This is the next to last chapter. the only other chapter that will come is the epilogue. Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing, and I hope that you'll continue to read when I post my next story titled "Assassins."
Chapter Forty Six
When Ginny awoke, the first thing she was conscious of was the heavy masculine arm that was draped over her stomach. She turned her head slightly and was greeted by the sight of her new husband smiling softly at her. She gave him a sleepy smile as he pulled her closer.
"Good morning," he whispered. She blinked.
"Morning?" she echoed. "Was I asleep that long?"
"We were both asleep that long," he said, nodding. "Are you hungry?"
"Starving," she admitted. He grinned and rose from the bed to ring a bell over the fireplace, and she watched in mingled amazement and embarrassment as he moved around the room – he was still naked. Was he so comfortable in front of her already? As soon as he had rung the bell, he dove back under the covers, making her giggle. When the house elf appeared, he asked for breakfast to be brought to them in bed. In the next moment, the house elf was gone again.
"You're not afraid of walking in front of me naked, but you won't let the house elves see you starkers?" She giggled. He grinned even though his cheeks turned slightly pink.
"You are my wife, and I don't mind you seeing me without clothes. The house elves are the help, and I don't want anyone besides you seeing me like that." She gave him a shy smile as she sat up and clutched the coverlet to her chest.
"How long have you been awake?"
"Not long." He paused for a moment, and then gave her a curious look. "Were you afraid when you woke up next to me?"
"Not afraid," she said, shaking her head. "I was surprised for a moment. It was nice, though." He leaned forward and pressed some light kisses to her arm, letting his hand come up to caress her shoulder.
"Very nice," he agreed huskily. "I'm glad you liked it, because we're going to be doing it every day for the rest of our lives." She shivered. Just then the house elves entered and placed a large covered tray on the nightstand. He scooted across the bed and sat next to her, then lifted the cover. Immediately the smells of bacon, eggs, muffins, and other various breakfast foods filled the room. Ginny's stomach growled, and Draco chuckled at her as she reached for a glass of tea.
"I don't know what you think is so funny," she teased, bringing the rim of the cup to her lips. "When I woke up to go to the loo last night, you were snoring." Draco almost choked on his mouthful of toast. She laughed, and when he had finally regained his composure, he arched his eyebrow at her.
"You're very lucky that you have a hot drink in your hands, otherwise you would be tickled within an inch of your life." She smiled at him, and as she watched him, her smile faded into a loving glance. He looked up and caught her looking at him, and he gave her a soft smile. "What's wrong?"
"Absolutely nothing," she said honestly, replacing her teacup on the tray. "For the first time in my life, I feel like everything is perfect. I can hardly believe I'm this happy – and it's all because of you. Thank you." He sat his piece of toast on the tray and wrapped her in his arms.
"You've given me nothing less in return. I never thought I'd find anyone that I'd trust enough to marry and bind myself to." At his words, she pulled away and looked at the small dragon that was tattooed above his heart. It was currently curled up in a ball, asleep. She smiled at it, and he looked down at her breast, where a similar dragon was tattooed above her own heart. Her dragon, however, was not sleeping. It was chasing its tail in circles. He laughed.
"Mine seems to be a little bit friskier than yours," she said, smiling.
"Indeed. Perhaps we should do something that will wake them up?" he suggested silkily. She laughed.
"Why don't we eat first, so we have the strength to wake them up." He grinned and planted a soft kiss on her cheek, then pulled her closer.
"I think that sounds like a plan."
Harry paced. He'd been pacing for the last half hour, and his steps were so heavy that he was wearing a path in the floor. He was alone in the Order's Headquarters, and he was angry beyond all belief. Hermione was incapable of being present, Snape had mysteriously disappeared, Ron was no longer associated with the Order, he'd alienated Padma himself, and now even Molly and Arthur Weasley hadn't shown up. He was the only person in the large meeting room, and it irked him to no end. He was tired of waiting for other people; it seemed that he was always waiting lately. It was time to take matters into his own hands and take care of business – and the only way he knew how to do that was to storm Malfoy Manor.
Two days after their wedding, Draco and Ginny finally emerged from their bedroom, both still flushed with excitement and their recent physical activity. Narcissa smiled brightly at them as they sat down at the breakfast table, and Lucius shot them a quick smile before going back to reading his newspaper.
"And how are the newlyweds this morning?" Narcissa asked brightly. "We didn't expect to see you for another few days at the least." Ginny blushed and Draco grinned.
"Didn't want you to think we'd died, or anything," he explained, reaching for his cup of coffee.
"We didn't expect the two of you would want to see anyone else for a while. For all intents and purposes, you're on your honeymoon. Why don't you take a vacation to Paris, or something?" Lucius suggested.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Ginny said quietly. "I sense that there's some trouble brewing. We haven't heard the last of Harry." Draco and Lucius both stared openly at her.
"Why would you say something like that?"
"I just feel it. Don't you feel that there's something happening?" she asked, turning to look at Narcissa. Her mother in law nodded.
"I do. There's a certain something in the air."
"Perhaps we ought to see about arranging a meeting," Draco said pointedly, looking at his father. Lucius nodded his agreement.
"I believe you're right. Why don't you call your friend Ron and have him and Pansy come over?" Draco nodded and rose from his seat. He started to leave the room, but paused when he got to the door, and turned. He walked back to where Ginny was sitting, and he bent over and placed a passionate kiss on her lips. When he pulled away, she was breathless.
"I love you," he whispered fiercely, before turning and leaving the room. His father followed close behind him. When the men were gone, Narcissa turned to look at Ginny.
"The two of you look very happy."
"We are," Ginny agreed, giving the older woman a warm smile.
"Ginevra, there's something I've been meaning to ask you since you began to come stay with us."
"Okay," Ginny said, turning towards Narcissa.
"You practice the Art, and you are proficient. You have an accuracy that amazes even myself. Tell me, is wax the only medium you know how to use?" Ginny frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"There are other forms of ceromancy – darker forms."
"Oh," Ginny said, understanding washing over her. "You mean the forms that add hair or blood to the wax in order to do the reading?"
"That's exactly what I mean," Narcissa said, nodding.
"Yes, I'm familiar with the darker forms."
"Have you ever used any of them?"
"I have," Ginny admitted, shifting slightly in her seat. "I did a reading once using hair."
"And was it as accurate as the times when you used only wax?"
"It was. It was more accurate, if that's possible."
"How did you go about it?"
"I used white wax and added the hairs to it as I melted it, then proceeded normally with the rest of the reading."
"Would you be willing to do this again?"
"May I ask why?"
"I am afraid," Narcissa said, her brow furrowing slightly. "That my husband and my son are in danger, and I want to know what is going to happen, and if I can stop it." Ginny's heart thudded loudly inside her chest.
"Why do you think that they're in danger?"
"I did a reading last night for Draco, and I got some bad results. When I repeated the reading for Lucius, I got the same thing. I would just like to have the peace of mind..." her voice trailed off.
"Absolutely. I can get some of Draco's hair from his pillow." She rose from her seat, and Narcissa rose as well.
"And I'll go get some of Lucius' hair from his pillow as well. Where shall we conduct the reading?"
"A room or an area that neither of them visit very often, so there's not much of their energy there to interfere with each other's readings." Narcissa thought for a moment.
"We could go into one of the guest rooms," she suggested. Ginny nodded.
"Which one?"
"How about in the eastern wing? There's a bedroom with roses carved on the door. It was going to be our daughter's room, if we ever had a daughter." Narcissa tried to hide the sadness in her voice, but Ginny caught it anyway.
"I'm sorry," she said, placing a sympathetic hand on Narcissa's shoulder. Narcissa covered it with her own and smiled at the younger girl.
"it's not your fault, and it's not something that can be helped, at any rate. You get your materials, and I'll gather mine. I'll meet you in that room." Ginny nodded and left, heading towards her and Draco's bedroom.
When she reached their room, she immediately went to Draco's side of the bed and scraped her fingers lightly across his pillow, hoping that there were some stray strands. To her relief, when she pulled her hand away, she had managed to scrape up several long, white-blonde hairs. She held them tightly in her hand and reached into the closet for her gloves, then made her way to the East wing of the Manor, looking for the door Narcissa had described. When she found it, she pushed the door open and went inside.
She looked around quickly, feeling her heart swell painfully in her chest. The room was decorated in delicate pink flowers, right down to the fluffy pink comforter that covered the bed. Before she could look at everything, Narcissa entered the room carrying two bowls. She sat them down on the bed, and began emptying their contents. She handed Ginny the medium-sized chunk of white wax, the ladle, and a bottle of water.
Ginny went about her tasks wordlessly, and Narcissa watched as she separated the two bowls and poured the water into the smaller of the two. She sat the empty bowl on a small stand that Narcissa had brought and took her wand out of her pocket. After muttering a quick spell, blue flames appeared beneath the bowl. Ginny dropped the chunk of wax in and watched patiently as it melted.
She looked up at Narcissa. "Who do you want to read for first, Draco or Lucius?"
"It doesn't matter to me," she said, holding her hand out to Ginny. "Here are Lucius' hairs, before I lose them." Ginny took them from her and sat them on the floor beside Draco's. It was easy to tell them apart – Lucius' hair was much longer than his son's. She paused for a moment, then sighed.
"We're going to need another bowl to melt wax in," she murmured. "I can't use the same wax for both readings, because it will distort the results. I'd be too confused."
"So we need more wax and another bowl?"
"No, we just need another bowl. I can separate some of the wax with the ladle and just put it in another bowl and add the hair to it then. Accio bowl!" She waited for a moment, then heard a soft whooshing sound. She stood and reached her arms out just as a silver bowl came flying into the room. She resumed her seat and proceeded to remove half of the wax from the first bowl. She added Lucius' hair to the bowl on her left, and added Draco's hair to the bowl on her right. As she dropped the hairs in, tiny wisps of purple smoke floated up from each bowl. Narcissa gave her a curious look but said nothing.
Ginny dipped the ladle into the bowl that held Lucius' hairs and slowly drizzled the melted wax into the bowl of cool water. Immediately the wax formed three different symbols. Narcissa gasped as one of the symbols turned a bright green color, and Ginny frowned. She rested the ladle atop the bowl of melted wax and examined the symbols in the bowl.
"You're right," Ginny said, her voice steady. The signs are bad. I see a crab, a cross, and a dagger."
"Why is the dagger green?" Narcissa asked. Ginny's frown deepened.
"I think I know why, but before I say anything, I'd like to do Draco's reading and see if I get the same results. I have a feeling that I will." Narcissa nodded and watched wordlessly as Ginny cleaned off the ladle with her fingers and then dipped into the bowl of wax that had Draco's hairs in it. Narcissa fished the hardened pieces of wax out of the bowl of water and laid them gingerly on the hardwood floor in front of her, and Ginny poured a ladleful of wax into the water. Immediately, the wax broke up into three pieces again. Ginny closed her eyes, her heart pounding hard inside her chest.
"A noose, a gun, and a scorpion," Ginny breathed quietly. The scorpion had turned the same bright green as the dagger in Lucius' reading. Narcissa covered her mouth with a shaking hand.
"I've never seen a gun or a scorpion in a reading, and I've never seen any of the wax pieces change colors before."
"An enemy nearby, trouble on the way, and danger from foes," Ginny said softly, pointing at the crab, the cross, and the dagger in turn. She pointed to the symbols in the bowl. "Danger ahead, catastrophe, and an enemy's plot."
"Why have they turned green?"
"I would be willing to bet that the color is supposed to warn us and tell us who they are in danger of."
"But green could be anyone," Narcissa said desperately. "How are we supposed to know who to tell them to stay away from?" Ginny turned and looked at her.
"I know who it is." Narcissa's eyes widened.
"You do? How?"
"Green is a common color- but not this shade of green. There's only one person in the entire Wizarding World that this could be referring to."
"Well? Who is it?" Ginny's face was devoid of expression and her voice was flat as she answered.
"Harry Potter."
Draco and Ron stood together with their hoods pulled over their heads as the Dark Lord addressed the Death Eaters. Ron was only half conscious of the words being spoken as his thoughts flickered between worry for his parents and worry for Pansy and his sister. Draco listened keenly, being sure not to miss a word that was said. If tonight was the night that Potter would be vanquished, then he most definitely wanted to be a part of it.
He shifted slightly where he stood, and noticed that Ron was still standing with his back stiff. He frowned. He knew that the newcomer was nervous, but was it really necessary to stand that straight? If he kept that up much longer, he was likely to pass out. The Dark Lord was in the middle of a rant about Potter when Draco's chest started to ache. He frowned and shifted his weight again, trying to ignore the sensation. Instead of going away, the ache got stronger. Draco sighed and tried to force himself to concentrate on what the Dark Lord was saying, but the ache got steadily worse until it was so painful that it made him stagger. The Dark Lord ceased in the middle of a sentence when Draco cried out. Lucius ran to his side and helped his son up from the floor.
"Draco, are you all right?" he hissed. Suddenly it dawned on Draco what the sensation was, and he stood upright.
With a shaking voice, he said, "Master, I know where Potter is."
Ginny and Narcissa had just put their cloaks on when the doorbell rang. Ginny exchanged a worried glance with the older woman. "I don't think the house elves should answer that – can we stop them?" Ginny turned and ran from the room without waiting for an answer. By the time she got to the front door, it was too late. The door was open, and there stood Harry, grinning malicously.
"Hello, Ginny." It was the last thing she heard before crumpling to the floor.
When she opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was Narcissa, bound and gagged on the chair opposite her. Harry was pacing around the room. When he saw that her eyes were open, he stopped and knelt in front of her.
"I see the wedding band on your hand," he hissed. "Tell me you weren't stupid enough to actually go through with it." Ginny tried to speak, but was mortified when she realized that even though her mouth was moving, there was no sound coming out. Harry grinned again, and Ginny's heart plummeted. Surely by this time, Draco would know that she was in trouble. She could only pray that he wasn't going to come barreling through the door alone, and that he realized who was waiting for him.
Harry cocked his head to the side as he watched her. Something must have shown on her face, because his grin faded and was replaced by pursed lips. "I'm counting on him coming back here, if that's what you're thinking about. I'm looking very forward to seeing him... and his father." Ginny blinked and did her best to make her mind go blank. Harry narrowed his eyes at her.
"So you've had binding spells done, have you?" he asked, standing up again. He began to pace again. "I'm not worried about him or his father. I have backup arriving shortly as well, and he doesn't stand a chance against them." Ginny heard a loud crash in another room and squirmed in her seat as sweat trickled down the side of her face. Harry turned and gave her another malevolent grin.
Ginny's eyes widened as Snape strode into the room, his black robes billowing around him. Harry nodded curtly at him, and his hook nose turned in Ginny's direction as he looked at her. Harry stopped in his tracks and gave Snape an odd look.
"Is something wrong, Severus?" he asked waspishly. Snape turned away from Ginny and met Harry's eyes coolly.
"Nothing is wrong, Potter, save for the fact that you've forgotten where you are."
"I haven't forgotten where I am," he said, frowning.
"You forget that no one can get in here without the elder Malfoy being notified of their presence."
"I'm counting on it."
"Did you also count on the fact that Lucius might be at a Death Eater meeting and that he would bring everyone back here with him?"
"Let them come," Harry challenged, looking Snape in the eye. Snape arched an eyebrow.
"Then did you also count on the reality that none of your allies would be able to make it inside in time to save you? Perhaps the Malfoys lowered some of the wards just enough to let you in, and no one else."
"They didn't do that," Harry said with certainty. "If they had, Ginny would know, and in turn, I would know."
"You're right on one count," Snape said, drawing his wand. "The Malfoys didn't lower the wards. I did." Harry's eyes went wide as he stared at Snape.
"You did? Why would you-"Before Harry could finish his question, another loud noise came from the hallway. Ginny would have jumped in surprise, had she been able to move. Snape turned slightly to look out of the corner of his eye. It was all the opportunity Harry needed. He shouted a quick "Impedimenta!" and ran from the room.
Ginny's pulse began to race as she wondered who Harry had tried to bring with him. She hoped against hope that it wasn't her parents, because if it came down to it, she knew she would choose Draco over them. Her heart ached at the thought, and she didn't want to be put in that position, but she knew she would give her life to save Draco.
Moments later, a robed figure barreled into the room. The hooded head looked from left to right, and when the person saw Ginny, they moved to help untie her. A wand appeared from the robe, and she heard a female voice removing her bonds. A second later, the figure reached up to remove their hood, and Ginny found herself staring at a very winded Pansy.
"Narcissa," she mouthed, pointing at the limp figure on the floor. Pansy nodded and went to work on Narcissa's bonds as well. When she had finished, she turned back to Ginny and motioned for her to help her move Narcissa onto the couch.
"Did he perform Silencio?" Pansy asked. Ginny shrugged helplessly, and stood still as Pansy performed every counter spell she knew. Finally she found one that worked, and Ginny spoke quickly.
"Where is Draco? He and Lucius are walking into a trap!"
"A trap? I hardly think that's possible – all of the Death Eaters are here. It'd be pretty impossible for him to ambush them."
"You don't understand! Harry's got backup coming – that means that the Order are either here or on their way, and they won't stop until all of the Death Eaters are dead or captured!" she pushed past Pansy and bolted through the door. She forgot all about her cloak as she barreled out through the front door and onto the grounds, where she skidded to a stop. Everywhere there were wands raised and lights flashing from all of the spells being performed.
She scanned the crowd, looking for either bright red hair or white-blonde hair. When she saw no red, she concentrated solely on the blonde. When she saw no blonde, she began to panic. Suddenly her chest erupted in pain. The pain was so great that she fell to her knees. It lasted several moments before it was gone, leaving her breathless in its wake. She forced herself to get up; if Draco was being attacked, then she needed to get to him – to help him. She darted through the dueling clusters of people on the front lawn of Malfoy Manor, keeping a sharp eye out for her husband. She ignored the small bursts of pain that came, and ignored the burning sensation in her lungs as she fought to breathe.
She rounded a corner and her eyes widened. There, on the other side of the field, was Draco, lying on the ground at Harry's feet. She made a mad dash for her husband and dove in front of him just as Harry raised his wand. She didn't have enough breath to speak, so she stared defiantly up at Harry as she bent over the stilled form of her husband. Harry frowned.
"Ginny, move."
"No." And that was how it was. One word whispered on a cold, wintry night, and she knew that she was going to die. Harry stomped his foot like a petulant child, and she closed her eyes as she readied herself for the killing curse. "If you want to kill him, you'll have to kill me to do it."
"Fine," Harry said, his eyes hardening. He raised his wand. "Avada Ke-" before he could finish the spell, he was struck from behind with one. His eyes widened as he crumpled to the ground. Ginny looked up at Harry's attacker – her and Draco's savior – and found herself looking into Ron's eyes.
"Thank you," she cried, tears of relief spilling down her cheeks. Ron quickly muttered some binding spells, then bent to make sure his sister and friend were okay. "What's going on out front?"
"The Dark Lord has been defeated," he said, his voice even. "But the Death Eaters are still fighting." For the first time, Ginny realized that Ron was wearing a Death Eater robe. She stared at him, watching as he reached his left arm forward to feel for a pulse on her husband. His sleeve rode up, and she saw the Dark Mark burnt into his forearm. She looked up with wide eyes, and he avoided her gaze.
"He's going to need medical attention."
"Ron," she breathed. "What are we going to do now?"
"We'll be fine, Gin. Voldemort is dead – the Death Eaters will all be captured and taken to Azkaban." Her heart sank.
"But that means that you, Pansy, Lucius, and Draco will-"Ron shook his head and gave her a wry smile.
"We won't be going anywhere. We all got special marks that are designed to disappear either upon our death – or his." As he spoke, his mark began to fade. She turned back to her husband and watched as his mark began to fade as well. Her heart jumped into her throat.
"Is his mark fading because Voldemort is dead, or because he's dying?" her voice was strained as she struggled to remain composed. Ron gave her a wry smile.
"He'll live if we get him medical attention now." She needed no further prompting as she stood and raised her wand. She tried to locomotor him, but she was too weak to do it. Her legs were wobbling beneath her as she watched Ron perform the magic that she could not. She walked alongside the form of her husband and her brother, and went back into the Manor with him.
"What will happen to Harry?"
"Either one of the Death Eaters will find him, or one of the Order members will."
"Ron, did you see Mum or Dad out there?"
"No. I made sure that they were unreachable."
"What do you mean?"
"Draco nearly passed out during the meeting tonight when he realized that Harry was with you. Right after everyone decided to come back here and fight Harry, I decided to go and secure the Burrow."
"What did you do?"
"I put up wards so that no one could get through, and made sure that all of the wards Dumbledore and Harry had set up were reversed, so they kept Order members out and only let blood-related people in." Ginny nodded and reached up to hold Draco's limp hand. They went inside, and Narcissa and Pansy immediately rushed to their side. Narcissa paled.
"Oh, Sweet Merciful Morgaine! Is he alive?"
"He is, thanks to Ginny."
"Thanks to his idea of having the binding spells done," she interjected. "I would never have known he was in trouble if we hadn't had those done." Narcissa, in a rare show of emotion, broke down crying as she embraced her daughter-in-law.
"We need to get him to a MediWitch," Pansy said, wiping the sweat from her brow. Ginny nodded, and Narcissa was about to agree, when Snape walked into the room.
"I can help him," he said quietly. Ginny didn't think to question him, and immediately told him what she had felt, and that she was bound to Draco. He nodded wordlessly and told Ron to take Draco into his and Ginny's bedroom.