Loss

by Breninblack

Disclaimer: All belongs to the ever-wonderful JKR.

Chapter Notes: I sincerely apologize for the brevity of this chapter and the delay in its uploadation (is that even a word? Spell check thinks not). It's ridiculously short and that's because I haven't had much time to write because my grandmother came for a visit this week (she was here for four days) and it's universally understood that when relatives come to stay, you are required to spend nearly all, if not the entirety of your free time with them. Moreover, it's been REALLY hot here - in the upper nineties - and I've been trying to spend as much time in the air-conditioned rooms of the house as possible. But you probably don't care, so I'll stop rambling and let you get on with the chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen: Don't Deconstruct

Judging from picture books,
apparently Heaven is a partly cloudy place.
And if the sky opened up and they let you in,
and gave you a formal invitation,
would you go?

When Harry awoke, he was alone. There was a depression in the bed next to him where Draco had been lying, now vacant and cold.

Harry grappled for his glasses and put them on. The rusty watch on his wrist said four o'clock and Harry groaned. Remus was due in an hour and he hadn't even begun to clean up. Not to mention he needed a shower. He reeked of sex.

Getting out of bed, Harry made a bee line for the shower. He figured he could be done in half an hour and still have time to clean up the room before his former professor arrived.

When he walked out of the bathroom sometime later, clad in only a towel and trying to get the water out of his ear, he was confronted by the most alarming sight of Remus, Draco, Hermione, Ron and Dumbledore seated around their round table, apparently waiting for him.

Harry nearly dropped his towel in surprise. He gaped for a few minutes, staring in compete paralyzing shock at his loved ones. Remus was looking rather amused, as was Draco. Hermione was blushing a rather curious shade of pink, Ron was looking duly embarrassed and steadfastly staring at the table, and Dumbledore was offering him a lemon drop as if nothing were amiss.

'Right. I'll just be going back into that room now. Don't mind me at all,' Harry said sheepishly, quickly backing up into the bathroom.

A few minutes later, after Draco had brought him some clothes, he reentered the room, this time suitably more clothed and less caught off guard.

'Has someone died, or are we all just gathering around to have tea and a quick chat?' Harry asked as he sat down.

'Harry!' Hermione chided, slapping him on the shoulder. 'You shouldn't joke about things like that!'

'We are gathered here for a variety of reasons,' Dumbledore said. 'Mr Lupin because he has been aiding your research. I because I am most curious about the ordeal. And Miss Granger and Mr Weasley because they wished to see you off.'

'I looked into the list of aurors missing and consulted with the elder Mr Malfoy and his partner, which was an odd experience. Working with someone who doesn't really exist can make you feel a bit mad.'

'How many people?' Harry asked.

'The initial list was well over 500, but we've narrowed it down to less than a tenth of that. 42, to be exact.'

'Okay. So we've got a list. We just have to do it now,' Harry said affirmatively.

'Not quite,' Remus said. 'There are some things that haven't been discussed yet.'

'Like how you're going to get back,' Hermione said.

'Or how you're even gonna find these people,' Ron offered.

'Okay . . . so how do we find them?' Harry asked impatiently. The more they sat around talking, the thinner his courage was waning.

'We don't know exactly. We figure they're probably sorted by name or the date they were separated. I've included both on your list.'

'And how do we get back?'

'We're still a little fuzzy on that. No one's ever tried this before, but Srren and Gus said that you have to perform a Triton spell.

'A Triton spell!' Hermione exclaimed, standing up. 'That's something they don't even teach level five Aurors! It's highly classified magic! Not to mention extremely unsafe and ridiculously difficult! They could die!'

'I'd never heard of it before they mentioned it. It is indeed classified magic, something only attempted by highly trained professionals and, of course, dark wizards.'

'So basically what you're all saying is that he and the ferret have to travel to some other level of existence, somehow find and release some 40 odd people to God only knows where and then try to return by performing a dark curse strictly limited to only the highest level of aurors?' Ron asked incredulously. 'You're bloody mad! The whole lot of you!'

'Ron, don't be so upset. We'll be fine,' Harry said, attempting to placate him.

'To be frank, I don't give a pixie's arse what happens to the spawn of Satan's right-hand man,' Ron said. 'You are my best friend, Harry. I can't let you risk everything.'

'Would you stop the heroics already!' Draco exclaimed. 'Don't you realize that he'll still do this if it kills him? Nothing you or I say or do is going to make him change his mind. So you might as well give him your blessing, so that if God forbid something does happen to him your last words to him wouldn't be angry ones.'

Ron narrowed his eyes at Draco. He appeared to be considering his enemy's suggestion, however reluctant. Finally he spoke: 'Since when do you care so much about Harry's welfare?'

Harry felt Draco step closer to him, but just as he did, Harry scooted his chair forward, further away from Draco. Ron appeared not to have noticed, but Hermione was looking at him with a furrowed brow and Remus with a sad expression on his face. Dumbledore, however, remained his goofy, aloof self.

To Draco's credit, he let it slide. He asked Remus how to perform the Triton spell and in return he received a page of written instructions. He thanked Remus, went to one of the bookshelves and retrieved the steel orb.

'Well,' he said, placing the orb on the table. 'Best to get it over with. Are you ready, Harry?'

Harry, feeling guilty and eager to get out of the stuffy room, agreed immediately. He stood next to Draco and took a deep breath.

This was it. The moment of truth. He had decided that now was not the time to be thinking about what would happen if this didn't work, but rather to be focusing on being able to physically hug his godfather again.

With a goodbye to his loved ones that was assured to be temporary, Harry closed his eyes and he and Draco pressed the top of the steel orb.

Then everything went black.

€€€€€

Harry found himself awaking for the second time that day. Only this time he couldn't figure out where he was. Maybe it was because he was surrounded by white puffs of what looked like cotton candy (and smelled like fresh linen) or maybe it was the fact that he was now dressed in all white, but something told him he wasn't in Kansas anymore.

'Draco?' he called out. 'Where are you?'

He looked around wildly for Draco, but all he saw was an endless expanse of white.

There was a groan from a few feet away and Harry crawled toward it, his knees sinking into the cloudlike substance to an unseen solid surface. He found Draco lying on his back, holding his head gingerly.

'Draco, are you okay?' Harry asked.

'My head . . . ' Draco groaned, his eyes screwed shut. 'I think I had too much to drink last night.'

'Drake, you didn't have anything to drink last night.'

Draco opened one eye. 'What did you say?'

Harry chuckled and shook his head. 'Nope. No drinking for at least 48 hours. If not longer.'

'Then why the hell is my bloody head throbbing like a drum?'

'Let me take a look at it,' Harry said, gently lifting Draco's head and inspecting it. He was no mediwitch, but he'd taken a first-aid course over the summer, so he knew what to look for. 'No bumps or bleeding. Must be a concussion.'

Draco sat up slowly and looked around. 'Where the fuck are we?' he exclaimed, taking in the whiteness around them. 'And what the fuck are we wearing?'

Draco was wearing all white, too: white leather pants and a two-sizes-too-small T-shirt. Harry looked down at his own clothes and found he was wearing a sleeveless fishnet top and similarly tightfitting pants. Bewildered, all he could was shrug.

There was an awkward moment of silence while Harry looked at Draco and Draco looked at his hands.

'Well,' he said, abruptly getting up on his feet. 'We should try to figure out where we are and what we're doing here.'

'We were trying to get to the place where all the veil victims' bodies are stored,' Harry said. 'But this doesn't look like the right place.'

'Right,' Draco said. He looked around and decided on his left and said, 'Let's go this way.'

He started walking and Harry tried to catch up. Moving quickly in this weird cloudy stuff was increasingly difficult; it was like trying to run through water. They walked for what seemed like an hour making no progress; there seemed to be only whiteness everywhere. Harry was starting to get a little worried, thinking maybe this hadn't been such a good idea.

Suddenly he walked right into Draco, who had apparently come to a stop.

'Shit,' Draco said.

Harry looked up and immediately swore as well. There was a large whooshing sound and the set of pearly white gates that stood before them opened up.

A/N: Please don't kill me! O.O

I got reviews, babe:
fifespice: thanks for the review!
volleypickle16: Hey another great review! ;)
JitsaruJakara: Ooh, thankies! I may have some pretty good lines, but you know who has some of the best? Snippy-And-Snarky. Their fic Trading Spaces is one of the funniest fics I have ever read. I was literally in tears when I read parts of it. It was great. As for the duct tape and chickens? I've never heard of that combination before...maybe we should try it out sometimes. . and you're right. Harry is an insomniac. Sometimes. ;)
Peaceful Angel: I'm glad you think the sex scene was believeable. It felt a little short, but I wanted to test the waters before I tried anything too extravagant. I hope you like this chapter! I love getting your reviews!
GoldilocksIsBack: Thanks for the review! I love Harry/Draco and Sirius/Remus, too. I'm actually planning on writing another fic that will be mainly Sirius/Remus after this one is done. You should keep a watch out for it...:D

Next Chapter: Ooh, baby do you know what that's worth? Ooh, heaven is a place on earth. They say in heaven love comes first. We'll make heaven a place on earth . . .