A/N: New chapter, new chapter! I'm not sure if this will be the last chapter or not. I guess we'll see! Adios!

-CatJetRat

Chapter 8

Of Hopes and Dreams

Epilogue

Normal POV

Harry crept from his bed, careful not to wake his roommates, and donned his invisibility cloak. He walked quickly and quietly down the stairs, and entered the common room. The dying fire illuminated Hermione, passed out on the couch, resting her face against a book. Harry grinned, knowing how horrified Hermione would be in the morning after seeing the crinkled pages.

He opened the portrait and walked out, glancing behind him once. The Fat Lady was gone. Hopefully she'd be there by the time he got back. He wasn't even sure why he was going on this insane venture. Just because Draco—Malfoy, Malfoy—had asked him to didn't mean that he should. It could be a trap for all he knew.

But something compelled him to walk on, to leave the school, press the knob on the Whomping Willow with a stick, and disappear into the tree. His heart leapt as he remembered that he and the marauders had carved their initials into one of the walls of the Shrieking Shack. Hopefully he'd get a chance to look at it.

When he got to the Shack, Draco was examining the place, a distasteful look on his face. Harry grinned.

"I'll bet your place is a bit more posh, is it?" Harry said.

Draco jumped, but quickly brushed away his surprise. "Certainly," he said in a dignified voice, one that made Harry's smile widen.

"So why'd you want to meet me here?" he asked, walking over to the wall where he and the others had carved their names. Smiling at the mystery of it all, he traced the faded letters of his father's name, as well as his own.

Draco shook his head. "I'll tell you in a moment," he said. "First—there's something Professor Snape told me that I think you should know." And, as Harry listened in rapt attention, Draco laid out the time paradox.

"We created ourselves," he whispered. "Wow." It made his heart ache, however, as he realized what James had sacrificed to give birth to him. He lowered his gaze.

"So your dad was a Death Eater because my dad broke his heart?" Harry said, frowning. "That…well, frankly that sucks."

Draco laughed briefly and sighed. "And it's all our fault," he murmured.

"Mine more than yours," Harry said bluntly. "I was the one who got us sent back in the first place."

"Yeah, but if you hadn't, we would be nonexistent," Draco pointed out, and Harry grimaced.

"I don't know how to feel about this," he shuddered. "I'd rather not think about it right now, if that's okay."

"Sure," Draco said.

"So why'd you originally want me here?" Harry asked.

"What makes you think that wasn't the reason?" Draco said slyly.

Harry frowned. "Because you wanted to meet me before Snape told you anything."

"How do you know?" Draco asked.

"Because you were with me the entire time up until you told me to meet you!" Harry exclaimed, exasperated.

"Oh," Draco grinned, and Harry was infuriated to realize that Draco had been trying to annoy him. "You got me there." He shrugged. "I just thought we could go exploring, you know, to celebrate the memory of your dad and his friends."

"I…guess," Harry said, startled. He hadn't exactly expected Draco to say that.

"Or," Draco said, moving towards him, "We could do this." He caught Harry's chin with his hand and kissed him. Harry's heart felt like it might stop again. Draco ran his fingers down Harry's face and pushed him against the wall. Harry gasped and leaned into the kiss. He opened his eyes at one point, though, and that proved the end of it all.

He was kissing Draco Malfoy. He was kissing Draco Malfoy. He was kissing Draco Malfoy! What, in Merlin's name, was he thinking?

Harry tore away from Draco, who looked startled.

"Harry," he said uncertainly. "What—?"

But Harry didn't stick around to hear the question. He tore out of there as fast as his legs would carry him. He ran through the tunnel, out of the Whomping Willow, until he finally collapsed beside the lake.

Harry ran his fingers through his hair, and found that his hands were shaking. Merlin, he could still feel Draco's lips on his! Harry sighed heavily, hating to admit that he enjoyed that far more than anything he and Ginny had ever done. Okay, okay. So he was gay. It wasn't that difficult to figure out, nor was it that strange, he realized. His father had been gay, he liked kissing guys more than girls—bit obvious, really. But that wasn't what was eating him. It was the fact that he knew his father had broken up with Lucius because he wanted to have Harry. Well, what if Harry had children in the future too, who were depending on him to get married?

Harry shook his head. There wasn't time to worry about that now. He had things to do. Harry got up, set his jaw, and headed towards the castle.

Draco blinked several times, watching Harry run out of the Shrieking Shack. Okay, admittedly, he had not expected that of Harry, but he wasn't exactly sure what had possessed Harry to run.

Draco shook his head, and took off after Harry. He got out of the tree just in time to see Harry walk inside of the castle. Cursing, Draco followed him, wishing now that he'd done more than Quidditch exercise, which didn't require him to run.

Draco reached the castle and slipped inside. Harry was nowhere to be seen. For a moment, Draco was at a loss, and then remembered a handy little spell his father had taught him when he was younger, in case they ever got separated.

"Point me, Harry," Draco whispered, laying his wand flat on his palm. The wand spun around and pointed to his left. Draco ran down that hallway, and another, following the spell's direction, until he reached the Room of Requirement, the door slightly ajar. Draco went inside, and saw Harry throwing Floo powder into a blazing fire.

"Department of Mysteries, Ministry of Magic!" Harry called, and then stepped into the fire.

"What on earth?" Draco muttered. Harry disappeared a moment later. Growling, Draco ran to the fire, and conjured Floo powder. He threw it into the fire, and spoke the same words Harry did. He then entered the Ministry of Magic.

Harry was completely oblivious to the fact that Draco was following him. He exited the fire, which was only a few steps away from the door which had so haunted his dreams when he was fifteen. Harry walked towards the door and threw it open, finding himself once again in the circular room, with the many doors.

"I need to find the veil Sirius went through!" Harry called. One of the doors burst open, and Harry went through.

He found himself in the sunken courtroom, and saw the veil. A dizzying feeling of deja-vu ran through him, and he staggered slightly, remembering watching Sirius fall through it. He walked over to the veil, and watched it quietly. It was the same as ever, fluttering as if in a breeze, with whispering voices behind it. Harry pushed it aside and walked through.

He was in a place full of darkness. And then, a light shone through. A woman, walked out, and light seemed to emanate from her. She had long, black hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. She was also naked.

"Why have you come to this place?" she asked, her voice ethereal. "You do not belong here."

"I—" Harry paused, cleared his throat, and spoke again. "I've come to retrieve the soul of my godfather, Sirius Black. I was told that since he fell through the veil, his soul is trapped here."

She regarded him with odd eyes. "Trapped is one way to put it," she said softly, walking slowly around him. "One could say that your soul is trapped within your body. Or your eyes trapped within your face."

"But I want them there," Harry said in confusion.

"True," she replied. "What makes you think that your godfather does not wish for his soul to be trapped here?"

"I…" but Harry had no answer for that. "I don't know."

"To be trapped in somewhere is not always a bad thing," she said, still circling him.

"But he didn't choose it!" Harry cried.

"Did you choose to come into your body?" she asked, and though she was not looking at him, he could feel her eyes boring into him.

"No," Harry said, starting to feel impatient. "But—"

"Do you dislike it there?" she interrupted.

"Yes!" Harry said, just about fed up with her and her questions. "But there's a difference."

"Really?" she said, and there was the faintest trace of amusement in her tone. "Tell me, what is it?"

"Well—no one would want to be trapped here!" Harry said furiously.

"Indeed." She looked around the dark place. "Few would. But here is not where your godfather is. Here is just the entrance."

"Oh," Harry said, and felt annoyed. She was making him out to be quite stupid. "This isn't—"

"What you expected," she finished. "You expected to come in here and make a big scene. Throw a lot of spells around, and defeat whatever big evil was holding your godfather, and who knew how many other souls against their will. Like you did with the most recent Dark Lord."

Harry blinked. She was right. That had been what he'd thought would happen. Now there was a woman in front of him, proving all his expectations wrong.

"You are just a child," she said softly. "You could not possibly understand any of this. Now, you have suffered a great deal, I know. At seventeen, you defeated the current most powerful Dark Lord on Earth. We respect that, and because of it, we will let you go. Do not come back here, or we will claim your soul. This is not the land of the living. Any who come here die, because it is a place of the dead."

"But…" Harry stammered. "But I heard that I could save Sirius, and three others, if I completed the proper tasks."

She sighed. "There would be no point to that. You can offer us nothing. Your soul is meaningless. The souls of all are meaningless. We are past the plane of human greed, and existence. We are Light magic. Your godfather is happy here, trust me. He died in battle, as he would want to. He is at peace now. Leave it."

At those words, Harry was thrown back through the veil and slammed into someone's body.

"Bloody hell, Harry!" The person was shouting at him, but it didn't matter. Tears dripped down Harry's face. He couldn't save them. He thought he could, but he couldn't. His parents, Sirius, and Draco's mother, the other person he'd planned to bring back…they were truly gone.

Hot tears dripped down his face, and he began to shake. The voice—Draco's, Harry realized—was gentle now.

"Harry," he said softly. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I—," Harry began, and sniffled. "I tried to save them."

"What?" Draco said confused.

"I thought I could bring them all back. Sirius, my parents, y-your mum," Harry's voice quieted at the end, but his tears refused to cease. "I wanted to. Sirius said I could, but I was wrong."

"What happened?" Draco asked seriously.

With little but obvious halting in his voice, Harry recited what had happened.

"Oh, Harry," Draco sighed. "I'm sorry. I wish it could have been better for you."

Harry shrugged, embarrassed already by his tears, and not wanting to display any more emotion in front of Draco.

"Well, we should go," Harry muttered, beginning to stand.

"Wait!" Draco said, grasping his hand. Harry froze as a rush of electricity ran up his spine at Draco's touch.

"What?" Harry said, perhaps a bit more roughly than he had intended originally.

Draco pulled him back down. "Why did you run away?" Draco asked, and there was a not of hurt in his voice. Harry closed his eyes, and decided to be honest with Draco.

"Because I'm afraid," he said. "Not of being gay," he added, as Draco opened his mouth. "Our fathers broke up because we went back in time. What if we have children in the future that won't exist unless we marry women?"

Draco frowned. "What if we have children in the future who won't exist unless we marry each other?" he asked softly. "Magical pregnancies where only men are involved are possible, you know." Harry's eyes widened in amazement, but Draco continued. "We could debate forever about the 'what ifs?' But they have no point, no purpose except to drive us insane. Do you want to be with me, Harry?"

Harry looked over at Draco, and remembered all their fights at school, and how Draco had become a Death Eater, but had the courage to come over to the Light side. How Draco had fought by his side and saved his life countless times. How easy it was to talk to him when they weren't quarreling. And how amazing it had felt when they kissed.

"I'd like to try," he said, all uncertainty gone from his voice. The lovely smile that crossed Draco's face made his heart pound. Oh, yeah, Harry definitely wanted to try.

Draco leaned forward, his lips inches apart from Harry. Harry caught a whiff of that warm, vanilla scent that he had smelled in his Amortentia potion.

"I would, too," Draco whispered, and kissed him. Without any doubt, any hesitation, Harry kissed back, and felt his heart leap at the mere touch of Draco's lips to his.

As they were exiting the room, hand in hand, Harry happened to glance back at the veil, still fluttering innocently. He smiled. He knew, somehow, that Sirius was safe, and so were his parents. He couldn't do anything about the past, nor what happened with James and Lucius, but, he thought, looking to his and Draco's entwined hands, he could change the future, his time with Draco. And Harry planned to make it a time to remember.

A/N: Oh yeah, it's done, by the way. In case anyone was curious. Hope y'all liked it! Stretches. Ah! Now I'm free to write anything new! YAY! Lol. Review, please, y'all. Adios!

-CatJetRat