october 31, 1981

THERE IS A cool breeze whispering its secrets to the world the way it always does this time of year. It harshly bites at the skin of passersby, quickly soothing it after with the touch only an old friend can provide. The remaining leaves fall from branches and litter the dirt below with shades of crimson and saffron and marigold, a last nod to a fading Autumn.

It is the time of year that Persephone both longs for and wishes never to come. The end of October marks the end of the season of her childhood. Though she had been quite young when her mother and father died, she has a very vivid memory of sitting atop her dad's shoulders as the three of them walked past their small, close-knit neighborhood into the village she grew up in; all the while, her dark hair would collect Autumn leaves like skin collects freckles in the summer sun.

Even after her parents passed, the magic of Autumn never quite did.

Her aunt would tell her the story of Persephone and Hades. How when the air turned cool and the leaves started to change color, the Goddess of Spring would go back to the Underworld, back to her loving husband.

There are many ways the story is told, but in the eyes of Ophelia Dresden—and now Persephone—the young Goddess fell just as in love with the King of the Underworld as he had with her. Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, knew exactly what she had been getting into when she ate those pomegranate seeds.

She felt so controlled in her home of meadows and flowers. She was tired of it all, tired of consistently obeying her mother and doing what was expected of her.

In Ophelia's eyes, Persephone was the one who forced herself into the Underworld. She ate those pomegranate seeds if only to feel power coursing through every single bone of her body.

She wanted power. Craved it.

So she became the Queen of the Underworld.

It was mere luck and coincidence that she happened to fall in love with her devoted husband and he with her.

Persephone grew up wishing and hoping for the kind of love her namesake had. The Earth-shattering, soul-crushing, heart-wrenching kind of love that not all have the privilege to experience.

Luckily for her, the Goddess of Spring is on her side and sent her that love in the form of a man named James Potter.

As Persephone hurries back home to said man, she can't help but smile as she breathes in the last of the Autumn breeze and thanks her lucky stars that she met someone as loving and devoted as James.

Her smile turns to a frown as she recalls the fight that they had before she left the house in anger.

It had been over something stupid, and they both said words they didn't mean. Persephone had started acting strange, and James—not missing anything when it came to her—noticed. He asked her what happened, if he did something, if something was wrong. He begged her to tell him what to do to fix it.

And she had just yelled at him. Said that he didn't need to know everything about her, that some things had absolutely nothing to do with him.

Except this, this secret she keeps hidden in the depths of her mind, this has absolutely everything to do with him.

And she had been such a jerk to him. When he only ever wanted to make her happy.

Persephone wants to fall to her knees and cry and beg for his forgiveness though she doesn't deserve it. She needs to make this right.

She needs to tell him.

Her hand lightly touches her stomach, wondering how the words she had been forming in her head for the past couple of weeks are to fall out of her mouth and out into the world.

Taking a deep breath, she braces herself and starts the path back home.

The Halloween decorations outside their small cottage in Godric's Hollow have begun to shine as the sky darkens and the moon hovers over the world drenched in fog. It is both Persephone's and James's favorite holiday. They love seeing all of the children's costumes and coming up with fun ideas for their own.

The brunette woman can't help but fear for how the night will turn out as she opens the door to her home.

"James?" she calls out, shutting the door behind her.

There is no answer.

Not thinking too much of it, she ventures into the living room and then the kitchen. James is nowhere to be found.

"Darling? Can we talk please?"

There is not a stir in the quiet cottage. Persephone frowns in confusion, walking toward the direction of the stairs.

"This isn't funny, Jamie."

She hurries up the stairs with an agonizingly anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something feels very, very wrong.

She turns the corner into their shared bedroom. She doesn't see anything out of the ordinary. At least, not at first.

She proceeds further into the small room, both irritated at whatever game James is playing and worried that something may really be wrong.

And then she sees it.

That awful crimson spilled on the wood floor and soaked into the carpet her aunt had given them as a housewarming gift. One lifeless limb, unmoving.

And then another.

And another.

Persephone screams.

James Potter's dead body lays on the wooden floor, forever frozen and forever haunting.

꘏

march 27, 1982

THE GRAY TOMBSTONE stares back at Persephone with the harsh glare of the sun glinting off of it. It is nearly blinding, and she has to look away from it for a moment so that it doesn't damage her eyes.

Five months have gone by, and no hints of her grief subsiding have appeared. Everything has fallen apart.

Her hand reaches out to touch the stone, to trace the lines of his name. She holds back the tears threatening to fall. She has to be strong.

"Happy birthday, Jamie," she whispers so quiet as if he will disappear if she speaks any louder. "You would be twenty-two today."

A stray tear slides down her cheek, but she makes no move to wipe it away.

"The doctor says little James is healthy," she continues, choking on barely withheld emotion. "Only a few more months until he is finally part of this world. If you were here, I think you would be very overbearing. I would never get to see the light of day again with how protective you would be."

Persephone sniffles and hastily wipes away her tears. Her hand rests gently on the bump on her belly that continues to grow and grow and grow.

"If you were here..." she whispers.

Her hand on the tombstone brushes over the carving of his name.

"I'm sorry," she breathes, barely able to get the words out. She turns away from the stone, unable to face him. "I shouldn't have left that night. I-I should have been there. I fucking hate myself."

A single, heart-wrenching sob leaves her body. She shakes her head, glancing at the grave again.

"I love you, Jamie. This is what I should have said. I love you so much, it is suffocating. I love you even though you are gone, and I am afraid I will never love anyone this much again. I love you, I love you, I love you."

She repeats the words like he is here to actually listen.

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

But no matter how many times she says them, he will never hear them.

Spring has come, and with it, Persephone's return to her home above the ground. Back to the flowers and the meadows and the endless repetition that only went away whenever she had been with James Potter.

But she will never be with him again.

She will never hear his obnoxious laugh again. She will never melt from his touch again. She will never swoon at the sight of his dimples again. She will never feel the heat of his skin against hers again.

She will never again feel the weight of his love. October will never be the same.

Autumn and Winter are gone. James Potter is gone.

Her aunt had been wrong. The love worth that of the Goddess of Spring and the God of Death does not exist. It never did.

Persephone had been foolish to think otherwise.

She steps back from her dead lover's grave, the hair on the back of her neck standing up.

Something is wrong.

She looks around at her surroundings, but there is nothing out of the ordinary. Paranoid, she turns back to the grave and braces a steady hand on her stomach.

A strange sort of feeling falls upon her, and she has the gut feeling to run.

But before she can take even a step, she feels a sudden sharp pain shoot throughout her entire body.

And then everything goes black.