CHAPTER 9
Ginny was startled out of her thoughts by Ron appearing at the top of the stairs. "We're almost there," he told her, settling into a chair at the foot of the bed and glancing around the room.
Ginny nodded. "Is there fighting?"
"Probably. The Death Eaters will know something is going on. They said there's a good bit of magic in the air today, so . . ."
"How can you tell?"
"You can pretty much see it outside."
She strained her neck to see out the window, and saw that her brother was right. The air was very much crackling with the remnants of spells. "I wonder what the Muggles think of all this."
Ron glanced down at Draco. "The older witch, Glenna, is taking Hermione and Luna to Harry's house. Should he go?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "He might want to fight. The other witch gave him some anti-pain charms."
"Well wake him up then, and come down. We should be there in about five minutes."
"I'm going to fight," Draco snapped groggily when Ginny woke him up. "I'm going to prove to them that I can do this."
"You don't have to prove anything," Ginny said gently. "We already know."
Draco shook his head fiercely and wobbled when he stood up. "Let's go."
"This is what we're going to do," Neville instructed them as they reached the bottom level. "Me and Dean and Marta are going first. Then Ron and Ginny. Then Harry and Draco. We need to get as many Death Eaters out of the way to make sure no one gets them."
"I know the killing curse," the witch who had fed Ginny, Marta, said softly.
Ginny glanced at Draco, who was refusing to look at her, but washing down cakes as quickly as he could with pumpkin juice.
"They put a spell on the bus to make it temporarily invisible," Neville continued, "that way we'll have a few minutes to see how things are."
He was right. When the bus rumbled to a stop in front of the main gates at Hogwarts, no one looked at it. The grounds were covered in wizards and witches, some in Death Eater garb, some in their cloaks, some in the school uniforms, and some in regular Muggle clothes. Wand sparks were flying and smoke filled the air. She could see Dumbledore on the steps of the entrance, waving his wand and yelling. Any other day, she would have rejoiced to see him so close, but right now, he was an eternity away. Ginny's hopes sank. The space between them and Dumbledore was filled with battling witches and wizards, many of whom would be glad to stop them.
"Ready?" Ron asked, glancing at them.
Ginny reached into her pocket and pulled out her wand. "Ready." She stood up and was about to head for the door when Draco stopped her.
"Hey."
She glanced at him warily, not wanting to hear any more harsh words.
"I love you." He leaned down and kissed her on the lips in front of everyone.
Ginny stood frozen, her wand in her hand. He had never said that before. "Okay." She didn't know if she could say it back, not with everyone listening. But the thought crossed her mind that something might happen, something right outside the safe walls of the Knight Bus, and she might never have a chance to say it. "I, I . . . okay." And then they went. Running, screaming, cursing, and hexing, they left the bus and made their way towards Dumbledore.
In the smoke, Ginny lost sight of everyone but Ron, who was clinging tightly to her. At first, she could make out Draco's voice behind her, using the killing curse on whoever crossed his path, but when she couldn't hear it anymore, she tried to stop and go back, but Ron made her keep running.
"No!" she screamed, crying. "Stop! Let me go!"
"Come on!" Ron screamed back at her. "You're going to get us killed!"
She stumbled as she ran, blinded by the stinging tears. She managed to wrench free of Ron's grip as they stumbled over a haphazard group of wounded students.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to find him! He can't do this, he's really hurt!"
"But he's with Harry!"
"Go on, Ron. You can do this, but I can't." Ginny turned away and searched for what felt like an eternity. In some spots the grass was burning and the acidic smoke obstructed her vision. She gagged as she sidestepped a hooded body, smoldering in the lawn and the smell of flesh filled her nostrils. She hated war. She hated this. She was going to find Draco and they were going to get out of here, away from here. She wanted to go to Africa, Australia, the Americas, anywhere that there was no war, anywhere she could escape the fear and devastation. She was using the stunning spell to protect herself from the stray spells in the air, but still she couldn't find Draco.
Then there was a scream, loud enough to carry over the noise, and Ginny glanced up in time to see Dumbledore raise his arms high above his head. Neville and Dean were on the steps below him.
"It is over," she heard Dumbledore's voice roar, magnified many, many times.
All around her witches and wizards froze and looked up to see what was going on. Out of the tip of Dumbledore's wand came a silver light, like liquid smoke, and then, quicker than Ginny could comprehend, it shot towards the Death Eaters, wrapping its self around them, and snuffing out all life. Immediately after the last Death Eater fell, so did Dumbledore.
Ginny stood frozen to the spot, unable to comprehend what she had just seen, until Harry brushed past her. "Get Draco," he yelled. "He's back there!"
Ginny made her way through the bodies, those dead and those wounded, and smoke and rubbish, terrified about what lay ahead of her while her own screams tried to burst from her lungs.
She found Draco propped against a large stone, breathing heavily and holding his side. His skin was normally pale, but he looked as though he had not a drop of blood left in his body. His pupils had shrunk to pinpoints, and his forehead was bleeding. Her stomach churned. Please be okay. Please don't die. I'll get you out of here, I swear. Ginny dropped to her knees in front of him and began to cry. "Draco! Draco! I love you too!"
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