Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series. I do however think the people who make posers need to come out with one of Ginny and Draco for the many, oh so many, of us devout fans who know they belong together. WHOS WITH ME?!

Sorry I didn't get this up as soon as I had hopped I would. I do believe you will agree with me when I say it was worth the wait! At least I hope you do.

Now, I would like to thank all of you so much for reviewing. I've finally gotten over 300 reviews! Thanks to Faerie0975 for being my 300th reviewer! I owe her, and many others, so much. She has been with me from the very, very beginning of this story and I hope that I will always seen her reviews up here, along with every one of your guy's amazing reviews!

Now, before the four of you that actually read my author notes read on, I would like to tell you about a new story I have started. It's called My Own Path. It is a Draco/Ginny story (come on, what else would I write?) and I only have the prologue up so far. Now, when your done with this chapter and have finished reviewing it, I strongly (very freakishly strongly) suggest you go read it. It will take not but a few seconds of your life to read it and only a few more seconds to review it! If you like this story, you will love my other one too!

Now, I do believe I have blabbered enough for this author note

So, without further ado:

Chapter 26

Draco POV

Christmas passed by uneventfully and the New Year was fast approaching, as was my apparition test. I still wasn't sure how I was going to purposely fail the test without being obvious about it. I sure as hell didn't want to splinch myself purposefully. But what other way wouldn't look obvious? I had to think of some way within the next three days.

I sighed as I slumped onto my couch; exhausted from the endless pacing that I had been doing for the past few days. I had slept very little over the holiday break. I was so used to Ginny being at my side that it was difficult to fall asleep without her in my arms. And when I would wake in the night and not feel her beside me I would panic. Add that to the stress and worry of the upcoming apparition test, sleep was all but out of the question.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do when the time for my test came, but at this rate I was likely to fail it for real. For the past weeks I hadn't been able to considerate on anything but Ginny. Once the test was over though, I would be able to return to her side. Maybe if I were lucky I would fail my apparition test easily. I laughed humorlessly at the though.

~ ! ~ ! ~ ! ~

The days passed quickly and before I knew it, the date of my apparition test was upon me. I made my way downstairs and to the fireplace in the sitting room. I looked around the lavishly decorated room without much enthusiasm as I grimly took a handful of floo powder from the silver container on the mantle. Tossing the powder into the roaring fire, the flames turned a bright green. I took a deep breath and stepped into the flames. "Ministry of Magic."

I stepped out of the fireplace and looked around the entrance hall of the ministry. Glancing at the fountain that adorned the center of the hall, I made my way to the visitors' desk. A fat, bored looking wizard was sitting there reading the Daily Profit. I didn't like him on first glance, he smelled like he hadn't showered in a few days. I cleared my throat to get his attention.

With a sigh the heavy set man folded his paper and set it aside, looking up at me. As soon as he looked at me his demeanor changed drastically. His gaze turned wary as he met my cold one. I glowered down at him. Sitting up straighter he said in a voice that seemed freakishly high for his stature, "Oh, hello young Mr. Malfoy. What is that I can do for you?" I could see a cold sweat break out on his brow. It seemed he had one to many run ins with my father.

I continued to glare at the despicable man as I said in a cold voice, "I have an appointment for an apparition test."

He nodded started shuffling papers around his desk, looking for something. After a moment he pulled a paper out of the piles and squinted down at it. "Yes, yes of course. The appointment is set for three o'clock," he said in his annoyingly high voice.

"I know that," I said as calmly as I could through clenched teeth, trying not to loose my temper with him. "That is why I'm here at this time."

"Of course, of course. Please let me escort you to the apparition offices," he said, heaving himself from his chair. He was a full head and a half shorter than me. "T-this way young Mr. Malfoy," he stuttered as he led the way to the elevators. I sighed inwardly as I stepped into the elevator. He pressed the number seven button and a cool female voice flitted through the elevator. I tuned it out and tried ignore the short, smelly man standing next to me.

After what seemed an annoyingly long time, the elevator doors slide open and I stepped out into a long, brightly lit hall. "It's just down the hall," said the smelly man as he led the way down the hall towards the fifth door on the right. He opened the door with 'Apparition Office' on it and bowed me in. I merely strode past him and into the office.

I glanced around the large office area and made my way to the desk. A tall, dark man was sitting behind the desk and looked up as I walked towards him. "Do you have an appointment Mr. Malfoy?" he asked in a deep voice.

"Yes," I said, nodding to him as I reached the desk.

"Ah," he said, glancing down at a paper on his desk. "You're the three o'clock. Just go on through the door back on the left. Your tester will be in there to take you to the place where you will perform your test," he said, pointing to a large wooden door to my left. With that he went back to his work. I liked this man better than the welcome deskman. He not only smelled like he showered regularly, he wasn't a coward.

The short walk back to the door seemed extremely long and tense, like I was on death row and this was my green mile. I knew that this very well could be my death sentence, if my father completely lost his temper and his sanity when he finds out I failed this test and would not be able to accompany the others on the missions the Dark Lord wanted me on. I shook my head to clear it of those thoughts as I walked into the office.

A few men were standing around talking to each other. There were some desks in here but seemed all but unused. These men seemed more of the outdoor type than the desk type. As one, they turned towards the door and saw me standing there. I could tell by the looks on their faces that they knew who I was. But then again, who in the wizarding world didn't know the Malfoy family.

An older looking wizard stepped forward and held out his hand. "Ah! There you are young Mr. Malfoy. I'm Mr. Randall, your tester. Are you ready for your test?"

I grasped his hand and shook it. "Of course." I just wanted to get it over with.

"Well then, lets not dally here," he said as he held out his arm. "Just grasp my arm tightly and I will apparate us to the area you will begin at."

Nodding, I grabbed hold of the man's arm. With a goodbye to the others, he turned on the spot and apparated. I had side along apparated before, along with apparating on my own in lessons, but the feeling that I was being sucked through a very small straw was still more than unsettling. But as soon as the sensation came, it was gone. We were in a small, grassy field surrounded by forest. I let go of his arm.

"Well now, whenever you are ready we can begin," he said in a calm voice that seemed the opposite of what I was feeling.

"I'm ready," I drawled in as calm a voice as I could muster. For being terrified for my life, I sounded pretty calm.

"Okay then. What you need to do is apparate a quarter mile west of here and five miles north. It will be near the outskirts of a small town called Burgundy. Whenever you are ready, you may begin." He gestured in the direction I would be going. "I will wait for you there. If in the event you miss the destination or splinch yourself, there are wizards placed all around the area that can find you. If you are not found within the hour, shoot up red sparks. If we do not see the sparks, I can guarantee that you will be found by the end of the day." He smiled then and added, "But that very rarely happens."

I nodded my understanding and repeated his directions. "A quarter mile west and five miles north. Got it."

"Good, I will hopefully see you very soon." and with that, he turned on the spot and was gone.

I knew what I had to do. I would apparate half a mile east rather than west. It would seem like I just missed the spot but drastically enough for them to have to fail me. Though they will probably be wary to fail me, knowing my father. But it was a risk I had to take. I would not, if I could help it, go on those missions. Instead I would probably be to hurt to move but that was what I had to do. I know, to some, it seems stupid really since the people that will be in those villages that will get attacked will likely be killed weather I'm there or not, but I couldn't bring myself to kill. So, with that thought in mind, I turned on the spot.

The feeling of being sucked through a straw came and went quickly and I opened my eyes to see nothing but open grassland. With a sigh I knew I had made it to my intended destination. All that was left now was for the apparition wizards to find me and fail me. It wasn't a long enough wait. Before I knew it, there was a young wizard, maybe five years older than myself, striding towards me with a grim look on his face.

"I'm sorry to see that I had to find you Mr. Malfoy," he said as he walked up to me. "Sadly, this mistake is very common. See, you apparated east rather than west. It's a simple mistake. If you will take my arm, I will apparate us back to Mr. Randall." He held his arm out to me and with a slight pop, he turned on the spot and we were gone.

When I opened my eyes we were back in the office I had started in. Lucky for me, there was only one other wizard in the room than the one that had brought me back here. Mr. Randall was looking at me with a very sad expression on his face. "There you are, dear boy. Looks like you had a bit of trouble, eh?" He nodded to the wizard on my left and, with a pop, said wizard was gone.

Only Randall and myself were left in the room. "Only a slight bit of trouble," I said as he walked over to one of the seldom-used desks.

"Yes, not uncommon really. Happens to all of us." He looked down at the desk and grabbed a sheet of paper. "Now, I'm sorry to say that I simply cannot pass you young Mr. Malfoy. Apparition must be one hundred present accurate, else you run the risk of apparating into a poor muggles living room, or something equally as dreadful. Such a mess for magical reversal team when that happens." He wrote something on the paper and then put it in front of me. "Now I need you to sign this saying you did take the test and understand that you did indeed not pass."

I closed my eyes briefly as I reached for the quill. Signing away my life, I thought with a mental, humorless laugh. I dipped the quill into the black ink and sighed my name under the agreement. Putting the quill back in the ink, I slid the paper back in front of Randall.

"Well then, now that that is done, would you like to schedule another appointment to try again?" he asked, picking up another paper.

"Yes sir," I replied in a flat tone.

"Good! Now then," he looked down at the paper in his hands. "The soonest I can get you in is, lets see, no that wont do. Hmm, well how about… Ah! Here we go, two o'clock in the afternoon on February twenty-third. Will that work for you, or is it too soon?"

"No, that will be fine. It's always good to have an excuse to get out of school for the day," I lied smoothly. I would rather stay at school with Ginny any day of the week.

"Okay then," Randall said as he wrote my name down on yet another piece of paper. "Two o'clock on February twenty-third it is! I will see you then."

I took that as my queue to leave. The sooner I got back to the manor, the sooner this would all be over with. I didn't listen to the cool female voice in the elevator, I didn't spare a glance for the despicable man at the welcome desk, nor did I stop to admire the fountain in the entrance hall. I simply made my way to the fireplaces on the far side of the hall. With fear that I would never admit to in my heart, I grabbed a handful of floo powder and tossed it into the fire. "Malfoy Manor."

I took all I had to step out into to lavishly decorated sitting room of Malfoy Manor. I knew I had to go to my father now and tell him I had failed. He would not be happy with me. But if I were to put off telling him, like my instincts were screaming for me to do, I knew the punishment would only be worse. Better to get it over with soon. My feet dragged through the thick, lush carpet as I made my way to the hall. The stairs were hard on me, my feet wanting me to run down and out the door instead of up to the pain I would soon endure. The long walk to my father's office was one of fear and determination. But as I stood in front of the large, wooden door I had come to associate with pain, I put on my best mask and let myself in.

My father was right where I had expected him to be, sitting behind his desk pouring over maps, no doubt plotting the Dark Lords next attack. "Father," I said in greeting when he looked up at me. I let myself sit down in one of the chairs across from his desk.

"Well, how did it go?" he asked without preamble.

"Not so good actually," I drawled, but continued quickly at the look of fury on his face. "They didn't pass me because of something so stupid as misheard directions. I apparated east instead of west and the stupid men there said I failed." I tried not to show any fear at the look of fury on my fathers face, the all to familiar look in his eyes when he knew he was about to inflict pain.

"Didn't pass?" he asked in a deadly calm voice.

I didn't trust myself to speak, so I merely shook my head.

It happened so quickly I could barely see the movement, his wand was out of his cane and the chair I was sitting on flew from under me. I landed on the floor with a painful thump, but I knew this was only the beginning. I resisted the urge to scream when I felt pain like a million white-hot needles stabbing me all over.

"You failed me, Son," he said with a sneer. "You will have to be punished. Tagli pelle!" he screamed, his wand pointed at my chest. Again I tried not to scream as I felt my skin being sliced open on my chest. I was kneeling on the floor in front of my father, his evil laughter ringing through the large office as I writhed in pain on the floor. Again he yelled, "You failed me!" This time the pain was on my back. It felt like a whip slashing at me again and again.

I tried to block out the pain, keep the screams that would only thrill my father, from coming. Ginny. Her face popped into my mind. I remembered the laugher as she looked over my miserable charms homework, the feel of her fingers gently brushing the hair from my face when she thought I was sleeping. I remembered the many, many nights we stayed up talking about pointless things, just for the sake of hearing each other's voices. I let my mind wander farther back. We were in the library and I had helped her with her potions homework. That was the first time she said my name.

I could almost ignore the pain now, not let my father have the satisfaction of hearing me scream. I remembered how right my name sounded coming from her lips. How right her named sounded as I whispered it before leaving the library. Further back, I could remember her seething with anger after I found her by the tree the first night. I remembered how she sat next to me, shivering with cold to stay at my side than going back up to the warm castle. I remember putting my cloak around her shoulder, seeing how right she looked in my cloak.

The last think I remembered before I passed was how I fell so deeply in love with her. The one girl I should hate most. My love, my Ginny.

First off, if you didn't get the green mile reference early on in the chapter you NEED to watch the move The Green Mile… or maybe it's just Green Mile. Either way, it's an amazing movie about these guys on death row. It was based a long time ago, well many decades ago. When a man is walking to the execution room, its called the last mile. In the move, this prison has a green floor in the corridor to the execution room so it's called the green mile rather than the last mile. It is an amazing, touching, heartwarming movie that every one of you needs to watch. I promise you will love it.

Anyway, off that subject. I hope you liked this chapter. Did it make up for the long wait? I hope it did! Tell me what you think by clicking that handy little review button down there! BJ wants to be fed for he is oh so hungry!

A happy author writes better and faster! So review and make me happy.