Ch.10 Time To Go To War

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Two days after our arrival at Shell Cottage, Luna and Mr. Olivander were moved to somewhere else; a month later Harry, Ron, Hermione, Reagan and the goblin left as well. Draco and I decided to stay behind. The first night when we were there was so quiet that we could hear the ocean crashing into the beach while we ate dinner.

"Fleur and I are headed to an order meeting tonight in a secluded location. Will you two be alright on your own?" Bill asked with a worried expression on his face.

"We'll be fine Bill? We are safer here than anywhere else we have been in nearly a year." I assured him.

And just like that Draco and I were alone.

"I think I'm going to go take a shower." Why was I suddenly so nervous? Draco and I had been alone numerous times. This was no different.

"Alright" I could have sworn his voice sounded almost nervous as well.

It was nice having a shower that was longer than five minutes. With so many people in the house we had never gotten a shower more than that in the last month. I stepped out of the shower feeling much better and almost forgetting about my strange case of nerves. Then it dawned on me that all of my clothing was in the bedroom that Draco was probably waiting for me in and the nerves returned.

I was clutching my towel as tightly as possible as I stepped into the bedroom. Sure enough, Draco was sitting on the bed already wearing a pair of pajama pants and no shirt. It wasn't until I shut the door that he looked up and his mouth fell open slightly.

"I forgot my clothes in here." Instead of heading for the dresser I walked up to the bed and sat down. I could feel the heat in my cheeks. This was stupid; Draco had seen me in a towel before. He had probably seen me with less at some point.

He reached a hand out and cupped it around my face smiling.

"I'd forgotten just how beautiful you are when you blush." He whispered place his lips on mine. "I'd forgotten how wonderful it is to kiss you." His lips trailed down my neck and a small moan escaped my lips. "I'd forgotten how nice it was to touch you."

I barely had time to register anything before I was lying beneath him with my damp hair splayed across the pillows. "I believe, Draco Malfoy, that you are a bit overdressed for this." I was shocked at how brave I had suddenly become as my hand found the waistband of his pajamas. Before I could pull them down his hand stopped mine.

"Ginny" He pulled away a bit looking down at my face.

"No, you don't get to pull away now Draco. " I used me free hand to reach up and touch his face. "I love you. I want this. And tonight I'm going to get what I want"

His hand released mine and helped me to pull off all his clothing. "Now we are even" I whispered as he leaned down kissing me again.

"Not quite" He tugged the towel once pulling it off of me and tossing it to the floor. "Are you sure about this?" He looked into my eyes and I could see the worry in his.

"I'm ready."

Later that night we were awoken by footsteps running up the stairs. I sat up in bed wrapping the blanket around my naked body just before the door swung open and I was face to face with Bill.

"It's beginning. Harry and the other made it to Hogwarts. Tonight is the end. Are you two staying here or coming?" He was out of breath and luckily had yet to notice I was covered solely by the blanket.

"We're coming" Draco answered for me. "We'll be downstairs in just a moment."

As soon as the door closed, we were both out of bed getting dressed. I pulled my hair into a tight bun before we went to join Bill. Before I opened the door though Draco stopped me and pulled me to face him kissing me with as much passion as he could.

"No matter what happens tonight, I love you so much." He wrapped his arms around me giving me one last hug before we went out to face the end of the war.

Hogwarts was nothing like I remembered it at all. The once friendly and warm school was now cold and desolate. It sent chills up my spine to be returning. The fight had already begun when we entered the school and it wasn't long before we joined into the fight. We stood by Fred and George for awhile until a dark voice crept into our heads.

"I will give you one hour to send Harry Potter out to meet me in forbidden forest before I join the fight myself. Until that time my army will return to me. Collect your dead with dignity." I took a step back hitting a wall shaking away the chills that ran down my spine.

"What do we do?" Draco asked lowering his wand.

"We go to the Hospital wing. It's probably where everyone will be looking to see who survived." Fred answered. It had to be one of the very few times I had ever heard him serious in my entire life time.

Together the four of us managed to climb through the rubble and find our way to the hospital wing. The first think I noticed was Pansy and Blaise desperately trying to pull Azlyn off of someone. It took me a moment to realize she was clinging to the lifeless body of Logan and hot tears rolled down my cheeks seeing her in so much pain. A couple cots away from her was another body I recognized. Regan lay lifeless and alone and I knew Harry had yet to see her. Over in the corner my parents were hugging in turn all of my brothers except Ron who must still have been with Harry. As my mother looked them over for damage in turn my father spoke quietly with Tonks and Lupin.

I heard the doors open behind me and the room went silent. I turned around to see Harry, Ron and Hermione come through the doors and freeze. Hermione must have noticed Reagan first because her mouth dropped open a little and a sad sigh escaped her lips. Ron held onto her a little tighter and it seemed to me that something had finally made them confess how much they loved each other. Harry suddenly made a quick movement across the room a look of horror and pain frozen on his features.

"No, no, no" I heard him whisper and he held a hand on Regan's cold cheek. I turned away wanting to give him some privacy as I put my focus back on my family. While Draco went to speak with Blaise, Azlyn and Pansy; I went to hug my parents.

"Oh Ginny" My mother pulled me into a tight embrace. "I've missed you so much "I could hear the tears in her voice. The extreme relief that I was standing in front of her alive and for the most part well was almost overwhelming in her words.

After a moment I looked out the window over her shoulder and my heart almost stopped. Across the courtyard I could see Bickman in a classroom. He was looking right at me and as soon as he noticed that I was looking he winked. I mumbled some excuse to my family about finding a restroom before the fighting began again and I took off.

I walked into the classroom with my wand already in the air. Bickman was standing against one of the walls just casually twirling his wand in his fingers.

"Oh Red, how I've missed you" He smirked obviously checking me out. "You look like you've lost weight. Oh no wait I forgot you had a baby right?"

He hit a nerve and I lost it throwing a curse his way which he deflect and took a step closer.

"You bastard, it takes some real evil to kill their own child!" I kept my wand even with his eyes. But he didn't even flinch, he was actually grinning at me.

"Really how evil do you need to be to know someone's going to be raped but not tell them? To know and still act surprised when you come across their broken body. How evil do you have to be then Red?" He laughed.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" He was just messing with me, he had to be.

"Oh that's right, Malfoy probably wasn't going to tell you that ever. You see my little puppet; Malfoy knew that the dark lord had put out a request for your rape. I mean how could he not; the big meeting about it took place in his house. He was there I saw him."

"I don't believe you." Draco would never have kept this from me, would he?

"As him yourself go on…" He nodded towards the door and lowered his wand.

"Why on earth would you lower your wand? Do you honestly think I am just going to leave you here armed?" Was he completely out of his mind?

"No not at all. Go away take me to the Ministry or the Order. They'll never find me guilty of anything." He smiled. "Here you can even have my wand" He held it out towards me.

"You are insane." I stared at his wand as if he had grown another arm. "There is no way you would be deemed innocent"

"Really? Because I believe my defense is rock solid." His creepy smile was making me extremely uncomfortable. Outside I heard a loud commotion but ignored it figuring the battle had started up again. I wondered how long I had been missing and if Draco was looking for me.

"What defense would that be?" He was baiting me. But I couldn't ignore it.

"See my little Red, I have all the evidence to claim that I was cursed by someone and forced to do all of this by him. He made me rape you. He made me kill Carter Temply. He made me kill my own child. He made me kill Dumbledore. He made me do it all." His fake sadness was grinding me. "And he will take the fall for all of it."

"Who is he?" My hand was shaking in anger. He couldn't get away with this. He wouldn't.

"Draco Malfoy" My heart stopped and I couldn't breathe. "Now Red, are you angry enough with him to let him sit in Azkaban his entire life" I was pissed at Draco especially if what he was telling me about Draco knowing before what happened to me happened. But Azkaban, could I let him go to Azkaban.

Bickman dropped his wand holding his hands in the air with an evil grin on his face. I shut my eyes and did the only thing I could do. "Avada Kedavra"

When I opened my eyes again, Bickman was lying dead on the ground. My whole body trembled at the thought of what I had just done. I willed my legs to move and I ran as fast as I could. It wasn't long before I turned a corner running into someone and knocking us both to the ground.

"Ginny!" Draco's voice stung and I felt tears well up in my eyes as I stood to look at him. "What happened are you alright?" He reached out towards me and I flinched stepping away.

"Bickman's dead"

"Did he hurt you? Love, what's going on? What happened?" He looked shocked and confused and I wanted so hard to believe what Bickman had told me was a lie.

"You knew before it happened didn't you?" I whispered praying I would get the answer I wanted and we could put this all in the past. But his face gave away the truth when he caught on to what I was asking.

"Ginny…" He took another step towards me and I backed away again.

"No" I cringed and the tears spilled down my cheeks. "Nearly two years I've stood next to you believing that you were good and loved me. But it was guilt. You just felt bad and it was all a lie" My mind races from the first smile to our first kiss to Merci's birth and forward to the night before as dawn had broken nearly an hour before.

"No Ginny, please listen to me." He reached out for me again and I pushed him away.

"No you listen to me. We are done. Leave me alone." I shoved past him and made my way to where I heard voices and walked into the Great Hall. My family was all standing together looking worried but as soon as the saw me, Ron broke from the group wrapping his arms around me.

"It's over Ginny. Voldemort's dead. It's over." He took a step back and looked at me. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Bickman's dead." I whispered and he looked confused at why I was so upset. "And Draco and I broke up." Saying it out loud hurt more than I thought it would. Bill had already walked up behind Ron and looked slightly angrier than Ron did.

"Ron, mind if me and Gin take a walk?" Bill asked wrapping and arm around me shoulder and leading me away after Ron nodded in approval.

"Does this have something to do with last night?" He questioned as we sat down on one of the only still intact benches outside. I looked up at him embarrassment written clearly on my face. "I'm not blind Gin."

"Please don't tell anyone. And no it's not about that. It's something else entirely that I'm not really sure I am ready to talk about just yet." I leaned against his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around me. Everywhere you looked people were looking at the damage to the school. Some were happily hugging their family in joy and other huddled together in tears. Regardless the whole scene was oddly still and now that the war was over it was time for the rest of our lives to begin.