Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

A/N: Well . . . at least this update is earlier than usual . . . ^_^. This chapter is a continuation of Chapter 1 (or the prologue), so don't be confused as to why Ginny is now surrounded by a bunch of reporters(as opposed to talking with Harry), because at the end of this story, the two plots will merge.

For Elissa (my ever-so-lovely beta), Karmen (who is a sneaky little liar), and Emmsy (who is going to Germany soon and I'll miss her very much).

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And his voice is at once that of the ever-hypocritical lover trying to soften the cruelty of his desertion, and that of the hero who looks, weary and detached, over the scene where he is obliged to kill, cheat, travel, desert, and, finally, to be killed.

-Roberto Calasso

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            The young reporter stared at the girl inquisitively. She could not have been much older than he, and yet here she spoke, looking small and frail in a hospital gown, with vivid crimson hair and dark chocolate eyes, speaking of things beyond her age.

            "Miss Weasley?" he asked, interrupting the girl's train of thought.  "Sorry, miss. I was wondering, why is it our story?"

            The girl surveyed him with much interest. "Well," she started slowly. "That is a very good question. Why is it any of your business what happened two nights ago? The answer is simple, even if it isn't that probable: the media has the right to know. The public has the right to know. They have the right to know the whole story, to make their own opinions on it, and to learn from our triumphs . . . and mistakes."

            Receiving a probing look from the girl, the man opened his mouth to ask a follow-up question, looked at the girl's far off expression, and thought better of it.

            "You are wondering what mistakes I am talking about." whispered the girl, reading the young man's mind. The room was so quiet by this point that her voice carried throughout the room and all eyes were on her. "The kind of mistakes that kill one of your best friends, and end two others, two that you love with all your heart, in such a state that requires the expert medical attention of St. Mungo's. And even then, their lives are not guaranteed.

            "I am incredibly lucky to be alive right now and talking to you. I urge you to listen to what I say, and to keep all your questions to the end, for this is a very long story, and I only want to tell it once."

            The girl smiled morosely, studying the plethora of notebooks and cameras around her. Last summer, she would have killed for this chance, to be able to say whatever she wished and have everyone listen to her, but now she felt merely saddened that she was obligated to tell such a tale to the world. 'But they would have done it for you.'  This thought was the only reason she went through with this whole scheme. She wanted to be alone, alone with the wounds she had created for herself, and for her friends.

            "I'm sure you're all wondering, 'Is this just some other scheme that that crazy Harry Potter thought up for more media attention?'" she grinned at her audience sheepishly, knowing she was correct. "And my answer to that is: of course not. If you want to blame last Tuesday's events on someone, blame them on me. Because I was the one that got us into this mess, and I'm the one who does not deserve to be here. I'm the one that should be dead.

            "The next question is, 'well then, why isn't she dead?'. Well, he saved me. Draco, that is. Which is why he's at St. Mungo's. I guess that's what happens when you let the Ice Prince's heart thaw a little bit. He lets down his defenses, only to get hurt by the one he wanted to save.

            "Of course, enough reminiscing. No one wants to here that. I know some of you want to here about my relationships." She said, nodding towards the magazine reporters. "While others can't wait to here about the action." She said, nodding towards the newspaper reporters. "But, in order to get to the good stuff, you're going to have to trek through the bad stuff too.

            Ginny exhaled a long, slow breath, collecting her thoughts as to how she should go about what she needed to say. "So, how many people in here know who Tom Riddle is?"

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A wildly huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed thus far. Reviews not only make my day, but remind me to hurry up and keep writing, because cliffhangers are awfully annoying things. Thus, a HUGE thanks to:

Cherise (Cyn)- who is pretty much good at everything, and you should check out her story ASAP.

 potential psychotic- whom I don't know personally but whom I've been in correspondence with and would like to say: not so much "StillVeryEvilMuwhahaha!Draco" as  "NotVeryRedeemedAndLovesPowerMoreThanMorality!Draco", in other words, Draco wants the power behind . . . argh, can't give too much away yet. :-P

Aubrey (Foible)- Thanks for your review as well, "You'll Never Know" is really quite beautiful, and deserves all the praise it gets and more.

Green Fairy of Doom- hurrah for criticism, because it was very nice and constructive criticism. I agree with you though, it was very much like an info dump . . . maybe some day I'll fix it . . . ^_^

Katerinarose24- no . . . that was Harry's scream interrupting the prophecy . . . don't worry, you'll find out who she is someday.

KitKat, Samantha, Karamel Karrot(Karmen), Elissa, x0firefly0x, Jake (who didn't actually review the story, but he's on my review board so . . . ), and Em.

I hope you like it thus far, and remember to read and review!