"Guilt"

"Which way?" He croaked, leaning heavily on her. She struggled, supporting his weight against the slippery mud and rock that lined the bottom of the tunnel they were slowly making their way through. He clutched his arm tightly against his side to put pressure on the bandage. They'd just come to a split of the tunnel, a decision which could either save them or doom them.

"This way," Ginny pointed left firmly and began carefully moving that way, helping Draco along. "We have to keep moving," she reminded him when he paused for the third time in as many minutes.

He nodded grimly and kept putting one foot in front of the other, ignoring the seeping blood. But his stamina could only last so long, and neither of them knew how long they'd been going in this tunnel when his legs gave out and refused to hold him up.

"Please, Draco," Ginny begged. "You have to get up. You promised we'd make it out of here!"

"I promised you'd make it out of here." He said hoarsely amidst a fit of coughing and wheezing.

"But you have to come with me," she whispered, close to tears.

He shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "I'm not getting out of here, Ginny. Keep going."

"No!" She snapped. "I'm not leaving you here alone to bleed to death."

"I wish it didn't have to be this way," he managed to say just before turning on his side and coughing more, blood this time as Ginny watched in horror.

She knelt beside him, mindless of the rocks and mud, and gathered him into her arms, pulling him close. Tears trailed down her face, and she held him until his final breath had left him.

Then, slowly, she got up and continued to stumble on, her mind in shock and grief. She could barely even remember how long they'd been in the tunnels. It seemed like eons ago that they had been captured by Death Eaters and sent to mine materials and be their work slaves. They'd been lucky to survive as long as they had, lucky to even have been able to escape during a counter fight between the Death Eaters and a group they had no clue to the identity. But Ginny knew she'd never be able to let go of the guilt that she'd been the one to survive.


Day 53, Guilt

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