CHAPTER NINE

Harry woke with a start and found himself in complete and utter darkness. It was clearly very late into the night. Someone who was not him had just turned out the kitchen lights. Small things like this often roused him from sleep these days.

He looked blindly around the room, determined to find whoever had turned off the lights. Someone else was in the room with him, he could feel it. It almost felt as if they were watching him, seeing when he couldn't. Harry's breath quickened. Who on earth was there?

The light turned suddenly back on, though no one had touched it. He literally fell backward out of his chair in shock. Ginny was standing next to the kitchen table wearing that same pale blue dress she had worn in the wedding. Water was soaked right through her dress, causing it to cling to her curves.

"Ginny!" he exclaimed, quickly clambering to his feet and backing into the kitchen table. "How did you…what're you…where did you…" he stammered, at a loss for words. He was torn between being outraged and being the happiest he had been in months. He continued stammering dumbly until Ginny moved toward him, pressing him harder into the edge of the table and pressing her finger to his lips.

"All that matters now is the fact that we're together again." she whispered, removing her finger and kissing him hard on the lips. He wanted to protest, Merlin did her ever, but it was almost as if she had latched onto his soul. Ginny pushed him back onto the table, knocking over his tea and climbing on top of him.

"I've missed you." he breathed as she began unbuttoning his shirt and kissing his neck, hardly able to say or think anything else. Her fingers ran seductively over the bare skin of his abdomen and he placed his hands on the small of her back.

A floor board creaked in the hallway and both of them snapped their heads around to stare at the dark doorway that led out of the kitchen. The lights in the kitchen went out again, emitting them once again in total darkness.

Harry felt Ginny slide off of him and heard her running for the hall. He got up and ran after her, missing the doorway and running full force into the wall. Why was it so bloody dark?

He finally felt his way through the door and into the hall. He could hear Ginny in the darkness, whimpering and pleading with someone he could not see. He searched his pockets for his wand, but it was no use. It was nowhere to be found. He resorted to groping along the wall for the light switch.

"Ginny, what's going on?" he said, backing up against the wall. A great deal of pressure had just filled the room and he became aware of his scar aching dully. "Ginny…" he rather groaned as the pain in his scar increased. She continued whimpering as he felt around for her in the darkness.

Added to the sounds of Ginny's crying, he could now hear someone breathing deeply, hollowly. Harry's head felt as if it were going to explode. He collapsed to the floor, leaning against the wall and trying desperately to regain his composure. He wished he could see what was going on. And then he heard it, not sure who had said it or at whom it was directed.

"Avada Kedavra!" someone had hissed. A great amount of green light lit up the room, enabling Harry to see the scene perfectly for the first time. There He was, towering over Ginny at the other end of the hall, snake-like eyes filled with manic delight as she fell into a lifeless heap on the floor.

It became dark once more and Harry could hear Voldemort laughing maniacally and making his way out of the hall. Scrambling over to where he knew Ginny's body to be, he lifted her into his arms and began rocking back and forth.

"This is why I told you not to come!" he yelled at her, so shocked that he was hardly able to cry. Ginny couldn't be dead…she was the whole reason he fought this war. The reason he breathed, the reason he kept going…

The stairs creaked under Voldemort's weight and Harry knew instantly where he was headed. Not them too.

"Ron!" he called, unable to will himself to get up. "Ron, Hermione! It's Him! Wake up, do something!" Harry could hear them yelling his name. Their voices got louder and louder, almost as if they were in the room with him. His body started writhing as if someone were actually shaking him by the shoulders. He felt a hot pain across his face as if someone had slapped him, but no one else was in the room. What was going on?

Ron and Hermione were still screaming his name. Voldemort was laughing somewhere in the distance. Harry was shaking violently now, still being slapped over and over by invisible hands, Ginny's lifeless body still cradled in his arms. His forehead felt as if it had split open, he could almost feel cold blood running down his face. The room felt like it was spinning, he was going to be sick…

"Harry! Harry!" Ron shouted, dumping water on him once more and trying desperately to wake him. Harry's eyes finally snapped open and he collapsed and vomited on the floor of the dimly lit hallway.

A.N. I'm really busy lately, so i don't exactly know when the next time I'll be able to update will be. I'm in a play right now and I have a load of school work every night, so I'm really trying to get this story done but it's kind of been taking the back seat lately.

Having said that, I have a question for all of you. Since I'm asuming you've read the whole story up to this point, how would you feel about a final battle chapter? I personally do not want to write one and just let it be implied that they're fighting the final battle, because I feel that I'm not too good at writing combat and violence. I just wouldn't want to ruin the rest of this story with a crappy final battle chapter. But if you lot reallywant one and think that this story would be worse without it, I could make an attempt. Give me your opinions on the matter.

Thanks to everyone who has commented! It means a lot to me, really.