Draco had a bad feeling.
It was about three quarters of the way through the flight when she started to speak to him, having been barely conscious before then, which the mediwizards assured him was just her resting.
She looked iller than she had looked at home. He was terrified that she was too weak for this. The Healer in St Mungo's had warned him she was far too gone already. But he had to try.
"Draco," she breathed, clutching his hand weakly in hers as he knelt down by the side of her bed.
"Baby, it's okay," he implored, squeezing her hand tightly, trying desperately not to cry as the machines beeped menacingly around her.
There was one mediwizard, Draco had noticed, who kept checking the monitor and proceeding to frown. He tried hard not to think about what this meant, deciding to concentrate only on his wife.
"Freida," Ronnie whispered raspingly, causing Draco to lean closer to hear her properly. "Don't blame her."
Draco closed his eyes as he squeezed her hand tighter. "Don't, Ronnie," he murmured. "Don't talk like this. We're so close now, soon we'll be on Canadian soil and you'll finally get the treatment you need."
"I love you," she breathed. "I've loved you ever since that fucktard Yule ball."
"Oh god, Ronnie," Draco sobbed, bringing her hand up to his mouth and kissing it as if he could prolong her life. "Just hold on, please. We'll soon be there; we'll be in Canada and we'll get you better."
And, as if on cue, the pilot announced their descent, advising all onboard to put their seatbelts on. But Draco refused to leave his wife's side to go back to his seat.
"You're a good dad, Draco." Ronnie breathed, her voice barely audible. "I know you are. Our little girl is going to need you when you get home. And so is our Scorp."
Draco felt utterly panicked. She was talking like she was never going to go back.
"Stop-" he cried, but found he couldn't continue as a great shuddering sob escaped him. He could see it in her eyes; they were saying goodbye.
"I'm so sorry." She whispered sadly, her hand shakily leaving his to tenderly touch his cheek. "Tell the kids I love them."
"No, you can tell them yourself." He clasped his own hand over her's, pressing it furiously against his face; moving his lips so that he was kissing her palm, her fingers, her warm soft skin.
"I'm sorry. I tried." She trembled as tears rolled down her cheeks. Tears were cascading down his own as he kept clasping her hand tightly in his, silently begging her not to give up.
"We're so close, Ronnie. So close."
"I love you, Draco."
And then her hand went slack in his and the machines started beeping furiously as Draco was pushed aside.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!" Draco bellowed as panic tore at his insides. He tried to reach back for Ronnie but there was suddenly too many mediwizards and he was forced to the back of the plane as they worked frantically over her.
"Sir, you need to buckle up, we're going to land this plane quick." A man in green scrubs said firmly as Draco desperately tried to get back to her.
"Hold on Ronnie, please hold on," Draco murmured desperately over and over as he felt the plane make its descent.
He wouldn't give up - he refused to.
Relief flooded him as he felt the wheels land on Canadian land.
And then the doors were open the second they came to a standstill, as a man Draco recognised to be the specialist that they were paying a fortune for strode purposefully inside.
Draco watched in trepidation as the mediwizards moved aside for him, allowing him to get to Ronnie.
She couldn't die, Draco thought desperately, he just couldn't live in a world without her.
*****
There was nothing but whiteness.
I was floating, I was free.
And then I was in a room. A room with many chairs. A room with two doors.
The red door that I had entered from, closed suddenly behind me, before seemingly to lock itself firmly shut.
On the other door - the green door - there was a sign that simply read 'Onwards'.
This room only had one other occupant, and for some reason, I wasn't in the least bit surprised to see it was Fred.
"I've been waiting for you, Ronnie," he grinned his big goofy twenty year old grin. "You finally made it."
"Where are we?" I asked, confusion flooding me. I couldn't remember where I had just come from or how I ended up in this room.
In fact, I couldn't remember anything other than my name and that this boy in front of me was my long ago dead brother, Fred.
"We're in the Waiting Room, of course," he said, as if this was all perfectly normal.
"Have you been waiting all this time?" I asked, frowning. Surely it had been years... but I couldn't remember.
Fred just shrugged, his smile never faltering.
"There is no concept of time in here. Just a room with chairs and two doors. One red door, which you have just come through, and one green door; which is where you are supposed to go through next.
"But where does it go?" I asked, frowning skeptically at it. "Can't I just go back through the red door?"
Fred sighed regretfully, "Unless your name is Harry Potter, I'm afraid that is just not possible, dear sister."
"Oh," I said, feeling oddly disappointed. Or was I? I was definitely confused, that was for sure.
"Take a seat," Fred said, patting the empty chair to his right. "We've got some waiting to do."
I sat down, still feeling bewildered. Something big had just happened - I knew that. But what?
"What are we waiting for, Fred?" I asked, frowning at him. "Can't I just go through the fucking green door already?"
"Never one for patience were you little Ronnikins," he chuckled, leaning back on his chair and putting his hands behind his head.
"If I knew what the fuck I was waiting for then maybe I'd be a bit more patient!" I spat irritably.
"There's just been a slight clerical issue, that's all," Fred shrugged. "Nothing to be alarmed about, but it means you can't go on until it gets sorted."
"A clerical issue?" I said incredulously. My god, I couldn't even fucking die properly.
"An unusual one, but it has happened before. We just have to wait for things to realign themselves properly and then you will eventually be called through."
"Jesus, who fucking died and made you the next bloody Dumbledore?" I spat, infuriated by his vague explanations.
"Well he did, and then I did, and then you did. Happy?"
"NO!" I spluttered. "Either I'm dead or I'm not! What the fuck even is this?! And why are you here?"
"I was the only one willing to do the job. I'm not being funny, but you're not exactly easy going little sis."
"Fuck you, you fucktard." I muttered, feeling bitter at my typical sodding luck.
"Glad to see being killed slowly by a deadly virus didn't change you."
His words stirred something in me. I had been ill... so ill. There had been a lot of pain and lot of exhaustion. I was free of that now. All of it gone.
Something was disturbing me however, a feeling of loss; almost like an empty space as if something had been scooped out of me; leaving a sort of hollowness.
But I couldn't remember.
And then, out of nowhere, a pair of silver grey eyes flashed in my memory, sparking something in me.
Draco.
Scorpius. Freida.
I jumped up, running to the red door, trying desperately to open it. I needed to get back; I couldn't leave. I wasn't ready to leave my family behind.
But no matter how much I tried, it just wouldn't budge.
"You can't go back, Ronnie," Fred said sadly as I wept against it. "It doesn't work like that."
"But why am I here?" I cried. "It's got to mean something that I'm not through that other door yet!"
"You'll find peace through the green door in time, Ronnie, I promise you." Fred assured me, remaining in his relaxed demeanour on the chair. "But in the meantime we have to wait for a mistake to be rectified."
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING ON ABOUT?!" I shouted; the room seeming to magically absorb my harsh tones. "WHAT PISSING MISTAKE?!"
"He didn't mean it," Fred said in an infuriatingly mysterious tone. "The poor kid just wanted his mum back."
*****