The gentle shake of my hand on Ron's shoulder didn't even disturb his
sleep. It wasn't until I shoved him roughly that he woke.
"Harry, what is it! Can't you let a fellow-" he started before even opening his eyes.
A quick glance around the room reminded him he was no longer in Hogwarts. He was in his room back at home, and he noticed the hurt look on my face before I could mask it.
"I was- I was dreaming of happier days, Ginny. I'm sorry." He tried explaining to me, but I could relate.
"You don't have to apologize to me," I offered him the faintest of smiles, "I have my dreams too."
* * *
I remembered all too well the better days, and the beginning of the Dark Days. It was my 6th year at Hogwarts when You-Know-Who struck the school backed by things out of the worst shadow-filled nightmare. Hermione was in the library when the attack came. She had kissed Ron once softly and told him not to wait up, she was already working on her third volume of Wizarding and had made quite a commotion in some circles. Ron and Harry were talking about a Quidditch game they had seen over summer break while I curled up in Harry's arms.
When the sounds of battle reached the upper hallways of the school, chaos reigned over the school for the first time in over a decade. All of House Slytherin joined the Dark forces as they stormed into the school, and although Snape tried stopping them he was met by overwhelming numbers. The Dark One personally dueled Dumbledore, and fueled by a great hate, cast the headmaster down one of the deep stairwells.
Some of Ravenclaw and even a Hufflepuff or two joined Slytherin. Gryfindor was the only House that stood wholly against the invaders, but they were not enough and could do little more than flee to safer grounds. Harry, Ron, and I were rushing to the Library to find Hermione when we rounded a corner and ran into Crab and a small army of his fellow goons.
"Potter! Just the man I was looking for." Crab beckoned as if he expected us to simply follow along.
"I won't go easy," Harry tensed beside me raising his wand, "I'll take a fair number of you down with me when I die."
Crab's chuckle was cold and frightening, "I wouldn't dare kill you, Master wishes to do that personally. I'm simply here to rid the world of this dirt-poor pair that you constantly drag along and make sure that you accompany me to the Lord-."
"I know your Master's name well enough, perhaps you should go lick his feet some more!" Wands raised, incantations were brought to mind, the entire hallway began to gather the feel of battle about it.
"Stop!" One piercing shout filled the hallway, and Hermione, glowing in the aura of her defensive spells strode into the room.
"What can a mudblood like you do?" Laughter rose from the Slytherin ranks, right up until with a flick of her wand and a muttered word she showed him. Crab and a dozen of his compatriots were devoured in the first burst of flame, and soon the entire hall was filled with the smell of overcooked meat.
Hermione fixed us with an impatient glare, "Get out of here already! I'm covering your retreat!"
Ron, however, steadfastly refused to abandon her against such overwhelming odds and so she set a sleeping charm over him. Harry and I picked him up between us and continued our flight, sending our best wishes with Hermione. Slytherin's Quidditch team had taken to the skies, intent on stopping any and all owls from getting word out to the Ministry of Magic. Gryfindor's team took to the sky and fought as fiercely as they ever had downing every Slytherin in half an hour, most permanently.
We escaped from Hogwarts, but so many didn't. Hermione stood against those hundred and more follows of the Dark one and her battle became known as Granger's Last Stand. They erected a statue of her outside the Ministry of Magic, but I suppose it's gone too, now. Forget the past, Ginny, it's gone now.
* * *
Ron was looking at me, a worried expression on his face, and I wondered how long I'd been lost in my memories. My stomach was a cold, hard knot of fear. The fear drained me of my strength and left me trembling, a few tears rolling down my cheeks.
"You sensed him again, didn't you, Ginny?" Ron softly stroked my hair as I sobbed, like a small girl just woken from a nightmare.
"He's coming, he wants to kill me and my daughter, he wants to destroy the last trace of Harry." I could feel it; I could almost hear his footsteps, drawing closer.
"Are you sure it wasn't just a dream about when-," Ron paused unsure of whether it was safe to mention it to me. "Well about that night- the night he came before to-"
"Ron, it's been over a year since my husband died, you can mention it now." Tears streamed down my face, and yet I was the one doing the consoling now.
"I can't believe he's gone. Everyone else, everyone but you is gone. At least you and Harry were married; Hermione died in that attack on Hogwarts!" Ron was in a rage, the color in his face nearly matched his hair.
"He's coming." I whispered so quietly Ron could barely hear me, and I remembered the first time he had come for me.
* * *
Harry and I had been as happy as anybody could in these dark times. You-Know-Who was running rampant killing all who crossed him, he even breached the Ministry of Magic killing all in the walls, including most of the elder Weasleys. Harry helped where he could, and he was usually involved in almost every plan to fight back the Dark Wizards.
All this couldn't damped my spirits though, for I was in my fifth month of pregnancy; Harry and I were to have a daughter. My mother was happy for me, but was too stricken by what had happened to her husband as well as Percy, Fred, and George to ever be around much.
Things went all wrong on a cold night with the wind driving the rain hard against the wall. I walk up with a feeling of doom, icy fingers of premonition crawling up my back. The weather, it had to be the weather and my pregnancy just putting me into an odd mood. I'm was sure that's all it could be, and then I heard it. Echoing up from downstairs came a horrible sound as of metal twisting and breaking. Harry bolted up and we both knew who it was.
"Oh Ginny, he's in the house already. Take the back way out so he doesn't catch you in the crossfire." Harry was prepared, tense from nights of worrying this could be coming.
"But, what if he kills you! I can't live without you anymore." I was frantic; this couldn't be happening! We could just escape, settle down somewhere else, and raise our family. Everything would be fine.
"I defeated him once before, there's no reason I can't do it again."
I had escaped out into the alley when suddenly a green light lit the entire alleyway. I screamed and I cried, by the time I reached my family's house I had vomited everything in my stomach. I wouldn't have bothered eating again if not for the baby, she was Harry's and I would raise her to become the greatest Witch there was.
* * *
"I'm ending this once and for all! I'm not going to hide in a house and die like a cornered rat. I'll do what Hermione did. I will stand and face my enemies, my wand in hand." He grabbed his wand from where he kept it hidden under his pillow, it was bandaged with tape in two places and was bent in another.
"Ron! We've got a plan; we aren't hiding. What Hermione did was brave but in the end it got her killed. Heroics are not-" I backed away from Ron, the face on his look was so horrible I thought he might hit me. "Ron, that's not what I."
Ron had stormed out of the house into the foggy night. I looked over the doorframe to make sure the rocks were still in place and looked at the rope that would release the trap, held tight by a heavy chair.
In the fog I heard a surprised oath followed by Ron's voice raised in incantation. A short cry of pain followed by the sounds of a struggle drifted out of the fog and into the house. I looked out a window hoping that any moment I would see Ron walk back towards the house. I heard a bone- breaking impact and someone falling to the ground. Could the horror truly be over?
Yes, there was Ron walking back towards the house! He was cut badly across one cheek but he was alive! Suddenly the entire fogbank was turned green by a sickly light; I shielded my eyes from the horrible brightness.
An image of Harry's shadow on the far wall of the alley collapsing out of view flooded my eyes for a moment. Every death, every suffering, every loss was made fresh for me again.
When I looked back Ron was nowhere to be seen and You-Know-Who approached, limping, out of the fog. I clutched my wand tighter to convince myself that it really was there and straightened my robes. The door creaked open, and he took two steps into the room, stopping just below my trap.
"Well, Potter's wife. The pleasure is all mine, or will be." His mere voice being in my house disgusted me to the core, but I had to distract him or I'd never complete my spell.
"I beg you," I dropped to my knees where I stood, "show me mercy, great Lord-"
"No, you will not speak my name. You are not worthy to speak my name." He sneered and spat into my face. "You are nothing, nothing but Potter's leftovers."
He reached up with both hands to pull down the hood of his cloak, and I saw my opportunity. My wand snaked forward, the words "Wingardium Leviosa" erupted from my mouth, and the chair lifted a few inches off the ground. The rope slithered free and the rocks began to fall. He raised his wand, the tip nearly touching my forehead and opened his mouth for the first words of a spell, but never began. The rocks crushed Draco from the world forever.
Throughout my 5th year at Hogwarts both Draco and Harry had sought my affections, and both asked me to the dance at the end of the year. It was that year that Voldemort had sought to wipe Harry from the world forever, and in a desperate attempt to eliminate the competition Draco joined with him. In a wizard's duel Harry had beaten Draco who fled, battered and bleeding, swearing revenge.
I walked into my daughter's bedroom and cradled her against my chest. Rocking her soothingly in my arms to calm her after the crashing in hallway.
"It's all right now Lily, we're finally safe." I told the baby as she fell asleep in my arms.
I'm not sure how long I was standing there before I heard footsteps at my back. I had left my wand laying on the desk several feet to my left. Carefully, I lowered Lily back into her crib and tensed myself to leap for the wand when the figure behind me spoke.
"Ah, precious Ginny. And my lovely Lily of the Dark Arts." My heart rose as I heard the voice, I knew it in a heartbeat and turned around to see him again for the first time in over a year.
"Harry! It's go great to see you!" I cried as I embraced him tightly in my arms. I cried against his chest telling him how much I had missed him for several minutes before his words fully dawned on me and I released him. "What'd you just say? Dark Arts?"
"What? You didn't know?" He chuckled as if at a well-told joke. "Sure, Draco and I would hurt each other once in a while to keep up appearances, but we never tried killing each other. Slaying an ally is a foolish thing indeed"
I was backing slowly towards the crib now, to shield it with my body. "What do you mean? Love, you're scaring me."
"You didn't even suspect anything when I knew Parcel Tongue? You are a stupid girl. Now step aside, I want my daughter." He gestured with his wand to the side of the room; I didn't move an inch. "It's a shame I didn't get here in time to save you from Draco."
In that instant I knew what was to come, and I leapt across the room for my wand. My hands closed about it and I began a shielding incantation to protect myself. Suddenly a brilliant green flash reaches me. Fade to black.
"Harry, what is it! Can't you let a fellow-" he started before even opening his eyes.
A quick glance around the room reminded him he was no longer in Hogwarts. He was in his room back at home, and he noticed the hurt look on my face before I could mask it.
"I was- I was dreaming of happier days, Ginny. I'm sorry." He tried explaining to me, but I could relate.
"You don't have to apologize to me," I offered him the faintest of smiles, "I have my dreams too."
* * *
I remembered all too well the better days, and the beginning of the Dark Days. It was my 6th year at Hogwarts when You-Know-Who struck the school backed by things out of the worst shadow-filled nightmare. Hermione was in the library when the attack came. She had kissed Ron once softly and told him not to wait up, she was already working on her third volume of Wizarding and had made quite a commotion in some circles. Ron and Harry were talking about a Quidditch game they had seen over summer break while I curled up in Harry's arms.
When the sounds of battle reached the upper hallways of the school, chaos reigned over the school for the first time in over a decade. All of House Slytherin joined the Dark forces as they stormed into the school, and although Snape tried stopping them he was met by overwhelming numbers. The Dark One personally dueled Dumbledore, and fueled by a great hate, cast the headmaster down one of the deep stairwells.
Some of Ravenclaw and even a Hufflepuff or two joined Slytherin. Gryfindor was the only House that stood wholly against the invaders, but they were not enough and could do little more than flee to safer grounds. Harry, Ron, and I were rushing to the Library to find Hermione when we rounded a corner and ran into Crab and a small army of his fellow goons.
"Potter! Just the man I was looking for." Crab beckoned as if he expected us to simply follow along.
"I won't go easy," Harry tensed beside me raising his wand, "I'll take a fair number of you down with me when I die."
Crab's chuckle was cold and frightening, "I wouldn't dare kill you, Master wishes to do that personally. I'm simply here to rid the world of this dirt-poor pair that you constantly drag along and make sure that you accompany me to the Lord-."
"I know your Master's name well enough, perhaps you should go lick his feet some more!" Wands raised, incantations were brought to mind, the entire hallway began to gather the feel of battle about it.
"Stop!" One piercing shout filled the hallway, and Hermione, glowing in the aura of her defensive spells strode into the room.
"What can a mudblood like you do?" Laughter rose from the Slytherin ranks, right up until with a flick of her wand and a muttered word she showed him. Crab and a dozen of his compatriots were devoured in the first burst of flame, and soon the entire hall was filled with the smell of overcooked meat.
Hermione fixed us with an impatient glare, "Get out of here already! I'm covering your retreat!"
Ron, however, steadfastly refused to abandon her against such overwhelming odds and so she set a sleeping charm over him. Harry and I picked him up between us and continued our flight, sending our best wishes with Hermione. Slytherin's Quidditch team had taken to the skies, intent on stopping any and all owls from getting word out to the Ministry of Magic. Gryfindor's team took to the sky and fought as fiercely as they ever had downing every Slytherin in half an hour, most permanently.
We escaped from Hogwarts, but so many didn't. Hermione stood against those hundred and more follows of the Dark one and her battle became known as Granger's Last Stand. They erected a statue of her outside the Ministry of Magic, but I suppose it's gone too, now. Forget the past, Ginny, it's gone now.
* * *
Ron was looking at me, a worried expression on his face, and I wondered how long I'd been lost in my memories. My stomach was a cold, hard knot of fear. The fear drained me of my strength and left me trembling, a few tears rolling down my cheeks.
"You sensed him again, didn't you, Ginny?" Ron softly stroked my hair as I sobbed, like a small girl just woken from a nightmare.
"He's coming, he wants to kill me and my daughter, he wants to destroy the last trace of Harry." I could feel it; I could almost hear his footsteps, drawing closer.
"Are you sure it wasn't just a dream about when-," Ron paused unsure of whether it was safe to mention it to me. "Well about that night- the night he came before to-"
"Ron, it's been over a year since my husband died, you can mention it now." Tears streamed down my face, and yet I was the one doing the consoling now.
"I can't believe he's gone. Everyone else, everyone but you is gone. At least you and Harry were married; Hermione died in that attack on Hogwarts!" Ron was in a rage, the color in his face nearly matched his hair.
"He's coming." I whispered so quietly Ron could barely hear me, and I remembered the first time he had come for me.
* * *
Harry and I had been as happy as anybody could in these dark times. You-Know-Who was running rampant killing all who crossed him, he even breached the Ministry of Magic killing all in the walls, including most of the elder Weasleys. Harry helped where he could, and he was usually involved in almost every plan to fight back the Dark Wizards.
All this couldn't damped my spirits though, for I was in my fifth month of pregnancy; Harry and I were to have a daughter. My mother was happy for me, but was too stricken by what had happened to her husband as well as Percy, Fred, and George to ever be around much.
Things went all wrong on a cold night with the wind driving the rain hard against the wall. I walk up with a feeling of doom, icy fingers of premonition crawling up my back. The weather, it had to be the weather and my pregnancy just putting me into an odd mood. I'm was sure that's all it could be, and then I heard it. Echoing up from downstairs came a horrible sound as of metal twisting and breaking. Harry bolted up and we both knew who it was.
"Oh Ginny, he's in the house already. Take the back way out so he doesn't catch you in the crossfire." Harry was prepared, tense from nights of worrying this could be coming.
"But, what if he kills you! I can't live without you anymore." I was frantic; this couldn't be happening! We could just escape, settle down somewhere else, and raise our family. Everything would be fine.
"I defeated him once before, there's no reason I can't do it again."
I had escaped out into the alley when suddenly a green light lit the entire alleyway. I screamed and I cried, by the time I reached my family's house I had vomited everything in my stomach. I wouldn't have bothered eating again if not for the baby, she was Harry's and I would raise her to become the greatest Witch there was.
* * *
"I'm ending this once and for all! I'm not going to hide in a house and die like a cornered rat. I'll do what Hermione did. I will stand and face my enemies, my wand in hand." He grabbed his wand from where he kept it hidden under his pillow, it was bandaged with tape in two places and was bent in another.
"Ron! We've got a plan; we aren't hiding. What Hermione did was brave but in the end it got her killed. Heroics are not-" I backed away from Ron, the face on his look was so horrible I thought he might hit me. "Ron, that's not what I."
Ron had stormed out of the house into the foggy night. I looked over the doorframe to make sure the rocks were still in place and looked at the rope that would release the trap, held tight by a heavy chair.
In the fog I heard a surprised oath followed by Ron's voice raised in incantation. A short cry of pain followed by the sounds of a struggle drifted out of the fog and into the house. I looked out a window hoping that any moment I would see Ron walk back towards the house. I heard a bone- breaking impact and someone falling to the ground. Could the horror truly be over?
Yes, there was Ron walking back towards the house! He was cut badly across one cheek but he was alive! Suddenly the entire fogbank was turned green by a sickly light; I shielded my eyes from the horrible brightness.
An image of Harry's shadow on the far wall of the alley collapsing out of view flooded my eyes for a moment. Every death, every suffering, every loss was made fresh for me again.
When I looked back Ron was nowhere to be seen and You-Know-Who approached, limping, out of the fog. I clutched my wand tighter to convince myself that it really was there and straightened my robes. The door creaked open, and he took two steps into the room, stopping just below my trap.
"Well, Potter's wife. The pleasure is all mine, or will be." His mere voice being in my house disgusted me to the core, but I had to distract him or I'd never complete my spell.
"I beg you," I dropped to my knees where I stood, "show me mercy, great Lord-"
"No, you will not speak my name. You are not worthy to speak my name." He sneered and spat into my face. "You are nothing, nothing but Potter's leftovers."
He reached up with both hands to pull down the hood of his cloak, and I saw my opportunity. My wand snaked forward, the words "Wingardium Leviosa" erupted from my mouth, and the chair lifted a few inches off the ground. The rope slithered free and the rocks began to fall. He raised his wand, the tip nearly touching my forehead and opened his mouth for the first words of a spell, but never began. The rocks crushed Draco from the world forever.
Throughout my 5th year at Hogwarts both Draco and Harry had sought my affections, and both asked me to the dance at the end of the year. It was that year that Voldemort had sought to wipe Harry from the world forever, and in a desperate attempt to eliminate the competition Draco joined with him. In a wizard's duel Harry had beaten Draco who fled, battered and bleeding, swearing revenge.
I walked into my daughter's bedroom and cradled her against my chest. Rocking her soothingly in my arms to calm her after the crashing in hallway.
"It's all right now Lily, we're finally safe." I told the baby as she fell asleep in my arms.
I'm not sure how long I was standing there before I heard footsteps at my back. I had left my wand laying on the desk several feet to my left. Carefully, I lowered Lily back into her crib and tensed myself to leap for the wand when the figure behind me spoke.
"Ah, precious Ginny. And my lovely Lily of the Dark Arts." My heart rose as I heard the voice, I knew it in a heartbeat and turned around to see him again for the first time in over a year.
"Harry! It's go great to see you!" I cried as I embraced him tightly in my arms. I cried against his chest telling him how much I had missed him for several minutes before his words fully dawned on me and I released him. "What'd you just say? Dark Arts?"
"What? You didn't know?" He chuckled as if at a well-told joke. "Sure, Draco and I would hurt each other once in a while to keep up appearances, but we never tried killing each other. Slaying an ally is a foolish thing indeed"
I was backing slowly towards the crib now, to shield it with my body. "What do you mean? Love, you're scaring me."
"You didn't even suspect anything when I knew Parcel Tongue? You are a stupid girl. Now step aside, I want my daughter." He gestured with his wand to the side of the room; I didn't move an inch. "It's a shame I didn't get here in time to save you from Draco."
In that instant I knew what was to come, and I leapt across the room for my wand. My hands closed about it and I began a shielding incantation to protect myself. Suddenly a brilliant green flash reaches me. Fade to black.