Ah, look at all the lonely people
Eileen Prince looked out at the many faces that crowded the church. Standing beside her was her younger sister, Delilah. She was dressed in a simple white gown and over her beautiful face was a thin veil. It was her wedding day and Eileen was her Maid of Honor.
Facing Delilah was her soon-to-be husband, Atticus Nott. Even though he was a stern man, his handsome features had most defiantly made up for it.
Eileen had loved Atticus. And he had loved her. But then, something happened. Delilah had come home from school and Atticus couldn’t take his eyes off of her. True, Eileen was no beauty, but Atticus had cared for her in a way that no one else had. Or so she had thought.
It had pained her to see that her love was now marrying her own sister.
And now, she had felt even more alone than before.
Lives in a dream
She was now standing in front of the church. Eileen had been the last one out.
She watched as the wedding procession escorted the newly-made Mr. and Mrs. Atticus Nott to the Town Hall for the reception. She could see her sister’s smile with her husband at her side, both shaking hands with the guests that had wanted to be the first to congratulate them.
It had seemed as if Delilah hadn’t even noticed her sister’s lack of presence.
A cold breeze had swept through the trees behind the church, stirring Eileen from her thoughts. Her dark hair had swept around her and began to drape around her face.
Eileen began to walk towards the crowd that was now entering Town Hall. As she slowly trudged down the hill, she noticed the white rice on the damp grass that the procession had thrown into the air as the newly-wed couple had exited the church.
She began to wipe her tear-filled eyes.
As she approached the Hall, she noticed a tall, thin man with a rather prominent nose and a thin stubble that had inhabited the lower half of his face. He had a rather strange demeanor about him.
Eileen had remembered that his named was Tobias Snape. He was a miller’s son, a couple years her senior. They had not spoken to each other much, though she had noticed him in town a couple of times. She was forbidden to even talk to him by her Pureblood-loving parents, not only because of his Muggle status, but also because of his father’s reputation as being the town drunk.
“Yer’ sis’ got married?” he asked in a scratchy voice. Tobias no more than about twenty-seven years of age, but his job at the mill with his father had been apart of him. His hair had a bit of dust in it, while his hands had veins visible. His arms were well-toned and muscled.
“Yes, she did,” Eileen answered in a rather cold tone. She didn’t like to speak much, but when she did to someone she hardly knew, she usually would say it in a way that suggested that she didn’t give a damn about the one she was conversing with.
He eyed her for a moment before he spoke again. “Weren’t you with that Atticus? I remember seeing you two a few times. Looking rather comfortable together, if you get what I’m saying.” Tobias winked at her.
Eileen turned her head in disgust. “Well that was rather rude of you, spying on me.”
“I was merely passin’ by, that’s all,” Tobias replied in a tone of innocence. “Why did he marry yer’ sis’?”
Eileen slowly turned back toward him. “Because…he wanted to. If he had a choice, he’d obviously choose her. She’s always been the favored one.”
Silence had occupied the air for a moment.
“I don’t think that’s true. Tell you the truth, I think yer’ much more likeable than her. I’ve talked to her a few times. Well…attempted to, at least. She’s rather boastful.”
“Oh, did you? And what right do you have to judge my sister?” she shot back at him.
He took a step back and raised his hands. They were stained with dirt and dust. “’Eh, eh, I’m was just commentin’ on the current situation, tha’s all.” And again, silence overcame them. “I seem to be keeping’ you from enjoying the celebration. Good day to you, Miss Prince,” he bowed his head slightly and turned away.
She watched as he began to walk away from her. “Wait!” Eileen called out to him. For some odd reason, she had enjoyed his company. There was something enjoyable about him. “Where are you going?”
Tobias turned around. “I’m going to the pub. Why, what’s it to yeh?”
She turned her head to look into the window of the Town Hall. Her sister and Atticus were now making a toast to their future happiness. Then, Eileen looked back at him. “Can I come with you?”
He smiled at her. “Sure.”
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Tobias and Eileen were now married. She was now expecting a child. Though she did not wish to think about it, Tobias was not what Eileen had imagined him. He always had his hand around a whiskey bottle. And if it wasn’t around a whiskey bottle, it’d be around her neck.
Tobias did not enjoy being told that he could not do something. She had learned that very early on in their marriage. Apparently, he had also inherited his father’s admiration for the bottle.
Eileen was rocking back in forth in a rocking chair. Her stomach was swollen to an immense size; she was now in her eighth month of pregnancy. She was rubbing her belly, thinking about Tobias. Eileen had still loved him, but she just wished that he turned out the way she had imagined him to be.
Suddenly, she felt a sudden jerk in her stomach.
The baby was kicking.
Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes and tried to think of a better life.
Nobody came
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved
Severus Snape was standing at the foot of his mother’s grave. The priest had left him to save his final goodbyes.
Severus had always thought of his mother as a careful, but frightened woman. Her husband’s saying was the final word. He had grown up watching his mother being beaten, both mentally and physically.
He had felt sorry for her. The moment that his father was found dead outside the old pub, he thought that they had nothing else to worry about. For some reason, his mother had fallen into a deep depression after that.
What was wrong? Wasn’t she glad that her tormentor was now gone forever and she would never have to feel the impact of the back of his hand again? This question had plagued him for months.
Then, she was found dead in the church. The doctor had said that she had died a natural death. She was seated in a pew, with the Holy Bible open in her lap. Her finger was gracing the edge of a proverb, the exact same one that was engraved on her tombstone.
-- Proverbs 10:12
He bent down to pick up a handful of soil, to cover his mother’s grave with. As the sprinkles of dirt left his hand, he couldn’t help but think that there was something else that he could have done for his mother.
Taking one last glance at the tombstone, he wrapped his dark cloak around himself. Then, he had left the church cemetery.
Some say that they still see a lit candle through the front window of Spinner’s End. Is it the ghost of Eileen Prince? Or is it, perhaps, the entity of the mourning son?
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?