Disclaimer: I do not own anything but dearest Death, Echo, and Meira.

Author Notes: I apologize about the shortness of this chapter, but it was necessary. I also am sorry to say this story is almost over. I never intended for it to be longer than five or so chapters, but with seven it shall end. I hope you all enjoy.

The Grape Vine

Chapter the Sixth

I curled up despondently on my bed, eyes closed and face buried in the plush material of one of my many pillows. One of my hands was curled loosely by my cheek, fingertips just barely covered by thick locks of blue black curls. My heart ached fiercely as I fought the tears threatening to soak into my cushion.

I have been witness to all the atrocities of human kind in the eons since they were created and my soul felt so weak, hopeless, that the once vivid spark within me long ago guttered, throwing my being into consuming dark. It had been so long since I had truly cried, the night Echo was murdered the first, and I craved the release letting my sorrows pour out of me would bring.

My heavy tears had escaped my lids twice before and the third time, for three is the most powerful of all numbers, would be for grief so strong, nations would crumble under the brunt. My free hand twisted into a fist as I swallowed a dry sob, although the hoarse, spirit wrenching noise could not be stifled.

So buried in my anguish of my haunted memories, I lay there in vain to hearing the pounding of fists against the door to my chambers. When that pitiful cry escaped from me the portrait of that faux Death sprang open and somebody ran urgently to my bedroom. It was not until a caring palm rested against a dry cheek that my eyes snapped open, raw agony in their tumulus depths.

An angel, a damned one for no blessed servant of the Creator had ever stepped foot on the polluted, wasted, tainted ground of earth, watched me in silent concern. I began to draw myself up into a sitting position, albeit a trembling one, when his arm slipped gingerly around my shoulders.

"Why do your eyes hold such impenetrable pain? Who has hurt you so to put such an emotion so near the surface there?" His face was so close to mine, our noses almost touching.

I swallowed heavily, ignoring the rolling illness manifesting in the pit of my stomach, and fought the pounding migraine rooting its toxic claws in my temples. "An eternity of sadness I cannot escape, mon ange." The look on his face compelled me to go on, but I would not sully a mortal as pure and untouched of the sulfuric stench of death.

I merely brought a trembling hand up to cup his cheek, thumb resting on the bottom of his lower lip. I would not permanently scar him with the darkness of my soul, no creature alive or dead deserved such a fate as the one I possessed.

Secretly I was glad he could not hear my thoughts and he merely pulled my trembling body closer to his as he sat on the edge of my bed. Gratefully I rested my head on his shoulder as my fragile form shook with the force of the sobs I kept within, refusing to let them rise to the exterior and loose the power they held.

He tangled his fingers with mine and brushed his lips against my forehead, absently humming something in the back of his throat. The soft, sweet melody began to banish the desolation of my soul to the far reaches of existence, replacing it with a pleasantly warm feeling of care.

A very quiet sigh escaped from me as I buried closer to him, eyes slipping closed as the bone numbing coldness within me started to thaw. I am unsure how long the two of us sat there, but if felt as if time had slowed to a stand still and was working its way as molasses through finely woven cheesecloth. Slowly he drew away and brushed a loose curl out of my face, smiling tenderly.

"Would you like to go get something to eat?"

"Why is it," I murmured softly, "men always seem to ruin the moment with their stomachs?" I slipped off of the bed and gathered the hair that fell around me, settling it so it fell down my back. "But yes, I would quite like that."

And so he too rose from the bed, intertwined our hands and led me from the room. As my feet stepped over the threshold, I could not help but feel as if a chapter of my barren life was closing and a far more fruitful one was birthed. Perhaps the torment of the past eons could be ended and my existence would be granted a sliver of saving light.

Little of what happened in the following weeks is greatly important to the body of my tale, but let it be known that I did truly fall for that amazingly perfect mortal as he slowly let more and more of his own soul be revealed. In the beginning it was only that someone took the time to care, but slowly it grew and blossomed into something far stronger than anything I ever experienced with Nicholas.

Mere words alone are unable to express the depth of emotion we felt and sheer joy suffuses me, even now when it is nothing more than a distant memory, each time I remember. Winter soon melted into spring and this is where my direct narrative will begin once more.

I could not recall a period that I had been so amazingly content in all the eons I had walked the earth. Where I went, he came and the places he ventured, I followed. Night had fallen, wrapping her dark arms around the castle of Hogwarts, bathing it in tempting oblivion few ever truly witnessed. Draco and I sat high in one of the towers, watching the world below us in silent joy.

We had no need to communicate verbally; all that was necessary to say was understood through simple gestures. A soft breeze fluttered in around us and he slipped an arm tightly around my waist, our bodies pressed closely together. I remember him speaking one time on those who shared his bed. He told me that after the act had been finished, they were turned away and often times ignored.

He did not spend long wooing them, believing they were not worth the effort. At first I began to turn away when he spoke like that, thinking that was all he wanted from me. Upon his fervent, desperate pleas I remained and the rest was explained to me. He believed what he felt for me to be different, never had he felt the desire to make sure I was pleased with whatever was happening.

First and foremost he wanted me to be happy and then he in turn would feel the same. I sighed softly and snuggled closer to his side, gratefully inhaling the exotic scent he was never without. A warm chuckle sounded from above me and I slowly pulled away, head tilted to the side in mild confusion.

"What is it, love?" I murmured.

"You were snuffling my neck."

I felt no shame at my actions and merely shrugged. "Your point? You smell wonderfully and it is my right in our courtship to take the liberty of indulging in smelling you any time I wish."

He ran one of his well manicured hands through my hair before gently pressing his mouth against mine; effectively cutting anything else I wished to say off. A little shiver clutched at the base of my spine as our bodies instinctively moved closer.

As our encounter grew more heated, it came to the point where one of us usually pulled away, ending it before we lost the ability of rational thought. Deep within me I knew that the time of mass death was so close I shuddered at its nearness.

These treasured moments might be the last ones we would ever share together and I knew that while he would never force me into anything, he wanted to go farther than kissing and touching. His hands, which had been resting tightly on my hips, began to unconsciously slide beneath the thin hem of my shirt.

Instead of lightly slapping them away and drawing back, I shifted. His palms were suddenly on the lower parts of my ribcage and he reeled backwards in surprise. I merely smiled to him, a very faint blush staining my cheek bones. Someone on my face must have answered his question because his eyes widened a mere fraction and his arms were around me again.

I will never forget that night, those last hours spent in his loving embrace and the consequences I soon faced because of it. I only wish we had known what was to occur in the following day.

While this seems pointless fluff, it is relatively important…In a way most likely only I see.

Your Lord and Master;

Foamy the Squirrel