Angst alert
Because I'm crazy and a dork and everything somehow leads me back to H/Hr.
A very sad ficlet that just came into my head while thinking about Henri II and Diane de Poitiers. (I told you I'm crazy...)
Character death! Tissue warning!!!!
The End
They were alone now.
Emily, Andy, Sabrina, their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren had all left now, the younger ones sobbing pitifully.
They were alone now and it was quiet.
She sat down again at the edge of the bed they’d shared for more than a century now, fighting the tears that were always clogging her throat now.
His eyes were closed and for a moment she thought he’d drifted off to sleep and she took the moment to study his face, the beloved features she knew so well, the features she’d seen change and mature over the years, the features in which she could still see some subtle hints of the boy she’d first fallen in love with-and always, the scar on his forehead that was the mark of his fame and his fate.
With a gentle hand, she brushed a lock of hair away from his eyes, smiling through the tears which were blurring her vision at how, even now, his hair was still the same untamable mess.
Then he opened his eyes, lined with wrinkles and a bit bleary now with age but still the same, beautiful green and smiled very faintly.
“I think it’s time,” he said, his voice hardly audible.
She fought back the wild sobs rising up inside her and only allowed herself to murmur, “Oh, love…”
Another moment and then he smiled again, a little stronger this time. “It’s been good, hasn’t it?”
A sob escaped her before she could help it. “Yes, love, yes, it’s been good. The best.” And it had been. In his eyes, which were looking beyond her now, she could see that he was thinking of all their years together, their lives together, so many years of happiness and love and laughter. She could hardly remember the fights, the bad times, now, knew that they’d barely been tiny ripples on the overall surface of their happiness. Yes, their lives had been good, the best.
His eyes had closed again but then they opened, focused on her, his hands tightening their grip on hers, and for a fleeting moment, his eyes looked almost-young-again, as bright as they had ever been, as bright and as tender. “Hermione.”
He paused, seemed to be struggling for breath and strength to speak, knowing he had to. There was barely any time left but he had to tell her one last time. Say the words even though he knew she would know anyway, knew she already knew.
“All my life…”
She managed a smile through the tears that were streaming down her face unabashedly now. And she finished the sentence for him, saying what she knew he wanted to say. What he had first told her at their wedding and what he’d repeated in various forms for most of their anniversaries since then.
“All my life, I’ve known only one love…” Her voice faltered, shook with suppressed tears, but after all, there was no need to say anymore.
She bent and brushed her lips against his and then his cheek and his forehead, in a last, trembling caress.
“One love,” he murmured. “You.” He looked at her-through her, it almost felt, as if he could see her heart and her soul, see the truth of the words, the strength of her love-before focusing on her eyes once more, blurred with tears and heavy with lack of sleep but still the same beautiful brown eyes he’d loved his entire life.
“Forever…” The last word slipped out of his mouth on a breath and then, having said all he needed to, with a soft sigh, he let go of life.
It was over.
A/N: Excuse the abrupt ending but this was one of those ficlets that came into my head with the last line first and I wrote it with the last line in mind so it had to end there.
*runs and hides*
Don't kill me, please!!
Up tomorrow- the next chapter of 'From My Soul'.
A very sad ficlet that just came into my head while thinking about Henri II and Diane de Poitiers. (I told you I'm crazy...)
Character death! Tissue warning!!!!
The End
They were alone now.
Emily, Andy, Sabrina, their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren had all left now, the younger ones sobbing pitifully.
They were alone now and it was quiet.
She sat down again at the edge of the bed they’d shared for more than a century now, fighting the tears that were always clogging her throat now.
His eyes were closed and for a moment she thought he’d drifted off to sleep and she took the moment to study his face, the beloved features she knew so well, the features she’d seen change and mature over the years, the features in which she could still see some subtle hints of the boy she’d first fallen in love with-and always, the scar on his forehead that was the mark of his fame and his fate.
With a gentle hand, she brushed a lock of hair away from his eyes, smiling through the tears which were blurring her vision at how, even now, his hair was still the same untamable mess.
Then he opened his eyes, lined with wrinkles and a bit bleary now with age but still the same, beautiful green and smiled very faintly.
“I think it’s time,” he said, his voice hardly audible.
She fought back the wild sobs rising up inside her and only allowed herself to murmur, “Oh, love…”
Another moment and then he smiled again, a little stronger this time. “It’s been good, hasn’t it?”
A sob escaped her before she could help it. “Yes, love, yes, it’s been good. The best.” And it had been. In his eyes, which were looking beyond her now, she could see that he was thinking of all their years together, their lives together, so many years of happiness and love and laughter. She could hardly remember the fights, the bad times, now, knew that they’d barely been tiny ripples on the overall surface of their happiness. Yes, their lives had been good, the best.
His eyes had closed again but then they opened, focused on her, his hands tightening their grip on hers, and for a fleeting moment, his eyes looked almost-young-again, as bright as they had ever been, as bright and as tender. “Hermione.”
He paused, seemed to be struggling for breath and strength to speak, knowing he had to. There was barely any time left but he had to tell her one last time. Say the words even though he knew she would know anyway, knew she already knew.
“All my life…”
She managed a smile through the tears that were streaming down her face unabashedly now. And she finished the sentence for him, saying what she knew he wanted to say. What he had first told her at their wedding and what he’d repeated in various forms for most of their anniversaries since then.
“All my life, I’ve known only one love…” Her voice faltered, shook with suppressed tears, but after all, there was no need to say anymore.
She bent and brushed her lips against his and then his cheek and his forehead, in a last, trembling caress.
“One love,” he murmured. “You.” He looked at her-through her, it almost felt, as if he could see her heart and her soul, see the truth of the words, the strength of her love-before focusing on her eyes once more, blurred with tears and heavy with lack of sleep but still the same beautiful brown eyes he’d loved his entire life.
“Forever…” The last word slipped out of his mouth on a breath and then, having said all he needed to, with a soft sigh, he let go of life.
It was over.
A/N: Excuse the abrupt ending but this was one of those ficlets that came into my head with the last line first and I wrote it with the last line in mind so it had to end there.
*runs and hides*
Don't kill me, please!!
Up tomorrow- the next chapter of 'From My Soul'.