Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: Ah… the end is nigh, and you're all probably whooping with joy to know what happens. However, I have two completely different endings, but you will only get one, but which one, you ask. You will have to read to find out. But, before you do, have you read the added scene to Chap 22? (yes, I know, another added scene :sigh:) Anyway, replies to select reviews at the bottom.

Chapter 23: Calm Before The Storm.

Ginny walked down the stairs and into the living room, with the baby in her arms. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who had joined them a couple of days ago, where sitting around the small coffee table eating their breakfasts. They instantly became silent as she entered the room. Ginny did not become upset though, she was glad because not everything had changed.

She placed the baby down in a vacant armchair as she wanted to make her own breakfast without the awkwardness of holding the baby as well. All she wanted was a piece of toast anyway.

Once Ginny had left the room, the baby, who Ginny had propped up against a few pillows, began to stare around at the three people he did not recognise. "Look at him," Ron said quietly, "staring, as if he's trying to suss us out."

"He's a baby, Ron," Hermione said in a hard tone, yet even she felt uneasy under the gaze of the baby.

"He doesn't even have Weasley hair," he said distastefully, persisting in his quiet tirade over the little boy. "It's got his hair. Why is he staring at me?" Ron said uncomfortably.

"Maybe, because you do have Weasley hair, like Ginny's," Hermione glanced at Leo, then turned back to Ron, smiling. "Aww, isn't that sweet? He wants you to hold him, Ron."

Harry snorted into his cereal, the first sound he had made throughout the whole conversation.

"What? I'm not touching it," Ron insisted, "just because my hair looks like Ginny's!"

"Come on, Ron, don't you want to try, at least for Ginny's sake?" Harry said seriously now as the baby began to whine at not getting what he wanted, holding his small arms out still.

"No," Ron answered stubbornly, turning away from Leo, and he ignored the baby as he had planned to do for the rest of its life. But, the baby had other ideas, and began to cry as loudly as possible.

The three of them stiffened as the wailing became even louder. "Just pick him up!" Hermione shouted over the noise, but Ron was saved as Ginny came running in, an angry look on her face as she bent down to pick Leo up, whispering soothingly to him. She threw a deathly glare at Ron before she left the room, knowing that it was he who had probably done something to upset the baby.

"Was nasty Ron being mean to you?" she said as the baby began to play with her hair, forgetting all about Ron in a flash. Ginny then finished eating her toast. When she went back up to her room, she was glad once more that Leo rarely came into contact with anyone but her. Nobody would ever accept him, he would always be tainted by that small, or rather, big detail of who his Daddy was.

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Feelings. He had to tap into his feelings to find her.

Tom had talked with the minister, and he had said the exact same thing his books were telling him. He had to venture deep into his soul to figure it out, to understand why he wanted to find her. Why did he want to find her? Because she had his child with her. That could not just be it, since he certainly was not finding her.

Tom snapped the remaining book shut and sent them all back to the bookshelf from which they came. He sat down in one of the plush armchairs by the fireplace, and held his head tiredly. If this is what potential Emperor's had to do to obtain their Empress, he felt like he would rather be a lowly King instead. That was the thing, she was going to be an Empress, she would be getting the most fabulous clothes on the planet, and she could order people around. What more could a girl want? Love, something whispered in the dark recesses of his mind. He stood up and went to look out of the window.

There it was again, coming back to haunt him. He could give Ginny love, he could show her love, if that is what she wanted so badly. Then he wondered, did he love her? Perhaps it was so, and that was why he was going to all this trouble to find her. He knew he had to accept it if he was to bring her back, he would have to embrace the fact that he loved Ginny.

Tom laughed quietly. Lovely Ginny, he thought as he chuckled, my little, loving Ginny…. I love Ginny, but she doesn't love me. How ironic, but it matters not, because I love her! Tom stopped laughing as he felt himself being thrown back forcefully, and he groaned as he whacked his head on the floor, and when he closed his eyes, what he saw made him smile as he fell into a numbing sleep.

And that was how Lucius Malfoy found his master on the floor of his lounge, still sporting a stupid grin, with blood circling his head and matting his black hair. When Lucius bent to check his pulse, Tom coughed and moaned at the pain in his head. "Lucius," he said hoarsely, "I'm glad to see you care for my wellbeing, but I'm alive, very alive…." He breathed out with some amount of content. "But, I need my head patched up if I am to get my little Ginny… and kill Harry Potter."

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Within that very day, Tom had Lucius gather a small group of Death Eaters; he would not need an army for this, since what he had seen had been most delightful. There was hardly any protection at all. It was not he who had become cocky, it had been Dumbledore; he thought that he would be unable to find her. What a joke….

Tom waited until night, when they would most likely be asleep, and then they could surprise them. They say surprise is the best form of attack, and Tom was going to test that little theory in just a few hours.

He had planned to Apparate there, but the other Death Eaters did not know of the location, so they would have to fly, under an Evanesco since it would not do to be spotted by some stupid Aurors when he was so close to taking Ginevra away again. By the time they reached the countryside, it would be dark anyway. It was a simple plan; simple, but effective.

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Ginny looked out over the darkened fields as she fed the baby, he had been crying restlessly until she had woken up. Now, as she looked over the pitch black horizon, she felt as though someone had placed an enormous weight on her stomach, and she felt sick. She felt like something was going to happen, but she didn't know what….

"All done?" she whispered, her voice slightly shaky. She pulled up the sleeve of her nightdress, smiling down at Leo as he gurgled happily. At least he was content. Then she thought about Tom; she pitied him in some strange way, and she hated herself for it, but the pity was there. He had not seen his son when he had wanted him more than she.

Ginny shivered as she felt a draft coming from the gap under her door; perhaps someone had left a window open downstairs….

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A/N: OK, Tom was kind of OOC there, but this was written before HBP, and most of us HP fans didn't know that Tom has never felt love or something like it before. Anyway, another shortie again, but, as my mum says, 'smaller things come in better packages.' Well, she only says that to make me and my sisters happy about being short ourselves.