Hadrian Riddle Harmonia - A Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter 8

He opened his eyes to a white sky. The pain that he knew he had just experienced was gone as though it had never happened. He lifted his left hand in front of his eyes, and saw it perfectly healed, not a scar to be seen. He touched his throat. It was painless.

Hadrian slowly sat up, taking in his surroundings. Or rather, the lack thereof. There was nothing to be seen except white. As he turned however, he was startled to see an object in the distance.

He moved forward, feeling as though he were walking in a dream. He couldn't feel the passage of time; he couldn't feel anything, for that matter. His feet walked on nothing. He was nothing.

He was suddenly in front of the object, which as he looked upon, focused into a large, black elder tree. There was not a speck of color to be seen on it; it seemed to consume whatever light was cast upon it by the white landscape surrounding it.

"You have planted your first tree." Hadrian froze as he heard a familiar voice call out behind him. He slowly turned, and found himself face to face with white skin and hair, and golden eyes.

"Ash." He breathed out, eyes wide.

"I've been waiting for you. You have an important decision to make." Ash stated, a hand reaching out to cup Hadrian's cheek.

"What...?" Hadrian responded, senses muddled and focused only on his touch.

"Where would you like your first streak?" Ash asked. Hadrian felt his mind grind to a halt. Suddenly, everything that had happened in the last few hours flashed through his mind, and he jerked away from the soft hand, back hitting the tree.

"I'm dead." Hadrian stated, feeling resentment bubbling to the surface.

"Yes." Ash replied, his deathly grin not leaving his face.

"I've been looking for you for months." Hadrian growled out, any happiness he had felt at the reunion abruptly snuffed out. Ash's grin fell a bit. "I just died, and have been looking for you for months, and you left me! I died, and you did nothing to stop it! You never let me know where you were, or if you were okay, or if it was something I did that made you leave, and now you're, you're just -" Hadrian fell to the ground, exhaustion finally hitting him. He felt as though he had just lived a thousand years. Whatever anger he had felt, whatever happiness, it was all gone as quickly as it had appeared. All that was left was the ache in his chest. "Why did you leave me?" He whispered.

Ash knelt down, hands gently holding Hadrian's face.

"You did nothing wrong. Nothing." Ash growled. "The reason I left had nothing to do with your actions, and everything to do with mine." He finished, resting his forehead to Hadrian's.

"What do you mean." Hadrian tiredly asked, looking up into golden eyes from beneath his bangs. Ash sighed, thumbs stroking soft skin.

"I broke the rules, Hadrian. That night with Aria, I interfered when I wasn't supposed to, and so I was punished. You have to understand, Hadrian, I'm not all powerful. I'm not the only entity out there with power over the living. So we have rules, to prevent those like me from breaking reality, and I broke them too many times. You were just the final straw.

"When I was... when I was punished, I was left with only the default, only the desire to fulfill my purpose. My soul was snuffed out. But Hadrian, you brought me back." Ash looked up, relief in his eyes. "You brought me back, and made me remember what I was, who I am. That's why I'm here right now." At this he stood, releasing Hadrian and turning to face the white abyss.

"This domain is mine. I created it, when I first gave Hadrian Harmonia the gift of Death. No other entity can interfere here. So, for now, I can only meet you here. When you die."