~*~
Memento Vivere:
Those words you once spoke,
Those words that have fallen,
'round me like a rope.

They tighten, I struggle,
I try to forget.
Memento Mori,
Remember your death.
~*~


The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom lay dark and desolate as the clock struck ten times. Night had fallen outside the castle, and over the grounds was the sky, dotted with small shining lights. A pale crescent was slowly rising over the horizon. In the office of the mentioned classroom, at a heavy wooden desk, with a thick leather-bound book in front of her, sat Stella Greymoore. Her tall figure was bent over the book she was reading, her long dark hair flowing down her back and shoulders. The blue eyes swept over the text as she read, a pale hand turning the pages every now and then. The dim light in the room was cast by two candles, placed on either side of the book.

She had been sitting there for a while already, having come up here directly after finishing her dinner. Her eyes had scanned through these pages many times before but she still hoped to find some hidden information in them, something she had overlooked. She turned a page and by her quick intake of breath you could tell she had found something. Now she sat very still, her blue gaze nailed to the words on the page. Her eyes narrowed. Was this what she had been seeking? She read them over and over again, then her lips parted and a dark, trembling voice, read them out in a hoarse whisper: “Memento Mori, Memento Vivere”

Her voice died away, her eyes were wide open, and then she suddenly released her grip on the book, rose and walked across the room to a mirror that had been hung on the wall. She stood before it, staring at her own reflection as if trying to recognize the person who was staring back at her. Then she spoke again, with the same whispering tone: “You will certainly be remembered, and you will certainly live, even if you have already died. Feared in life, remembered in death. Death was your companion, life is my curse… It is the curse you set on me.”

Then she suddenly raised her hands and covered her eyes. When she removed her hands to try to find the wall instead her face reflected in the mirror. Her ice blue eyes were no longer the same blue colour but so pale they were almost white. Terror was reflected in the sharply cut face for a moment, then it turned to a mixture of sorrow and utmost hatred. She stumbled blindly against the wall, leant her back against it and slid down to the floor where she remained sitting, her face buried in her hands.


~*~
Time it has passed
Like you passed before me
Your words haven’t faded
They linger, I see
~*~


Screams pierced the cold night. The rain that had been falling all evening turned the ground into a muddy mass. People were running to and fro in every direction, no one really knowing where they went. Jets of light would be fired by them, some hitting their target, others missing. A man ducked a flashing green light, which instead hit a house causing the wall to crush down on the man. His attacker, heavily cloaked and with a white mask on his face, sent of the same flash of light again and the man on the ground lay still. A little way off from them there were two other masked figures fighting an unmasked one. A sudden scream was heard from her as she was hit to the ground, bleeding as if had she been slashed by a sword.

The scenario was the same all over the small village: Chaos. The Aurors that had come here to protect the villagers were outnumbered. Their resistance was soon to be overrun. The sky was suddenly lit up by a huge green skull with a snake coming out from its mouth. Only one couple were still battling, sending jets of light in all directions. The other Death Eaters closed in on them, slowly forming a circle. One of the two was hit to the ground, the other raised her wand, ready to strike.

“Get up Stella!” The voice that spoke from behind the mask was cold, high and dark. Ice blue eyes twinkled down on the first woman through the slits in the mask. “Get up!”

With a great effort the woman named Stella rose and turned to face her opponent. The Death Eaters had now formed their circle. She raised her wand and set off three jinxes in rapid motion, all of which were dodged by the other woman. But Stella had sent off yet a fourth jet of light and it hit the woman in the face, causing her to turn away and fall. When she turned back again she was bleeding from a wound above her left eye, and the mask, that had been torn apart, was no longer covering her face. To Stella it was almost like looking at an older reflection of herself: She shared her mothers features to the least detail.

The shock of seeing this made her loose concentration for a moment. A violet jet of light hit her chest and she flew backwards through the air. As she hit the ground she tried to send off a curse but she was disarmed and searing pain shot through her body. Her screams mixed with the laughter from the Death Eaters. Then the pain stopped but was followed by some other curse. A high figure stood before her and Moriarta Greymoore’s high, cold voice spoke, the words followed by a highpitched laughter: “Now you die!”

It seemed the night was growing darker, it seemed the laughter stopped… Then there was only darkness - and silence.


~*~
You brought me to suffer
I have not forgot
Your pain still lives through me
That’s my bitter lot
~*~


The room was dark and silent when she opened her eyes. First she though she might still be blind, but she soon began to see some shapes in the room. The soft moonlight fell in through the window and the office came into better focus. She must have sat there for quite some time because the candles had burned out. A trembling hand reached for the wand that was concealed in a pocket. A soft light, originating from the wandtip, soon filled the room. It was a comforting light, a warming light, yet for some reason Stella felt cold and lonely.

She had tried desperately to forget the memories of what had happened that night so many years ago, but it seemed the memory had finally caught up with her. Of course she had always known she would have to look back some day, but was the answer to her questions to be found in what happened back then? Was that really where she had to look?

“Memento Mori, you said. Remember your death, remember you will die…” Stella spoke in a whisper again, her gaze lost in some distant memory. Her mothers name had been Moriarta, but among the Death Eaters she was called Mori. Memento Mori: Remember Moriarta… And she would be remembered, remembered as one of the most murderous and vicious of all Death Eaters.

She raised her gaze again, and rose, still leaning against the wall. The words she had read in the book were a reminder to her, a reminder of life. And she would remember. “Memento Vivere: Remember your life, remember you have to live.”


~*~
Strange is the tone,
So hoarse and so cold
That tells me to think,
Of the memories old.

Fragile the words,
Once spoken in pride.
Memento Vivere,
Remember your life.
~*~

This post has been edited by Professor S. Greymoore on Apr 10 2006, 06:58 AM