Mirror of Discord
Title: Mirror of Discord
Team: The Order of the Phoenix
Rating: PG
Challenge: Perils of Veritaserum
Characters: Ron, Dumbledore, Severus/Hermione
Word Count: 100 X 4
A/N I originally wrote a version of this as a small birthday giftie for snarkywench_64 who had written me a lovely SSHG ficlet, The Power of Touch for my birthday last year. I never posted the piece except on a LJ comment, so I thought I’d dust this off and put it into drabble format since it fits the challenge so well.
Ron sat on the stairs leading down to the Great Hall. He shut his eyes tightly, fisting his hands at his sides. “Idiot ... idiot.” He started punching himself in his thigh, but the pain couldn’t keep him from playing the image he’d conjured up over and over. Hermione had always been too good with words. She was like him that way. Her description of her body entwined with ... with ... Ron felt like the picture had been etched in acid on the inside of his skull, only to the sketch drawn, his imagination added sounds, smells. He groaned.
~o0o~
A cold draft sweep towards him, and he shivered. Opening his eyes, he saw Dumbledore’s ghost shimmering before him.
“That was badly done, Mr Weasley.”
“You know?”
“Miss Granger is with Minerva. My portrait told me what had transpired. My boy, the Mirror of Erised conjures up the most private parts of your heart, often parts even unknown to you. To combine that with Veritaserum. That betrayal alone-”
“My betrayal? How about hers? She was engaged to me. I knew it; I always knew there was some part of her I could never reach. But Snape? Her deepest desire?”
~o0o~
“Yet she had chosen you, and over time you would have found happiness together. A happiness I know will elude her with Severus. He is not capable of expressing love. Desire is an illusion, often born of what we cannot have. What we want is not always what is best.”
“And you know best?” Ron felt his entire body heating with his rage, repelling the cold of the ghost. “I know she came here and talked to you. She said you helped ‘clear’ things up.”
“I sought to give her clarity and peace.”
“Did you? Well, clarity she has now.”
~o0o~
Ron levered himself up. “I’m not as brilliant as Hermione or as wise as you, but ... You don't know what love is, or Hermione or me or even Snape well if that’s your best advice. I do love her, you know. Unlike you I trust her. I trust her to desire what’s best for herself. But that’s always been something you’ve found hard to leave alone isn’t it?”
Except Ron hadn’t trusted Hermione’s love enough. But he did love her.
So he’d follow Dumbledore’s advice to Hermione.
Pretend she wasn’t his deepest desire and hope that would come true.
Team: The Order of the Phoenix
Rating: PG
Challenge: Perils of Veritaserum
Characters: Ron, Dumbledore, Severus/Hermione
Word Count: 100 X 4
A/N I originally wrote a version of this as a small birthday giftie for snarkywench_64 who had written me a lovely SSHG ficlet, The Power of Touch for my birthday last year. I never posted the piece except on a LJ comment, so I thought I’d dust this off and put it into drabble format since it fits the challenge so well.
Ron sat on the stairs leading down to the Great Hall. He shut his eyes tightly, fisting his hands at his sides. “Idiot ... idiot.” He started punching himself in his thigh, but the pain couldn’t keep him from playing the image he’d conjured up over and over. Hermione had always been too good with words. She was like him that way. Her description of her body entwined with ... with ... Ron felt like the picture had been etched in acid on the inside of his skull, only to the sketch drawn, his imagination added sounds, smells. He groaned.
~o0o~
A cold draft sweep towards him, and he shivered. Opening his eyes, he saw Dumbledore’s ghost shimmering before him.
“That was badly done, Mr Weasley.”
“You know?”
“Miss Granger is with Minerva. My portrait told me what had transpired. My boy, the Mirror of Erised conjures up the most private parts of your heart, often parts even unknown to you. To combine that with Veritaserum. That betrayal alone-”
“My betrayal? How about hers? She was engaged to me. I knew it; I always knew there was some part of her I could never reach. But Snape? Her deepest desire?”
~o0o~
“Yet she had chosen you, and over time you would have found happiness together. A happiness I know will elude her with Severus. He is not capable of expressing love. Desire is an illusion, often born of what we cannot have. What we want is not always what is best.”
“And you know best?” Ron felt his entire body heating with his rage, repelling the cold of the ghost. “I know she came here and talked to you. She said you helped ‘clear’ things up.”
“I sought to give her clarity and peace.”
“Did you? Well, clarity she has now.”
~o0o~
Ron levered himself up. “I’m not as brilliant as Hermione or as wise as you, but ... You don't know what love is, or Hermione or me or even Snape well if that’s your best advice. I do love her, you know. Unlike you I trust her. I trust her to desire what’s best for herself. But that’s always been something you’ve found hard to leave alone isn’t it?”
Except Ron hadn’t trusted Hermione’s love enough. But he did love her.
So he’d follow Dumbledore’s advice to Hermione.
Pretend she wasn’t his deepest desire and hope that would come true.