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CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

When Ginny next opened her eyes, everything around her was white. At first she thought it was just an empty void but then it slowly dawned on her that there were walls and ground and…railway tracks. She seemed to be in some sort of simulation of the platform at Kings Cross station, where her journey to Hogwarts had started.

And she wasn't alone. An older blonde-haired boy was looking at her with a surly expression. With a start, she realised it was Draco, looking the age he would have been if he'd lived. He sneered at the sight of her. "Made it here at last then, Weasley? At least I got to see that."

Ginny slowly clambered to her feet. "Where are we?" A horrible thought occurred to her. "Is this hell? I'm in hell and I'm sharing it with Draco Malfoy."

"Right, because that's where all the naughty purebloods go. No, this isn't hell. This is limbo. Fun times ahead for us both, stuck here together, eh?"

"Oh, don't listen to him, dear,"came a voice from behind her.

Ginny knew who she'd see even before she spun round. She'd seen both the woman who had spoken and the man standing next to her in photos many times. Her parents. Her instinct was to run to them and hug them, but in this strange world she didn't know if that was allowed. Then her mother held out a hand and Ginny ran to her, letting both of them envelop her.

"You don't know how proud we've been watching over you,"her mother said quietly.

Ginny loosened the embrace enough to speak. "What are you doing here?" She nodded over to Draco. "And what's he doing here?"

"We came to see you,"her father explained. He glanced over at Draco. "As for him…he's here because they haven't decided what to do with him yet. He wasn't responsible for what he did under You-Know-Who's control but he does seem to have a lot of very nasty ideas."

"Ginny Weasley,"noted a familiar voice. Ginny pulled away from her parents enough to see Dumbledore standing there. "It is good to have these last few moments with you."

"Are we dead?"Ginny asked him.

"I certainly am. It's no matter. I've lived a long life and one of the most enjoyable things about it is knowing you. As for you, well, that's still in question. Look behind you."

Ginny hadn't seen it before. She wasn't entirely sure it had been there. But curled up in the corner was a creature, dying. It looked like a giant malformed baby. "What is it?"

"The part of Voldemort that was inside you. His own Killing Curse destroyed it."

Draco stepped closer, looking with horrified fascination. "That's what we were following?"

"Do you perhaps now question what you were told, Draco?"Dumbledore asked. Draco didn't answer, but he looked as uncertain as Ginny had seen him. Dumbledore turned back to Ginny. "The fact that both you and it took Voldemort's curse means you are not fully dead. You can move on with the rest of us… or you can go back."

Ginny looked uncertainly at her parents who seemed to sense her thoughts. "Of course we want you with us, dear,"her mother said. "But we want you to live even more."

Her father nodded in agreement. "We want you to have everything that we had…and everything that we didn't."

Harry slowly began to stir. He fought off the urge to panic at the realisation that he was buried under rubble: After a few moments, he realised that it wasn't too heavy and he should be able to extricate himself easily. But when he heard footsteps, he decided his best option might be to stay where he was.

Voldemort stepped out of the office and stood on a balcony, his voice amplified so that all below could hear it. "Albus Dumbledore is dead!"he roared. "Ginny Weasley is dead! Your cause is finished! Surrender!"

There was a pause. Silence. As though everyone was considering his words. And then a voice that Harry recognised as Neville's shouted "Keep fighting!"

"Keep fighting!"Hermione echoed.

"Keep fighting!"bellowed another voice that Harry thought was Ernie Macmillan.

And then suddenly it sounded like the entire castle was shouting it, his parents and Professor McGonagall included, and the sound of furious spell casting started up again.

"Fools!"Voldemort snarled. "We shall kill them all now." He and his Death Eater wingmen headed down the stairs.

Harry was tempted to try and fling a spell in Voldemort's direction, maybe catch a lucky shot and end his evil for good. But his words stuck in Harry's mind and he needed to see for himself. Pulling himself free, he headed into the office, taking in Dumbledore spread-eagled on the floor and then Ginny, lying flat on her back as though asleep, unmoving. Harry crouched by her, placed a hand on the cold skin of her face, and turned away, tears in his eyes.

And then Ginny sat up with a gasp. She took in her surroundings and turned to him. "Harry?"

Harry grabbed her in a hug and then he kissed her, briefly but intensely, needing to believe that he really was touching a living and breathing Ginny. "I thought that you were dead!"

"Yeah, funny that. I thought the same." Ginny took a deep breath. She glanced at Dumbledore's body then turned back to Harry. "Where's Voldemort?"

"He headed back to the battle, I think he thought you were dead too. That's what he told everyone else."

"Harry, his last horcrux has been destroyed, we can kill him."

"You mean Nagini?"Harry checked.

"No, not Nagini." Ginny looked for a moment as though she was going to say more, then she shook her head, apparently deciding whatever it was could come later. "Come on." She scrambled to her feet, grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him after her.

Just outside the office, they ran into Fred and George. "Ginny!"Fred exclaimed. "We heard you were dead."

"We were very worried,"George added.

"You two can help,"Ginny told them businesslike. "We need to get Voldemort to chase us."

"How are we going to do that?"Fred asked.

Ginny went to the balcony where Voldemort had stood minutes before, placed her wand to her throat and muttered "Sonorus". "I'm Ginny Weasley!"she shouted, her voice calling the attention of everyone present. "The Girl Who Lives! And I've survived a Killing Curse from Voldemort twice!"

Fred and George looked at each other. "Yeah, that'll do,"George agreed.

Ginny ran past them. "Come on!"

Almost beyond furious, Voldemort turned to Rookwood. "Wipe out the rest of these fools. Weasley is mine."

Harry, Fred and George stood and watched as Ginny completed her pacing in front of the Room of Requirement. "We need somewhere to hide from Lord Voldemort,"she concluded and the door appeared. They ran inside.

They stopped a few paces in, seeing the stacks of unknown objects piled everywhere. "This is where we found the diadem,"Harry realised.

Ginny heard footsteps outside. "Scatter, he's coming."

They all disappeared off into different directions among the mess. Moments later, Voldemort burst in. He glanced around and slowly moved off through the stacks.

Ginny waited until Voldemort was within sight then aimed her wand at him. "Reducto!"

Voldemort reacted quickly, blocking most of the spell with a shield, with some bouncing off and striking a stack next to him, causing him to be pelted with falling objects. "Crucio!"he snapped but Ginny had bounded out of the way of the spell.

"Diffindo!"snapped Fred as he stepped out behind Voldemort, immediately ducking back out of sight before the spell had cut a large chunk out of Voldemort's arm, causing him to scream in pain.

Voldemort caught a glimpse of Harry. "Avada Kedavra!"he roared but Harry didn't stop and the spell flashed behind him.

Then Voldemort seemed to change tack. He whirled his wand in a circle above him and flames sprang from the tip, growing and enveloping him, setting everything around him alight. "Fiendfyre,"Ginny realised. She instantly knew the danger: Voldemort must be mad to use such a dangerous spell in such an enclosed space. "Everyone head for the door!"

Harry, Fred and George instantly followed her advice. Ginny saw Voldemort making a run after them and raised her wand. "Impedimenta!"she snapped and Voldemort was sent flying back towards the flames, landing in a heap just short of the fire. Ginny ran for the door but couldn't resist taking a look back at him.

"You won't get rid of me, Ginny Weasley!"he snarled. "Even if this body dies, I'll live on! Just like I did last time!"

"All your horcruxes are destroyed!"Ginny shouted back. "All that's left of your soul is in that body and it's going to die with it!"

There was suddenly fear in his eyes. He scrambled to his feet and hurtled for the door. Ginny dashed through it and closed it firmly behind her. "Collportus,"she snapped, aiming her wand at the door.

George looked at her, astonished. "You realise he can just unlock that?"

Ginny took a step back and aimed her wand at the door. "Not if we keep it locked."

Fred gulped. "Us…against You-Know-Who?"

"Just do it!"Harry snapped.

The three of them lined up next to Ginny, combining their magic with hers in one continuous Locking Charm. They could feel something pulling at the door from the other side as they kept it closed. Ginny felt as though her arm was being torn off.

Luna and Colin came hurrying up. "Hello, Ginny,"Luna greeted her politely. "What are you doing?"

"Help us…keep the door shut,"Ginny managed through gritted teeth.

"All right. I'm sure it's very important."

Luna and Colin took their place with the others, adding their own magic. The door held.

And then there was a scream, a long and loud scream full of pain and fury and despair. Ginny didn't want to feel any pity for the person who had destroyed her family and killed so many innocent people, but that scream was a reminder that this wasn't a monster they were fighting, it was a man, a man who was now dying a painful death.

And then the scream stopped and the door vanished, leaving only a faint wisp of smoke.