Harry Potter does not belong to me. It is the sole property of J.K. Rowling and I receive no profit from this.

Ginny had always had a special place in her heart for Harry Potter. She knew he didn't love her or anything but she always knew that if she fell that he'd be there. That if she were in trouble she could go to him. She didn't because she knew he'd feel awkward helping Ron's little sister, that he had enough problems of his own, and that she could take care of herself most of the time. But she knew if she were ever in real trouble he would be there to help. It was a nice feeling. It made her feel safe and warm in this big, scary world.

She knew that when the Death Eaters took her from Hogsmead during the attack. She knew he'd come even as she was stunned and slung over one of the masked men's shoulders. When she woke in the dank and slimy cell they'd tossed her into she was frightened but held to that hope. Harry would save her. And when she overheard their plans for her-to steal her body as a host for Voldemort's new reign-she was afraid but not terrified. Harry would come. He did before when she thought no one could ever save her. When Tom had stood over her and taunted her that no one would ever find her, that she would die alone and afraid. Harry had come then. He would find her now.

But he didn't come. She waited in the dark, wondering and becoming more afraid. She pushed those fears aside, chiding herself for doubting him. But he still didn't come. She worried that maybe he was hurt, maybe he'd been captured and was working on a daring escape plan to save her, maybe he was working on defeating Voldemort and she could just go home, maybe... But she couldn't keep coming up with excuses as the time dragged by. But even as the Death Eaters came for her, grabbing her arms and dragging her out of her cell, she still had a spark of hope. Maybe it'd be like in those books and at the last second he'd come charging up, his wand shooting off colorful spells to save her. Maybe. But that hope didn't really seem real anymore. She clung to it as hard as she could but she was still being dragged forward by the dark and robed men of death. They took her out into a clearing in the wood, more of them ringing her in a black circle of robes and taunting voices. She saw the form of Voldemort before her, his hissing voice reeking of her impending doom. It was then that she knew.

He wasn't coming.

Somehow that betrayal hurt more than the thought that she would soon be dead. She was afraid and lonely and hurt. He wasn't coming. No one would. She was alone. Maybe she'd always been alone, like she'd once thought. She lifted her pale face to her captors. If they wanted her life they would take it. I am not afraid, she thought. I must accept this. One Death Eater brought forth a goblet of a strange vermillion liquid and Voldemort raised his wand to point at her. She kept her face blank. And then!

And then from the edges of the crowd there was a commotion and bright blasts of light and Ginny's heart raised in a wild delight. Had he come? Had he truly come? The Death Eaters were all shouting and reaching for their wands but who ever had come was wearing an invisibility cloak and the Death Eaters couldn't see where to fire. Then someone gave a yank on her arm and she was whirled out of place and under the cloak.

And it wasn't Harry. It was Draco Malfoy. Her eyes were wide, her expression startled. They ran from the clearing into the woods and onto the back of a waiting hippogriff that sped them away from the clearing. Draco pulled off the cloak, his fine blonde hair sticking up in tufts from his head. He pulled Ginny closer to keep her from falling and Ginny began to sob. "You came." She cried, the words almost unintelligible in her tears of relief and shock. "You didn't think I'd leave you, did you?" he asked, his voice holding less of the sarcasm than she'd ever heard. "I did." She said. "Don't be silly Ginny." He said softer and held her a little closer still. And strangely enough, she was glad it hadn't been Harry.