Erm…well, seeing as my muse has decided to become a Harry Potter fan until sixth book comes out in the US, I guess there'll be nothing but HP fan fiction for me. Not like I mind…but I worry for anyone else reviewing my other fics. Tell me if you're upset, and I'll try my hardest.

Riality: Grazie, grazie, grazie! Your reviews always make me smile!

Embellished: I just realized that means over-stated or larger than life…I think that's awesome!

Spork Princess: Yeah, I kind of had that reaction to a couple of other fics I read, and look at me now!

Shoot. I just realized I have to be gone in a few moments, so the next people who review for the last chapter and this one get mentioned!

Disclaimer: Not mine! I don't own anything except for this 50-cent gum!

Ginny looked down again, and then into Draco's eyes, who were wavering. "Holy shit." She repeated, then promptly collapsed.

Draco held onto her limp body and glared into the darkness. "Where are you? Show yourselves?"

Somewhere above them, a light seemed to flicker on. It was followed by another, and another, and another. A line of torches high above them were ignited suddenly, and in their wake left uncontrolled horrors.

Grinning madly up at them was what could only be described as demons, all with sharp, gleaming, knife-like teeth. The demons smiled up at them.

Draco was the first to see it. A small, miniscule thing, yellow in color and perched on the edge of the staircase. It resembled a bird, and as Draco inspected it, he stopped short.

The bird was licking blood from its beak, and staring almost greedily at Ginny's stomach.

"You bastard…" He whispered. The others heard, and their eyes narrowed too as they noticed the blood.

"You the bastard…" hissed the creature they had seen before. It was hanging onto one of the torches, using one arm. "You aren't a part of this family anymore. Desdemona says you die!"

There was a terrible collective screeching noise that began to climb in volume. Draco could feel the blood pounding in his ears, and he screwed his eyes shut.

The screech became louder, and higher-pitched, and Draco began to feel weak. He stumbled and grabbed at the Blaise. His eyes opened at an almost inhuman speed when he realized what he had done.

Ginny was falling, her eyes searching blearily into space. There was a blur of blue that jumped off after her. Blaise scrambled towards the edge of the stairs as he saw Soleil lunge for her friend.

She reached Ginny and wrapped her arms around the redhead's waist, and they fell into the masses of demons.

The screeching stopped instantly, to be replaced by a sort of wild and garbled cheer. The demons began to mob Ginny and Soleil, attempting to rend at their flesh.

Draco began running just after Blaise. Ron shook himself and followed, keeping a close eye on his sister, as Harry loped behind him. Hermione glared at the bird creature, which was flapping its wings to stay aloft, and blinking rapidly.

"Damn thing," she said. The bird dove at her, and with a cry, Hermione fell to her knees as it began to attack her. Its beak was sharper then it had seemed before, and soon blood began seeping from her suit.

She swung her arms up to protect herself, and screamed.

Ron turned around immediately, and seeing her on her knees, turned around. He stopped short of sprinting back up, and looked down at the Ginny, who was feebly pushing the demons away. A pained look crossed his face.

"Go!" Harry cried, seeing the indecision. "I'll get Ginny, I'll get Ginny!" Ron cast him a grateful look and grabbed his spear from his shoulders. The spearheads made a clicking noise as they were pushed out again, and he rushed up the stairs.

Harry practically stumbled the rest of the way down, and as soon as the demons saw the three boys gathered at the edge of the stairs, they were beset by the screeching, flailing hoard.

The creature on the torch shrieked happily. "He fights for her! He fights for her! We will give her to our Mistress!"

A roar went up, and as Harry unsheathed his sword and swung at a purple, horned beast, there was a whirring noise.

Later, they weren't sure where the darkness came from. But they all agreed that in the space of a few moments, a dark, swirling black hole had managed to swallow up several of the demons, and was dangerously close to taking Ginny and Soleil in as well.

It was in the far corner of the dungeons, and was exerting some sort of sucking force, as Ginny, who was lying quite still on her side, was sliding gently towards it.

Soleil stood, wobbling on unsteady legs, and tried to get past the few demons remaining to pull at her. She was bleeding profusely from a long gash on her leg, and her head also.

Blaise started dashing to her, hacking at the beasts with his axe until he had a clear path. Harry was close behind him, his sword thrumming as it dispatched the demonic hoards.

Ron was half-carrying Hermione, who was woozy and on the brink of unconsciousness from a deep wound in her temple. He was half walking, half crawling down the stairs.

Draco stabbed a creature with an arrow, and in the same fluid motion, strung the arrow and shot it. He didn't bother to celebrate as it hit its mark, and already had another two down.

In the next instant, time seemed to stand still.

Soleil's eyes grew wide as the yellow bird, which had previously been licking its wounds on a torch, dove towards her. She was paralyzed, and the birds' beak was aimed directly at her heart.

Blaise gave an anguished moan. There was no way anyone could stop it; the bird was only a few feet away from Soleil.

There was a flash of red and white, and in the next instant, Soleil was pushed down on the ground. She looked up just in time to see the bird strike Ginny through the middle, in the same wound, burying its beak deeper then before.

The force of the impact made Ginny stumbled backwards, until she was teetering on the brink of the whole.

Her eyes grew wider, and became glazed over in what could only be death. Ocher eyes locked with silver-gray ones.

"Help me!" The words were rushed, in a low whisper that Draco had no doubt everyone managed to hear.

Her eyes were soon half-lidded, and she seemed to slump. The bird struggled free of her at the last second, wrenching away from her gut and landing awkwardly on the ground.

Soleil pounced for her friend, but a demon grabbed her already wounded leg, and sunk its teeth into them. She let out a shriek, before her body went limp.

Ginny looked down at her friend, lying in a pool of her blood, and all resolve seemed to leave her. No shriek or cry escaped her lips, and something happened that would forever change Draco as he watched the scene unfold before him.

She fell.

The darkness wrapped into itself, making a slow popping noise as it disappeared. No one, human and demon alike, dared to stir.

Blaise fell to his knees just as he reached Soleil, but he was staring at the far corner, where Ginny had been seconds ago.

"Finished." The creature on the torch mumbled, but it sounded very hoarse, as though it hadn't expected such a climactic end.

The demons melted into the shadows, watching with wary eyes as their enemies stood immobile.

Blaise's mouth suddenly went dry, and he chanced a look at Draco. What he saw startled him. The blonde's eyes seemed to be radiating a frigid air, and his body had tensed. An arrow that had been clutched in his hand was now dangling limply from his fingers, broken in half. His cheeks appeared flushed, and he seemed to be on the verge of screaming, crying, or going mad.

Blaise did some quick thinking, and leaned down. He picked Soleil up gently, and stood. Harry was gaping in astonishment at the far corner behind him, and Blaise pushed Soleil into the dark-haired boys' arms.

"What—?" But before he could get more out, Blaise was at Draco's side. He grabbed his friend's arms, pinning them behind him, and removed the bow from his grasp, dropping it on the ground. The clatter seemed to bring Draco back to life, and Blaise began to reassure him.

"Draco, it's ok, it's ok, please don't—oh Gods, Draco—," he muttered. The pale boy's eyes widened, and he let out a strangled scream.

Everyone's attention turned from where the darkness had imploded to Draco and Blaise. The latter was trying desperately not to pitch forward as his friend strained against him.

"Let me GO! LET me GO!" Draco shrieked. Blaise merely tightened his grip.

"Not until you calm down, just calm down—." He tried to soothe him. It didn't work. Instead, Draco's head whipped around to stare at Ron.

"Why didn't you save her? WHY? You were saving the Mudblood from the bird, you couldn't HAVE SAVED HER TOO?"

Ron seemed to sink into himself. "I didn't—it flew away—Hermione was—" No one seemed to notice what Draco had called Hermione. Ron was trying desperately to make a case.

"I was—Harry was—," he stopped short as Draco's head turned to glare at Harry.

"Of course. The boy hero! The Boy-Who-Lived can't STAND to have anyone else take his title, eh? If she had lived, it would have taken your precious fans away!"

"That's not true!" Harry began, but Draco cut him off.

"You didn't do anything! Too caught up in being a hero, right Potter? If you're such a champion, why the hell couldn't you save your own parents!"

The atmosphere immediately changed in the room. Draco sensed he had crossed a fine line, but he couldn't be bothered to care. Harry's mouth had grown into a thin line. He knelt, and placed Soleil down on the ground.

"Take that back, Malfoy." He spat, standing up. Draco sneered, and Blaise stepped back as he sensed a confrontation.

"Yeah? Why should I? Years, Potter, for years you've been getting all the attention. Now that the Dark Lord's gone, I expect you needed some more! Saved his friends, lost one, just so it could be serious. I bet your parents hate you Potter. I bet they hate who you are."

"SHUT UP!" Harry roared. He had his word in front of him. "Shut the hell up, Malfoy! You don't know what you're talking about! My parents loved me! You're just miserable because your parents hated you, they hated your guts!"

Draco seemed to deflate a little. "I don't give a damn about my father, Potter, but my mother—," Harry cut him off.

"Your mother barely talks to you. You know she's getting the paperwork ready to disown you, right? We saw it while we were in her room. You have no family, Malfoy. You were just too evil for your mother."

Draco's face was ashen. "No. You're lying." His protest was weak.

Harry couldn't help but lace his next words with venom. "It looks like you're not as wanted as you'd like to think. Who could love you, anyway?"

Harry stepped back. Draco had picked up his bow and strung it so quickly he'd almost missed the motion. Draco was shaking.

"I hate you, Potter. I hate you."

Harry tried to point his word level, but his arms were suddenly too weak. He looked directly at Malfoy, and murmured:

"You just can't stand the truth."

Draco snapped.

"The truth? You want to know the truth, Potter? How about this! YES, your parents loved you! They died for you, and gave you a chance to live out life rather then let you die and they live on. MY PARENTS HATE ME! My father beat me, and used the Unforgivable Curses against me. He enjoyed seeing me in pain. My mother used to sit and watch it, and afterwards, she'd tell me to not cry, to take it like a true Malfoy."

Harry couldn't bring himself to say a word to Draco, who was now dangerously close to him. He had moved sometime during his tirade.

"When I heard about YOU, Potter, I was insanely jealous! Yes, me, JEALOUS! And now, look at that! Draco Malfoy, the one who thought he was going to have it all, the one who refused, yes, REFUSED an invitation to become a Death Eater, is now a Malfoy no longer. And Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, is a hero once more."

Draco dropped his bow and arrow, and he pushed his face up to Harry's. "And boy, Potter, do I hate you for it."

Harry's breath was coming in gasping little coughs. He tried once more to plead his case; he was upset at what he was feeling. He felt sorry for the bastard, evil as Malfoy was. Or seemed to be.

"It wasn't Ron's fault, Malfoy, nor was it mine."

Draco drew back, and a half laugh escaped him. "Oh, yeah, so it was mine, right? I threw the bird at her stomach? Don't be so naïve, Potter."

Harry felt a bit of anger rising in him at those words, thus his next ones. "Maybe it was."

Draco launched himself onto Harry, and launched a barrage of punches at his face. Harry pushed him back, fighting equally as hard.

Ron stared at them, holding onto Hermione, whose mouth had curved into a dreamy little 'o'. Blaise was cradling Soleil's head in his lap, alternately trying to stop the blood flowing and glaring at those battling.

Harry launched an impressive kick at Draco's stomach, catching him off guard. The blonde staggered back a little, but then snarled and punched Harry in the nose. Blood began to flow. Harry wiped it from his face and sneered. Draco caught the obvious mockery hidden in the expression, and jumped on him again.

"You don't understand!" He gasped, in between hits. "She was someone special! She understood! She was as close to a friend as I could ever get."

Harry's attacks had become more lethargic, as had Draco's. The two pulled apart, breathing heavily. Harry watched in awe as Draco Malfoy looked up at him with his face reflecting deep hurt and anguish.

"She could have loved me."

And Draco Malfoy proceeded to do something he hadn't done since he was a baby.

He cried.