This story is the product of Elizabeth and Katie's imagination!

Disclaimer: Oh, to be JKR…unfortunately, we aren't…

Harry sat with Ron and Hermione at a round table under the tent in which the reception was taking place. They were all nursing WizardCola ("bubbly forever!") and watching Bill and Fleur having their first dance as husband and wife. Harry had to admit that they made a striking pair.

Across the tent at another round table sat Ginny, Fred, and George. Fred and George were talking animatedly with Ginny, who was laughing at something they said. Harry had not talked with Ginny since the wedding, but it was hard enough just seeing her look so beautiful and knowing that he had parted ways with her.

Back on the dance floor the song changed and Mr. Weasley had cut in to dance with his new daughter-in-law while Bill went to dance with Mrs. Delacour. More people were entering the dance floor as the sun began to lower on the horizon. Remus was dancing with Tonks, who was short enough so that Remus could rest his chin on her head. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were dancing slowly, swaying to the piano's soft melody.

Hermione was looking at her drink, but also sneaking glances at Ron under her lashes. Ron seemed to notice after a few minutes of this. He cleared his throat and got up, proffering his hand to Hermione.

"Would you like to dance?" he said, grinning. Hermione smiled in response and allowed him to lead her on to the dance floor. Harry smiled at the two of them and stared out over the grass, turned red-orange in the setting sun. He turned back and saw Ginny walking slowly towards him, her dress swaying around her elegantly and her face lit by the light of the dying sun. Harry felt his heart expand as he stood up to greet her. She stopped before him and looked him resolutely in the eye. Harry couldn't help a half smile from forming on his face.

"You look…beautiful, Ginny" he said in a quiet voice. She blushed and looked away. Harry cringed inwardly. Was I supposed to say that?

"It looks flashy, I'll admit," said Ginny, recovering, "but wearing a dress for so long is a terrible pain"

"You seem to be the only one not enjoying the outfits" replied Harry, nodding over to Fleur, who was talking with Gabrielle and a cousin of theirs. Indeed, they looked more then natural wearing such finery. Ginny huffed.

"Yes well…I'm not bloody part veela" she said, raising her eyebrow and fixing Harry with a glare.

"Oh please, they've nothing on you," he said, smiling, "come on, dance with me." Ginny's anger seemed to disappear as she took his arm and let Harry lead her across the floor.

"I hope you're a better dancer then Neville, Harry" Ginny said, smiling, "I had bruises on my feet after the Yule Ball." Harry laughed and promised that he would try his best, for the sake of her feet.

Ginny placed her hand lightly on his shoulder as his hand fell to her waist. They clasped their other hands together and began to flow with the music. If Harry had any nervousness about dancing with Ginny, it was gone as soon as they began to move. Their eyes met and never wavered as Harry twirled her around and brought her back close to his chest. Her dress billowed and flowed, and she laughed as Harry picked her up and spun her around.

"My dad used to do that to me…" Ginny said, "swing me around. He'd had a lifetime of boys to deal with, and here I was. Finally he had a little girl to pamper." She smiled and her eyes sparkled, reminiscing about times past. Harry chuckled and smiled back, feeling a surge of emotion in his stomach; he didn't know how much longer he could safely stay in close contact with her without doing something he'd regret. Luckily, the song ended just after Ginny's comment.

"Thank you for the dance, m'lady" said Harry, mock bowing in front of her. She giggled and steered him over to the bar.

"Come on, let's grab a butterbeer." She said.

Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be seen, so Harry and Ginny sat down with Fred (George was off dancing with Fleur's cousin). For the next half hour Harry was barraged with exploits of the Weasley's, back when Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George were too young to attend Hogwarts.

Fred had just finished telling Harry a particularly funny tale about Ginny escaping punishment for breaking a window by jumping in the pond behind their house and pretending that the twins had pushed her in, when an enormous BANG brought them all to their feet. Harry felt heat pressing down on him; smothering him. He looked skyward, to the tent covering.

The top of the tent was engulfed in flames and dark figures with white masks were approaching the crowd of people, who were now screaming in panic.

Harry's first instinct was to grab Ginny's hand and take her as far away from this impending danger as was physically possible. He knew why these masked men were here. He knew why the tent was on fire. It was because of him. Snap out of it, Potter! He thought you have to concentrate, for Ginny' sake. If anything happened to Ginny because he was there, he would never be able to live with himself.

Harry jumped up from the table, nearly knocking it over. He grabbed Ginny by the wrist, and pulled her to her feet. Ginny was still staring, open-mouthed, at the charred ceiling of the tent, and was not even aware of her body being pulled along by Harry, who only had one thing in mind: getting Ginevra Weasley to safety.

Harry was ridiculously aware of his surroundings. Fleur was calling to her sister, Bill was calling to Fleur. Mr. Weasley was beginning to pull out his wand in attempt to vanquish these enemies, but Mrs. Weasley got to him in time, and Harry could see her mouth moving angrily as she tried to find the quickest way for her and her husband to escape this madness.

Fred and George, too, were stunned, though Harry noticed their bravery in that they swiftly showed Fleur's cousin a safe way out of the tent, and then pulled their wands out of their sleeves and stood facing the incoming Death Eaters. Charlie came to join them, and so did several other witches and wizards, including aurors like Remus and Tonks.

Harry felt a moment of guilt; seeing them standing there, facing the Death Eaters who he knew were there on account of him, and his sworn enmity towards their master. But looking back, he saw Ginny, coming out of her daze, her beautiful dress trailing after her, and he knew that no matter what, it was important that he got her to safety.

The tent was now absolutely swallowed in flame. Even the brave witches and wizards preparing to duel the masked men were scanning around nervously, knowing that as soon as the tent collapsed, they would have little chance of escaping a flaming death. Harry looked around anxiously, trying to find a place in the tent that was not scorched, and that was not opening onto a group of Death Eaters.

Finally, he thought that he saw a safe spot for him and Ginny to go through. He planned to take her somewhere safe, and then come back to help fight. Ginny was catching on.

"Harry," she called from behind him. "I'm not leaving. If you're coming back to fight, I'm coming too." Harry saw, from the corner of his eye, Ron and Hermione, hand in hand, wands out, joining the group preparing to fight. Again, he felt a pang of guilt. But Ginny stayed in his mind.

"Ginny, we're going to find your parents. I saw them leave. You're going to stay with them, and they'll take you back somewhere safe. To the Burrow, maybe. I don't know. But you can't stay here. It's not safe. They want to kill me, and if anything ever happened to you because of it, I—"

But he could not finish telling Ginny what would happen to him, because at that moment, a Death Eater in a mask came through the flap in the tent that Harry was heading for with Ginny. They were mere feet apart. All three of them stopped dead. Harry recognized the tall, lean body, even with the mask on. And when a voice spoke from behind the mask, his suspicions were confirmed.

"Ah, Potter, I've waited a long time for this…" Lucius spat. He pulled a long, dark wand out of his sleeve. Ginny clutched Harry's arm, and just as Lucius raised his wand and opened his mouth, she let out a scream and pulled Harry out of harms way, not seconds too soon.

"This way!" she called, and led Harry to a nearby flap in the tent, that looked like it could be safe, though the flame was not far off. They ran out of the tent as quickly as their legs would carry them.

"Ginny," Harry called to Ginny, who was ahead of him now. "We're safe, I think."

But he had spoken too soon. To his left, Harry heard a strange cackling. In front of him, Ginny let out another terrified scream in the dark, and then her hand went limp. As Harry tried to hold on to her, he heard a crack on his head that was so loud, that the last thing he remembered thinking was that he would not be surprised if his skull had broken in half.

Then he remembered no more.