Disclaimer: JK Rowling like always.
A/N: Is there anything to say, really? Let's just get into the chapter before one of you goes crazy and decides to kill me for hurting Ginny!! (that was a joke, you're supposed to laugh, I didn't mean it literally…..)
Chapter Twelve
Love Heals Anything
Draco felt very numb as he watched Ginny fall to her knees. There seemed to be so much noise - her brothers and Harry were all yelling, and Hermione was letting out the loudest scream he had ever heard in his life - and it was hurting his head. Something else was hurting, though, and it hurt much worse.
His heart.
Everything happened in slow motion. He managed to catch Ginny before she fell back on the floor. The knife must've pierced close or directly in her lungs, because with every shaky, painful breath she drew and exhaled, blood spilled over her bottom lip (A/N: Sorry, Draco's Lil Angel!!!). Draco had his arm under her neck, keeping her slightly sitting up. Her hands were fluttering around the knife handle. He grabbed one of them, and even though it was warm and slippery with her blood, he held it tightly.
Ginny stared up at him, struggling to breath. It hurt so much . . . it would just be easier to give up. Besides, she thought, searching Draco's blank face sadly, he doesn't love me. He doesn't even look the least bit panicked now that I'm dying.
She tried to find her voice, and only ended up making a gurgling noise. It was getting harder to keep her eyes focused.
"She's dying," announced Slytherin, and even though he sounded far off, he was obviously pleased. "She's dying in your arms, Draco, and there is nothing you can do to save her."
He was right. She was dying. And Draco couldn't stop it from happening. The only person he cared about, the only person who had ever truly loved him was about to be gone forever.
He hadn't cried since he was three years old. He had never needed to nor wanted to in fourteen years.
At that moment, though, he had never wanted to so badly.
But he managed to keep his face emotionless, watching Ginny slowly lose her grip on life. The life she hadn't had a chance to live yet.
She looked like she wanted to say something, but all she kept making were weird noises, as if she was trying to talk underwater. The blood, Draco thought. It's flooding her lungs.
Yet her lips managed to form what she was trying to say. Just one single solitary word. "Draco."
He remembered what she had said to him - had it only been yesterday?
"I love you."
At first, Draco thought he was just remembering what she had told him. He did not realize he had said it out loud. Not until even Fred and George stopped shouting and Ginny's eyes widened, her quivering lips formed a small smile. Her weak grip on his hand went limp, and her eyes shut, her head falling back.
She was dead.
Draco stared at her, horror slowly seeping through his limps, washing over him like icy water. Behind him, Slytherin said, "Maybe I will keep you alive, Draco. Alive and knowing that the only person you've ever loved is dead."
Gently, Draco lowered Ginny the rest of the way to the floor. Then he jumped to his feet and prepared to lunge at Slytherin. He didn't care if he got himself killed - he was in such a rage he could barely stand it. But before he could move any closer to the person he wanted to kill, he Apparated instantly.
Draco stood there for a minute, clenching and unclenching his fists, trying to calm himself down. She's just a girl, he thought. She doesn't matter that much. A lot of people die every day, she's no different, I don't care . . .
But he did care. He cared so badly he was physically aching.
He needed to go somewhere.
Almost forgetting about the others still chained to the wall, Draco was halfway out of the room when Hermione called for him, her voice thick with grief, "Draco? D'you think you could . . ."
Numbly, not even noticing she had used his first name, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand. "Freeadus," he said, barely above a whisper, waving it over his shoulder. He heard the rattling as the chains fell to the floor.
And then he left the room.
"She can't be dead," Ron said, so pale even his freckles were white. And he slowly knelt down by his sister's limp form, not even noticing the blood he was sitting in.
Hermione sat beside him, tears pouring down so fast she couldn't stop them. Slowly, Fred, George, and Harry joined them on the floor, but Harry was the first one to notice something.
"Did Malfoy take the dagger out?" he said softly.
"Why does it matter?" Hermione wailed.
"It doesn't," Harry murmured to himself. But secretly he wondered why the knife was laying beside Ginny, no longer in her chest. He could've sworn he had not seen Draco remove it.
"She really is dead," Ron said dully.
The searing pain in Ginny's chest slowly faded. Very slowly. So slowly it nearly five minutes had gone by before she realized that it was diminishing. Finally, it was pretty much gone, and that she had to be dead.
It was dark, but that was because her eyes were closed. She couldn't open them, and she didn't know why. Wasn't Heaven supposed to be light? She wasn't a saint, but she wasn't exactly evil enough to go to Hell. So why did she feel so confused, so cold?
From underneath her eyelids, she could sense something moving. She even heard the rustle of clothing. Who's there? she thought, but couldn't move her lips to form the words.
And then, she could open her eyes.
The first thing she saw was Harry.
She smiled wistfully. Of course, her Heaven had to include Harry Potter.
And then she noticed her brothers, too, and Hermione. She was holding her hand, which was covered in blood. They all noticed that her eyes had opened at the same time.
"Why isn't the blood gone?" Ginny asked quietly and slowly. She always thought that in Heaven there was no blood, no pain. So why did everyone look so unhappy?
"You're alive!" Ron cried very loudly.
Then her brothers were pulling her into a sitting position, everyone taking turns hugging her hard enough to cut off her breathing. When they all pulled away everyone was soaked with her blood.
"How – how . . ." George sputtered.
Ginny was wondering the exact same thing. She was alive? She clearly remembered the knife burning into her chest, and the pain had been so great that it was inevitable that she had died. Even if the wound somehow managed to close up in two minutes, she thought, more blood is on the floor than in me.
Looking down at her blood-soaked robes, she pulled the collar down so she could see where the wound had been. After she managed to wipe the blood away, to her shock the skin was as smooth and unmarked as it had been ten minutes ago. It was like she had never been stabbed.
"This doesn't make any sense," Ginny whispered. There had been nothing there that could've sealed up the puncture; only the Locator Ring that Draco had given her. And she was pretty sure that a stupid ring couldn't have managed to somehow closed up a wound that not even the most experienced doctor could've done to save her.
"Maybe you should take a shower," Hermione suggested, smiling shakily.
With the help of her three brothers, Ginny was pulled to her feet. She felt a little faint, but no pain or anything. She had expected to be nearly passing out, unconscious, considering that most her blood was anywhere but inside her body.
"Where's Draco?" she asked immediately.
"Who knows," Fred shrugged.
"Who cares," Harry added. "I think I'll contact the doctor."
"I'm fine," Ginny insisted. "I want to see Draco. He didn't leave, did he?"
"I didn't hear the door open or close," Hermione said, biting her lower lip. "But Gin, I'll look for him. You really need to get cleaned up."
So Ginny allowed herself to be ushered into the bathroom by Hermione, where she was left alone to do her thing. She took the quickest shower she could, but it took a while to get the blood out of her hair. Finally, she was done and hurried to get dressed.
Narcissa was waiting when Slytherin returned home.
Instantly she asked, "Is Draco all right?"
Slytherin handed his coat to a house elf and grinned at her. "He's fine. Only thing broken is his heart."
"So you killed the girl." Narcissa's voice was flat and dull.
"Yes," Slytherin said. "Now there is nothing to stop me from reaching absolute power."
"Tell me about Draco," Narcissa insisted. Even though she sometimes acted different, she really did love her son. The only reason she felt so detached from him was because he was so like Lucius. "What happened."
"Is it really that important?" Slytherin drawled.
"You said his heart is broken. Did he love Ginny?"
Slytherin snorted. "Well, yes, considering those were the last words he said to her."
"Was she wearing the Locator Ring around her neck?"
"How should I know? And why does that matter?"
Narcissa just shook her head. "I was only wondering."
Slytherin glanced at her suspiciously, but then moved on down the hall. Narcissa closed her eyes tightly. She didn't want the Weasley girl to die. But she knew there was hope. If she had been wearing the Locator Ring, and Draco had said he loved her, then the ring would've healed any wound she could've possibly had.
I just pray that he didn't use Avada Kedrava, Narcissa thought before hurrying off to prepare for Draco's return.
A/N: Are you all happy now? Of COURSE I wasn't going to kill Ginny!!! I hope the Locator ring part makes sense, and if it doesn't, then you can email me. Anyway, thank you time!!!!
Draco's Lil Angel (sorry about the blood dribbling over lip part, but let's face it – he did stab her near her lungs! It's only right . . . right?), sOmEoNeSpEcIaL, summer_thyme (you're not dead, are you? If you are I'd feel so guilty!!!!) Trinity (who ARE you anyway, Trinity or Archer? Hee hee, only joking of course) w&m_law (yes, Draco is sexy, even if he's snogging somebody else *sniffs*), *~*GinnyPotter*~* (Ginny's fixed!!! All better, saved by Draco's love!), 007 (hope I didn't make you wait too long), and Pepperjackcandy (you hit the nail right on the head! Draco does love Ginny, of course!!!)
Bye bye for now!!! I'll try to get chapter thirteen out ASAP.
