Scribosaurus Recs! - Harry Potter (Nearly-Headless Nick fic).
The Fourth by Twinsuns
They say that no spell can bring the dead back into the world of living, yet there is a loophole in that law… A look into a moment that spanned a lifetime.
Rec!view: Nearly Headless Nick wouldn’t seem like the most obvious target for an introspective and poignant ficlet, but that just goes to show that I’m thick for not considering it before. After all, the man died, and in quite a horrific way. Why hasn’t this been dealt with in fic before? Because the antics of a bunch of modern hormone-driven teenagers is more attractive, obviously (I lived though puberty and know for a fact that there were no roaring chest monsters, just a lot of girls wearing too much orange foundation and boys interfering with themselves on the back row of the classroom where the teacher couldn’t see them until their cheek muscle started twitching). Nick’s death is the focus here, as well as the events surrounding it. Unlike a lot of the angst in this fandom, Nick’s is genuine and dignified, and I actually found myself liking him more at the end because of this. If you draw back from this fic because it’s about such a minor secondary character then you’re missing out.
Excerpt:
The executioner grins, stepping into position by the stump. “You know,” he says, laying the cold blade of the axe against the man’s neck to find his mark, “you’re my fourth - this week.”