The long awaited Chapter 18 has finally arrived so I won't waste time!!! Here we go.

LuSa: Yay! Good Charlotte!!! Thrilling? Wow

niiri: Mmmmm, Tom may be delicious, but I'm not gunna go easy on him!!!!


Adyna aka dressed to kill: Lol. Omg honey, I'm so sorry for having to make you wait so long!!! Lol, you were getting a lil frustrated there huh? Lol. To make a fanfic you just got to 'create story' and then it should be pretty simple from there. I can't quite remember but I think it comes up with these scrolly box thingy's and you can scroll down to 'Books' and then 'Harry Potter' or whatever else your fanfic is……if that's any help to ya!!! Oh yes, you have to tell me exactly what you want Draco to do. So if you want the orangutangram or whatever put it in your review or mail me and it will feature in the last chappie!!!!

AllySweet: Thanks. Here's an update for ya

Anna Felton: Yes he can die…………………….but am I that cruel? Lol….read on and find out :D Thanks for putting me on your fave list btw!! That's amazing. I can't believe people like my writing so much to do that!!! WOW.

IgNoRaNt_cHiLd: Thanks for the correct spelling of Hermione. I knew that was how its spelt but I guess its just more natural to type it the other way and I never picked up on it. So thanks for that!

Hunter: Continued as requested ;)

Katrina: Ahhhh, please don't AK me!!! That would be terrible. I'd never get to finish this and worst of all I'd never get to see what happens in your amazing fic!!!! :D

Luinthoron: Your welcome. Lets see if your predictions are right.

Loves-Kiss: Hmmmm, I'm not sure about that whole 'can't die in a dream thing.' But I spose this is no normal dream! :D Haha, took your advice and sat on my b/f in the chair. Didn't get much work done though :S I've resorted to banning him from my computer room while I'm in here. Lol.

Daemon Sorceress: Draco is great isn't he? And I would never kill him off, right? I guess everyone's gunna find out exactly how evil I am after they read this chappie.

DS DaNciNgUrL220: Lol. Thanks for loving it!!! Hehe, sorry for leaving you hanging…..but its just so amusing getting frantic reviews like yours!!! :D

OpalKoboi: Lol. Loving your theory on what should happen to cruel writers such as myself for leaving cliff hangers! Unfortunately, I am still here….no, my brains have not been sizzled out much to your disappointment I expect. Lol. Finally here it is!! Better late than never I guess. Your quite right though, it would make the world a better place.

ferggirl99: Wow. Thanks. I love my Ginny too I guess. But I'm creating a new kind of Ginny in my new fic 'Unchained Melody.' She has a bit more bite in unchained which is kinda cool but I like this Ginny too. She's well balanced. Lol. If she's well balanced what the hell is unbalanced?????? LOL. Mmmm, I do agree that the beginning of this is rather rushed. But the more I write the better I get! I hope.

Chloe E Zephyr: Technically, he can! But would I do that to you? :D

Blue eyes: ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE! ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE!! Haha, I am a true romantic so if I were you I wouldn't worry!!

Skull Machine: Ooooh, maybe I should kill Draco so I can get a howler. They are sooo cool! Lol

MidniteSunrise: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm NOAH WYLE. * Drool * lol. ER's on tonight actually. Mmmm. YAY. Anyway. Thanks for reviewing. Lol…..I might be on this Noah Wyle drool fest for a few more minutes!!

purus.flere: Hmmm, screaming at your computer screen isn't a good sign. Lol. I do it all the time. Hahahaha.

ErtyLemon: Mmmm, dirty lil bastard Harry is. Who knew? I can imagine him getting all big headed and stuff in upcoming books. But I don't think JK would do that to her star character dammit. It would be a nice change though don't ya think?

kellyanne: Ouch, pulling all your hair out strand by strand must have been damn painful. Lol. Sorry for the long wait!

blackrose: Lol, SORRY. Thanks for reviewing.

ATrueSlytherin: Hehe. Sorry. Here it is.

Aligiswickid: Thanks!

MelissaAdams: Omg, you people must think I'm so evil! Lol. S-O-R-R-Y!!!!

allen girl: Yes, I've been told numerous times I'm cruel. :'( I didn't mean it, really I didn't. lol………actually, I did. Haha. Wow, I have to say that yours is the longest review I have ever had. Congratulations! Lol. Draco is delicious. Harry is a prat sometimes, so is Ron (all the time) and wow. Your review is so long it stuns me that someone would take that much time to review something I've written. THANKYOU!

Jessica: Here it is. D/G is the best pairing ever isn't it!!!

DISCLAIMER: Under no circumstances do I own the wonderful world of Harry Potter. I do own various pieces of merchandise etc etc…..but the wonderful JK Rowling has all rights :( ……still, a girl can dream right?

Chapter 18: The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

"Avada Kedavra."

A blinding green light filled the room along with a heart wrenching scream of pain before there was silence. The dark stone dungeon was still. Ginny shakily lowered her hand and took in a large gulp of air. She had just killed. Killed out of cold blood. She felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a masculine voice reassuring her but reality had not yet set in. In her deep state of shock, she felt her knees buckle and Virginia Weasley passed out.

The feeling was strange to her. She knew she had passed out. But yet, she could still think and feel. The look on his face in those last moments flickered through her head. Terror etched across his handsome features. Shock. He really had not believed her capable of such a thing. But who did? No one. Little Ginny Weasley, innocent as a lamb. Extraordinarily naïve and trusting. Guilt flooded through her. Had she made the right decision? Of course she had. It was for the best. Though she couldn't help but feel that whether she was right or wrong, she had still killed in cold blood. She was a murderer.

If the situation hadn't been so serious, she would've laughed at the irony of his demise. Killed by his own wand. Ginny had seen it carelessly sticking out of the pocket of his black Slytherin robes and in that split second understood exactly what she had to do. She supposed that he was so reliant on wandless magic that he had not thought that tiny little detail through. Funny how the tiny little details make all the difference in the end. A thoughtlessly overlooked part of his plan had ultimately killed him. And he had believed himself to be flawless.

Ginny decided right then and there that she would call his death a suicide. That he had bought his death upon himself. Poor planning, poor timing, and of course his own wand had been used. She was not to blame.

'I am not to blame.'

Tom Riddle was dead. And that was all that mattered.

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The next few days were blurred to Ginny. In fact, she wasn't even certain they were days. They could have been weeks, even months, and she wouldn't have known the difference. All she knew was that she was in the hospital wing. Often she would wake up to find people sitting around her bed. Most of the time it was Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco. Other times it was other Gryffindors. She even recalled seeing her mother and father by her bedside at one stage.

Ginny had not yet spoken though. When she slept her dreams were plagued with nightmares of her killing Tom Riddle. It was a recurring dream, but sometimes it changed a little. A few times she had woken up screaming from a dream in which she had killed Draco instead. During the scarce time when she was awake she watched the shadows on the ceiling and imagined she was one of them. Changing, dancing, dissolving into the stone.

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"How long is she going to be like this?" Molly Weasley asked Madame Pompfrey rather worriedly.

Madame Pompfrey looked at Molly sadly. "I don't know Mrs Weasley. You have to understand that your daughter is very emotionally and mentally distressed. She has been through quite an ordeal from what young Mr Malfoy tells us. She could very well still be in shock." She placed an arm on her shoulder soothingly.

"Go home, Molly. Get some rest. You can come back tomorrow. I'll owl you if there are any changes."

Molly looked down at her daughter anxiously and sighed. Nodding, she walked out of the hospital wing.

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Draco sat at the Slytherin table staring down at his breakfast dejectedly. It had been a week since he had gotten out of Ginny's "dream" and she still was not out of the hospital wing.

"Malfoy," someone said while tapping him on the shoulder.

It was Ron.

"Look mate, um, I just wanna say, well…….I wanna say thanks, you know. For helping my sister and stuff. Well, thankyou," Ron said stumbling on his words slightly, but Draco appreciated it all the same.

Draco nodded at the red head and watched as he walked back over to the Gryffindor table to sit with Harry and Hermione.

Blaise snorted beside him. "I can't believe it took him a week! A whole week! You saved his sisters life for Merlin's sake. You'd think he'd be bursting with gratitude."

Draco frowned, "I don't need his gratitude, Blaise."

He had been trying to forget about the whole ordeal. The fact that Ginny was still in hospital wasn't helping matters much though and it had been on his mind since the moment he left the hospital wing three days earlier. He looked across at Blaise. Suddenly he remembered something.

"Wanna take a walk?" he asked boredly.

Blaise nodded.

The two Slytherins discarded their breakfasts and walked out through the entrance hall and into the cold grounds.

"So," Draco began smirking, "I was wanting to ask you something before but I never got the chance, because, well…you know why."

"What was that?" Blaise asked nonchalantly, but secretly fearing the question.

"Why were you acting so strangely? And why do I get the feeling it has something to do with Potter?" he asked studying her with interest.

Blaise sighed and stopped walking. Draco stopped as well.

"Look, Draco," she began looking down at the ground, "if I tell you this you have to swear not to tell anyone okay? Not yet at least. Everyone's going to find out sooner or later, but I'd rather it be later."

Draco nodded, "I swear."

Blaise nodded back. "Good. Well, here goes. I'm pregnant."

Draco looked at his best friend blankly. Then he burst out laughing. "Funny joke, Blaise," he said through laughs. But when he saw the look across Blaise's face he stopped.

"Sweet Merlin," he whispered looking at her with shock, "you're serious aren't you?"

Blaise nodded. "And that's not all, Drake. The father of my baby is Harry Potter."

Draco blinked. "The boy who lived? The boy I wish would die?"

Blaise scowled. "Yes, and you had better start being nice Draco Malfoy. I'm expecting you to be a big part of my daughter's life so I need you to stop being an arrogant bastard for a while and accept it okay."

"Potter? Really Zabini? You shagged Potter? Eeeeeew," Draco shuddered.

"You're really not helping, Malfoy!" Blaise exclaimed, "Please just do what a best friend is supposed to do and be happy for me. Or even just treat me like you always have. Please Draco."

Draco nodded solemnly.

"You promise?" she asked hopefully.

"I promise," Draco replied seriously.

Suddenly Draco was knocked off his feet when Blaise threw her arms around him in a big hug. When he managed to get up and help Blaise up he was shocked to see that she was in tears.

"Why are you crying?" he asked in astonishment.

"Because," she replied through sobs, "you're just so…so.."

"So what?" Draco asked puzzled as to what he had done wrong.

"So amazing, Draco. I really thought you'd hate me."

Draco's expression softened and he placed an arm around his friend.

"Blaise, I could never hate you. You're the only real friend I've ever had. Anyway, how do you know it's a girl?" Draco asked.

"Madame Pompfrey told me yesterday," Blaise grinned through her tears.

"Hey Malfoy!" someone yelled from behind them.

The Slytherins turned their heads to seen Harry Potter running towards them.

"You wouldn't be coming on to the mother of my child would you?" he asked grinning widely.

Draco let out a soft chuckle. "She's all yours Potter."

Blaise smiled at the two boys. She was going to be okay. She knew it.

Harry's expression suddenly turned serious. "Ginny's out of the hospital wing. She's in her room. She's asking for you Malfoy. The password's 'Wolfsbane'."

Draco's heart froze. Without a word he strode up to the castle and found himself outside the Gryffindor common room. He gave the password to the fat lady and walked through the common room unfazed by the watching eyes of Gryffindor students. When he reached Ginny's dormitory he stood there for a second, contemplating whether he should knock or not. The decision was made for him when the door swung open and he came face to face with her.

"Hello Draco."

Dun dun duuuun…..Next chapter is probably either the last or second to last so GET REVIEWING :D :D

~ SeZzA ~