FIREBIRD

Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.

&&&

Ginny Weasley dreams.

She dreams of dark forests and darker moons, places where the stars don't shine and the night sky is illuminated with a pale green glow, like a snake slithering from the dark. She dreams of wolves howling—or is it people screaming?—and snowflakes falling steadily, covering footprints on the icy ground.

The snow is soft and powdery beneath her fingers and she picks up a fistful of the frozen rain and feels the cold chill her to the bone. But perhaps it is not the snow that makes her freeze, because as she turns around, there is a slicing green light in front of her, and then there is laughter.

Snake eyes peer at her from the dark.

Red, heartless eyes that are like cat's, their pupils slit in the pattern of a diamond. Red eyes that make her stop in her tracks as she tries to run, whimpering softly as the eyes come closer, closer—

Thomas Marvolo Riddle stands before her, as unchanged as he was when she last saw him. His hair is neatly combed, his face as pale as the surroundings they stand in, and still there is a green light hanging over them. Thomas reaches out towards her, and for a moment, Ginny Weasley almost thinks that she can see compassion on his face.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley," he croons, and the redhead is vaguely aware that his voice sounds very much like snakes hissing in harmony together. She flinches as his hand caresses her face, but cannot pull away.

"Get off me—" she begins, but the boy cuts her off with a secretive smile.

"Soon, Ginevra Weasley, soon," he responds softly, letting his hand fall away from her. "When the phoenix rises from the ashes, you will be mine."

Phoenix from ashes?

Fawkes, Ginny assumes automatically and scowls. "I belong to no one," she spits back, jerking away from his attempt to touch her again.

"Not even the Boy-Who-Lived? The great Harry Potter who, once upon a time, defeated me?" Thomas asks quietly, his voice somewhat of a drawl.

"Especially not him," the Auror retorts quickly, eyes flashing.

"And how sure are you about that?" Thomas questions again, his eyes interested and alert. Watching, always watching, and Ginny suppresses a shiver.

"Yes!" she snaps, annoyed at his questions. "And especiallynot you."

Reacting in a way that she does not expect, Thomas Riddle presses his hand to his chest and, instantly, the very spot he touches starts to bleed. The liquid stains the dark robes he is wearing, and he smiles warmly at her, reaching towards her and smearing the blood down the side of her face.

Ginny fights back the urge to be sick. "You basta—"

"My heart. Broken," the boy provides helpfully, pressing his hand to her breast, just where her heart is. Ginny looks down in horror as, like Thomas's did, she starts to bleed and as she bleeds, the tears drip fall fast and heavy down her face.

"Your heart. Broken," Thomas echoes, the smile still on his face. He removes his hand and the bleeding stops as quickly as it started.

Ginny is still crying.

"You see, Miss Weasley, you and I are very much the same," Riddle lilts quietly, his dark eyes still watching her. She cannot look at him and, instead, stares at the snow that, once white, is now pooled with the blood of both her and Thomas.

"Look at me," he whispers harshly, and the redhead finds herself looking into his eyes. They are no longer dark and humanlike; they are snakelike and reptilian. She fights back the urge to scream as Lord Voldemort stands in front of her, pale like a ghost with a sneer of triumph upon his face.

Ginny does not know what to do when she calls out his name. "Harry—"

"He is a part of both of us," Voldemort simpers, striding towards her. She backs away quickly, blood still drip-drip-dripping from her, although the wound healed up long ago. "He killed me and he will kill you," he murmurs, one gnarled hand reaching out to grab her.

She falls backwards and he misses, grasping thin air.

All Ginny can hear as she falls into darkness is Lord Voldemort screaming out her name.

"I'm sorry, Ginny. You know I love you, but—"

The battlefield is rich with corpses and blood. More blood, spells being thrown everywhere, curses stinging through the air, mingling with the sound of screams. There is anger and rage everywhere; Ginny can feel it pulsating through her like a virus: a disease.

She looks down at Harry. He is slick with sweat, hair matted with dirt and blood, and she reaches towards him and strokes his forehead tenderly. The lightning bolt scar on his head appears to be on fire, and he is gasping for air—gasping, gasping, and she feels helpless.

Strangely enough, in that moment, everything around them goes silent and Ginny can hear In Too Deep, by Phil Collins, playing somewhere in the background.

"—I just can't take this," he wheezes, and the redhead is conscious of Phil Collins singing the exact same thing in the background. Her father's favourite song, she muses softly, stroking Harry's forehead again.

"Shh," she whispers, eyes filling with tears again. Harry - her precious, precious Harry - he cannot leave her. "Everything is fine. Everything will be okay."

"We're going to die," he says faintly, and she holds his hand tightly, a determined expression upon her face. "I've let everyone down—"

"Harry Potter, you are the Boy-Who-Lived and you will not die," Ginny says firmly. She wishes she was as brave as he is.

Harry Potter starts to laugh, and before her eyes, he turns into Draco Malfoy.

"When the phoenix rises from the ashes," Draco says softly, his grey eyes full of an emotion that Ginny cannot decipher, "You will be mine."

Draco's face turns into Colin. "Ginny, I ate your chocolate—"

Colin becomes Justin Finch-Fletchley. "How about being my slave, ginger? Just for a day. You, me, my office, chains…"

"No!" she screams, clutching her head because this is all too much. Justin becomes Harry again and his breathing is laboured.

"H-Harry—"

Next to him, Ron and Hermione are dead. Ginny screams again. One by one, the corpses of Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, Bill, Molly and Arthur appear next to Ron, all of them with their eyes wide open. Ginny continues to scream.

"Ginny," Harry rasps, and she weeps as she looks at him. If she loses him… "Ginny, my Firebird, swallow your pride and accept the inevitable. I will die."

"N-no." Tears drip onto him and he does not notice. Ginny is captivated by his startling green eyes and notices, with fear, that the light in them is fading. Phil Collins is still playing in the background.

Harry lifts up his hand and strokes her cheek. She is mesmerised by the touch, eyes drifting shut for a moment. "Harry…" she whispers. "You left me twice. I can't lose you again—"

"It is what must be done," he says faintly, and from nowhere, there is a knife in his hand.

She screams as he plunges the knife into himself.

Harry Potter bursts into flames and the cry of a phoenix is heard. Corpses burn and they, too, turn into majestic birds made of fire, crying as they ascend into the sky.

Ginevra Weasley weeps as she is left alone with ashes and the moonlight to keep her company.

Justin Finch-Fletchley strides forth from the ashes and holds Ginny as she cries. For once, she does not resist, and she weeps openly as, all around them, snow starts to fall. Everyone she loves is gone and all that the world has to show for it is purity. Evil has been cleansed.

As they sit together and cry, a voice in the dark stirs.

"When the phoenix rises from the ashes, you will be mine."

In softer, quieter tones, the voice adds, as if musing to itself, "But when the snake sheds its skin and shows its true colours…"

Seconds pass. Ginny still weeps and Justin still holds her, both of them apparently oblivious to the voice.

"… the lion shall be set free."

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Author's Notes: So I lied to you all. This chapter doesn't contain any interaction-y goodness, but a slight hint as to what the rest of this story will be about… and its sequel, Eyelash Wishes. Which, I must say, I am still planning out, but you should look out for it in the near future.

I'm going to admit that this story is changing from the light-hearted one I had originally planned it to be, and it probably will change a lot as I continue to write it, so please bear with me there. On a lighter note, I have updated once again and although this chapter is rather short (I don't write long dream sequences), hopefully it leaves you wanting more.

And thank you, again, The Zazu for your review. I'm glad you checked Otherwise out; it's an amazing one-shot! As for the Draco and Ron question, no, they're probably not, but I'll say it now that Ron's love interest will change between Hermione and someone else, that's for sure. You're welcome with regards to the quick update, and the whole 'Is Draco a Death Eater?' question should eventually be answered. For now, I'll say that he just might be.

For the rest of you, reviews are very much welcome, as are constructive criticisms! Have a good week and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!