Unofficial Portkey Archive

To be or not to be a Weasley

By: Adrial

Chapter 15: Paths Chosen

AN: Alright, guys! Here it is! I'm sitting here at 1:30 in the AM having just completed my little pride and joy! And I say "complete" very loosely, mind you. ;-) I am going to take a break for a bit and get some college stuff in order (I've gotten into my first 2 choices already!) but I plan on definitely doing a sequel as my next fic. I just have SO much more left to write! J I absolutely want to thank EVERYONE for your support and reviews. I honestly don't think there's anything better than writing something that people actually like, and I'll keep writing as long as you guys keep enjoying it!

So, without further ado, here's the last *real* chapter of To be or not to be a Weasley. There should be an epilogue posted shortly, so look out for that. But as far as the story in general, this is it! Thanks again, and I hope you all had/have a very happy Christmas, Kwanza, Chanukah and New Year!!

~Adrial~

PS: The song from the last chapter was "Let me go" By: Three Doors Down.

PSS: Thanks to last chapter's reviewers: Potatomaker * Keeley * Rockon2680 * Iamsamhope * Toes of the Tickled Kind * Deth's Flaming Arrow * CS June * tuzdavampslayer * Nickel * Hoppers Terrasina Dragonwagon * GoldenFawkes * IndiaInk *

And for all of those who reviewed from past chapters, thanks so much! I really appreciate every last one of them!

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I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know were it goes
But it's home and I walk alone

My shadows the only one that walks beside me
My shallow hearts the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
Till then I'll walk alone

I'm walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind
On the border line of the edge
And were I walk alone

My shadows the only one that walks beside me
My shallow hearts the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
Till then I'll walk alone

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" By: Green Day

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Moonlight spilled over Harry Potter's dormitory, illuminating four sleeping faces with its light and casting an eerie glow upon the scar that zigzagged across Harry's face. Ron mumbled incoherently in his corner of the room, tossing and turning as if trying to outrun his slumber, and Harry sighed in frustration.

"Shut up, Ron! I can't bloody sleep with you going on like that!" He hoarsely whispered. Ron's reply was to roll over and give an earth-shattering snore.

Harry had had about enough at that point and reached behind his head for the hardest pillow he could find. Armed with said pillow, he raised his arms above his head and aimed straight for the lump across the room that was Ron.

Right as he was about to release his ammunition, the door to his dorm burst open and a small figure appeared, stumbling blindly towards his bed.

"Who's there?" Harry dropped the pillow and reached instinctively for his wand.

"Lumos!"

"Harry! Put that bloody light out! D'you want to wake the whole damn tower?" Ginny huffed and snatched his wand from his grip.

"Nox."

Light extinguished, she handed it back to him and crawled onto his bed. Harry merely wiped his sleep-deprived eyes and made room.

"What are you doing here, Gin? Are you alright?" He could make out her wide eyes and pale skin in front of him and noticed her deep, labored breaths that made him wonder if she'd been chased all the way up there.

Ginny shook her head, trying to catch her breath. "No time for talk, Harry. I need your invisibility cloak-now."

"But, Gin-"

Ginny got to her knees and placed her hands on either of his shoulders, staring him dead in the eye with a look that reminded him curiously of Mrs. Weasley.

0 "Harry, I don't have time. I need to borrow your cloak, please." She forced her desperation into her eyes for him to see.

Sighing, he furrowed his brow and stood. Then, kneeling at his trunk, he flipped the lid open and retrieved the slippery silk fabric that was his father's invisibility cloak.

Ginny held out her hands eagerly, practically feeling the gasps of time as it slipped helplessly through the air around her.

"Gin…whatever you do with this, it was my fa-"

"Harry, I understand. You can trust me-I won't lose your father's cloak." Ginny's expression softened, and she rested a palm on his shoulder.

Harry sighed and shook his head, hoping to Merlin that he wouldn't regret this in the morning. He carefully drew the cloak around Ginny's shoulders, watching all but her head disappear.

"Just promise me you'll fill me in at breakfast tomorrow, alright?" He said as she flew for the door.

Pausing, Ginny gave him a slight smile and nodded.

"It's a deal, Potter."

"Are you sure you know your way, Gin?"

Ginny laughed shortly, "You forget, Harry. I'm a Weasley. Just because Fred and George didn't tell Ron all their secrets, doesn't mean I was in the dark as well."

She grinned and headed for the door before pausing and adding with a wink, "Plus, I was the only one small enough to fit through the witch's hump on the first go. Either that, or they wanted someone to test it out to make sure there wasn't a pit of live snakes at the bottom."

Harry chuckled and waved her off. "Just be careful, Gin."

"Thanks, Harry, I will." She waved briefly, forgetting that her arms were invisible and Harry couldn't see her gesture, and then covered her head with the rest of the cloak, feeling slightly odd within the watery curtain.

Harry watched as the door opened and closed, and sound of soft footsteps disappeared.

Ron chose that moment to tumble over the edge of his bed. A sleepy groan followed.

Harry shook his head and crawled back under his covers. "G'night, Ron. Watch out for the-"

"OW!"

Smiling, he closed his eyes. "-desk."

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"1, 2, 3…oh! Watch it, Gin…" Ginny mumbled beneath her breath and sighed as she hopped over the third trick stair of the evening. Not wanting to draw attention, she had waived her use of wand-light and resorted to stumbling blindly all the way to the witch's hump.

The rustle of her own footsteps was the only sound other than her quick breaths as she rounded the very last corner. The witch's hump was within meters of her, and she felt her pulse quicken. She'd already wasted so much time; how long did she have until she was too late? Had it been five minutes or twenty? What would she do if all that greeted her once she arrived at the station was a thick current of black smoke where a train had once been?

"Who's there?"

Ginny's feet stepped over each other as she clumsily screeched to a halt. The voice, echoing from somewhere in the direction she'd just come from, was accompanied by the sound of dragging footsteps, and when Ginny prayed that it was anyone other than him, a gentle "meow" sounded from right behind her.

Oh, bloody sodding HELL… The chance of being caught only inflamed Ginny's drive to get to Draco faster. There was just too much at stake to have a scraggly, old man ruin everything for her.

Thinking quickly, she grasped her wand and turned around quietly. Mrs. Norris' giant, yellow eyes glared at her from only inches away, and she held her breath.

"What've you got there, Mrs. Norris? Naughty little student thinking he can go on a little midnight stroll, eh?" Filch was dragging closer, and Ginny stopped breathing. Then, with a silent grunt, she flung her wand out of her hand and waited.

Clang.

Meow! Mrs. Norris took off, swishing her regal tale in the air as she scurried towards the noise. Ginny sighed gratefully, and at that moment Filch rounded the corner, torchlight in hand. He sniffed the air for a moment and grinned sickeningly. He was so close that Ginny could smell the cheap liquor that stained his breath and the mildewy stench he perpetually carried around with him.

"Oy, Mrs. Norris…seems we've got ourselves a midnight snack!" He sneered gleefully, exposing all of his ten, rotted yellow teeth, and began to stumble in the direction of Mrs. Norris' fitful meow's.

Ginny wasted no time. She forgot about her wand and sprinted to the end of the corridor. She was inside the witch's hump within seconds, and removed the cloak as she sprinted as fast as her legs would allow towards the end of the dank tunnel.

Please be there…please be there… She chanted, envisioning Draco in a hooded black cape with his father's hand resting like a shackle on the back of his neck, squeezing just enough to let Draco know that his life belonged to him no longer.

"Ack!" She squealed as a shadowed hole caught her foot, and she tumbled toward the ground. Her ribs were screaming from lack of oxygen, but she ignored the pain in both them and her ankle and picked up her pace once again.

Eternity had never felt more tangible to Ginny as she raced against it, every muscle in her body screaming against her efforts. She never remembered closing her eyes, but when she opened them again, she was staring at the end of the tunnel, and up above her was the staircase leading to Honeydukes' cellar.

She grabbed onto the shaky rails and shoved aside the cement plate that divided her from the cellar. For a fleeting moment, she thought of what a sight she would make, staggering onto the platform with limp, sweaty hair and smelling like she'd just done doubles at quidditch practice in the blistering summer sun.

Oh, sod it. If he wants to complain about a little sweat then I'm going to sock him in his bollocks and leave him squealing for Daddy and all the other Death Eaters to see.

She had just wrapped her hand around the door knob, when that exact thought froze her movements. What if Lucius was there? She hadn't exactly banked on the fact that Draco would be accompanied onto the train. It made sense that he was taking the train rather than another, more "Death Eater-like" mode of transportation like Apparition or clouds of smoke; this way seemed much more innocent (she scoffed at the irony). To anyone who cared, Draco was simply taking his vacation early to care for his mother and lounge about his lavish mansion like the pampered prince he was.

Ginny shook her head. It was now or never. She just wished she hadn't sacrificed her wand back in the castle. She was completely vulnerable, save for the protection of the invisibility cloak. But the thought of coming face to face with Bellatrix LeStrange or any other of the vile DE's she'd been acquainted with the previous spring made her stomach swirl with anxiety.

Get it together, Gin. You're a Gryffindor for a reason.

Courageous Gryffindor or not, she nearly leapt out of her skin when the thunderous roar of a train's horn exploded around her. She urgently threw the cloak around her and stepped through the door, finding the road to be completely deserted. The station was at the edge of Hogsmeade, and she gritted her teeth, making a run for it.

Honeydukes became a speck in the distance as the train station's entrance drew nearer. Ginny felt a wash of relief to see the train still parked at the platform and no one in sight-except for one.

"Draco!" She cried, flinging herself onto the platform. Her ankle protested louder than ever, but the pain became a dull haze in the back of her mind as the lone figure standing on the side of the platform turned around abruptly.

Draco stared at the empty darkness around him. He was going bloody insane, he figured. But why had her voice sounded so real?

The lurch of his heart as he had thought for a millisecond that Ginny was going come racing towards him made him scowl with disgust. There was no more Ginny. She was dead to him…she had to be dead to him.

Sighing, he turned back around, stuffing his hands into his pockets. His father's last letter was strictly worded. He was to wait until exactly 12:30 to board the train. There would be a portkey waiting for him inside that would take him to his final destination at 12:45. His wrist watch read 12:29.

Here we are. He said to himself, and just as the minute hand on his watch clicked once more, the engine roared, drowning out the desperate cries of Ginny as she scrambled towards him.

Ginny furrowed her brow as she watched Draco completely ignore her call. For a moment, she stopped running. The invisibility cloak swayed in the wind around her, and she nearly slapped herself when she realized that she hadn't taken it off yet.

She tore it from her shoulders and balled it up in her arms as she began to run again. Draco was eyeing his watch and suddenly, the train's compartment door flew open. He straightened his shoulders and prepared to step onto the threshold.

Ginny's breath caught in her throat, and he was gone. For a split second, the world stopped, and in the next moment it churned back to life. She clumsily draped the cloak back around herself and sprinted towards the compartment.

Merlin…Mum…anyone who bloody gives a damn, just be with me, please. Ginny silently prayed as she forced her breaths to stay lodged in her throat and quietly eased through the door as it slid close over the darkness within.

The scent of burning torches wafted through her nose, reminding her bleakly of the secure castle she'd left behind. Stuffing those thoughts away, Ginny turned quietly in each direction, finally opting on the left corridor where the sound of retreating footsteps and a door sliding closed could be heard.

Ginny began to ease her way past the many compartments. This wasn't the Hogwarts Express, that was for sure. The burning torches vibrated a cold shade of blue, so icy that Ginny was sure they couldn't be called fire at all. Her breaths became cloudy white from the sight of them. To either side of her, the compartments were at least twice the size of the ones she'd been used to for the past 5 years, and the deep, onyx colored furniture that adorned each wall complimented the purple fires that licked at the frigid air from behind cold, black cages that encased their hearths.

Ginny clutched the cloak tighter around her body and sucked in her breath again as she reached the middle of the increasingly long corridor. She took a moment to gaze down the corridor once again, and realized that it never really seemed to end. The blue torches glowed for miles, it seemed, and she wasn't sure if she was at the middle of anywhere, but someone was moving in the compartment directly beside her. She just hoped it was Draco.

"Bloody elves…haven't got a drop of common sense in them. You'd think they could-"

Draco's eyes snapped up from where he was scrutinizing the lavishly decorated table that rested in the middle of the largest compartment on the train. It was made of a thick, dark wood that seemed to be bleeding with the color of fresh cherries. It stood beneath baskets of fruits and plates of meats, desserts and assorted goblets that bubbled with their contents. It nearly put the Hogwarts' elves to shame, however, the lack of warmth and smiling faces instantly registered in Ginny's mind as she gazed in awe at it all.

"Who's there?" Draco repeated. Ginny had barely heard him utter it the first time. He walked closer to the open door where she stood. Ginny smiled warmly to her self, gripping a fold of the cloak in her fingers and parting it slowly.

"Dra-"

"Master Draco!"

Ginny gasped and ducked into the compartment, pressing her body into the corner. The booming voice reminded her of the beating of wind against her eardrums while on broomstick, though the sight of the gigantic man who appeared at the entrance of Draco's private quarters was all but welcoming to her. His boxy shoulders barely fit through the opening, and he towered a foot over Draco, his black skin pulsing with a power that echoed in his cool, blue eyes. Ginny had never seen a man so foreboding and aesthetically spectacular in all her life; he didn't seem real to her. She wasn't sure whether to feel petrified by his presence or awed by it. Either way, she was sure she didn't want to be found out this early in her excursion.

Draco eyed the man with a bored gaze that Ginny knew well. It was when he was scared stiff but tried to seem hard as talons.

"What is it, Eleston? Come to bid me farewell?"

Ginny was sure that Draco must know this strange being (for she was certain he couldn't possibly be wizard or squib), and as the man he'd called 'Eleston' straightened his back and stepped into the room carefully, looking at Draco as if torn between scolding or patting him on the head, Ginny was also sure that he knew Draco.

"I've simply come to give you this." He held in his enormous hand an eagle feathered quill. The sharpened point flecked blue in the firelight, and Draco shifted uncomfortably before extending his hand. A second before grasping it, however, he mumbled, "What…what time is it?"
Eleston sighed loudly, "Ten minutes, young master. You're aware of what you should-"

"I think I can handle it from here, Eleston. Thank you." Draco snatched the quill from Eleston's hand and turned around to sink into the luxurious leather armchair that sat the head of the table.

Eleston nodded briefly, his icy blue eyes flashing as Draco picked up a goblet and downed its contents.

"Very well, sir. I will leave you then. Your mother waits for me in London."

"London?!" Draco slammed his glass down. "What the bloody fuck is my mother doing at that hell hole?! She's supposed to be on her way-"

"To the countryside estate? Yes, well, there has been a slight change of plans, Master Draco. " Eleston shifted his hands so they were cupped behind his back, and his legs were perfectly straight-the likes of soldier at ease.

"What change of plans?" Draco was seething; his words were forced through gritted teeth. Ginny crammed herself deeper into the corner, intrigued and alarmed at the same time. She knew from conversations with Draco that the mansion his family owned in London was the least inhabited of the lot. It was dark, he'd said vaguely, very dark. She remembered him shudder as memories rippled through his eyes and he told her that if ever Lucius decided to take up lodging there for even the briefest periods of time, he would sit in his room and force himself to get used to the idea that he may never see his father come back again.

Eleston shifted on his feet before speaking again in a less thunderous tone. "She has been ordered there by your father. That is all I am allowed to say at the moment. And," He paused to gaze at his pocket watch, "I believe you now have five minutes, young Master. I shall make my leave."

Turning on his heel, he stepped through the door.

"Eleston-"

"Be careful, young Draco. Your mother needs your strength now more than ever." With those final words, his dark body slid into blackness and vanished. Draco was left with his mouth still open, and he clutched the quill in his fist, nearly breaking it.

Ginny knew that now wasn't he best of moments to alert him to her presence, but she had only minutes to do so.

Swallowing, she let the cloak fall from her shoulders. Draco, still breathing ruggedly from a mix of anger and anxiety, barely noticed the newly uncovered presence in his compartment. He stared at the door Eleston had disappeared through, and did not blink until he felt a small hand resting on his shoulder.

"Draco…"

Ginny watched as he tore his gaze away from the door and landed it on her. His eyes went wide, and she bit her lip, wondering if he would be pleased or furious at her unscheduled arrival.

"Ginny! What the hell are you doing here?" His voice wasn't as forceful as it could have been, and he blamed the rush of relief that flooded through his body at the sight of her welcoming hazel eyes and flushed cheeks for the lack thereof.

"Are you mad? Just what in-"

Ginny cut him off, throwing herself against his chest and latching onto his shoulders with every ounce of strength within her body.

"Don't do this, Draco. Please! I know! I know everything! It doesn't have to be this way-you don't have to go!" Her scattered speech was a sight worse than she'd originally planned it would be, and the tears that signaled a lump to rise in her throat had not been scheduled either, but it was all she could do not to break down right there and then in front of him.

Draco was more shocked than anything, and he felt the quill slip from his fingers and clatter to the ground. The small body in his arms was quaking with sobs, and he had no idea what to do. One of his hands lifted as if on its own accord and began stroking the hair that cascaded down Ginny's back. The other of the pair reached up and pressed its thumb between his chest and her cheek, gently nudging her face back so he could look into her eyes to make sure she was actually real.

Ginny did not protest as he wiped away the stray tears on her face; she was content to watch his eyes jump and dance with emotions she was only beginning to understand herself.

"Ginny…I…what are you doing here? Do you have any idea what kind of danger you're putting yourself in right now?" He s

hook her forcefully enough to make her alert but not enough to harm her.

Ginny shrugged wearily. "I don't care, Draco. Right now, you are all that matters to me."

He began to speak, but she quickly covered his mouth with her hands.
"Forget everything I ever said, Draco. Just forget it. The truth is-the truth is-"

"Ginny, don't-"

"No, damnit! You don't!" She cried. Draco looked taken aback by her outburst, but she spoke too soon for him to retaliate.

"Just for one bloody second let me say what I have to say, alright? I-I-oh, bloody hell, Draco. I love you!"

"No!" Draco roared at her, pushing her aside and snatching up the quill that had fallen to the ground.

"No you, don't, Ginny. You can't. I…can't."

"Draco, I didn't come here to argue my feelings for you with you. There's time enough for that, but now isn't it. What I came here for was to give you another option, one other than taking that portkey to the rest of your life-a life without anything worth living for, Draco."

She fell to her knees in front of him, cruelly reminded of her twisted ankle at that moment. Gritting her teeth, she shrugged away his hand as it fell on her shoulder.

"How long have you known, Ginny?"

Ginny sighed, "Pansy told me the day I took ill. I-I wanted to tell you so many times, but everything happened so fast. And I, I forgive you for never telling me. I can understand that. But what I don't understand is why you're willing to give up so easily." She lifted her eyes to his and moved slowly aside as he dropped to his knees beside her.

"I don't have much time, Ginny-"

"Then why are you beating around the Goddamn bush, then?" She spat and tore the quill from his grasp.

"Ginny!" He lunged for it, his heart lurching to his throat at the possibility of it carrying her away to what would surely result in her death.

"If you're going, Draco, then I'm going with you. If I have to get the Dark Mark m-myself, then I'll-I'll do it." Ginny hugged the quill to her chest and evaded his grasp.

"You're mad, Ginny! This isn't about you!"
"Oh, yes it is, Draco! You take this portkey and you'll be taking away everything that I've got-my heart, my soul…you are all those things to me, Draco. Why can't you accept that?"

"Because I can't, Ginny! Stop making this so bleeding difficult, will you? Just go back to the castle and forget about me! I'm not-"

His watch began to beep suddenly. It was time. The portkey in Ginny's grasp began to glow, and he felt as if the world was churning in slow motion. The walls blurred as he reached out blindly as snippets of his life flashed before him. His mother's pain-filled eyes, his father's imposing glares, the rush of wind against his face while flying, and gilded ginger hair that framed a smiling face and eyes that neither shined nor glittered, but vibrated with emotions he was a stranger to.

Ginny felt her lungs close up. What was she doing? What if it took her away? Where would she end up? What about Draco? She couldn't leave Draco. Her friends, her family-Ron, Hermione, Harry, Mum, Dad, the Burrow. She felt her stomach tug, and the images abruptly jolted together. Her feet were leaving the ground, but then someone's hand caught her own and dragged her towards the world that was quickly slipping away from her.

Draco's voice was calling her name, and she felt his body beneath her own. When she opened her eyes hesitantly, her body was pressed firmly against his, over his heaving chest and wild, grey eyes.

"Ginny-are you alright?" He lifted her face to his and rested his back against the leg of the massive table.

Ginny's body was shaking uncontrollably, and she wrapped her arms around his waist tightly, fighting tears.

"Y-yes, I'm alright. Are you?"

Draco gave a hollow laugh. "Considering the fact that I'll be facing a gamut of Death Eaters in about five minutes who want to know why I missed my…erm…coronation, if you will, then, yes, I suppose you could say that I'm just perfect."

Ginny scrambled to her knees. "Oh, no! We've got to go-what if they come here?"

She tugged his arm, but he didn't budge.

"Ginny-you've got to leave now. This isn't a game any longer. I can talk my way out of this one, but if they find you here…they will kill you."

"What are you saying, Draco?" Ginny looked at him through disbelieving eyes.

"I'm saying leave, Ginny."

"But…just come back to Hogwarts! Dumbledore will keep you safe!"

"And what then, Ginny?! What? Am I to just sit by and diddle my time away while my father finds a way to me? And believe you me, he will find a way. What if he finds out about you? He'll have you killed, Gin! I couldn't bare that. I refuse to live my life in fear of something that I cannot escape."

He stared at her for a long moment, gripping her hands tightly in his own, willing her to understand. Ginny shook her head slowly and then shifted their interlocked fingers over her heart.

"Not even for love, Draco?"

His mouth slowly closed as the intensity of her gaze nearly burned his very insides. How could he trust in an emotion that he was only merely acquainted with? How was it that she could put every ounce of faith she possessed into something so fleeting and downright agonizing at times to bear?

"Draco…if the love that we have for each other is as strong as I believe it to be, then I know in my heart that we can handle anything that comes our way-as long as we are together when it does."

She traced the outline of his face with her thumbs, watching him think through his eyes.

"And you're willing to put that kind of belief in me, are you?" He finally asked, his voice weighing on the air with its gravity.

Ginny smiled softly. "I already have, Draco. I'm here, aren't I?"

He nodded silently, turning his eyes down. So many thoughts were charging through his mind. He knew with every ounce of logic in him that he should be throwing her off the train and accepting his fate next to his father, but in all his life, he'd never been given any other option before. It was always his father's will and no other. Did he have the capability to design his own future?

He lifted his gaze and trained it on Ginny's shining eyes.

Always there… He thought. And then something inside of him gently clicked, releasing a waterfall laced with the knowledge that any future without Ginny in it was no future for him at all.

Ginny leaned forward and laid her lips on his in the softest of caresses, just enough to make her presence seem real to Draco as his eyes fluttered shut, leaving him drowning in the strange and terrifying emotions that now flowed through him.

"Ginny-" He began before the air began to pulse around them. The temperature plummeted, and he watched as Ginny's breaths turned to puffs of white in front of him.

"They're coming…" He uttered softly. Ginny's heart leapt to her throat, and she instantly felt around herself in search of the invisibility cloak. After a second that felt like an hour, she held it up for Draco to cover their bodies with.

"Shall we make our leave then, Draco?" She winked playfully, her body obscured by the cloak. Inside she was scared beyond imagining, but for Draco she had to be strong.

Clutching her hand, he nodded and rose to his feet, taking her with him. He had to hunch to be able to hide his entire body beneath the cloak as well as hers, but they finally managed to make it down the endless corridor. With each step they took, the air around them seemed to grow thick with something dark and foreboding. Ginny remembered the sensation of having so much dark energy around oneself before. However, this time, it was not in the form of a charming diary, but the silhouette of six hooded figures that appeared at the entrance of the compartment they had previously occupied.

Draco chanced a look behind them and then gave her a meaningful glare. Understanding, Ginny held her breath and picked up her pace. The sound of hushed voices obscured by distance fell on their ears but was nearly drowned out by the sound of the blood rushing through their ears.

The main entrance to the train was just within a meter or two, and Draco tugged her along to match his giant strides. Ginny hastened to make sure the cloak was still secured around their bodies. Once they reached the door, the sound of a furious cry emitted from ages behind them.

"Damn…I think it's locked." Draco cursed.

"What about your wand?" Ginny asked, praying he had it. Draco shook his head. "Snape's still got it. I was to receive a new one tonight. Shit….what about yours, Gin?"

"I had to use it to lure Filch off my trail at the castle. What are we going to do now?" Ginny bit her lip and shuffled her feet.

Draco massaged his temples and sighed. "Let's try the driver's compartment. Hopefully Eleston's still there. He was a decoy-had to make Snape believe I was boarding a real train with an instructor on board to whisk me away."

Ginny nodded and jogged along beside him, trying to ease her anxiety until Draco turned around once again. The Death Eaters would start searching in moments, and the front of the train was at the end of another endless line of compartments as well. Draco wrapped his arms around Ginny's waist.

"I'm going to Apparate. Hang on, alright?"

Her face shoved against his chest, Ginny nodded and squinted her eyes. If Draco lost concentration for even the slightest of moments, one of them could end up splinched.

It happened immediately. She opened her eyes, feeling hardwood floor beneath her feet rather than the carpet of the corridor, and was thrilled to have all body parts securely in tact.

Draco noted her look of relief.

"Did you really think I would have gotten us splinched, Weasley?"

Ginny tried to straighten her face but failed miserably. "Forgive me if I question your discipline in times of peril, Malfoy, but I'm only mortal, you know."

Draco ignored her and moved the curtains aside that divided them from the driver's seat. They gave collective sighs of relief to see the giant sleeping form of Eleston, propped up against the wall with one hand half-meaningfully clutched around one of the many levers that steered the train.

"Time to wake up, Eleston. Ms. Weasley and I need to make a quick getaway." Draco removed the cloak and kicked the large black log that was Eleston's leg, watching as he shook himself out of his dazed slumber.

For a moment, Ginny was reminded of Hagrid as Eleston stumbled to his feet clumsily and cleared his throat, salvaging what he had of his dignity.

"Ah ha…I'm always in the mood for an adventure, young Master Draco." Rubbing his massive hands together, he winked at Ginny and gestured towards the door.

"After you, milady."

Ginny smiled softly as he held open the tiny door. She hopped onto the platform, followed closely by Draco who immediately threw the cloak back over themselves.

Eleston smiled widely. "Off with you now. I trust Dumbledore will see that you two are safe once you've made it to the castle."

Draco nodded, and Ginny wondered if Eleston could see it. Something inside of her believed that he could as he winked once more and squeezed his head back through the doorframe.

"Let me take care of the lurking gentlemen who are rampaging my train, alright? You two better be off."

"Thank you, Eleston." Draco said before quickly turning and dragging Ginny along with him as he ran towards the exit of the station. When they reached the street finally, Ginny collapsed into his arms, biting back the pain that ripped through her leg.

"Oh…bloody, sodding hell that hurts…!" She cursed and bit her lip.

Draco knelt down with her, his eyes wide with worry. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me. We don't have time. I'll be OK." Ginny offered a pained smile and tried to stand. She instantly crumbled into Draco's arms, and he shifted to support her weight.

"OK, my arse. I'll have to carry you then." He made to lift her into his arms, and Ginny refrained from protesting.

"H-Honeydukes, Draco. I know a shortcut."

Draco nodded and shifted her weight more comfortably in his arms. He began to jog along the road and Honeydukes was just in sight when the sound of raging voices erupted from around them. The wind flirted with upending the cloak and blowing it off their bodies, but Ginny held the ends closed in her fist while Draco struggled to support both their weights.

At the door of the store, he twisted the knob, taking one last glance behind him. The sight of three hooded figures stilled his movements, and Ginny clamped her mouth shut.

The Death Eaters were walking straight towards them, their eyes trained to the footsteps that zigzagged towards the very spot where they were standing.

"Oy! Who's down there?" A wizard's voice emitted from the apartments directly over Honeydukes, and a female's voice could be heard muttering "Lumos!"

Light poured onto the street, and the trio of cloaked figures fell into the shadows, accompanied later by three POP's.

Sighing, Draco wasted no time in turning the knob once more and entering the store. Racing against the shuffle of footsteps that were winding down the stairs from the top floor, Draco followed Ginny's whispered directions and stepped down the short staircase and into the cellar.

He set her down at the cement floor piece and moved it aside. Ginny eased herself down first and Draco hopped in afterward, handing the cloak to her as he pushed the cover back into its place.

For a moment, they listened to several urgent voices from above their heads going back and forth with each other. Finally, the movement stopped, and all was silent again.

Ginny dropped to the ground, drawing her legs towards herself and allowing the fear to drain itself from the tight knot in her chest.

Draco followed her, kneeling down beside her and smoothing the hair away from her face.

"It's alright now, Gin…you're safe."

Ginny nodded softly, sniffling as his hand roamed across her slippery cheeks.

"We're safe now…" She whispered, clutching his hand to her face. Draco mustered a smile, willing himself to believe that for the moment, though he knew he wasn't safe yet. Even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to shield him from his father's wrath for long. Summer would come, and he would-

He shook his head roughly, rubbing his eyes. Those thoughts were no good. He opened them slowly and cradled Ginny's face gently in his hands.

"You're right, Ginny. We're both safe now."

Ginny placed her hands over his wrists and rubbed them softly, offering him an adoring smile.

"Are you ready to go back then?"

At that Draco sighed. He shook his head and moved so that he was sitting beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist, hugging her body tightly to his.

"No…I'd rather like to stay here for a while…if that's alright with you, of course." He turned to her, and Ginny gave him a watery smile.

"Of course."

She leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed softly. "Draco, I-I never really told you before, and perhaps I should have, but I just wanted you to know it now-that I really do love you."

Draco's chest clenched, and he was horrified to feel his eyes do something very mysterious, stinging as if hit by a sobbing hex, though he knew that neither of them had a wand. He was instantly grateful for the darkness. After a while of silence, he gathered his nerve and hugged her closer to his chest.

"You know, Gin. You've been preaching this whole 'love' bit to me for months now, and I…I guess I never really considered the possibility that any of it would make sense. But now I know that…that if this-what I feel for you-is love, the kind of love that you talked about, then I…I must be feeling something much more. And if that's the case, then what do you call this? What's the name for what I feel when I think about you…here…with me?"

Through his short speech, Draco felt the blood slowly rise to his face, and had the cruel suspicion that at any moment she was going to turn around and laugh in his face.

But what she did do was raise shining eyes to his and give him an angelic grin that made his stomach turn rather oddly.

"That, Draco, is something no one can name. That's why it's so special-you can't buy or sell it. It just simply hits you one day when you least expect it, I guess."

Draco nodded speculatively, "Hmm…a bit dodgy though, isn't it? If we can't see it or touch it, then how is it real?"

Ginny laughed and pecked him on his cheek. "You're quite brilliant tonight, aren't you, Draco?"

He scoffed. "What do you mean?"

Ginny burrowed her way deeper into his embrace and closed her eyes serenely.

"What you've just described, Draco…is magic."

------------------------------------THE END (kind of!)-----------------------------------------------

*Epilogue's coming up!*