Year Six, Part Three
The wrought iron winged boars seemed to frown down at her, their faces transformed from their old, welcoming expressions to frightening grimaces.
Perhaps they would have been frightening, had Ginny not been standing beside her lord.
Well, leaning slightly beside her lord.
She was managing to stand all right, though, and that was all that really mattered.
Bellatrix and Dolohov may have healed her, but there was only so much that magic alone could do, without the medicinal effects of time and rest.
Her whole body ached. Her arm and side were the worst, but her legs had almost given out when she'd ran down the stairs upon the Dark Lord's arrival at the safehouse.
Still, she meant what she'd told Bellatrix earlier; she was up for a fight. No matter what, she wouldn't miss out on being here for this, for the moment when Potter would finally be captured and executed, along with the rest of his stupid little group.
Twinges of pain were still shooting out from the Mark on her arm, making her rub it while she waited for her lord to finish whatever he was doing.
It had burned about an hour previously, hurting worse, even, than Granger's Cruciatus had. Obviously, when the Mudblood had ruined it, she'd done more than just mess up its appearance. The Dark Lord had summoned them before, and it hadn't hurt even nearly as badly then.
Once this was all over, she was going to make Granger pay.
The Dark Lord's wand flashed through the air, something just beyond the edge of vision flying from the tip and hurtling towards the castle.
Immediately, a huge spider web of blue lines appeared a short distance from the castle, enveloping Hogwarts within its obviously protective net.
There were some awed mutters behind her, but Ginny was too engrossed in what her lord was doing to turn.
Something shot from his wand, shining so bright that it hurt her eyes and yet she was powerless to look away.
His spell was stopped by the web, but it clearly had the desired effect.
From the point of impact, darkness spread out, the blue lines slowly vanishing.
"Soon, their defences will fall," the Dark Lord murmured, his voice cutting through the susurrus of conversation behind them. "Prepare yourselves."
Ginny reached out blindly, gripping Bellatrix's hand tightly as she finally turned.
Everyone was there, everyone they could gather. Dolohov was near the front of the group, with a sullen-looking Rookwood standing right beside him.
Behind them, the crowd of Death Eaters and their associates stretched out. She could dimly make out Draco's cringing figure, between those of his parents.
To her left, she could see two giants moving through the distant Forbidden Forest; their heads just cleared the treetops, and she could see the enormous trees bending and breaking before them.
Hordes of dementors were, she knew, accompanying the giants, creating a pincer on the school from another direction.
It was quite mad, really, how much had happened in the last hour.
Once the Dark Lord had arrived back at the safehouse, everything had just happened so quickly.
He hadn't even wasted the time on having Ginny tell him what had happened, instead just diving into her mind and using Legilimency to divine the truth. Bellatrix had shown him the coin with Potter's message on it right away and immediately, the Dark Lord had acted.
He'd reached out and pressed his finger to Bellatrix's Mark, summoning the other Death Eaters and inflicting the single worst agony Ginny had ever experienced. She'd actually blacked out from the pain, only coming to a few moments later.
In the few minutes before the Death Eaters had arrived, he'd given her Mark a cursory glance before promising to examine and fix it once Potter was dead.
Then the others had come, and the chaotic whirlwind had begun.
They didn't really have much time to plan. After all, they couldn't predict how long Potter would be staying at Hogwarts for.
Once the majority of the Death Eaters had arrived, the Dark Lord had quickly explained the situation to them before assigning them missions; some were sent to fetch the giants, while others went to collect the dementors, and yet others to bring the scattered werewolves and other associates.
At some point, Rookwood had made his way there, looking bedraggled and beaten. He'd barely managed to escape Hogwarts alive.
Ginny had been quite pleased to see him being taken to task by their lord for allowing Potter and the Order to take Hogwarts.
And then...well, then they'd come here, for the Dark Lord to begin dismantling the Hogwarts protective enchantments to allow them all to attack.
The Dark Lord suddenly turned to face them, Nagini sliding off of his shoulders to the floor as he lowered his wand.
"When I give the signal," he said, "you will attack. Spare those who wish to surrender, but show no mercy to our enemies. As for Potter...he is mine."
"My lord," Ginny said, her heart beginning to thump with excitement, "if you promised to spare the others, I am sure-"
"No. Potter must not be given the option to martyr himself. Make no deals with him, no threats to force his surrender. Capture him at all costs. Do I make myself clear?"
At their murmured sounds of assent, he turned, his wand rising once more.
The web of protective enchantments around the castle was vanishing, the Dark Lord's spell eating away at the last few tendrils.
A thick, oppressive darkness seemed to shroud the castle, the lit-up windows barely piercing the gloom. It was as if a shroud covered the sun, whenever it attempted to shine on Hogwarts.
Today, the grounds would be soaked in blood.
Vague figures moved around the parapets and high towers, just barely visible if Ginny squinted.
'It's going to be very difficult,' Ginny thought, her hand tightening around Bellatrix's as a worm of unease began to gnaw at her heart. 'They'll be attacking from above and they'll have had the chance to set up traps or any other defences. It's going to be tough.'
Bellatrix seemed to hear her thoughts. Giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, she leaned over and gave Ginny a kiss on the temple.
"You're going to do me proud, love," she whispered. "And then we'll have a chance to punish that Mudblood."
Nodding, Ginny hefted Granger's wand. So far, the spells she'd tried casting with it had all come out fine, albeit slightly...weaker, in some indefinable way, than what she was used to.
Like her wand, Granger's had a dragon heartstring as the core. Unfortunately, it was not yew, instead being made of sickeningly innocent vine.
It would certainly be serviceable, that was for sure. Not that it had much choice. After all, she'd won it from Granger fair and square.
Still, Ginny wished for the comforting presence of her wand.
'As long as it works fine today, that's all that matters.'
The Dark Lord jerked his arm, his wand extended.
In the exact moment that the final, stringlike signs of the protective enchantments fell, the wall around the Hogwarts grounds exploded inwards with an almighty thunderous crash and a squeal of breaking masonry.
The winged boars vanished, their dusty remnants landing on the grass along with the broken pieces of the wall.
"Attack."
A bloodthirsty yell tore itself from Ginny's throat, her fear vanishing as she, with Bellatrix by her side and dozens of their companions behind them, ran to carry out her lord's will.
Bright jets of light and screamed incantations split the air almost immediately as the defenders opened fire from their vantage points.
Shrieking, Ginny whipped her wand up, spells leaping from the tip toward the Astronomy Tower as she followed Bellatrix's lead and began to run in zig zags.
Her legs shrieked in protest, streamers of hot agony shooting out from her side as she forced her body, mere hours after her torture at Granger's hand, to run.
She ignored the pain and continued to run; her eyes half-closed against the sudden pyrotechnic show all around.
Spellfire made craters in the ground all around them, dirt and bits of stone flying up to hit them.
Someone flew forward, landing half in her path with strange, tentacle-like protrusions appearing all over their body.
She didn't let up for an instant, waving her wand toward wherever the spells were coming from and screaming whatever incantations came to mind.
Cutting Curses, Exploding Hexes, Killing Curses, the Imperius; they flew from her wand in equal measure, smashing up against Hogwarts' towers and parapets.
Someone fell from the North Tower, their scream abruptly ending as they crashed into the ground with a sickeningly loud splat.
An enormous roar sounded from the direction of the Forbidden Forest. Ginny turned her head just in time to see a storm of arrows fly through the trees and pepper one of the giants' faces.
A moment later, there was an answering roar as Hagrid's misshapen half-brother appeared around the corner, the ground shaking as he ran toward the forest with his arms bunched into fists.
A spell hit the ground just in front of her; somehow, she managed to jump over the ditch that erupted, an agonized howl tearing itself from her throat as she landed.
She straightened with a grimace, locking her eyes on the castle doors and running toward them, only barely paying enough attention to keep aiming spells at the defenders.
Bellatrix waved her wand, hulking bestial creatures immediately forming themselves from the dirt at her command and beginning to run toward the Hogwarts' doors.
"They'll be waiting for us," she cried, "Be ready!"
Without pause, Ginny tapped herself several times with her wand, casting shields that moulded themselves around her body.
They weren't quite as good as a classical Shield Charm, and certainly nothing like a thick physical barrier would have been, but they allowed her far greater freedom of movement. They would, at the very least, prevent her being stunned or disarmed, and hopefully would deflect most hexes and minor curses.
'Until something breaks right through them.'
Scowling, she concentrated and began moving her wand through the strange motion her next spell required.
"Abuot Ketitot!'
Shadows condensed into a thick, inky darkness, strange creatures pulling themselves into existence. At her unspoken command, they launched themselves forward, quickly taking the lead.
It was painful to watch, to see how less effective this spell was with Granger's wand.
The shadow creatures appeared far less solid and there were far fewer of them than usual.
Still, there were enough of them to distract her enemies.
A jet-black spell shot through the air between her and Bellatrix, the wind of its passage nearly throwing her to the floor. It crashed into the castle's huge front doors, blasting them to smithereens, shards of wood flying out so far that they peppered her face and upraised arm.
Hogwarts' entrance hall was a mass of motion, resembling, more than anything, the inside of an anthill. People were running in every direction, spells flying out in a blinding display.
With a low growl, Ginny jerked her wand forward, sending her shadowy creations jumping into the castle as Bellatrix did the same with the golems she'd created from the earth.
The conjured creatures tore into the people inside, scattering them and drawing their fire.
Howling, Ginny leapt forward, ignoring the pain in her legs and entering the fray.
The castle shook, a terrible howl from the grounds making the dusty desks rattle and shake.
"Just stay put," Sirius said, "it'll be fine, you'll be safe in here."
"I want to go home," one of them whispered, looking like he was going to burst into tears at any moment.
"I know," Sirius said in as soothing a voice as he could manage. "And you will. Before you know it, this'll all be over, and you'll be out of here. But for now, I need you all to stay here and to be as quiet as you can. Can you do that for me?"
The kids barely looked like they'd heard him. The oldest of the lot gave a nod, his Adam's apple jerking like mad.
Somehow, this group had been separated from the rest of the students during the evacuation. Sirius had come across them completely by accident when he'd ducked into the classroom to get away from some pursuers.
They were lucky it was him who'd found them. Some of the Death Eaters chasing him had been werewolves, and if they were anything like Greyback…
Well, Sirius had found them and managed to calm them down to a mild panic, just by talking to them calmly and reassuring them that they'd be alright.
And now he had to leave. As much as it was necessary to keep these kids safe, it would mean nothing if Voldemort and his snake survived the night.
"I'm going to lock the door when I leave," he promised, "They won't be able to get in. You all just need to stay here, as quiet as you can, and everything's going to be alright."
"Can't-can't you stay with us?"
He shook his head, his throat closing for an instant.
Remember," he said, as he walked to the door, "just be as quiet as you can, nobody will even come in here. Promise."
Not allowing himself to see how terrified they all looked, Sirius left the room, locking the door with a Charm that a simple Alohomora wouldn't open.
Quickly, he tapped himself with his wand, reapplying his Disillusionment Charm.
He pulled out the Map and began to scan it, quickly finding his dot standing outside a classroom on the third floor. He immediately noticed the dots moving toward him.
Sirius spun around, jumping back into the alcove and jerking his wand forward.
Then he heard them; at least three raspy voices, closer to growls than anything else.
They sounded like they were arguing about him.
He saw them a moment later. It was the group who'd been chasing him earlier.
By the looks of them, he'd guessed right when he thought they were Greyback's prodigies.
'Need to get them away from here. As long as they're around, those kids are in danger.'
His brow furrowed in deep concentration as he focused, picturing exactly what Harry looked like.
A stray spell came within an inch of hitting him, sparks splashing up against the wall and crashing against his invisible form.
He ignored the spots of burning sensation on his neck, continuing to imagine his godson.
Then, with a twist of his wand, he cast the illusion he'd been preparing.
Harry's body appeared, slightly misty around the edges but good enough to pass as a real person, particularly with the chaos all around them.
The image hovered in place for a moment before running, at Sirius' thought, toward the stairs.
One of the Death Eaters shouted and began gesturing wildly toward it, immediately giving chase and pulling his companions in his wake.
His wand grew slick in his hands as he waited, listening and watching with everything he had, hoping they'd gotten far enough away before the illusion vanished.
After a while, he began to search the map again, absently stroking the base of the basilisk's fang tucked into his belt.
"There," he muttered, finally locating the snake on the map. "There we go."
She was only one floor beneath him, but she did appear to be on the complete opposite side of the castle.
Ron, Tonks, and Kingsley, however, were far closer, and they all seemed to be moving toward the snake.
'They should have that under control. I'll check again in a few minutes, see how they're doing.'
While the Map was out, he looked around to see where to go, grimacing as the dot representing Colin Creevey vanished.
There were pockets of fighting all over the castle, but the biggest area seemed to be the Great Hall.
It seemed as though their plan was working. Most of the Death Eaters had been diverted throughout the castle, with only a few having entered the Great Hall.
Something was going alright, at least.
When Voldemort finally entered and found Harry in the Great Hall, he'd have far fewer of his Death Eaters with him.
'There. They need help on the fourth floor.'
Gritting his teeth, Sirius shot one last glance at the classroom before running into the battle.
Snarling, Ginny twisted and shot a Killing Curse at the coward who'd dared try to take her from behind.
Her opponent quickly ducked, leaping aside and just clearing the curse's path.
Shrieking wordlessly, her fury too enormous to be contained by language, she waved her wand like a lasso, grabbing hold of the wall with her mind and pulling as hard as she could.
The wall exploded inwards, her unknown enemy vanishing in a cloud of rubble.
"Where is he?" she muttered, wiping sweat and blood from her forehead and leaning against the wall behind her. "Fucking hell, that hurts!"
They'd been fighting for what felt like hours, even if she knew, on some level, that it couldn't have been more than thirty minutes.
At some point, she'd gotten separated from Bellatrix. As near as she could tell, that had been the first time she'd seen Potter.
So far, she'd seen him three times. She'd run after him, chasing and fighting until losing sight of him.
Everything tonight, she knew, was about capturing Potter. Once the Dark Lord had Potter, this stupid rebellion would fall apart. Without their Boy Who Lived, they'd lose all motivation and give up on the insanity that was fighting the Dark Lord.
So she'd chased him, her legs growing more and more tired and painful with every step, her side hurting worse the longer she continued.
She chased him three times, and on the third time, she was close enough to see when the illusion fell.
The Order, it seemed, was smarter than she'd given them credit for being.
They were splitting the Death Eaters up, distracting them with fake images of Potter while the real one was who knows where.
"It doesn't matter. We'll find him, and that's what matters."
She was a mess, she knew. Adrenaline went to war with pain throughout her body, trying to give her the strength she needed to do what had to be done.
But this battle, this chaos, it was far more confused than anything she'd experienced before. She'd been forced, in fact, to use Occlumency, to keep her emotions at bay and allow her to just act.
As it was, she could barely think. The fact that everything hinged on this battle, that capturing and killing Potter now would remove their final obstacle...well, it made today far more intimidating than it should have been.
The loud clanking of metal in motion broke her from her reverie. She spun, pushing off from the wall into a regular standing position in one smooth but painful movement.
A suit of armour was advancing on her, a mace held in one outstretched arm, its empty helmet opening and closing ominously.
Her Explosive Curse took it in the chest, turning it maroon for the instant before it shattered with an enormous cacophony, sending bits of metal everywhere.
Immediately, she saw the student behind where the armour had been.
It was Colin Creevey, and he was standing there staring at her with his mouth hanging half-open, a look of resigned terror on his face.
"Why did you do it?" he asked, sounding like he was about to burst into tears. "Why did you-you betrayed us, you messed with my mind...I thought we were friends!"
She arched an eyebrow, raising her wand to face him.
He just continued to stare at her.
"I could never be friends with something like you. You were just practice."
Before he had a chance to even raise the wand that was hanging so stupidly by his side, she hit him with a Killing Curse, bathing him in its unearthly glow before he died.
As soon as Colin fell, someone screamed and ran forward, flinging spells wildly at Ginny.
Ginny slashed her wand, a wall of fire appearing between them and immediately shooting out at the newcomer.
Their screams sounded agonized.
Ignoring them, Ginny broke into a run, the sounds of fighting from up ahead pulling her almost magnetically.
It was only when she went down to the second floor that she came across anyone.
They were standing next to a bare patch of wall, Fred with his wand aimed at it, and George consulting a piece of battered parchment.
"They're all in the Great Hall," George was saying, "Fuck, Kingsley's-"
A red haze stole over her vision at the sight of them, the knowledge that they were here and fighting for the wrong side setting her blood aflame.
A part of her, she realized, had been hoping that they'd be smart enough to stay away. They weren't like Ron; they weren't that involved with Potter or the Order. They could have sat it out, they could have stayed away and waited for the war to be over and then continued with their lives in the bright new world Ginny was helping create.
Instead, they'd chosen to come and fight, to declare their hatred for Ginny and her lord.
And to think she'd loved them once.
As she spat out the incantation, a terrible pain shot through her leg, pushing her slightly off balance.
Tongues of green flame licked at the wall between Fred and George; her curse had missed.
They both spun to face her, their wands twisting as one.
Their combined spells smashed into her, bowling her over and sending her rolling down a staircase, her flailing arm smashing into the bannister and her back achieving new heights in agony.
Somehow, she managed to keep a grip on her wand.
Two people ran past her, locked in a tight duel and not even noticing her prone form.
Apparently, the focus of the fighting was here, on the first floor. There were far more people around, all of them too busy in their combat to notice her.
Through the open front doors, she could see minor skirmishes taking place on the grounds.
The sound of fighting was loudest from the Great Hall. Bellatrix's distinct cackle broke through the din from there, shocking Ginny into motion.
'Kill them. Kill them and go there, that's where everyone is. If Bellatrix is there, that's where I need to go.'
She pushed herself to her feet, almost falling over, a soft hiss escaping her.
Fred appeared at the top of the staircase, his mouth open as he began to cast a spell.
"SECTUMSEMPRA!" She screamed, attacking with the first spell to come to mind.
Enormous, deep gashes appeared across Fred's body, a gurgling cry sounding as his throat opened in a torrent of blood.
"FRED! FRED!"
Fred's body vanished, pulled backwards by George who was frantically screaming his brother's name.
Ginny began to run toward them, ignoring the myriad pains registering from around her body.
She was laughing, she realized, laughing and shouting, casting spells at the top of the staircase where George had just appeared.
If they came here, if they were so willing to fight against her, then they deserved to die. She'd kill them, and she'd cleanse her family, and she wouldn't have to think about them again!
A spell zipped past her head, its brightness blinding her for a moment.
Shrieking, she spun around, a jet of fire hurtling from her wand.
The fire vanished before it got more than a few feet away from her, disappearing as if it had never existed.
Fleur was standing there, her face transformed from a vision of sublime beauty into one of utter hatred. She seemed to radiate cold, her inhuman ancestry evident as she twisted and cast a spell, her movement looking more suitable for a dance than for a fight.
Fleur shrieked in French, another curse flying from her and just missing Ginny's face.
The effects of Fleur's spell became apparent almost instantly. The floor around Ginny's feet grew soft and sticky, gaining a tarry consistency.
Fleur dodged Ginny's Killing Curse swiftly, a barrage of spells shooting from her wand quicker than Ginny could track.
"Crazy bitch," Ginny spat, "ANIMAL!"
A bright yellow hex crashed up against Ginny's chest, barely kept at bay by the shields she'd applied to herself.
Something hit her shoulder, making it feel like it was simultaneously being burnt and frozen.
Something else smashed into her hand, her wand dropping from suddenly numb fingers.
"Your brother loved you," Fleur cried. "Zey all did! What are you, that you could turn on them like that?! 'ow could you do eet?!"
Fleur raised her wand, murder in her eyes-
And had to jump out the way as a stray curse hit the floor right beside her and blew it up.
Ginny dropped to her knees, her hand gaining feeling again just in time to seize her wand.
A group of ghosts ran between her and Fleur, all of them holding their heads in their hands and wailing.
In the commotion, Ginny managed to free herself from the floor and began to inch away, crouching and waiting for the ghosts to clear so that she could attack that half-veela bitch.
The ghosts cleared, and Ginny made out Fleur, standing exactly where she had been before, her eyes narrowed and wand held forward like a baton
A body shot through the air, landing on the floor between her and Fleur. Its robes were smoking, and its face looked to have been torn off.
Her rage vanishing and being replaced with horror, Fleur shrieked and ran, rounding the corner and disappearing in the direction of the Great Hall so fast Ginny almost thought she'd apparated.
Turning around, Ginny saw what had made Fleur flee.
Dozens of enormous black spiders were coming toward her, piling through a hole in the side of the castle and clamouring over each other.
They were close enough that Ginny could see the venom dripping off of their fangs, could see the strange sheen of their eyes.
Instinctively, she shot off a Killing Curse. It hit the front spider, but the hole in their ranks was instantly filled.
With a panicked scream, she turned and ran away from the Acromantulas.
Kingsley twisted, lashing out with the basilisk's fang as he instinctively tried another Stunner.
His spell crashed up against the snake, but as with his previous attempts, it failed to achieve anything.
Hissing, the snake shot forward far faster than something of its size should have been able to move.
Kingsley managed to jerk out of its path, jumping back and just barely clearing a large pile of stone behind him.
His eyes locked onto those of the snake, Kingsley backed away until he felt the wall behind him.
"Now would be a good time to use that damned sword, Weasley!" He snapped, trying to track the snake's sinuous movements.
It was difficult. The serpent didn't stop for an instant, slithering around and trying to circle him.
"It's a bit difficult with you so fucking close," Ron shot back. "Maybe if you'd-"
"Kingsley," Tonks interrupted, "get it to come toward me, I'll push it to-"
The snake struck, flying at Kingsley in a mass of scales and teeth.
Tonks and Ron were screaming, the sounds of their panic perfectly melding with that of the nearby fight.
Bright, boiling pain erupted in his neck. As he fell to the floor, he let out a gurgled cry and jammed the basilisk's fang into the side of the snake's head.
Tried to, at least.
Before he could stab it, it shot its head around and sunk its fangs into his forearm.
His arm grew impossibly heavy, darkness creeping over the edges of his vision. He barely felt it as the snake slithered over him, its tail cold against his skin.
Light glinted off the sword's blade as it spun through the air. It cleaved through the snake's neck as if it were made of smoke, its diamond head flying off with the tongue still extended.
The sword caught the edge of Kingsley's knee on its downstroke, parting his skin as easily as it did his robes.
'Got some basilisk venom in me now from that,' he realized.
Not that it mattered, really, at this point.
For a moment, the snake didn't seem to realize it was dead. Then it fell, a strange black mist leaking from its neck along with greenish blood.
Everything seemed to be going in slow motion. Tonks was kneeling beside him, tears marking trails down her grimy face. Ron was next to her, his mouth opening and closing but no sounds coming out.
Dimly, Kingsley realized that he couldn't hear anything at all. Not only that, but the colour was slowly seeping out of the world, everything he could see going grey and out of focus.
'Ah. So this is what dying is like. It's not too bad, really.'
"Go on," he said, his tongue feeling heavy and thick in his mouth. "Go kill the bastard."
Ginny pushed herself back to her feet, coughing and holding a hand against her side, absently giving Fleur's body a kick as she rose.
Everything hurt, her body feeling like she'd been run over by the Knight Bus. Just standing up straight took almost all of her strength.
She felt exhausted, mentally and emotionally drained beyond words. If not for her use of Occlumency to smother her thoughts and feelings, she was quite sure she'd have collapsed a while earlier.
It was simply too much, this bedlam. She hadn't even had a chance to rest and process what the Order and Granger had done to her, let alone even think about the people she'd killed today.
'Don't think. It'll overwhelm me if I start thinking about it. Later, once we've won, I'll have the chance to go through everything. Now I need to act.'
The Great Hall was a scene of utter madness, a battleground as hectic as anything Ginny had ever seen.
Everywhere she looked people were fighting, little duels breaking out and ending. Hordes of Acromantula were near the entrance, barely held at bay by, Ginny barely believed what she was seeing, a sea of house-elves armed with kitchen implements.
There looked to be about fifty people still standing, most of them defenders of Hogwarts.
Sirius was duelling Dolohov, the pair of them twisting and turning around everyone else.
George and Lee Jordan were fighting Rookwood; as she watched, she saw Rookwood fall with his chest caved in.
Angelina and Katie were running together, spells hurtling from their wands toward a group of fleeing werewolves.
There were others there, dozens of people she barely recognized, all of them fighting with everything they had, Potter's call obviously having spurred them into action.
Students of Hogwarts fought alongside residents of Hogsmeade, other people Ginny had seen behind counters in Diagon helping.
Near the broken hourglasses, Lucius and Narcissa were kneeling by Draco's still form. Ginny couldn't be sure, but she thought he was dead.
Simply from looking at the bodies littering the floor, Ginny could tell that their forces had been decimated.
Still, dark as the prospect seemed, Ginny knew without a doubt that they would win.
The Dark Lord was there, drawing Ginny's attention as he effortlessly duelled against Moody, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Potter at the same time.
Not too far from him, Bellatrix stood, laughing joyously as she fought her niece and Ron, the latter absurdly clutching a sword along with his wand.
A coughing fit struck Ginny, something feeling thick and loose in her throat.
She doubled up, her eyes widening with horror as she saw the blood flying from her mouth.
'That last spell Fleur hit me with,' she realized. 'It cut up my insides or something.'
Well, there was only one thing for it. She'd have to be healed, and that, she knew, would only take place once the battle had been won.
It was time to finish this.
'Help Bellatrix with those two, then both of us can help the Dark lord. Then I can rest.'
But if she tried to curse either of Bellatrix's opponents from where she was, chances were she'd miss, particularly with the way her hands were shaking.
She couldn't risk that, not if a miss might mean she'd hit Bellatrix instead.
Summoning up reserves of strength she didn't know she had, Ginny began to limp toward the fight.
Tonks went flying, blasted away from Bellatrix.
Laughing, Bellatrix aimed at Ron.
Ginny's mother appeared from nowhere, barrelling forward with her cloak trailing behind her. She shouldered Ron aside, taking his place and slashing her wand through the air, an enormous thunderclap sounding.
"YOU STOLE MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" She shrieked, curses spitting from her wand with ferocious speed.
For a moment, Bellatrix stood stunned, barely managing to defend herself.
Then she grinned and leapt forward, her own wand beginning to twirl and dance.
"What a pity," she called, her voice carrying even over the chaos of everything else. "Ginny won't get the chance to kill you after all!"
A mindless rage stole over Ginny, adrenaline wiping away her fatigue and pain.
She broke into a run-
Someone appeared in front of her, a blonde Slytherin she vaguely recognized, Klara something or other. The girl raised her wand, thinking to fight Ginny.
Screaming, Ginny hit her right in the forehead with an explosive hex, shattering her skull and blasting her brains across the floor.
Still running, Ginny wiped the gore from her eyes.
Bellatrix and Molly were still fighting, but neither of them was wasting breath on threats or insults. Bellatrix wore an engrossed, intense expression, her mouth a furious line.
"WHERE IS SHE?"
A sledgehammer hit Ginny in her right knee; her leg gave out, her momentum carrying her forward even as she was smashed to the side.
Terrible pain emanated up from her leg. It was broken, she could tell that much without even looking at it.
Snarling, she scrabbled for her wand, seizing it and pulling herself into a sitting position.
Ron was advancing on her, still holding that stupid sword. His face was twisted, his teeth bared.
Everything seemed to stop as she saw him, her thoughts empty of all but a murderous rage and a burning need to kill him.
All of this was Ron's fault. If he hadn't befriended Potter, none of this would have happened. She'd have died in the Chamber like she was meant to, and Tom would have come back, and she'd never had been forced to kill the people she loved.
"WHERE IS-"
"Avada Kedavra!"
Ron ducked to the side, but he didn't need to. Her curse went wild, flying off into a mass of students near the wall.
Ron was raising his wand again, brandishing the sword as well as if to frighten her with it.
"EXPULSO!"
Her curse hit the floor right at Ron's feet. He was thrown back, flying across half the room in an instant.
She could taste the blood leaking from her mouth, could feel it dribbling down her chin.
'Almost over,' she thought, 'Almost over.'
Reaching out, she grabbed hold of a torch bracket and pulled herself up, careful to put no weight on her broken leg.
'Kill Ron,' she thought, 'kill him, then help Bellatrix. That's what I have to do.'
She scanned the room, searching for her worthless brother, catching sight of her mother and Bellatrix as she did so.
Her eyes landed on them just as a bright green jet flew below Bellatrix's outstretched arm and collided with her chest.
She was screaming, howling mindlessly as Bellatrix fell back with her eyes glazing over.
Ginny dropped to the floor, the agony from her leg meaning nothing compared to the sudden unbelievable emptiness in her heart.
It couldn't be. Bellatrix couldn't be dead, she couldn't have been killed.
The Dark Lord shrieked, his eyes burning even brighter than usual in his pale face.
His fury erupted around him, taking almost physical form and blasting Moody, McGonagall, and Flitwick away.
Only Potter remained. He and the Dark Lord stood, staring each other down, the entire hall suddenly going quiet as a tomb.
Ginny didn't care. It didn't matter that the Dark Lord was going to kill Potter now, that this would all be over in a few minutes.
Bellatrix was dead, and her bitch of a mother had been the one to kill her.
Weeping, Ginny pulled herself forward, trying to keep her broken leg as straight as possible, everything that hit it sending new agony though her.
As if from a great distance, she could hear Potter talking.
"No Horcruxes left," he was saying, "Nothing to protect you."
She ignored him, ignored her lord's enraged response, ignored everyone around her, everyone and everything but the red-haired woman standing over the body ahead of her.
Everything faded away, tunnel vision taking over. Nothing existed but the bitch who had birthed her and Ginny's grieving, half-unbelieving pain.
Once, she'd been too weak to kill her mother. Because of that, Bellatrix was dead.
No-one was paying attention to her. Her mother, like everyone else, was watching Potter and the Dark Lord.
Lying prone on the floor, Ginny stretched her arm out, making sure her mother was in her sights.
Forcing herself to stop weeping, just for long enough to do it, she spat out the incantation.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Potter and the Dark Lord both yelled, casting spells at each other at the same time as her curse shot toward her mother.
Her spell hit her mother in the back just as Ginny screamed, a terrible ripping sensation making her left arm feel like it was going to explode.
She knew, somehow, what had happened even before she looked. Her breath catching in her throat, she turned her head to see the Dark Lord falling to the floor while Potter still stood, with two wands in his hand.
'No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.'
But she knew it to be true, knew it on some bone-deep level, knew it the same way that she knew the sky was up and the ground was down.
She didn't think, didn't pause to consider.
The Dark Lord had somehow been killed. It was over, it was all over.
There was no point in carrying on, not when the Dark Lord and Bellatrix had both been killed.
She raised her wand, putting the tip to her temple.
"Avada-"
"STUPEFY!"
Sirius' Stunner hit her before she could complete the curse, unconsciousness claiming her.