A/N: Put a bit of work in and got these last two chapters finished before I read any reviews from the third chapter, fearing they might put me off finishing this. After the first chapter some people seemed to have been expecting a fluffy Harmonious ending, but that was never on the cards. I'm sorry to those that wanted something else from this fic. Here is the final chapter, as it was always meant to be.
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With his greatest enemy dealt with, Voldemort was ready to squash out the last pockets of resistance to his reign within the walls of Hogwarts. He could not have lead the attack himself as he was wearied from his time torturing Harry, but instead sent one of his most trusted lieutenants to lead in his place.
This lieutenant would have to be someone who knew the enchantments around the castle well. Someone who had spent long nights studying the wards Dumbledore had created to protect the castle. With that knowledge the Death Eater would just have to fling open the gates and walk up to the castle, utterly unimpeded. Severus Snape might have such knowledge, but he was not to be trusted. Voldemort was sure that he was secretly trying to help Harry, but his plans had failed. Now he had to be eliminated before he could escape.
The leader would have to be ruthless. There would be children involved here. It would have to be someone so full of hate that they stare straight into the eyes of a cowering child and laugh while they tortured and killed them. Bellatrix Lestrange might have had such ruthlessness, but she could not be trusted to keep her mind on the task at hand. She would become overconfident and make mistakes.
This person would have to know the castle well. They would have to be someone who had spent years crawling through the deepest, darkest dungeons for every hidden passageway imaginable. They would need to know how to catch Dumbledore's Army, should they try to escape. Peter Pettigrew would know all of this, but his cowardice rendered him useless for such a role.
Perhaps what they needed the most was trust. The leader would have to be someone that the fools in Hogwarts trusted with their deepest secrets. Someone who could walk right up to them and look them straight in the eye without them ever knowing a thing. Only one Death Eater had this quality...
She could walk straight into any Common Room she wanted. Boys were so easy for her to manipulate; she could get passwords from any of them. She had led the Death Eaters to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first. It had been so easy to sneak in and tear the members of Dumbledore's Army from their beds.
For Gryffindor, however, she had another plan. It was her own house, and she had special plans for several of its residents.
She strode straight into the Common Room. Several people were still writing away at their essays. Typical Gryffindors. They always left it to the last possible minute.
One of them looked up.
"Oh, Ginny, you're back. Can you help me with my Transfiguration homework?" the girl, Sarah, asked.
"Scream for me," Ginny hissed.
"What?" Sarah asked.
"Crucio!"
That'll do it," Ginny thought with a hint of satisfaction as Sarah shrieked in agony. The Death Eaters took their cue and sprang from the shadows where they had been hiding under Disillusionment Charms. They grabbed those still hanging around in the Common Room and tossed them into a corner to hold at wand-point. Other Gryffindors charged down the stairs with their wands in hand, but they were charging headfirst into a line of Death Eaters. Despite Ginny's orders, some cast the killing curse. She could not allow her fellow Gryffindor to die so quickly.
"Avada Kedavra!" she shouted. Her spell killed one of her own Death Eaters. The rest quickly got the message and reverted to using Stunning Spells again.
It did not take long. The students spilling down the staircase were no match for the Death Eaters waiting at the bottom. Many students were stunned before they even got a chance to look around the room. Ginny took care to cast the spell with extra venom, hoping to knock some students backwards and stop a pile-up at the bottom of the stairs.
Eventually the flow of students slowed to a halt. Ginny and Bellatrix charged up the girls' staircase to make sure no one remained, sending the other Death Eaters up the boys' staircase.
Bellatrix had initially been reluctant to follow the younger woman's lead, but she would not dare question the will of the Dark Lord, and seeing how ruthless Ginny had been with her fellow students had encouraged her to follow Ginny. Now she followed obediently as Ginny led her up the staircase. In the fifth year dormitories a few girls remained to put up a fight, and one timid first year was cowering at the very top of the staircase. Ginny stunned her like the rest, and kicked her body down the staircase. Even Bellatrix seemed taken aback as the young girl rolled down the stairs.
Ginny and Bellatrix came back down again to where the other Death Eaters were preparing the room. They took wands away from them all and bound their hands before reviving them, throwing them into sofas and chairs all pointed at the centre of the room, where Ginny wanted to host her demonstration.
The younger ones began to cry, and a few of the older ones even joined in. They tried to huddle together for comfort but with their hands bound it was futile.
"Where are they?" Ginny asked eagerly.
"This way, my lady," one of the Death Eaters said. Ginny gave a smile at the way the Death Eaters seemed to address her. Neither Ginny nor the Dark Lord had insisted upon this, but they seemed to have picked it up anyway.
Kneeling in the centre of the room were Ron and Hermione, who were looking at her with eyes stretched wide in shock. Ron's face still bore the scars of Harry's curse over a year ago when he'd caught Hermione and Ron together – at least half of his face was ruined and purple, like a hideous burn.
"How could you?" Hermione asked. "What about your family?"
"How could I not?" Ginny replied. "Voldemort is going to win whatever we do. Did you honestly think that little after-school club we started would be able to stop him? So I made a deal to make sure I'd be safe. And my family will be safe... well, relatively safe." She gave a sly grin.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked. "What's happened?"
"Unfortunately, my dear brother, tonight we lost two brothers," Ginny told him, enjoying the look of horror that swept across his face. "Fred and George were tortured and murdered by the Dark Lord. It was regrettable, but necessary."
"How can you be so cold?" Hermione pleaded. "What happened? Why are you doing this?"
"How can I be so cold?" Ginny asked, grabbing Hermione's hair. Hermione shrieked in pain. "What about you? How could you do that to poor Harry? He loved you!"
"Oh, please tell me that's not what this is about," Hermione pleaded. "You never got over your silly crush on him. You deserve better Ginny; he was never going to love you like you deserved."
"He did love me!" Ginny spat in Hermione face. "We belonged together. We... we were... soulmates! And you had to go and ruin it! He loved you and you threw back in his face and took up with this PATHETIC LOSER! Crucio!"
Ron roared in agony as the spell suddenly caught him the chest. Ginny let go of Hermione and rushed over to her brother.
"And you claimed to be his best friend," Ginny snapped, prodding at her now shrieking brother with her wand. Ron flinched away from where her wand touched his skin. "You're as guilty as she is."
Ginny took a deep breath and suddenly seemed to go calm. She released the spell's hold on him.
"But you're still my brother," Ginny said. "I'll let you live. I made the deal with Voldemort."
"But Ginny, Voldemort wants to kill Harry!" Hermione tried to reason with her. "Why would you join someone who wants to kill Harry?"
"I made a deal, Hermione," Ginny said, a slightly mad look crossing her face. "Voldemort's going to let Harry live in exchange for my help. We're going to be together forever."
"He's lying, Ginny! He's lying!"
"No, I know he's not. Harry is a Horcrux. Yes, I know you know what a Horcrux is. He has a part of Voldemort's soul inside him. As long as Harry lives he cannot die, so I'm going to keep Harry safe. He's going to stay with me and we'll be happy and safe."
"Harry would never agree to that!" Ron growled. "Voldemort killed his parents."
"Well." Ginny shifted uneasily. "Maybe he needed some... encouragement... at first. But he'll accept it, and when he realises that he's always loved me then he'll accept how things are."
"You used a love potion, didn't you?" Hermione demanded. "You drugged him into falling in love with you. Ginny, you can't do this!"
"He's already in love with me!" Ginny shouted. "He's always loved me! We're going to be together and have lots of beautiful children together, and you won't be there... He'll have forgotten about you..."
"Ginny, this is insane," Hermione begged. "You don't want to live this lie your whole life. Harry doesn't love you and he never will."
"Shut up! I knew you could never understand!"
"Ginny, please listen."
"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"
"Ginny?" Bellatrix asked, taking an uneasy step forward.
Ginny levelled her wand at Hermione.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
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Harry was making dinner when she got back to Grimmauld Place that evening. She smiled and tried to creep up on him.
"Hi, love," Harry said, turning around suddenly and grabbing her. "I missed you."
"Yes," Ginny said. "Yes you did."
"How did that thing go?" Harry asked. "That business you had to take care of."
"Oh, it was great," Ginny said, wrapping her arms around his waist. "It was fantastic, actually. Work won't be bothering me for a while. We could go on holiday for a while."
"Where to?" Harry asked.
"Wherever we like, love," Ginny replied. "I've taken care of everything. We're going to be safe from now on. Did you remember to take your potion?"
"Of course," Harry replied. "I don't want to get sick. I'm really glad I've got you to brew that potion for me everything. Don't know what I'd do without you to look after me."
"Don't worry, Harry," Ginny said, hugging Harry close. "I'm going to look after you. And we'll be together forever now."