*A thank you to sydni for betaing this for me*

*please pardon the longish A/N at the bottom*

Harry had been so used to seeing all different sorts of students running around Hogwarts, so seeing it empty right now was surreal. He stopped in front of a set of steps in front of the castle, and sat down, stretching over the steps in the sun. Even though the final battle had been only two weeks ago, there was no sign of any damage to the castle in this dream. He turned towards the area where the memorial was held a week ago. Harry had been forced to speak even though that had been the last thing he wanted to do, and since then, he had been harassed left and right by reporters and various other ministry members. He had secluded himself at Sirius's old house, so being out in the open in fresh air was a relief from the mold. Soaking in the sun, Harry closed his eyes and relaxed.

It was a few minutes later that he realized there was another presence next to him. It was his dream though, and since Voldemort was dead and gone, Harry had no idea who it could be. Harry kept his eyes closed, and waited to see if the person would do anything. When a few more minutes went by with nothing happening, Harry opened his eyes and turned his head. The person who had somehow entered his dreamscape was seated next to him, and was watching him closely. Somehow, Harry stopped himself from panicking. The person looked a little familiar. Harry blinked, and sat up.

"It's you," he said. The other person smiled.

"I was afraid for a moment that you forgot about me," the other person said, smiling a little.

"Of course not," Harry said, acting offended. Harry started to grin. "How are you, Sasuke?" Harry immediately noticed the difference in him.

"Better," Sasuke said, still smiling his small smile. That was one difference. Last time, Harry noticed that he didn't really smile. His eyes were also a lot warmer than they were last time. He also noticed, with annoyance, that he looked a hell of a lot taller than last time too.

"How did you even get here?" Harry asked.

"The same way you got into my dream," Sasuke said, smirking. Harry rolled his eyes.

"That doesn't answer my question. I don't even know how I got into your dream."

"Then that's my answer," Sasuke said. Harry stuck out his tongue, and Sasuke grinned at him.

"It's been almost three years, right?" Sasuke nodded, and Harry let out a breath of relief. This meant that they were, at least, the same flow of time as each other.

"What happened?" Harry frowned.

"What do you mean?" Harry was pretty sure his expression didn't give anything away.

"You're expression looks a lot like it did last time we saw each other, and at that time, you said you were bothered by a war..."

"The war's over now," Harry said. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"It ended?"

"Two weeks ago... I defeated Voldemort there," Harry said, gesturing towards the direction of the entrance hall. Sasuke followed his hand, and stared at the area. His eyes then moved to take in the part of the castle visible to them.

"Where are we?"

"Hogwarts, the school I went to." Harry laughed when Sasuke's eyes bulged.

"This place is a school?!"

"Yup," Harry said cheerfully. Sasuke was still gaping at him.

"It looks like something out of some fairy tale about dragons and witches, and stuff," Sasuke said. "You even have a creepy forest." Harry was momentarily confused before he remembered that he never told Sasuke about magic. He wondered if he should say something.

"It's called the Forbidden Forest," Harry said, deciding that he would bring it up later.

"The Leaf Village has a place called the Forest of Death," Sasuke replied.

"Has anyone actually died in there?"

"Yes," Sasuke said bluntly.

"Oh..."

"And your forest is just forbidden?"

"Well, there are things that can kill you in there!" Harry defended.

"Like?" Sasuke was humoring him.

"Well, there are..." Centaurs. "Dangerous horses, uh..." Giants. "Large-er-behemoths... Giant spiders that like to eat people..." Okay, Harry realized that not mentioning magic was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

"Horses, behemoths, giant spiders?"

"So what?" Harry said defensively. "What do you have?"

"Giant snakes, giant tigers, man eating plants-"

"I think we have some of them too," Harry said quickly, not wanting to lose. Harry pointed out the Whomping Willow. "That tree starts attacking you if you get near it." Sasuke looked intrigued, and actually stood up, and began walking towards it. Harry quickly stood up, grabbed onto his arm. "I wasn't joking when I said that it attacks, and it packs a punch."

"You went near it?"

"A few times," Harry said, making a face at the memories. "How about we walk around?" Sasuke looked around, and nodded. Relieved, Harry dragged him towards Hagrid's hut.

"I've been meaning to ask, do you have some equivalent to chakra?" Sasuke asked. Harry paused.

"Chakra?" Sasuke thought for a moment.

"It's the energy in our bodies that we use that allows us to perform jutsus and other tasks." Harry thought for a moment. Was that their version of magic?

"We have a magic core," Harry said slowly.

"Magic? But that's not..." Sasuke fell silent at the look on Harry's face.

"I know it's hard to believe," Harry mumbled.

"I believe you," Sasuke said quickly. Harry shot him a small smile. "How exactly do you use your magic?" he asked. Harry pulled out his wand.

"We cast spells with it?"

"How?"

"How do you use chakra to cast your 'jutsu'?" Sasuke snorted a little at his butchered pronunciation. He launched into a long explanation about the chakra system, and by the end of it, Harry was gaping. Sasuke grinned.

"So, how does magic work?"

"I'm going to have to get back to you on that," Harry said awkwardly. "Hermione knows more about it than me."

"Hermione?"

"She's a friend of mine," Harry said, smiling a little.

"I see." Harry raised an eyebrow at his expressionless face.

"She and Ron were the ones that were helping me throughout the war," Harry said.

"Where are they now?" Sasuke asked.

"They're helping with the rebuilding of Hogwarts." Sasuke looked up at the castle.

"Rebuilding?"

"You can't tell now, but it was badly damaged," Harry explained. His gaze settled on the front entrance where the memorial had been held. He blinked when a firm grip turned him, and started dragging him away.

"And after the rebuilding?" Sasuke asked.

"They're going to head to Australia to look for Hermione's parents," Harry said.

"Is that far?" Harry nodded. Sasuke frowned. "So they're leaving you?"

"Yes..." Harry couldn't understand why he looked annoyed.

"They're abandoning you." Harry ripped his arm away, and furiously faced him.

"They are not!" he hissed. "Finding Hermione's parents is important to her since she had been the one who had to wipe their memories and send them away in first place. And besides, there's no need for them to stay with me─"

"How often have you had nightmares since then?" Sasuke interrupted. Harry froze.

"Excuse me?" Harry said.

"Your nightmares," Sasuke repeated.

"I don't have─"

"Are you really going to feign ignorance?" Sasuke said, crossing his arms. Harry groaned.

"How did you─"

"Because I've been there, remember." Harry took a shaky seat onto the steps. Sasuke did know, didn't he?

"What happened? You're a lot happier. Did everything go well for you?" Harry asked. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but eventually sighed, and sat down next to Harry.

"I left the village, as I told you I would," Sasuke said.

"To join the long haired Voldemort," Harry said, not sounding pleased.

"It was temporary," Sasuke said. Harry still frowned. "I only went to him for information. The Akatsuki was his enemy after all."

"The Akatsuki?"

"The group my brother had joined. When I got the information about his whereabouts and was strong enough to protect myself, I left to go find him."

"He let you go so easily?" Harry asked. Sasuke grimaced.

"I had to kill him─"

"You killed him?!"

"It's a long story about a cursed seal, and his obsession with immortality, but he wasn't actually dead, and my brother sealed him away, but then some subordinate of his tried to use his powers, and he came back." Harry blinked.

"Déjà vu," Harry muttered. "So what happened after that?"

"The atmosphere felt like there was going to be a war..."

"But?" Harry prompted.

"We left," Sasuke said simply.

"You and your brother?" Sasuke nodded. "So you guys have─"

"It turned out that he was forced to do what he did," Sasuke said. "They made him do it. They made him go through that kind of hell." Harry didn't know who the 'they' Sasuke was referring to, but he still felt for him. Having your life be manipulated, to put it bluntly, sucks. "If I didn't ask him, I wouldn't have learned any of this from him. I didn't even consider that there was an alternate explanation for what he did." Sasuke turned towards Harry. "It was because of you that I could be with my brother again." Harry actually blinked at the brightness of Sasuke's smile.

"I didn't really do anything," Harry muttered. "I just gave you some advice, and talked about myself."

"It doesn't change the fact that those words helped me." Harry had no idea what to say. He opened his mouth, and closed it again. "If possible, I want to help you in return," Sasuke continued.

"But I'm fine," Harry protested.

"Apparently not," Sasuke said, and Harry blushed.

"The nightmares are nothing new..." That probably wasn't the best thing to say, judging from the expression on his face.

"How long?" Harry looked around for a distraction.

"Hey, how about we go─"

"How long?" Sasuke repeated, grabbing his arm. Harry sighed.

"Since I could remember. It's just the subject matter of the dream keeps changing. Before, it used to be about Voldemort, but now... All the people that died... I could've saved them... If I'd only─"

"Stop telling yourself that!" Sasuke said sharply. "You were in a war. The people fighting knew what they were getting into─"

"Some of them were kids!"

"Did they willingly join the fight?"

"Yes..." Harry whispered.

"Then they knew what could happen. You shouldn't feel guilty over their actions. You also have to understand that you didn't kill them. Voldemort and his people did."

"But─"

"And you killed him," Sasuke said, cutting him off. "You made sure that their deaths weren't in vain. You have every right to mourn them, but you shouldn't feel guilty about something you couldn't control." Harry shifted uncomfortably.

"But, if I only defeated him earlier─"

"You couldn't control that," Sasuke said. Harry stared towards the forest. He knew it was dumb to think that it was his fault. He knew he couldn't control what happened, but it still didn't change how he felt.

"Hermione said something similar after Sirius, my godfather, was killed." Sasuke's jaw dropped.

"He died?"

"He was killed by one of Voldemort's followers, Bellatrix, his cousin." Sasuke's eyes widened. "She's dead, though," Harry added.

"Good," Sasuke said under his breath. Harry smiled a little.

"What do you guys plan on doing?" Harry asked. He'd rather listen to Sasuke than discuss himself.

"He mentioned the Outer Lands, and we decided to head there. That way, we would be away from the war, and no one that knows about us would bother us."

"The Outer Lands?"

"It's some place outside the hidden countries..." Sasuke gave him an odd look. "Could that be...?"

"What?" Harry asked, confused.

"Is that where you live? In the Outer Lands?"

"I... don't know," Harry muttered. "I never heard of that name before, but─"

"But if you were to exist somewhere, it would be there," Sasuke said, brightening. Harry gave a small smile in return.

"If that's true, and you guys are heading there, then─"

"─there's a chance that we can meet!" Sasuke finished. Harry grinned wider. His smiled faded as he stared into the forest. Despite the sun, the forest became darker until it began to disappear. Sasuke followed his gaze, and became crestfallen. "Already," he muttered. Harry nodded.

"It's time."

"England, right?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes. An island part of the continent of Europe." Sasuke nodded. The darkness began to engulf the edge of the grounds.

"We'll meet again," Sasuke said firmly. Harry gave a small laugh.

"I hope so," he said. They sat in silence until the darkness took over, and everything turned black.

••••••

With the sun in his face, Harry woke up. He squinted against the light, but couldn't find it in him to be annoyed. Feeling light and well rested, he went through his morning routine, and made a mental note to ask Hermione if she could help him a little with his research before she left. After all, there was a chance she might have heard about the Outer Lands and the Hidden Lands.

This was supposed to be uploaded a while back, but school and RL was being a pain in the ass...

This takes place after the Final battle for Harry, and... I'm not too sure about Sasuke's end... he's supposed to be 15 almost 16 here, and things diverged from canon, but anyway he and Itachi are with each other somewhere...

(for the first chapter (because like an idiot, i never specified), it takes place during Harry's fifth year and right before Sasuke left the Leaf Village)

And also (because people will ask), I WILL NOT be continuing this fic at all. I'm not gonna lie, I have been mentally continuing this, but the thing is, this fic is GEN, and I have no intentions of changing that. What I've been continuing on in my head, however, is not (to be blunt, I have no idea when or how, but this became my OTP-OTP a long time ago). So, yeah, I won't be continuing this fic... I'm sorry TT_TT

Btw, because of work and school, I stopped reading the Naruto manga a while back, and I realize that to properly work on my other fic, I need to keep reading, so the last main thing I remember is Sasuke's -er- declaration that he's going to become Hokage... (yeah, I laughed my ass off at that). I will be so grateful if someone could tell me what chapter that was m(_ _)m