I awoke the next morning after a night of restless sleep. Rubbing my tired and aching eyes, I blindly reached out for my half-moon glasses, which were lying peacefully on the bedside table.
I squinted out the window, the dark, yet oddly bright, morning greeting me with a flash of lightning. A clap of thunder followed soon after. I sighed.
I rose from the old bed, whose tired springs creaked. I stuck my feet into my boots and looked down on my dusty travel cloak, which lay on the ground. It must have come loose during the night. I shook it free of its dirt and threw it around my shoulders. I stretched and heard my bones crack as if they were complaining.
Yawning, I slowly crossed the room and turned the door’s knob. It took me a few tries to budge it open, but I was soon greeted with the familiar, musty smell of the bar downstairs. I headed down the hallway and descended to the first floor.
“Mornin’,” Blenkinsop’s rusty voice greeted.
I looked at the man, who stood behind the bar, as usual, before replying, “Good morning, dear man.”
“So, how didya sleep? Storm kept yeh up, eh?”
“That it did, Blenkinsop, that it did. And yourself?”
“Was out like a light the whole darned time.” The man yawned, his mouth stretching wide.
I was sitting at the bar by this time and examining my fingernail, which I saw was cracked and brittle.
Blenkinsop reached under the bar again and pulled out a bottle of amber liquid “ the same as the one of the previous day. He then set two glasses on the table and poured a generous amount of golden-brown liquid into both.
Pushing one towards me, he said, “Drink up.” The man soon downed his entire glass. Once the last drop had been swallowed and the glass set down with a clink, Blenkinsop sighed contentedly.
I surveyed the liquid once more before realizing that, surprisingly, I trusted this man. For some reason, I felt a strange, safe presence in this little inn, like a warm blanket draped over a little boy, or a love’s tender touch. I drank the contents of the glass.
Blenkinsop looked at me approvingly. “Well, well, well! Albus has drunk my mead!” He laughed and stuck his hand out to me.
I looked at it curiously, not fully understanding.
“Well?” he asked.
“Well what?” I responded, confused.
“Ain’t yeh gon’ give me that handshake I refused earlier? I refused the ‘shake so long as yeh refused the mead!”
I chuckled, remembering. “Why, of course.” I shook Blenkinsop’s rough hand, which gripped my fingers tightly before releasing them.
Blenkinsop pulled out an uncomfortable-looking stool and sat on it. He leaned back and surveyed me through his startlingly vivid green eyes, which I was astounded I hadn’t noticed earlier.
We sat in silence for what seemed like hours or maybe days. Finally, the barman cleared his throat dryly and spoke. “Say, what brings yeh to the Green Dragon Inn, Albus?”
I averted my eyes and looked toward the window again, where the storm had finally subsided and left a drizzling rain behind. I had an odd feeling that I needn’t say anything to Blenkinsop “ it seemed as if he knew all too well about what had happened to Beatrice and Holly, but I didn’t stop to think how he knew this. Out of politeness, however, I replied, “Oh, this and that. A bit of, er, traveling, you could say.”
Blenkinsop grunted, but seemed to accept my answer. “Myself, I been here for as long as I can wrap my mind ‘round.”
“Alone?”
“Aye. Alone.”
“What’s kept you here?” I pondered aloud.
“Oh, this an’ that,” Blenkinsop replied, echoing my answer, chuckling.
“I see. You won’t tell me a bit until I do so myself.”
“Aye.” Blenkinsop smiled, revealing a row of crooked teeth.
“Yes, but good man, I do believe you know more than you ought to, either way.” I peered at him from the top of my glasses.
He chuckled. “Now, what makes yeh think that?”
“Oh, this and that…”
We looked at each other before our laughter filled the bar with joyful mirth. It didn’t strike me how such a small, odd joke could bond two people.
When our joke’s novelty had finally worn off, the both of us simply sat there, in silence, on our rickety stools, grinning like mad fools.
Blenkinsop cleared his throat, obviously tired of the silence. Well, who could blame him? The man had spent years in solitude, seeing few visitors each year. He prodded, “Got any aspirations, eh, Albus?”
I looked at him and pondered my answer. What was my goal?
“Defeat Grindelwald.”
I blinked. Did that just come out of my mouth?
Blenkinsop leaned over the bar and whispered into my ear, “Then do it.”
I sat there and thought this over. It didn’t feel right. Live solely for revenge? No, no, that was a prospect that had never appealed to me.
The barkeep nodded slowly. “It ain’t gon’ work for yeh, is it? Albus is too noble. Well, I know what yeh can do!”
“I’m all ears, good man.”
The sun peaked out from behind a cloud, the rain having stopped just minutes ago. The orange light filled the inn, and suddenly, I remembered an area of my life I had long buried in my mind.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Blenkinsop smiled and nodded. He rose to his feet, walked around the bar and stood in front of me. I didn’t look up. The man gripped my elbow and pulled me up.
He led me to the door, pushing it open. The single rusty hinge fell loose and the wooden door fell to the ground with a bang. Blenkinsop took no notice, however.
“Follow the sun! Fulfill yeh life’s purpose, an’ be gone from this place… never come back!”
“What?” I asked. I looked at the strange man.
“Yeh heard me. Now go!” And with that, he nudged me forward, and I took a few steps toward the blushing yellow-orange light in the sky. Toward the sun.
I turned around to face the man once more, but he was gone.
I shook my head, confused. The Green Dragon Inn was gone as well.
And then, I threw my head back and I laughed. Dream or not, reality or not, this was one thing that would stay with me for as long as I lived. I would make it so.
I ventured forward, toward whatever lay before me.
And I never looked back.
Draconis Viridans by pheonixflame
Chapter Notes: Final chapter! Well, thanks sooo much to Kate (ms weasley) for patiently beta'ing this entire fic. Also special thanks to Kumy (kumydabookworm) for beta'ing this chapter and motivating me to finish it! :]