Chapter 11

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

R. Kipling

Harry stood frozen, only for a moment; as he watched one of the men he hated most in his world begin to fly away with Ginny. He had no real idea of what had just happened between them, or just how Pettigrew had managed to get onto the grounds, but he knew one thing. He was not going to let Voldemort get her; he had to do something to stop it.

Above him, in the air, Peter Pettigrew surveyed the ground below him. Harry looked angry as hell, but he didn't feel too threatened. Sure the boy was powerful, but what could he do. From the entrance of the castle, he saw people beginning to pour out. Clearly somebody had heard the screams, or seen him at the window. Oh well, he'd be gone soon. Down on the ground, he picked out the faces of Remus and Sirius. Sirius hadn't even bothered to disguise himself; it was very reckless of him. But then, Sirius had always been reckless. Reckless, and stupid. Peter allowed himself a smirk at his two former friends. He was the most powerful of them all now. He was at the right hand of lord Voldemort himself. James the perfect was dead, Sirius the joker had spent years and years in Azkaban, and Remus was the outcast that he always should have been. He, Peter, had risen above them all, and was a servant of Voldemort. He couldn't help but feel a little triumphant.

Ginny was still squirming in his arms, and on the ground, Dumbledore looked like he was going to do something. Pettigrew had to get away fast. He aimed his wand at the struggling girl, and muttered a few well-chosen words. Cords wrapped themselves tightly around her limbs and mouth, making her eyes bulge in pain. Pettigrew smirked again. He watched Dumbledore carefully, and reared the animal he was riding on. In reality, he should have been watching Harry and Draco.

Harry was still standing on the lawn, trying to think of a way in which to get Ginny down from the horse without hurting her, whilst causing as much damage to Pettigrew as he possibly could. He heard a loud rumble from behind him, as bodies began to spill from the castle onto the grounds, most of them still in their dress robes. He turned around and saw Draco and Hermione standing behind him. Harry couldn't speak; he had a lump of hate formed in his throat. He merely pointed up to the flying horse, so that his two friends could see what was happening on top of it. They looked up to see Ginny tense, as if in pain, and fall limply back down onto the back of the beast.

'We have to stop him' Draco said, his pale eyebrows forming a hard line across his face. He looked towards Harry, and their eyes met in an intense stare.

Do you want to try it? He asked him. There was fury sparkling in the depths of Harry's emerald eyes as he answered.

Lets do it.

The two of them left Hermione standing alone and stepped forward, so they were separated from the crowd of onlookers. Both of them raised their hands, their eyes locked, and a bright white light began to form between them. The light grew brighter, and more intense, as the boys focused all their anger, all their power into that energy. And the sky above them grew dark, as Peter looked around him in bewilderment. Clouds began to form over the castle, and lightning pierced the sky. But Harry and Draco did not stop, and the lightning headed for the horse, and Pettigrew. He whipped the animal, making it rear and just dodge the flash of electricity. But the boys continued, and the bolts carried on aiming for the man astride the horse.

The spectators on the ground began to realise that something out of the ordinary was going on, and they finally looked down on the ground to notice Draco and Harry, and they were almost as shocked to see them doing the spell, as they were by the sight in the sky.

Pettigrew dodged another bolt, and then decided to make a break from it. He turned around in mid air, and prepared to go as fast as he could. It wasn't fast enough. He wheeled to face a charge of electricity coming straight at him; he had no hope of dodging it. The bolt struck with ferocity, and the horse cried out in pain, both people on it were thrown from its back, and began their descent to earth, the fallen steed close behind him.

Members of the crowd shrieked as they recognised Ginny's falling body. Draco and Harry broke the spell immediately, and Harry raced forward, raising his hand. Ginny was slowed immediately, but not quite enough. She hit the ground with a dull thud, and lay very still on the ground, with Pettigrew and the animal strewn around her, like victims of a bloody battle. Time stopped as Harry ran towards her, and the world waited as he cradled her in his arms, stroking her shiny face. She was so still. He tenderly removed the horrible bounds from her, and she became limp, like a rag doll. He fought to control his emotions as he looked at the expression of pain that crossed her delicate features. She loved him, she had always loved him, and he had rejected her. All because he couldn't find the right words to say that he loved her back. Because he knew now, he was in love with Ginny Weasley. He loved the way she was so kind, so noble, and so selfless. He loved the way her hair would catch the sunlight, and glow warmly by the fireside. He loved the way she was so beautiful, without even knowing it. And he would not lose her now.

He swept her up into his arms as if she weighed no more than a feather, and carried her up to the castle, the crowds parting for them as they moved through. Draco and Hermione followed close behind, and in turn, were followed by a procession of Weasley's, the red heads disappearing up the steps and vanishing from sight.

The crowd took in one collective breath, and then began to take action. Sirius and Remus ran towards Pettigrew, each holding up their wands to restrain him if he were still conscious. He was, he had performed a spell to break his own fall. Peter had never been that good at magic, except when it came to saving himself. He was looking around him with a glazed expression on his face. He gained control of his senses, only to look up into the two faces that he least wanted to see.

'Sirius,' he said softly, 'Remus'. He knew it would do no good to beg this time, that he was too weak. He would have to rely on some greater power, to save himself from the murderous glares of his former friends. And funnily enough, a greater power did come forward to speak for him, stopping the other two men just as they were raising their wands. To Peter's surprise, the man was Albus Dumbledore. He strode between them, and spoke authoritatively.

'Both of you, lower your wands, you must understand how important it is that you do not kill Peter.' The two men looked at him, disbelief etched across their faces.

'Sirius, don't you see, that Peter is your key to freedom?' Dumbledore reminded him.

'But Dumbledore, the ministry won't do anything about it, don't you remember? Lucius Malfoy is in charge. He won't send a death eater to Azkaban.' Remus asked, trying to find a reason for Dumbledore to let them exact their revenge.

'I think you're wrong their Remus.' Dumbledore said. He looked down into Peter's face, and the powerful anger that he was known for again surged to the surface. 'Peter here has failed Voldemort, and I feel that he was probably here on the threat of punishment. I think that Voldemort would have no real problem with sending him to Azkaban.' He spoke with ice in his voice.

'Now I must ask you both to escort, Wormtail here up to the west tower, we he can be held until the ministry comes to collect him.' and he then summoned a stretcher, onto which Pettigrew was strapped, still too weak to put up any sort of fight. Remus levitated it with his wand, and the two started to make their way to the tower, when someone caught up with them. They turned around to see Severus Snape in front of them, an unreadable expression on his face.

'I'm coming with you' he said, sounding slightly out of breath. 'I want to watch him until they come for him.'

Sirius looked about ready to snap, but Remus held his hand up to stop him, and gave Snape a long hard look.

'All right,' he said finally, as Sirius snorted. The three of them then walked awkwardly away.

Whilst all that was going on, a large portion of the people on the lawn had gone to gather round the horse like creature that Pettigrew had been riding. Dumbledore, having watched his former students go, made his way towards it, the people moving aside to let him through. What he saw on the ground made him shiver to the core. In the centre of all the people, was a dead animal that had been tortured beyond belief. What they had thought was a horse, was in fact a unicorn, lying prone and mangled on the castle grounds, with two giant brown wings that had been placed on its body, deforming its bones in what must have been a process of great pain. Hagrid was bent over the beast, and when he looked up, there were great tears pouring down his bearded face.

'It's Beaky,' he said, sniffling, 'those wings, they were Beaky's.' and as Dumbledore looked again at the mutated beast, he saw that Hagrid was probably right, the wings clearly belonged to a hippogriff. Sirius had arrived at the castle on Buckbeak, and now the magnificent creature would never leave. Dumbledore was sickened to the core. He motioned for the people around Hagrid to go back up to the castle, and with a final look of sorrow, walked away, leaving Hagrid to mourn the loss of his pet and friend. Pettigrew would be punished.



Up in the hospital wing, a vigil had been set up for Ginny Weasley, who was still lying unconscious on the hospital bed. Around her, the group of students sat silent, almost too stunned to even go over what had happened. Hermione and Draco held on to each other, with Hermione burying her head in his shoulder every now and then. The twins looked at their youngest sister, their faces ashen, trying their hardest not to imagine how it would feel to bury another family member. Harry was sitting by the bed, eyes full of unshed tears, just willing the red haired girl to wake up, trying his hardest to put the life back into her. But nothing happened, and Ginny was still. He felt someone tap him on the shoulder, and turned round fiercely in frustration, almost falling off the chair in surprise as he looked into Ron's face.

'Look,' he said. 'I'm not saying that we're ok, but Ginny, she'll be okay you know. She's strong, and she'll survive for you. Because, she loves you.' He sounded very odd, as though there were a great deal of misunderstanding in his voice. He spoke again, more to himself than Harry.

'I just, I don't understand. Why her?' and then he left the wing, still muttering under his breath. Harry was stunned for a moment, before turning back to Ginny.

Mrs. Weasley entered the wind, her hair wild and her eyes bright. She saw her daughter and sons, and ran over, breaking down as she held her baby to her. She stroked her hair, murmuring to her.

'Hold on my darling, we can't lose you, not now, not yet'. And she began to sob quietly. She stopped after a few minutes, and placed Ginny back down as if she were made out of glass. She turned to Madame Pomfrey. The matron looked as if she had no idea as to how to deal with the situation. She spoke very softly; sounding not one bit like the formidable woman Harry had come to know.

'It's her birthday soon, Madame Pomfrey. Please help her. I don't want to bury my girl on her birthday.'

Madame Pomfrey, tears welling up in her own eyes, nodded. Mrs. Weasley beckoned for her son's to follow her out the infirmary, and went off to see Dumbledore.

Hermione put a hand on Harry's back, and he looked up into her face. Hermione took one glance into his eyes, and spoke to his mind.

You love her, don't you. It wasn't a question. Harry didn't even bother to answer her; he just nodded mutely, staring fixedly at the figure on the bed. Hermione didn't need him to speak; she had seen the anguish in his eyes when she had said it. She squeezed his shoulder, and then led Draco out of the room, leaving Harry alone with Ginny. He held her hand, and fell asleep at her side.



It was about two 'o' clock in the morning, and Sirius, Remus and Snape were still awake, and still watching Peter. The ministry was to come in the morning, Lucius Malfoy was sending over several guards to take him away, and Sirius was to have his name cleared. You wouldn't have known that he was happy about this news if you had seen his face. His eyes were fixed, with clear loathing, on the thin, slimy little man in the corner. Peter opened his mouth to speak, and Sirius snarled, sounding very much like the dog he could transform into.

Peter hesitated, and then spoke, his words shocking the three other men in the room.

'I can't thank you all enough for doing this.' There was nothing for a moment, but then Remus spoke, not even bothering to hide his dislike for the man in front of him.

'What do you mean, Peter?'

'Well; now I'm going to Azkaban. If I had been sent back to my master, he would have killed me for sure. So thank you all, for saving my life.' He let the effect of these words sink in, expecting Sirius to leap forward and launch an attack on him. Surprisingly though, it was Snape that spoke.

'Don't mention it.' he said smoothly, a smile of satisfaction lighting up his features. Remus and Sirius looked at him in surprise, forgetting for a moment that they hated him.

'We are so glad to be sending you to Azkaban Pettigrew, because what you will get there is a fate worse than death. This might even be your first kiss, I daresay?' he laughed sadistically, and the two friends finally worked out what he was talking about. All of them were pleased to see Pettigrew's face whiten as he too, realised what Snape was referring to.

'Did you really think he'd let you off that easily?' Snape whispered, leaning in close to Wormtail. 'You should know by now, Lord Voldemort punishes those who disobey him. I know that, thanks to you'. He walked away, and then turned around, lifting up his shirt. Pettigrew recoiled in disgust, and Remus and Sirius turned their faces away. Down Snape's back, there was a trail of burnt, unrecognisable flesh, where red-hot whips had made contact with unblemished skin. On his arm, where the dark mark had once been, there was a blistering hole; still red raw from whatever had been done to it.

Snape winced slightly as he took in his own injuries, then the sight seemed to strengthen him, and he again faced Pettigrew, who was now shaking.

'You did this, you know. You gave me up to the dark lord, as one of Dumbledore's spies. I don't know when you did it, but you did. I tried to rejoin him, tried to take up my old place in his group, and he did this to me. That was months ago. You are to blame.'

He noticed Sirius and Remus watching him in the corner of the room, and spoke again.

'You are one of the most pathetic things to ever walk the planet, do you know that Pettigrew. Always living off others, people who are better than you. You're like a plague, wherever you go, you cause misery, and pain. It's nothing to be proud of, its not like you do it on purpose, it's just an accident.' Peter started crying, but this did nothing to slow down Snape.

'I saw you in school Pettigrew, and I pitied you. I hated your friends; they were talented, popular and clever. But you were a leech, living off the scraps of popularity that being friends with them gave you. And then you ruined their lives. And you continue to do it. I hated James, Peter; don't get me wrong about that. But you ruined him, and his son, all by accident. You're absolutely pathetic, nothing more than a maggot.' He spat the final words out, and then began to walk away. He turned to the other two men, and spoke to them at last.

'What's the point in sucking his soul out, he never had one to begin with.' And then he was gone, leaving Peter snivelling in his wake.

Sirius turned to Remus, the anger that had been in his voice replaced by shock.

'It's not like I like Snape, but he took the words right out of my mouth.' And for the first time in his life, Sirius Black felt something that bordered on respect for Severus Snape.



It was later on in the night, and Harry was sleeping, his arm strewn over Ginny. A soft pushing on his torso awaked him, and his eyes flew open, to see Ginny struggling to get him off her, her eyes still closed. She was having a nightmare.

He sighed with relief, and shook her ever so gently, but that was all it took. She lay still, and then slowly came to life. She gained her focus as she looked around the room, with her eyes finally coming to rest on Harry. She took in a breath of surprise at seeing him that close to her, and then looked down at her bed clothes as the memories of what had happened flooded back into her mind. She spoke.

'What are you doing here Harry?' she asked, a tiny note of bitterness in her voice. He looked down at her, completely misunderstanding her question.

'I came to see if you were all right, and I had to tell you something,' he said, smiling at her. Ginny was silent for a moment.

'Oh' she said softly, then, 'I'd like you to leave please.'

This Harry had not been expecting. He wanted to tell her that he was so sorry, that he loved her, but he just couldn't find the words.

'Gin, I…' he didn't get to finish the sentence.

'No, I can't hear it right now. I heard all, or what little you had to say last night Harry, please, I want you to go. Just leave me alone.'

Even though every fibre of his being was telling him to stay and fight for her, he couldn't ignore the pleading in her voice. Shocked and saddened, he got up and slowly left the hospital wing. Ginny watched him go, a small tear trickling down her cheek, as she said goodbye to Harry, the boy who would never be hers.

A/N: I was gonna leave it there, but I shan't be that cruel!

Hermione and Draco made their way to the hospital wing that morning, to find Harry sitting alone, looking like he had been in the same position for hours. Hermione ran to him.

'Harry what happened? Is it Ginny? Oh God, is she….' She trailed off. Harry looked at her as though he didn't recognise her at first.

'No, no she's awake.'

'But then, didn't you tell her?' Hermione asked, wondering why her friend wasn't happier.

'I tried,' said Harry, sounding like he wasn't fully there. 'I couldn't, and she asked me leave. She doesn't want to know.' And he sank his head into his hands. Hermione was in shock. Ginny loved Harry, why had she sent him away? She told the boys that she was going in to see her, and whispered to Draco that he should keep Harry Company. Hermione disappeared through the door, and Draco sat down next to Harry.

'What we did, you know, to save Ginny, that was pretty big.' He said, and Harry nodded.

'I think it kind of made the whole legacy thing hit home. We really are a powerful pair of brothers, aren't we?' he asked. Harry turned to him, and gave him a thin smile.

'Yeah, I suppose we are.'

So being that we are brothers, why don't you tell me what's wrong. Draco spoke with his mind, snapping Harry to attention. He stared at his friend, or his 'brother', he didn't know whether he should really call him that yet. As much as Draco craved a family, he knew that Harry wasn't really ready to call him brother. Best friend yes, brother now. There was just too much past there at the moment for them to be considered as brothers, and the though saddened Draco slightly.

Harry met Draco's look with one of hopelessness.

'I love Ginny' he said, sounding like it was the end of the world.

'And why is that such a bad thing?'

'Because she told me to leave her alone' he replied in a despairing tone.

'So, you're in love with Ginny, and she doesn't want to know. Not one part of this makes sense. The girl is crazy about you, surely if you told her..'

'I didn't tell her,' Harry cut him off. 'I couldn't find the words.'

Draco leaned back, now he knew why his friend had been kicked out the ward. He looked across; Harry didn't look too good at all. He definitely needed some help.

'Look, Harry, it's not enough for Ginny that you love her. You have to say it, show it, and make her believe it. Otherwise, you are going to lose her for good.' Draco nodded inwardly to himself. Damn that was good advice!

Harry thought for a moment, then out of the blue, a smile spread across his face. He leapt up onto his feet, and started striding off down the hall, leaving Draco slightly mystified.

'Harry? Where are you going?' he called after him.

'To arrange some things, so I can show her.' His best friend shouted back, excitement in his voice. Then he said something else.

'And Draco, if you think you're that good at advice, start a column!'



'What? He didn't say anything to you?' Hermione said, as Ginny recounted to her the events of the previous night.

'No,' said Ginny, her voice trembling slightly. 'He just looked like he was in shock. I never knew that silence could be that heart breaking.' She gave a sad smile, and Hermione hugged her.

'Ginny, believe me. I don't know what Harry was doing, but I do know that he loves you. He really does.' Hermione said, desperately trying to convince her friend.

'I wish I could believe it, but it's not coming from the right person, is it? Harry doesn't love me, at least not in that way. He was only in there to make sure I was OK, because I am his friend. I'm sorry Hermione, but that's the way it is. Me and Harry, we, we were never meant to be.' She choked slightly on these words, as if she were letting a dream of the past four years slip away from her. Hermione nodded, and hoped like hell that Harry was thinking of something pretty good to convince Ginny that she was wrong.



Ginny was out of the infirmary in a matter of days. The Weasley's were jubilant, and celebrated her recovery with extra vigour. The twins were banned from the hospital wing after they transfigured the rows of ordered beds into rows of ordered toilets, and even Mrs. Weasley had been a little rowdy. Harry had not been to see Ginny once since she had told him to leave, a fact that Ginny tried her very hardest not to care about.

She was so pleased to get out of the hospital, that she almost skipped down to breakfast with Hermione. Heads turned as she entered the hall and made her way towards her place at the table. She found herself almost involuntarily casting her eyes around for messy black hair ad lightning bolt scar, but Harry was nowhere to be seen. She sighed a little, and settled down to breakfast.

'So Hermione, just what have I missed.' Her friend smiled as she buttered her toast, and started speaking.

'Well, let me see, Snape is still mean as ever, but he's actually beginning to be civil to Remus and Sirius. Most the lessons haven't changed. Sirius is going to teach dark arts with Remus as soon as his name is cleared. They took Pettigrew away the morning after that night, and he was going to get the Dementors kiss. But apart from that, nothing's changed. Hagrid's still obsessed with dangerous creatures, and lessons with Trelawney are just as far fetched as they were before.' Hermione paused for breath. Ginny was about to remark on her speech when something very odd happened, the hall blacked out.

Ginny tried to adjust to the darkness, when a spotlight fell on top of her, she looked around in the glaring white light, as a figure got up and started to walk across the teachers table. Another spotlight illuminated the figure, and Ginny saw Harry standing in front of the school. What was going on?

'Hello everyone, and good morning.' Harry said, laughter in his voice. 'I promise not to keep you too long, but I have some things to say. Firstly, I'd like to thank Mr. Padfoot and Mr. Moony for supplying the effects that you see before you, and I'd like to thank Mr. Malfoy for his most excellent advice. Because, what I want to say to you all today, is that I'm in love. And Mr. Malfoy, he told me that to save myself from losing this girl that I love, I have to tell her, and show her. So here I am, I believe she is waiting under the second spotlight that you see in the hall. He jumped down from the table and made his way towards Ginny, whose heart had pretty much stopped beating. He stopped in front of her, and spoke again.

'I love you Ginny; you are the one person in the world who makes me feel whole. I really love you, please give us a chance?' he spoke the last part as a question, and held out his hands tentatively to her. She hesitated a moment, searching into the depths of those emerald eyes, before finally finding what she was searching for. She flew into his arms.

'Oh Harry, I love you too' and as their mouths met in a kiss, the hall erupted into cheers and clapping, and people crying. Sirius and Remus chose that moment to let off a few well-placed filibuster fireworks, one in particular that was under Snape's chair. The sight of the potions master rocketing skywards in a midst of colour only increased the student's euphoria, and the fireworks highlighted what Harry had scrawled across the ceiling of the great hall.

I LOVE GINNY FORVER, BY H.P.

Professor McGonegal was going to have a field day with this. Fred and George were busy wiping their eyes with pretend handkerchiefs as they watched Harry and Ginny.

'Fred, our little sister's all grown up' George sighed, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye. Fred nodded.

'I'm so proud of them both. Shall we threaten Harry now or later?'

George surveyed the scene. 'Later I think, he seems to be a bit busy at the moment.'

And then the twins amused themselves by making the floating Snape fly in different directions across the hall.

Draco watched what was going on with great amusement. The hall was in chaos. Amidst the crowds, he could see Hermione, smiling at him in a strange way. She beckoned to him to follow her out of the hall, and he grinned slyly as he went out after her. With the entire school watching Harry and Ginny, they could easily sneak into a broom cupboard somewhere. He caught up to his girlfriend, who leant in close and whispered.

'Let's go'. Draco took her hand and they left the hall.

Back in the hall, which was now ransacked by overexcited young wizards, Ginny pulled back from Harry, and looked dreamily into his face. He smiled back at her, his eyes taking on a glazed look, and he leant in for a kiss. Ginny felt a chill pass down her spine, and then remembered something, something wrong. Harry looked down at her in concern as she murmured.

'Wait a moment, Hermione doesn't take divination…'

Outside in the corridor, Draco leaned in to his girlfriend.

'I love you, you know that, I really…'

He didn't finish; 'Hermione' knocked him out, and stood over him as he fell to the floor, a triumphant smile on her face.

DISCLAIMER; Poem belongs to Kipling, and characters belong to Rowling.

A/N: Oh dear, poor old Draco!