liptonrm_backup: (Default)
[personal profile] liptonrm_backup
Because I could never bear to let [livejournal.com profile] hiyacynth down I present ...

Burn My Sins Away (2/5)



Previous part found here.

Off-site archived at FF.net here.

He spent his days wandering away from cities, away from everything. He burned and peeled and burned again. Days melted away under the searing blue sky. He walked and walked and wondered sometimes, vaguely, if African wizards flew, if they played quidditch on brooms or soared away alone on any slight puff of air. He would close his eyes and feel the wind brush against his face and imagine himself floating free above the world, never tiring, never needing to come down. He was always surprised, somehow, to open his eyes and find himself with his feet planted deep in the mud.

There were mundane dangers as he trudged aimlessly across untrodden lands but he found that he enjoyed dealing with the scorpions and the snakes and the spiders, with repelling mosquitos and sanitizing water. There was nothing personal about these dangers, nothing overtly malevolent only nature doing what nature did and Ron could respect that - even understand it in a way. At least they had a reason for hating him.

For the most part he avoided villages, avoided people, but one day he spent ages watching aid workers digging a well near some nameless village deep in the bush. He sat and watched as they dug down into the dark earth, faces glowing with sweat and exertion. He was enthralled by the rhythm of their work, the easy way that they talked and laughed and argued, comfortable with each other and pleased with the work they were doing. He couldn’t tear his eyes away.

At the end of the day he saw one man stop and look up at him, eyes shielded against the glare of the pregnant red sun. He smiled and waved and Ron’s heart skipped a beat, his loneliness a sudden, sharp pain. He rose and went down, his fear of what he would find swallowed up in his desperation to be seen.

He spent the night with the aid workers, eating their food and silently drinking in their camaraderie and conversation. He caught a glimpse of Luna’s knotted hair in the flip of a woman’s head and an echo of Dean’s smile in the man sitting beside him. The conversation flowed around him, the strange peaks and valleys of a language he didn’t know more comforting then alien. He closed his eyes and leaned back, hearing Fred’s laugh across the room and Parvati's giggle in response.

He laid down that night surrounded by a chorus of breaths and snores and dreamt of Hermione’s long, soft hair matted with blood. He was gone the next morning before dawn.

Part Three

Date: 2006-01-23 01:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] writerj.livejournal.com
You ever read my LOTR fic The Falcon? Part VII "The Plains of the Sun".

Date: 2006-01-23 01:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hiyacynth.livejournal.com
He burned and peeled and burned again.
Oh, Ron. I get you SO much.

He caught a glimpse of Luna’s knotted hair in the flip of a woman’s hair and an echo of Dean’s smile in the man sitting beside him.
OMG you killed Luna and Dean.

He closed his eyes and leaned back, hearing Fred’s laugh across the room and Parvati giggle in response.
OMG you killed Fred! And Parvati. And it's possible you mindwrote Fred/Parvati before you killed them!

Hermione’s long, soft hair matted with blood.
DUDE you said she wasn't dead don't fuck with me.

Okay, I'm starting a list. You can tell me if I'm right if you choose:

DEAD
Harry
Fred
Parvati
Luna
Dean

NOT DEAD BUT STILL MESSED UP REALLY A LOT
Ron
Hermione

This is going to be Hamlet for the HP crowd, isn't it?

Bless your little heart for feeding me more crack! You have 36 hours before my high wears off. Just so's you know ;0)

Date: 2006-01-23 02:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] baylorsr.livejournal.com
Aaaaahhhh, lost friends and long, soft hair matted with blood! You tease and you torture so delightfully!

Date: 2006-01-23 05:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lame-pegasus.livejournal.com
I've just wolfed down Part I and II, and now I'm hooked. This is great writing, dear.

Date: 2006-01-23 09:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] liptonrm.livejournal.com
It's such a powerful image, isn't it? The person lost in the sun, wandering in a daze, not sure what is real and what is memory/fantasy.

The desert changes everything it touches, though it remains static and ancient in itself.

Date: 2006-01-23 09:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] liptonrm.livejournal.com
Thank goodness you are ever a strict taskmistress or else I would be dragging my feet and that would be no good.

Wanna know a secret? I have no idea if anyone mentioned by name (save Hermione) is actually alive or dead. I needed some extra detail and a focus for Ron's loneliness.

Fred/Parvati is strangely appealing ...

Date: 2006-01-23 09:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] liptonrm.livejournal.com
I learned from the best. *bows in your direction*

Date: 2006-01-23 09:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] liptonrm.livejournal.com
Thank you! I've been so nervous about this, hoping that the words somehow compare to the images I have in my head. Your esteem is a great comfort, as well as a tremendous compliment.

Date: 2006-01-23 10:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hiyacynth.livejournal.com
I figured as much you tease!

Date: 2006-01-24 03:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] writerj.livejournal.com
Especially for a redhead.

Date: 2006-01-24 05:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] liptonrm.livejournal.com
mmmm redheads ...

What good thoughts to fall asleep to.

Profile

liptonrm_backup: (Default)
liptonrm_backup

January 2017

S M T W T F S
1 234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031    

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Mar. 1st, 2026 08:04 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios