Loss

by Breninblack

Disclaimer: All belongs to the ever-wonderful JKR.

Chapter Notes: Thank you to all the wonderful people who reviewed! I love you so much! All...five of you! Thank you! (Comments to reviewers are at the end.)

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but this story is inspired by a scene in Xylodemon's H/D fic Phoenix Song. If you haven't read it before, you should SERIOUSlY check it out. It is probably my favorite fic ever.

Chapter Seven

Draco walked numbly towards Dumbledore's office. Along the way he ran into Pansy, who immediately latched onto his arm and began to coo at him. He shrugged her off forcibly and she scampered away looking extremely put off. When he arrived at the Gargoyle, he muttered the password, walked up the stairs and through the wooden door. He had only been in Dumbledore's office once before and that time had been brief. However, the office remained the same as he had last seen it, except for the two large arm chairs seated on either side of Dumbledore's desk. Draco plopped into the blue chair in front of the desk.

This was all his fault, really. If he had been paying attention during that quidditch match, he would have seen those bludgers coming and he would have not been hit, and he wouldn't have gone into a coma and he wouldn't have met Sirius or have ever found out about the horrible thing his father had done or about Srren. He wouldn't have ever had told Harry about the other place because he wouldn't have known about it.

Then he remembered what Hermione had said, up in the hospital wing. You're worse than your father. Was he that bad? Was he really worse than his father? Right about now, Harry's little stunt didn't seem like all that bad an idea. Dumbledore would be here soon and surely it wouldn't take that long to talk to him. He'd be out of here in an hour tops. Chances are he'd get the day off classes too . . . he could just go back to the cliff and no one would notice he was gone until tomorrow in classes, at the earliest.

Just then Dumbledore came into the room. He walked swiftly over to the desk and took a seat in the green plush chair behind the desk, across from Draco. He laced his fingers together and let his elbows rest on the arms of the chair. After a few moments of regarding Draco, he finally spoke.

'Mr. Malfoy, I assume you know why I have brought you up here?'

Draco nodded.

'Would you care to explain what happened?'

Draco shook his head.

'Mr. Malfoy, I'm afraid that it most necessary that you tell me what happened. The life of a student is at stake here and I need to know what exactly happened to him. I would appreciate it if you told me what you know.'

Draco bit his lip. He knew if he allowed himself to say one word everything would come pouring out. All the instincts instilled in him as a child told him that confiding in this muggle loving fool was a bad idea.

'It's my fault, sir. If I hadn'tve said anything, Potter probably wouldn't have jumped.'

'Why do you say that?'

'I was showing off during that quidditch match and I didn't see those bludgers coming. While I was asleep, my soul was separated from my body. I met my brother, Srren, and Sirius, Potter's godfather. When I woke up, I met Potter at the cliffs - on accident - and I passed along a message from his godfather. He must have jumped because he thought he could reach Sirius.'

'Do you think he could?' Dumbledore asked.

'Well, I suppose so. From what I learned from my brother it seems that all you have to do is induce a coma. In theory, your body and soul will separate and you'd be free to roam with the other spirits.'

Dumbledore remained silent for a moment, looking blank except for the slight glint in his eye. 'I remember your brother Srren. He attended Hogwarts, however the summer afterwards, he disappeared without a trace. No one has seen hide nor hair of him since.'

Draco wondered what the point of that statement was. Did the Headmaster not know what had happened? Had he really believed it was an accident like everyone said it was? 'Do you not know what happened to him, sir?'

Dumbledore shook his head. 'No, I'm afraid I don't. Your father was, and still is, a very powerful man. He claimed that his son Srren had gotten lost during a stay at his Grandmother's after he graduated. They appeared to be quite distraught and claimed to have organized a search party to go out and look for him and no one was in a position to argue. I myself did not buy the story, after all Srren was a very smart young man and he would not go and get himself lost while exploring the countryside. But after months of seeking for him to no avail, they called the search off and asked that no one speak of him, on the grounds that Narcissa was quite fragile about the whole situation. I believe after you were old enough to understand what was going on around you, they began denying his existence all together.'

'That's pretty much exactly what Srren said. They made up this huge, elaborate story about how he got lost in the woods at our Grandmother's house and how they were so very upset about it. But there wasn't a search party like they said. There wasn't any attempt to bring him back from wherever he had gone because my father was the one who put him there.'

'That, in particular, is what I am so curious about.'

'Well, you know that veil that's now property of the Department of Mysteries?'

'Indeed.'

'Before it was there, it was in my father's house. It was something that the Dark Lord had made for himself. However, he had no where to keep it – the Riddle Manor was not somewhere to keep things of such great value where they could be easily stolen. So the Dark Lord had my father store it for safe keeping.

'When the Dark Lord wished for Srren to be marked, Srren refused. They got into a row about it and it led to my father body-binding Srren and pushing him through the veil. Srren's been stuck there ever since. He seems to think there's a way back; he said all the other spirits talked about it.'

'This is all very interesting. I would like to thank you, Mr. Malfoy, for sharing this information with me.'

Draco nodded.

'Very well, you can return to your house, if you'd like. If you remember anything else, feel free to share it with me. I'm giving you the rest of the day off in light of the recent tragedy. Use it wisely.'

'Yes, sir,' Draco said as he rose and walked to the door.

'And Draco?' Dumbledore called out. 'Remember, It wasn't your fault.'

€€€€€

There he was. He looked just like Harry had remembered him. His scraggly hair hanging over his shoulders. His worn black pants and shirt. Harry couldn't believe it. There he was. It hurt so much. He was afraid he was dreaming or something and that he wasn't really looking at his godfather, that his godfather wasn't really there. Harry could feel the tears running down his face but he didn't care. He ran up to his godfather and gave him a long hug.

'Harry, what are you doing here?'

'To see you, of course!'

'But why?'

'Aren't you glad to see me?'

'I'm always glad to see you! But you're here, which means . . . Harry, what have you done?'

Harry frowned. 'I thought you'd be happy to see me.'

'Harry, of course I'm happy to see you! I'm always happy to see you! I watch you all the time, though I suppose you don't know I'm there. But, Harry, this isn't the real world . . . this is . . . another place entirely. You'd have to be disconnected from your body to be here. I'm not that important.'

'Yes you are.'

'No, Harry. I am not worth risking your life over.'

'I can go back if I want. Malfoy did.'

'Oh. So you talked to Draco, eh?'

'Yeah. He told me what you said and I missed you so much and I wanted to see you again.'

Sirius sat down on the couch. 'I didn't think that you'd try to . . . How 'd you do it?'

'What? Get here? Jumped off a cliff.'

'What? Harry, are you crazy?' Sirius exclaimed.

'How else was I supposed to do it?'

Sirius went thoughtful for a moment. 'I suppose you're right.'

'I came here for a reason though. Other than just to see you again.'

'Oh? What's that?'

'I'm going to find a way to bring you back,' Harry said, quite pleased with himself.

'Come sit down,' Sirius said as he patted the couch next to him. 'Harry, I'm sorry but there isn't a way to do that. I'm stuck here.'

'But Draco came back, so you should be able to come back too!'

'Draco had a body to come back to. I lost mine when I went through the veil.'

'What?'

'When you go through a veil, Harry, your body and your soul separate. That's how you end up here. This is where lost souls go. I don't know what happens to your body once you lose it, but I haven't been able to find mine. Draco got knocked unconscious by those bludgers and the impact separated his body and soul. But the Headmaster and Madame Pomfery collected his body before anything could happen to it and took care of it. That's how he was able to go back and that's how you're going to go back.'

'Are you trying to tell me you've just given up? You're just going to stop trying? Come on, Sirius, don't you want to come back? I bet Remus here misses you something fierce! Look, even he's doing research!'

'Harry, I've looked a thousand times and a thousand times more. I've never found anything indicating how you can come back.'

'I need to go find Draco,' Harry said abruptly. He closed his eyes and pictured Draco.

When he opened his eyes again, it took him a minute to recognize his surroundings. He hadn't thought of a specific place, he had only thought of Draco and he wasn't sure if would work. But here he was, in Dumbledore's office and he could hear two voices — Dumbledore's and Draco's. He walked over to the desk at which they sat and listened to the conversation.

.'I remember your brother Srren,' said Dumbledore. 'He attended Hogwarts, however the summer afterwards, he disappeared without a trace. No one has seen hide nor hair of him since.'

'Do you not know what happened to him, sir?'

Harry listened as Draco explained about his brother. He had always assumed that Draco's arrogance was due in part to his status as an only child. In a way, it still was, considering that Draco had never met this Srren character until now.

'Well, you know that veil that's now property of the Department of Mysteries?' Draco was saying.

'Indeed,' replied Dumbledore.

'Before it was there, it was in my father's house. It was something that the Dark Lord had made for himself. However, he had no where to keep it – the Riddle Manor was not somewhere to keep things of such great value where they could be easily stolen. So the Dark Lord had my father store it for safe keeping.

'When the Dark Lord wished for Srren to be marked, Srren refused. They got into a row about it and it led to my father body-binding Srren and pushing him through the veil. Srren's been stuck there ever since. He seems to think there's a way back; he said all the other spirits talked about it.'

That was it! Harry punched the air in excitement. All he needed to do now was to get to Malfoy Manor.

A/N: So there it is! Another chapter. The reason I was able to upload so fast is because I have up to roughly chapter eight 1/2 already written, so it's merely a matter of going through and doing some editing, adding and rewriting (though not necessarily in that order). I hope you enjoyed it!

Notes to my reviewers:
CommaSplice: Thanks again for that note! I love you lots for taking the time to write all that!
Apple2: I'm glad you like the story! I will definitely keep writing.
I-am-not-a-flower: I love your s/n! Is it referencing something, or did you just come up with it yourself? Thanks for the comment!
Volleypickle16: Sorry I didn't reply to your comment sooner! Thanks for taking the time to review.
JitsaruJakara: Your comment made me laugh out loud and the people around me were all looking at me funnily. . I will definitely keep updating if only so I don't have to attend your funeral and so I can keep getting great comments from you. As for your question: I don't know much of anything about astral planes, however will definitely be looking into it. Who knows, it may even make it into the story!

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! It's tremendous motivation to keep writing when I know that people actually enjoy my work!

Next Chapter: Harry goes looking for Malfoy Manor and ends up in a field.