For archive purposes
I was looking around in my other journal for some fanfics that needed to be put here as I realized that I never actually did that. It was a good try...
This story is a year old but was written right before this journal went up. There was a sequel somewhere but I don't think we ever finished it. Oh well!
Title: Sanctuary
Word Count: 962 ... more or less
Characters: Gregory Goyle/Morag McDougal (you know, you really can't appreciate this name until you hear it pronounced with the right accent)
Author's Note: These character are, of course owned by JKR and all the people who have their hands in the HP wealth. Ilex gets kudos for giving a simple bodyguard a heart and I take full responsibility for getting Morag into trouble.
“Morag, how could you?”
She looked at her sister over her shoulder, disappointed in her reaction. “Because I love him. I don’t want to live without him.”
“You’re sixteen! You don’t know what you want yet.”
Packing her bag was hard with tears forming in her eyes. Of anyone in her family, she had thought Una would understand why she was doing this. How did she explain that she didn’t want to face a world without him?
“At least stay for a couple more days. Let Da get to know him.”
“He’s already made painfully clear his opinion of both Greg and I. I don’t need his permission to marry and I don’t want it if he’s going to act like this.”
Drix, her white ermine, chattered from her position on the pillow, happy to be home again. She wasn’t going to be happy when she was put back in the bag to endure yet another trip through the dark of night. All three of them were tired of running. From the moment she had announced, “This is Greg Goyle, the man I’m going to marry,” until this moment, she had tried not to think about the ramifications of what had happened. She had thought they would be safe here.
Una put her hand on her younger sister’s arm, sighing as she stiffened. “He only wants the best for you, little one.”
Her eyes were shining with tears as she looked up at her steady and true sister. She had never been wrong in the past, always able to see the right path even when they all seemed to be clouded over. “This is what is best for me. He’s all I need. There’s more that I didn’t want to tell the others, but we can’t go back to school. There are people who would rather Greg not be around for the sunrise. If we can’t stay here, we’ll have to find somewhere else. This would have been the safest for us, but I understand Da not wanting his unclean child around to taint his good name.”
“That’s not what he said-“
“He implied it.” Her words where choppy as she stiffened her chin, fighting back the tears. She had agreed not to cry when this all started but she was afraid she was going to break her promise to him. “Why can’t they understand that I just need them to forget for one minute that I’m their youngest daughter and give us sanctuary like they would anyone else? Why am I less of a person to them?”
The hug between sisters was awkward as Una attempted to get as close to her sister as her large, pregnant belly would allow. “Remind them that you are a woman now and not a little girl who runs off to her room to pout.”
“I’m not-“
“No, little one. Don’t tell me. Go down and tell them what you told me. Make them understand. And let them separate you for the night.” Una put a hand over her sister’s mouth, winking to ease the tension as the younger girl squirmed. “Let them THINK they are separating you. Honestly, girl, I would have thought you knew that Kenneth and I were never separated for a single night while he was here before the wedding.”
“Una! But we slept in the same bed for a whole month before your wedding, with him right down the hall.”
“Yes and you kick like a dervish. He must love you to put up with all that movement each night. You also sleep like the dead. The boards right by the stairs squeak but you can hug the wall without causing a ruckus.”
Morag nodded, still shaking her head at the thought of her sister sneaking past her each night. “Mother and Da knew, surely.”
“Of course. Nothing gets by them. If they made it easy for you, it wouldn’t be as wonderful. You should know that by now. The labor makes the harvest all the more sweet.”
The words spiraled through her head as she walked down the stairs to the front room, still painfully quiet after the loud words. She walked to where her father was cleaning some leather harnesses near the fire. “I’m asking for help and I’m willing to abide by the rules as this is your house. Please, Da. I’m still a McDougal.”
“You're throwing the name away rather quickly, aren’t you? Not even out of school yet.”
His voice was rough but she smiled as she fell to her knees and hugged him. His shirt smelled of smoke and animals, a familiar smell that would always remind her of home in the highlands. “I love him, Da. I love him so much it makes my chest ache, like on winter mornings when the wind sweeps over the dell. I’ll always be a McDougal and your daughter, but I belong to him now.”
Calloused hands swept over her hair but he was looking past her, intent on the boy in the chair across from him. “Do you feel the same?”
“Yes, sir,” came the terse answer.
In her heart, she knew they had found their safe haven, at least for enough time so that everything calmed down. Maybe, in that length of time, she could help Greg discover what a real family was like.
The next words blew all her hopes for keeping her promise. “If you mean to marry her later, you might as well marry her now. We’ll have the ceremony tomorrow, if your mother doesn’t object to having family track mud across her clean floors.”
With tears running free down her face, she kissed his weather-lined cheek and stumbled across the room to Greg’s waiting arms. In the midst of her family, she had found the one who now meant home.
This story is a year old but was written right before this journal went up. There was a sequel somewhere but I don't think we ever finished it. Oh well!
Title: Sanctuary
Word Count: 962 ... more or less
Characters: Gregory Goyle/Morag McDougal (you know, you really can't appreciate this name until you hear it pronounced with the right accent)
Author's Note: These character are, of course owned by JKR and all the people who have their hands in the HP wealth. Ilex gets kudos for giving a simple bodyguard a heart and I take full responsibility for getting Morag into trouble.
“Morag, how could you?”
She looked at her sister over her shoulder, disappointed in her reaction. “Because I love him. I don’t want to live without him.”
“You’re sixteen! You don’t know what you want yet.”
Packing her bag was hard with tears forming in her eyes. Of anyone in her family, she had thought Una would understand why she was doing this. How did she explain that she didn’t want to face a world without him?
“At least stay for a couple more days. Let Da get to know him.”
“He’s already made painfully clear his opinion of both Greg and I. I don’t need his permission to marry and I don’t want it if he’s going to act like this.”
Drix, her white ermine, chattered from her position on the pillow, happy to be home again. She wasn’t going to be happy when she was put back in the bag to endure yet another trip through the dark of night. All three of them were tired of running. From the moment she had announced, “This is Greg Goyle, the man I’m going to marry,” until this moment, she had tried not to think about the ramifications of what had happened. She had thought they would be safe here.
Una put her hand on her younger sister’s arm, sighing as she stiffened. “He only wants the best for you, little one.”
Her eyes were shining with tears as she looked up at her steady and true sister. She had never been wrong in the past, always able to see the right path even when they all seemed to be clouded over. “This is what is best for me. He’s all I need. There’s more that I didn’t want to tell the others, but we can’t go back to school. There are people who would rather Greg not be around for the sunrise. If we can’t stay here, we’ll have to find somewhere else. This would have been the safest for us, but I understand Da not wanting his unclean child around to taint his good name.”
“That’s not what he said-“
“He implied it.” Her words where choppy as she stiffened her chin, fighting back the tears. She had agreed not to cry when this all started but she was afraid she was going to break her promise to him. “Why can’t they understand that I just need them to forget for one minute that I’m their youngest daughter and give us sanctuary like they would anyone else? Why am I less of a person to them?”
The hug between sisters was awkward as Una attempted to get as close to her sister as her large, pregnant belly would allow. “Remind them that you are a woman now and not a little girl who runs off to her room to pout.”
“I’m not-“
“No, little one. Don’t tell me. Go down and tell them what you told me. Make them understand. And let them separate you for the night.” Una put a hand over her sister’s mouth, winking to ease the tension as the younger girl squirmed. “Let them THINK they are separating you. Honestly, girl, I would have thought you knew that Kenneth and I were never separated for a single night while he was here before the wedding.”
“Una! But we slept in the same bed for a whole month before your wedding, with him right down the hall.”
“Yes and you kick like a dervish. He must love you to put up with all that movement each night. You also sleep like the dead. The boards right by the stairs squeak but you can hug the wall without causing a ruckus.”
Morag nodded, still shaking her head at the thought of her sister sneaking past her each night. “Mother and Da knew, surely.”
“Of course. Nothing gets by them. If they made it easy for you, it wouldn’t be as wonderful. You should know that by now. The labor makes the harvest all the more sweet.”
The words spiraled through her head as she walked down the stairs to the front room, still painfully quiet after the loud words. She walked to where her father was cleaning some leather harnesses near the fire. “I’m asking for help and I’m willing to abide by the rules as this is your house. Please, Da. I’m still a McDougal.”
“You're throwing the name away rather quickly, aren’t you? Not even out of school yet.”
His voice was rough but she smiled as she fell to her knees and hugged him. His shirt smelled of smoke and animals, a familiar smell that would always remind her of home in the highlands. “I love him, Da. I love him so much it makes my chest ache, like on winter mornings when the wind sweeps over the dell. I’ll always be a McDougal and your daughter, but I belong to him now.”
Calloused hands swept over her hair but he was looking past her, intent on the boy in the chair across from him. “Do you feel the same?”
“Yes, sir,” came the terse answer.
In her heart, she knew they had found their safe haven, at least for enough time so that everything calmed down. Maybe, in that length of time, she could help Greg discover what a real family was like.
The next words blew all her hopes for keeping her promise. “If you mean to marry her later, you might as well marry her now. We’ll have the ceremony tomorrow, if your mother doesn’t object to having family track mud across her clean floors.”
With tears running free down her face, she kissed his weather-lined cheek and stumbled across the room to Greg’s waiting arms. In the midst of her family, she had found the one who now meant home.