Hey all. Sorry for the wait. This is the last chappie, sorry its reaaallllllllly x10 short……but there is an epilogue on its way………….its in construction as I type this right now

Enjoy :D

DISCLAIMER: guess what? Its all mine. Hahaha, that's right…………hold on a minute………turns out I'm not allowed to say that. This all belongs to JK Rowling. I'll just go sulk in the corner now.

Chapter Nineteen: Because I love you

Draco stared back in silence for a while.

"Hey Gin," he replied softly.

Ginny smiled. "Wanna take a walk?"

Draco nodded and silently took Ginny's hand. The young Slytherin and Gryfindor meandered through the castle without a word spoken between them. They passed countless portraits of witches gossiping about the odd couple and portraits of old, ostentatious looking wizards observing them with disdain. The pair soon made their way through the heavy oak doors that constricted sunlight from entering the old stone castle and found themselves treading through light snow. Finally they reached an old oak tree. Draco smirked.

"I remember this tree," he mused.

Ginny blushed slightly. "Our first kiss," she murmured. Slowly, she walked over to it and ran her hands over the scratchy bark as she remembered that night.

Draco watched her with his head cocked to one side. He was just about to open his mouth and try and make light conversation when she spoke. Had there been any other noise besides the calm lapping of the lake, he would have missed it.

"Thankyou Draco. I bought you out here to say thank you for saving my life. That and of course to apologise." Ginny sighed and turned to face the boy behind her. Her green eyes glistened as fresh tears threatened to spill down her cheeks.

"I never meant to h-hurt you in any way," she went on, choking slightly, "I just……I –"

"It's okay," Draco replied gently.

"No it's not!" Ginny exclaimed. "You saw what happened. How I betrayed you…it all started as a game. I was giving Tom what he wanted so I could manipulate him. I was naïve enough to think that I was strong enough to fool him into believing I wanted him and still stay loyal to you. Merlin, not just to you, but everyone else against Voldemort's cause."

"You don't need to explain yourself, Ginny," Draco said looking away from her.

Ginny nodded and stepped closer to Draco, so their faces were only a few inches apart. "I do. I have to. Draco, I never meant for you to see that, but in a way, I'm glad you did. If you hadn't arrived when you had, I would've gone through with it. I would have, I- I.." Ginny fell into Draco's chest and cried silently.

Draco sighed and wrapped his arms around her shaking form. What was he going to do now? Was she telling him she wanted to stay with Tom. No, she couldn't. She was the one who killed the bastard.

"Gin," he whispered into her hair, " you're a strong person. Even if I hadn't have turned up I know you would've done the right thing."

Ginny lifted her head up and looked straight into Draco's silver orbs.

"Only because…." She trailed off biting her lip.

"Because what?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No, tell me."

"Because I love you."

Wow. That was……….um, I dunno.

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Epilogue on its way :D

~ SeZzA ~