The Rules of the Game

But touch my tears with your lips

Touch my world with your fingertips

And we can have forever

And we can love forever

Forever is our today

-- Queen, "Who Wants To Live Forever"

The Final Act

Doyle's funeral was hosted in a lost town in Holland, where the people spoke only Dutch and there was a lot of Heineken to go around. Bill had thought it would be simple, with only a handful of people. However, there was quite a crowd, everyone grieving and drinking. Bill could even pinpoint a vampire or two. They had been the ones to decline the beer and ask for virgin blood instead.

Doyle's ashes had been put in a rather fancy urn, carrying a passage from Emily Dickinson:

"Because I could not stop for Death,

He kindly stopped for me;

The carriage held but ourselves

And Immortality."

In some twisted way it was fitting, Bill thought.

The urn was then put into a grave and the earth thrown upon it. It was unnerving to see a vampire's death. If Doyle had meant to live forever, what was to say of Bill's own short life?

"He'll like being buried in Holland," someone said. It was Rani, standing by his side, her face a mask of rage and depression. "He always said that it'd be lovely to have eternal peace. I wonder if he's happy."

Bill gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze as Bellamont started a speech on Doyle. He could spot Chuck on the other side of the grave, looking out of place in his tuxedo. The boy was struggling to not cry, it was obvious, and Bill vaguely wondered exactly how close they had been.

"Going home, then?" Rani asked. "You'd better before something bad happens again."

Bill laughed, but it sounded cold and hypocritical. "I have a portkey registered for four o'clock. I will miss you, Zahra," he said.

Summer was weeping, away from the crowd. She had thrown a red rose in the grave before the eulogy, but then she had hurried away. "You promised to never leave me and Chuck. You promised you'd stick around for me." That was what Bill had heard her mutter at the urn in contempt.

Rani rested her head against Bill's body, taking in a sharp breath. "I can't believe he's gone. He's been around for so long," she said.

"He was long overdue," Bill reasoned. "Death is the next big step and all."

Rani sniffled. "You turned out all right, Weasley, despite everything. I'm happy I had this mission with you." She gave him a brief kiss on the lips making him grin smugly. "Don't let that go to your head," she warned.

"I always knew you'd surrender to me, Zahra," Bill teased.

A blonde woman with a big hat walked pass them. Bellamont had finished speaking.

"Do you believe in Heaven?" Rani asked. "Do you think he's there? I mean, vampires are suppose to be damned, aren't they?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure Doyle would get into heaven, whether Saint Peter allows him to or not," Bill answered, pulling her into a hug. "He's probably wearing a shirt right now that says, 'Heaven doesn't want me, and Hell's afraid I'll take over.'"

Rani giggled. "I should go take care of Summer. Chuck said she wasn't able to sleep last night," she said.

"Did you?" Bill asked.

Rani shook her head. "Come find me before you leave. We'll all want to say goodbye."

She had walked a good ten paces before turning around, and asking, with a curious tone in her voice, "How did you get the Sphere back from Montanez?"

Bill remembered leaving Rani behind to fight a furious Graphorn. The others had long been left behind to ensure his confrontation with Montanez.

He remembered raising his wand and blocking a hex from a surprised Astrid. He had rolled under a table, noticing the Sphere radiating a blue light from its position on an opposite table. He had briefly wondered why Astrid hadn't fled yet before throwing a curse at her, dodging one coming his way, and then dashing towards the Sphere.

He had almost made it when Astrid knocked him off his feet with some sort of whipping hex. She had laughed about Doyle's death: "Zahra should be thankful I staked him. The grape vine had said he was bad in bed anyway."

He remembered throwing one last hex her way before physically launching himself to wrestle away her wand. It took a bit of a struggle and lots of biting on her part before he grabbed her wand and broke it with his own two hands. He could recall the look on Astrid's face as she realised she had been beaten. He'd told her to leave before Rani arrived.

And then it was over.

Rani cleared her throat slightly, and Bill smiled in that charmingly aloof way he had managed with all the ladies.

"I always liked being enigmatic," he told her.

She didn't fight him. She simply left to find Summer.

Bill leaned against a tree, eyeing Doyle's grave. His mother always said that things happened for a reason. You might not know for what reason, but there was always one. Most of the times those words were reassuring, comforting, but now Bill couldn't help but want to demand that someone tell him why Doyle had to die.

Bill moved to the grave. "Cheers, mate," he said, pouring the last of his Heineken onto the dirt.

The End