Buckle Up Blondie

Chapter Twenty-Three:

Draco awoke with a groan. His every nerve was alight as he tried to sit, only to flop back uselessly on the bed.

Someone soothed him gently by the bedside, a voice filled with amusement. Draco opened his eyes, hissing as the bright light of the overhead globe pierced his vision. Through squinted eyes, Draco turned to see his family.

Bród watched him with a small smile, relief plain in every tense conture of the man's face. Scorpius sat beside his Mawha, his smile one of triumph. "How are you?"

Draco gazed at Bród, frowning. "Superb," he croaked, wincing as he tried to sit, only to be held down by a firm, tan hand. "Lie still, Draco, please," Bród begged, his eyes bright, "you died."

Draco stared at the man, silver eyes wide. "I'm right here."

Bród nodded. "Yes because our son brought you back. Your soul was leaving, Draco. Albus said he watched it go, but Scorpius brought it back." Draco turned disbelieving eyes on his son. The boy's eyes were remorseful, full of grief. "I'm so sorry," Scorpius whisperd, "I should have let you go in peace but I just… I couldn't imagine life without you… It wasn't time… It wasn't…"

Draco's breath hitched as the boy's words failed him and he resorted to his feelings. Tears fell freely from his eyes as Draco reached up a hand to cup his son's cheek. "Thank you, Scorpius. I was not ready to go."

Scorpius merely nodded, before a small smile lit his face. "Bek told me to tell you that you had best get better soon, or she'll come in and drag you out by the ear." Draco snorted. "Yupp," he said, waving Bród away as he dragged himself into a sitting position, "that sounds like Bek."

He turned to see Harry walk through the Healing Hall doors and take a seat beside his bed, smile weary. "Merlin, Potter," Draco grinned, "I hope I don't look as bad as you."

Harry sneered and Draco laughed, closing his eyes to twist his shoulders, before looking back. His breath left him in a gasp.

There, on Harry's right side, stood Ginny Weasley.

Draco stared up at the woman who looked back at him, a small smirk on her face. She watched him steadily, her face decidedly young despite the grey that littered her once red curls. As he stared at her, her smirk grew and she gave him a single nod. "Malfoy."

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" he shrieked at her, ignoring the worried looks the others were shooting in his direction. The Weaslette chuckled and placed a very solid-looking hand on Harry's shoulder. "We need your help, Malfoy."

Draco pushed Bród's hands away, sitting straighter. "We? Who's we? And with what? You're dead!"

Ginny chuckled harder, her eyes following Scorpius as the boy left the Hall to find another healer, certain his father had lost it.

"We, Malfoy," Ginny said patiently, her eyes landing on Harry and softening. "Ronald, Hermione, McGonegal… Others… Others I, too, thought were gone. We're trapped." Her eyes glistened for the briefest of moments. "We need help."

Draco felt his stomach drop as his eyes locked with Harry's. There was horror in his silver gaze, horror at what was happening to him. He must be going mad. Surely he was going mad. No sane person conversed with the dead. No sane person conversed with someone who was neither ghost nor human but something trapped in between. There were others? Others who wanted his help?

"How?" he whispered, eyes darting back to Ginny, "how can I possibly help the dead?"

Ginny leaned in close to him, so close Draco could feel the wisps of her strawberry hair tickle his cheeks and he backed away, panicked. "The Veil was no longer meant to be accessed by a living thing, our world's magic had grown too weak to support it. When Harry stepped through that veil with my children, he took everything magical with him to help him on his way," her voice was severe, begging not to be interrupted.

"The wizarding world was lost, magic was lost. We could do nothing, we could not even integrate into muggle society. They knew we were different. Hermione and the rest of us created a portal with the very last drops of magic left in the Veil of Mysteries. We thought we could follow Harry's signature, follow him into whatever world he had dropped into.

But we were wrong. We became lost. We became nothing, worse than dead. We are aware only of each other, our memories, our thoughts. It is a type of madness. That is, it was, until we recognized you.

Your soul has dipped into where we are, where I'll have to go back. I could only follow you for a moment." as she spoke, her skin began to lighten, becoming translucent under Draco's gaze. His heart was hammering in his chest. This couldn't be happening. "You can save us, Draco," Ginny whispered, "your son can bring us back, as he did for you."

A single tear dropped down her cheek as the blonde watched. She was fading into nothing and his heart constricted at the sight. Could one feel sorry for a ghost?

"Bring me back to him." she whispered desperately.

He reached out to grasp her hand, only to find her gone.

As she left, the silence of the room reached his ears and he swallowed before turning rigidly to face Harry. The dark-haired wizard watched him warily, sighing in relief as Scorpius approached with a healer.

"Harry," Draco rasped, eyes locking with emerald green, "Ginny's alive."