Draco's eyes flew open and closed it immediately after the glare of a bright light blinded him. "Ough." Draco grunted.
There was a sound of water sloshing around and a bright laugh following it. He opened his eyes again and saw a middle aged woman with red hair laughing uncontrollably and pointing at three people, two young adults and an older looking man, tramping out of the water, soaked heavily from head to toe. Draco was surprised to see himself being hugged and kissed by the woman with red hair who was still laughing at him.
"Don't be upset Darius, it was your first time! If anything, blame this on your father, he can't row a boat for the life of him." The woman said, going back into her fits of laughter.
Draco was confused, the teenage boy wasn't him, that was someone else that looked so much like him. Then it hit him. Darius was his son. The middle aged woman was no one else but his Jade. Draco's mouth dropped open and he stared at her, laughing so hard, she looked like she was about to cry.
The older man Draco realized was himself who hugged Jade tightly and dragged her to the shore, as she screamed in protest. He saw himself whisper something in her ear and plant a kiss on her lips, evoking sounds of disgust from their two children.
"That's just gross." Darius said, taking off his wet shirt and throwing it on a log. The young woman with honey blond hair was more beautiful than Draco could have imagined. His daughter sat next to her brother, looking worried.
"Where's Daniel? He told us he'd be back in a few minutes." She said looking back at the woods.
"Taking a shit takes a while, let him in peace. Every man needs his time in the toilet." Darius said, earning a back slap from his sister.
"Your family is beautiful." Someone said next to Draco. Draco jumped and looked to see Rosa sitting there with her legs crossed, looking entirely relaxed and peaceful.
"Rosa! What does this mean? Am I in the future now? Am I dead? What happened after I pushed her out of the way?" Draco asked. He didn't realize that he was dead…was this what happened to dead people after they had died? Rosa gave Draco an exaggerated shrug.
"Do you want to be dead?" she asked.
"Is that a joke?" Draco asked. Rosa laughed and clapped her hands together and looked back at Draco's family.
"You'd might want to look at that." Rosa said, pointing. Draco looked back at his family, seeing another man walking towards his family. He was around Draco's daughters age with a military haircut and a square face that smiled warmly when he saw Draco's daughter. Draco's daughter threw her arms around Daniel and kissed him.
"I missed you!" she exclaimed.
The older Draco didn't look too happy seeing that Daniel was back and neither did the younger Draco.
"I was wishing that he would have gotten lost in the woods." The older Draco said to Jade who lightly hit his shoulder and scoffed. Draco laughed at this and turned to Rosa who looked at him fondly. His laughter died down and he sat quietly, watching her. He realized that he wanted this more than he wanted anything in his life apart from Jade. This was the rest of his life.
"I want to make this happen. I want this future…I want her…I want my kids." He whispered. Rosa's eyes glittered with tears and she gave him a wide smile.
"Even Daniel?" she asked. Draco gave her a weak smile.
"If it makes my baby girl happy, I'll take Daniel." He said. Rosa let out a small laugh and leaned over, placing a kiss on his cheek.
"Now close your eyes and go back to sleep…or else your soul will forever weep."
Jade heard the door open and close softly. She didn't bother to look up at all, instead she held on to Draco's hands tightly, her head on his chest. A soft and slow beat perked Jade's ears and she looked up and slowly turned around to see the heartbeat monitor give off weak and slow beats, each getting stronger than the last. As she looked at the heartbeats get stronger, she felt her own heart start to climb out of its grave.
She heard a groan and Jade whipped back to Draco to see him open his eyes again, wincing in pain. She saw him look around and focus on her, giving her hint of a smile as she stared in bewilderment.
"We're going for 80." Draco said seeing her stare at him, puzzled and shocked. "Years? You seemed shocked." Draco struggled.
Jade slammed the button on Draco's bed to call for the Healer and stared at Draco who squeezed her hand with all the energy he had left in his body.
"I've always loved you… happy anniversary." He said seeing her start to cry and bring his hand to her lips. She nodded, unable to speak from the stunning miracle that happened right in front of her.
"80 years…I promise. Together." Jade said kissing his hands again.
The Healer walked in and saw that Draco's eyes were open. In his entire magical medical career, he had never seen something so miraculous. He was sure that Draco wasn't going to make it but somehow, he was still breathing and conscious like an ordinary man.
