COME AROUND
Disclaimer: It sucks to have to admit it, but Draco Malfoy does not belong to me. JK Rowling, baby, we all know that!
Author's Note: I am at the end. I'm sorry for the long wait. Things have gone on, you know. But the time it's taken to produce this is just unforgivable, and I apologize. In fact, I highly doubt anyone's reading this, so there's no need for apologies, now, right? I feel like I owe you all an explanation, but I guess it'll suffice to say that I just...lost it. I'm sorry for the long wait. Really. I'm sorry for the bad writing, too. I've been on hiatus for almost a year.

For Cam, my soul sister. You are stellar. I wish you were still with us, but where you are must be a better place. I love you.

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She was beautiful in her pristine white dress. Serene, elegant, ethereal, a sight to behold. He blinked back the tears that were beginning to cloud his eyesight. A reassuring hand grasped his as the gap between them was slowly ebbing. It was his father's hand. He looked at the intertwined palms, and then into his father's own gray eyes, and nodded in appreciation. It was probably the most encouragement he'd ever received from Lucius.

The chamber was illuminated with countless white candles, and lilies decorated the pews.

This was exactly what she wanted their wedding to be like, and as Draco ran his fingers lightly over her pale, perfect ones, he thought he could feel his heart shattering into an infinite number of pieces. It was irreparable. The damage he'd done to himself, the damage he'd done to her. He would never be able to atone for all of it. The ego, the cruelty, the heartlessness, she would never know how sorry he was.

Because she was dead.

And his dress was the last dress she would ever wear.

The floodgates burst, and Draco could no longer trap the anguished sobs that threatened to consume him. She was gone. She had tried to tell him all along that she would be going. She had wanted to spend her last few days with him, and what had he done? Spitefully left her letters unopened. The guilt had been overwhelming. Countless times, he wished he'd let his pride die instead of allowing his love to take its place.

What was pride now? There was nothing to live for. Cho was gone. "We knew it would happen someday, Draco," Cho's mother spoke quietly into his ear, trying to pull him away. He angrily shoved her arm off his own. He didn't want to hear her. He didn't want to hear the truth. He would never be able to fight the truth.

He'd read it all in the letters. About how Cho had been diagnosed with Blackfan Diamond anemia at birth. About how her blood would never be enough to support her life systems. About how the medication worked, and then failed. They'd even tried Muggle surgery, and it had been a failure.

Draco looked back on all the times they'd been together. How he'd dismiss how tired she would become after so short a time. He could remember being concerned about her fainting spells, but she'd casually shrugged them off.

He could wish all he wanted, but nothing would bring her back.

He could wish that he'd cared more. He could wish that he'd told her how he felt about her. He could wish that he took another chance on her. He could wish for so many things. But nothing would mean anything. No wishes, no regrets, nothing would change the fact that she was no longer with him.

Nothing would change the fact that he'd completely shut her out when she needed him the most. She died, not knowing how much he'd loved her, without saying goodbye, but that hadn't been her fault.

No, the fault was his.

Her pale face glowed in the candlelight. He hated it. He hated the illusion of life. If he kissed her, would she wake? He almost believed she would. Her lips glistened red, her cheeks blushed pink, and she looked so peaceful that he could have believed she was sleeping.

Yes, she was sleeping. She was only asleep, his Cho. She would get up soon. She would open her eyes, and they would laugh about the joke she'd pulled on him, and he wouldn't even scold her for tricking him into coming back. Because he'd realized how much he loved her and how much he needed her and how sorry he was that he'd treated her so badly.

And then they would get married and they would have so many beautiful children running around Maison Malfoy. Maybe some would have his gray eyes. Maybe some would have her ebony hair. Her brilliant, loving smile.

"Wake up, Cho," he whispered, almost inaudibly. "Wake up, please? I've been waiting for you."

There was nothing. Not the slightest movement. Not the feeblest sound. Nothing.

"GODDAMNIT, CHO, WAKE UP!" he cried, distressed, and weakly entreating her to come back to life. "Wake up, please wake up, please, I'm sorry, I'll never do it again, please wake up, please, please," he mumbled, nearly incoherent, bent and embracing her lifeless form. "Please Cho, please, for the love of Merlin and Hogwarts and butterbeers and the sky and the stars and the moon and the sea and camellias and jasmine and chocolate and kisses and everything we've ever loved together, please, please, please! I can't live without you."

They tried, ever so gently, to take him away at that moment, but Lucius convinced them to relent.

Draco wept for hours.

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They buried her the next morning. The sun washed everything in golden light, and a mild breeze kept everyone cool. Draco stood at the back, hearing her voice speak to him in his head.

When I look at the sky, be it day or night, I feel like I'm flying. Like I'm up there, somewhere, and I can see everyone else. I can see everything. I soar through the clouds, and shine like the sun, the moon, and the stars, and no one can stop me. I'm free. And sometimes, I look up at the sky and sense someone watching me. Watching over me. Always. Looking out for me, caring for me, and it's just a comfort to know that there will always be something there. The sky is always there, Draco. Even when my family's not there, when you're not there, it'll be there. It'll be there when I'm not here, anymore. It'll still be here, forever and ever, until the end of the world, for generations of dreamers to come. Dreamers like me. Lovers like us, who will look up at it and talk about things like this. And other things, too. People who will come to understand each other, and love each other completely, under the influence of this great canvas of colours, blues, whites, blacks, violets, oranges, yellows. The sky is beautiful. The sky is beauty, and the sky is love. The sky is memory. The sky is everything, Draco. It's everything to me, and I love it, I will always love it.

He placed a single red rose at the foot of her tombstone. And then he looked up at the sky. He knew that he would always love her. It would never really heal. She was too much a part of him for the pain to go away. But they would always be together in dreams. He smiled.

And later that night, he joined her in his slumber.

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Author's Note: I'm sure nobody liked the way it ended. But this was how it had been planned from the start. Look, I even did my research on the disease! Hahaha. Well. Tell me what you think, alright? I guess now's the time to say thank you to everyone. THANK YOU. You have no idea how fulfilling writing this has been, because of you guys. Even if I hate the pairing. Still do, by the way. Eleven chapters couldn't change that. But I love you all. Thank you. :)