FW: FF: (filk) The Last Waltz

[Susan Hall]

No: HPFGUIDX 26864



Caius Marcus's recent efforts inspired me to produce the following.

WARNING:  it contains non-canonical material, and some scenes of shipwreck.

The Last Waltz
(To the tune of Lily, Rosemary, & The Jack of Hearts)

The Leaving Ball was over; the trunks were packed for the train
As it dipped below the Forest, the full moon was setting in the rain.
Along the road from Hogsmeade, up by the moated grange
Three waited for a stag, who'd been acting mighty strange.
No, they couldn't go no further
Without the Jack of Hearts.
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Upstairs in the staff-room, they settled down with brandy and cigars
Trelawney was missing; looking for the fates inside the stars
The MOM said "damn fine do", McGonagall raised a glass
Asking for the Governors to toast the the leaving class
With all its wicked pranksters
None wickeder than the Jack of Hearts
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Downstairs in the common room Lily sat sobbing in a chair
Her eyes a wounded animal's, hidden by her falls of red-gold hair
She'd danced each dance in pride and hate, as if she didn't care
The man she loved had stood her up, and wasn't even there
And in her rage she'd pledged herself -
But not to the Jack of Hearts.
..................................................................

Lucius was on the Board; the youngest since Salazar was there
Evil rumours followed him, but Lucy-boy was just too rich to care
It was whispered all around Big V had had a fling
No-one had ever come between Lucy and the King
And  no-one ever would
Except maybe
The lover of the Jack of Hearts.
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"Snakeblood " breathed a weary voice, the door it swung open wide
On sodden satin slippers Narcissa limped her lovely way inside
"Oh! Sorry to disturb you, with coming in so late
Oh Lily, what's the matter?  What got you in this state?
No man's worth that - now, dry your eyes - you mustn't let it show-
Here - borrow mine - it's still quite clean - that's right, a proper blow -"

And Lily knew the handkerchief
She'd given to the Jack of Hearts.
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In the firelight the Tarot cards lay scattered on the floor
Narcissa picked the pack up, cut, and dealt the cards once more
Lily showed her hand, and  both of them could see
Le Prince d'Acquitaine dans le tour abolie
And from the pile of discards
Missing was the Jack of Hearts.
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Along the crowded platform shuffled an embarrassed bit of air
Invisibly, it dodged its friends, trying to pretend it wasn't there
It nipped past Lucius standing there, with Lily's ring to hand
It lurked among the shadows, hiding from a truth it couldn't stand.

It could hide from anyone
Except of course the Jack of Hearts.
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No-one knows what happened,  but they say that it happened pretty quick
The door to a carriage swung open and a wand was seen to flick
A confundus charm came blasting out, and Lucius lost the ring
Followed by some memory charms, so no-one could remember any thing
Then Lily was on the platform
Left snogging with the Jack of Hearts

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........................

Narcissa on her wedding day was dressed in white and gold
Her eyes were hard as diamonds; her lips were marble white and cold
And when she said "I do" to Luce she didn't even blink
The MOM proposed the toast, she heard the glasses clink
But Lucy-boy would never know the all of what
She'd given to the Jack of Hearts.



Explanatory note:

"Le Prince d'Acquitaine dans le tour abolie" is the second line of a sonnet
by Gerald de Nerval which begins "Je suis le tenebrae, le veuf, l'inconsole"
("I am the shadowman, the widower, the unconsolable one") .  The broken
tower is one of the Major Arcana of the Tarot pack.  On one level it
symbolises the shattering of illusions and the revealing of enemies, and the
maxim that truth is great and will prevail.  Of course, it also in this case
symbolises the destruction of the house at Godric's Hollow, in Lily's
future.  The Prince of Acquitaine is probably the King of Swords in the
Tarot pack, and symbolises the use of one's abilities and the importance of
staying close to those who truly care about one.  It foreshadows Harry's
being left as the sole survivor in the wreck of Godric's Hollow.  As
divination is a very imprecise science each girl inteprets the hand in a
completely opposite way and neither of them suspect the Godric's Hollow
stuff at all.
For anyone who is interested, Narcissa's own hand was Death, The Lovers and
the nine of Swords, all reversed, but it was too difficult to make that
scan.

Second explanatory note
If anyone considers the first explanatory note to be excessively pretentious
I commend to him or her the sleeve notes to *Blood on The Tracks*.