Wherever You Will Go Chapter 3: Hogwarts, a harry potter fanfic

Battles

As Voldemort fell defeated, a sickly gray, yellow light came smoothly from within his body. It hovered in the air for a moment before shattering with a blinding flash. Voldemort's limp and decaying body lay crumpled on the floor, the sword of Godric Gryffindor protruding from his chest.

A piercing scream echoed through the shocked silence of the Hogwarts Great Hall. Draco turned instinctively, wand raised. He watched, horrified, as Ginny's body fell, her back arching, the same sickly gray, yellow light being ripped from her body. It didn't withdraw from Ginny's body as it did Voldemort's. It fragmented as it clawed its way out of her. Draco rushed to her, hauling her into his arms. His eyes widened as her head lolled backwards, her eyes rolling into their sockets.

"Get your hands off my sister," Ron said in a deceptively soft voice, a look of intense fury and hatred in his eyes. Draco didn't release her; he simply stood, carrying her away for the last of the battle. A few deluded Death Eaters still stood their ground despite their Lord's defeat. The Order was dispatching them easily now. Draco walked purposefully to the Hospital Wing, his footsteps steady.

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She lay there for three days unmoving, Madam Pomfrey attending to the many wounded around them. The Weasleys surrounded her bed, watching her face silently; Harry held her hand as they waited for her to regain consciousness. Even the twins sat quietly. Silent tears ran down every face. Draco saw everyone as he stood close to her bed, covered by an invisibility cloak, never leaving her side.

A yelp soft yelp brought everyone's attention to Harry. "Ginny," he said excitedly, gripping her hand.

"Draco?" she said softly, so softly that Draco didn't think anyone but he and Harry had heard. "Draco?" she said again, slightly louder than before.

"I'm here," he said, throwing of his clock, reaching for hand and gripping it tightly. She turned her head to him, her eyes still closed.

"My head… Feels big... Is it big?" she asked, her voice tiny and faintly raspy. Her fingers curled weakly around his hand.

"No," he breathed softly, a relieved smile playing on his lips. "It's head sized."

He leaned in, kissing her forehead carefully. Her eyes fluttered open briefly. She smiled slightly as she saw him before closing her eyes quickly.

That was when their relationship became known to her family. To say they were unimpressed was perhaps a bit of an understatement. They had waited till she regained her strength to question her at any length but wouldn't permit Draco see her.

He paced in his room, snapping maliciously at the house elves that tended to him, waiting for Ginny to be released.

Twelve days, four hours and approximately twenty-seven minutes later, a soft knock at his door interrupted his brooding.

"Piss off!" he yelled harshly, not bothering to open the door.

"Stop being a bastard, Draco, and let me in!"

He yanked the door open before she finished her sentence, enveloping her in a crushing embrace. She wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing lightly. She pulled away from him. Draco swallowed his disappointment as she stepped inside the room, closing the door behind her.

"You mind if I sit?" she asked, indicating to the sofa in front of the raging fire. "I'm not exactly supposed to be out of bed yet." Draco felt a wave of guilt for the crushing hug he had imposed on her before. He sat beside her, her legs curled beneath her.

"How do you feel?" he asked concerned. "Do you need a drink or something to eat? A pillow? Blanket?" She laughed at him, entwining her fingers with his between their bodies.

"I'm fine," she said, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Everything's a bit muddled but I feel alright."

"Muddled?"

She nodded. "Things don't quite make sense. Things that I know should, don't. Things that I know shouldn't, do. Memories don't fit. Don't belong to me." The firelight played off her hair and face as she spoke. He noticed the slightly dull look that inhabited her unfocused eyes as he stared at her. "Are you okay?" she asked abruptly.

"Fine," he answered. "Minor cuts and bruises."

"Good. I was worried. They wouldn't tell me anything about you." She released his hand and moved forward into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. She kissed his cheek as he wrapped his arms around her body. After a minute he pushed her away slightly, bringing a hand up to cup her face. He kissed her softly, his tongue running along her bottom lip, begging entrance which she granted readily.

"I love you," she breathed against his lips, pressing her forehead on his.

"I lo-" Draco was cut off by the sound of the door slamming against the stone wall behind it, an irate Weasley, one Potter and a Granger, storming in. Ginny turned, shifting awkwardly, looking at them in shock.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MY BABY SISTER, MALFOY?" Ron roared, pointing his wand at Draco.

"Ron, calm down," Ginny said softly and calmly as she got up shakily from the sofa. "He's not doing anything to me."

"Bull!" Harry spat, "He put you under some kind of love spell. That's the only way you'd want him over me!"

"And people say I'm conceited," Draco muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes.

"'Mione. Now," Ron said coldly.

"Ostendo verum," she said, pointing her wand at Ginny. It hit her squarely in the chest, a light blue haze surrounding her.

"You BASTARD!" Ron growled, charging at Draco. Draco wasn't paying any attention to the Weasel King, his attentions focused solely on Ginny. She swayed slightly as the haze cleared before slumping to the floor.

"Ginny!" he yelled, cradling her head in his lap. Her breath was coming in short, harsh gasps. "What the hell did you do to her, Granger?" he snarled dangerously.

"N-n-nothing," she stuttered, staring at Ginny in horror. "It was just a spell to see if there were any other spells on her! B-blue means no spells. It shouldn't have hurt her."

"Get Pomfrey."

Draco had never felt so broken in his entire life when Madam Pomfrey told them why Ginny collapsed when the spell hit her. She was dying.

"We found some notes on it in Albus' office a short time ago," Pomfrey explained. "Albus thought that there was a chance that Ginny and You-Know-Who were somehow connected because of that unfortunate incident in her first year. He speculated that during the process of passing his soul through her, in order for him to become corporeal, some of it was left behind. Albus wrote that killing You-Know-Who, would kill Ginny too as it would destroy part of her soul along with the final piece of his. He thought that there was the possibility that one could not live without the other. It appears that he was right," she said solemnly, breaking the news to the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and a hidden Draco, as gently as possible.

"How long… How long d-does she have?" Molly sobbed.

"According to Albus' calculations, Molly, she has about two years."

"But she'll only be 19 in two years," Molly said softly.

Draco stood, unable to move, as the people in front of him tried to think of ways to save Ginny. He was going to lose her. He was going to lose the woman he loved.

For almost a year they exhausted every resource. Every doctor, magical or Muggle, who might have been able to help, was brought to Ginny or in rare cases Ginny to them. Draco funded it all. Money was no object. He had inherited every cent his mother and father had, but it wasn't enough. No matter how much he spent, who he procured, how much research they did, nothing was found that would help her.

Finally she just got sick of it. She didn't want to live the rest of her life in hospitals and laboratories being poked and prodded. She wanted to live the rest of her life.

They had married in a small ceremony in the Burrow's garden, only family and close friends present. Her family, exempting Ron of course, was reluctantly accepting of Draco and Ginny's relationship, wanting her to have what ever made her happy in the short time she had left.

They went to Italy for their honeymoon. They spent a month traveling around seeing every attraction that caught Ginny's fancy. Draco dragged her to a few things that he couldn't leave Italy with out seeing, mainly art galleries, which Ginny could not understand his fascination with. They'd spent first the two and a half years of their marriage traveling. Seeing every place Ginny had ever dreamed of and others she'd never even heard of. Hundreds of photos of their travels decorated the walls and mantelpieces of the town house they shared. Ginny hadn't wanted to move into Malfoy Manor and Draco couldn't say he had too many fond memories of the place.

A few months ago they'd stopped traveling though. Ginny wanted to spend time with her family. They'd seen at least one red head a day for the last four months, as well as old school friends of Ginny's. She had outlived Dumbledore's prediction, but her slowly diminishing form and the rapidly darkening smudges beneath her eyes, told everyone that she had little time left.

Draco was lying on his back his arms folded behind his head as he waited for Ginny to finish getting ready for bed. He watched as she crawled into bed, laying her head on his chest, one leg thrown over his possessively. She wore a deep purple nightgown with a V-neck, the hem stopping mid thigh. He sighed as she wriggled slightly, changing her position.

"What time is the Weasel King coming tomorrow?" he asked.

"Around noon," she answered.

"Should be a good game."

"You only think that because you know that the Cannons will get crushed and Ron'll be depressed," Ginny said looking up at him.

"Thus making it a very good game," he countered, a smirk on his face. She laughed softly shaking her head before planting a soft kiss to his chest. He expected her to stop and go to sleep after that but was pleasantly surprised when she continued to kiss along his chest. When he realized she was trailing her kisses along one of the many scars that marred his body, he stiffened. Suddenly becoming uncomfortable.

"Gin," he said, trying to shift away from her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm kissing you," she said in an innocent tone.

"Yes, I realized that, but why are you kissing me i there?" /i

"So, every time you see your scars, you'll think of me," she said, punctuating each word with a kiss. He gasped when he felt her small hand slip beneath the elastic of his pajama bottoms, caressing him.

"Gin," he said in a breathy voice. "Stop."

"Why?" she pouted, bringing her face level with his. "You want me," she said, indicating to the tenting of his silk pants.

"Well, yes, but-" She kissed him hard, silencing him.

"And I want you," she said breaking the kiss. "So what's your problem?"

"You were tired," he said weakly, his resolve slipping as she wrapped her fingers around him again.

"And now I'm not," she said huskily, a seductive smile on her face, her hand slowly moving up and down his length.

"Gin," he said, his composure not quite broken yet. "I really think that you should stop that…in a minute."

Ginny smiled broadly, bringing her lips to his once more. "I win," she muttered in between the soft kisses they shared. He wrapped his arms around her waist, bunching the silky material of her nightgown in his hands, slowly bringing it up her back.

His hands traveled over her exposed skin, up her bare arms, throwing the silken, purple garment to the floor. She continued trailing kisses along his body, pushing his pants down. He wriggled gracefully out of them, swapping their positions as he did so. He was careful to support his weight on his elbows and knees, so as not to crush her. He captured her lips in a passionate kiss before peppering her jaw. He nipped gently at her neck, sliding carefully down her body. She moaned as he captured a pert nipple in his mouth sucking lightly, his hand massaging her other breast. She gasped and bucked her hips as his hand traveled further down her body, his thumb teasing the sensitive bundle of nerves at her center.

"Draco," she moaned. He lifted his head, a smirk on his face. He trailed his tongue down her body, swirling round her belly button before repeating the action on her clitoris. She fisted her hands, scrunching the sheets between her fingers as he continued to tease her.

He looked up at her as her head thrashed upon the pillows, a smug smile on his face as she uttered a soft scream. He left a trail of kisses as he made his way back up her body, capturing her lips once more.

He groaned as she wrapped her legs around his waist, bringing her heated core closer to him. Her eyes fluttered closed as he slowly embedded himself into her. Her arms encircling him as he began to move with slow, deep thrusts.

They moved together, their speed and intensity gradually building, striving towards the pinnacle. They came together, her breathy cry in unison with his groan of her name. Her muscles clamping down upon him as he released himself into her. Her nails leaving crescent moon indents on his back as he buried his head in her hair.

He moved off of her quicker than he would have liked, the fear of crushing her still in his mind. He pulled her to him as he lay panting on his back. She turned her head to him, a smile of contentment on her beautiful face.

"I love you, Draco," she said, gazing into his mercury orbs.

"I love you too, Gin," Draco breathed, his lips descending on hers once more. "I love you so much."

He fell asleep listening to her breathing, her back pressed against his chest. Her hair tickled his face, his arm draped across her abdomen, fingers entwined.

He awoke in that same position. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder before he turned his head, searching for the clock sitting on his bedside table.

"Gin," he whispered in her ear. "Its ten o'clock. Your brother is going to be here soon." He kissed her along her shoulder and up her neck. He paused as he reached her chin. "Gin," he said, shaking her lightly. She didn't stir. His hand shook as he brought it to her neck, feeling for a pulse. He found none.

His face an expressionless mask, he pulled her body to him more tightly. Mimicking their position as they fell asleep the night before.

A/N: The 'my head feels big' line is from Buffy season two, episode 22, Becoming Part Two. Willow says it to Oz. Draco's answer is Joss' work also. (Is it bad I know that off the top of my head?)