Disclaimer: Oh, I really don't own. Belongs to Rowling and Gaiman.

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Luna crossed her arms in irritation.

Tom had taken an awfully long time today, and in the meantime, she had stayed in the arboretum, waiting and thinking through her argument. She glanced down sadly at her dream-catchers and then felt a shudder run through her. She grew tense and looked around, her eyes alert.

Perhaps it was that the smell of old leather had overcome the pleasant winter smell of the fire, and Luna was not one for sweat and suede. But at the heart of her ills was her arboretum of birch trees.

It was the pure and simple fact that it was not spring time quite yet, Luna though as she watched a metal spring sprung from the branches of her trees. She knelt down to gather at the base of one tree to gather the lot of them, and found that screws were falling like acorns all around her. Luna quickly covered her head to avoid injury.

"Heelo," a small, lopsided voice said meekly from the corner of the dome. Luna peered up only to see odd little butterflies fluttering in boots. Yes, the boots—an old pair of army boots it seemed—was trampling all her rare, fair flowers, and the butterflies in the boots were doing the trampling.

"Fello," Luna replied politely, and watched the boots fall to the side. The butterflies then took form, and in their place was a young-looking girl. She was dressed in a motley fashion, and Luna could see that she was quite tiny in such a large overcoat. Her eyes were more arresting—the irises swam like fish. Her hair was in braids of wire and coat-hangers and jam.

"But not ham?" the girl inquired, swaying slightly. Luna quickly turned to Occulumency and stared her down.

"I thought about bringing a few lemurs, along the way, for when you did that," Delirium said, holding a hand to her cheek in wonder. "Oh, dear."

And in fact, there was a herd of deer trying to eat the springs that had been sprung from- Luna shook her head.

"I like trees! They are for zzees, and I adore zippers, though they come with nippers, and that's no good!" With that, the Endless one began to dance around her grove, in dizzying motions, and it appeared to Luna that the world was suddenly unsteady.

And oh dear, the deer had zippers, all in their brown coats. And if they unzipped, Luna was sure she would be quite ill.

"Please," Luna cried. "Don't be cruel to the animals."

"Oh, I have a doggie," the girl proclaimed, bouncing from trunk to trunk in the grove. "Have you seen him? I lost him, or he lost me, and you see."

"Seeing-eye dog?" Luna inquired, and Delirium paused to think.

"Can I see my eye?" And it seemed for a moment, the Endless one was about to try it.

"I will help you find your dog," Luna offered quickly. Delirium beamed, and the smell of old leather intensified ten fold.

"But I'd see him again, you know, in the other time, breaks all the time, time does."

"Tempus Frangit," Luna said knowingly, and the bouncing springs on the ground grew still. "Why are you here, Delirium? We used to be good friends, as I recall."

"Yes, I think I remember a moon child. The moon march hare told me—me once, that you were at his tea party, with your mother and my sister."

Luna remembered this fondly, and smiled. "The biscuits were quite stale, though."

"I want my sister back!" Delirium suddenly screamed out, her eyes unusually focused.

"I know you must. I will talk to Tom. He'll see reason soon."

"Reason will have nothing to do with the likes of him," Delirium countered.

"That's my husband you're talking about and I'm rather fond of him," Luna said, her smile fading as if it had been held up by strings only to be cut. "I will find a way to free her myself. Then will you be happy?"

"Oh, noes," Delirium said, tilting her head. "Noes, noes. I thought you were his prisoner, birdie bye. If you are married, where's your ring?"

Luna held up the bonded seal around her hand proudly. "You see, we are married."

"Was a mocking bird there?"

"I don't think so. We had a very limited guest list."

"Oh, then it's true. I'm very sorry."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Don't be. As I said, I'm actually very fond of him."

"Not for long. You see, Dream is angry. Desire is angry. And Despair, oh, she is mad. I was angry, I'm not sure now…but we thought hard and short about what to do with him. He's gotten away with plenty, and this was the opposite to the first straw."

"You mean…they won't forgive and forget? Death is unharmed, I promise."

Delirium licked her lips slightly. "But he's done the unforgivable. And he hasn't forgiven any of his enemies as of ever. It's fair, so there."

"Who's coming for him?" Luna pressed on.

"Why, everyone. All his old enemies are coming on the run. Dream thought that since he disliked Death so much, he wouldn't mind being haunted."

"As long as it's not Them," she thought out-loud. "I think I can help as long as it's not Them."

"Oh, the Three want him last. They want him quite badly." Delirium smiled. "I would take him, you know, into my realm to make the pain better but I don't like him much."

"Then make like a tree and leave," Luna said sharply, drawing out her wand. Delirium laughed in delight, and faded from sight.

&&&

Needless to say, Luna was now quite upset and took it upon herself to check the ghost wards.

The Ministry used to be the one to make wards for ghosts, limiting them to one haunting zone per spook. But they did not consider the Dark Lord as worthy of any wards, and Luna could see their reasoning. So Tom had developed his own wards.

It didn't stop Harry from visiting here and there. He was rather like a fish, caught in his connection with Tom. Luna looked forward to his visits much more than Tom did.

And sure enough, once she had wandered to the tower, Harry was sitting on the balcony.

"Hello, Harry," Luna said softly, nearing the ledge. The boy turned around, adjusting his glasses.

"Hi, Luna. Is it true? Did he really go that far?"

"Yes," she muttered. "Shouldn't you be with your parents?"

"Oh, I saw them just last night. We had a party. Cheers to Tom's stupidity, of course. It's about bloody time."

Luna was rather hurt by that proclamation. "That's not very nice."

"Well, killing me wasn't very nice either," Harry responded dryly. "You have to admit that."

"You could come back to life, you know. There's a way, through the connection."

Harry laughed. "No thanks. I'd rather be dead than live in a world with him in it."

Luna shuddered slightly. "I would have thought everyone would have moved on and had peace. His misery shouldn't grant you peace."

"Peace, no. Satisfaction, yes."

"I was going to ask you to help me protect him," she said crossly. "But I suppose I won't."

Her friend suddenly looked very serious. "That's why I'm here. You have to leave. It's…pretty cut and dry for Tom, so-."

"He did it for me."

"You asked him to capture Death?"

"Well, he was worried about me. I didn't care to split my soul so he captured Death."

"Ah, I get it," Harry muttered. "So, basically, he was being a selfish wanker. Some things never change. He just put a different spin on it."

"You always see the bad."

"And Luna, you always see the good when it…may not even be there."

"That's exactly why I can't leave. I can't prove him right. Goodbye, Harry. I suspect I will see you later on with the others."

He nodded grimly.

"All right then," Luna said, and with her head bowed, left him on the ledge.

&&&

Luna.

She felt his call but felt no need to answer it.

"Don't you, though?" Luna peered around quickly, and saw the green woman instantly.

"Hello, Desire."

"Hello, darling. Where's my ward, my keep?" Desire's lips were red and hot, and today, he/she was wearing, of all things, green-pinstripe and black, high spiked boots. Her teeth were like half-moons, and in his eyes, there was fire. In their walk, there was a flame, completely opposite to the poor shade of Harry.

"You mean Tom?" Luna asked, striding further away from her summons and ever closer to Death. She was going to free the unfortunate prisoner and end this madness once and for all.

"And who else would I be speaking of? Not you, ice-princess. Yes, my prized possession."

"He's certainly not yours."

"Oh, but he is. We have burned together for quite some time."

"But he is…in some ways loveless," she whispered the secret she had avoided hearing, and tapped on the circle of Cyprus, the greatest seal of all, where Death was being held. She had Apparated to the furthest left of their kingdom, where the yew trees never died. It was a place Tom had created himself, and now, she was to destroy it.

"Lovegood--oh, wait. Riddle get it into your head. Desire is not all about Lurve. It's about want and need, and dear, seeing everyone's eyes on you! You're like my brother, you are."

"Did you…Are Tom's actions your doing, Desire?"

"In part. But don't blame me. I influence. I don't command. Do you mortals always need a scrape-goat for your sins?"

Desire's hair turned silver, suddenly, as they entered the room together.

"I mean, I knew Lucifer very well, and the poor fool was the eternal scrapegoat. Rather like me. Now this…is interesting."

Tom had brought down the moon as their anniversary gift, and it hung among the yew like a star in a Christmas tree. Here, they controlled the tides together. Further along the edges, time was frozen. Nothing aged and nothing grew.

"This is the perfect place for a party," Desire commented.

"You sound as if you care nothing for your sister."

"Oh, I do care. Tom's not within my protection anymore," the Endless one said. "He is my little Ulysses, crossing boundaries and you know, in the end, he was destined to drown in the sea, just feet away from his heart's desire. Oh, man, I adored Ulysses. He screamed my name as the water filled his mouth."

Luna tried to stop listening to Desire, and made her way to the seal in the middle, the one with the Three Arrows. Death was frozen underneath the arrows, and if she could just…

"They still speak of the guy in your stories, all thanks to me. I am the true path of immortality, not my sister dearest down there. Then there was the Adam and Eve incident. Rather important on the scale of things."

"You're joking," Luna muttered.

"And Loki too. Those small gods were fun to play with. Do you know the important thing, though?"

"I have no idea," she said, reaching through the arrows and into the ice. It bit terribly, and she grimaced.

"Don't be so dull. I bring change. It's all me. If no one had had the urge, the desire to succeed, you'd all have died out long ago."

"Then why don't you protect Tom?"

"Because he's getting old."

Luna flicked her gaze up, and glared at the Endless one with unforeseen ferocity. "He is not! He's-."

She drew back as Desire lit a small flame in his hands, kneeling much closer than Luna's comfort would prefer.

"Because they burn out. All flames do. Those made for chaos, for nothingness, for precious, brittle nihilism burn out, and I try, I so try to make it a blaze of glory. Capturing Death…Nothing is better than that. It's my last gift to my favorite."

Luna and Desire met each other half way, it seemed, as one of Delirium's butterflies turned to ashes before her eyes. "Enjoy your clarity," Desire said. "For you can no longer escape to your mind. Bear the trials with your husband, as a good wife should."

With that, Desire flung the flame at the ice grave, and Luna barely withdrew her hands in time. The fire was black and bright, and soon, the ice was gone.

"Okay…" Death said, briefly, brushing off her jacket. "That was annoying. I should go thank my host. Where is the jerk?"

"Death," Luna cried out. "Desire was the one behind this ruse."

"No, just the influence," Death said, lightly and unforgivingly. "Honestly, you mortals rely too much on your excuses. We, the Endless, are there so you know the difference. If I did not exist, Life would be meaningless. If Delirium did not exist, there would be no true sanity, and no true escape from life. And if Dream didn't exist…"

The dark woman shuddered, and snapped her fingers. The ankh appeared in her fingers and she clasped her necklace around her neck, breathing a deep sigh.

"I'm feeling like myself again."

"Annoyingly perky," Desire said, though there was no malice in the tone.

"Ah, brother/sister. It's good to see you too."

"May I speak to Dream?" Luna asked, feeling panicky. Though he held his grudges, he understood Desire's methods. Perhaps, oh perhaps, there would be mercy.

"Good luck trying," Desire said, smirking. "He's not very talkative, or effective, or…oh, never mind. If I listed all his faults, we'd be here for centuries. Anyway, thanks, Luna darling, for having the desire to set Death free. Well, shall we?"

"Let's," Death replied, and they held hands as they disappeared, in a shadow of a raven and an eagle.

Luna watched them go, holding her heart as if in pain. In this place of endless time, she felt like she had aged just that—a century.

"What…what have you done?"

Tom stood in the doorway, and Luna winced at his expression. In the end, perhaps they do burn out after all, she thought, and waited.

It was all she could do at the moment as she watched Tom unsheathe his wand.

It was all she could do.