Post by Nerweniel on Jul 30, 2005 17:59:59 GMT -5
Some Like It Hot
Author Note: This fic was inspired by this e-bay auction:
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5601561868
... which I personally think is totally hilarious and I couldn't resist the mad plotbunny ;D.
Prologue
There was a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall, that night, as newly-appointed Headmistress Minerva McGonagall rose from her chair in the Great Hall and watched students and colleagues alike disappear from her sight. A distinct sort of impatience in the pace of their walking gave their fear away- and she, involuntarily, sighed.
For the first time in what had been the emptiest days of her life, the black-haired witch dared to ponder openly whether there would still be a Hogwarts, a year from that moment. Honesty had always been high on her list of priorities, after all- and the mask she had been wearing, even in front of herself, during the past days, disgusted her- but at the same time she knew there was not much else she could have done.
With a bitter smile, she realized that it was, indeed, true. The world did not need the truth. The world did not want the truth.
The world wanted reassurance.
And she, being the only surrogate of Albus they had left, had to give them that reassurance. Even though it was ridiculous to reassure anyone in the times they were living in. Even though it went straight against everything she had ever believed in not to face the truth- not to make people face the truth.
It was at that moment, that Minerva McGonagall realized she held a legacy in her hands.
A legacy that, if not easy, was worth fulfilling.
There was, still, a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall as Minerva McGonagall walked down the length of the Great Hall- but there was also something else. It lay hidden in the nearly cat-like flexibility in the way her leather-clad feet touched the earth.
It was buried in the way her lips were clenched together.
It rested, it was told in the tear from her eye- that had since long dried on her cheek.
Author Note: This fic was inspired by this e-bay auction:
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5601561868
... which I personally think is totally hilarious and I couldn't resist the mad plotbunny ;D.
Prologue
There was a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall, that night, as newly-appointed Headmistress Minerva McGonagall rose from her chair in the Great Hall and watched students and colleagues alike disappear from her sight. A distinct sort of impatience in the pace of their walking gave their fear away- and she, involuntarily, sighed.
For the first time in what had been the emptiest days of her life, the black-haired witch dared to ponder openly whether there would still be a Hogwarts, a year from that moment. Honesty had always been high on her list of priorities, after all- and the mask she had been wearing, even in front of herself, during the past days, disgusted her- but at the same time she knew there was not much else she could have done.
With a bitter smile, she realized that it was, indeed, true. The world did not need the truth. The world did not want the truth.
The world wanted reassurance.
And she, being the only surrogate of Albus they had left, had to give them that reassurance. Even though it was ridiculous to reassure anyone in the times they were living in. Even though it went straight against everything she had ever believed in not to face the truth- not to make people face the truth.
It was at that moment, that Minerva McGonagall realized she held a legacy in her hands.
A legacy that, if not easy, was worth fulfilling.
There was, still, a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall as Minerva McGonagall walked down the length of the Great Hall- but there was also something else. It lay hidden in the nearly cat-like flexibility in the way her leather-clad feet touched the earth.
It was buried in the way her lips were clenched together.
It rested, it was told in the tear from her eye- that had since long dried on her cheek.
