Lightning arced through the pitch black night, slicing it with the precision of a surgeons knife, and in the brief second it lit up the world Harry took in more than he would have thought possible with hours of endless studying, the information and the images rushing into his brain like a tidal wave and freezing their, a painting capturing a moment in time.
He stood on a mountain, a good three mile trek from the cabin he called his own. The grass below his feet, which in the middle of a dry day, was some of the brightest in the country, but in the all consuming darkness of midnight and the pounding rain it was almost black, blanketing the hard rock below that spread out, branching off the side of the mountain in a gravity defying landmark known as a cliff.
Off the mountain sprouted the rock, on the rock grew the grass, and standing on that grass, back straight, arms spread wide an a defiance of absolutely everything- was Draco Malfoy.
Harry surged forward, shoving his way through the intangible and stumbling through the night even though it felt that all weather was against him, and had been so for his entire make shift man hunt, ever since he had woken up to find his door hanging open, the rain blowing inside, and his bed empty.
He made his way slowly, steadily towards Draco, all the while well aware that any miss-step on this freak geological formation could lead to a hundred foot plummet, and how Draco stood perched like a fucking statue in this ungodly weather was beyond him.
"What..." Harry panted, his very voice swept from his lips by the wind," ...in the name of fuck... are we *doing* out here??"
Draco didn't move save for his eyes, which darted frantically between dozens of invisible points in the massive blanket of night, and Harry realized in a sudden moment of shock that Draco was actually following the paths of bats, who- black as the night- has escaped Harry's awareness of their presence completely.
"Do you think there is a god?" Draco asked suddenly, his lips barely moving in order to form the words.
"What??" Harry cried, at a complete and total loss.
"Do you think," Draco said slowly, in the exact same tone as before, "that there is some one out there, who would hear me if I screamed loudly enough?"
"Draco," Harry pleased desperately, expecting that both of them would be plucked off the outcropping of stone at any second by a sudden gust of wind, "I don't under-"
"Do you think!?" Draco said, his voice rising violently, "That there is someone out there who would blow me off the face of this fucking earth if I begged it nicely enough?"
"Draco!" Harry literally screamed at him, because he had nothing else to say.
"Do you think there's an afterlife?" Draco said, his voice suddenly dropping to a deathly whisper. "That all of this, all of this time, everything we go through and everything we do, all of this pain and all of this trouble... is just the universe's biggest entrance exam?"
Even as he spoke, the pitch of the wind increased, and Harry felt his jacket torn from his shoulders, whipping violently through the air and disappearing from his vision a mere six feet away, never to be seen again. With a sudden rush of determination he seized Draco by the arm and hauled him, against no resistance but body weight, backwards, off the cliff edge, until he felt his leg catch on what could have been anything at all, and he fell, taking Draco with him, the two of them collapsing on cold, damp earth.
They lay there for a moment, brow beaten by the elements, until Draco suddenly twitched, his arm lashing and out and flying uselessly and pointlessly to the side, his entire body going suddenly into large, all consuming shakes. Dropping the hands that had been shielding his eyes from the rain, Harry gripped both of Draco's wrists and rolled him onto his back, pinning him down hard to the ground in an effort to stop his violent seizures.
It worked, but not in the way he'd expected- Draco's entire body suddenly sagged, and he dropped back to earth, as still as the earth itself, barely breathing. "Do you think..." Draco whispered, and then left it at that, as if that was his entire question.
"Draco!" Harry screamed, "*Fuck* the afterlife! Fuck the afterlife, and fuck god, and fuck anyone who tries to tell you any differently! They don't matter! None of it matters! The only thing that matters is right, fucking, now! Here! This!"
In one sudden movement, Harry released Draco's wrists and grasped him firmly but gently by the head, and pulled him up in a quick and violent kiss, and he was absolutely horrified at the frozen state of his lovers lips. So cold were they, that after a moment, he had to release him, and left him lying on the ground, staring up in shock.
"Harry..." Draco murmured, eyes wide, as if this was the first time he had seen him. His gaze traveled out wards, behind them, to the ungodly spot he had just been dragged from. "Where was I standing?"
With an inexplicable and sudden dawning of horror, Harry turned, looking over his shoulder.
The windswept cliff that Draco had been balancing on, screaming at the sky, was no where to be seen.
He stood on a mountain, a good three mile trek from the cabin he called his own. The grass below his feet, which in the middle of a dry day, was some of the brightest in the country, but in the all consuming darkness of midnight and the pounding rain it was almost black, blanketing the hard rock below that spread out, branching off the side of the mountain in a gravity defying landmark known as a cliff.
Off the mountain sprouted the rock, on the rock grew the grass, and standing on that grass, back straight, arms spread wide an a defiance of absolutely everything- was Draco Malfoy.
Harry surged forward, shoving his way through the intangible and stumbling through the night even though it felt that all weather was against him, and had been so for his entire make shift man hunt, ever since he had woken up to find his door hanging open, the rain blowing inside, and his bed empty.
He made his way slowly, steadily towards Draco, all the while well aware that any miss-step on this freak geological formation could lead to a hundred foot plummet, and how Draco stood perched like a fucking statue in this ungodly weather was beyond him.
"What..." Harry panted, his very voice swept from his lips by the wind," ...in the name of fuck... are we *doing* out here??"
Draco didn't move save for his eyes, which darted frantically between dozens of invisible points in the massive blanket of night, and Harry realized in a sudden moment of shock that Draco was actually following the paths of bats, who- black as the night- has escaped Harry's awareness of their presence completely.
"Do you think there is a god?" Draco asked suddenly, his lips barely moving in order to form the words.
"What??" Harry cried, at a complete and total loss.
"Do you think," Draco said slowly, in the exact same tone as before, "that there is some one out there, who would hear me if I screamed loudly enough?"
"Draco," Harry pleased desperately, expecting that both of them would be plucked off the outcropping of stone at any second by a sudden gust of wind, "I don't under-"
"Do you think!?" Draco said, his voice rising violently, "That there is someone out there who would blow me off the face of this fucking earth if I begged it nicely enough?"
"Draco!" Harry literally screamed at him, because he had nothing else to say.
"Do you think there's an afterlife?" Draco said, his voice suddenly dropping to a deathly whisper. "That all of this, all of this time, everything we go through and everything we do, all of this pain and all of this trouble... is just the universe's biggest entrance exam?"
Even as he spoke, the pitch of the wind increased, and Harry felt his jacket torn from his shoulders, whipping violently through the air and disappearing from his vision a mere six feet away, never to be seen again. With a sudden rush of determination he seized Draco by the arm and hauled him, against no resistance but body weight, backwards, off the cliff edge, until he felt his leg catch on what could have been anything at all, and he fell, taking Draco with him, the two of them collapsing on cold, damp earth.
They lay there for a moment, brow beaten by the elements, until Draco suddenly twitched, his arm lashing and out and flying uselessly and pointlessly to the side, his entire body going suddenly into large, all consuming shakes. Dropping the hands that had been shielding his eyes from the rain, Harry gripped both of Draco's wrists and rolled him onto his back, pinning him down hard to the ground in an effort to stop his violent seizures.
It worked, but not in the way he'd expected- Draco's entire body suddenly sagged, and he dropped back to earth, as still as the earth itself, barely breathing. "Do you think..." Draco whispered, and then left it at that, as if that was his entire question.
"Draco!" Harry screamed, "*Fuck* the afterlife! Fuck the afterlife, and fuck god, and fuck anyone who tries to tell you any differently! They don't matter! None of it matters! The only thing that matters is right, fucking, now! Here! This!"
In one sudden movement, Harry released Draco's wrists and grasped him firmly but gently by the head, and pulled him up in a quick and violent kiss, and he was absolutely horrified at the frozen state of his lovers lips. So cold were they, that after a moment, he had to release him, and left him lying on the ground, staring up in shock.
"Harry..." Draco murmured, eyes wide, as if this was the first time he had seen him. His gaze traveled out wards, behind them, to the ungodly spot he had just been dragged from. "Where was I standing?"
With an inexplicable and sudden dawning of horror, Harry turned, looking over his shoulder.
The windswept cliff that Draco had been balancing on, screaming at the sky, was no where to be seen.