AN- Thank you to my Beta Triage the Potterfan for correcting my terrible grammar!

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Chapter 39

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The weeks preceding the New Year were a crazy blur of studies and Quidditch for Ginny and Harry. A rhythm had been established in regards to when and how they would find time to spend with just each other. Ginny had study groups that she was a part of, as did Harry, and he was doing Newt study prep which had Hermione keeping on him about the amount of time he had to dedicate to each subject, he felt prepared enough to pass most subjects already, though. Somehow, he didn't find his NEWTS as daunting as he had his OWLS, perhaps because a few exhausting tests were no comparison to the stress he'd been feeling just a few months ago at the prospect of his impending doom.

Ginny had finally caved and sent a note to Dumbledore after the holidays. It hadn't simply been due to the book he'd given her that attempted to explain this power of hers, according to Ginny the book had given her a few ideas about how to stretch and develop this power but coming to understand what it was exactly and how it had aided in her pulling Harry back from the other side the book hadn't explained. Harry had the impression that his girlfriend might have been able to let these questions slide if it hadn't been for the lovable and curious nag that was their friend Hermione who still asked questions to her at random.

"You sure you want to do this?" Harry asked once more as they made their way to the Headmaster's office.

"Yes," she said succinctly. She'd been waffling over the decision and voicing the reasons behind her hesitance. Dumbledore was a very smart man, no doubt about it, but Ginny finally giving in and going to see him for an explanation about something to do with herself she saw as a failure on her part in some way. Like her going to him was admitting that he was smarter than her and she needed him to explain things to her about her own body.

She was also still angry with Dumbledore about how he hadn't let the Order know about Harry being a Horcrux and wanted to deny him the satisfaction of her seeking him out.

Ginny and Sirius were both still angry over Dumbledore insisting Harry's Horcrux be kept a secret. Harry felt a little bad about it but he would rather the two of them keep directing their anger towards Dumbledore than at himself and he tried to bite his tongue when he heard any venom in their tone about Dumbledore. Every time it was brought up, which wasn't often anymore, his first instinct was to place the blame on himself. He knew that would make their moods even worse about it.

"Maybe it is a simple explanation," Ginny said unconvincingly. "Maybe the empath thing works as a shield of sorts as well and it just caused the killing curse to be less lethal."

She was trying to convince herself again, she'd been doing that a bit. He knew that she didn't want her ability to turn out to be anything life changing, she didn't want to feel a sense of obligation with her powers and he could understand that. When he found out about the lengths that Voldemort had gone to remain powerful, it had immediately felt like it was his responsibility to bring him down single handedly. And considering how desperately Voldemort wanted him dead it wasn't an unreasonable assumption that Harry would have been more involved than he had been. Thankfully Harry had a surrogate family that was just as dedicated to Voldemort's downfall as he was and had shouldered a lot of that burden themselves.

"Whatever he tells you, Ginny, it doesn't have to affect your future in any way," he assured her again. "You are still going to be an amazing professional Quidditch player, world class lay-about or magizoologist or whatever you decide."

"Magizoologist?" Ginny asked, a smile finally breaking through her fret. "I think you're confusing me with Luna on that one."

They reached the gargoyle entrance and stood there a moment longer, just staring at the stone creature. "Ready?" he asked.

"If I don't like what he has to say, will you stop me from smashing up his office?" she asked.

He turned to gauge the seriousness with which she asked the question. There was a light twinkle to her eye and the corners of her mouth were fighting that slight curve they clearly wanted to embrace. "No," he said with a grin.

Her lips did curve up then but it was more of a grimace than a smile. She reached out and clutched his hand tightly before giving the gargoyle the password and ascending the stairs.

Dumbledore was at his desk when they came into the office. He was sitting with his elbows on the desk and his hands pressed together in front of him as though in prayer, except his eyes were open. He looked pleased that they had shown up. He had requested that Harry arrive with Ginny as this particular topic of conversation involved the question of his own continued existence.

"Please, take a seat," Dumbledore requested and conjured two chairs that had been placed side by side, close enough that the two of them could continue holding hands.

Ginny was inadvertently pushing her emotions on to Harry at the moment. She'd been playing around with sharing her emotions for the last few weeks and now she seemed to be doing it unconsciously. He tried to think of something that would calm himself down and hoped that it would calm her as a result.

They took their seats and all three of them sat there silently staring at each other for a moment.

"Can we just get this over with?" Ginny asked. "You've won, I'm here. Now, can you tell me how I apparently brought Harry back from the dead?"

"Did you find the book interesting? Helpful even?" Dumbledore asked her.

Harry had to shift in his chair at the wave of irritation that he felt from Ginny then. He gave a small cough and held her hand a little tighter as he attempted to draw Dumbledore's attention to himself and communicate through his expression how close Ginny was to walking right back out of this office if he kept delaying on giving her the information she was looking for.

"It was the Horcrux that prevented Harry from dying that day," Dumbledore told them. "The tether that held Tom Riddle to this earth was also the one which prevented us from losing you completely," he said with a nod at Harry.

"But you said that Ginny," Harry started and trailed off. "Remus said..." he trailed off again. It had been such a profound moment for him and he hadn't even been remembering it right. Remus had not said that Ginny was the reason he hadn't stayed on the other side, he had said that Ginny was calling to him back to her, that her touch was going to guide him back to her. "So, she doesn't have the power to stop people from dying." The relief he felt at that was his own.

"Then why have you been so desperate to talk to me?" Ginny asked the Headmaster in confusion, her own relief seeping through in the undercurrent of her tone. "If all I can do is effect people's moods with my touch and vice versa, why have you been after me to sit with you for months?"

"Miss Weasley," Dumbledore started, addressing her with a long sigh as though he was setting the stage for the all-important information he had to bestow upon them. "I don't think you quite understand the potential behind this ability of yours. You were able to guide Mister Potter back to himself and I believe that you may be able to do the same for a few other people who have lost themselves as well."

Ginny exchanged a look with Harry over that. "Bring people back that have lost themselves?" she repeated. She looked as though she wanted Harry to translate for her, but he didn't have a clue what their Headmaster was talking about either.

"What people?" Harry asked.

"There are a few people that are permanent residents of St. Mungo's. Some have fallen into a coma, others are still able to get up and about but they have part of themselves locked away in their own minds and have been since the last war."

Ginny was just sat there staring at Dumbledore with her mouth hanging open slightly, unable to say or do anything more with that information. That would be a lot of hope to pin on a sixteen-year-old girl.

"How exactly would you test that?" Harry asked. "Just have Ginny go into St. Mungo's and hold the hands of coma victims?"

Ginny shot him a scathing look at that.

"I'm not volunteering you," he defended. "I'm just wondering what exactly his end game is supposed to look like."

Dumbledore inclined his head. "Essentially, yes. That is what I am asking of you," he told Ginny. "If you are willing, I would like to take a trip with you to the permanent ward of St. Mungo's and see if there is anything you could do. There is not much written about Empaths and their healing abilities, but your being able to guide Harry here back from death does tell us that there may be something you could do to help. Even if you are able to sense a feeling from these individuals it might tell us something about their state."

Ginny nodded her head slowly in thought, not in agreement. "I'll think about it," she said quietly after a few moments. "Can we go?"

"Of course," Dumbledore said.

In silence they walked out of the office, down the steps and along the corridors. There were a few other students milling about but they didn't pay either Harry or Ginny any mind.

"So?" Harry asked after as much silence as he could take. "What are you thinking?"

Ginny stopped walking and Harry stood there in front of her. She had an absent look about her, her eyes were unfocused and her expression blank. She went and sat in the window seat closest to them, Harry sat beside her and took her hand, placing it palm up in his lap and holding it there clasped in his.

"I don't want to give anyone false hope," she said finally.

"False hope?" he encouraged.

"What if Dumbledore makes certain promises to family or friends of these people?" she explained.

"You could ask him not to," he shrugged. Harry understood that it was an awkward situation to have put her in. She had gone in there worried about some sort of responsibility being set on her shoulders and here it was; Dumbledore wanted her to try and heal the mentally sick or incapable.

Ginny nodded slowly again. "But there would still need to be some sort of permission given by the guardians of these people, Healers at least that needed to sign off on me holding their hands or whatever and trying to, to, to do whatever it is that I do."

"Maybe there is another way to test it out," Harry offered. "Maybe we could take turns knocking out our friends and time how long it takes them to come back when you're holding their hands."

It was the first thing he could think of and it sounded ridiculous, but it might be an option.

Ginny gave him a smile at the suggestion at least, that made it worth it.

"Do you even want to?" he asked.

"I'd rather just play Quidditch," she told him honestly with a slight roll of her eyes. "But," she gave a sigh, "if you were able to step up and sacrifice your life for the rest of us what sort of match for you would I be if I didn't offer to hold people's hands to try and help them. If it even works," she added.

"And it might not," Harry agreed. He leaned forward and tried to give her a comforting kiss.

She leaned her forehead against his with her eyes closed. Of course, Ginny would choose to give this a try, she had used several attempts to get Sirius to find his way back to himself when he'd struggled with his drinking after Azkaban. She was a good person, her wishing this didn't sit on her shoulders didn't change that. Harry knew she wouldn't be able to say no to this request.

"May as well give it a try."

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Easter was when Tonks gave Ginny and Harry each a Protean Charmed wrist band so she could reach out when she went into labor. The holiday had been spent mostly spent with everyone at Muriel's, her parents had yet to christen their new home something else and weren't taking the twins suggestion of 'Hoity House' seriously, so it was still called 'Muriel's'. Harry had been popping between Grimmauld and Muriel's enough that it was as if he'd been staying with them instead. Sirius had come over several times as well as his work allowed, but Tonks hadn't been allowed to do Floo travel, owing to the incredible size of her belly.

Ginny and Harry had both gone over for a long visit with Tonks at her parents' place, where she'd moved to from Grimmauld Place so she would have her parents' support with the newborn. Sirius had said he would be happy to help her out, but Tonks opted for her immediate family instead.

Ginny had been able to meet up with Tonks at St. Mungo's once when she'd gone there with Dumbledore to visit the permanent ward. Once a month was all Ginny had offered the Headmaster, and only to see one person. The person they visited had been stuck in a Minimally Conscious State coma for twenty years, the woman had been working in the Department of Mysteries when she was the victim of attack by an unknown object and sustained a head injury that the Healers had not been able to completely rectify. Cheryl Greenfoot is her name and Ginny had simply sat with her for two hours at a time each visit and held her hand trying to pass along feelings and searching for Cheryl's own.

So far Ginny had been able feel something from Cheryl, the emotions were weak but they were there.

It was still a big responsibility that Ginny wasn't entirely sure would be fruitful, but she tried to put it out of her head when she was at school and had Quidditch or Harry that she could focus on. Right now it was Quidditch.

Or at least it was until she felt a warm vibrating sensation on her wrist. She jolted at the sensation and brought the wrist band closer to her eyes to read the inscription there.

"It's time!" Ginny shouted in surprise and elation standing up from the bench. She didn't listen to whatever Ron was shouting at her as she grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him out of the changing room and they took off running towards the school exit.

"Where exactly are we going?" Harry called to her not resisting her in the slightest.

"Outside the school bounds," she shouted back. "You can Apparate us to St. Mungo's."

It was the same path that she had taken with Sirius when they snuck in to watch Harry's Quidditch game ages ago and when they got to the spot in the woods where she knew they were outside the magical ward around the school grounds she turned to Harry expectantly, wrapping her arms around him.

Harry was surprised by her abrupt halt and took a moment to collect himself. "Just hold on a minute. I know I've side-along Apparated someone before, but I'm pretty sure Dumbledore was doing part of it that time. I really don't want to splinch you."

"Well, good news is that if you do we're heading to the hospital anyway."

"Glad to know you're okay with me accidentally mutilating you," he said wryly and closed his eyes in concentration.

A moment later she felt the disorientation of Apparation take over her body and the two of them were standing just inside the entrance of St. Mungo's.

The really great thing about them having spent their holidays with only family and members of Order of the Phoenix, and the rest of their time being at school surrounded by people who grew accustomed to you, was that those people didn't stare.

It wasn't until they were standing at the front desk that they remembered their faces were rather familiar to those that didn't see them in their day to day as well. Dumbledore had been Flooing with Ginny directly to the Head Healers office on the permanent ward as well, so she wasn't a familiar face to any in the reception area.

"Harry Potter!" the St. Mungo's receptionist exclaimed, she then looked to Ginny, "and Ginny Weasley!"

"Err, yeah," Harry said awkwardly. "We're looking for the Maternity Ward."

The receptionist's eyes immediately went down to Ginny's belly.

"Not for me!" Ginny said astounded. "Our friend has gone into labor. Which floor? Which direction?" The only other time she'd been to the main floor was to get her Dragon Pox shots when she was four, she had no idea where anything was and the signage around them was entirely busy.

The receptionist pointed off to their right and they took to navigating around the hospital from that vague direction, finding a purple sign in the mix of postings on the wall that told them where the birthing suites were.

After nearly ten minutes they finally managed to locate which room Tonks was in.

"Did we make it in time?" Ginny asked eagerly as she saw Andromeda and Ted at the end of Tonks' bed. She rushed forwards and saw that her friend was still quite pregnant.

"Ginny! Harry!" Tonks grinned at them, a sheen of sweat on her forehead and looking quite unflattering in the hospital gown she'd been given to wear. "You made it! Were you playing Quidditch?"

It was only then that Ginny realized they hadn't bothered to get out of their Quidditch uniforms and felt the weight of the protective pads on her chest, knees and elbows. Looking at Harry hadn't even tipped her off that they probably should have changed.

"We have quite a while to go yet," Andromeda told them kindly. "She's only a few centimeters along yet. Why don't you two take a seat?" she gestured to the chairs by the window.

They moved around the bed to the chairs, Ted chuckling at Ginny's excitement.

"How are you feeling?" Ginny asked Tonks as she slid her knee and elbow pads off.

"Oh, just lovely," Tonks told her. "Barely feel the contractions."

Ginny didn't know whether to take her seriously. Contractions and actual childbirth are supposed to be the most painful thing ever, were they not?

"She's a mite medicated," Ted told them. "Won't be registering much pain."

Sure enough Ginny was able to see her friends stomach contract, meanwhile her face was only showing mild discomfort.

Harry looked suitably uncomfortable being there. He and Tonks got along, and he was excited to be a Godfather, but being in the room for the baby coming into the world had him squirming. "Maybe I'll just track us down some tea?" he offered to the room.

As they soon discovered, childbirth was a very long process. Labor could last a few minutes or a few days. Ted conjured up some playing cards and the four of them had a game of Canasta while Tonks tried to get some sleep between her 'mildly uncomfortable' contractions.

There were a few owls that showed up while Ginny and Harry were camped out waiting for the baby to arrive. One was from Professor McGonagall telling them they both needed to report to detention the next Friday for skipping out of school, one was from Ginny's mum telling them they were in a world of trouble for simply running off without a proper explanation to anyone, one was from Sirius letting them know he would be there as soon as he could but was currently caught up in the middle of a case, and one was from Hermione letting them know that they were on the cover of the evening Prophet with a picture of the two of them in the lobby of St. Mungo's and now there was a rumor that Ginny was pregnant.

Eventually Tonks' potion started wearing off, that or the contractions were getting bigger. Every ten to twenty minutes she would let out a growl and make a pained face.

It was clear to Ginny that Harry was unsure about the level of involvement he should have in this moment. He was the Godfather, yes, but he wasn't sure if he needed to be here for the actual birthing of his Godson.

Once Sirius managed to get there Harry would be much more comfortable. Ginny wasn't sure if Sirius had been present for the birth of Harry but considering how close he and James had been she had to imagine that he was.

It was hour ten that there was a ruckus outside the room in the hallway. There were distant screams that were cut off and people running past the door in the opposite direction.

Ginny looked to Tonks, unsure what to do. Andromeda made to stand and check what the commotion was, but Ted stopped her. The screams were growing closer.

"Wait," Ginny said quietly. "Maybe you should disillusion yourself?"

Malfoy and Greyback hadn't been caught yet, but why they would be invading the hospital she couldn't understand. The two of them couldn't possibly still be after Harry? Wouldn't they just have found a way to sneak into Hogwarts and try to nab him then? Fighting off students may have been a shameful thing to do but no more so than hospital patients.

Ted nodded and obscured himself before peeking out the door. Ginny could barely make out his distorted and camouflaged form against the door as he looked, then watched as the door slowly closed.

"What is it, Dad?" Tonks asked then made a grimacing face as another contraction took hold of her.

"Nothing for you to worry about, darling," he said unconvincingly as he reappeared.

"It's a small space Mr. Tonks," Ginny told him, "she's going to find out anyways."

Ted exchanged a look with his wife before deciding there was no other way of it. "There are a few Death Eaters down the hallway."

Ginny grabbed Harry's hand. "We shouldn't have come," she said softly.

It had to be because of the Evening Prophet. Why else would they have chosen tonight to show up?

"Do you still have your Order Galleons?" Harry asked them.

"I do!" Andromeda reached into her purse and extracted it. "I was going to let everyone know about the baby that way." She immediately began putting out the call for help.

"Mum," Tonks cried weakly with another contraction.

That was two contractions rather close together.

If there were Death Eaters looking for either of them but they hadn't made a beeline directly for them, then perhaps they didn't know why Harry or she were here. Which meant they had to get away from Tonks right now until the situation was dealt with.

Ginny looked to Harry and tried to communicate non-verbally that they had to get out of there and draw attention away from the Maternity Ward. He looked to be in complete agreement on that.

"Ginny, no," Tonks told her without them saying anything. "Let the Order and the Auror's deal with it."

Even from the patient bed she was in she still sounded like she had all the authority in the world. The crease between her eyebrows was betraying her panic.

Ginny forced a calm over herself and went to her friend, taking her hand and grasping it firmly, willing to push her calm to Tonks somehow. The crease between Tonks' eyebrows lessened even as her belly contracted once more.

Andromeda ignored the noise from the corridor and checked her daughter's status herself. "This baby is coming very soon."

Harry had gone over to the door and was standing there with one hand on the knob looking back at Ginny. She nodded at him and gave Tonks' hand one more squeeze, kissing her on the forehead before pulling her hand away and rushing towards Harry, the two of them slipping out of the room.

Ginny cast a silencing spell on Tonks' door and Harry threw up a locking spell. There were enough carts in the hallway that the two of them managed to hide behind one while they surveyed what was going on.

The Death Eaters at the end of the corridor didn't look to be doing anything more than serving as a lookout. The ladies that had been sitting at the desk there were nowhere to be seen, there were simply two filthy men dressed in all black sitting on the desk and waiting.

"If we stun them," Harry started unsurely.

"It would be too easy," Ginny agreed. The way the men were simply there out in the open, it could be what Malfoy or Greyback were waiting for. It would make sense for the men before them to be used as pawns.

That theory was confirmed when a shot of light hit one of them in the chest that knocked him off the desk, then several more spell lights came from the other direction out of sight towards the initial caster. Those spells included one from the man before them still left standing.

There were more Death Eaters out of sight.

"What do we do?" she asked, wondering aloud to herself as much as to Harry.

"Sirius and the others will be getting here soon," he assured her. "For the moment they seem to only be working on the defensive. Maybe they're expecting I'll just walk up to them and make this easy."

"If that's the case then why haven't they made an announcement over the loudspeaker saying as much?"

On cue there was a 'ding' noise that indicated there was about to be an announcement. "Dearest public that have found themselves in the unfortunate circumstance of being with us to today. Apologies for the disruption, your regular whining can commence as soon as Harry Potter hands himself over to us."

Ginny gave a silent groan and rested her forehead on Harry's shoulder blade. "Why? Just why?" It was beyond irritating to her now. Year after year he had some life or death situation and he was only seventeen.

Harry turned and rested his back against the wall looking up at the ceiling as exasperated as she felt. "This is ridiculous," he whispered. "Think you can bring me back from the dead twice if I kick it again?"

"Let's not test that, yeah?" she warned him.

"Fair warning to the noble house of Potter," the voice on the loudspeaker said. "Every five minutes that passes without you showing yourself I will kill or maim another innocent person."

"Shit," Harry thunked his head back against the wall.

"Oh my God," Ginny realized what Greyback's endgame was. "He doesn't want to kill you, he wants to turn you." It was completely obvious to her now; Greyback's letter to the Minister, how there had been more attacks and disappearances, but no obvious deaths. Greyback wanted more werewolves in the world, he wanted to be the leader and have his pack. Harry would have been a perfect poster boy for werewolf rights, he was already who the Ministry wanted for their poster boy.

Harry looked down at her with a mix of panic and relief on his face.

"Don't you even," she warned. He would think of becoming a werewolf as a small sacrifice if it meant saving others from the same fate.

"But Ginny, it wouldn't change anything," he told her.

"No, it wouldn't, but don't you go marching towards him simply baring your flesh for his tasting, the full moon isn't for a few more days anyhow, you'd be held captive until then and have Merlin knows what done to you until that point. We need to stop that happening and kill him."

"Why do I always have to be the one to kill these guys?" he complained.

"Because you're Harry Potter," she told him straight.

"I'm changing my name."

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "I'm going to disillusion myself and follow right behind you," she told him. "Keep him talking and away from your throat for as long as possible. Everyone else should be here soon."

Harry bent his head down and gave her a kiss, giving no argument to her plan. "Love you," he whispered.

"Love you more," she replied and disillusioned herself.

Swallowing her nerves she followed behind Harry as he went down the middle of the corridor towards the Death Eaters standing there. Ginny had to wonder if they were still Death Eaters or if Greyback had decided to name them something else. Perhaps they were all werewolves now as well.

There had been a few werewolves in the men that had been rounded up and dumped at the Ministry and of the three from the twins store caught by the vigilante, but not all of them.

She tried to see around Harry's shoulders and get a good look at the men to see if she recognized any of them. The one man that was left standing at the desk grinned as he saw Harry walking towards him. The man's wand was pointed but he didn't fire off any spells he just got a look of pure pleasure on his face as though he was expecting to be rewarded for this.

Drawing closer to the apex of the hallway Ginny saw that five other men were off to the side and out of sight ready to attack anyone that went on the offensive.

The lighting in the hallway was good and there was a chance they would notice the distorted haze around her body as she moved, hopefully though Harry would be enough of a distraction for them if she kept close enough behind him.

"Alright," Harry said to the lot of them. "Where is he?"

Harry and Ginny were separated by a few bodies as he was guided down the stairs and back to the lobby where several Healers, Nurses and patients were cowering in the seating area while Harry was marched towards the new leaders of darkness.

Greyback had decided he wanted to make as big a scene as possible for his demonstration of power, just like Riddle had. Greyback looked entirely too healthy as well, his eyes gleamed at the sight of Harry being marched forward.

Malfoy looked much better than he had the night of the Battle of the Burrow, his skin was less gaunt and his hair had a bit more life to it. Ginny's lip curled at the sight of him. She should have hit him much harder with that rock.

"Looks like you were right," Greyback said to Malfoy. "Only took one before he showed himself," and he gestured down to a young lady in a nurses uniform that had blood dripping down onto her uniform. She was sat back against the reception desk holding her neck and crying silently.

"You said five minutes," Harry argued.

"I lied," Greyback told him. "Love the taste of young women." He licked his lips.

"Why are you doing this?" Harry asked. "Changing me won't make me want to join your army."

"No, but for too long my kind has been treated like dirt,"

"That's not because you're a werewolf," Harry cut him off. "It's because you're a bastard."

"Time you realized, Potter. Those with the most power are bastards. I know for a fact that your precious Dumbledore is also hated far and wide even by a few that still jump every time he says to. That's you sometimes, innit? Don't you hate him? Just a little?" Greyback leered at Harry as he asked him.

Harry wasn't in Greyback or Malfoy's reach yet and Ginny took a survey of those in the area with them to see if she could spot anyone that was able to fight with them, but every face she looked at was full of terror.

"Not to worry," Greyback told him. "I'll change that bitch of yours too. That way you two can settle down and have some nice pups for the world to fawn over. This is a turning point, Potter." He gave a snicker. "In more ways than one."

Ginny knew Greyback was mere seconds away from letting his actions speak instead of his mouth, so she cast a disarming spell at the Death Eater closest to her and as his body flew backwards she followed it, turning on her heel and casting another one at the stunned face of his closest companion who was staring down at his friend with his wand pointed in the direction Ginny had cast from.

She was flying by the seat of her pants, but all she was looking to do was build chaos and distraction, so if she kept disarming and moving around perhaps they wouldn't be able to pinpoint where she was.

Harry lurched out of the grasp of the man who had grabbed hold of him, using his elbow to hit him under the jaw before blasting him backwards.

Harry was quite clearly visible though so Ginny was working as fast as possible to disarm the men she saw with their wands pointed at him. Before she could make much of an impact she found herself in the crossfire from someone behind her and got hit with a spell that launched her at the glass barrier of the administration offices falling to the ground in a pile, still holding tight to her wand but severely winded.

She was hauled to her feet a moment later and her disillusionment spell removed.

"Kill him," came a cold drawling voice in her ear.

It took a moment for her to fully comprehend what had just been said to her, and by whom.

There was a wand point jabbing her under her jaw and her back was pressed tightly enough to Lucius Malfoy's front that she could feel his hot breath in her hair.

"Kill him," he said again.

"No," Ginny said through grit teeth. There was no way she could kill Harry. She'd rather die first.

"Not Potter, you stupid girl," he spat. "Greyback. Kill him."

Harry was still trying to fend off the Death Eaters that were making a game of attacking him one by one, just giving him enough time to deflect their spells and making him grow weaker.

Greyback was enjoying the show, paying no mind to her or Malfoy now that she was being held. But Malfoy had not taken away her wand.

He really wanted her to kill his new leader?

"Now, before your backup arrives," Malfoy hissed and the fury that he was feeling, the blinding hatred that he held for Fenrir Greyback coursed through her then.

Harry's shield was not going to last much longer. Without more of a thought she pointed her wand at Greyback and brought to mind all the misery she'd endured in the past few years, her hatred for Riddle, her failed attempts at escape from the Chamber, she coupled that with all the emotion that Malfoy was transferring to her and channeled it all into this one spell.

"Avada Kedavra," she yelled with as much power behind her words as she could.

The green light was absolutely blinding as it shot out of her wand and hit Greyback directly in the back. He fell to the ground immediately and his little followers stopped their attack on Harry to turn and see their new master lifeless on the floor, then turning in shock to see that not only had Ginny been the one to bring him down but she had done so while being held captive by Lucius Malfoy.

"Drop your wands," Malfoy commanded of them.

There was confusion written all over their faces as they looked between him and each other.

"Drop them or I'll make you," he warned, removing his wand from Ginny's neck and pointing it at the closest Death Eater instead.

"What are you playing at?" Harry yelled at him.

"I couldn't kill him," Malfoy stated plainly, "but she could. Accio wands."

Ginny's eyes grew wide. She'd just been used to set him up to be the next leader of darkness? The Death Eaters wands flew out of their hands to land at Malfoy's feet.

The front door burst open off its hinges and another door at the other end of the lobby did the same and Malfoy's wand came back to point under her jaw.

Sirius was one of the first through the front door and he immediately rushed to Harry's side with his wand pointed at the darkly dressed men between they and Ginny, his expression growing into a panic and no doubt experiencing a horrible flashback with this situation; seeing her being held at wand point again.

"I need all Death Eaters on their knees with hands behind their heads," Malfoy instructed.

Ginny didn't know what was going on. Why was he turning in all of his assumed allies?

The Aurors began moving towards the surrendering Death Eaters while keeping a cautious eye on Malfoy. Once they were all secure and he had everyone's undivided attention Malfoy spoke again. "Where are my wife and son?"

Ginny's mouth dropped open slightly. This was all to get that information? "What?!" she whispered in shock unable to help herself.

"His mark was removed and then she disappeared. I know your Order had something to do with it. Now where are they?"

"That's all you want?" Harry asked from the other side of the lobby. "Just their location, not to be the new Dark Lord?"

"Of course I don't want to be the Dark Lord," Malfoy spat. "I didn't want to be a Death Eater in the first place. That was all my father burying me too deep to ever get away. Had to continue the show of it to keep my family fortune and where has it landed me? Following that bloody dog," he snarled down at the dead werewolf. "Attempting to turn those vagrants into some sense of an army? Ridiculous. Yes, I gave you that diary, but I don't believe in prophesies," he spat the word, "I didn't think it would actually play out. I wanted the diary turned over to Dumbledore. But you," he gave Ginny a jolt, "just had to go along and prove it correct.

"I don't know what happened to you all those years ago, and I don't care right now. All I want is my family back. So, tell me where they are and I won't hurt you."

"She doesn't know," Sirius called to him. "But I know who does. Just let her go."

"Black," Malfoy said under his breath. "They went to one of your family properties, didn't they? Which one?" he demanded.

"Andromeda is the only one that knows. Your wife's sister. She's here. We can find out." Sirius was slowly inching forward.

"Were you the one turning in all those Death Eater's?" Ginny asked, the dots beginning to connect for her.

"Yes, the bloody idiots made it all too easy. They thought because they were causing destruction and mayhem at the time that they could let their guard down. It was child's play. I was handing them over to you all on a silver platter," he called out to all the Aurors there. "You lot couldn't do your jobs, so I did it for you. Now, you owe me, and I believe you should get Andromeda Tonks here immediately. I won't be letting this girl go until I know where they are."

He was growing desperate. She could feel his desperation.

She looked to Harry as Malfoy's wand was jabbed further into her jaw and saw the panic in his eyes. That wasn't helping Ginny calm down any. She'd accepted her fate when Riddle had his wand trained on her with his loyal Death Eaters surrounding she and her family, but Malfoy was just himself, he didn't have any more backup, he'd turned them all in as a gesture to the Wizarding World to try and save his own skin.

He was just one man, and that wasn't all that scary.

She brought her hand up to grasp at his wrist and focused on her own breath. She'd been able to regulate herself when situations were looking dire in the Chamber she could do that now with all these eyes on her.

Bringing up the happy image of when she'd gotten a hug rather than scolded by her father after she'd gone out for a midnight fly, and the gentle teasing her brothers bestowed upon her, then the sensation that Harry had given her the first time they kissed, from all those images Ginny felt a wave of calm come over her and felt Malfoy's tense stance relax. His wand was no longer jabbing into her neck as hard.

Ginny opened her eyes and locked them on Sirius', giving him a quick wink before letting herself go limp and falling to the ground as Sirius cast a disarming spell directly for where her chest used to be.

Ginny was crumpled to the floor by the time the spell connected with Malfoy's chest and he went flying backwards.

A second more and Harry was pulling her to her feet and tugging her out of the way of the Aurors who were surging forward to restrain Malfoy properly.

"Are you okay?" Sirius came over to them and asked the pair. They nodded and he gave a great sigh. "Then don't fucking scare me like that ever again!" he yelled. "I'm too young for a heart attack, but I swear the pair of you are going to put me in an early grave. Can't you just get suspended from school for shagging or something like normal kids?"

He pulled them into a rough and awkward hug before releasing them and moving over to assist with his fellow Aurors in the round up.

Harry hugged Ginny to him and she exhaled a deep breath as she molded herself against his body. This time it really was over.

"Tonks!" Ginny exclaimed. "We have to get back to her!" she grabbed hold of Harry's hand and rushed back towards the stairwell.

They reached the room Tonks was in and pounded on the door to be let in. "It's us!" Ginny cried out.

Ted opened the door and they were met with a scream coming from the bed, Andromeda was at the base of it, poised at the ready to receive her grandchild.

"Did I miss it?" Ginny worried as she surged forward to stand beside Tonks, taking her hand. Clearly, they had finished up downstairs right on time.

"Aarrgh!" Tonks screamed through her pain. "Is everyone okay?" she cried out through the pain.

"It's fine, everything is fine. Harry is okay," Ginny assured her and wiped the sweat off her brow before looking around for her boyfriend.

Harry didn't look very okay then though. He was staring up at the ceiling looking very uncomfortable with the situation before him. He was white as a sheet, not at all how his coloring had been a moment ago when they were in the throes of battle.

Ginny couldn't help but give a snort. She had just killed someone and been in a hostage situation and he'd been fighting off a team of Death Eaters. That he'd been able to deal with, but he saw a woman in labor for a full ten seconds and he was about ready to pass out.

"You right now is scaring Harry more than what we just went through downstairs," Ginny told Tonks. "You can do this!"

"Deep breath and a big push Nymphadora," Andromeda told her from the base of the bed where she was now crouched with her hand between her daughters legs.

Tonks gave one more purple faced push before letting out a satisfied groan and then there was the sound of one more person in the room.

A crying baby.

()()()

AN- Stay tuned for the epilogue.

I had to go back on this chapter and fix it because initially I forgot that it has to be a full moon for a Werewolf to turn a human, they are not like Vampires and Zombies. Sigh, watching too many zombie shows lately.