This was going to be a Vacation

Christabelle had been on vacation. She had finished up all of her schooling a year early and now that she was finished at Beauxbatons she decided she would take a long needed vacation before returning to England and her soon to be job at the German Ministry. But now she was running. The blue skirts of her dress were billowing around her as she ran down the beach.

The sand was making it hard to run but she had to reach somewhere where she could grab her wand and get away from the dementor. She had no clue why it would be chasing her since she had never done anything to warrant such an abuse. The ministry would indeed have hell to pay once she figured this out.

She continued running for what felt like forever until she fell and turning around she saw the dementor on her tail as she hurriedly attempted to reach for her wand.

Daniel had been on vacation as well. He'd made a ton of Wolfsbane for Brienne so he needn't worry about her. He had nothing on but a pair of swim-trunks. He'd been in the water for a little too long, so he was a bit pruny. He heard the hurried footsteps of a woman, and saw the source of the footfalls running away from a...Dementor?

Yes, it was a Dementor. A Dementor was chasing a girl, and she was trying to get to her wand. He decided to be a hero. Since it was a lone Dementor, he assumed that it was just a stray one that happened to pick this pour soul. He grabbed his wand.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

All his innermost positive thoughts came to form a silvery raccoon. The first corporeal Patronus he'd cast in a long time. He was a bit rusty. The raccoon pursued the Dementor, chasing it away. The Dementor soon vanished, being defeated by the Patronus which dissolved itself.

By the time Christabelle had her wand in hand, she was already being saved by a guy in swim trunks still dripping from playing in the ocean. Great she thought, I really need to look like a damsel in distress right now. She stood up holding her wand now steadily as she brushed the sand off of her.

"Thanks." she said looking at him. Her hair was now framing her face, having fallen down from the ponytail she had it in, the blonde curls making her look almost angelic. "I really owe you. I'm Christabelle." she said smiling as she held out her hand to him. "Is there anyway I can make it up to you?"

Daniel was surprised to see that the woman was thankful for him saving her. Other women, including Brienne, would've slapped him. "I'm Daniel. I don't think there's anything you can help me with". At that moment though, a huge pang of something came over him. Despair? No. Anger? No. Regret? A little. Grief? Overwhelming. He fell to the ground, sobbing softly.

Casting a Patronus took a lot out of him, but that wasn't the issue. The shape of it, so familiar to him. He'd seen it before, when it came from his boyfriend's wand. Long ago. Before he'd decided to hang himself. "Stanley....why did you leave me?". He hadn't realized he'd said that.

Christy couldn't help but feel a pain in her heart at seeing him on the ground sobbing and hearing his words. It was something she had dealt with on her own and it almost caused her to go insane. "Patronuses normally don't cause people to break down in tears wishing someone was here with them." she stated matter of factly trying to smile sweet. "Do you wanna talk about it? I know something had to of happened and that can't be good to keep bottled up."

Her mind was reeling with thoughts causing her own memories to flood back into her mind. She had gotten over the grief they caused her and she had learned to look back on them with a smile. It took a while but she had. Christy knew everything happened for a reason and there was some reason she was still here instead of the dementor performing its kiss on her. "It really is the least I can do."

Daniel sniffled. "Uhh...sure I'll talk". Daniel was carrying unimaginable amounts of grief upon his shoulders. He was glad that it might soon be lifted.

"I'm sorry I broke down...it's just that...the raccoon. It reminds me of...him...my love...the one I'd marry one day. The one I wanted to settle down with one day and adopt kids. My one and only. Stanley. He...he died long ago. I've never gotten over it. I have a feeling I never will, either". He was sobbing all the while he was saying this, and hadn't realized it.

Christy was sitting down on the ground next to Daniel. This reminded her of what she went through with Nick. It almost made her break down into tears she felt a little empathic to him and his grief. She was trying to think of what to say and unsure if she should hug him. He looked like he needed a hug but she really wasn't one to invade someone's space she had just met, so she settled for putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Trust me it will have to get better." she finally replied. "I was with someone like that once too... We had even had the entire wedding planned and set and he disappeared a week before the wedding and no one has heard from him since. I still have his three year old sister to take care of."

She hoped she was saying the right thing to try to make him feel better. "You have to take everyday one step at a time. Have you ever just tried breathing before doing anything else?" she asked curiously. "People will be there to help you pick up the pieces but you have to breathe first before anything else and know that he wouldn't want you here crying over him. It won't bring him back and it'll only keep you from living...for you and him both."

Daniel sniffed and wiped away a tear. "I guess...I'm sorry I broke down. Losing him was the worst thing that ever happened to me. He and I had such great times together. I sneaked him into the Gryffindor common room and that's where we'd be in privacy. He was Hufflepuff, so I had to be careful to avoid detection. I'd also sneak into the Hufflepuff common room just so I could see him. He and I were inseparable. Not even the house system could keep us apart. It was...destiny".

"Yeah thats how Nick and I were too." she said smiling. "Its really hard when someone like that dies. Let me guess he was also one of those people who were really easy to get along with? Someone that everyone immediately liked right?" she asked hoping she was hitting the nail on the head.

"By the way don't worry about breaking down. Its sometimes good for the soul but don't let anyone know I said that. Damsel in distress and soul bearer are not my strong points." She laughed a little trying to lighten the mood a bit. "Just remember everything happens for a reason and sometimes its just to make us stronger and realize we only have now to live."

"Exactly, Stanley was loved by all the Hufflepuffs, even other Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws thought he was awesome. Some Slytherins didn't like him, though. A couple of them drove him over the edge and to the point where he couldn't take it anymore. They broke his spirit. They broke everything. By the time I got to the Hufflepuff Common Room that day so I could sneak a kiss from him, he was being carried out in a body bag by some people I couldn't quite identify. All I knew was that he was gone, and I'd never see my beloved again...." Daniel said, sighing.

"I just want to carry on, to get stronger and to draw inspiration from the wonderful person he was. However, it's hard."