Starry, Starry Night - Competition Time :)

Lucius was slowly making his way to the attic, where his secret memories, the ones he didn't want Narcissa seeing. Ones from his childhood, where he spent his days wandering around a lonely house, with no real friends. Ones from his younger adult days, when he drank his nights away, recalling what was lost to him. Then there were the ones he was going to recall now.

The attic itself was small compared to the house, and incredibly dusty. Old furniture loomed over Lucius, leaning against the slanted roof of the gloomy house. A strange looking, muggle, marionette puppet hung from the rafters, shaped like a cartoon witch, with a boil on the end of its nose, holding an old-fashioned broomstick. Boxes of paper and books littered the floor, giving the room a smell of an old library.

At the end of the room, that was where Lucius kept his most fond memories. Pictures of his wedding. Boxes of certificates and diplomas. Right at the back, a bundle of postcards tied in fraying string caught Lucius's attention. He started gently flipping through them, seeing the artwork on the front, and the names scrawled in shabby handwriting on the back. They were all Vincent Van Gogh Paintings, classic ones, Starry Night, Sunflowers, Cafe Terrace. Any art student would know them off by heart.

Each of them had a different meaning, a different memory locked inside. Lucius's favourite was Starry Night. The swirls of yellow on the front drew your attention in, while the small city below gave it a surreal, fantasy feeling. The dark, tall lines climb through the paper, like some dark entity trapped within the glossy surface, forever reaching towards the top, forever stuck reaching. It was more the memory than the looks that made it Lucius's favourite.

His mind drifted back to the final days of his most beloved friendship, though he didn't know that it was coming to its conclusion at the time. The sky that night was a dark blue, so close to black, but the shy hint of purple kept it from turning black. The stars were shining, the sky was cloudless. The moon was bright yellow, a harvest moon, and it was crescent shaped, very rare. A small town seemed to drift along the bottom of a deep valley, floating along, like the water in the nearby river flowed. A tall tree cast a faint shadow over the grass, caused by the moon's golden light. The grass was cool, and comfortable, dotted with lavender and daisies.

Lucius lay on the grass, dozing, when he felt a presence come and lie next to him. He knew who it was without turning. The long fingers of his friend skimmed along his naked arm, and ended up playing with his long white hair. Lucius's eyes stayed closed as Severus snuggled into his neck.

Turning to his side to look at Severus, Lucius stared into his friend's black eyes, who were searching through his own pale eyes. They could not be any more different, yet they fit together so well. Unfortunately, they had to keep their friendship a secret. If anyone knew, well, that would ridicule them both.

Severus was holding a piece of glossy paper in his hand. Lucius knew it was another postcard. Everywhere they went, he got a postcard. A silly little Vincent Van Gogh postcard, and he scrawled the name across the back in shabby handwriting. It was a silly habit, but he did it anyway. Lucius looked at the paper. It was Starry Night this time. Severus slipped it in his pocket, and lay back on the grass.

They stayed like that for some time, watching the moon rise and fall, and seeing the baby rays of sunshine peek over the tops of the hills. It felt like an eternity, but they both knew their time together like this was almost over, and it was rare not to be interrupted for such a long time.

Eventually though, they had to leave, and slowly make their way back to the castle. That was the first time either of them had found that village, and people should have guessed it was there by now, being so close to the castle grounds.

When the managed to get back to the castle, they said their goodbyes, and the last words the Lucius, probably the last person to hear Severus speak, the last words he heard were "Goodbye."

The next day Severus was found hanging from a tree in the forbidden forest.