Disclaimer: So boring! It's not mine, ok?

Dedications: To my Beta Dom

A.N. Just watched the new Harry Potter movie; it totally renewed my love for Harry Potter. If you haven't watched it...then you must!

Falling Again

That's what you get for falling again, You can never get him out of your head And that's what you get for falling again You can never get him out of your head It's the way that he makes you feel It's the way that he kisses you It's the way that he makes you fall in love Sugarcult-Pretty Girl

It wasn't that she really liked him. It wasn't even that she fancied him. But it really looked like she was going to die here, and Draco wasn't that bad when you got to know him.

"Uh, Weasley." He said, breaking away, "You do realise I'm using you, right?"

"You have no subtlety." Ginny sighed, "Don't worry, if we live through tonight, I won't expect a marriage."

He dipped his head, capturing her lips again.

WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE A KISS SEALED A MARRIAGE.

"No." She whispered, breaking away, "Oh no."

"Ok, I'm confused." Draco's brows furrowed.

"I can hear him again." Ginny explained, "Tom. He's back."

"Well, doesn't that just ruin the mood." He sighed, shaking his head, "We should tell the Elves."

They made their way to the building where the Auveray stayed, and entered nervously. How did you announce yourself to the Head Elf?

Sitting by a doorway was Nemiah. The door was blocked by a particularly stocky elf, which was glaring at him and saying something in Elfish. He shook his head, and then saw them. Smiling, he walked over and greeted them.

"Why come, friends?" He asked.

"We need to speak to the Auveray." Draco explained. Nemiah nodded, and brought them over to the old Elf, who looked surprised to see them. Ginny quickly explained that Tom was back, and the look of surprise deepened.

"Not possible." He said, "Potion make beast go away long time. Too soon to be back."

"He's only said one thing." Ginny maintained, "But it was him."

"The he is too strong." The Auveray shook his aged head, "Our magic too weak."

"There's nothing you can do?" She asked. The old Elf shook his head again, "Oh. Well...than you for trying."

"You are noble, Friend Ginni." Nemiah said, surprising them, "We are honoured to have you here."

"Well we-" Ginny began, but was cut off by a chorus of shouts. A young Elf rushed into the room, babbling in Elfish. Nemiah held the youth steady, and it appeared to start again, slower.

"Centaurs are here." Nemiah told them, "Come quick."

The followed the Elf out, pulling out their wands. Lots of Elves were rushing around, but Draco could see a few moving purposely in the same direction as them. Most were male, and all were full-grown. They had strange weapons; lots of them that looked like bow and arrows. Nemiah pulled out a long thin sword made from wood.

The Elves with weapons formed a barrier around the entrance to the village, and then they were still. Ginny could hear the sound of hoof steps rumbling closer, and she began to tremble. She felt something move against her hand, and when she looked, she saw Draco had taken hold of it.

"Don't die, ok Weasley?" He said, smiling weakly.

"You too." She replied.

IF I WERE TO TAKE OVER, Tom said from inside her mind, I'D BE ABLE TO FIGHT THESE HORSES OFF WITH EASE FOR YOU.

'But would you?' She thought back, 'or would you just save your own skin and leave all of them to die?'

I COULD BE PERSUADED. He replied, HAVING THE HELP OF THE ELVES COULD BE USEFUL. BESIDES, I DON'T THINK I LIKE THE SOUND OF THIS FRENCH DARK LORD. IF I WERE TO TAKE CONTROL, HE WOULD BE THE SECOND PERSON I WOULD GET RID OF.

'The first being Harry Potter?' Ginny asked.

THE FIRST BEING MY OLDER COUNTERPART. He corrected.

'You never could be second best.' And Ginny felt a small smile form on her lips. She forced her expression back into a frown, a feeling of guilt in her stomach. She shouldn't enjoy talking to Tom.

The rumbling of hoof steps was now so loud it was almost deafening. How many centaurs where there?

"Stunning spells?" Draco whispered.

"Yeah." She replied, nodding. She squeezed his hand, and felt much better for it.

And then the first centaur appeared.

Amelia Grigg was probably the youngest staff member at Hogwarts. She had taken the Defence Against The Dark Arts post in the hope that she would learn more from Albus Dumbledore, who was her idol. She had certainly learnt a lot, and one of the lessons had been that when the top student in a year came to you with a request, it was very hard to find an excuse to say no.

It wasn't that she disliked Hermione Granger, not at all. In fact, she found the girl quite sweet. It was just that she felt sixth years shouldn't be quite as smart as that. In fact, lots of adult's who Amelia knew weren't as smart as Hermione.

"A funded trip to Poltrick?" She repeated.

"I just think that it would be a very good opportunity to learn something new." Hermione said nervously, "Ivan Noginski is very interesting, and has done some wonderful things. Me and my friends would really like to see him talk, but, um, one of us can't really afford it."

Amelia looked at the list. Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Harry potter and Blaise Zabini. Well, there was no question of which that friend was.

"Can't you just leave him-I mean your friend, behind?" She asked

"No." Hermione replied sternly, "I've looked at all the relevant texts concerning this matter, they all say that as long we have our parents permission to go, the school has to fund it unless there is a compelling reason not to."

"And do you all have your parents permission?" Amelia asked suspiciously.

"I thought it best to see if you would allow it before we wrote home." The teenage girl told her, "Just to make sure we weren't wasting our time. If you say yes we'll have the permission slips by the end of the week."

"I'll talk to the Headmaster." The DADA teacher said finally, giving up, "If he says yes, and you bring me the permission slips, I'll make sure the trip is funded."

"Thank you Professor." Hermione chirped, and left the room.

Amelia sighed. It wasn't that she disliked Hermione, not that at all. But nobody should be as smart as her.

It was a male Centaur, tall and magnificent. In his hand he held a broad sword twice the length of any Draco had seen before.

"Stupefy!" He shouted, and heard his voice echoed by Ginny's. But the jets of red light just bounced off the centaur.

"No!" Ginny shouted as the centaur took a swing at an Elf, "Impedimenta!"

This did work, and the centaur was frozen. Twenty or so arrows fired at him, and when he unfroze he collapsed to the ground, dead.

"Good work Weasley." Draco conceded, but she had no time to feel pride at her spell, the other centaurs had arrived. Taking a leaf from Ginny's book Draco immediately started hitting them with the Impediment Jinx, letting the Elves take care of them after that.

"Incarcerous!" Unknowingly, Ginny had just used the same spell on one of the charging centaurs as Professor Umbridge had the previous year. Ropes flew from her wand, and entangled one of the centaurs, "Ha, take that! Reducto!"

"Stupefy!" Draco shouted, feeling slightly resentful that Ginny was using much more inventive spells than he was, "Uh, tarantallegra!" That one worked hugely well, the centaurs four legs flying around madly, making it trip over itself and kick it's comrades.

And the Elves were amazing. For a peace-loving race they sure knew how to protect themselves. Arrows flew through the air, almost always hitting their marks, and swords pierced the leathery skin of the centaurs.

"Why won't you fall down?" Draco said between gritted teeth. It seemed that no matter how many times he tried, the centaurs were immune to the stunning spell, "Fine, reducto! Stupid horse!"

"Impedimenta! Impedimenta!" Ginny's heart felt like it was going to burst through her chest. She had lost sight of Draco, and was having a hard time aiming. She didn't want to hit an Elf by accident. She had only ever been very good in the DA lessons because Michael never wanted to curse her!

But they were winning. Only a few centaurs remained, and they looked tired and beaten. The Elves encircled the remaining Elves, their swords, spears and arrows pointed at them. Ginny relocated Draco, who, apart from a few bruises, was fine.

Nemiah was talking to the centaurs in a language that was not human or Elfish, which, the two teenagers could only assume, was the centaur's language. One of the remaining centaurs broke away from the group and was allowed to walk towards the forest edge. Nemiah followed him closely, his sword pointed towards the tall creature.

It happened too quickly for anyone to react. The centaur reared up and kicked its front legs out, one, two, so quickly that it was a blur. The legs connected with Nemiah's scull, and the Elf dropped to the floor.

What followed was a massacre. The Elves, who had been so peaceful, didn't leave a single centaur alive. While they had been fighting out of necessity before, now they fought out of pure rage. Ginny turned away, appalled, but Draco watched. He understood. Nemiah had given the centaurs a chance, and they had killed him.

When the killing was over one of the Elves came over to talk to them.

"Many thanks for aid you give us." He said, "Auveray see you...later time?"

"Yes." Draco nodded. This Elf obviously spoke very little English.

"Go sleep place, rest." He told them, "Other fetch you later time."

"Thank you." Draco turned to leave, but Ginny stayed still.

"What about Nemiah?" She asked, "What about Mapp?"

"Later time." He repeated, "All later time. Auveray speak it you."

That made practically no sense, but Ginny assumed it meant that the Auveray would explain.

"Come on Weasley, let's go." Draco called.

She followed him silently.

HE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR HURT. Tom told her, I DO.

'You always understand me.' She replied.

ALWAYS.

Hermione handed out the pieces of paper to her three friends. They were all identical permission slips to attend the Noginski talk. Blaise looked at it sceptically.

"For some reason I think my father might object to me going to see Noginski." She told them, "He may find it a tad suspicious that I'm going to see the man who he worked with on the 'vessel' thing."

"That's a good point." Hermione nodded, "Ok, pass it here."

Blaise handed it over, and the brown haired girl pulled out her wand and, muttering, tapped it against the paper. She handed it back, and when Blaise looked at it the name 'Noginski' had been changed to 'Tedesco'.

"I'll change it back as soon as we get the reply." Hermione told them.

"Who's that?" Ron asked, checking the paper.

"Duncan Tedesco, the explorer?" She replied sounding exasperated, "Honestly Ron, I told you about him last week. Do you listen to a word I say?"

"I always listen to everything you say." He told her, kissing her cheek, "But I'm too stupid to remember it all."

"Honestly." She sighed, but she was smiling.

They walked to the Owlery together and each sent the letters to their parents. Harry sent his to Remus as he sincerely doubted that the Dursley's would let him do anything he might find enjoyable.

"Lupin was a good teacher." Blaise said thoughtfully, "Everyone thought so, even Draco. He was very fond of Umbridge though."

They all pulled a face and laughed. They were all imagining Umbridge being chased from the school by Peeves with McGonagall's walking stick.

They had been waiting in the small hut for over an hour. Draco had been pacing up and down while Ginny had been sitting on the floor. She had, after about fifteen minutes, started crying, but she had dried up by now. Her eyes were closed, and Draco suspected she was talking to Tom. It might have made him feel better if he knew he was right, but probably not.

An Elf appeared at the door and motioned for them to follow her. She took them to the wooden building, and then to the Auveray himself.

"Friend Draco, Friend Ginni." He greeted, "You fought well. Without you, we may have lost."

"What happened with Nemiah?" Ginny asked straight away.

"He was to se the centaur free." The Auveray explained, "It was to tell the other's not to attack again. It chose to attack him. The Warrior Elves fought back."

"What's going to happen to Mapp?" She asked.

"We all care for the young." He told them, "Always. She will be fine."

"Can we see her?" it was Draco who spoke this time.

"Soon." The old Elf replied, "Not now." He cleared his throat, "Friend Draco, Friend Ginni, we thank you for the help you have given us, and as thanks we ask for you to stay with us for as long as you wish."

"Thank you Auveray." The blond boy smiled, "We may be around for a while. We don't really have anywhere to go."

"We are honoured to have you." The Auveray now looked sad; "Tonight we will say goodbye to our dead. There is a ceremony. You will attend?"

"Yes." Ginny replied.

"You may go. You can return to your sleeping place, but you do not have to." They said their goodbyes and turned to leave, but he called out one more time, "Friend Ginni?"

"Yes?" She called back.

"He is cunning and sly. Do not let him deceive you." His sleepy eyes suddenly looked awake and sharp, "You want rid of him, remember that."

Ginny said nothing, but held her chin up high in defiance.

WHAT DO YOU THINK, VIRGINIA DEAR? Tom asked, AM I CUNNING AND SLY? AND DO YOU WANT RID OF ME?

'Tom, I really wish you'd stop asking me questions you already know the answer to.' Was all she said in reply.

The ceremony started late. The Elves did not bury their dead, instead the burnt them. It was the moment where Ginny realised how very different Elves were to humans. The bodies, instead of blistering and charring, began to glow faintly. The glow grew stronger and stronger until the bodies burst into a million particles of light. The Auveray, who was dressed in long robes made from the mossy material, chanted softly, his arms spread wide. The particles of light drifted towards him, landing on his skin. For a moment he seemed to be made of the particles, and then they all disappeared.

HE'S TAKEN THEM INTO HIMSELF. Tom explained, IT'S THE ELFISH WAY. THE AUVERAY ACTS AS A VESSEL FOR THE DEAD ELVES, AND WHEN HE DIES HE AND ALL THE ELVES HE'S TAKEN INTO HIM GET ABSORBED INTO A TREE. THAT TREE IS THEN NAMED AFTER HIM.

'Mapp looks so sad.' Ginny sighed gently, 'Nemiah was her companion.'

Mapp stood across from them, her large eyes shining with tears. She held to her a small bundle, which, Ginny assumed, held the baby Elf.

IT'S HARD LOOSING SOMEONE YOU LOVE. Tom agreed, YOU KNOW THAT.

'Only I never really lost you, did I?' She asked, 'You've been inside me all this time, waiting for the opportunity to come back and irritate me into insanity.'

I THINK THE POINT IS, he countered, YOU NEVER LET ME LEAVE.

They both fell silent, watching the ceremony.

Draco could feel her talking to Tom. If someone had asked how he wouldn't be able to explain. It was just the distinct feeling that she wasn't all there, that her attention was on something else as well.

The ceremony ended with a ritual dance. Four Elves made their way to the middle of the circle of spectators and began. Draco's attention began to wander. It was hard to be interested in something you don't understand when there is no one to explain it to you. Instead he looked at the spectators. Lots of them, like Mapp, looked like they were saying goodbye to friends and loved ones. Some of the elderly Elves looked as though they were close to death themselves.

And then there was Ginny. Ginny, who only hours before, he had been kissing. She wasn't talking to Tom anymore, all her attention was on the dance. He wondered, briefly, if she was imagining her own funeral. But then he decided she wasn't. All her attention would be on the dead.

And she was so damn beautiful! It should have made it easier, it should have just meant that he was only interested in her for her looks. But it didn't. There was no way he could get around the fact that his entire world revolved around her now.

It's just as well we're in exile, Draco thought to himself, imagine going through this and having to worry about what my Father would think.

After the ceremony there was a feast. There was lots of talk and song, not that Draco or Ginny could tell the difference between the two when they were in Elfish. There was a lot of laughter too. The funeral had been a mourning of death; this was a celebration of life.

Mapp sat next to them. She didn't laugh or sing. He large eyes seemed hollow, devoid of the innocence Ginny had seen in them the first time she had met Mapp. It seemed ludicrous that it was only a few days ago.

"Is this you baby?" Ginny asked, indicating to the bundle. Mapp nodded and moved to show Ginny. She could see a little yellow head and arm. The baby's eyes were open, and were also yellow.

"I have named her Ginni." Mapp told her, "She will know of the brave human who fought by the side of her father."

"Um...is she supposed to be yellow?" She asked uncertainly.

"We turn green after the first year." Mapp explained, "It is a time of great importance. Nemiah and I would perform a rite. Not it will only be me."

"I'm sorry we couldn't..." Ginny began to Mapp cut her off.

"No." She shook her head; "There is no blame, only thanks. You saved us all."

But Ginny still felt a twinge of guilt in her heart. Mapp just looked so...old. There was no innocence, no sweet ignorance. Mapp had lost a loved one, the father of her child. And Ginny had been unable to save him.

"I'm sorry." She said finally. The meal was coming to an end, and everyone was getting up to leave.

"Come on Weasley." Draco called, "We better get going, get some sleep. It's not been an easy day."

"Yeah. Goodnight Mapp." After hesitating for a moment Ginny leant down and kissed the Elf on the cheek, "I'll see you later."

"Goodnight Fried Ginni." Mapp said quietly.

Once back to their hut they changed into their night-clothes, their backs turned to each other. Neither was in the mood for jokes about peeping. They climbed into their beds and Draco put out the light on his wand.

"Goodnight Weasley." He called into the darkness.

"Night Malfoy." Ginny replied, 'Goodnight Tom.' She said in her mind.

GOODNIGHT SWEET GINNY. His voice held no sarcasm, and she felt warmth spread through her.

'You're not winning me over.' She thought sternly.

VIRGINIA, she could hear the laughter, I WISH YOU WOULDN'T SAY THINGS WE BOTH KNOW ARE NOT TRUE.

She didn't reply. What could she say in reply to that?

And the warm feeling didn't go away.

Thanks to:

Damia-Queen of the Gypsi's: So annoying when parents do that... Thanks for the compliment. I have no idea how 2 respond...

Taika: Hehe, I have a plot. I only became aware of that a few days ago... I'm sorry you had to sacrafice 3 days for my story!

Moose: I'm glad you did not hate me and throw things at me for doing Draco/Ginny!

Readingfreak742: Um, the ending? Uh oh... Hadn't thought about that...

GinnyYvetteHermione: I'm updating now! Look at my obedient self go...

Magic Crystal Rose: Well this chapter answered one of your questions at least! You'll have to wait for the others. Possibly forever if I get bored and don't bother finishing this fic.