The Day They Gave It All Away

A/N – This fiction is one of my most dramatic…I love it! Bold is present tense, and Normal Text is the past. Please review. Check out my other new one-shot (posted today) Despite Everything and please check out my neglected stories and review. The ones to check out would be Where Their Paths Divided and He Who Could Not Save Himself. Enjoy- Kumy

She would always remember that day. She was lonely, and old now. Broken and sad. But she still remembered the man that took her heart and never gave it back, even when he let everything else go. She still remembered the day they gave it all away.

She could not believe he had gotten the Dark Mark. She could not believe he was risking this much for the Light. After all, if Voldemort ever discovered his magically adopted son was betraying him for the Order of the Phoenix, he would be dead before he could blink. She looked at his bared arm in horror, and then gazed into his pained, tortured eyes. He tried to speak, could not, swallowed then whispered, “You can leave me…I will understand.”

She took his arm in her hand. He flinched at the pain in the sore flesh. She laid a feather-soft kiss on each finger then kissed her way up his arm. Finally, she kissed around the Dark Mark and then directly on it, then looked at him and smiled at him. “It’ll be alright, Draco. We’ll get through this together.” He sighed in relief and gathered her into his lap, enjoying the feel of her snug against him. She leaned back into him and traced the lines of his chiseled jaw with her fingertip. Suddenly Dumbledore appeared in the fires of the Head Boy room and coughed lightly. Ginny nearly leaped out of Draco’s lap, but his tight hold on her merely permitted a bit of squirming. A smile tugged on the corner of Dumbledore’s mouth.

“Sorry to disturb you, Draco, but you should be”…

Suddenly Draco gasped. The Dark Mark burned red as dried blood. He gritted out through the pain, “Voldemort discovered a betrayal in the Death Eaters.”

“Not you?” Ginny exclaimed in horror. Draco shook his head, unable to speak, shaking with pain. She wrapped herself around him, rubbing his back, kissing his cheeks, his nose, his forehead, anything she could reach, trying to make the pain go away. Tears coursed down his cheeks as the pain refused to stop. Ginny pulled Draco’s head into her lap and stroked his hair and wiped away his tears until, minutes later, he stood up.

“Dumbledore, I- I have to go.” Dumbledore merely nodded his assent.

“NO!” Ginny was on her feet in an instant, grabbing Draco’s good arm fiercely.

“Gin- this is my job. This is what I do. This is what I am risking. And I am sorry that it’s hurting you. But it’s hurting me too…I won’t ever leave you…I will be here for as long as you hold me in your heart and I hold you in mine.”

She let out a sob and turned away. “Go. I love you, Draco Malfoy. Don’t you dare leave me now.”

He smiled…a broken smile of a man who can see the end of hope in sight. “I’ll try, Ginny, I will do my best.”

With a pop, he was off. Ginny’s knees gave out and she hunched over herself. The sobs took over her body and for the next few minutes she could not do anything but cry. Then she walked out of the room to write something to Draco, before she left.

Hey Angel,

I have something I have to do for you. I will see you when you get back. If you are hurt, my healing kit is on your bed…just use whatever you need. I love you, Dragon. Don’t you dare give up on me.

-Red

She went down and got the amulet that she had bought a while ago from her room. She snuck into the Potions Room and began brewing the Felis Semper Potion. Snape walked in at the middle and she did not even look up. He waited until she was done with the crucial steps until he spoke, “Miss Weasley, what do you think you are doing?”

“Um…A Felis Semper on this amulet.” Snape gaped for an instant before resuming his cold mask.

“Have you tested that the person you intend it for is the one that will receive its protection?” She nodded curtly. “And who is it?”

“None of your business, Professor.” She said bluntly. He was taken aback.

“Would you like me to add hellebore to that when you leave it to simmer?” He asked pointedly. She gaped at him and then glared.

“Draco Malfoy.” Snape’s eyes widened, his face softened, and then he walked briskly out of the room. Ginny mentally shrugged and continued to finish the potion. In 3 hours, she finished the amulet. “Evanesco.” The mess disappeared. She ran to Draco’s room to find Snape and Pomfrey hunched over Draco. “Dr-Draco? What is going on?” Snape looked pale.

“Girl did you finish that amulet. Mr. Malfoy will need it now!” Pomfrey turned and looked at Snape with suspicious eyes. “Go on, put it on him. Hurry!”

Ginny did just that and Draco suddenly opened up his eyes and said, “Where’s Ginny?” Snape smirked and said, “She’s above you, and you owe her a thank you. She just saved your life with her Felis Semper amulet. A nice birthday present early for you.”

Draco whispered, “I owe her more than that.” Ginny blushed. Draco suddenly looked grim. “Professor Snape, please get Dumbledore. I need to speak to him and Ginny…and it would be nice if you could remain, too.”

Professor said, “This has extenuating circumstances. Keep in mind I don’t follow students’ orders on a normal day.” Draco smiled in acknowledgement. Snape nearly gasped…a Malfoy with a smile!

In a few minutes Dumbledore appeared. “Felis Semper, eh?” he said softly. “I should have guessed…”…”So Draco, what did you wish to share with us?”

Draco’s mask came on…Ginny couldn’t tell what emotions were running through his head anymore. “Something very important. First, Voldemort knows about you, Snape. I don’t think he will appreciate your appearances any longer. Second, tomorrow is Neel Kanta…the night of sacrifices. Each one of us must bring a Muggle for…well, sacrifice. And I think it’s time for me to make my open alliance with the Order. Because I am tired of hiding.”

Ginny broke through at this point. “No, that’s suicidal. You can’t, not without at least a decent chance of making a point.”

Draco said, “Trust me, I will make a point. Gin, I love you…but this is something I have to do.”

Dumbledore and Snape looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement. “Well, then it is decided. Tomorrow the Order fights for the first time. Harry is ready as he will ever be as a Legilimens.”

Draco nodded briefly. Ginny broke down into sobs as Draco held her. “I have to do this,” he whispered. “I know,” she whispered back, “but I am relenting under protest.” He smiled against her hair, tears blinding him at the thought of losing her. “I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he breathed into her ear. They held each other the rest of the night…knowing that it would probably be the last time they would touch each other.

The next morning, the Order and Ginny woke to find Draco already gone. He left a note for Ginny.

Red –

Love you always. I won’t bring anyone else into danger with my fight. Don’t come after me, I don’t want you hurt. This poem is for you…I could never say things in prose very eloquently, so here goes:

I was drowning so long ago
In hate and turmoil the world brought to me
I was falling beneath the tumult
When you reached a hand out

You gave me a chance no one else
Was willing to give
You opened your heart
Without any guarantee

You are my fire warming my heart
With your passion for life
You are the wind, the spirit
Beneath my broken wings

You lifted me up
And I don’t want to fall
But this is my fight
It's my duty to win it all

I have to fight against
All the lies I have been living
Your love made me survive
Now it is my turn to give you hope

And my love is yours always
No matter in Life or Death
Don’t ever think you’ve lost me
Because I never went away

Keep your fire, Red
Keep your Angel wings
I am the wind beneath you
The sunshine in your hair

Love always,

D.M.

She went after him. She alit upon the scene stricken with fallen Death Eaters. The amulet she gave him was hanging around his neck, stained red with his life blood. He opened fading eyes, reached out a hand and whispered, “Angel?”

“Yours for always,” she sobbed into his ear, as he drifted away and his tenuous grip on her cheek fell away. Her tears soaked his cold lips and her kiss brought his soul to the heavens. She screamed away her pain to the slowly setting sun and spent the next month in her room dreaming of him and spending her hours crying. She lived life unfulfilled, knowing the man that stole her heart still had it.

Draco had killed the 10 closest Death Eaters in the Inner Circle of Voldemort at his last stand. The next day, the Order found the ranks open to Voldemort. Without Draco, Harry Potter would not have had the strength to defeat the Dark Lord. According to Draco’s wish, he was buried in an unmarked grave whose location was known only to a woman by the name of Ginevra Weasley.

The tears scorched her soul, burning it and shaping it in the lifetime of melting in the forges of pain. She cradled the red-stained amulet around her neck as her heart broke for the thousandth time. She looked down at the hollow by the Whomping Willow where he laid…the spot where they had first met as lovers, rather than enemies. She fell to her knees and then lay her letter on his grave.

Dragon –

I am tired of living without you. It’s been 20 years without your voice in my ears or your hand in mine. You will hate me for doing this, but I want to forget all of this. Here is my poem to you…it’s our anniversary of meeting today, you know.

I met you so long ago
Thought you were the enemy
Then I saw past your broken mask
And I crossed the enemy lines

You were just a drowning boy
And I held out my hands to you
But when I hurt and cried in pain
You held me close and tried to understand

The scars left so deep inside
Fading under your ever-present love
I saved you once and then you saved me
All that is given is given back in time

You fell away after leaving a legacy
Took my heart and left everything else behind
I feel lost; the hurt never leaves
There’s no Dragonl to save me now

You were the light for my fire
The hope that made me push on
All I wish is to meet you again
Forgive me if I fulfill my desire

I am sorry for giving up, but I love you too much. 20 years has been too long. I can’t live like this anymore.

Yours for Always,

Red

She took her wand and said the spell. Felis Semper Reunes. She fell onto his grave, her last breath melting the last frost on the grass as the sun rose over the Forbidden Forest. Later she was buried next to him with the saying,

“You give everything up for love. But everything given is someday given back. Felis Semper a Draconis Malfoy”

If you have questions about the Felis Semperus spell (developed by me), how she could kill herself without the Killing Curse, what the inscription on her grave means or anything else, email me using the URL on my author profile. This is one of those fics where I gave you leeway to come up with reasons from your imagination. But I would be glad to tell you my explanation if you ask for it. - Kumy