Chapter Twenty – The Girl-Who-Lived
Ginny stared at Lord Voldemort's body. "I don't understand," Ginny said weakly.
Professor Dumbledore walked over to Harry's body and gently closed his eyes. "It's very easy to understand, Miss Weasley," Professor Dumbledore told her. "With all that happened between you and Harry, one thing remained constant."
Ginny could hear the agony in Professor Dumbledore's voice. It occurred to her then that the professor probably thought of Harry as a son.
"What was that?" Ginny asked.
"That he loved you."
Ginny closed her eyes. "He couldn't have, Professor. He knew I never loved him. It wouldn't be right."
"No one has a clear head when it involves someone they love," Professor Dumbledore said sadly. "Even though you hurt him deeply, Harry still loved you. He evoked the same ancient magic his mother used seventeen years ago when he threw himself in front of the killing curse intended for you."
"Then how is he truly gone?" Ginny asked. "Tom came back. Harry died in vain if Tom comes back."
Professor Dumbledore knelt next to Ginny, who was still rocking herself back and forth. "Harry's sacrifice was stronger because of the one that you were willing to make."
"But I didn't love Harry," Ginny said fiercely. "I never loved Harry."
"You were still willing to give your life for him. The combination of those two sacrifices was more than anything Tom could stand up against," Professor Dumbledore said.
"But my sacrifice was selfish," Ginny argued. "I was only willing to die because Harry needed to live to defeat Voldemort."
"All sacrifices may be looked on as a little bit selfish. Lily and James Potter didn't give Harry a choice. They gave their lives without asking him first. You simply did the same," Professor Dumbledore said.
"You can't compare the two, Professor," Ginny said angrily. "I wanted revenge! That's why I was willing to die."
"Lily Potter wanted her son to live," Professor Dumbledore said simply.
"And now Harry's dead," Ginny said. "Her sacrifice was in vain."
"If you had killed yourself, and Harry still died, would your sacrifice be in vain?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
"No what ifs!" Ginny yelled. "Harry's dead! Draco's dead! I'm alive! It's not fair!"
"Ah," Professor Dumbledore said. "The final piece of the puzzle."
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked quickly. She looked up sharply, unsure of what he meant.
"You sacrificed the one you loved. Granted, you were forced to take Draco Malfoy's life, but the scars are still there. Your love for each other still radiates off of your skin, Miss Weasley."
"I don't understand," Ginny said, looking helplessly at her hands.
"Would you have given your life for Draco Malfoy?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
"Yes," Ginny said without a moment's hesitation. She couldn't quite believe the conversation she was having with the Headmaster.
"And he gave his life for you. Sacrifices like that don't fade right away. They linger. Your love for Draco and Harry's love for you caused Tom's destruction tonight. Someone who hates emotion like Tom did had no chance against the two of you," Professor Dumbledore said.
Ginny closed her eyes. She was too tired, too drained out to make sense of the professor's thoughts.
"You joined our side for the sake of revenge, Miss Weasley. Was it worth it?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
She looked down at the ground. A slight mist was starting to form on the grass. "Draco's still dead. And I'm not with him," she said softly.
Ginny stood over Harry's body and tried to feel a sense of peace. She had done what she had set out to do. Voldemort was gone. She had her revenge. Why did she feel so empty inside?
Suddenly, Ginny was overwhelmed with a sense of fear. For almost six years, Tom had been with her, lurking in the shadows of her mind. But she looked inside herself and knew he was gone. And he would never be coming back.
Without a backwards glance to Dumbledore, Ginny marched to her broom and then mounted it. She tried to take off, but she was dizzy.
"Ginny, don't!" Professor Dumbledore cried. "You mustn't fly yet!"
"I can't stay here!" Ginny cried. She was alone. Utterly alone for the first time in her life, and the feeling overwhelmed her.
Professor Dumbledore took her firmly by the shoulders and pulled her off her broom. "You're in no condition to fly," he said gently.
Something in Ginny snapped. "Don't tell me what to do, old man," she sneered. "You've won your war, now let me be."
"It's not like that, Miss Weasley," Professor Dumbledore said sadly. "You're going to be considered a hero."
"I'm no hero," Ginny spat. "If my plan had worked tonight, I would have been a murderer."
"The torch has been passed, Miss Weasley," the Headmaster told her.
"What are you talking about?" Ginny said frustratedly.
"When Tom was destroyed the first time, very few people besides myself mourned James and Lily. Everyone else was too busy celebrating the fact that Harry lived," Professor Dumbledore said earnestly.
"Get to the point," Ginny said quickly, picking up her broom. She had to be away from this awful field.
"When word is out, no one will be crying over Harry," Professor Dumbledore said sadly. "They will all be cheering your name. You are now The Girl-Who-Lived."
Ginny froze; the weight of the irony smothering her. "That's not possible," she said angrily. "I don't want people to know I was involved."
"It will be known, no matter how hard you try to conceal the truth," Professor Dumbledore told her, laying a hand on her shoulder.
Ginny brushed it off angrily. "Don't touch me!" Ginny looked at the night sky above her. The open space seemed to be closing in on her. She needed to get out of here.
Using every ounce of concentration, Ginny got back up on her broom and was lifted off the ground. She wouldn't go high yet; she wasn't ready for that yet. But she would go fast.
Leaving Professor Dumbledore with the body of Harry Potter, Ginny sped threw the countryside. She only had one destination in mind. A place she had only been once in her life. A place that left a vivid mark in her mind.
Ginny desperately tried to remember where it was. She went through every conversation they ever had, and tried to figure out if he told her where it was. Finally, she concentrated on that night. On the night she told him that she loved him. He would lead her to him.
She flew for what seemed like hours, changing directions or back tracking. Her strength was coming back; she could fly higher now, and faster.
Finally, she saw what she had been searching for. Ginny knew no one would be home; that the Manor would be empty tonight. She leaned forward and landed in front of a small graveyard at the edge of the Malfoy Manor.
"Lumos," she whispered, as not to disturb the sleep of anyone lying below the ground tonight.
It was the seventh grave she looked at. There staring back at her, mocking her, were the words: Draco Malfoy. There was no epitaph.
Ginny fell to her knees before his grave. Like a dream, she reached her fingertips out and brushed the cold marble headstone. Tears started streaking down her cheeks. She felt like she had lost him all over again.
"You've been avenged. Yippee," Ginny told his grave. "I should feel proud, victorious. But all I can think of is how alone I feel."
"He's out of my head, Draco. He's never coming back. And you're never coming back, are you?" Ginny cried. "For six years I served him, but then I was the instrument of his destruction. People will be crying my name in the streets tonight."
Ginny stood up and started pacing. "I can never go back. I won't go back. I will never be the girl-who-lived. I won't!" Ginny cried, pounding her fists against her legs.
She wondered where it all went wrong. Could it be only a few months ago when she laid in Draco's arms and they dreamed of the day that Harry Potter fell?
And now she was alone.
She knelt in front of his grave. Gently, she kissed the tips of her fingers and pressed them against Draco's grave. "I will never stop loving you," Ginny whispered fiercely. "Never."
Ginny had a decision to make. She looked north, in the general direction of Hogwarts. Then she looked south east, towards mainland Europe. A place where she could be alone. No one would know her and she could live in peace, trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.
A twinge of guilt passed through her as she mounted her broom. Would her family miss her? Or would they be glad to get rid of the bad apple? Now that they knew where her loyalties were.
But then, Ginny realized that she didn't know where her loyalties where anymore. She used to be able to say Draco. But he would never want her weak, not being able to make decisions. He loved her because of what she was willing to risk.
She had been willing to risk everything to help Tom. Now she must be willing to risk everything to save herself.
Ginny Weasley had no patience. She wasn't willing to become a hero for the world she had come to loathe. A world without Draco Malfoy.
She flew south-east that night.
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Little did she know, that just one day later, wizards all over Britain raised their glass in a toast to "The Girl-Who-Lived."
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A/N – That's all folks! Thank you to everyone who has stayed with this story for so long. Especially to those of you who were kind enough to leave a review! Thank you for letting me share this story with you. (And I have a few more Ginny/Draco stories up my sleeve!)