DISCLAIMER: If i owned it, i'd be called Jordan Longbottom.

Dreams or Nightmares?

Blurb …

"That's right, he was a memory. He didn't exist. Yet, here he was, standing, fighting, right in front of her. For one bizarre moment, she wondered if it were all a dream." [Oneshot DH spoilers TomGinny musing, implied HG

The battle raged, and after seeing his body lying there, she felt a new rage. Ginny whipped her wand around and the death eater closest to her crumpled immediately.

"You know you're scary when you're angry?" She heard Hermione yell. Her eyes were glazed with tears, as were probably Ginny's.

She had just seen Harry.

And he was dead.

Dead.

As in not breathing.

Dead.

Just lying there.

Dead.

Well, she fought hard. And they were finally winning. The house elf's joined, the centaurs charged, everyone fought with a new force, a new concept that drove them-Harry was gone, and it was up to them to defeat Voldemort.

Unfortunately, Ginny still couldn't comprehend the fact-that the boy she happened to love was lying dead in the grounds.

All she cared about was defeating as many death eaters as possible. Possibly killing if she got the chance.

That's when she saw him.

Sure, she saw him before, but her mind was blocked by Harry. Voldemort was fighting ruthlessly in the entrance hall of the castle. She had been warned what he looked liked, but nothing would have prepared her for what she felt.

Hatred like nothing she'd ever felt. And not just because he had killed Harry.

This was the name that possessed her at the age of eleven. This was the man who gave her nightmares that invaded her dreams every now and then. This was the man who made her life hell just by wanting to kill muggle-born's.

She turned with a snarl, but Hermione caught her arm.

"What are you doing?!" Hermione screamed. "Don't go near him!"

"He possessed me, Hermione!" Ginny shouted. "He invaded my mind, I trusted him, I poured my heart out to him, and he didn't bloody care!"

"He was a memory!" Hermione shouted.

That's right, he was a memory. He didn't exist. Yet, here he was, standing, fighting, right in front of her. For one bizarre moment, she wondered if it were all a dream.

Voldemort's ruthless face turned, and Ginny saw his eyes. His red eyes.

No, definitely a nightmare. She thought. Voldemort's eyes had been dark, but kind her mind.

No, not Voldemort's, Tom's. She had poured her soul out to Tom. Tom liked her, Tom was kind. Tom loved her. Voldemort … he was the thing that lived inside Tom's mind, the thing that possessed him to possess Ginny in the first place.

The "Tom Riddle Incident" wasn't Tom's fault. It was Voldemort's. The name fighting before him.

It only took a few seconds for these thought to whir through her head, but a few seconds was enough. Hermione pulled her away from the man she wanted to attack and they ducked as the wall exploded behind them. Ginny watched a stray house elf hack at a death eater's leg before turning to her friend.

"Let go of me, I want to fight! I want to kill!" She wrenched her arm away, despite Hermione's protests, and ran her way to Voldemort.

She stood before him. He turned his eyes on her. He smirked an evil smile, yet Ginny didn't feel afraid. She could only feel hatred.

"Avada-"

"I trusted you, Tom Riddle!" Ginny shouted, and Voldemort stopped dead. He didn't move as the battle raged around them, the people shunting and fighting their way to the Great Hall. "I told you my darkest secrets, my innermost desires, and what did you do? Forgot what your heart told you, and listened to the whacked up brain of yours!"

Voldemort didn't do anything. Harry would be surprised, Ginny thought. Immediately her eyes burned.

"The Tom I knew wasn't this!" Ginny shouted recklessly on. "The Tom I knew loved me! I loved him! He listened, he was sympathetic, and he was kind! He didn't want to kill muggle-born's; he was a nice kid who wanted a better life! You took that away!"

She was slightly confusing herself now, as she reminded herself that Tom and Voldemort were the same person, but right now she didn't remotely care. She didn't even care if Voldemort didn't listen and killed her right there and then. At least she'd be with Harry. So she ploughed on, more tears springing into her eyes.

"Tom's still in there, I know it! Find Tom, because if you do, then all this can stop! You won't want to fight, you won't want power! I loved Tom, and still do! You're there, I know it-"

She would have carried on, but Hermione had run up to her and charged. She tackled her to the ground as there came a great shout and Bellatrix Lestrange came hurtling out of no where, Luna fighting with all her might.

"Come on!" Hermione cried, and shot a stunner at Bellatrix, Luna crying out "Thanks!" "Yelling at him isn't going to change anything! I'm surprised you're still alive!"

"Hermione's right." Luna said serenely. It was as though they were merely in a DA class, rather than a battle. "Ginny, Voldemort doesn't care about anything other than the dark arts and killing Harry. Listening to an under-age girl won't be high on his list."

"I-" Ginny began, but was cut off by a killing curse hurtling towards her from Bellatrix. It shot past her head so close, she felt her hair singe. It brought her back with a snap, and turned to fight back, but a loud familiar voice screamed out:

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"

She let out a groan as her mother ran out, throwing her cloak off as she did so. Bellatrix laughed as Luna dragged her away and Hermione went to help.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" Mrs Weasley yelled to the three of them, and Hermione fell back and tripped, Luna taking her arm and chivvied them back.

Ginny watched her mother duel to the death, and had to admit, she was amazed that she could do such magic. She looked insane, yet determined and Ginny felt rather proud that she cared so much.

Ginny could tell what was going to happen. A spell shot Bellatrix straight in the chest and she fell. The crowd roared, but for a second as Voldemort screamed. And Ginny recognised the scream-she'd heard it before, down in the chamber. It had echoed through her skull into she woke on the wet floor. It was the scream of Tom Riddle, coming from this … Voldemort, who had blasted McGonagall, Kingsley and Slughorn off their feet and turned his wand on Mrs Weasley-

"NO!" Ginny screamed, but she couldn't do anything-Hermione and Luna had a firm grip on her. Suddenly, a voice rent the air, roaring to the crowd-

"Protego!"

Voldemort turned so fast, it was like a whip. Screams and cheers rent the hall.

"Harry!"

"HE'S ALIVE!"

Ginny cried out, and felt tears on her face again. There he was, looking determined and jaw clenched, looking straight at Voldemort.

"He's alive!" She heard Hermione sob and Ginny flung her arms around her. Luna looked happy and joined in, rubbing Hermione's back soothingly.

Voldemort and Harry had begun to slowly circle each other, and the elation that had filled Ginny at the sight of Harry, suddenly disappeared. He was in more danger now than they all were when he was dead. This was Voldemort he was facing. How on earth were they going to get out of this? This most definitely was a nightmare.

"This is the moment we've been waiting for." Luna whispered. "Now … we'll see who conquers who."

"I don't want anyone else to try and help," Harry said loudly. His voice carried over the terrified watchers, and yet, Ginny felt calmed. She was just happy to hear his voice again. "It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."

The two talked, well, Harry did. Voldemort shouted. Ginny's vision darted back and forth between the two like a tennis match, yet one line Harry said stood out to her:

"I know things you don't know, Tom Riddle."

It stuck out at her like nothing had before. Tom Riddle. That's what he had called him. This really was Tom Riddle-the one who wrote to her via the enchanted diary. Voldemort really was Tom. It was something she didn't want to believe. She wanted to believe that Tom was a good person. She had loved him once, yet …

All these years, she had thought of him as Tom Riddle-a person who was good, gone bad. Probably one of the only people who knew him as Tom. Now, she realized.

"… think, and try for some remorse, Riddle …"

"What is this?"

Ginny could tell that Harry's words had struck home. The whole hall seemed to have stopped breathing, as they all watched Voldemort falter. No, Tom Riddle.

They were at it for a few more minutes. Harry talking sense, Voldemort trying to find a way out. Ginny watched fearfully, as Hermione clung to her shoulder. She saw Ron edge through the crowd to Hermione's side, and joined Luna in rubbing her back softly.

Suddenly, the darkness was filled with a bright light, as the rising sun outside's light filtered through the hall. It was like a hope, a something that promised everything would be all right. And Ginny saw Voldemort's wand rise, and she knew what was going to happen. Now was the moment of truth. And suddenly, for a split second, she wanted Voldemort to win. Because if this was Tom, then she knew what a kind person he could be. She didn't want Harry to kill; she wanted Tom to have a chance …

But he was Voldemort again, and Ginny shoved the ridiculous thought aside. The two screamed spells of their own and Ginny shielded her eyes against the golden flames that erupted and the canon-blast that sounded. The wand Voldemort had been using flew through the air and Harry caught it, Voldemort flying backwards to the floor, not moving.

Finally defeated by the man that stood before them all.

Ginny was in shock. Everyone was. Everyone held their breath, as though waiting to see whether Voldemort would get back up again. When he didn't, the crowd exploded in cheers, and Ginny joined in.

Sure, the boy she once thought loved her was dead, but she knew that that was a good thing. She knew, she realized, and now … he was gone. They could live happily again.

Hermione and Ron had run forward and were the first to fling their arms around him, Ginny not far behind with Luna, and Neville skidded next to them.

And as Ginny cried with delight, and hung onto her friends beside her, she knew that this dawning resolution had to have been made at the exact right time. Voldemort was gone-time for a new era. Ginny hoped that this meant that the nightmares that usually invaded her dreams would be gone.

That night, and every night after it, she dreamt soundly.

The End.

A/N: Did i make sense? Was i repeditive? I certainly confused myself at some point. But i know what point i was trying to get across, and that's that Ginny finally realized that Tom isn't the man she thought he was.

Either way, i hope i didn't confuse you too much. And i hope you liked, reviews always appriciated, until next time-

-Moon. : D