A/N: Also, the only thing I'm positive is correct about Virginia's marriage is the part about the rings. I researched for hours on Elizabethan weddings and came up with next to nothing. Sorry.

Disclaimer:  ::sigh:: I think you guys know the drill by now. Do I really have to write it out again?

The Final Time

Chapter 11-

Fractured Explanations

Draco allowed himself a small smile as he sank further into the bed. It was soft and warm, the heavy blankets covering his body from the chilly air. He hoped Ginny was all right. He didn't remember anything after he'd been hit by that hex. Damn Goyle. When the hell had the overgrown bulldog found the time to learn how to read, let alone learn a Dark magic spell?

Oh, well. That didn't matter now. What mattered was that he was safe. At least, he thought he was. But if the Death Eaters had caught him, he wouldn't be tucked up in bed, warm and dry and relatively unhurt. He stretched slightly. The blankets were getting a bit heavy, he thought. He tried to pull them down, but they wouldn't budge. Draco frowned, and tried to sit up.

He couldn't.

The blankets seemed to get heavier. They moved up higher over the bed, covering his neck. Draco desperately tried to push them back down. What in Merlin's name? They got higher, covering his mouth, his nose, and his eyes.

He was in pitch black now. He grabbed hold of the blankets in front of him and tried to rip them, but they were too strong. He gave a muffled shout. The blankets became tighter over his face. He couldn't breathe! He gave a gasp, trying to get as much air into his lungs as possible.

His head was hurting. Funny spots began to cloud his vision, and he felt something trickle into his mouth. It tasted coppery. Blood, he thought, desperately. His nose must be bleeding. He couldn't breathe-

~~~~~ 

Slowly Ginny drifted into sleep, the worries about Alistryna and her mental state slipping to the back of her mind. She opened her eyes to a familiar scene: Virginia being fitted for a dress. But was it a fitting? Ginny narrowed her eyes as she moved closer to the Elizabethan girl. Ginny wasn't sure because of the strange style, but it looked completely finished.

And if it was finished…Ginny's stomach began to knot in dread. Virginia's chestnut hair fell in loose curls down her back, and a beautiful emerald necklace was placed around her neck. Ginny gave a envious sigh as she moved forward to look at the beautiful jewel better.

"Tis a beautiful gem, m' lady," one of the maids standing near Virginia murmured. "A costly betrothal gift."

All Ginny's admiration for the jewel vanished as soon as she heard the maid's words. A gift from Wilfred to his future wife and victim. She made a face.

Virginia didn't say anything, but pretended to be interested in the sleeves of her long white dress. The dress, thought Ginny, was as beautiful as the emerald. The wide skirt billowed around Virginia's legs, before narrowing to cinch in her waist, making it appear tiny. The square neckline was reasonably low-cut, but still high enough to preserve Virginia's modesty. The wide sleeves ended at the wrist. There was a ring on her finger, and Ginny panicked a moment before she remembered a long-forgotten piece of information. In Elizabethan times, the bride-to-be, groom-to-be and a witness all wore a ring before the wedding service, when all three were joined together. When Ginny had read that passage, she'd thought it rather a romantic idea. Now she hated it.

Virginia had been killed soon after the wedding, which meant the Ginny and Draco's time was running out. They weren't any closer to finding an antidote- in fact, now that Alistryna was dead they were worse off than they'd ever been. A knock at the door caused Virginia to go pale. She stood, and smoothed her skirts before saying, "Enter!"

A maid opened the door to reveal a middle-aged man Ginny thought to be Virginia's father. He smiled at her rather coolly, Ginny thought, before offering an arm to his daughter. Virginia's face didn't give anything away as she moved to stand next to her father. The two stepped out the door and were lost to sight as they made their way out of the house.

Ginny felt hot tears begin to prick at her eyes, and so she closed them tightly.

When Ginny opened them again, she was back in the hospital wing. She still felt like crying. Life was so unfair. Suddenly Ginny's ears pricked up. Familiar voices were talking on the other side of the curtain. She sat up quickly and thrust the curtain back. "Mum! Dad!" She cried out.

Molly Weasley stopped dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief at the sound of her daughter's voice. Her face broke into a watery smile as she rushed to the bed. "Oh, Ginny," she whispered, giving the girl a tight hug, burying her face in her daughter-s red hair. "I'm so sorry."

Arthur stroked Ginny's hair softly. "My poor little girl," he murmured.

Ginny felt the tears returning. Her lip began to tremble and her eyes were stinging. She pulled away from her parents and looked at them through blurred vision. She bit her lip to try and keep the tears at bay.

"We should have come sooner," Arthur said softly, gazing at Ginny sadly.

Ginny took a deep breath. "What are you doing here?"

Molly smiled blearily. "We've come to take you home," she said, as if it should be obvious. Ginny stiffened. "I-I don't think I should go home," she said slowly, looking at her clasped hands. She continued, "I think I've got a better chance of destroying the curse if I stay at school," she explained.

"B-but…" Molly stared at her daughter in dismay. "We want you to come home," she finished weakly. "We want to be with you for as long as possible."

Ginny was silent.

Molly collapsed into a chair, and Arthur perched himself on the edge of Ginny's bed. "I only want what's best for you," he said unhappily, exchanging a look with Molly, who reluctantly nodded.

"Draco and I were really getting somewhere," Ginny said eagerly, looking up at her parents.

Molly frowned. "Draco?"

"Draco Malfoy," Ginny clarified. At her parents' disapproving look she gave a loud sigh. "Look, Mum, Dad. I know you don't trust the Malfoys. And, neither do I, for the most part. But you see," she said, looking at her parents keenly, "Draco's not like any of the other Malfoys. He saved me from his father."

Arthur nodded slowly. "So Albus said," he remarked doubtfully, obviously not believing the Headmaster. 

"We were really starting to get somewhere," Ginny ignored him. "He's not as bad as you think he is."

Molly hesitated before gathering up her courage and pressing on. "Ginny, darling," she began, and then looked at her husband.

Arthur took Ginny's hand in his at stared at her dejectedly. "Ginny, the end of the spell is coming to a close," he said slowly. Ginny nodded. She knew that. Virginia and Wilfred were just about to be married. He squeezed her hand slightly. "And the reality of the situation is…it's not likely that you and the Malfoy boy will be able to find the cure to the curse in time," he said dismally. "And- and Dumbledore mentioned to us that your grip on real life is becoming…" here he hesitated. "Tenuous," he said at last, searching for an appropriate word.

"I'm not crazy!" Ginny exclaimed, pulling her hand out of her father's.

 Arthur and Molly didn't reply.

"I'm not," Ginny said pleadingly. I'm not.

"This girl you said was your buddy," Molly said, looking at her daughter sadly. "Ginny, baby, she doesn't exist."

"She does!" Ginny exclaimed vehemently. "I saw her! Draco saw her!"

"None of the professors remember seeing her in their classes," Arthur said. "And all the first–years have been interviewed. They don't remember an Alistryna Rhydderch either."

"Ask Draco. He'll remember her."

Arthur didn't say anything. Molly answered, "Ginny, Draco's still unconscious."

Ginny wilted slightly. "Madam Pomfrey said he was alright," she argued, settling back into the pillows.

Molly reached out and stroked Ginny's cheek. "He's was hit with a very strong, black magic hex," she explained. "The hex has rooted itself in his subconscious, trapping him in his nightmares."

Ginny stared at her mother in disbelief. "No," she whispered. Draco wouldn't abandon me, she thought. And he has dreams, not nightmares.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," Arthur said gently.   

"But he's going to wake up," Ginny said confidently. "He'll wake up soon."

Her parents didn't answer.

"He'll wake up." I know he will. He has to.

~~~~~

Draco turned around slowly. He was in a cage. On every side of him there were people, poking and prodding him, jeering at him.

"Go away!" Draco shouted, rattling the bars. They just laughed at him, and pointed.

Draco tried to kick out at the person nearest him. They moved out of the way, with his foot missing them by miles. "Let me go!"

The person shook their head, their grin disappearing. Suddenly, all the people stopped laughing. Their faces became masks, none of their feelings escaping. Draco stopped yelling. A funny feeling was creeping over his body. He turned slowly. On the other side of the cage a person was weeping. He watched them warily. They hadn't been there a few minutes ago. Their cries began to grate on his nerves. They were pitiful whimpers; raspy sobs that made Draco shiver.

That thing wasn't human.

The thought went through his mind, and he began to sweat. The thing's hands were covered in dry blood, a crusty red colour that reminded Draco of a lobster he had seen in a restaurant once. He took a hesitant step towards the thing. It froze, and after a moment it slowly looked up, the matted hair falling back to show it's face.

Draco screamed.

~~~~~

Ginny pulled her sheet up to cover her face. Her parents had left half an hour ago, and she had begun to cry soon after they'd gone. She wanted to go home, she wanted her mum to give her a hug and say that everything would be all right. But she knew she couldn't go home. She had to find an antidote. In the dark she could pretend there was nothing wrong. She could pretend she was back in her dormitory, not stuck in the hospital wing. She could pretend that she and Draco were still enemies, and that he wasn't unconscious in the wing as well.

She began to feel claustrophobic, and so she threw the sheet off and gazed up onto the ceiling instead. It was white and unmarked, with no stains on it. In one corner there was a little spider, spinning its web as if everything was normal. And in its world, Ginny thought, it probably was. The spider probably hadn't heard of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He probably didn't know who his parents were, much less his great-great-great-great-great-great aunt or whatever Virginia was. The only thing he worried about was catching an insect for his dinner that night.

Ginny gave a big sigh and turned her mind to Alistryna. She knew she was real. She remembered the fractured conversations they had had, about schoolwork, about boys, about their families. She remembered watching her intently n that classroom, hearing her speak in that old dialect, hearing her speak to Draco as if he was nothing better than a killer.

All that couldn't be a fragment of her imagination. She knew it just couldn't be. There had to be a rational explanation for it. She went over the facts of the case in her head. So, the Weasleys had sent Alistryna into the future to warn the victim of the curse. That was Ginny. Alistryna had been killed. She'd failed in her mission. And now, no-one in the twenty-first century remembered her. But why didn't they?

Suddenly the answer hit her.

Alistryna didn't belong to this world. She wasn't meant to be here. When she'd died, she'd ceased to exist in this world. All memories of her were removed or altered, because this world viewed her as something impossible, as something that wasn't real.

But why did Ginny still remember her?

Ginny knew the answer to that as well. Alistryna was quiet, shy and reserved. She had no friends, and didn't speak up in class. Ginny had been the only person she'd made a lasting impression on. No-one else cared about her, and so when she'd died, their few memories of her had been easily removed. But Ginny- Ginny had thought about her a lot. She'd wondered about her, talked to her, touched her. She had too many memories for them all to be removed, and she wagered that Draco had too many as well.

She stopped smiling when she thought of Draco.

~~~~~

Draco was standing in front of a portrait. He looked at the portrait more closely. It was of a fat lady, dressed in a shocking pink dress. She waved at him gaily and Draco gave her a smirk. He wondered what he was doing here. He looked down, and realised that he was holding a bunch of flowers.

Flowers? Why was he holding flowers? And where was he? Suddenly he heard some footsteps coming from around the corner. He tensed up, then relaxed as Ginny walked in to the corridor.

"Ginny!" he said. She looked up at him in confusion. "Draco?" She said, bewildered. "What are you doing here?"

He held out the bunch of flowers. "These are for you," he proclaimed. Ginny looked at them, a funny expression on her face. She didn't say anything. Someone else came from around the corner, and Draco frowned to see Harry Potter.

Harry stepped beside Ginny and looked at the flowers. He turned to her, an eyebrow raised. "Something I should know, Gin?" he enquired with a grin. Ginny laughed and turned to face him. "Oh, Harry," she said playfully. "You know you're the only one for me."

Draco lowered the flowers and stared at Ginny, a funny feeling in his chest. She ignored him, and looked deeply into Harry's eyes. "I love you, Harry Potter," she whispered, and kissed him on the lips. Harry put his arms around her and deepened the kiss.

Draco couldn't look away. His eyes were stinging, and he had no idea why.

~~~~~

If you want me to email you when I next update, tell me in a review or email me at: dizzy_flower@hotmail.com. Thankyou to last chapter's reviewers: gilt trip, No, Ginny's not crazy; Vouge-Act, wow! Thankyou so much! Flava0ftheweek I was hoping that people would start to like her, then it would be more of a shock when she died:) Luna Writer, she was real, she just wasn't real in the 21st century- if that makes sense, which I don't think it does:) Little Wings, I hope this chapter explained some of your questions; happigolucki616, I love mysteries too!! Aliexx, I hope you liked this chapter too; joey, thanks for reviewing. I know the reviews for chapters thing was annoying, that's why I stopped; Crystaline Snape; Arafel2, thankyou! Nichole Malfoy; fcuking cathy, thanks for saying you think I haven't lost the plot- in some bits I think I did!