Post by Liam Smith on Jul 16, 2010 21:27:05 GMT -5
On the corner of the King's Cross station, Liam Smith looked a little like a child, based off the decently sized floppy teddy bear in his hand and the grin that had stayed on his face (minus the worried and happy sobs, of course - those pass with time) since a letter from Hogwarts worked it's way to his flat.
It had been a quite gray, blurry period of time for when his wife was at Hogwarts, filled with a stage of remourse and half incubated plans to run away to Hogsmeade and settle there, then constant working in order to perfect everything in the house and get things for the baby, and finally, he took a much deserved break. He slept in these days, working afternoon shifts, going out to a bar at night and awkwardly avoiding women with the now extremely overused phrase of 'Sorry, love. I'm happily married.' Now, he just makes sure to get his wedding band in their view, smirking smugly at being the rejector and not the usual rejectee. Yes, everything was running perfectly for Mister Smith.
Funny how when someone lowers their guard, that's the time that the unthinkable happens?
Thus came the letter, blue inked and slightly folded in the right corner; Liam memorized every detail of it.
McGonnagall's letter was vague, just telling him that he might want to make his way to Hogwarts for a visit with the newest addition of his family. Still, he was devastated with the fact that McGonnagall didn't mention anything about how the baby was, or how Mina was, where they were, if they were even alive...
The 'what if's kept him up at night.
A shrill whistle pierced the unusual stillness of the usually busy train station, signifying that the train to Hogsmeade was approaching.
Liam blinked, suprised to see the fire engine red and black of the express, nostalgia coming to him in waves. How long had it been since he rode this train? Ten years? Maybe fifteen? What would his awkwardly dressed, odd sock wearing self say to him now?
"You're married now?! You can't even talk to girls without being a babbling idiot..."
Liam smiled, grabbing the teddy by it's wrist as he piled on the train with his small bag of a few clothes. Eyes bored into him, but he couldn't really care less. Oh, they'd be acting different if they knew.
He walked down the aisle, beside himself in pride and worriedness and despair and so much more when he saw something that drew to him.
A cabin.
Liam brought his fingers to the glass, his breath fogging it up as he looked in the empty cabin. Ripped seat cushion, scratched mirror, he had been here maybe ten years ago, the last ride he ever took on that train.
Liam opened the glass door with steady fingers, placing the teddy across from him, positioning it so it had a nice view of the window. The ghost of his younger self was present in the cabin.
"And what'll you do when you get out of Hogwarts?" he could hear his ghost say in his mind, starting to replay the scene in his mind. Mina was there, too, which was the only reason it stood out in his mind. It was the last time he rode the train, along with the last time he saw Mina in eight years.
"I don't really know, I haven't put much thought to it. But I want to live. I know that."
Liam really didn't know if she got her chance to live. He remembered that he wanted to muster up some gall to say something that he couldn't put in words.
"Live? I'm pretty sure you're living now, and the chances of a freak accident happening to you as soon as we're off the train are slim to none." Oh, he was so snarky to her back then.
She grinned, the one he had been seeing every time they were together, the one he missed terribly for eight years.
"Yes, I'm technically living and my heart is beating, but I mean really live. I want to dance on exquisite beaches and watch sunrises on mountains and love and be loved with every fiber of a being."
There was an unspoken response to this, one he knew Mina would probably never fully grasp, even now. The part of him that said, "I already do the latter."
But boy Liam had only nodded and kept his words to himself.
"Nice."
But, maybe now, he thought to the beat of the rumbling train on the tracks, he'd give her a better chance of understanding what he meant.[/size]
