I saw rainbows. Not just in the sky, by the clouds, or even reflected on the water, but everywhere. My entire world was made of swirling, pulsing, spinning colors that sparkled vibrantly. They sparkled and changed continuously. When I closed my eyes, the world didn't go dark; but it only opened up more, and I saw everything not as it was, but as it should have been.
There were hills and there was an open, open sky that stretched beyond the ends of the universe. My senses were overwhelmed. Opening my eyes again, I saw stars; not five-pointed geometric shapes or pinpricks in the sky, but burning orbs of fire and gas. They rushed by me, past me, through me; spiraling through my ethereal, dazzling world.
I closed my eyes again and saw the sun. Its rays reached out and grabbed me, and I felt warmth engulf me. It pulsed hues of red and gold, and it spun, sparkled and shimmered, until it too went through me, past me, beyond me; and I came upon a tree. Its branches were sturdy and plentiful, and it reached up to the sky in thanks and worship, as though it knew it was part of something much, much greater. I saw gray eyes and a flash of white-blonde hair. Soft lips sent a warm tingle throughout my body.
Then there was music; music that swelled and died with bursts of color and fire and wind and spirit. It faded in and out. Sometimes I had to strain to hear it. But when those sounds wanted to be heard, they made it known. I couldn't have drowned it out if I had wanted to, for it was drowning me instead. I didn't fight it. I let it overcome me and I was rewarded for cooperating. The song was familiar but the sounds were new and otherworldly.
Someone was calling out to me. That much I was sure of.
I tried to stand, but found that I didn't want to. I tried to speak, but found that I didn't need to. What use was there for words when the world was spinning backwards? What use was there for movement when the earth had provided me with everything I'd ever need? All I could do was lay on my back and laugh, and the world let me. The more joy I felt, the brighter the world became. And the brighter the world became, the more I laughed.
He laughed with me.
My senses tingled and tickled. I felt my body beginning to melt into the earth. I sank downward, knowing that if I complied, I'd be raised on high. And I was. I melted down and sank to the heavens. I saw the ground above me and the clouds below me. And while the earth shifted and my world morphed continuously into strange, new things and brought me to a thousand different places, my eyes widened. I absorbed it all, every last bit of it; even when it went so fast that they were just blurry flashes of things that I had only seen in my imagination.
His face remained clear.
It all made sense to me; this shimmering, rushing, rainbow world. I would have stayed forever if I could have. But like all good things, my world eventually slowed down and the colors faded to their everyday spectrum of dull earth and brick and concrete, and the music proceeded at its normal volume, and my body stayed level and intact. I saw the world not as it should have been, but as it actually was: mild and manmade. I no longer transcended reality, although one thing bridged the gap between the two.
One thing was certain.
One thing remained the same.
Blonde hair, gray eyes, soft lips, and a warm embrace.
Draco Malfoy was still there.
Draco Malfoy was holding me.
