Drabble: The Hanged Man

[ceredwensirius]

Title: The Hanged Man
Author: ceredwensirius 
Written For: grangerblack100 
Challenge: "Don't forget"
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Kissing
Word Count: 264
Pairings: Sirius/Hermione
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
Summary: Hermione is leaving but she doesn't have the whole truth. Sirius has left things unsaid.

"Don't forget about me."

The easy words are playful, humorously light with soft, barely there romantic underpinnings, the earnest content in contradiction with the delivery, hiding turbulence beneath casual, practiced charm. The flirtatious tug, the only plea he'll give her, covers the self denigration that is encrypted in his personal history. Neither here nor there, unsure what he means, his goodbye hangs somewhere in between, just like him.

Of course you'll forget about me...

The smooth curving smile that twists up on one side, the smile that lies about his self assurance, fails to reach his eyes. What does is swift and strong and gone with a blink, vanishing before the exhale is complete. It is ancient and weary and...needful.


For the first time Hermione sees and understands...

Creeping cold fingers of emptiness and gnawing, chewing loneliness slam into her violently, his dark spell upon her and she feels what he fears. It is a sore test of her reason to believe that their friendship means more to him than he has shared. The grave chill that preceded the instance of awareness that she has hungered for is chased away by the choice now burning her from within, replacing the cold as it boils hot onto her skin.

And so she chooses...

To his hazy recollection, soft, wet lips against his own had never before reordered the universe, imparting their truth with each moist, eager pass. Her fire burns him through, searing and soldering, welding his soul to hers, whispering to him all the mysteries that will keep the empty, lonely things at bay.

Comments

[ilexx.livejournal.com]

I love that you used "soldering" and welding in a romantic context! That was great!

LOL I just realized who I was commenting to. For some reason I thought you were someone else in that community, and here I landed back at your journal like a little fangirl. *shakes head*

[ceredwensirius.livejournal.com]

Sirius is arguably one of the most wounded characters in canon, there are dark shadows in his past that eat at him. He is complex and interesting and in desperate need of something to heal him. I like to think that part of the dynamic between himself and Hermione is that she is the thing that can drive the shadows out.

I've been doing some reading and have run across a fabulous Sirius/Hermione author I didn't even know existed, satinvalkyre. Sadly, she appears to have abandoned fanfic entirely but I think she is my new favorite. If you look under my memories you can read what I've found. There is also some Sirius/Lily and Sirius/Lily/James.

[ilexx.livejournal.com]

The more I think about Sirius, the angrier I get at JKR, to tell the truth. I understand that he needed to be the tragedy that he was, but to close his story completely... she could have at least left it as an open question. It's really too much tragedy for someone who had absolutely no real opportunity for the joy he deserved. From a writing viewpoint, that seems just unbalanced, and not in a good way. You do really well at capturing and redeeming that a lot. I also have fallen into the trap of thinking that there just couldn't be anyone better for Sirius than Hermione, for much the reason you stated here; Sirius is so complex and beaten by so much darkness, Hermione is just about the only pre-developed character that could match that.

[ceredwensirius.livejournal.com]

Hermione's character is mature enough to take on someone as wounded as Sirius as well as being empathetic to things that have been mistreated. She balances out his tendency to over react, grounding him. At the same time, he is able to expand her horizons a bit, stretching her.

[disby.livejournal.com]

Hey I think that they are the most believable fanon pairing period!

Helps that I relate most to her character too;) and of course the fact that I'm head over everything in love with Sirius!

Awesome line about the welding and soldering bits....you single handedly erased the pain associated with those words caused by stifling workshop classes by giving them a whole new and a different kind of stifling association!!!

[(Anonymous)]

Oh and get this....I took that personality test to get me sorted and my scores are thus:
Gryffindor - 71
Ravenclaw - 64
Hufflepuff - 54
Slytherin - 73
And the hat decided that I'm Slytherin by just 2 measly points :(!!?!

[ceredwensirius.livejournal.com]

There really is something special about them isn't there? It can be so frustrating to love this pairing and have their not be a whole host of writer's interested in exploring the dynamic between them. I know crossgen really squicks some people, its probably close to how I feel when I run across Harry/Sirius slash. I am NOT a fan of incest fics (major squick) and it feels like a betrayal to James and that is just something that Sirius would never do. In order to enjoy it, I have to believe it.

I think Hermione was designed to be ordinary and extraordinary all at once. I read somewhere that the JKR wrote a lot of herself into Hermione. I think she is easy to identify with and admire.

I'm glad the imagery worked for you. I always feel like I'm on shaky ground with it. I've been playing around with it for a little over a week, mostly in my cube at work. It's a nice mental break for me.

[karmasslave.livejournal.com]

Great Job, i really enjoyed it

[ceredwensirius.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[ghostgum]

This is... deep. I'm glad I got around to reading it, very much so.

[ceredwensirius.livejournal.com]

Its not, I don't know...too much or weird? I was experimenting.

[ghostgum]

Well. No, not for me. But then, I like that kind of thing.

[ceredwensirius.livejournal.com]

I remember when I first read post Azkaban Sirius in fanon I thought 'who the fuck is this?' because canon Sirius is a little depressed and a lot tormented. The man lurking behind the charm doesn't get as much exposure.

[billeblacklupin.livejournal.com]

good job

[ceredwensirius.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[toujours-nigel.livejournal.com]

I like Sirius tormented. It... fits. Not a good life, and a too-fast death.