Chapter 20

She was crying. No… That was an understatement. She was falling apart right before his eyes. Losing so many loved ones in the span of an hour would do that to anyone — he knew that — but it still hurt to see the strong, caring girl before him reduced to such a state.

And all Blaise could do was hold her.

Sobs wracked her body as his arms wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her to his chest. Tears simply continued to stream down her face, each glimpse of the red-headed twin lying on the ground coaxing new ones from her large brown eyes. Ginny's only other source of comfort was the ghost of a smile that was still on the boy's lips — at least the cruel reality of death hadn't taken that from him.

"Ginny…" Blaise murmured as he rubbed her back soothingly. He could see another red-headed Weasley coming towards them, this one holding the hand of a beautiful blonde woman. "Are you going to be all right?"

She gave a barely noticeable nod, but Blaise didn't believe her — not when her shoulders were still shaking with each gasping breath she took.

"The rest of your family is coming… I'm gonna leave you with them for a bit, okay?" When she only clutched the back of his shirt tighter, he added, "I'll come right back though." He didn't want to leave her at all, but he didn't think this was the best time for her family to learn she had befriended a Slytherin.

She sniffed, backing away from him. "Al-alright." Blaise gazed at her sympathetically, the grief-stricken look on her face causing his heart to clench uncomfortably.

"Gin... I'm so sorry."
The girl forced a smile onto her face — one that didn't reach her blotchy, red eyes. "Nothing c-could've been done to ch-change it." Blaise just gave her another quick hug before releasing her and making his way to the doors of the Great Hall. As he reached them, another Weasley appeared, pushing past him to rush to the lifeless body of his brother. Blaise hurried out of the room — he didn't want to hear the boy's reaction to the loss of his twin.

The Entrance Hall hadn't faired much better during the attack. Rubble had made the ground nearly impossible to see in some places and one of the large oak doors had been knocked off of its hinges. McGonagall was scurrying around, trying to restore a sense of order in such a hectic situation. Suddenly she caught sight of Blaise, and to his great surprise, a weary smile appeared on her face.

"Ah, Mr. Zabini." He stopped, a bit confused as to why she was addressing him. "I must say that I'm quite proud of what you're doing." Oh, so that was it. He put on his usual nonchalant countenance.

"Thank you, professor. I figured someone should stick around so my House isn't a complete joke."

She chuckled softly. "You're quite right." And with that, she continued on her way. Ignoring the oddity of the exchange, he ascended the stairs, careful to avoid slipping on pieces of the broken banister. He didn't think Draco would've wandered too far away from where he and Ginny had seen him not even half an hour before, but he didn't expect to find him sitting in the exact same spot, looking a little lost amongst the people bustling around. No one took any notice of him — at least, not until his fellow Slytherin pulled him from his thoughts.

"So, this is where you've been."

Draco glanced up from the floor briefly, his eyes holding a hint of annoyance. "What are you doing here?"

Blaise sighed, sitting down beside him. "Well, even if you act like a total git, you're still my friend."

The blonde seemed a bit surprised before turned his head away, muttering defensively, "It would've worked if Crabbe and Goyle had just–"

"Are you still trying to make that sound like a good idea?" He rolled his eyes. "I knew you were conceited, but this is just ridiculous." His tone was one of admonishment, but nonetheless, he looked amused. Draco scowled, meeting his eyes.

"Fine, then what are you suggesting I should do?"

Blaise contemplated the question for a moment. "Well, first you need to drop your whole 'holier-than-thou' attitude and admit you were wrong." He paused. "Then you need to go find Ginny." When his friend didn't respond, Blaise added, in a mildly comforting manner, "I didn't tell her, you know."

"I figured," he mumbled. "Why?"

"She'll find out soon enough, though I'd rather you tell her than anyone else." Draco was silent once more. At this point, Blaise almost wanted Draco to blow up at him and be as stubborn as he always was. Any reaction would have been fine with him. "She kept asking about you… 'Have you seen him? Do you think he's okay?'" Still no reaction, not even the slightest twitch. "Honestly, I don't think you even deserve her concern right now, but it's not like I can tell her who to care about." He waited for a few seconds, and he was about to give up when Draco spoke.

"…She's all right though?" He was a bit taken-aback by the concern in his friend's voice, but at least it was an improvement.

"She's not hurt, if that's what you're saying," he answered quietly, "but she's lost people that she really cares about. I didn't really want to leave her, but she's with her family, and I needed to make sure you weren't doing anything else stupid." He could've sworn he saw the corners of Draco's lips lift ever so slightly. Grinning, he pushed himself off the stairs and turned around to face his friend. "But now that I've done that, I should get back down to the Great Hall." He sent him an 'Are you coming?' look, but Draco shifted his focus to the ground.

"I think it'd be better if I stayed here."

After a second thought, Blaise agreed. "I suppose you're right… This probably isn't the best time for her to deal with you." He narrowed his eyes slightly. "But I expect to see you down there at some point. I'm not coming to find you again," he informed Draco sternly before turned away and making his way down the stairs.

"Blaise…" Said boy stopped at the landing below, glancing over his shoulder to see Draco looking away as if he regretted calling his friend back. Blaise waited patiently till the blonde decided what he wanted to say. "…Can you tell her?"

"Why? Don't want to see her look so disappointed?" He hadn't meant the words to come out so harshly, as they caused a look of anger to pass over Draco's features.

"I'm being selfish, alright?" he gritted out, avoiding his friend's condescending gaze. "Can you just tell her?"

"…Fine, but this is the last time I'm helping you," Blaise muttered. At the sight Draco's frown, his expression relaxed slightly as he walked back up the stairs. "Draco, if you really care about her, you'd better start acting like it. You seem to have forgotten that Potter still fancies her." His friend's head snapped up in alarm — it seemed he really had forgotten about that rather important detail.

"But she likes me, so she has to be over him, right?" he blurted out, and Blaise had to fight back a laugh at the childishness of his question.

"How do you know she still likes you?"

"You just said she was worried about me!"

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and I'm sure she's also worried about her family, her friends, Potter… Catch my drift?" The boy in front of him frowned. "I'm just saying, if you still fancy her, for God's sake, act on it." Without waiting for a response, he turned his back on Draco and went back to the Great Hall, hoping his friend would take his advice.

When he got there, Blaise simply stood off to the side, staying out of the way and trying to draw as little attention to himself as possible. Ginny was still surrounded by her family while Granger comforted her, so he decided to wait until she felt comfortable enough to leave their company.

"Blaise?"

A broad grin appeared on his face as he recognized the voice. Turning, he saw Mandy standing beside him, a shy smile playing on her lips. After greeting her with a quick kiss, he asked, "How are you doing?"

"A little worse for the wear," she replied, her words laden with sadness as she continued, "but I'm better off than most. I was mainly helping with the evacuation. You?"

"I'm all right. Had a few issues upstairs, but those were taken care of without too much trouble," he told her. "I may skive off for the second half of the battle though…" he mused, eliciting a tinkling laugh from her that brought a smile to his face. "Apparently I'm the only Slytherin over on this side."

"Well, I think it's wonderful that you're helping," she said brightly before gesturing to a cut on his arm. "Although, you seem to have gotten a bit careless."

"Oh… I didn't even notice."

She smiled. "That's alright. I can heal it for you." Pointing her wand at his arm, she murmured, "Episkey." Upon inspecting the wound, he found that the gash had disappeared, replaced with a faded scar.

"Thanks." Mandy beamed as she hopped up onto the table he was leaning against, swinging her legs back and forth idly.

"I've been practicing," she announced proudly. "Can't become a Healer if I don't know the right spells." He grinned.

"That would be helpful. I'm sure you'll make a great Healer someday."

She nudged him playfully. "You're just saying that to be nice."

"No I'm not." It was true, he was sure with her brains she could become whatever she wanted to be. She seemed to accept this, though a bit skeptically, and slid off of the table.

"Well, I'm going to keep helping out, but I'll find you later, 'kay?"

He nodded, straightening his back and facing her. "Be careful; it's only gonna get worse." The cheerful expression on her face faltered as the seriousness of his statement hit her.

"I know." She gave him a peck on the cheek before wrapping her arms around his torso. "You be careful too," she mumbled before pulling away and disappearing with a small wave.

Once he lost sight of her amongst the crowd of people, he directed his eyes to where the Weasleys were gathered, but didn't see Ginny standing with them. With a bit of a frown, he scanned the hall and, after a minute, he found her kneeling beside a girl about their age, holding her hand as she tried to comfort her. He started towards her and at the same time, she turned around as if looking for someone. Her lips curved slightly when she noticed him, but she didn't let go of the girl's hand. As he neared, he could hear the words Ginny was saying as the girl sniffled.

"How about we go find someone to fix that arm of yours?" she suggested, to which the girl nodded tearfully. She helped her off the ground and walked her over to Madam Pomfrey before returning to Blaise. "Did you find him?"

"Find who?"

"Draco," she stated as if it were obvious, though her voice still had that detached quality from when they had run into him before — like she was trying to forget about his odd behavior and failing horribly. "I'm guessing you went looking for him."

"I did."

She let out a soft huff. "And?" He could tell his vague answers were starting to annoy her, but he didn't really want to elaborate. Never the less, she was going to find out at some point anyway.

"He's just moping," he informed her casually. "Hasn't quite gotten it through his head that Voldemort's on the loosing side." Her eyes widened as she picked up on the implication, though he was wishing she hadn't.

"You mean–"

He nodded. "He was planning on finding the diadem first. I'm sure you can assume the rest."

Ginny gaped at him, not sure what to say till she finally spat out, "That two-timing bastard! I thought he'd changed!"

Unable to stop the grin that came to his face, he shrugged. "I think he's regretting it now… Trying to find the diadem, I mean. Not changing."

"Oh, I can't believe him…" she hissed as she turned away. "That's why he was acting so strange earlier! That stupid… Ugh, I can't believe him!" Part of her wanted to find him and deliver a resounding slap to his face, while the other part never wanted to see him again. And there was a little part of her that just wanted to cry.

"You know, you're taking this a bit better than I thought you would." He had expected her to carry out the first option — the fact that she was still standing before him supported his statement.

She ignored him. As furious as she was, he could tell she was upset by Draco's betrayal. There was no other reason for the poorly disguised disappointment in her voice. "Why the hell isn't he telling me this?"

"Because he's being a coward." Ginny let out a growl of frustration, her hand clenching at her side. "Hey, at least he's seen the error of his ways," Blaise remarked before his lips curved downwards. I think…

The fuming red-head shot a glare at him. "Don't defend him," she snapped, causing him to chuckle.

"Fine, I won't." When she didn't say anything, he continued. "Gin, don't let it upset you–"

"I'm not upset! I'm pissed off that he thinks he can get away with something like that after everything that's happened!"

"Fine, you're not upset," Blaise mumbled, raising his hands defensively. "I just think you should forget about it for now and focus on the upcoming battle. I don't want you getting hurt because you're distracted."

Ginny seemed to take his words to heart and the look of furry on her face softened. They still had a battle to win… She could always deal with him later. " …How long do we have left?"

Blaise glanced down at his watch. "Fifteen minutes."

"Just fifteen minutes, huh?" she uttered. Before she could finish her thought, someone called her name.

"Ginny!" She turned and saw Ron jogging towards her, Hermione not far behind him. "Have you–" His words cut off abruptly as he noticed the other person in their presence. "What is he doing here?"

"Ron, please…" When he turned to her with his mouth open, she gazed at him sternly. "Not now."

"No, I wanna know what they hell you're doing with a Slytherin," he demanded, his ears turning an interesting shade of red. "Who d'ya think we've been fighting against?"

Ginny exhaled slowly as an angry retort died on her tongue. "Ron, he's–"

"Calm down, Weasley," Blaise interrupted. There was no reason he couldn't defend himself. "I've been fighting with you guys."

"Really?" Ron shot back scathingly, despite the hand that Hermione placed on his shoulder. "Well, that's funny, 'cause your friend was all set to turn us over to Vol–"

"That was his decision," Blaise interjected tersely. "Not mine." Ron opened his mouth to resume his interrogation, but Ginny beat him to it.

"Ron, what were you going to ask me?" Her question was accompanied by a dangerous look — one that had a scary resemblance to their mother's — so he let the matter drop for the time being.

"You seen Harry? He disappeared after we found out abou–" He paused, glancing towards the spot where the rest of their family was standing. "After we got back," he finished lamely.

Ginny shook her head, a trace of concern apparent in her eyes. "I thought he would've gone to find you…" It was at this point Hermione spoke up, voicing the option that seemed to be on everyone's mind.

"You don't suppose he would've–"

"No, he has to be 'round here somewhere," Ron stated, looking around the room for any trace of the Boy-Who-Lived. Hermione let out a gentle sigh.

"Where could he've gone to…?"

"Maybe he's just getting away from it all for a while," Ginny piped up. "I'm sure he'll be back soo–"

A horrible, blood-curdling scream caused the words to catch in her throat. Ron immediately whirled around in the direction it had come from before turning to Hermione. A look of unadulterated terror was frozen on her face — it seemed she had recognized the owner of the voice as well. His gaze must have knocked her out of her trance, because a second later, they both practically flew to the door. Ginny was still in a state of shock — it wasn't until Blaise placed a hand on her shoulder that she jumped to her senses.

"That was McGonagall…" Before he could process what she'd said, Ginny ran after them, disappearing into the group of people that had assembled in a rush to get to the Entrance Hall.

"Ginny!" She couldn't hear him over the nervous chatter, so he had no choice but to push his way through the crowd in an attempt to catch up to her.

Over the sea of heads, she could just see the top of Ron's mop of ginger hair when Hermione let out a terrible cry. "No!"

"Harry!"

At the sound of her brother's shout, her heart skipped a beat and she let out a strangled noise of frustration. "Damn it! Let me through!" she shrieked, shoving the people in front of her a side.

A little ways behind, Blaise had finally caught sight of the youngest Weasley as she came to a stop, petrified with pure horror at the scene before her. As he came up beside her, the blood drained from her face — the freckled skin turning deathly white as she stood there in shock. The lifeless form of Harry Potter was just barely visible through the gaps in the crowd, held in the arms of a weeping Hagrid. Ginny finally gasped as she came out of her stupor before a devastated scream escaped her lips.

"HARRY!"

Draco had seen everything from a shattered window on the second floor: Longbottom's valiant stand against Voldemort, Hagrid's giant of a brother lumbering towards the assembly, the Boy-Who-Lived vanishing into thin air, and Voldemort's wrathful expression as his snake was beheaded. Now, the battle was raging once again, and he knew there was a decision that had to be made. It was going to be one side or the other — one would prevail, one would fall in infamy. And for once, he was certain there was no truth in what Blaise had said; it wasn't possible to play both sides… Not this time.

It was only when he saw his best friend grab the hand of a fiery red-head and rush back inside the building that his mind was made up. With one last hesitant pause, he turned on his heel and ran to the Great Hall. If he was going to die, it sure as hell wasn't going to be fighting against the things — the people — he truly cared about. Not when they'd done so much for him.

Spells were flying everywhere when he reached the entrance to the Great Hall, one missing him by a mere hairbreadth as he scanned the hall. It was hysterical laughter that eventually drew his attention to what he sought. Bellatrix was dueling three students at once: Granger and Lovegood both firing hexes at her as a green streak of light sailed towards the girl he had been looking for. Draco took a step forward, but before he could even raise his wand, Mrs. Weasley came charging over, her face flushed with furry.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"

Bellatrix immediately whirled around, a crazed expression adorning her features as she returned Mrs. Weasley's attacks. Ginny had already begun fending off another Death Eater — with yet another sneaking up behind her. Without thinking, Draco hexed the man, who collapsed just as Ginny stunned the Death Eater in front of her. Noticing the noise, she turned, her eyes locking with the grey ones that were focused on her from across the room before widening with surprise. He was only vaguely aware of the fact that she mouthed his name before yells of Harry's return caused them both face the center of the room. There he was, standing opposite Voldemort with a look of sheer determination in his eyes. This was it — it had to be — and yet, Draco's attention had inadvertently drifted back to the girl standing just a few feet away.

The moment seemed almost surreal as the two faced off, each engaging in terse, mocking conversation as they waited for the other to make the first move. Draco heard his name mentioned, but nothing more than mild astonishment registered in his mind. This was it… After this, it was all going to be over. It had to be.

There were two simultaneous shouts, followed by utter silence. The whole room seemed to be in a daze as a cloaked body fell to the ground. Another pause — silence. Then, as if a spell had been lifted, cheers erupted from every corner of the Great Hall and Draco watched as the girl just out of reach ran forward, straight into the hero's awaiting arms.

The overall ecstatic mood had hardly died down hours later as Blaise wandered through the Great Hall, a relaxed expression on his face even though he felt a bit out of place with the winning army. A few people had already come up to him, offering him cordial words of gratitude for his actions, but even then, the whole affair seemed awkward. It wasn't that he regretted his choice — not in the slightest — he just wished he had a few more people he could find solace with in the group made up mostly of strangers.

It was with this notion that he spotted Draco sitting with his family, all looking as uncomfortable as he felt in the particular situation. Narcissa was the first to notice as he walked over, the corners of her lips lifting almost unnoticeably.

"Hello, Blaise," she greeted, causing the other two members of her family to look up as well. Lucius simply gazed at him with an unreadable expression (though if he had to guess, it was one of annoyance at being disturbed) while Draco glanced at him for a brief moment before returning his gaze to the floor.

"Good morning," he replied brightly, ignoring the two currently unsocial members of the family and instead choosing to direct his attention only to the middle-aged woman. "Quite the celebration, isn't it?"

Narcissa nodded, giving him a tired smile. "I'm just grateful it's over," she told him sincerely, to which Blaise responded with the same expression.

"You and everyone else," he agreed before shifting his attention to Draco. "If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to you." The boy glanced up once more before standing and following him wordlessly till they were out of ear-shot.

"Here to pester me again?"

Blaise leaned against the stone wall lazily, pretending he hadn't heard the irritated tone in his friend's voice. "No, actually." He grinned. "I figure if you haven't gotten it through your thick head by now, it's a lost cause."

Draco frowned, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "I came down like you told me to," he stated in a mildly defensive manner. The other boy chuckled.

"I'll admit I was a bit shocked about that. You usually don't listen to me."

"For a good reason…" he muttered coldly, folding his arms over his chest as he looked away.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Blaise waited for him to continued, knowing something was bothering him, but when Draco didn't say anything else, he took a guess at the problem. "So, are you going to talk to Ginny? Now that you've realized you were stupid and all."

"…You saw her run at Potter." Ah, so that was the issue. At least, that's the way it seemed when Draco practically spat Harry's name.

Sighing, Blaise shook his head with a small laugh. "Would you quit being so bloody jealous? She would hear you out at least." He paused. "Now, if she decides to forgive you… That's a whole other story."

Draco scowled before turning away, his gaze falling on the spot where the girl in question was resting her head wearily on her mother's shoulder. As if she felt his eyes on her, she looked up, though her expression didn't change. He turned back quickly, and as if he had just fully processed what Blaise had said, he hissed, "I'm not being jealous. It was pretty clear from her actions that she still fancies Potter.

"Then why is she coming over here?" he stated simply, causing Draco's eyes to widen. He rotated his head to the side just enough to confirm that she was indeed coming over to them when Blaise clapped him on the shoulder, a broad grin on his face. "Good luck, mate," he uttered under his breath before waltzing away. This seemed to jolt the blonde back to reality.

"Blaise, wait–"

"Draco." He mentally cursed at the sound of the clipped voice behind him and, deciding there was no way out of this, he slowly faced the speaker, meeting her eyes determinedly.

"Ginny."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she growled not even a second after her name had left his mouth.

Hoping to avoid the issue until their relationship had been restored to slightly better terms, he airily replied, "That's how you greet me?" Her chocolate brown eyes narrowed dangerously, almost daring him to continue with that tone of voice.

"Draco… Answer my question."

He hesitated, his usually quick-witted mind failing him as he groped around for an appropriate response. "I didn't know how you'd react," he stated after a moment, his voice not betraying the uncertainty he had about his answer. She gazed at him for a second with something akin to disbelief before her lips pursed.

"Then you shouldn't have done it in the first place!" Ginny snapped, her cheeks dusted a light pink as she let out a huff. "I trusted you to at least be honest with me. You know this isn't the Draco I fell for," she continued harshly.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could just see Blaise watching the scene with could only assume was meddling curiosity, but when he shot a pleading look at his best friend, the boy shifted so his back was to him. With a heavy, frustrated sigh, he faced the livid girl once more. "Gin, it was a lapse in judgment and I–"

"Are you going to keep having these 'lapses in judgment?'" she demanded sharply, catching him a bit off guard. "'Cause if you are, then I don't want to be a part of this anymore." When Draco did nothing but let his eyes fall to the floor, her expression softened as a hint of disappointment appeared in her features. "Fine… I guess this is it then." She willed herself to wait a few more seconds before turning away. She'd done what she could — all he had to do was put in a little more effort and just maybe…

"Ginny, wait." She felt herself being pulled to a stop as a hand gripped her wrist, and all she could do was stand there as he continued. "I'm… I'm sorry, all right? I swear it won't happen again."

She couldn't help the tiny grin that danced on her lips before she faced him with an emotionless façade. "Prove it."

He stared at her, taken aback by the words that had just escaped her mouth. "…What?"

Ginny pulled her wrist from his loose hold and crossed her arms. "Prove you won't turn your back on me again." He stood there, completely at a loss till his brow furrowed slightly as an idea came to mind. Taking a slow step forward, as if reconsidering the option, he closed his hand around one of her arms before suddenly pulling her closer, causing her to let out a small, startled sound as he planted his lips firmly over hers.

The chatter in the immediate area ceased almost instantaneously as Ginny relaxed from her initial surprise and wrapped her arms around his neck, completely forgetting — or perhaps ignoring — the people surrounding them. Off to the side, a certain devious Slytherin couldn't help but smirk at the scene before returning to his conversation with a pretty, bespectacled Ravenclaw who also happened to have a small smile on her face.

Draco wore a similar smirk as he pulled away moments later, his hands still resting on the hips of the petite red-head who was gazing up at him now that a sense of surprise had returned. "Does that work?"

Her lips curved slightly. "Yeah… I think it does." She could've sworn she saw a grin on his face as he stepped away, but he quickly hid it by turning. "Hey, where do you think you're going now?" He looked at her over his shoulder, trying to figure out if she was kidding or not.

"I'd have to be insane to stay here after doing that," he stated bluntly. "Someone in your rather large family must've seen, and I don't particularly feel like being beaten to a pulp at the moment." Ginny couldn't help but laugh as he continued on his way.

Months before, she had said that she couldn't wait till it was over, that everything would be so much simpler — that they wouldn't have to hide anything. But then, she had asked–

"Draco!" He paused once again, and a brilliant smile formed on her lips. "You still ashamed to be seen with a Weasley?"

He faced at her with a serious expression. "Yes."

Ginny's smile faltered. That wasn't quite right…

As if reading her thoughts, Draco smirked and, for that very moment, it seemed like everything was just the way it was always supposed to be.

"But not you, Gin."

A/N - Sorry it took me awhile to update, but hey, this chapter is over 5000 words long, so... I think that kind of makes up for it : )

Geez, I can't believe there's only one more chapter left! I know I've been working on this for about 6 months now, but it definitely hasn't seemed that long... I would love to just keep on writing this for a couple more months, but I wouldn't want to drag it out just for the sake of it. I'll write an occasional one-shot from time to time though, so don't think this is it for my D/G work : )

As always, the feedback I get from readers means a lot, so for this chapter and the next, I'll be posting a mini-questionare of sorts. If you took a few minutes to answer the questions, I would really appreciate it : )

1. What do you like best about this story? What do you like the least?

2. Who's your favorite character and why?

3. What's your favorite chapter and why?

4. How did I do with characterization?

5. I'm always working to become a better writer. Any suggestions?

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading the chapter and thanks in advance to those of you who answer the questions : ) Hopefully I'll be back really soon with the epilogue!

-Twilight-Songstress