author's note: we're sorry this chapter is late: november 1st crept up on us, and we didn't have time to finish this. but now we have. so enjoy this chapter, and we'll talk to you more at the end!
disclaimer: jk rowling didn't just take a month off to do nano, but we did. we feel accomplished now. -grins-
--kyra

Peace

Draco drifted through a mist of grayness, his insubstantial body passing through any obstacles there might have been. He did not look for them. He did not look for anything. He was doomed to drift through this mist for eternity, that he knew. It was the price he had to pay. But for what? He could not remember. He knew there must have been something, but he could not think what it might be.

His body bumped into something, and he frowned. He was insubstantial. He should not have been hindered by anything. He tried to get his eyes to focus on the obstacle, but they refused. He saw nothing, only grayness. But there was something there. Something that was baring his path. He reached out to see if there was any way around it, but his hand met only a hard, invisible wall. Or was it a wall? He did not know. He knew nothing about this place, just that it was there, and that he was meant to stay until the end of time.

“Turn around.”

Without thinking, he obeyed the voice.

“You won’t be able to see me.”

His mind began to work, sluggishly at first, but at last back to the speed he was used to. The voice was female, he realized, and that of a child. “Who are you?”

There was a peal of laughter. “It does not matter,” she said merrily. “I am here, and you are here, and that is all that matters.”

Draco frowned. “What do you mean?” he wanted to know.

After what sounded suspiciously like a sigh, the voice said, “My name is unimportant. Just know that I’m here to guide you and all others who pass through this place.”

“Where am I?”

She laughed again. “That’s a very good question,” she said. “Truth to tell, it doesn’t have a name either. You can call it limbo, if you want.”

Draco frowned. “Limbo?”

“Limbo,” she affirmed. “But, since you won’t be staying here, that’s unimportant as well.”

“What do you mean, I won’t be staying?”

She laughed. “Did you really give up the fight that easily?” she asked. “I thought you were tougher than that, Draco.”

“How did you know my name?”

“I know everything about you. And I know that, unless you listen to me, your lover is going to do something incredibly… stupid.”

Draco frowned. His lover. His brain had not gotten that far yet. Who was she talking about? “My…” he began, and then stopped. There was a face there, one that he recognized. A face topped with messy black hair. That wasn’t enough. A name. He needed a name! “Who are you?” he whispered to the vision in his mind. “What’s your name?”

The girl laughed again. “His name is Harry,” she reminded Draco. “Harry Potter. Savior of your world. And currently half mad with grief.”

Harry. Harry! “I have to get back to him!” Draco gasped. He steppe forward, trying to identify the source of the voice.

“I told you, you won’t be able to see him,” she reminded him patiently.

“How can I get out of here?” he demanded harshly. “I need to leave!”

“Of course you do,” she agreed. “That’s what I’ve been telling you. Glad to see you’ve finally used that mind of yours for something other than asking stupid questions.”

Draco ignored the barb. “How do I do it?” he insisted again. His hands reached out, trying to grasp what was not there and shake it until she told him the answer.

She laughed yet again. “Follow your heart, Draco,” she informed him. “It will lead you to him. But figure it out fast. He’s almost finished.”

“Finished with what?” Draco wanted to know, but she did not answer. He looked around wildly. “Where are you?”

Still no answer. She seemed to have disappeared. If she had ever even been there at all. Draco toyed with the idea that he was losing his mind, then sighed. It did not matter. He could very well have lost his mind, but it still did not matter. What mattered was that he had to find a way to get out of here. A way to get back to Harry.

Harry! Suddenly he remembered the voice’s parting words. Almost finished. Almost finished with what? And then he remembered something else she had said. And I know that, unless you listen to me, your lover is going to do something incredibly… stupid. Stupid. Just what would the spirit of limbo think was stupid?

He broke into a sprint, searching desperately for a way out. Of course that was it. That was the only thing it could be.

He ran on and on and on, unable to find a way out, or even any change in the grayness. No more obstacles stopped him, not more voices spoke to him. It was just him and the grayness. Finally, exhausted and hopeless, he stopped. It was useless; he would never find a way out. She had been toying with him, had been playing on his emotions to torture him. He should never have allowed himself to hope for more. He sank to his knees, not even caring that he was drifting through nothingness once more, and buried his face in his hands. This was it, then. This was what the rest of time would consist of: voices talking to him and getting his hopes up, and then dashing them cruelly.

He called Harry’s face to mind, trying not to cry. Then he frowned. Why not cry? No one would see him, and there was nothing left to prove. So he cried.

He opened his eyes at last, then frowned. The grayness was gone. The world was once more full of colors so bright that they hurt his eyes. He closed them again. There was pressure on his hand. How was that possible? Had the voice come back? He opened his eyes once more and looked directly into emerald green ones. They weren’t looking at him. They were looking through him, or maybe past him, looking at something Draco couldn’t see. Harry held his wand up, tip pointed back at him.

And I know that, unless you listen to me, your lover is going to do something incredibly… stupid. Apparently Draco had… had returned just in time. He grimaced. “Don’t you dare.” He refused to have fought this hard just for it all to go away again.

“Draco?” Harry breathed. He too did not seem to be able to believe it, and Draco was once more reminded of how much pain hope could cause.

“Who do you think?” Draco demanded.

“It is you!”

“Yes Harry. It is me. Now, will you put the wand away? I’d rather not this be too much like Romeo and Juliet here.”

Harry blinked, distracted. “How do you know about Muggle plays?”

“You’d be amazed, the things I know. Can I sit up now?”

Harry blinked, then moved off slightly. Draco sat up, wincing at the stiffness of his body. How long had he been… away? He and Harry stared at each other for a long moment, and then Harry moved closer again. Draco instinctively wrapped his arms around the black haired boy as Harry began to cry.

At last, Harry took a deep breath. Then he pulled away slightly and delivered a stinging slap to Draco’s cheek.

“What was that for?” he sputtered. Was this just another aspect of limbo, one meant to destroy him even more? Was this all a fabrication, one that would continue for eternity and beyond?

“Never, ever do that to me again!” Harry roared. Draco relaxed slightly despite himself. He had to believe that this was real. He had to believe that Harry still wanted him. He had to! So he did what he did best. He twisted the hurtful words into something much, much more bearable.

“What, die? I’ll try.”

Harry started laughing, and Draco relaxed. It was real. It was all real. He was back. He knew it. No executioner in their right mind would consider this torture. “What will I do with you?” he asked, bringing his arms around Harry’s form.

“I don’t know,” Harry managed.

Draco laughed. “Neither do I.” He grinned. “But we’re going to have fun finding out.” He and Harry lapsed into silence once more as they helped each other up. As they stumbled back into Andromeda’s house, Draco could have sworn he heard someone laughing. He frowned as the unknown girl child’s voice faded, then sighed. He would never know. He did not want to know. He hoped he would never have to find out.

And then he forgot about her. He was back. He had no time to concentrate on the cares of the dead. He was alive, and he had Harry to look after. He smiled, knowing that everything would be better now. Not perfect, but better. And that was really all he could ask for.

fin