Author's Notes: Just a warning: there are two chapters after this until the end. Just so none of you go into shock or anything. And, um, thanks for the reviews.

Disclaimer: See part one.

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They are trying to stop him from getting to her. Spirits swarm around him, pressing him back, but he is stubborn. He pushes on. He can see some of his fellow Necromancers in the crowd, calling out for him to stop, but he ignores them. Why should he not?

His daughter is waiting for him. He can see the doorway now, tendrils of smoky darkness escaping it, adding to the grime of the spirit lands. They are tugging him back, but slowly he progresses towards the door. He reaches out, touches the darkness, is almost through the doorway when some magical force shoves him back. Spirits melt into nothingness around him, reappearing as he hits the cold earth.

He tries again, and again is thrown backwards. He looks around frantically for the Necromancers, who he thinks may be able to tell him what has happened. But they have gone, and none of the spirits will meet his eyes.

"Please," he cries out desperately. "Please, someone, help me!" There is no answer, only a faint murmuring from somewhere. He shakes his head. "Please..." A flash of light, and he finds himself in the Halls of the Creators.

"No!" he screams. "No, take me back, let me go back, I have to find her!" Is and Ever are walking towards him, and he can't see Was and Never.

"Harry, calm," Is soothes. "Take deep breaths. Calm down."

"Calm down? Calm down?" Harry is hysterical. "How do you expect me to calm down? They have them, the Others have them, and she said that I can't have them back, and I need..." Tears are running down his face. "I need..."

They embrace him. "We know," one of them - he can't see which - murmurs. "We understand, Harry." And he cries. "We know it isn't easy for you."

"No," he mutters. "No, it won't happen. I won't let her stay there."

"But you cannot bring her out," Ever reminds him, oh-so-gently. "It would give the Others passage into the mortal world, and we cannot allow that."

"But I have to do something," he says helplessly. "I *have* to, don't you see? She's my daughter, she's my little one..."

"And the other?" Is inquires carefully. "The other mortal, Draco Malfoy. You want him with you also." He nods. "But what if you could have but one, Harry?"

He shakes his head. "No, I can't accept that. Please, can't you do anything?"

They break away from him abruptly. "We cannot," Ever tells him regretfully. "Only Never can curb the Others now, and Never is..." It shakes its head. "That would be very hard for it just now," it completes tactfully.

He reaches out and grabs Ever. It stares at him in surprise. "I don't care about how hard it would be for Never," he growls. "Find it. Take me to it - right now - or I swear, I will pull Nathalie out of there and damn the world."

"No, Harry." Was's voice, coming from behind him, is like a whiplash. "I know you better than that, much to my chagrin. I know that you wouldn't do that."

"I would," he states. "If there's no other way to get Nathalie and Draco back."

"But there is. Or weren't you listening to Is and Ever? Never can stop the Others and make them voluntarily give back Nathalie and Draco."

"From what people have been telling me, Never is out of action right now," he retorts. "Or were they wrong?"

"If anyone can snap it out of it, it's you, Harry," Was reminds him. "It loves you."

"None of you are capable of love," he snarls. "And I was stupid to think you were." He holds up his hand to show Was the gold band there. "You see this? This is love. This is what love is. Commitment, and trust, and equality. And do you know who gave this to me?" A part of his mind, the rational part, knows that they do know, that they know everything, but he has to speak. "Draco gave this to me ten years ago, when we married."

"Harry."

"And I can't let him go again," he continues, not hearing - not caring - about whoever spoke his name. "I can't, and I won't let Nathalie go, she's only nine, for Christ's sake, she never asked to be this...Chaotic portal thing."

"Harry."

"I need them," he whispers. "I need them to keep me alive."

"HARRY!" He turns, and Never is there, a stricken expression on his face. "Harry, please. Don't say things like that."

"They're true," he whispers. "Can you help?"

"I'm not sure," Never admits. "I can stop the Others, I can take off their spells, but...but Nathalie is naturally a Chaotic portal, it's what she is. I don't know if I can get her out, even with the spells disabled."

"Get her out."

"Harry..."

"No, Never." He is adamant on this point. "You say you love me. So prove it. Get her out of there, and get Draco out too."

"Draco is easy," it sighs. "But Nathalie...you have to understand this, Harry. If I pull her out , it might kill her. If I go in and try to push her out, it certainly will kill her. The Others have tied part of her to their domain. To take her away from that would be the same as ripping her in half."

He shudders. "What can I do? There must be something I can do."

"Harry..." Never shakes its head. "I can't...if I tell you the only way to get her out with no risks, you'll do it, and I don't...

"Tell me," he demands. "I need to know - and you have no right to keep this from me, Never."

"Harry, patience," Is gently remonstrates. "This is no easy thing to tell."

"What is it?" he demands wildly. "What can be worse than the knowledge that if I do nothing, she is going to die?"

"There is a way for her to be saved, as Never said." Ever glides in front of Never serenely. "It is very dangerous, Harry. For her to leave the domain of the Others...you must remain there." He stiffens in shock. "Her blood flows in you also," Ever continues. "If you stay, it is the equivalent of part of her staying."

"I..." He has no words.

"That is not all," Was takes over, speaking ruthlessly. "You must go into the Abyss."

He jerks backward in horror and fear. "You...you can't be serious."

"Deadly serious, Harry." Was looks almost sorry for him. Is and Ever are silent, bright beacons that will not save him. And Never...Never is weeping, spilling tears that Creators have never and should never have in their beings.

"You must choose, Harry," Is tells him finally. "You do not have long. The Others are almost beyond stopping."

"How can I choose?" he whispers. "There is no choice." He looks at Never. "Stop them." Never nods, and disappears.

"What will you do, Harry?" Ever wants to know.

He shivers; he feels cold, but he knows it has nothing to do with the heat here. "You know what I will do, Ever," he tells it. "You have always known." He closes his eyes. The three Creators look at each other, and shake their heads. Yes, they have always known, but they still wish they could do something about it.

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To be continued.