Disclaimer: I don't intend to infringe on any copyright laws, I just want to exercise my freedom of speech.
Haunted
Draco awoke to find Ginny looking at him curiously while sitting on a rock. The wall behind her wasn't really a wall; it was a pile of stone that reached up to the ceiling, blocking her path. For someone who had no way to escape, she seemed awfully nonchalant.
"You're awake," she said in simple recognition. He tried to get up, to attack the imposter, but found he couldn't move from the wall where he had been propped. He stood above her, yet she showed no fear, no concern for her well-being. It was probably because he was stuck to the wall with a binding hex, preventing him from moving anything but his head and his thumbs but that wasn't much help; was he supposed to poke her into letting him go? Idly, the girl took his wand from her pocket and began twirling it between her fingers, taunting him. He was helpless and she wanted him to know it.
"Who are you?" She stopped twirling the wand, looking at him blankly.
"You'll find out soon enough, not that it matters." Pocketing the wand, she stood and came closer to him. "I could save you from your fate, but I won't," she spoke, Ginny's voice sweetening the words, but her mouth twisted in a way that was most certainly not one of Ginny's habits. Maybe he could goad her into telling.
"So let me guess, you're one of the Dark Lord's minions and you've learned that I've become a traitor. So, you've poisoned me and now you're going to watch me die." She smiled, the evil grin not suiting the face that he loved so much.
"You're right…and wrong."
"So you're the Dark Lord's minion –"
"Me? Work for You-Know-Who? Ha! I don't work for anyone but myself."
"Did you actually say 'Ha!'?"
"Shut it, little boy."
"How many times do I have to tell people. I am not little."
"I said to shut your mouth!" Despite how much he wanted to retort "No, you said 'Shut it'", his wiser self clamped his jaws together. She trailed her finger lovingly along her wand. "Now…where were we…ah, yes. You're going to die, and I want you to know why.
"You're going to die of a particularly evasive poison. It takes a week to work, but it thoroughly and completely destroys at the end of that week. Every part of your body will be saturated with the poison and by now, it's too late to administer the antidote; you're at the last stage before death. If you do try the antidote, it will only give a few more days, and every time you take it, you will be more repulsed by it." She described the symptoms with glee. "Your throat will refuse it, pushed on by the poison, until your throat becomes so irritated with the battle between the poison and the antidote that you won't be able to swallow and if something does manage to get down your throat you will vomit it up and the acid in your stomach will eat away at your throat and you will die of internal bleeding. So it's best to accept it Draco, and avoid all the waste of ingredients for the antidote. It's rather expensive."
"What am I supposed to accept?"
"The fact that you are going to die.
"I already have." He could see changes in her face already: her nose becoming flatter, her hair and eyes darkening.
"Cho," he breathed. Her smile widened, the smile changing from one familiar form to another.
"Yes, I'm here. And you'll pay dearly for your actions."
"The only mistake I made was falling in love."
"And what a horrible mistake it was. I would have been content to only kill you, but you had to go fall in love. So now you'll both die: you and your lovely little strumpet." Her words sunk in and he glared at her. Virginia…
"Wasn't it enough to just take me?"
"No," she smiled sadly, the maniacal look in her eyes glasses with tears. " You have to understand, it's all for the best. You've all left me, everyone I've loved. First Cedric dies, then Harry falls in love with that … know-it-all" – assuming that she meant Hermione, he desperately wanted to point out that Hermione was dating Ron – " and then you go for some red-headed shrimp and all I can say now is 'fuck you'. Fuck all of you." He kept silent, willing her to continue. "I had to make her die. Teach the little strumpet a lesson about messing with one of my boys. I had to." Draco wasn't sure who she was convincing.
"Why me?" She looked at him, a tear rolling down her cheek. Her voice cracked as she spoke.
"Cedric's already dead. That was his gift to me. We need Harry Potter to save the world." She turned, her long hair cuffing his stomach. "I don't like You-Know-Who any more than I like you, and I'm making you die. It's only fair that he dies too. Harry Potter is the only one that can make him go away, I know it like I know you'll die. It's the truth, and I can feel it humming in my body." She whipped back to him.
"But you. You have no purpose in life except to support the one I hate. And I hate you too. It's like snapping the head off a Belinda doll." She gestured the action with her hands, a five-year-old glee plastered to her face. "You can only do it once and the doll can never be fixed. You'll never be fixed." And she wanted to destroy Ginny too. She knew that it would hurt him more to hurt Ginny; she knew that it wasn't enough to kill just him. He felt a surge of protectiveness followed by anger. The emotions spiraled within him, a tornado set to release itself whose power was heightened with every word she spoke.
"It sounds like you're the one who needs fixing," he grit out.
"Don't try to fix me, I'm not broken." Her once hard voice became soft and wistful. "They've all tried, they've tried to get me to talk about Cedric. But they came too late. I didn't want to talk anymore, but the pain didn't stop. You and Harry had to keep hammering it in, didn't you? I hate you." Her hands dropped limp at her sides. She turned to him, her eyes sad and lonely like the first night they had been together.
"The Astronomy tower is one of the most well-known places for privacy. But there are other things that need privacy. Sex is one. But there's also grief.
"I was there that night when you two met. I was crying but you came in and didn't notice me hiding behind the big telescope. I found out about you two, about why you didn't want me any more and I found out what you did with her. You made life with her and I can tell you'd do it again if you had the chance. You liked making life with her and you wanted to do it again. No one wants to make life with me.
"I wanted to kill that life, to rip it from her body. But I waited; I'm a Ravenclaw and I know not to be ruled by foolish emotions. Her family would make her do it. That or they'd kill you. And I was happy you'd suffer. I was happy that someone else would feel sad." She touched his chin and he jerked away. Furious, she plowed on.
"But then you were knocked out by the mandrakes. And I knew I had my chance to poison you. But no students were allowed in the hospital wing and wards were placed around it. How odd." Draco's body felt very tense, as if he was being knotted again and again into a ball. His ears began to ring.
"So I went home with the poison already made. Somehow I'd do what I wanted to and you'd suffer because I'd kill you and no one would suspect me. My grandfather spends his days at Platform 9 ¾. He likes the trains, you see. He told me about Molly Weasley and how she greeted you all. She didn't know who each of you were. But wasn't it odd that the Weasleys were meeting 6 people on the platform on a train that came from Hogsmeade? And the wards on the hospital, what were they doing there? Dumbledore couldn't know my plans to harm you. And then, it clicked. You were on the train. You and your strumpet and your bundle of life. And I could kill you. You were in London and if I could just get my hands on you…
"I asked dear old Gong-Gong to tell me what the people looked like. He told me, quite accurately, as I would find out. I asked about Mrs. Weasley and how she greeted you, but she made no difference between any of you. She didn't know who was who. So all I had to do was find one of you; surely you wouldn't be stupid enough to go out without being in disguise. I kept my eyes open, always watching and waiting. And then you played right into my hands." His ears rung louder but he maintain a desperate control on himself, trying to hear every word of what she had done to use it against her. He wouldn't die; he refused to die.
"I work at a restaurant in Diagon Alley. Your favorite restaurant, actually. I used to serve you all the time. And you brought your little strumpet in and I jumped at the chance. You didn't suspect me in the least, you thought I didn't know who you were. But I saw how you two were together, and how she ate. She ate like a pregnant woman even if she didn't look like one.
"It's not hard to poison food if you're the waitress, you just pretend to be adding a sprinkle of cheese of something and add the drops in. It was brilliant. I'll never be caught; you can't prove anything. And you'll die. All three of you will die." She smiled playfully at him and tapped his chest with her wand. The ringing wasn't quiet anymore, it was a roaring inferno inside his head. Sweat beaded on his forehead as the painful inferno ate at him, making his eyes see…green.
"Tick tock, Draco, it's only a matter of time." He burst. A flash of green light erupted from her wand, not towards him but towards her, blowing her to the other wall where her body hit with a sickening crack and she slid down, landing in a heap on the floor.
"DRACO!!!" He heard her voice and knew it was her, followed by pounding footsteps as she ran towards him. The binding hex as been reversed with the explosion of light. He took a step towards her and the world spun for a moment before his knee gave way and he sunk. She caught him before he reached the ground.
"Oh, Draco…" Her hair whirled messily around her and he had to try twice before his eyes focused and he could see her properly.
"Ginny…" He snuggled into her comfortable arms, her intoxicating scent taking over his senses. She had begun to kiss him and he pulled her down beside him, laying out as they kissed. Somehow, it was a moment for kissing, but he felt so tired.
"Ginny, you're poisoned too."
"What?"
"Cho
told me. You're poisoned too. I…the baby…" She wrapped her arms around him,
pulling him closer. Suddenly, she stiffened looking over her shoulder.
"I don't think the human body's supposed to bend like that…is she dead?"
"I think I might have killed her. I just…I guess I exploded and the Killing Curse came out of me." His vision was becoming fuzzy again and he fought to see her; he had to see her.
"I felt it; it was really strong magic."
"No wonder I'm so tired." He kissed her gently, cradling her head between his palms. "Ginny…before I go…I want you to know…I love you." He closed his eyes, his lips barely brushing her, his palm resting on her stomach.
"I know, Draco, I love you too." She felt his body go limp in her arms, and pulled him tighter, as if she could keep him if she held tight enough. But she felt him leaving, even though his body was still warm and she kissed his lips before settling her head in the hollow of his neck to cry.
The corridor was dark, unlit except from both ends and the light coming from himself. He had always imagined that the dead glowed yellow, but he glowed blue, leaving blue lightmarks on the walls of the tunnel. There wasn't any definite end of the wall, but the light hit and lit it. He walked steadily onwards, leaving behind him the memories of chaos and destruction in his mind. They appeared, then shot out of him like wand sparks, hitting the ceiling. Now more pleasant memories came, and he was closer to the end of the tunnel. Ginny. Memories of the cold corridor lit blue by the moonlight like he was lighting the tunnel. Memories warm with firelight that glinted off of Ginny's hair as she studied. Memories of her pale, freckled skin against his skin. He closed his eyes as a heart-wrenching tenseness formed in his chest, thinking about Ginny telling him about the child, their child.
"Draco." He heard his name and opened his eyes. The voice was small and distant, but he knew it all the same. He turned. She glowed yellow, like spirits were supposed to, a tiny pinprick in the distance.
"Oh, Draco." He didn't know what he was doing, walking back to her as she walked to him. It hurt; every shard of memory returned to him and shot him, returning his glow. He was surprised to see how faint he had become. He broke into a run, not wanting her to feel this pain, and she did too, growing fainter by the moment.
"No, Ginny, wait for me." She did and he reached for her, their hands clasping and their light spreading over each other, a dual armor of blue and yellow light. Like children, they ran to the start of the tunnel and the memories didn't hurt anymore. They ran and jumped into the light at the end of the tunnel and he felt as if he were being torn apart by drops of icy water.
The two bodies lay together, the limbs mingled with each other: his arm draped across her pregnant stomach, her leg thrown over his and hooking around his knee. They were dead.
"And I was just starting to like him, too," Molly said tearfully, clutching Arthur's arm. They had all come down after the Dark Magic wards had been set off in the tunnel. Mr. and Mrs. Zambini were assisting Mr. Malfoy in his search for Mrs. Malfoy, who they had not seen in a few hours and Mr. Malfoy was becoming anxious. Dumbledore examined Cho's body, noting the damage done. Dumbledore moved over Ginny's body, his voice becoming crisp and commanding.
"We'll have to work quickly. Arthur, give me your knife. I'm sorry Molly, I'm going to have to cut Ginny's body."
"Why?"
"I'm going to try to save the baby. Molly, I want you to make a stasis sphere, and be sure to leave a gap big enough for a baby. Hermione, I want you to find the womb. I don't know much about pregnant women but I know you're a proficient student in magical healing and you'll know how to find it. Arthur, I want you to make a spare sphere if Molly's fails. Harry and Ron, a few smaller spheres. I know stasis spheres are much better when someone has parental instinct but I'll need to gather energy from your spheres as I transport the fetus. You've learned how to make them in transfiguration, I'm assuming."
"Yes," the replied
"You're not going to –" Molly interjected, but Arthur held her back.
"If we don't now, it won't live." Hermoine was already elbow deep in blood, pulling a limp form in a black sack out of Ginny's body.
"The placenta must have been absorbing all the poison," Hermione said, thinking rapidly. "Dumbledore, I think we need to get rid of the poisoned placenta and use one of Harry and Ron's spheres to hold the fetus."
"Good thinking, don't cut anything until I tell you to. Harry, move your sphere closer to it. I'm going to fuse the placenta and the sphere." Her hand slippery with blood, Hermione touched the tip of her wand to the opening in the sphere, then touched the tip to the placenta. A thin gold line stretched between the two and Hermione drew the placenta into the sphere, tugging carefully at the thread. A burst of light illuminated the room once the placenta was in the sphere.
"Cut a slit in the placenta now and remove it." Dumbledore levitated the sphere which was now changing its shape molding into…the shape of a placenta. Together, Harry and Dumbledore levitated the sphere while Hermione guided it by the golden thread attached to her wand. It met with Ron's sphere, with a flash of light and Ron joined Harry and Dumbledore levitating the sphere.
"I want you to pass the guiding thread to me now, Hermione. Harry, Ron, stop levitating." Dumbledore's brow furrowed with concentration and the all watched as Dumbledore forced the sphere inside of Molly's.
"Arthur, seal the gap." His sphere disappearing, Mr. Weasley did just that, touching the sphere deftly with his wand as he pulled the two edges together. The sphere hovered in the air like a giant light bulb, shining a golden light on the bodies on the floor. Molly conjured a stretcher and Hermione levitated Cho's body onto it.
The figures still on the floor seemed to move, a silvery essence tinting their bodies. "They're…waking," Harry murmured, wrapped in Blaise's arms. Silent tears streamed down her face.
Ginny opened her eyes which were still closed. Hermione gasped.
"They're not alive, Harry."
The essences seemed to peal away from the bodies and rose, clasping their hands together.
"No, we're not alive," Ginny said, smiling contentedly.
"Do you two know what happened to Miss Chang?" Dumbledore asked, looking severely up at them.
"I er…killed her. I couldn't help it," Draco babbled, "She was taunting me, telling me exactly how she had poisoned me and Ginny and I just sort of…exploded. I don't know how I did it, but I channeled my anger through her wand and the Killing Curse came out. I guess I'm…sad I did it. Well, not sad, but…I didn't want to kill anyone."
"It's ok, Draco," Ginny said, "I won't fault you for it."
"Can the ministry try ghosts at court?" he asked, "It's not like I can be sentenced to death or anything." Ginny looked down at her body, blood staining Draco's robe and the floor. She looked at her own translucent stomach where the swell should be, then at the sphere held up with Dumbledore's wand.
"You saved him."
"We'll do our best," Dumbledore replied.
"It's weird, seeing yourself on the floor like that. What are we?" Draco asked, looking through his hand at his body on the floor. Ginny smiled and took his hand.
"We're ghosts."
~~~~~
I've had this ending planned for such a long time; it's so good to get it out. I'm sorry I killed them; but they're not really dead. And Cho was an evil bitch. ::sigh:: it all worked out in the end. This is the last chapter, but look out for "Captivating" and the Blaise/Harry story which I have not yet named (but Thrill of the Hunt will not have its title changed for usurpation). Thank you to all of you reviewers who have made me so happy and the NC-17 versians can be found at Cat Scratches, my personal fiction website (if you've got a website and would like to affiliate, tell me and I'd be very happy to.). "Don't try to fix me, I'm not broken," is a lyric from Evanescence's song "Hello" which I feel deeply moved by because her voice just haunts me. Oh wait, that's the little voice in the back of my mind. Silly me.
Leeta1: Oops…I killed him. But he's still "around" so we can still enjoy the way he looks. I wanted the green light to be confusing so you didn't know who died, and I hoped people would figure out that someone died because green light is characteristic of Avada Kedavra. And it's all that Harry sees – oh wait, that's Blaise.
Gwuinivyre: ::returns movie:: he is such a cutie. Funny thing is it was raining like crazy a couple days ago; New Endgand must have given you our rain. Thank you for loving my story, hopefully as much as I love Draco.
sakhara291: The fast-pacedness was supposed to convey confusion and seeing as you are confused, it did. Dumbledore is good at Occlumency, and therefore he could tell something was wrong. Even though technically Occlumency is mind reading… well he's just a very responsive human being. Well, let's go read some Dumbledore/Minerva now…or perhaps Dumbledore/Fawkes?
Snowy-Owl-213: I read your story and submitted a review, although I'm not sure if it got through because it gave me this weird error. Anyways, I essentially said that I think it needs more tension; Draco and Ginny got together so quickly, there's not much of a story left except for them to enjoy each other's company, and that's not all that exciting. But I think you should keep writing! As for my writing, I pride myself on being proficiently productive. Meaning once every two days during the summer and once a week (hopefully) during the school year. Thanks for reviewing!
Nirvanagurl1220: Lucius dying is too cliché for me; it makes everything too easy. So instead they die. Ha! To be curt about Kurt (haha curt about Kurt), he's no Draco Malfoy. But I wouldn't mind having him as a bedfellow…
Black Rapture: Will do, muffin-lover. Thanks for reviewing and singing my praises. You sound like an angel to mine ears.
MelissaAdams: Lol, well…I just couldn't resist. Here's your quick review.
Adie: patience is a virtue, my dear. But Patience is a person. Adie, meet Patience. I'm so happy to hear you're hungry for more; that means you'll come back and finish the meal. I know this chapter moved fast; see sakhara291's response for why. Thanks for being such a faithful reviewer!
Dracomio:Lo siento, draco es mio. I'm assuming you know spanish because of your penname but I'm sorry I had to kill him against your wishes. It's hard to part with such beauty. ::dons black and begins to wail::
AnniBug: Thank ye lass.
Rukki: Thanks! Is it really that different? Well, different is good, because that means it's my different. I never try to go with crowd so I suppose that showed in my writing. And the suspense…well I hope you can live with the suspense. I certainly can't (but then again, I know what happens, lol. I make it happen).
I'll tell you all where to find the smutty goodness in the next, and last chapter. ::sniff sniff:: It's going to be over so soon! And I haven't planned anything! I'm in no fit state to write. ::sigh:: I'll just let the magic flow.