Drunkard's Walk Forums

Full Version: A Non-Drunkard's Walk Teaser
You're currently viewing a stripped down version of our content. View the full version with proper formatting.
I just realized that I don't have an area here for any non-DW fics I might write. I'm going to have to take care of that soon.
In the mean time, here's a little bit of something that I've been playing around with in my head for a few months, and which I've started slowly putting down in text. I'll be honest -- this is all that's written so far, and I may never get past this point with all the other things on my plate. But I thought I'd throw it out and see if it intrigues anyone. It has a title, but I don't want to reveal it at the moment. I will say that it is a post-HBP Harry Potter story.
Enjoy.
-- Bob

1. Love In The Time Of Voldemort "Someday after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides, and gravity, we shall harness the energies of love. Then for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire." -- Teihard de ChardinAs Bill and Fleur kissed to the chiming of silverware against glasses, Harry found the urge to vanish into the woodwork nearly overwhelming.It wasn't that he wasn't enjoying himself -- he was. He had been almost grimly determined to; their wedding marked, in his mind, the borderline between his boyhood and his manhood, and he was ekeing out the last shards of the joys of being a child before he turned the whole of his attention to... other matters. Matters of destiny.Still, it was a difficult job, having so much fun, especially when one is unprepared for the social complexities of the occasion. Hermione (with a keen memory of school dances past) had coached him, and he had so far comported himself admirably. He had danced with almost every girl close to his age, including the bride (who had, in fact, insisted on it). Fleur's younger sister Gabrielle had then monopolized him for nearly half an hour, until Ginny took it upon herself to rescue him -- but that just brought with it a different set of pressures, as they both tried to not-talk around the subject of their strange maybe-on/maybe-off sort-of possibly relationship-thing. He shook his head at his hesitation to actually say, even in his head, what it really was, and finally forced himself.*She wants ... is hoping ... to be something more permanent than just a girlfriend.*And god help him, he wanted it, too.But not yet. Love was not something he felt comfortable with yet.Not while Dumbledore's insistence that it was the "power the DarkLord knows not" still loomed large in his mind.Before matters went farther than he wanted, though, he'd managed to distract Ginny with her mother, who -- even with the demonstration of Fleur's sincere devotion to Bill after he had been savaged by Greyback -- was still of two minds about her part-Veela daughter-in-law. Spotting Mrs. Weasley about to have what Hermione had started euphemistically calling "a bad moment", he'd launched Ginny at her and then retreated to the furthest wall of the Burrow's dining room. Given that the room had been magically expanded to make extra space for the reception dinner, that was a lot further than it normally was -- a fact for which he gave profuse but silent thanks.As the newlyweds continued to kiss, Harry noticed that he was both near an exit, and (for the first time in some minutes) unwatched by anybody at the party. He took advantage of the opportunity to slip out of the room unobserved. Padding silently through the twilit Burrow, he made his way to the stairwell that led to the upstairs bedrooms, pausing in front of the door to the room that had once belonged to Fred and George. After a moment's thought, he pushed it open.Then, without thinking about it, he stepped aside to avoid the curse boobytrap that went off when he did. The beam of azure light splattered on the floor behind him, fizzed, and faded.Stepping inside, he glanced around. A pair of desks with chairs. Two beds, ready and waiting for the twins, although they would not be sleeping there tonight. (Not with floo and apparating and portkeys... unlike a Muggle wedding, there would be no guests staying the night in the spare rooms and on the couches. No guests but himself, Harry noted wryly.)Still treading softly, Harry crossed to one of the desks and pulled out its chair. He lowered himself gently into the hard wooden seat, slumping against the back and one armrest as he looked out the windows, across the garden, at the setting crescent moon.He had a good deal of thinking to do.* * *"Harry?" Cautiously, Hermione poked her head through the narrow space between the door and its frame, and peered into Fred and George's room, and immediately spied Harry sitting with his back to her. She pulled her head back out and hissed, "Ron, he's in here!" Then she pushed the door open just enough to let her slip into the darkened room."Harry?" she repeated from several feet closer. Behind her, Ron entered silently, then shut the door behind them. As Harry continued to stare out the window wordlessly, he stepped up to Hermione and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at her boyfriend and shook her head.Ron's eyebrows narrowed for a moment. "Harry, mate? Want to talk about it?"Harry didn't reply for a long time. Hermione was almost ready to explode, to dash over to him and shake him, to get any kind of response from him, when he finally spoke. He never took his eyes off the moon -- now almost hidden by the distant treeline. "I don't understand it."Ron and Hermione shared a puzzled look. "What don't you understand, Harry?" Hermione asked quietly.Still staring out the window, Harry said, "I've been watching Bill and Fleur all night. I've been watching you, two, also. I think I finally know what love looks like." He shook his head, the motion only visible in the shadows because of the setting moon backlighting him. Hermione blushed at his words, thankful that he hadn't turned around, and squeezed Ron's hand. As Ron squeezed back, Harry went on. "Professor Dumbledore said that the power I have that Voldemort knows not is love, is my ability to love." He shook his head again. "But how can love be a weapon? What can you do with it?""I've thought," Hermione offered hesitantly, "that it means that the people you have on your side will be there because of love, and they'll be more faithful and steadfast than Voldemort's minions, who serve out of fear or self-interest."Ron nudged her, and in the half-light of the darkened room she could see him silently mouth a question at her just as Harry asked, "But what difference does that make?"She suppressed the urge to (gently!) swat the back of his head, and instead let a familiar exasperation filter into her tone. "It makes a lot of difference, Harry. Those who serve from love will stick with you through the worst the enemy can throw at you. Those who serve out of self-interest will abandon their commander the moment it looks too dangerous." Some smugness crept into her voice to join the exasperation. "I'll let you figure out which side has the advantage then."He shook his head again. "That can't be the only answer.""It's the only one that make sense," Hermione insisted."No." Harry turned slowly from the window just at the moment the last bit of the moon vanished behind the distant tree line. "I can't accept that. I can't believe that 'the power the Dark Lord knows not' would be my ability to send someone else willingly into danger." Even in the dim light of the room, they could see his hands clench. "I can't allow that. No one should have to risk themselves for me. There has to be some other answer."A faint sound of laughter drifted up from the lower level of the Burrow, followed by muted applause. Harry simply sat staring at them, the lenses of his glasses gleaming ever-so-slightly with reflections of the dim light from the hall.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Very very interesting.
Valdimir pulls at his beard.
Was the glasses thing intended to evoke the image of Gendo?
Because it did :-)
Not really, no... there's no (intentional) Evangelion imagery there.

-- Bob
---------
It's a "magical" land. I think "magical" is ancient Greek for "pain in the butt". -- Bun-Bun, Sluggy Freelance, 11/9/03

HoagieOfDoom

Tease indeed. I know I'd like to see more.*********
There's no need to hear, I can shout you.

WengFook

Fascinating... absolutely fascinating... yes i'd like to see more to Bob Big Grin
_____________________________
HK-47: "Love is knowing your target, putting them in your targeting reticule, and together, achieving a singular purpose against statistically long odds"
_________________________________
Take Your Candle, Go Light Your World.

Kokuten

evangelion imagery...

*falls off chair clutching stomach*
I'm laughing so hard..

Gendo angsting about having to send someone else into danger?!?! The man counts it as a bad day if he doesn't get to put someone in peril of life or limb(or soul or physical cohesion or sanity)!

That being said, and HP fic being about as run out as it is, I'd actually like to read this, Bob. A sane Harry is a very very rare thing in the Potterverse.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979
Thanks, folks. I'll try to continue it when I have the time and the inspiration. I have a good idea where this is going to end up -- I just have to map out the intervening territory better.

-- Bob
---------
It's a "magical" land. I think "magical" is ancient Greek for "pain in the butt". -- Bun-Bun, Sluggy Freelance, 11/9/03
And thank your lucky stars that Rowlings isn't the anti-fanfic dragon that Lackey is.....
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll
Indeed. Apparently she enjoys reading all but sexually-explicit HP fanfic, according to what I've seen.

-- Bob
---------
It's a "magical" land. I think "magical" is ancient Greek for "pain in the butt". -- Bun-Bun, Sluggy Freelance, 11/9/03
She also doesn't like reading slash fics(Harry and Draco being the prime example)
--------------------
Tom Mathews aka Disruptor

WengFook

ShinDangaioh wrote:
quote]She also doesn't like reading slash fics(Harry and Draco being the prime example)[/quote]
Gack anybody with a slight bit of taste wouldn't read slash... I do wonder if JKR gives feedback to fanfic authors that she likes Big Grin_____________________________
HK-47: "Love is knowing your target, putting them in your targeting reticule, and together, achieving a singular purpose against statistically long odds"
_________________________________
Take Your Candle, Go Light Your World.

HoagieOfDoom

Eh, I can semi-sorta agree with that. While the vast majority of slash is pure and utter trash, I have to admit that there are one or two that are actually good (The Lodger, namely). Then again, considering how much there is, that's not saying much.*********
There's no need to hear, I can shout you.