back all that he’d said. She didn’t deserve this, especially not from him. It was her wedding and she deserved to be happy with her husband, not sitting in a park with him and crying. It was his fault she was here in the first place. He was so afraid of the prospect of her dying that he forgot to take everything else into account. He had been so terrified of loosing her to death that he had lost her to something else entirely.
“I’m sorry, Cassie.” He said, regret oozing from his words. “I’m sorry for everything; you don’t deserve this. I hope he makes you happy, because you deserve nothing less.”
And with a pop, he was gone. Cassie watched the spot he had apparated from for a long while before finally standing up and making her way home. She shook out her dress and wiped at her face before noticing something out of place on the park bench. It was their camera; her fingers sidled towards the latch that opened the compartment to find that the film was gone.
And the clock on her wrist strikes midnight .
**
Six months later, Cassandra Corner feels the necklace Fabian had given her burn and apparates to a dingy shack beside a hill, where the wreckage of a horrible battle graces her senses. Trees were split in half where curses and hexes had been thrown their way. Numerous bodies lay strewn about, bloody and mangled and imprinting themselves firmly in her memory, ensuring nightmares for years to come.
She winds her way through the debris, her heart pounding loudly in her chest as she hopes against all hope that they were alright.
“Cassie.” A voice coughs from somewhere to her left.
“Fabian!” she rushes to his side and tries to help him but he only grabs her hand and smiles, a bloody smile. “You’re bleeding all over the place! You’ll be alright though, I have potions with me.”
Fabian shakes his head and grips her hand tighter. “Sh-shouldn’t have c-come. H-he wouldn’t have wanted you t-to see th-this.”
“Shh,” she whispers comfortingly as she puts his head in her lap and tries to find the blood replenishing potion she brought. “Save your strength, now drink this while I find your twin, alright?”
“G-Gid’s g-gone Cassie.” He tells her, his pulse was ragged and his breathing unsteady. “H-he was the one wh-who took M-Mulciber down. H-he w-would have wanted you to know h-how much he-he loved you, just like I l-love Marlene.”
Tears were coursing down her cheeks as she removed the stopper on the potion. “D-don’t say that Fab, I-I’m sure he’s here. G-Gid’s tough, h-he’ll be okay. Yeah, he-he’ll be alright.” She whispers, trying to convince herself more than anyone else but she knew it was a lost cause before she even finishes her sentence because she can no longer feel his grip on her hand and he has stopped breathing entirely.
Five minutes later, she scrabbles through the dirt and rocks and finally finds the older twin. He had numerous gashes on his body worse than that of his brother, and her heart breaks when she sees the puppies still attached to his belt loop, a piece of what looks like paper sticking out of his pocket. She pulls it out to reveal a Wizarding photograph of her on her wedding day, just before she and Jeremy had started dancing. There is writing at the back so she flips it over to read his neat script, and starts sobbing.
She got married today, to Jeremy Corner. I’ve never seen her look so beautiful than I did today and it breaks my heart knowing that I’ve lost her. In my darkest nightmares, I never imagined her with someone else. I always figured that when she tied the knot, it would be with me. I love her so much and merlin it hurts knowing she’s gone. I can’t help but wish I had checked that damn church earlier…maybe then she’d still be mine.
She clamps a hand over her mouth to stifle the anguished cries clawing their way out of her throat, her thoughts mimicking the last lines of the letter and how it would have been if she had gotten here to help earlier.
A tear lands on Gideon Prewett’s cold, lifeless body; the thousandth shed for a love torn apart by times of war as somewhere a clock strikes midnight .
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