Well here it is, the last chapter. It's not very long at all, but read through till the end and read all of my author notes! They're important! Look for thankyous down there, and if you ever reviewed this story, you should see your name.

And thank you all for your thoughts, sympathies, prayers, kind and encouraging words, and mental hugs. They were all greatly appreciated and I am getting better. Thanks guys.

Disclaimer: I don't own this.

Chapter 40: The Beginning

The first thing Ginny noticed when she opened her eyes was white. Lots of white. It was all around her, on the walls, the ceiling, the floor, the beds – even the nightgown she was wearing was made of a white cotton material. As far as Ginny knew, there was only one place on earth that was covered so in that airy color of dreams, and that was the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts.

Through bleary eyes Ginny looked around, wondering what she was doing there of all places. Heavy moonlight flittering through a window a few feet from the bed she was in revealed that it was sometime in the night, though Ginny had no idea what time it was.

Just as she was slipping her legs out of bed, the door to the Hospital Wing creaked open and Ginny froze, for walking through the door was Draco Malfoy.

Her heart started beating faster and a smile came to her lips at the sight. "Draco," she whispered.

Draco smiled at her and looked around the room to see if there was anybody else with them –there wasn't– before he moved towards her.

"Ginny," he exclaimed softly. Ginny threw her arms around his neck as Draco pulled her close to him, dropping a small, thin box onto her bed. Ginny closed his eyes, savoring the feel of their bodies molded to each other; she loved the way that hers fit against his perfectly, as if they were meant to be together.

"Draco," Ginny exclaimed, "what happened? What am I doing here? And how are you –"

"Ssh." He hushed her by pressing a finger to her lips. "Don't ask all of your questions at once."

Ginny gazed into his dusky eyes so full of emotion and remained quiet, waiting for him to speak.

Draco sighed as he looked back at Ginny. "You fell in one of Juriac's potions at his house, because that's what caused you to pass out up in Dumbledore's office. Well, fall asleep, to be exact," he grinned.

Ginny remembered. "Was it bad?" She asked, cringing.

"Nah." Draco shook his head. "It was just some potion that was supposed to make you fall into a deep sleep."

"How long was I out of it?" Ginny asked.

"Not too long, a few hours," Draco said. "It's almost midnight. We always seem to meet at midnight…" He was smiling at her.

Ginny nodded, smiling again. "Yeah," she said fondly. "What are you doing here? I mean, shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Draco hesitated, his hands on either of Ginny's arms. "I'll be going away for a while," he commented, looking past Ginny to the window behind her.

Looking frantically at Draco, Ginny stammered, "G-going? Why?" She felt confused, worried. "Where?" she asked hopelessly.

He looked regretfully at her. "I…I can't tell you."

Ginny frowned. "Why not?"

"I just can't," Draco insisted. "I'll be safe, but I'm not supposed to tell you where I'm going."

"So somebody is making you go?" Ginny asked angrily. "Who?"

Draco looked sad. "I can't." He shrugged his shoulders and sighed, looking again at the window.

Ginny felt drained. Why did he have to leave now? It didn't seem fair. "When?" she asked softly.

"In a few minutes," was Draco's answer.

Perhaps Ginny would have started crying, so emotionally distraught did she feel after everything that had happened over the past few days, if Draco hadn't held up the small box he had carried into the room, something Ginny had hardly noticed.

"This is for you," Draco said, holding the box wrapped in azure paper towards her.

"What is it?" she asked, gingerly taking the present.

Draco rolled his eyes. "If I was going to tell you, I wouldn't have spent all that time wrapping it."

"Smart-alec," she muttered affectionally, ripping the blue paper away and handing it to Draco. Looking down, she saw that under the paper was a long, slim jewelry box. When she opened it, she found inside a delicate silver bracelet. Remembrance brought a wry smile to her face and she laughed lightly as she lifted the jewelry from the box. Holding up in before her, she saw that several tiny stars hung at different lengths from the bracelet.

"How clever of you," she said sarcastically, though she was grinning now. She remembered how in the beginning of the year, Draco had charmed this bracelet and placed it where she'd find it, bent on revenge. She also remembered an embarrassing declaration she had made to Harry while wearing it. She had also been rather fond this bracelet.

"Well." Draco cleared his throat smugly. "I thought you might like to have that back."

"Is it cursed this time?" Ginny joked, looking at Draco through shining eyes.

He grinned as he shook his head. Laughing, Ginny leaned in, planning on giving Draco a quick, teasing kiss. But Draco had other plans, for the second that Ginny's lips touched his, he dropped the sapphire paper and fervently pulled Ginny to him, his arms wrapping around her waist firmly, holding her as close to his as possible.

Ginny's mind reeled from the passion that coursed through her as his mouth worked furiously against hers. Nothing about this kiss was innocent, which had been Ginny's intention, and yet she loved it when he kissed her this way. It made her feel as if she were on fire, as if she were burning from the inside out. She kissed him back just as zealously, wanting Draco to feel as delirious as he was making her, his hands grasping her waist possessively.

Feeling the need for more oxygen threatening to swallow her lungs, Ginny pulled back and was pleased to see that Draco was breathing just as heavily, if not more so, than Ginny. She shakily sat on the bed, needing a moment for to regain her composure. Draco had his back to her and Ginny looked down, surprised to see that the bracelet was still clutched tightly in her hand.

Taking a breath, Ginny stood and walked around to face Draco. She held out her wrist and the bracelet. "Put it on me?" she inquired, her eyes wide as they looked up into Draco's face. He nodded, and gently hooked the bracelet around her wrist, fumbling slightly with the clasp. When the bracelet was secure, he held on to Ginny's hand, looking deep into her eyes.

"You – you won't run away with the first bloke that tries to sweep you off your feet, will you?" he asked jokingly, though Ginny thought she detected a bit of worry in his eyes.

She shook her head slowly, looking at Draco lovingly. "No," she said, "you don't have to worry about that."

He let out a heavy breath and grinned. "Good," he laughed, letting go of her hand, "because if anybody tried to take my girl," he declared –Ginny smiled at the emphasis he put on "my"– "I'd beat him so bad he'd never be able to eat solid food again. And I might not even be that kind."

Ginny grinned and looked down, not able to prevent the blush that graced her cheeks. Though she had by now come to expect and accept the way she blushed at mostly anything Draco said about her, she still thought it was embarrassing. Upon revealing that to Draco, he had scoffed and said that he liked it, that it was part of what made her so different from all the other girls he'd been with.

"Hey," he said, tilting her chin up so she'd meet his eyes. "Don't do that. I like seeing your face." This, if possible, made Ginny blush even further, but she stared determinedly into Draco's eyes.

For a few minutes, the two just looked at each other, savoring what they both knew would be the last time they saw each other for a while. Ginny didn't want him to go. She had no idea when she'd see him again for when the Hogwarts Express came for the students in a day, she'd be going home. And Draco would be off somewhere, doing something, without her.

"I should go," he voiced quietly.

Those three words seemed to break down a wall inside Ginny, for tears sprang to her eyes and she sniffed, trying to hold them back. Seeing this, Draco wrapped his arms around her, drawing her into his chest. Ginny laid her head on his shoulder and held on as if he'd disappear at any second, which, she desolately told herself, he was going to do.

She sighed shakily, closing her eyes. She could feel his muscles moving beneath her cheek as he slowly rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. He was probably wishing she wasn't being so clingy, but Ginny couldn't help it. The thought of him leaving was too much for her.

"Ginny," Draco murmured after a while, "Ginny, I've already stayed longer than I was supposed to. I have to go."

"Where?" she moaned, looking at him desperately.

He hesitated. "I can't tell you," he repeated. "You know that."

Ginny looked away with a frustrated sigh. He was right. She did know.

"I'll see you again," he said. "Don't worry."

"Are you sure?" Ginny inquired.

"Of course I am," he replied, smirking lightly, trying to assuage her fear. "I am Draco Malfoy, after all. If I say you'll see me again, then you will."

Ginny looked into his silver eyes and saw shining there what she needed most then: reassurance. "Alright," she said, swallowing. "Go." She smiled at him.

"Goodbye, Gin–"

"No," she interrupted hastily. "Don't say goodbye. It makes me feel like I'll never see you ever again. Just bye."

Draco gazed down at her with a small smile on his face. He leaned his head down and kissed Ginny once, his lips pressing firmly into hers. When he pulled back, he let his lips hover near hers as he whispered, "Bye, Ginevra." And then he turned and walked out of the Hospital Wing.

Ginny watched him leave, the ghost of his kiss still teasing her lips. Long after Draco had disappeared, she was still standing there, staring at the door.

With a pensive sigh, she sank back into the moonlight-bathed bed and waited for the dawn, and with it, a new day.

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A/N: So. There's the last chapter. I do feel a sort of sense of freedom now that it's over, but it won't last long, because, if the title of this chapter didn't give you enough clues yet, there will be a sequel. And yes, I know many of you have been asking me, and I was ignoring you on purpose. If I had told you that there was going to be a sequel when there were 3 or 4 chapters left, then you'd know that Ginny and Draco make it out pretty much unscathed. Though I doubt any of you thought I'd actually kill Ginny or Draco, I wanted some sort of air of suspense.

And in the next story, we will continue kind of where this one left off. It will have a lot more of the Order in it, and you'll see more of Harry, Ron, Hermione, all those other canon characters, and the ones I've made up. Draco will be the star of the story once again, and we will also follow what goes on during Ginny's 7th year and see what happens to her and Draco afterward. It will be based more on the 6th Harry Potter book though I'll warn you now, there will be some differences, the main one being that Draco never tried to kill Dumbledore, and therefore, Dumbledore will be alive. And you won't have to worry about me abandoning that story. Just as I promised with this one, I will finish that one. I already have the perfect ending planned, and I'm very excited about it, so it will get finished. But I haven't written any of it yet, so it may take a little while to get out. But stay tuned! It will be called What Is Eternal.

Also, if you haven't seen already, I posted earlier today a one-shot I've been working these past weeks. Read it! If you liked this one, then you'll like that one called When The Last One Falls.

And now, my thanks go out to the following people:

Her Guardian Angel; StarLightStarBright567; louey31; QueenThayet12990; fanfare; love it!; XxHotBloodySirenxX; Lacey; Midnight's Inertia; kz; dragonlayer; CoolMilena; I LOVE DRACO; melanctha; MadelineR; mirkwoodelf90; Noods; InspiredQuill; Tintin Thunderbirds Are Go; Flameable Soul; Regine; some1; PoTTeRFaN2009; xojulesxo; Ireboricua; Adalee Bishop; Sendarian Poltergest; mizlovegood; Embellished; tasz, mell8; Lote22; Tulips and Jill; kobayashi-kun; Giny; Katmillia; emmie elizabeth; Ellopoppet; MoonlightPrincess; kelkie; elocin; XxSnapexX; O.Sovereign.Of.Silence.O; nilber; harrypotterchick4ever; vampnykole; marissa; GodessOfTheNight29; xoxokatrinaxoxo; vla1diva; Ange de l'eau; ajma; Raiast; golden enki; Nocturnal007; Funstuff05; creamywonton; ahmazing Rehgan; serpentqueen92; gh0ulish; WaterInAPuddle; MssrBlaze; heartbreakerginny; LittleAngelMelanie; mandurr pwns XD; 123abc; darklight989; Reanie Campal; gerber; Adorkable; devil'lil; Mela; Syphonus; Sub

If I missed anybody or spelled someone's name wrong, sorry. Thank you to all of you who reviewed, has the story on their favorites list, or just read it. I don't care if you didn't review. If you liked the story, thank you. I liked writing it for you.

Till the next story, review!

Lauren