FIC: "Two, Divided Briefly" for snapesgirl_62
Recipient: snapesgirl_62
Author: ze_dragon
Title: Two, Divided Briefly
Pairing: Grey Lady/Bloody Baron
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~1400
Summary: The Bloody Baron didn't like reminders, but the Grey Lady had nothing but reminders to offer.
Author's Notes: Thanks to my betas for their speedy and brilliant work. And mucho mucho thanks to the mod that dealt with my crazy lateness. The title is from Emily Dikinson's The Grave
***
She should be writing this down. How often did someone see the Bloody Baron with anything other than a scowl on his face? But then she thought that her memory, adjusted and blurry and much more fanciful than reality would make for a much better retelling, so she watched and made a little note on her hand to write it all down later. Later was always better. And did he just say 'Please'? No one was going to believe her, but she was used to that. If she could only move to the other pillar and get a better view, but then she emerged, a tall wraith, her hair in braids like a crown upon her head and a look of scorn marring her features on just the wrong side of pretty.
The Baron's hopeful look faded away and so did he. Luna hated it when ghosts turned invisible. She always felt like she was missing the good bits.
***
This time it was the Grey Lady that she caught staring. It was like watching Ginny Weasley in the Great Hall staring at Harry Potter, but it wasn't longing that she saw on the Grey Lady's face. It wasn't disgust or contempt either. It wasn't something that Luna was familiar with. Maybe it was confusion. It looked like confusion.
The Bloody Baron was holding out a ghostly bouquet of dead roses. Where did one go to get ghost roses anyway? Maybe she should ask her father. He would be sure to know.
"Please?" he asked again.
The Grey Lady shook her head and floated away past Luna murmuring that it didn't make any sense. That he never made any sense.
***
It got to the point that she would follow the Grey Lady whenever she saw her even if it meant missing the Transfiguration lessons on turning mice into horses and pumpkins into carriages. Professor McGonagall was not best pleased, but Luna thought it was worth it - especially that time in particular - all because of what she saw.
The Bloody Baron was not there, but Peeves was hovering in the shadows - quiet as one of the mice Luna wasn't turning into a horse - which wasn't that quiet at all actually, but he wasn't being incredibly rude either, just sort of quietly rude, blowing spit bubbles and swirling paint on the ceiling in the most fabulous pattern. Luna had to close her eyes to paint it in her memory. It would go wonderfully with the words already spiraling across her bedroom walls.
The Grey Lady was smiling and Luna looked to see what had caused her expression. The Grey Lady never really smiled for no reason. Luna twirled until she could see what the Grey Lady saw. They weren't just spirals that Peeves was painting! They were runes. Upside down ones at that, but there were two that Luna didn't recognise.
"It says 'I love you. Forgive me.'"
Luna fell and stared up at the Grey Lady.
"Off to class with you, young lady."
Luna didn't go to class. Instead, she went to the library to see which runic language the ones that she couldn't read were from.
***
Everyone in Ravenclaw knew the Grey Lady's deathday. Most of them wore a tiny pin in their tie for the day. Luna… she wore a black band around her arm and spent the day running away from the Bloody Baron. He didn't like reminders.
***
The day that Luna decided she was only getting half the story was the day Professor Flitwick held a Charms relay. She was never very good at the skating part and always ended up heading straight into a wall because she'd get distracted. So instead, Luna headed off to find the Bloody Baron. From a safe distance, of course. Just because he brought the Grey Lady ghost flowers didn't mean he wasn't scary. Sort of. He was very loud in that very quiet way Professor Snape was - except for when he was yelling at Harry. Then he was just loud.
The Bloody Baron was outside, a fact that Luna didn't like because it made him hard to see. She wished for rain. The Bloody Baron was washing his hands in the water from one of the fountains in the garden. Well, washing his hands as much as a ghost could which was not at all. It rather reminded her of that scene in Macbeth and Luna found herself whispering "Out, damn'd spot" all day. She accidentally said it aloud in Divination and Professor Trelawney decided that she had the Sight much to the bemusement of the rest of the class.
***
The Grey Lady was writing on her ghostly parchment with her ghostly quill and ghostly ink. This in and of itself wasn't very strange. The Grey Lady could often be found in the Ravenclaw common room doing such. Luna sat across the table from her and took out her own little notebook and hummed as she wrote about ghostly blood drops (that were never really there) floating in a garden fountain like little grey pearls.
"You are a very curious little girl."
Luna smiled. "It's a good thing that I am a little girl then and not a cat."
"I was a curious little girl."
Luna pillowed her chin in her hands and looked at the Grey Lady, tilting her head to the side and hoping that she'd get a bit of a story out of her.
"A very curious little girl. The Baron was older than me by what seemed years and years until I was less a little girl, not much older than you, I think, and then he didn't seem so much older. But he was so very sure that he was right all the time." She frowned. "I was also sure that I was right an equal amount of the time. Of course we couldn't both be right." She touched the diadem on her head. "Knowledge is a dangerous thing, Miss Lovegood." And with that, the Grey Lady stood and floated away.
***
"You killed her, didn't you?"
The Bloody Baron scowled at Luna and started to come toward her in what she thought was supposed to be a menacing fashion, but how could a ghost be all that menacing?
"If you loved her, you shouldn't have killed her. Even if she was right as much as you were."
The Baron opened his mouth and then closed it in another scowl.
"Oh, I know that you won't say anything to me. You don't say anything to anyone."
He started to circle her.
"If you wanted to dance, you should have asked, though I rather think that your dancing and my dancing won't match well at all." Luna skipped right past the Bloody Baron and swore to herself that she couldn't miss Professor Slughorn's lecture on the uses of frog toes in beauty potions. It'd be worth it just to see half the girls refuse to touch them in fear of getting warts.
***
It was by chance that Luna saw the Grey Lady and the Bloody Baron arguing the next week. It was not by chance that Peeves followed her around and called her a loony little busybody cow all the next week. She found it all rather amusing.
***
There was one missing puzzle piece that Luna just couldn't figure out. "You'll never, ever forgive him? But you spend so much time with him. You're the only one that does other than Peeves."
The Grey Lady lifted one eyebrow and stared at her long and hard.
"So it's the answer that makes sense but doesn't make sense at all?" Luna asked.
The Grey Lady nodded. "I realised some time ago that the day that I forgive him is the day that I lose him. I'd rather spend eternity in a never-ending cycle of bickering than to never see him again. After all, I cannot be forgiven for my wrongs."
Luna smiled and looked across the room at where the Bloody Baron was floating and glaring. She was sure that they'd be even unhappier if one was to vanish. She knew that to be true. One only had to look at her own father to realise that.
None of her teachers remarked upon her sudden return to attending classes in a timely and consistent fashion.
End.
Click here to leave a comment
Author: ze_dragon
Title: Two, Divided Briefly
Pairing: Grey Lady/Bloody Baron
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~1400
Summary: The Bloody Baron didn't like reminders, but the Grey Lady had nothing but reminders to offer.
Author's Notes: Thanks to my betas for their speedy and brilliant work. And mucho mucho thanks to the mod that dealt with my crazy lateness. The title is from Emily Dikinson's The Grave
***
She should be writing this down. How often did someone see the Bloody Baron with anything other than a scowl on his face? But then she thought that her memory, adjusted and blurry and much more fanciful than reality would make for a much better retelling, so she watched and made a little note on her hand to write it all down later. Later was always better. And did he just say 'Please'? No one was going to believe her, but she was used to that. If she could only move to the other pillar and get a better view, but then she emerged, a tall wraith, her hair in braids like a crown upon her head and a look of scorn marring her features on just the wrong side of pretty.
The Baron's hopeful look faded away and so did he. Luna hated it when ghosts turned invisible. She always felt like she was missing the good bits.
***
This time it was the Grey Lady that she caught staring. It was like watching Ginny Weasley in the Great Hall staring at Harry Potter, but it wasn't longing that she saw on the Grey Lady's face. It wasn't disgust or contempt either. It wasn't something that Luna was familiar with. Maybe it was confusion. It looked like confusion.
The Bloody Baron was holding out a ghostly bouquet of dead roses. Where did one go to get ghost roses anyway? Maybe she should ask her father. He would be sure to know.
"Please?" he asked again.
The Grey Lady shook her head and floated away past Luna murmuring that it didn't make any sense. That he never made any sense.
***
It got to the point that she would follow the Grey Lady whenever she saw her even if it meant missing the Transfiguration lessons on turning mice into horses and pumpkins into carriages. Professor McGonagall was not best pleased, but Luna thought it was worth it - especially that time in particular - all because of what she saw.
The Bloody Baron was not there, but Peeves was hovering in the shadows - quiet as one of the mice Luna wasn't turning into a horse - which wasn't that quiet at all actually, but he wasn't being incredibly rude either, just sort of quietly rude, blowing spit bubbles and swirling paint on the ceiling in the most fabulous pattern. Luna had to close her eyes to paint it in her memory. It would go wonderfully with the words already spiraling across her bedroom walls.
The Grey Lady was smiling and Luna looked to see what had caused her expression. The Grey Lady never really smiled for no reason. Luna twirled until she could see what the Grey Lady saw. They weren't just spirals that Peeves was painting! They were runes. Upside down ones at that, but there were two that Luna didn't recognise.
"It says 'I love you. Forgive me.'"
Luna fell and stared up at the Grey Lady.
"Off to class with you, young lady."
Luna didn't go to class. Instead, she went to the library to see which runic language the ones that she couldn't read were from.
***
Everyone in Ravenclaw knew the Grey Lady's deathday. Most of them wore a tiny pin in their tie for the day. Luna… she wore a black band around her arm and spent the day running away from the Bloody Baron. He didn't like reminders.
***
The day that Luna decided she was only getting half the story was the day Professor Flitwick held a Charms relay. She was never very good at the skating part and always ended up heading straight into a wall because she'd get distracted. So instead, Luna headed off to find the Bloody Baron. From a safe distance, of course. Just because he brought the Grey Lady ghost flowers didn't mean he wasn't scary. Sort of. He was very loud in that very quiet way Professor Snape was - except for when he was yelling at Harry. Then he was just loud.
The Bloody Baron was outside, a fact that Luna didn't like because it made him hard to see. She wished for rain. The Bloody Baron was washing his hands in the water from one of the fountains in the garden. Well, washing his hands as much as a ghost could which was not at all. It rather reminded her of that scene in Macbeth and Luna found herself whispering "Out, damn'd spot" all day. She accidentally said it aloud in Divination and Professor Trelawney decided that she had the Sight much to the bemusement of the rest of the class.
***
The Grey Lady was writing on her ghostly parchment with her ghostly quill and ghostly ink. This in and of itself wasn't very strange. The Grey Lady could often be found in the Ravenclaw common room doing such. Luna sat across the table from her and took out her own little notebook and hummed as she wrote about ghostly blood drops (that were never really there) floating in a garden fountain like little grey pearls.
"You are a very curious little girl."
Luna smiled. "It's a good thing that I am a little girl then and not a cat."
"I was a curious little girl."
Luna pillowed her chin in her hands and looked at the Grey Lady, tilting her head to the side and hoping that she'd get a bit of a story out of her.
"A very curious little girl. The Baron was older than me by what seemed years and years until I was less a little girl, not much older than you, I think, and then he didn't seem so much older. But he was so very sure that he was right all the time." She frowned. "I was also sure that I was right an equal amount of the time. Of course we couldn't both be right." She touched the diadem on her head. "Knowledge is a dangerous thing, Miss Lovegood." And with that, the Grey Lady stood and floated away.
***
"You killed her, didn't you?"
The Bloody Baron scowled at Luna and started to come toward her in what she thought was supposed to be a menacing fashion, but how could a ghost be all that menacing?
"If you loved her, you shouldn't have killed her. Even if she was right as much as you were."
The Baron opened his mouth and then closed it in another scowl.
"Oh, I know that you won't say anything to me. You don't say anything to anyone."
He started to circle her.
"If you wanted to dance, you should have asked, though I rather think that your dancing and my dancing won't match well at all." Luna skipped right past the Bloody Baron and swore to herself that she couldn't miss Professor Slughorn's lecture on the uses of frog toes in beauty potions. It'd be worth it just to see half the girls refuse to touch them in fear of getting warts.
***
It was by chance that Luna saw the Grey Lady and the Bloody Baron arguing the next week. It was not by chance that Peeves followed her around and called her a loony little busybody cow all the next week. She found it all rather amusing.
***
There was one missing puzzle piece that Luna just couldn't figure out. "You'll never, ever forgive him? But you spend so much time with him. You're the only one that does other than Peeves."
The Grey Lady lifted one eyebrow and stared at her long and hard.
"So it's the answer that makes sense but doesn't make sense at all?" Luna asked.
The Grey Lady nodded. "I realised some time ago that the day that I forgive him is the day that I lose him. I'd rather spend eternity in a never-ending cycle of bickering than to never see him again. After all, I cannot be forgiven for my wrongs."
Luna smiled and looked across the room at where the Bloody Baron was floating and glaring. She was sure that they'd be even unhappier if one was to vanish. She knew that to be true. One only had to look at her own father to realise that.
None of her teachers remarked upon her sudden return to attending classes in a timely and consistent fashion.
End.
Click here to leave a comment