A/N: Okay, I'm really cracking down and working hard on this. I'm really awful at staying dedicated to a story, but I want this one to succeed. David's still helping me out, so he still gets credit for busting my chops every time I think of quitting on this story. Thanks, man. It means a lot to me. Also, I really appreciate all the reviews I've gotten. Generally I only get negative feedback on my stories, so I'm really thankful that I've gotten this kind of welcome. Thanks to everyone who made this possible. I'd like to thank eloquentsilence and The-Legend-Begins for their stories. I've read them and they're inspiring me to keep going. If you haven't already, check out their stuff. It's really great.

As far as this goes, I started writing it before HBP came out, and as such, some of this stuff doesn't fit into the HBP plotlines. The story is taking place after Hogwarts, obviously, when Harry and the rest are legal adults in the Muggle world as well as the wizarding world. This is why some of the stuff contradicts what's happened in HBP. The relationships that occurred in the sixth book have not occurred in this story. Hope that's helpful, as a couple people IMed me with a bit of confusion.

I wrestled with doing this chapter from Harry's POV, but I'd written a really nice first paragraph from Ginny's, so I might do an alternate chapter so you can read that version of events. I know it's kind of random to do a chapter from Ginny's POV in the middle of all Harry, but my motto's "Why the hell not?"

Finally, I apologize that it's been so long since I've updated. I've got a lot of problems with keeping a story going, which is why I respect all of you that manage to do it. I've got school starting August 11th (Ginny's birthday!) and I have only just started on my summer projects. For the record, I hate Nathaniel Hawthorne. Again, I promise to try harder in the future. I give you all permission to smack me around if I cop out on my storywriting. Be gentle, though. I bruise easily.

DISCLAIMER: The first step to recovery is acceptance. I therefore accept that I do not own Harry Potter and never will. Excuse me. I think I need some time alone to cope with this.

Chapter Three

A Day to Remember

The pale, handsome face of the young man she had come to trust and love was growing closer. Chills ran through her body, but she couldn't move away. Something was drastically wrong. His kind voice was rough and mocking. Something about it made the urge to scream almost unbearable. Then came the laugh. The high, cold laugh that she'd never before heard outside of her nightmares. Realization dawned on her, but by then it was too late. The damp, drafty air in the chamber's corridor swept past her face as she fell to the cobblestones, her hair matted against the chilly water that had dripped upon the floor. One single thought kept hope shining dimly in the vast darkness of her soul. One single thread to which she clung for her life.

He'll come for me.

Ginny sat bolt upright in bed, breathing hard and fast. The morning light was bright through the girls' window, illuminating the shadowy shape of her slumbering roommate. Ginny raised a hand to her forehead, swallowing several times and willing her breathing to slow. A nightmare. That's all. She climbed out of bed, pulling her dressing gown around her shoulders and tying it loosely at the waist. Everyone else had probably already eaten.

Her bare feet padded quietly across the floor before she slipped them into a pair of houseshoes and headed down the stairs. A shiver overwhelmed her the instant she stepped out into the hallway. There was a scent that chilled her bones. A nauseating, sweet smell that seemed familiar, though Ginny knew she had never smelled its likeness. Dread settled into her stomach as she started down the stairs once again. Each step she took brought her nearer to the nauseating smell. She stopped about halfway down, covering her mouth as her stomach lurched.

A hand clasped her shoulder, and she nearly screamed, her hand going for her wand.

"Gin! Stop, it's me! It's us!"

It was the voice that struck her. Perhaps she had somehow conjured him from her hopes. She turned, heart slamming against her breastbone, and stared up at the three people she'd been praying to find. Had she not been so panicked, she would have found it humorous the way they stood - Harry in front, wand out, his eyes fixed on her with such determination that it sent another chill down her spine. Then came Hermione, eyes wide with apprehension, staring straight into Ginny's own as if she could read the younger girl, find her answers that books could not give. Holding Hermione's shoulder so tightly it must have hurt the girl was Ron, his face as pale as Ginny's felt, freckles standing out against his skin. He seemed too sickened by the scent and by worry to speak, and his lips were pressed tight into a white line.

"What's going on? What's that smell?" Harry asked, his bright green eyes moving past her and down the stairs.

"I.. I'm not sure. It doesn't smell like breakfast, that's for sure." Ginny gulped after she spoke, starting down the stairs until her foot hit the last step, and then the floor beneath it. It was eerily still around them all, and she didn't like it in the slightest. The smell seemed to be coming from the large oak doors in front of them, leading into the dining area. Ginny exchanged a wordless glance with her friends, and they all nodded in unison, as if thinking the same thing. Harry held up three fingers. Then two. Then only one.

"Alohamora!" the four shouted simultaneously. Ginny found herself immediately wishing they hadn't. The doors burst open and the stench nearly made her swoon. The sight was unbearable. People she knew and recognized lay in their own blood, a few still screaming, trying desperately to fight off the Death Eaters that had flooded their sanctuary. Ginny heard a scream and it took a long moment before she realized that she was the one uttering it.

A familiar face turned from the throng, staring straight at her. Lestrange.

The curse came before Ginny could even hear the words. She knew somehow that she had to prepare herself, and knew that she could not. Intense pain curled her toes and threatened to stretch her pores wide with the fire that burned within her skin. She was dimly aware that she was still standing through it all, as though she were incapable of even falling to the ground. There was a large rustling around her, and she thought she saw streaks of brown and red go past her, down the stairs and toward the open doors.

And then the pain was gone. Harry stood before her, his wand poised at the figure of Lestrange. The woman was engulfed in flames, and Ginny was dimly aware of the scent of burning flesh and hair. She screamed and screamed, running in a frenzy, attempting to wave the flames off of her.

Ginny lost sight of her after that, her eyes sweeping around as her brother and Hermione took on what could have been an entire army of full-grown Dark wizards. She pulled her wand, pointing it forward, but the pain had numbed her brain, and she could not think.

The flat, snakelike face of something less than a man swam into view through her blurred vision, and Ginny felt herself rocketing back to awareness. A spell shot from the end of her wand at the man, but he waved his own wand and the jet of light hit one of his supporters, wrapping him in thin, sturdy black ropes.

"Avada Kedavra!" A high, cold voice spoke above all the rest, and a flash of green tore across the open space before the four friends.

Ginny knew she was dying, knew the spell would strike and that she would be no more... but she could not find fear in that thought. She turned to look at Harry, just as the jet of bright green light struck his chest. He fell, fell for eternity, and when he landed upon the cold stone floor beneath her, his eyes stared straight into her own. But they saw nothing. She watched his scar fade away. She watched Harry die.

"NO!" Her scream was short, cut off by a choking in her throat that she couldn't swallow away. He was gone. He was really gone.

"Ginny! Ginny, move!" Ron's voice shouted from somewhere nearby, but sounding so far away. It was too late.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Lestrange bellowed. Ginny felt herself falling down, down... down toward Harry. She would see him again.

She fell toward the cobblestones, and landed upon a soft mattress with a shout.

"Ginny! Ginny, wake up!"

She was suddenly aware of a weight down by her waist. Someone was sitting next to her on her bed. It was all a dream. All a memory twisted into a dream. Her eyes focused slowly in the sunlight of the morning, settling on the bushy-haired form of her closest girlfriend.

"I'm awake. I'm okay." The statement was a bit of a lie. She was drenched with a cold, terrified sweat, and a strand of hair was plastered to her forehead. Hermione had both of her shoulders in her grasp, which she released when Ginny spoke.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked softly, her eyes full of anxiety and worry for the younger girl. Ginny nodded slightly.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I was wondering if you had them too. Everybody else does." Hermione smiled, standing and laying a change of Muggle clothes on the bed next to Ginny's feet. "Time to get up, then. Your mum's made the most wonderful breakfast, as always."

Ginny smiled faintly, sitting up and pulling on the outfit Hermione had put out for her. The girls sat in silence for a few minutes, which was broken by the banging of the ghoul in the attic.

"So... you've had them too? Memory nightmares?" Ginny asked softly. Hermione nodded. "Do they ever... change from what actually happened?"

"Like what?" Hermione replied, her head tilting to the side curiously.

"...People dying that didn't die."

Understanding dawned on Hermione's face and she stood, wrapping an arm around the younger girl's shoulders. Ginny started to move away, but found the weight comforting.

"Why can't I just forget it? Move past it? I want things to be like normal. Like they were before Voldemort came back."

"I know, Ginny. You're just... going through a really tough time right now. We all are. It's never going to be the same." Hermione spoke with such an air of assurance that Ginny felt calmed. She nodded and moved to her dresser, brushing out her hair in silence.

"We should head downstairs, then," Ginny said after a minute or two of quiet. Hermione nodded and moved out, the redhead following shortly afterward.

"You look beautiful, darling. Even in Muggle clothing," her mirror quipped as she slipped out the door and down the stairs. Ginny couldn't supress a small smile.

A/N: As one of the better authors on this site said, sometimes a chapter just ends itself and there's nothing you can do about it. I would've rather made this a bit longer to make up for the short chapters I've been writing recently, and for the long break I've taken, but it just ended itself. I'm really sorry.

If anyone has any questions, like the questions about Lignum Vitae and the HBP working into this plot, don't hesitate to drop me a message or AIM me at MorsmordreMaiden. :)

David gave me the idea for this chapter, and I tweaked it quite a bit. I hope it does him justice. Go David! Go David!

Please review. I love reading every review I get, it just boosts my self esteem and the will to write more. I'm not going to be one of those who refuses to update until they get so many reviews, but it really does help to hear how people are receiving my work. Thanks to everyone that's reviewed so far, as you've really kept me in place.