Happy birthday, Dolabellae!

[dolorous_ett]

As traditional, a tiny Crabbe story for dolabellae on her birthday. Extemporised in a hurry when I realised it was that time of year already - and also grossly over-sentimental. Still, it's this or nothing.

       Ever since he came downstairs for breakfast, Vincent had been staring at the big, domed package under the Christmas tree, just visible through the kitchen door.

       It is not an owl, he told himself firmly as he forked bacon and mushrooms into his mouth. It can’t be an owl, because it just never is. You thought it was an owl last year, when it was just a silly old hatbox for Messalina. And the year before that when it was a carriage clock for Mother. And the year before that it was Petronilla’s new school cauldron, and that year you cried in front of everybody. Stop it before you embarrass yourself.

       He still wanted it to be an owl, though. He couldn’t help himself.

       Snow was falling against the window, softer than feathers. Every slap and rustle as it hit the bay window in the parlour sounded like a creature scrabbling softly against confining wire and paper; and the clatter as his mother cleared the table reminded him of claws and beaks.

       Still, he had learned his lesson, and so he turned his back on the big, domed parcel (which just for a second he thought might have given a lurch as if something alive was inside) and carried his dirty dishes to the sink.

 

       When the moment finally came when his big sister Petronilla hefted the parcel in front of him with a cheerful “Merry Christmas, younker!” his heart was beating so fast that the excitement felt closer to fear. He fumbled badly as he was trying to tear off the wrapping paper, trying manfully to ignore the faint giggles coming from Blanche and Messalina, and felt tears smart in his eyes. It isn’t an owl, he told himself sternly. It can’t be an owl. It never is.

       But at the moment when the last layer of paper came off and he got his first sight of Brown Beauty, the plucky tawny who was to win prize for Best Trained Owl at every agricultural show in Norfolk, Vincent knew that he was the luckiest little boy in the world.

 

       Even in after years, with both parents dead in the Second Voldemort War, the old house a ruin, Blanche in Azkaban and Petronilla doing her best to send Messalina to join her, Vincent still remembered Brown Beauty in her cage, and knew that – for that moment, at least – he had indeed been the luckiest little boy in the world.

Comments

[coyotegoth.livejournal.com]

I like this; that's a very sweet ending :)

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Incidentally, I hope I left a review telling you how much I enjoyed your graveyard fic on omniocular. If not, drop me a line and I'll post a review.

[coyotegoth.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you- that would be lovely!

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

Awwww, how sweet! I love Vincent and his owls. *g*

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Too bad JK Rowling probably never even thought about owls with regard to Crabbe...

[tree_and_leaf]

That's lovely - Vincent's awfully sweet, in his timid, inarticulate way.

And his sisters names are fantastically awful (especially Messalina).

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I had fun inventing names - and awful personalities for the Crabbe family (Petronilla's actually OK, but his mum and dad are pretty vile).

[dolabellae.livejournal.com]

My birthday has been a bit of a strange one, all things considered. You have no idea just how lovely it is to log in in the small hours and find Crabbe!owl!fic waiting. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

I hope there was more happy about the birthday than strange - but I'm glad you got to see the story and liked it.

Just wish I'd more time and imagination to do a better job!

[dolabellae.livejournal.com]

As birthdays go, it was pretty weird. And I was very happy to get this, never mind worrying about 'a better job'! I loved the inventiveness in the bit about all the domed parcels that weren't owls, and you know I'm a sucker for down-beat endings...

I really ought to finish my bit of Crabbe-fic (last year's January challenge, oh dear...) Perhaps this will give me the impetus I need!

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

It'd be nice to see your Crabbe-fic... but I'd love to see more on the Alumni Development Office as well.

On the other hand, isn't it great that you have a real life?

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

Awww!

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it!

[ajat.livejournal.com]

Awwww !

:)

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[aerama.livejournal.com]

!!!!!
Wow. That's brilliant. I love the details here, and how you showed us that Crabbe not only has something inside his head, it's a pretty fascinating something. Owl-mad, he is, and how good for him. I really admired how everything reminded him of owls. This paragraph was so good:
"Snow was falling against the window, softer than feathers. Every slap and rustle as it hit the bay window in the parlour sounded like a creature scrabbling softly against confining wire and paper; and the clatter as his mother cleared the table reminded him of claws and beaks."

And this one - love how this came off. Present & future all at once, and both good for a change.
"But at the moment when the last layer of paper came off and he got his first sight of Brown Beauty, the plucky tawny who was to win prize for Best Trained Owl at every agricultural show in Norfolk, Vincent knew that he was the luckiest little boy in the world."

And you know, that particular Hedwig icon just seems to suit you more than anyone else.

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Wow, you do say the nicest things! And I think that must be the longest review in relation to word count that I have ever seen...

I'm glad it worked for you, anyway. I normally love playing with the idea of owl nerd!Crabbe, but this time I was in some doubt about whether to post this - it's a bit soppy for my taste.

I do like that Hedwig icon - thanks for showing it to me! (and if it does suit me it's probably that I, like Crabbe, am basically a bit too fond of owls...) Thank you for introducing it to me!

[tunxeh.livejournal.com]

Cute. I agree with tree_and_leaf that the sister's names are delightfully awful. And I think the sentimentality is appropriate for the pov, so.

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Not least for the reassurance about appropriate soppiness - I don't generally do soppy...

[themolesmother.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's lovely.

I love your Vincent. He's a real person, and I'm glad he survived the War.

MM

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

For old's sake sake she is still, dears, the prettiest owl in the world

Appallingly cute, and very poignant with the refusal to dare to hope and the ending.

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

I'm ashamed to say I had to google that quote! But it's a cute quote.

I'm glad you liked it, even though it is decidedly more fluffy than my usual territory...

[erised1810.livejournal.com]

and htisi s what i hate about fics wit ha slytyheri nmai ncharacter...they blood ywel lalways pull me i nand make me wonder why the hack I never cared fror that particualr character.
awww. bah! I like crabbe and goyle now (goyle because of someone else who wrote liek three stories about him) adn someone else was busy winning me over on phineas. notto mention the many variations on how to portray Snape. it's sut cool when someone makesm e think 'hey, i didn't know they coudl come to live like that."

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Ooo, thank you! What a kind thing to say!

I think minor characters are the most fun to write - few or no people have done it before, and that gives you a chance to use your imagination and just do what you like!

I've had a lot of fun with Crabbe - I don't suppose for a moment he's really fond of owls, but it was amusing to write... I just thought that everyone has one area where they're nice, and went from there.

[erised1810.livejournal.com]

that soudns liek the best way to go wit hit. so many peopel pick up jkr's character facts and make a stereotype otu of it. (i' mstrting to get sick of pink-haird tonkses and lunas that sprout nonsense).
The goyle inthe storiesI read was just liek that. fics aboutthose two make me charcter-think adn wonder if they're so silent and grumpy because they're sorto f obligated to protect draco and/or be his pseudo-friends. it's jsut weird to write slytherins. i've written a pansy fic adn only the ndo yo urealize she's agirl just like susan bones or hermione is. she's jsut..i don't know. whe nyou're goign easy aobutit you jst uthnk 'she's from the blah hosue so she'sstupid and selfish.) and htis oen was bout draco ignorign and avoidign her completely adn she was pretty mcu hi ndreamland.
when I write mai ncharacters i go from my ow nimagination too. I probabl ytake a lot of generic stuff from jkr and from folks where it sorto f resonates with my stuff. i just 9yet again) get sick of the bookish refferences for hermione and the oneliners from ron.
I coudl go o naboutthis for ages. probably because i'm buy with my fics these days.
jsut before icompletle yforget, who wa the blanche yo ureferred too? another sister?

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

I agree with all of that - cliches are much easier to avoid when no-one's got round to deciding what's cliched yet...

And Pansy can be well written, when people don't just write her as the obstacle to their OTP...

jsut before icompletle yforget, who wa the blanche yo ureferred too? another sister?

In my canon (as opposed to JKR's), Blanche is indeed another sister. All Crabbe's sisters are much older - by now they'll all be in Hogwarts.

I could a tale unfold there... but for another day, perhaps.

[erised1810.livejournal.com]

I wrote anice pansy/draco snipet once. she was in fact sensitive althougha bit dreamy and oblivious to draco's dis interest but notthe silly cow some people think she is. in fact I'm glad I read some slytherin fics by now. they made me think of raising m ystandards in soem cases and justthink.

[dbassassin.livejournal.com]

This is so very sweet. I love owl-nerd!Crabbe, who has a brain and a life not consumed with crunching people for ferret boy. And the family details are wonderful. I'm glad I finally got around to reading this :).

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

I still feel a bit embarrassed about posting something so soppy... but it's fun to write about owls!

Glad you enjoyed it, anyway!

[lyras.livejournal.com]

Aw! I'm glad he realises he was lucky. Imagine hoping for an owl and discovering it was a hatbox!