Chapter 22: Back in the Saddle

Draco had gone through his trunk and gotten all he needed for the night. There wasn't much just his invisibility cloak, the picture of Ginny and him having a picnic at the Burrow and floo powder.

That done, he silently crept out of his room under the invisibility cloak and headed for the closest fireplace on the floo network which was found in Dumbledore's office. He quickly found himself at the Gargoyle Statue and climbing the winding staircase. He had just entered Dumbledore's office when he heard voices, the voices of Dumbledore and Professor Snape; and they were talking about him.

Draco did not stop to listen to their conversation; he was too concerned about being caught. So, he moved stealthily towards the fireplace, floo powder in hand. He had just got in front of the fireplace and was about to floo to Riddle Manor, when he clearly heard Dumbledore say, "Come back safely, Draco."

It was quickly, softly and decisively said, so much so, that Draco was not sure he had heard correctly; but it was too late to worry anyway. He was speeding through the floo network one second and falling to the ground in a heap in the next. He was there, Riddle Manor.

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Ginny and Professor Lupin were in Dumbledore's office in seconds. There they found Professors Dumbledore and Snape in a deep conversation that quickly ceased with their unexpected arrival.

Dumbledore took one look at Ginny's tear stained face and quickly asked what was wrong. Ginny composed herself and told Professor Dumbledore about the letter from Draco and his intentions.

Dumbledore smiled, walked over to Ginny and wrapped his arms loosely around her shoulders. He squeezed gently in a reassuring manner, looked her directly in the eye and said, "Good."

Ginny didn't know how to react and seemed to be slightly in shock. Lupin, however, seemed to maintain his ability to speak and asked, "Dumbledore, what do you mean good? The boy is running into the jaws of Hell itself and you say "good!" Really!"

Dumbledore smiled with his typical twinkling eyes. Snape took this opportunity to quickly explain why they already knew and why they wanted him to go.

"Miss Weasley-Ginny- We took those memories from you about Voldemort's protective wards, waited until a time we knew Draco would be heading to this office and made sure we were discussing him, you, your memories and how we felt he could stop Voldemort with them. We did this knowing that Draco's love for you would make him react. He would see a way to be with you and live…and we could allow the Wizarding World to be free of Voldemort."

Before Dumbledore knew what happened (and that is NOT often), Ginny was across the room and had slapped Snape across the face, hard.

"You selfish bastards, you once again risk his life to protect yours. Who or What gives you the right to play with people's lives like this?" Ginny screamed hysterically all the while raining blows all over Snape.

Professor Lupin, working so close to Ginny over the last weeks, realized she was in Weasley temper mode and quickly strode to her. He grabbed her from behind and pulled her away from Snape. While her blows were no longer hitting Snape, she was still lashing out at anything she could connect with, including Professor Lupin.

Lupin turned to Dumbledore and requested, "Professor Dumbledore--"

Dumbledore, as usual, was one step ahead and had his wand pointed at Ginny.

"Stupefy!" Dumbledore quickly retorted.

Ginny immediately dropped into Lupin's arms, unconscious. He took her to the closest love seat and delicately laid her on it.

Then, he, Dumbledore and Snape took other chairs and waited.

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Draco stood, dusted himself off and looked around. He was in a sitting room, old and dusty. There were no signs of life. Draco took a few moments to feel the auras of the house's occupants. He sensed over 20 life forces, and one of pure evil. It seemed that Draco may have arrived during a little Death Eater Meeting.

He cautiously walked out of the sitting room and moved stealthily towards the auras he was feeling. His magic led him up the stairwell to the second floor and down the hallway to an open loft area. As he came upon the loft area, he slowed; made sure no one was nearby and tried to focus on Voldemort's life force alone. It took a few moments to filter out all the other auras but he finally felt it, faintly. This was the only thing Draco was not completely sure of -was it faint because he really had a faint life force or because it was well protected by the wards he saw in the pensieve.

No mind now, Voldemort was in the center of the room, he knew because he could feel him. It was now or never. Draco moved into the room.

"Young Malfoy, I am so glad you could join us. I have been waiting for this day for quite a while. Tell me, where is your fiancé? We look forward to her joining us as well."

Draco snorted loudly at this and rolled his eyes.

"No, I don't think I will. Ginny also asked me to send you her regrets."

"That is too bad, young Malfoy. It seems such a waste, but you leave me no choice." With Voldemort saying that, he raised his wand and recited, "Petrificus Totalus!"

Draco's body froze and he felt himself falling to the floor. He closed his eyes and concentrated on removing the magical binds from his body. He felt them release, but he allowed his body to continue its descent. It was better to hold off Voldemort's knowledge of his mind magic for as long as possible. He closed his eyes in preparation for what he knew what was coming next and Voldemort did not disappoint.

The Crucio Spell hit him a mere two seconds after he had hit the floor.

Draco breathed deeply and imagined the pain flowing through and out his body. He heard the two Death Eaters next to him fall to the floor in excruciating pain.

This startled Voldemort enough for him to end the Crucio, and that was all Draco needed to enact his plan.

He flipped himself off the floor and waved his left hand carelessly to the left and his right hand to the right. All the Death Eaters fell to the floor in a full body bind, leaving Draco and Voldemort facing each other.

"Well, well it seems that old fool had enough brains to start your training."

Draco was not here to talk. He was here to finish this, once and for all.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and raised both hands at Voldemort. He felt the magic build deep in his stomach, flash up his torso, down his arms and out the palms of his hands. The room took on an eerily, yellow hue from the directness of his magic. It was strong and forceful, but not enough. Voldemort's rudimentary wards were holding.

Draco squeezed his eyes tighter and thought warm thoughts of Ginny, only Ginny. He felt another build of magic this time from the area of his heart. This time the magic was blood red and with the yellow of the first release caused the room to now bask in a deep, orange color.

This new surge of magic was powerful and knocked Voldemort backwards into the wall, but still his wards held.

Draco maintained his focus on Ginny. He knew this would work…didn't love conquer all?

Then to his supreme surprise he heard Ginny's voice in his head responding to his thoughts. In his head, she said, "Yes. I'm coming." He saw her remove a spell from herself; get up, to the shock of all in Dumbledore's office and floo to him.

This strengthened Draco's resolve and his magic surged yet again. The room was now as bright as the noon day sun, and still Voldemort stood.

And then, it was over. A bright, green flash came from behind Draco. Draco was pulled from his magical pensiveness to see Voldemort fall to the ground in a heap of ashes. He turned to his right and saw Ginny standing there with a sly grin on her face. He arched an eyebrow in question and she shrugged and responded, "I heard you. So, here I am, and a good thing too. What were you thinking taking Voldemort on by yourself?"  She had walked up to him during her tirade and was now looking up into his eyes with a combination of relief, joy and anger.

She quickly grabbed him in a tight grip, her arms around his neck. As he pulled her closer hip to hip, she smacked him on the head.

"Don't you ever do something so stupid again. We are a team."

He smiled into her eyes. Now, everything was okay. Ginny was in his arms again.

Ginny and Draco were so happy to be in each others arms again; they never noticed that Professors Dumbledore, Snape and Lupin had arrived to make sure all was well. The Professors smiled at one another in relief, happiness and so many other emotions.

Dumbledore gently cleared his throat to get the attention of the happy couple.

They reluctantly pulled apart to look towards their mentors and smiled.

"We did it. Voldemort is gone, for good." Ginny whispered.

"Yes, we are aware. Professor Snape's mark has disappeared and I could feel it." Dumbledore explained, "We wanted to make sure you were all right, and from the look of things I would say things are very much as they should be."

With that said, Dumbledore winked at them. Draco smirked and Ginny pulled Draco closer.

"Shall we then return to Hogwarts and share the good news with everyone else?" Lupin asked.

They all returned to the sitting room to floo back to Dumbledore's office.

Once back, Ginny and Draco headed to the Great Hall to meet up with the rest of the student body. Dumbledore had asked Professor McGonagall to have all the students gather there until his return.

As they arrived at the entrance to the hall, Ginny and Draco went to sit at the Slytherin table, but somehow Dumbledore was already in his chair and asked them to join him at the staff table instead.

They slowly, hand in hand, made it to the staff table and sat on either side of Dumbledore. Dumbledore raised his hands and the plates filled with food. Everyone dug into their food and the tension in the air returned to normal.

After the last Hufflepuff had finished their dessert, Dumbledore once again raised his hands to clear the dishes. He then stood and motioned for silence.

"Students, this is a great day. Mr. Malfoy and Miss Weasley have done the Wizarding World a great service, they have defeated Voldemort. He is gone."

At this, the hall broke out into gleeful chaos. Shouts, clapping, stomping, etc. could be heard in great echoes.

Dumbledore wrapped an arm about Ginny and Draco. It was a very good day, a very good day indeed. 

TBC…