A/N: Parts of this chapter have been taken directly from the book The Deathly Hallows. Those sections were written by J.K. Rowling and not me.
Chapter 15: The Final Battle
"Gin? I think your trunk is trying to tell you something." Ginny looked up from her drawing of a dragon, and over to the corner where her trunk was humming. She stared at in confusion, until suddenly she remembered. "Bloody hell! That's the coin! Neville's calling. Harry's back!" Slamming the lid open, Ginny fumbled for the galleon and held it in disbelief. They had come up with this plan back in September. Back when they had all been sure Harry, Ron, and Hermione would come back any day.
"Are you serious Gin?" "Is that really what it means?" Ginny could only wordlessly nod, still trying to grapple with what this meant. Pottermore had been their only source of information for a month. They had all been incredulous when they had heard the reports of the break in to Gringotts. They had very publically flown out of Diagon Alley on a dragon, obviously done with hiding. Was it really time?
Through Luna's communication with Neville, the Weasleys had all heard how Hogwarts had deteriorated in the last month. After Easter, the Carrows had gotten even worse. Ginny felt a large part of this was her fault. No doubt You Know Who had been furious to find out that the Weasleys had been under his nose the whole time, while Ron was secretly off with Harry. It was not hard to imagine the Carrows lashing out at the other students, upset at not having figured out to arrest her while she was their student.
From what Luna said, they had been working overtime to try and control the students since. They had begun allowing promising pupils to be the ones to perform the cruciatius curse for detention, holding relatives hostage for those who misbehaved, and making students walk in quiet lines to and from classes and meals. It sounded suspiciously like a prison in Ginny's view. Neville had stood up against it of course, but instead of detention, the Carrows now took him as a much more serious threat. He had been forced to run and hide in the Room of Requirement, and had been living there for three weeks now.
It was to that room that Ginny was sure she had to go to. But instead, the coin blazed in red letters a different location. Hog's Head. The Hog's Head? That grubby old place? There wasn't much time to think. They might have hesitated more, questioned it more, but a month of waiting had made them all quite anxious. In a matter of minutes, Fred and George managed to contact Lee Jordan and they were all flooing into the Hog's Head.
After a very confused passage through a tunnel that apparently connected the pub to the Room of Requirement now, Ginny found herself climbing out to face a sea of people. What in Merlin's name? She looked around in awe, realizing a good dozen or so people must live here now. Hammocks and house colours crowded the space.
"Aberforth's getting a bit annoyed. He wants a kip, and his bar's turned into a railway station." At Fred's declaration, Ginny focused on who he was talking to, and found her heart beat in exhilaration. They were here. They were really here. Before her was Harry Ron, and Hermione, all looking rather well, everything considered. Other people began talking. They were asking what they needed to do to fight. She watched as Harry got more and more flustered, until suddenly he wasn't talking to them anymore. Instead, he waved Ron and Hermione over, and the three of them began whispering amongst themselves.
She felt the familiar pang of not being included, but it wasn't nearly so sharp as it used to be. If any moment showed just how close the three of them were, this was it. Surrounded by friends that they hadn't seen in months, it was still so easy for them to simply block everyone else out, and focus only on each other. Instead of wasting her time worrying about them, Ginny searched the room for Luna and felt a huge grin stretch across her face. "You're looking even better than you did last week!" Luna smiled back, and the two girls began to chat, when suddenly Harry's voice boomed through the room again.
Ginny sat and watched as Harry explained they were searching for an object, and the Ravenclaws began talking about a diadem. Was this really why Neville had called everyone back? To help Harry find some old crown? She became more nervous as the Ravenclaws made it clear no one had the foggiest as to what happened to it, and found herself growing angry as Luna was cut off and ignored. She was the one who first answered Harry's question, wasn't she? When Cho got up to take Harry to the common room, she couldn't help it. Ginny snipped that Luna should be the one to go, and no one objected. Ginny knew she had overreacted slightly, but she hated seeing Luna get ignored.
The next half hour was as close to madness as she had ever seen. As soon as Harry and Luna left, people began speaking, worrying, and predicting all sorts of scenarios. Finally, she had enough. "Quiet all of you! Standing here isn't going to do anything! As much as we like to think otherwise, most of us are barely of age. What we really need if we're going to be fighting is back up. Start contacting anyone you know who we can trust in a fight. Fred, George, we'll need to contact mum and dad." Their parents had been at an Order meeting when her galleon had gone off. If they could get through to them, they could have the whole Order here soon.
It was a mess of patronuses, using family charms, and activating emergency signals they had been given by family members for these troubled times. After twenty minutes though, a nearly suffocating crowd of people had showed up. Ginny could barely hear as Harry explained about going to the Great Hall and how they would indeed be fighting. As she made to follow everyone else, her mum grabbed onto her arm and dragged her back. "You're underage! I won't permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you've got to go home!"
Ginny felt all of her anger build. All the times she had felt so helpless. She couldn't just sit back! This was her chance. She was willing to fight. She needed to fight. "I won't! I'm in Dumbledore's Army-"
"A teenager's gang!" Fred took the opportunity to stand up for her, shouting about how at least they were willing to take Him on, something no one else dared to do, but then backed down as their mum scolded him for daring to put her in danger. Then to make it all worse, Bill agreed with their mum and told her she would have to leave. She felt desperate hopelessness as she realized her brothers were going to force her out of this battle as well.
"I can't go home! My whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and-" it would be just like last summer, waiting and worrying until they showed up dead or injured. As a last resort, she looked to Harry, pleading with him to stand up for her. He didn't. He only shook his head, signifying his agreement with the rest of her family. The tosser! He was only a year older than her! He had agreed to let her go to the Department of Mysteries when she was only fourteen. Now suddenly sixteen was too young to fight? It was absolutely unfair. But what else could she do? "Fine. I'll say good-bye now, then, and-"
She never got to finish, as Percy suddenly came through the tunnel and everyone became extremely distracted. She only half paid attention, her mind more on how this might work to her advantage. As everyone began to move, she tried to as well, hoping everyone was now much too preoccupied to think of her. It didn't work. Her mum snapped her name, and Ginny found herself forced into agreeing to stay in the Room of Requirement while everyone else fought.
As soon as they were all out, she took a deep breath, and began practicing her best jinxes. She was not going to just stay in this room. She was going to fight, whether anyone wanted her to or not. She waited until she began to hear the sounds of battle, and then spent a minute looking at the door, trying to round up all the courage she had. She could do this. She wouldn't just sit to the side. She was just about to open it, when Tonks came stumbling in, and Ginny spun around in shock. "Tonks! What are you doing here?"
Tonks looked as if she had been crying, but her voice didn't give anything away. "I'm here to fight of course. Battle buddies?" Ginny nearly laughed as Tonks stuck her wand out, and she felt the overwhelming panic in her subside slightly. Sticking out her own wand, she crossed it with Tonks' and smiled back. "Battle buddies."
Together, the two witches stepped out into the corridor, blasted apart the nearest windows, and began throwing curses down below wherever they saw a black robe. The rest of the battle was a horrifying mess. Ginny did not remain safely in the corridor. After briefly speaking to Harry, the two witches spotted Greyback and went after him. It launched them into what Ginny could only describe as a nightmare. Blasts, curses, dead bodies. Before long, she found herself in over her head. Petrified with shock and fear, Ginny watched as Tonks was blasted down right in front of her. She was screaming in horror, unable to stop, knowing she was about to meet the same end, when a heavy body slammed into her, sending her crashing to the ground. The spell meant for her went over her head, and all she heard was his urgent plea of "Go!"
She scrambled down the staircase, too terrified to even properly register what had happened. Draco had shoved her to the ground and had managed to save her life. She had already sprinted around the corner and down the corridor when she really realized what he had done. He would be the one on the staircase landing now. He had put himself right in front of that death eater. Would he be killed? Was he already dead? Finding an empty classroom, she threw herself inside and took a minute to breathe, fighting the welling panic. Dead. Tonks was dead. Others would be dead too. Who else? Would she be one of the dead bodies by the end of the night?
She couldn't break down. Not now. If these were her final moments, she wasn't going to end her life hiding in some corner. Gripping her wand, she went back out into the fray, and tried desperately to shoot curses and jinxes from behind walls and statues.
She had no concept of time. No idea of how long the fighting had lasted. But suddenly, a voice, His voice, reverberated through the walls. The battle had been suspended. The death eaters were retreating. He was giving them an hour. An hour to do what? To prepare to die. No way were they going to hand Harry over. Still, she couldn't help but be grateful. At least now she could find her family. Let them know how much she loved them all.
It was a terrible, horrible family reunion. Ginny had only to take one look before she crashed to the ground and sobbed. Sobbed in the Great Hall in a way she had never let herself do in public before. Fred was dead. She was being hugged. By her mum, by her dad, by her brothers. Even Hermione found her way over. But it wasn't enough. How could anything ever be right again? Fred was dead. Deep down, she knew whose arms she wanted right now. Whose chest she wanted to sob into while he kissed her head. Hardly able to speak, she stumbled to her feet and spoke. "I need to…I need to…" Her dad looked up at her and nodded through the tears. No doubt he thought she just needed to get away from the body. To try and calm herself down. She spun around and began pushing through people, looking down in dread for his signature blonde hair. If he was lying there, it would be her fault. He had saved her.
He wasn't there. He was nowhere. She saw some others roaming the halls now, looking for the dead or injured, and began following them without too much thought. Eventually, she found herself outside, and gasped as she spotted him sitting on the grass in an alcove. He was shaking, tears running down his face, completely alone. Ginny walked over slowly, and as she towered over him, he looked up. "I'm dead Gin."
Ginny only stared at him. He was a wreck. He began rambling, his gaze vague and wandering. "When you didn't come back, it was awful. Everything got worse. I can't… the Carrows…you don't want to know what they did. I tried to beg off. Not hurt anyone. I tried to do the right thing…but I just can't. I'm not good! When I saw Potter there in the Great Hall, all I could think about was my father. He almost killed my father last month. Mother and I were forced to watch. I thought if I could get Potter…but it was stupid. And now, now I've decided I can't do it. I can't be one of his followers. I didn't go. Just now, when he called all of his followers back, I don't want to do it. When He wins, he'll kill me." He looked up at her then and Ginny felt her heart thunder. "I'm not the man you deserve. I never was. But I love you, and I wanted to thank you. You've made this the best year of my life."
She plopped to the ground at that, and grabbed his hand. "It's not over yet. There's still a chance." He shook his head and tried to pull his hand away, but she wouldn't let him. Her grip was too tight to not be painful, but he didn't complain. Instead he continued talking. "No, no there isn't. Even if Potter wins, someone will want me dead. If I wasn't such a coward, I'd off myself right now."
Before she could think through her actions, her hand had come up and slapped him hard across the face. He only blinked at her in shock. "Don't you ever say that. Harry can still win, and when he does, we'll figure all this out. This isn't time for self-pity. We've got to keep our heads on straight. Now get up and go look for survivors near the Lake. I'll look over towards the Forbidden Forest. And never mind about deserving me. No one deserves me. My love is a gift, and I gave that to you. So you just better cherish it, yeah?" She didn't give him a chance to answer. Instead, she leaned forward, kissed him hard, and then got up and walked away. She needed to focus, and being around him would do nothing but distract her.
It was heartbreaking work. She managed to get four of the injured back inside, but had no clue what to do when she encountered her first dead body. Sobbing for the woman she never knew, she sent up a spark from her wand, hoping the request for help would somehow get answered. Draco must have seen it. He was there not long after, holding the arms while she carried the feet. It was the only respectful thing to do. Levitating her would have done nothing but turn her into some object. Together, they walked through the rubble of the front entrance, and laid the woman down next to all of the other fallen witches and wizards. There were too many of them. Way too many. Without any communication between them, Ginny found herself leaning into him, and he held her, both of them looking down at the long line of the dead in silence.
She realized then that she didn't care what people thought. What her family thought. Life was too fleeting, too precious to worry about disapproval. This is where she wanted to be. By his side, working with him, encouraging him to follow his better instincts.
At that moment, a voice blasted through the Great Hall. It was recognizable and terrifying to every person there. "Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone. The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."
Draco and Ginny looked at each other, a silent conversation happening. Mutual understanding flashed between them. She felt her heart bursting with joy, and she smiled. He sighed, pulled her into him with both arms, and kissed her forehead. "We're not going to run, are we?" He said it in such a defeated tone, that Ginny found a hysterical giggle come out of her. "No. We're not going to run."
He sighed. "I figured. Well, I suppose this is it then." At his words, she found the knot of dread in her stomach grow large and encompassing. People were moving now though, everyone heading out of the castle, and they couldn't stay here any longer. "He should stay."
Startled, both Draco and Ginny spun to find her father staring at them with an unreadable expression. "Mr. Weasley, I…"
Her dad cut him off with a wave. "Don't. We can have this chat if any of us come out of this alive. You should stay. Your parents will be out there, and unless I miss my guess, they'll either beg you to come to them or run to you, killing themselves for it. No one should have to die for loving their child. Stay towards the back out of sight, for their sake at least. I promise I won't let Ginny out of my sight."
Ginny felt Draco slowly, reluctantly, release his grip on her and take a step back. She saw her dad give him a nod of approval, before her dad was taking her hand and dragging her out of the castle to face whatever was before them.
The rest of the battle would be retold many times over. Books would be written, myths would be created, but in the end Ginny found herself only full of relief. Leaving the Great Hall, it was obvious they were going to still fight. The Giants had come, the house elves had come, and it had seemed like there was going to be just as bloody of a battle as they had just finished. And then Harry had appeared, back from the dead, finally destroying Voldermort once and for all. Voldermort. It felt good to finally be able to say his name without fear of the repercussions.
She had lost herself that night to celebrations. Utterly sleep deprived, she had stayed up eating and laughing, only broken up by bouts of crying, when she was reminded of all of those who had never lived to see their victory. News reports came in sporadically, each update an even greater source for celebration. The imperiused were waking up. The muggleborns were being let out of Azkaban. Shacklebolt was Minister. The Death Eaters were on the run. At that last one, she had looked over to see Draco with his parents, none of them showing any intentions of moving.
And it was then that she really realized what this meant. They were free. Free to make whatever choices about life that they wanted. She had no obligations to anyone. She didn't have to go into battle ever again. She didn't have to be a leader and role model for students who were trying to endure a school run by death eaters. She wouldn't have to live her life on the run. So now the question was, what did she want?
After a while, exhausted and drained, Harry found himself sitting on a bench beside Luna. "I'd want some peace and quiet, if it were me." Harry smiled tiredly at her. "I'd love some."
"I'll distract them all," she said. "Use your Cloak." And before he could say a word she had cried, "Oooh, look, a Blibbering Humdinger!" and pointed out of the window. Everyone who had heard looked around, and Harry slid the Cloak up over himself, and got to his feet.
Now he could move through the Hall without interference. He spotted Ginny over in the corner, and froze. What was she doing? She had walked over to the Malfoys, and Harry found himself wondering what he was supposed to do. They wouldn't hurt her. Not now. Curious, he made his way through the tables until he was close enough to hear.
"I thought I ought to return this now." Harry stared in confusion as Narcissia and Lucius' eyes both rounded as Ginny held out some sort of silver circle. "Where did you get this?"
He saw Ginny look at Draco, who looked back at Ginny pale and determined. "I gave it to her." Both of the elder Malfoys looked alarmed and confused, but Draco kept speaking with a steady voice, his eyes trained on Ginny. "I wanted her to at least have fair warning if anyone was about to come after her. It's probably better for you to hear it from us, but um, we've been-"
"Seeing each other." Ginny finished, giving him a small smile. Harry felt as if he might faint. Seeing each other? "Since when?" Good question! Harry could hardly believe it, but for once he was on the same page as Lucius Malfoy. Confused, upset, and more than a bit angry.
Before he could hear the answer, he stumbled forward as someone bumped into him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw it was Neville who was now cautiously splaying his hands against Harry's back. "Harry? Is that you?" Annoyed at the interruption, Harry hissed out a yes of course it was him, and tried to refocus on the conversation in the corner. He couldn't hear though as Neville was whispering in his ear. "What are you trying to do? Sneak out? Here, follow me. I'll get you out."
Harry had to yank his arm back as Neville tried to take hold of his wrist. And then it came to him. Neville had been here all year. If something had happened, surely he would know. "No, Neville, stop. I'm trying to figure something out. What is Ginny doing with Malfoy?" Harry had half expected Neville to shrug, having no idea about it, so it was with great alarm that he saw Neville go stock still and beet red.
"Er…" "Neville! What is going on?" Neville suddenly looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, feeding into the growing panic that was forming in Harry's chest. "Tell me everything right now."
There was very little left of the Neville from the battle. He no longer looked like the confident man who had gone up against Voldermort, pulled out Godric Gryffindor's sword, and killed Nagini. Instead, he looked very young and very nervous. "Right, so…um. I don't know why she's talking to his parents exactly, but Ginny's been…um, well, there's just no other way to put this I guess. Ginny's been shagging Malfoy since November." There was a beat of silence where Harry stood there, stunned, and then Neville began speaking very quickly. "They weren't really secretive about it. Whole school knew. She wouldn't listen to us when we tried to give her advice. We really didn't know what to do about it. I mean, you know how she is. Stubborn and hot headed and all. She'd have jinxed us if we didn't let it be."
Last year, it felt there was monster in his chest when he saw Ginny dating Dean. Just the thought of her snogging someone else had been bad enough. But to hear this? No. It couldn't be. Neville must have been mistaken. Or misled. He saw Ginny turn around and begin walking away. Without another thought, he threw off his cloak, needing to hear her confirm it wasn't true.
Ginny went to walk back over to her family after having been asked by Narcissa for a few minutes alone with their son, thinking that it had gone better than she had hoped. Of course, the circumstances had probably forced them to be much more polite than they would have been otherwise. Still, she would take what she could get. The hardest part was over now, both of their parents having been told.
She saw Harry heading towards her, but her grin soon turned into a worried frown. He looked extremely out of sorts. "Harry?" He had now grabbed her hand, and pulled her over to an empty section of the nearest table.
"This might sound crazy, but I just need to hear you deny this." Ginny sat very still as she wondered how he possibly could have heard. True, they were surrounded by classmates, but surely they had more important things to talk about than her love life. "Did you, have you, I mean, while I was gone, did you and Malfoy…" Ginny gulped and finished the sentence for him. It was too painful to watch. It was obvious Harry was horribly uncomfortable. "Have we been sleeping together?" Harry's head jerked in a nod, and Ginny decided she owed him the truth.
While they had broken up, Ginny knew that at least a small part of Harry had probably expected her to be waiting for him. None of this had really been his fault. "I didn't think this day would ever come Harry. I never expected for Voldermort to be defeated and for us to still be alive. I was expecting death soon, and…and the answer is yes. It was my idea actually."
Harry didn't seem to know how to take the news. He sat there sort of stunned as Ron and Hermione walked up to them smiling. "There you are Harry. Alright, then?" Harry could only shake his head. Ginny hoped desperately that Harry had enough tact to not mention any of this to her brother. "I just, can we get out of here? I sort of have somewhere I need to go." Ginny watched as Harry, Hermione, and Ron all left the Hall, and couldn't help but wonder at it. Whatever those three had gone through, it had certainly left its mark.
Left to her own devices, she was scanning the room to figure out who to speak to next, when she felt the hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw it was Draco and smiled. "All good?" He shrugged and only said "they'll need some time I expect. Can we walk?" Getting up, Ginny slid her hand into his, and they quietly made their way out.
Leaving everyone else behind them, Draco led them to the blasted apart staircase and sat on a step not stained with any blood. "I know things are a lot different now. I don't have a clue what the future will look like." Ginny shut him up with a kiss. He returned it, tangling his hand in her hair and holding her tight against him. She drew back and looked in his eyes. "No one knows Draco. And we aren't going to figure it out tonight. This morning. Whatever time it is. I just want to sleep."
He looked at her, and then nodded. "My room should be empty." They each took a moment to go back in and tell their parents they were going to go to bed. Neither of her parents thought to question which bed she was headed to. She hoped they wouldn't be too worried when they realized she wasn't in Gryffindor tower. She was sure they could figure it out when the time came.
For now, she had what she needed. She should have been terrified of sleep. She had seen more death this day than she could have ever imagined. She had experienced the deepest grief. And yet, curled into Draco, she found herself falling into a deep, peaceful sleep, burrowed beneath his body and his blankets. There would be things to figure out eventually. They were far from a happy ending. But that was alright. They had their whole lives to figure out all the rest.
THE END OF BOOK 1