Draco knew it was almost time, but did not have the heart to tell Ginny, though he was sure that she knew. He had even confronted Harry to tell him of the increased Death Eater activity, at which Harry was pleasantly surprised to find that he was trying to help.
Harry had met with the Order in the Headmistress' office and had invited Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and even Draco to attend. Here, Ginny and Draco had explained their interest in running a hospital of sorts for the injured as close to the battle as safe. Madam Pomfrey had doubled her effort with them so that they might be better prepared.
The big question was whether or not the battle would come before term ended. All signs were pointing toward the end happening at any moment, but would they wait until everyone was scattered, or while there was still a center of activity at Hogwarts. The answer came the evening after NEWTS examinations finished and with a week before students would depart from the castle.
Draco and Ginny sat under their tree by the lake, reclining and basking in the fact that they had officially finished their schooling experience. Both felt that they had done exceedingly well on the examinations, but there was not the enthusiasm that would normally accompany that accomplishment.
Neither would admit that they were scared. They were scared of the coming battle and of separation from each other. They were scared about having to go out into the world and carry the burden of responsibility. Neither wanted to admit to the other that they didn't feel ready to run out and go into Healer training and live in a little flat on their own.
As they sat in silence watching the sun move further down into the mountains as the sky turned brilliant shades of orange and red, they felt something looming over them. And suddenly everything changed.
Draco's mark began to burn. He cried out. Ginny rushed to his side with the Murtlap's Essence that she never went anywhere without. She administered some, which took the edge off of the pain, but did little else to quell the burning.
Draco's eyes widened. "Ginny," he rasped out. "Ginny!"
"Draco, I'm here. It's okay."
"It isn't. This is it. I know it. I can feel it. It's going to happen tonight!"
Ginny stared at him.
"Ginny!" She came to her senses as she saw her brother running across the lawn toward her. "Ginny, you have to get back up to the castle!"
"Help me!" she cried, "I need help with Draco," she added when Ron arrived, his expression frantic.
"Is it his-"
"Yes, I need your help."
Draco's eyes had rolled up into his head, and he had all but passed out into Ginny's lap during the commotion. He had never reacted to the mark like this before, and Ginny knew he was right.
As she and Ron moved as quickly as they could with a limp Draco between them, Ginny said, "Tell me."
Ron of course, knew of what she was speaking. "It's happening tonight."
"That is what Draco said before it got really bad. Why do you suppose it's affecting him like this?" she glanced worriedly down at Draco's face, which was covered in beads of sweat and his teeth clenched.
"I don't know. He's making sure everyone rallies maybe? Snape just reported to McGonagall. It is happening. Here."
"Here?" Ginny shrieked and almost lost her grip of Draco. They were making their way up to the hospital wing now. "I thought you anticipated an attack on the ministry or something. They are coming straight to Harry?"
"And the Order. They know that they have to get to Harry and the Order otherwise it doesn't matter what else they do. So they are coming here first."
They finally arrived and placed Draco in a cot near the window. Ginny busied herself finding a more powerful pain relief for Draco, and rubbed it onto his arm, hoping it would work. Ron stood silently in the doorway watching as Ginny tended to him with tenderness and care.
Finally, Ron said, "I've got to go back to Harry. You two need to stay here. I think McGonagall is going to send the other students up here and ward it. Hopefully we can keep them out on the grounds. We'll send any injured up here… and yeah."
Ron looked tired and aged, but showed great determination, and Ginny smiled at how much her brother had grown. She rushed over and hugged him tightly before saying, "You be careful, okay. All of you." Ron nodded and left.
Ginny turned back to Draco who let out a moan. Oh thank Merlin, he's awake! She rushed to his side and kneeled beside his cot. "Come on, Draco," she urged, swabbing his forehead with a cloth. She noted that the darkness was fading from his arm, and she sighed in relief. It would be over soon, and he could be better.
"Ginny?" he asked finally.
"I'm here. Is the pain gone yet?"
"Almost. I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened. It was stronger than usual."
"I know. It's okay. Take some of this, it will help," and she handed him a Pepper-Up Potion. Moments later the flush returned to his skin, and he sat up.
"I'm ready. Tell me what is happening."
Before Ginny got a chance to explain, however, Professor McGonagall herded in the students. "Okay everyone. I want you all to stay in here. The rest of the castle is out of bounds no matter what you hear happening. We'll be sending up the injured, so make sure that you stay out of the way. Miss Weasley and Mr. Malfoy will be working with Madam Pomfrey. Any others who want to help, let them know. I'm sure they can find something for you to do. Know this. I am putting up a ward on this wing. A Fidelius Charm of sorts. If you leave, you won't be able to just return. You'll have to be sent back by one of the members in charge of the injured. I don't speak lightly when I command you not to leave."
There was silence, and McGonagall looked around, locking eyes with Ginny briefly before sweeping out of the room. Mass chaos began as soon as she left. Younger students began crying and older students shouted. Some people were begging to be let out to owl their parents. Some people were demanding to be let out into the fight. The DA members were adamant about joining the fight, and Ginny couldn't blame them. If it wasn't for Draco, she would be out there also. Madam Pomfrey had not yet shown up, and Draco was guarding the doors. Finally he conceded and let out Neville, Susan, Ernie, Luna, Dennis and Colin.
Finally, Draco shouted, "Everyone listen up. You are here for your safety, and you need to keep quiet. I understand that you are worried. We all are. You need to be calm. You need to breathe. You need to take a seat." Apparently this worked, and the room quieted.
Draco moved to Ginny who was standing by the window. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked.
"I'm just worried. Most of my family will be out there. It seems so weird that we've spent all of this time worried about when this would happen, but now that it's here I feel numb. It all feels so unreal. Is it real, Draco?"
He turned and hugged her, "Unfortunately, it is. You'll be okay, though. You've got me. We just need to keep focused and keep our heads clear. Everything will be fine, I promise."
As he said it, though, a coldness spread through the room, and Ginny felt her heart sink. In the darkness, she couldn't see them, but she could feel them approaching- Dementors. Ginny pulled away from him, her face set in determination. "First order of business, chocolate."
Almost an hour later, the occupants of the hospital wing heard the first sounds of the battle. Draco had rushed to the window and seen the colored lights of spells flying back and forth on the grounds below, illuminating the scene in an eerie light. He and Ginny stood there, watching the battle from hundred of feet above it, surrounded by young students silently munching chocolate and holding back their fear and tears.
When the first injured arrived, the crack that brought them made several of the younger students screech in fright. He was bloody and unconscious. Ginny began to clear off the blood and heal his wounds one at a time.
Each crack that resounded over the next few hours was always accompanied by a feeling of dread. The first person that they had recognized to be sent in was Colin Creevey. His arms and legs were broken, and Draco thought it very fortunate that he was unconscious. After this, though, each crack brought fear of who it would be and how bad the injury would be.
There were several really bad cases that Madam Pomfrey removed to a back corner of the room separated by a large white curtain. One of these had been Ginny's brother, George. When she saw his face, Ginny cried out and ran to him, but Madam Pomfrey quickly ushered him away. Draco had calmed her, and she returned to her healing efforts numb and in disbelief. Madam Pomfrey had come out a few moments later to tell her that he would be fine and not to worry.
Several people had come in with visible werewolf damage, and Ginny wondered why she had not realized that it was the full moon sooner. She wondered where Professor Lupin was, but her silent inquiry was cut off by the arrival of more patients.
After what seemed like hours, the numbers that trickled in were fewer and fewer. Finally Draco and Ginny had retaken their seat by the window to watch the lights below. Ginny wondered if Harry had fought Voldemort yet. She wondered when it would all end.
Suddenly Draco let out an unearthly scream and fell to the floor. "Draco? Draco! Draco, what it happening?" Ginny frantically shook the prone boy who had fallen to the floor after his scream. His body was twitching and his heart beat wild. Madam Pomfrey had come out from behind the curtain.
"What happened?" she asked urgently.
"He- I don't know- just screamed and passed out. He's- I don't know," Ginny responded, tears flowing down her cheeks. Madam Pomfrey made to remove the boy from her arms, but Ginny refused to let go of his hand and followed as Madam Pomfrey moved him to the nearest unoccupied bed.
"What's the matter with him? What happened? Draco! Wake up!"
"Miss Weasley, you need to stop that. It is not helping," she stated as she pulled off his shirt. Ginny gasped when she saw him arm.
"Oh Merlin. Oh Draco!" and she threw herself across his chest as Madam Pomfrey shouted "Really, Miss Weasley," but without any real conviction as she stared at the raw skin on Draco's forearm. His mark was gone.
Ginny knew that something had happened below. She knew that Harry had killed Voldemort. His mark had burned off, but she could not celebrate. She needed Draco. He was not supposed to pass out. Nothing could happen to him, because she couldn't stand it. She climbed beside him in his bed and sobbed as Madam Pomfrey dealt with the incoming people.
If Ginny had not been so wrapped up in Draco, she would have heard Ron and Hermione enter. She would have heard Hermione's grief as she and Ron's mild wounds were mended. She would have heard what had happened to Harry. He had won. But he had also lost. In an instant, both had perished. Harry had known that it might happen. He had a connection with Voldemort and knew that by killing Voldemort, something could happen to him, but he also knew that it had to be done.
She would have heard Fred rush into the room in search of his twin. She would have heard him crying about what had happened to Charlie. Bellatrix Lestrange had thrown a killing curse at Mrs. Weasley and Charlie had jumped in front of it. She would have heard that Mrs. Weasley was distraught and sobbing her eyes out on her injured husband trying to go back to Charlie, because she couldn't leave him.
She would have heard the sobs of Colin Creevey as he learned the fate of his brother. Dennis and Ernie had been cornered by Antonin Dolohov and several other Death Eaters and taken them all out, but someone had snuck up on them just as they got rid of the last one and used the Cruciatus curse on them until neither had any life within them.
She would have heard the fate of countless other order members, Mad-Eye Moody and McGonagall included, who would not see the next day dawn without the threat of Voldemort.
But Ginny did not hear anything as she lay curled up with an unconscious Draco for the second time that day. His breathing and heart rate were erratic. She worried that Voldemort had somehow tied them to him and that when he died, so would they. She worried that he would not wake up. She could not understand why their triumph had to hurt him. He had worked for the good side, why should he be punished with the bad?
She did not see the hushed and anguished conversation between Ron and Hermione in the corner. If she had, she would have been overjoyed when she saw him pull her to him and kiss her. She would have been so happy that they had finally seen through all of the bickering to their true feelings in the face of such a tragedy.
She did not notice when her mother finally arrived with the rest of her family to see George, nor did she pay any heed when they urged her to get up and go with them. Her mother had cried over her, but she could not leave him.
She did not notice that when dawn came, her ex-Professor rushed into the hospital looking frantically for a young, pink-haired witch, or that when he found her he was so overcome with emotion that he pulled out a box and put a ring on her finger.
Ginny lay no longer crying, but awake and numb at Draco's side. Unspeaking. Just waiting for him to come back to her. His body was cold, and she wrapped herself around him, trying to warm him. Madam Pomfrey had brought several blankets for them, and urged Ginny to eat. She was ignored. She tucked the blankets around the pair and left the food on the table beside the bed.
Around her, the beds cleared out. People healed and went home. All in a hushed memorial of those they had lost. Three days passed and even the most severe cases had been released to their homes. Draco had not moved, so neither had Ginny. Ron came to speak to her, to convince her to eat, but she wouldn't move. She wouldn't listen to him. He saw that she loved Draco and could not do it without him, and he understood, because he could not get through a moment of the day if he did not have Hermione. Ron told her that the memorial was that afternoon. That they were having a service for Harry and the others who lost their lives. She didn't even blink. She couldn't understand the words coming out of his mouth, but she didn't care.
She lay in numb silence as on the grounds below, hundreds of people gathered in reverent silence for the losses. Not even the birds were chirping. There was just silence.
And then, there wasn't.
There was a moan. And a grunt. And then, "Ginny?" in a deathly silent, raspy voice.
Ginny's eyes widened and she sat up and saw Draco's half-opened silver eyes. She didn't hug him or move, but began sobbing again. She sat and looked into his hooded eyes and sobbed. He lifted a hand and wiped the tears from her cheeks, and she threw herself on top of him, hugging him with a ferocity as if she expected that she would never again be able to. His arms wrapped around her, and he stared at her flaming red hair draped across his pale, bare shoulder. He did not say anything, and neither did she, but they both knew relief.
When Madam Pomfrey returned from the memorial, she saw that Ginny was laying on top of Draco, and gasped and moved to pull her off, only to be stopped by Draco's voice, "Let her sleep." It was so quiet that she thought she had imagined it, but she saw that his eyes were open, and she let the child sleep who had not in three days as she lay waiting for him.
Now, as she slept, it was his turn to wait for her. He lay in silence as her small body warmed him, and her breath tickled his neck. He thought about how he had almost lost her. He thought about his fight for consciousness as he felt her presence at her side, unable to tell her that he was there. Unable to tell her to wait for him, that he loved her. But she had waited, and so would he. He would wait until she awoke and then he would tell her what he had figured out. He would not waste a moment longer because he had almost missed his chance once and it would not happen again.