Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter world... If I owned Remus Lupin, I would definitely be doing something more interesting than writing some fanfiction. ;)

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Ginevra, can you hear me? I need you to open your eyes, please! Come on, Ginny!" a frantic voice shouted close to my face. I opened my eyes, not even having realized they'd been closed, but things did not immediately come into focus. There was rush of sound returning to my ears as my mind slowly stopped spinning and the world began to rebuild itself around me. There was a hand on the side of my face, and something wet on my forehead. I tried to blink away the last of the blurriness and I came to remember how I'd gotten on the floor.

"Ginevra, I'm fixed your head as best I could, but I'm no healer. I need you to get up, we have to get out of here. Now!" The sound in the background came rushing at me full force, the sound was completely unmistakeable as ferocious battle. I tried to wrap my mind around it all, starting first with the man whose enchantingly familiar eyes stared into mine with avid concern.

"Remus? Wha―

I didn't manage to finish as I was being pulled to my feet and having my own wand miraculously shoved into my hand. I looked down at it in amazement.

"But how―

He cast me a fleeting glance, as if he were nearly going to answer, but a stray blast of purple light shot past the both of us, and he quickly changed his mind. "Keep your wand up, they're out for blood." He grabbed hold of my hand tightly and made for the door we'd both been brought in. He moved at a brisk pace, and I nearly had to job to keep up with his long strides. There were so many questions buzzing through my head. I looked behind me as another blast past over my head, hitting the opened door in front of us with a sickening sizzle. I was completely baffled as there was no discenerable sides to the battle. I tried to pick apart who was on our side, but everyone looked exactly as they had before the first explosion had knocked me face first into the marble floors. From what it looked like, half the Death Eaters had simply turned on the other half. Everyone was dressed in their best finery fighting for their lives. We left the main ballroom and exited into the lesser hall, where a smaller number of duels were also being carried out.

Why were they attacking each other? Who was on our side? How did Remus get freed? Where was Voldemort? What happened to Tom? My mind remained focused on this last question. The blast must have also knocked him out, I realized, feeling quite certain he was not conscious inside my head. I didn't know how much time I had, if he came back, would he take over my body again? There was no way to stop him, at least, no way I knew how.

A man I knew from the papers as Augustus Rockwood, a once member of the Ministry turned Death Eater, managed to disarm and stun his opponent up ahead of us, and when he turned his attention onto Remus and I, I raised my wand, preparing to throw up a shield charm. To my absolute surprise he merely nodded at Remus.

"Moody, I've got her," Moody? Rockwood gave another nod and headed back the way we'd just come, throwing a bright red flash of a stunner from his wand.

"Remus!" I cried out, reaching as high a level of confusion as my mind could handle. "What is going on?"

We managed to exit the second hall and enter a smaller passage. At first I thought he didn't hear me over another blast that sounded suspiciously like a door being blown off its hinges. "The Order's here, Ginevra. Even some of the Aurors who have sympathized with Dumbledore. With Snape's information, knowing Voldemort would be here tonight, they were able to infiltrate using Polyjuice Potion and taking the place of a number of Voldemort's inner circle." I felt a rush of shame at how easily I'd believed Snape to be a traitor.

A group of less finely dressed men came running down the hall, wands out. Judging from Remus pulling me sideways and covering my body with his behind a statue of a wood nymph, they were not on our side. As there were too many for the two of us to take on, we waited until they passed. I followed them with my eyes, and made to leave from our hiding spot as Remus had effectively impressed upon me the need for us to hurry, but his body held me in place. I looked up at him questioningly and saw something completely unreadable in his eyes.

"Merlin, Ginevra," he breathed, and I swore I saw an unnatural glisten to his eyes. "Ginevra, I thought you were dead. The last thing I could remember was seeing the full moon, and when I woke up you were gone, there was blood on the floors and nothing but your cloak. I thought I… I must have…" His voice cracked with emotion. I couldn't even imagine how painful and guilt ridden he'd been these last few hours. Of course they wouldn't have told him I was fine, and that he hadn't dismembered me in his other form. He couldn't even look me in the eye anymore.

I placed both hands on his cheeks and forced his face to stare straight into mine. "Remus, I'm fine. You didn't bite me. You didn't hurt me at all. Even if you had, it would have been completely out of your control." I explained softly, realizing for the first time that I was there with Remus and we were both likely to get out of this alive. We would get out together. I didn't even care if my feelings for him were not returned, as long as he was alive. As long as we both were. For a moment the rest of the world dropped away.

"Ginevra, that letter I left you―

"I didn't read it," I replied, feeling greatly ashamed at my previous cowardice.

"You didn't?" He asked, frowning.

"I was scared. I didn't know if I'd ever see you again," I whispered.

His expression changed again, becoming more guarded. "It's not important right now. We need to keep moving." He looked around both sides of the corridor. The sounds of battle seemed to be getting closer. It must have expanded into the next hall. I wonder how we're doing. I wonder where Draco and Narcissa are, I thought suddenly, realizing that our side would probably not know that they had no choice in their being here.

"Alright, we can go," he said quietly to me, grabbing my hand once more and setting a quick pace.

"Where are we going?" I asked, seeing that he had clearly had a destination in mind.

"To Dumbledore," he replied without looking back. I didn't have a response, so I kept my mouth shut, looking back every once in a while to make sure we weren't being followed or attacked from behind.

"If you go to Dumbledore, you will die," I froze, causing Remus to nearly stumble at the unexpected halt in momentum.

"Ginevra?" he asked, concern evident.

"What?" I voiced out to Tom.

"What?" Remus asked, unsure of what was happening.

"Is that a threat, Tom?" I hissed after he didn't reply, already impatient and overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the past three days. Especially Tom's and my previous interaction. I really didn't need anything else. Remus held my hand tight, frowning even deeper, but didn't speak. He seemed to understand what was happening.

"Do you think Dumbledore will allow a piece of me to stay in existence once Voldemort is destroyed? A piece of me that still has power and will? No. He will not."

I narrowed my eyes to disapproving slits. "Dumbledore wouldn't―

"Wouldn't what? Harm a student? Make a sacrifice for the greater good? Haven't you been wanting the answer to this question all year? What has he been keeping from you, Ginevra? Why has he been keeping you at such a distance? Because the moment he realized I was still there, he knew what eventually would have to be done. To rid the world of all Voldemort's influence, he would have to rid the world of all of Voldemort. For him to die completely, I also have to. Do you see?" he explained impatiently.

I felt my stomach churn unpleasantly. Everything he said made sense no matter how badly I wanted it not to. So this is what it was. This is what Dumbledore didn't want me to know. Oh god.

"Then get out of me! Go somewhere else!" I blurted out in a frustrated panic. "Why do I have to die because you've taken up residence in me?"

Remus looked even more concerned. "Ginevra, what―

I let go of his hand, holding mine up to quiet him. I needed to hear what Tom was saying next.

"Do you honestly believe I am still staying here by choice, girl? For the past five years we have been two souls living in one body, bleeding into each other." I flinched at this, still unable to come to grips with Tom Riddle's soul bound irreversibly to mine. "There is no longer a clean definition between the parts of us. We're too entangled now to separate." There was a long pause of silence, filled in only by a piercing scream of pain in the background and more curses missing their targets, destroying walls and decorations. "I'm not allowing it to happen, Ginevra."

For a moment I didn't understand what he meant but then once again, I felt the awful tingling sensation of weightlessness. "No, Tom! Don't!" I cried, hopelessly, then fell out of control.

Remus grabbed my hand once more and I wished so dearly I could tell him it wasn't me anymore, but Tom was had full manipulation of my body once more. In a flash, he had my wand pointed at Remus' throat. "Let go of my arm, wolf."

"Let her go, Tom," Remus replied, keeping his voice even, though I could read the fear in his eyes.

"Leave him alone," I begged, "Tom, please!"

If I wasn't just a passenger in my own body, I would most definitely have let out a sigh of relief as Tom lowered my wand. "Thank Ginevra for your protection. Don't follow me." He commanded, in a distortion of my own voice, yanking my arm out of Remus' reach.

Tom turned back the way we came and left Remus standing in the middle of the corridor. I couldn't turn back to get a last look at him, but he shouted to Tom the exact words I'd been about to think to him.

"Where are you going?"

"To kill him," Tom replied with an excited hunger.

TBC

Author's note: Okay, sorry it's so short, but I needed to get this one out. I was having so many issues with it so eventually I just scrapped the first one and rewrote it! I'm thinking of going back and editing the last chapter though just because I don't think it made as much sense or was as climactic as I wanted it to be! I'll keep you posted! Anyways, leave a review, they're what make me happy :)