Epilogue: An Angel's Tears

The wizarding world didn't mourn the deaths of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. No one knew they were soul-bound, and no one would have cared. No one knew them particularly well, especially in the final months before their deaths. No one cared. To wizards and witches around the world, theirs were just two more deaths, perhaps indirectly credited to the now-dead Dark Lord.

No one knew of their final moments together, moving in the ecstasy of consummated love. No one knew of how they looked at each other lovingly, longingly. Of how they sat together, naked, and polished the knives. Of how the two ornately decorated daggers slid into each of their hearts at the same time. Of how each smiled at his murderer as life faded away from them.

No one cared.

But somewhere, an angel wept for them.

~fin

Author's Notes

Dear Readers,

This story has been a wonderful experience for me, and I thank you for being there for me. Some of you have been reviewing this every single chapter, and that's really cheered me up heaps, especially since I haven't been getting very nice reviews on some of my other stuff. In any case, I do understand that this entire story was pretty confusing for some people, so this is a sort-of explanation.

I was just trying to get across the idea of Harry being soul-bonded to Draco, and being able to do magic without his wand. In the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, we do see some instance of Harry doing magic without a wand – indeed, before he even knew magic existed. He turned his teacher's wig blue, made the glass at the snake exhibit disappear, and so on. I capitalised on this idea – what if this wasn't a common talent for young wizards and witches to have? What if Harry was unique in this aspect? And what if he was bonded to someone – his soul-mate – who didn't have powers like his, but kept his powers from destroying him?

Harry's wandless abilities are immense, and such great power has the potential to destroy the body it is contained in. Tied to his soul-mate, the power is shared between two bodies, but can only be channelled by Harry. So – what if the soul-mate was someone most people wouldn't think of? His school enemy, Draco Malfoy? I'll admit, Severus Snape was one of the other candidates I was considering – but then I wanted Harry to be in love with his soul-mate. And anyone who knows me will know I love pairing up Harry and Draco together.

So that's how Harry and Draco became soul-mates. Harry's abilities were tempered by Draco – and subsequently, so was his insanity. I have come across many fanfics where Harry is thrown into Azkaban, but isn't affected by the Dementors – which doesn't seem too plausible to me, frankly. Hagrid was in there for just a little while, and he came back pale and shaking, refusing to talk about it. Sirius only kept his sanity through his frequent changes to a dog – but my Harry didn't have any Animagus capabilities. So he went insane, like everyone else in Azkaban.

And when he was let out – do you think he'd have gone crawling back to the same people who condemned him? No, of course not. Hence the distance he kept from Dumbledore, Ron and Hermione. Now, don't get me wrong – normally, I love these characters, but it just didn't work for them to be nice here. I just made them feel really guilty to compensate – but Harry was never going to trust them again. Instead, he turns his attention to Draco and Snape – the two people who really did try and help him. Why Snape?

I'm sure the simple statement didn't escape you – Lucius Malfoy, in this story, is a spy, working alongside Snape. That's why Draco had to pretend to hate Harry – but in truth, he was infatuated with the boy, ever since he saw him in Madam Malkin's. Unfortunately, Draco's never had that many friends before, and he set about trying to impress Harry in all the wrong ways. When Harry was sentenced to life in Azkaban, however, Draco confessed his true feelings to Snape, and enlisted him to find out the truth.

So, after two long years, ridiculed by everyone else, who believed Harry to be guilty, Snape and Draco finally found hard evidence that Pansy Parkinson had killed Minerva McGonagall – the crime for which Harry had been sentenced. Although it's not in the story, Parkinson killed herself – which was a good thing, because if she hadn't, Harry would probably have gone after her, and really become a murderer.

Harry may have hated Snape before, but he knows that the other man is part of the reason he was set free. Therefore, he trusts Snape almost as much as he trusts Draco. And he trusts Draco with his life, because he learnt the truth about himself in Azkaban. That he may not be purely human, accounting, therefore, for his wandless abilities.

Remember how Harry heard his parents every time the Dementors got near him? How the flashbacks got longer and longer – he only used to be able to hear screams, then he could hear his mother's voice, then his father's, and so on? So, if the timeframe he kept hearing went further back, maybe he heard his parents discussing how to keep him safe from Voldemort. Maybe they knew that Harry had the power to defeat him, maybe they talked about what he really was – not human. And if Harry heard that, and started experimenting with his powers while in prison…

Still, two years. It took a long time for Harry to find out about the true extent of his powers. Longer still to master them. And by then, Draco had found out the truth, and he was released without having to escape himself. Harry shows this to Draco one night, and proves that they are, indeed, soul-bonded.

So what does this mean, now that Harry is insane? Harry actually travelled astrally when Draco left. He entered Draco's body, riding home with him, while his physical body entered a kind of stupor. While Harry's spirit was in Draco's body, Draco could also do some wandless magic, which is how they convinced Lucius Malfoy of the truth. As Draco returns, he tells Harry to, "Go on," back into his own body, which Harry does. No one present really understands what just happened, though.

The boys know, however, that Harry's madness will soon consume them both. And that they will rampage, their powers out of control. They will be out of control. And they would definitely kill a lot of people. They know this – and so they kill each other instead of waiting for it to happen.

And that, my dear readers, is the basic background of what happened to Harry and Draco. Sad, no? A tale of requited, yet doomed love. Harry and Draco pretty much slipped into obscurity the last few months of their lives, though, and they lived together in peace. So we can hope that they found some semblance of happiness with each other. We know that they did, in their final hours together. And I expect that the angel who shed tears over them will guard them in heaven.

Sincerely,

.:Daelan:.

Jeez, this author's note is longer than any chapter in the actual story. O.o;;