Author's Note: Sorry Rachel, I can't make any promises…

Chapter 13: The Boy Who Didn't Live

Ginny lurched into the room that the portkey sent her to, steeling herself for landing. Just as her feet hit the floor, she heard a voice call out.

"Petrificus Totalus!" it echoed coldly, rendering her immobile. Her eyes darted around wildly, taking in the situation as her wand was plucked from her outstretched hand.

The room she was in was a study of some sort; there was a desk and some shelves, and while it all contained goods of the highest quality, she found it very sparse. Cold, she realized, shivering inwardly since her current condition wouldn't allow a physical display.

The chair behind the desk was high backed and coated in a rich black leather, back turned to her so she couldn't see it's occupant. She wasn't sure she wanted to either.

Seeing in her peripheral vision that she was surrounded by Death Eaters gave her a good idea who was seated. When a sawing laugh omitted from seated man she was glad for that the curse didn't let them see how much she would have been shaking. His piercing voice shattered her bravery all in one laugh. There was no other man who could do such a thing to a strong girl as Ginny except Tom Riddle.

The chair turned.

"Hello again, Ginny," he said quietly, his voice quivering with excitement. He waved his hand toward her and she found the curse had been lifted. Immediately she began to back away from him.

"I wouldn't suggest trying to escape. I'm sure you can feel the Anti-Apparation Wards, and there are too many of us for you to handle, especially in your…current state," he told her, cynically emphasizing the last two words. The color drained from her face. Please don't hurt my baby! She thought frantically. Harry, please come find us!

"Yes yes, please Harry dear, come find you," Riddle told her, a smile spreading on his horrific face. Can he hear my thoughts! That idea terrified her.

"Oh yes Ginny. I can do much more then read your thoughts even. I can read your dreams too," he told her, a smile spreading evilly over his face once more. Realization dawned on Ginny as she began to put the pieces together. He had figured out about Harry through her dreams…her nightmares had been caused by him racking her brain with Occulemency.

Then it hit her: she was the bait. Dumbledore had been right all along: she was the link to Harry, and through this Voldemort would finally find the path to him. She only could hope that Harry was ready.

"Clever girl, aren't we? Yes, I always knew that. However, I don't think Harry should get here just yet, which is why I made doubly sure that my emotions and mind were turned off to him today. I think there is something else I need to take care of first, before he arrives," Riddle told her, his eyes illuminating eerily.

Ginny tried not to whimper, but she was terrified. Slowly he drew his hand out from his robes to point his wand at her.

"Crucio," he whispered cruelly.

The first few seconds were the most intense Ginny had ever had in her life. White hot bullets screamed through her veins as all her muscles cramped to the point of bursting at once. It felt as though her bones grinded into each other, and her nails dug deep into her skin. She tried to breathe and felt as though someone had lit a fire in her lungs which was burning holes through them.

Then something changed. Her head cleared enough for her to realize she could handle this pain. In fact, it was all little more then a nuisance now. As the curse wore on she found herself wondering how people couldn't deal with this more often. Really, it's not so bad once you're used to it, she mused.

However, while the curse was upon her, Ginny did her best to act as if she was in agony. She screamed repeatedly, and was pleased to notice that beads of sweat had appeared on her forehead. Finally her charade ended as Voldemort lifted the curse.

"I hope you didn't think your stay here would be enjoyable," he told her with a sickening smile. Ginny gulped, feeling nauseous from looking at his form for too long. She was surprised though, that after such a long bout of the Cruitcus curse all she sustained was a dull ache in her stomach.

Suddenly it hit her. Her baby! In a panic her hands gripped her stomach, seemingly searching for some sign of life. Voldemort laughed shrilly.

"It's alive, Ginny, I made sure of that. Don't worry—it won't die until Harry is here to witness it," he told her, sending a shudder down her spine. This provoked another fit of maniacal laughter until he turned to the Death Eater on his right and said,

"Take her away. I'm done for now. Thank you for the entertainment Ginny. We'll meet again soon."

With that, Ginny was grabbed roughly by two hooded figures and pulled towards the doorway. The last thing she remembered was hearing someone shout "Stupefy!" before she fell limply towards the floor.

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Only a few hours later, another person found himself catapulted into the same room. With a thud, and all the concentration he had, Harry managed to land and stay on his feet.

"Well well well. Welcome Mister Potter. How nice of you to join us."

Harry whipped around to see Voldemort standing behind a large desk, flanked by at least a dozen Death Eaters.

"Where is she, Tom?" he whispered menacingly, raising his wand.

"How dare you call me that name!" Voldemort whispered back, with just as much malice laced in his voice.

"Incidere!" Voldemort suddenly shouted, causing Harry to have to dive out of the way of the Cutting Curse.

"Praemium!" Harry countered with an Explosion Hex. Voldemort sidestepped it, but it hit three Death Eaters head on, blasting them into the wall and leaving them unconscious. Voldemort stood up, stunned. First, he thought Harry wouldn't have gotten away from his curse, and secondly their wands were working against each other.

Harry smirked. "I came prepared," he answered the unspoken question. He had brought a different wand. Then he repeated "Where is she?"

It was Voldemort's turn to smirk. "She's alive still, if that's what you mean. But she won't be soon enough!"

With a snarl, Harry leapt toward Voldemort, throwing curses and hexes as fast as he could think of them. Voldemort countered just as quickly and soon the two were locked in a raging battle.

When he ducked behind a wall he conjured, Harry started to feel uneasy about the Death Eaters that were just standing around them. It was more then unnerving that they were so quiet, so patient…as if they were waiting for something. His wall was blasted away, and then as if right on cue, the Death Eaters jumped into action. Curses were flying, yet Harry managed to dodge them for a few minutes. He should have known Voldemort would play dirty and not fight his own battle.

It was then that he noticed a familiar part of any duel; when the weaker opponent begins to tire and make mistakes. Unfortunately, it was Harry who began to fumble and barely dodge all the curses. He snaked out of the way of a well shot Cruticus curse and paused to wipe the sweat dripping down his forehead. With a cry, Voldemort jumped forward screaming "Stupefy!" Harry's last conscious thought was utter shame at being finally finished by something as weak and elementary as a Stunner.

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"Enerverate," Harry heard. He blinked furiously, trying to take in his new surroundings.

He was in a different room now; windowless with pitch black walls that seemed to stretched for an eternity. The room was empty save for himself, Voldemort (who had just revived him) and…Ginny! He launched to his feet to run to her unmoving form only to be pulled back by his bindings, a fact that he only had just noticed. Harry screamed a thousand curses in his mind, almost to the point of tears now from exhaustion and frustration. He had failed Ginny…he had failed his destiny.

"Let her go Tom!" he shouted. "It's me you want to kill! You don't need her!"

"Ahh, but you see Harry, you have been such a bother to me for so long. Killing you wouldn't be enough. Even physical pain wouldn't be enough for you, Potter. But," he paused with a wicked smile on his face.

"Enerverate," he flicked his wand at Ginny who immediately opened her eyes.

"Harry…" was all she could whisper before Voldemort sent the Cruticus curse her way. The pain was still quite bearable this time; in fact, it hurt her more inside to watch Harry's emotions as she screamed dramatically.

The tears that had threatened to fall earlier now flowed freely down Harry's face. Something inside of him stirred. This was the woman he loved, and she was carrying his child. Why had he given up? He hadn't failed yet…as long as there was breath in his body, he'd damn well try to finish what he was born for!

Slowly he felt his magic building up inside him, and forced it out onto the magical and physical bonds that held him. With a blast of hot air they exploded, leaving Harry free to jump across the room into the path of the curse.

Immediately the magic transferred to him, sending the most intense pain shooting through his body. Vaguely he heard Ginny screaming and Voldemort laughing. Run Ginny, he thought. I can't go, but you can…

The pain never seemed to end. Just when he thought that it couldn't get any worse the fire that chorused through his bones seemed to erupt like lava, and he had the sickening feeling that all his bones were shattering into a thousand pieces in his body, sticking into the surrounding flesh. Then the attack on his face intensified; his eyes felt stretched almost to coming out of the sockets and his lips cracking and splitting in many pieces. His nose was already broken and ground into the sinuses behind it. Or at least that was what he felt.

Finally the curse was lifted, but by then Harry had passed into a state of shock. He loosened a bit when he felt the soft touch of Ginny's hand caressing his face.

"I'm sorry, Gin…" he whispered, his throat feeling like it was ripped into shreds.

"Shh…" she pressed a finger to his lips, eyes brimming with tears. "Why did you have to do that? Why did you have to be so noble…I was handling it fine!" she pounded her fists lightly on his chest as she lay her head to rest on it, tears chorusing down her face.

It was then that they became aware of Voldemorts laughter, which had started at a slow chuckle and had now developed into a full cackle.

"How sweet, how dear! But now Ginny…I realize that I can't just kill you…no that wouldn't be enough. Harry has hurt me too much…he must hurt more!" His eyes lit up horrifyingly, which gave Harry the strength to sit up and hold onto Ginny. Pleading wouldn't do anymore—pain or no pain he would have to fight.

His display only caused Voldemort to laugh more.

"Accio Ginny," he called, causing Ginny to fly out of Harry's arms and stop across the room in front of Voldemort.

"Incidere venter!" he said, looking Harry straight in the eye. His wand made a sweeping X shaped movement in the air towards Ginny's floating form. Her eyes grew wide as the Cutting Curse did its job, slicing her belly open. Blood spewed out onto the floor and Harry gagged seeing all her organs exposed. He stomach's skin was completely peeled back.

"Accio," Voldemort called softly again pointing towards her. Her scream this time was enough to kill Harry. Then he saw what Voldemort had summoned.

Their baby flew out of Ginny's open belly.

Harry lost control and began to retch violently. His abused body protested, only rendering him weaker. Still he fought the unconsciousness that threatened. He had to stay awake…he had to try.

Ginny was now bleeding freely and lying on the floor, the color draining from her by the second. "No…" she croaked quietly. She stared at the tiny form that was floating in the air. It was a boy.

Voldemort looked at Harry straight in the eye. He lifted his wand.

"Avanda Kedarva!" he shouted pointing at the baby.

The jet of green light illuminated the room as it sped towards their child. When the impact should have happened there was a flash of gold that was so bright Harry had to cover his eyes. Finally it dimmed a bit, and Harry uncovered them to see the baby still floating and now glowing a pure gold.

Voldemort looked positively furious.

"Well, Potter. It seems as if you passed on your little ability to your…" He never got to finish that thought, because right then the light around the boy which had been growing brighter again suddenly intensified and focused itself back to Voldemort. With a scream of agony Voldemort was blasted backwards, now inflicted with a deep chest wound.

The baby fell to the floor. Harry ran to it, but as he suspected the boy was already dead. Tenderly he lifted his son off the floor and kissed his forehead.

"Thank you, little one," he whispered. "We will always love you."

He rose again, feeling the anger and magic bubbling up inside of him. Voldemort was still breathing shallowly.

"Your time has come. Goodbye Tom," Harry said. He pulled out his real wand which he had concealed inside his robes. He knew that attempting the Killing Curse on Voldemort was probably a bad idea, but he didn't care. His son was dead, his love was dead, what did he have to live for? If it backlashed, who cared?

He raised his wand.

"Avanda Kedarva!"

And thus ended Lord Voldemort.

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Harry awoke seconds later. First he realized that he had only been blasted a few feet back and he was perfectly alive.

He cursed this fact.

His beloved Ginny was laying in a giant pool of her own blood on the floor nearby him. Slowly he crawled over to her.

He had thought that killing Voldemort would give him peace. He had thought that fulfilling his destiny would allow him to lead a normal life; fall in love, raise kids, have a job…Why was it that he wasn't allowed to be normal? To be happy?

Despite the blood and her open midsection, Harry hugged her furiously. He cried into her hair, finally stopping to place a tender kiss on her lips.

He pulled away and stopped to wipe the fog off his glasses.

Fog?

His heart gave a leap.

Ginny was breathing. Somehow she was still alive!

He knew he was in no condition to apparate now, especially with two people, but he had no choice. It was either try now, or Ginny would die. Praying to whatever Gods were listening that he didn't splinch them, he carefully scooped Ginny into his arms and visualized the lobby of St. Mungos.

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Looking back on that fateful night still gave Harry chills. He remembered the shocked looks on everyone's faces when he had apparated into the hospital, carrying a very open and bloody Ginny in his arms.

She had immediately been taken into the care of an expert team of Mediwitches and wizards who had worked furiously on her for three days straight. The Weasleys had all arrived shortly after Harry had arrived and worked as wonderful bodyguards from the press. The news hadn't taken long to get out. Everyone wanted to speak with The-Boy-Who-Defeated-Voldemort. But he didn't want to speak to anybody.

Harry sat outside the door of Ginny's treatment room without food or sleep for 48 hours. Finally Mrs. Weasley coaxed him to drink a bit of water that was (unbeknownst to him) laced heavily with a sleeping draught. He awoke hours later, furious but thankful, and resumed his post outside her door. Soon after that he heard the four words that forever changed his life.

"We think she'll live…" a Mediwitch told him late on the third night. Harry didn't let himself get too excited, although every ounce of his heart wanted to burst with happiness.

"Can I see her?"

Soon Harry was by her bedside, holding her hand each day and praying for a speedy recovery. She had lost so much blood and so many of her organs had been damaged. The Mediwitches had knew she'd wake up when she was fully healed, but they had no time frame for when that would be.

Days went by…then weeks…finally it had been a month of living at the hospital for Harry. At some point he had gone and talked to a representative from the Daily Prophet just to quell all the ridiculous rumors that had been circulated since he had refused to comment about Voldemorts defeat.

Waiting for her recovery to be complete did give Harry a lot of time to contemplate the two things that he would have to speak to her about when she woke up. He didn't really look forward to either of them. When the nurses had told him about the effects that the injuries would yield for her…well, he was pretty sure that Ginny would be devastated.

It was February 15th. The due date of their child. The day dawned bright and clear, and left a beautiful dusting of snow on top of everything. It was also the day Ginny woke up.

Harry had been staring at her as he usually did (he only took his eyes off her to read something aloud to her still form or to go to the bathroom), when he noticed a change. She had moved her fingers.

He blinked. Had he imagined it? After all this time of dreaming and waiting, had she really moved?

But then she moved her whole arm to rest it on her stomach, turned her head, and moaned slightly. He rushed to her side.

"Ginny? Can you hear me? Darling, it's time to wake up. Please…" his eyes were wet.

She mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "Just five more minutes, Mum," which caused Harry to widen his eyes. His Ginny was back!

After a few more minutes of softly talking to her, her eyes began to slowly open.

"Harry?" she asked groggily, her face full of hope.

"Yes Gin…I've been waiting for you," he told her, slowly pressing his lips against hers.

They sat staring at each other for a few minutes in silence.

"I though you would be dead," she confessed. "I thought I was dead. Is Voldemort dead?" Harry chuckled. It was just like Ginny to be asking a million questions when she comes out of a month long coma.

"I was close to dead for a while," he answered honestly. "Though you were much closer. And yes, Voldemort is finally gone," he closed his eyes. "We have our child to thank for that." She looked at him with so much hope in her own eyes that he had to turn away.

"I'm sorry Gin," he whispered, taking her hand in his. "I couldn't save him."

They sat in silence once more, mourning the loss of what they hadn't even had the chance to experience.

"How long have I been out for?" she asked finally, breaking the silence many minutes later.

"A month."

"WHAT? A month? How…" she trailed off. "How badly was I injured?"

"You nearly died about a thousand times, Gin. But you're back, and I never want to lose you again," he took a deep breath.

"I know it's taken me so long to do this, and you deserved this so long ago, but I've realized over the past year that I couldn't spend the rest of my life with anyone else. I know you've just woken up, but I can't wait another second of my life not knowing that I will be sharing it with you." He moved from his chair at her bedside down to one knee, still holding her hand.

"Ginerva Molly Weasley, will you do me the honor of marrying me?" Her eyes grew wide and glistened with tears as he pulled out the ring from his pocket.

"You had to ask?" she smiled through her tears.

"Yes, and I'm still waiting for an answer," he teased, grinning broadly now too.

"YES!" she shrieked, and pulled his hand towards her, grabbing him as he approached, and pulled him into a passionate kiss.

Finally they pulled apart as the need to breathe overpowered the kiss, and Harry used this moment to place the ring on her finger.

"Wow, feisty aren't we?" Harry teased, raising an eyebrow.

"You'd better believe that after a month of sleep that I'd be energetic!" she challenged, making him laugh.

"I've got to go the loo, Harry. Can you help me get up?" she asked him then. He smiled and went to her arm and helped her maneuver across the room. Thank god for all these potions, he thought as she began to get her balance and walked into the loo alone. He heard her take a sharp intake of breath.

"Harry?" she called very softly. He bolted into the small lavatory.

"What's wrong!" he asked, afraid she was in pain or hurt again. Instead he noticed that she stood in front of the mirror, her shirt pulled up to just below her breasts. Her stomach now sported a huge scar, shaped like an X from just beneath each of her breasts stretching all the way down to her pelvis on each side. He swallowed. He had hoped that he could break her in gently to the affects that the curse had had on her. But Ginny was smart, and she had already figured it out.

"Harry, I can't have kids anymore, can I?" she asked plainly. It was too hard to look her in the eye. He could face Voldemort eye to eye any day, but Ginny was another story sometimes. That was why he loved her so much. He hated to see her hurting this way, and it took all his willpower just to shake his head.

Ginny sat down on the toilet and stayed silent for a few minutes. Finally she said "I can't marry you, Harry."

"What!" his heart raced in a panic.

"You deserve someone who can make you happy…give you a good life, children…" she trailed off, trying to pull the ring from her finger. Harry shook himself out of the momentary stupor that her comment had put him in. Placing his hands over hers he told her,

"Ginny, I couldn't be happy without you. Kids or no, I love you with all my heart. Trying to be with someone else would be a lie, and I couldn't live with myself that way. I've spent my whole life trying to fulfill what other people wanted me to do, and now it's my turn to make my own decisions. And I choose you, Ginny. I've always chosen you."

Tenderly he cupped her chin and lifted it to capture her lips on his own. He felt her relent through the kiss, assured that he meant what he said. And he did, with everything that encompassed his being.


The End…ish………

Author's Note: This is kinda the end, but not. Mainly because this ending stinks and frankly, it's not the end! There's more to come, I PROMISE! I really want to respond to the reviews and get a better ending to this chapter, but I have the AP English exam tomorrow morning and it's sooooooo late here! I figured that I better bang this out though, because I hated to leave you all on a cliffhanger for too long! I hope you enjoy, and just know that I will re-upload this chapter with my responses to the reviews tomorrow. Thank you all so much for the reviews!

PS: hehehehe sorry for playing that little joke on you Rachel! Harry was never going to die; the "boy who didn't live" was his son. More will be explained about the Prophecies next chapter. And yes, I did make that plural on purpose ;)