She still remembered the day she first knew that he loved her as much as she loved him. There had never been chocolate, or roses, or professions of love. There had been tears and comfort and strength. But it was love, faithful and powerful…and forever…however long their forever was. She looked back at the day she knew, and the crisp white cotton sheets, the bustling of Madam Pomfrey, the bitter smell of death all disappeared. In it place was a battlefield, the coppery smell of blood and the harsh screaming of the wounded filling the air.
She blindly stumbled on, the crimson blood mixing in with the red of her hair and her vision slowly going hazy. Her wand was held in front of her with her wildly trembling hand. A shadow fell in her way and she looked up to a Death Eater's mask. His wand rose and his mouth formed the words in slow motion. Her reflexes exhausted, she merely stood waiting for Death, powerless in Its wake.
A short distance away, a man whose face was covered by the mask of the Death Eaters, watched. Watched as his life, his fire was threatened by his best friend. And in that instant, he made a choice. A choice that would haunt him for the rest of his life. His wand rose.
"Avada Kedrava."
She stared as the man crumpled before her. Looked around wildly for her savior. And suddenly a man came into view…a Death Eater. His silver eyes stared into hers, not seeing the member of the Order sneaking up behind him. Her eyes widened and before she could think, her wand rose and she whispered the words.
"Stupefy."
He turned suddenly at the noise. Smirked at her when he found what had made it. And then she knew who it was. And despite the fact that she had hurt a friend today, despite the fact that he had killed today, despite the fact that her friends were dead and dying today, despite the fact that Hogwarts may fall today, her heart rose. He loved her.
Hogwarts had not fallen, thanks to the valiant efforts of Dumbledore's Army (the name was still a standing joke for the school) and members of the Order. Many had suffered the loss of friends and siblings, and every house had casualties. Slytherins had the most student casualties, and most had fought valiantly to prove their loyalty to the Light. The students who had fought on the Dark Side had, to the surprise of many (not her), included some non-Slytherins. They had not returned to school. In fact, only Hufflepuff, to their pride, had no Dark wizards among them. Draco was the only student Death Eater to stay at the school. It was widely questioned why Dumbledore did not expel him. Only Ginny and the Order knew why.
Harry, Hermione and Ron still could not join the Order, but following Lupin's request, Harry and the Trio asked Gryffindors to stay away from Draco. Draco went out of his way to avoid everyone but her, Snape and Dumbledore. So a tenuous peace remained between the few Slytherins left and the rest of Hogwarts. Ginny herself had landed in the infirmary due to the large wound on her head. Draco had stayed by her the whole time under an invisibility cloak. If it ever got to Voldemort that his Heir, the Prince of Darkness, was attending to Ginevra Weasley, Draco would be killed. Or if Voldemort had found out that Draco was a Spy for the Order, for that matter.
She knew what he was planning to do. She had overheard his whispered conversation with Professor Snape as she was lying in her hospital bed, her eyes closed. He hadn't warded it. She would not let him do it. It was suicidal. She had been holding back her recovery in front of Madam Pomfrey's sharp eyes, so that Draco would think that she could not stop him. He had killed for her, but he most definitely would not die for her. Not if she had anything to say about it.
He was planning to hurt Voldemort and his closest followers (including his father) enough so that Harry had a chance to use Legilimency to kill the Dark Lord somehow. In all probability he would die. No one would get a chance to help him until the wards connected to Tom Riddle gave out, and by then, Draco would surely be dead. Of course, Draco would be admitted through the wards as the student leader of the Death Eaters. However, although no one else knew it, Ginny was connected to Voldemort with a deeper bond than anyone else in the world. She had a piece of him inside of her, a piece that would stay inside of her until the day she died.
Tom always had thought ahead. In case the impossible happened, in case he died, he left a bit of his soul behind in Ginevra Weasley, the last pureblood girl of the Light. This tiny piece of him would eventually take over a weak being as it was passed down through Ginevra's bloodline, and Voldemort would be reborn. It was too weak to take over Ginevra, but it could take over her child, or her grandchild, or anyone of her progeny. The risk would always be there. She would have to destroy herself after he died, in order to destroy his chance of ever returning, but she would get a chance to save her love first. Tom had never thought a witch could be noble enough to sacrifice her own life for the well-being of a distant future she would never have a part of…he always underestimated her.
"Hey, love. How are you feeling?" Draco's soft murmur shook her out of her thoughts.
"Better, Draco. Anything you want to talk about?" Draco's eyes were silver, a sure sign that he was upset about something. He smiled at her wistfully.
"You know me too well. But this is something I cannot talk about, Nevra. You know." He sighed. He hated keeping things from her. Her face tightened for a moment.
"I know, but that doesn't mean I like it." She patted the bed next to her, motioning for him to lie down next to her. He complied, wrapping an arm gently around her slender waist. She sighed and snuggled into his chest, breathing in his scent. He closed his eyes, trying to memorize the feel of her against him…knowing that this could be the last time for him to hold her. She pushed away suddenly, looking up at him.
"You can't." She let slip. She had to think…how could she hide that she knew about him. Meanwhile questions were running through Draco's mind. How could she know? What did she know?
"What?" He was bewildered…there was no way she could have broken through the wards on his and Snape's conversation…the warding was the only reason he dared talk about this in Nevra's hearing.
"You can't risk your life for me like you did at the Battle. If someone saw you killing Zabini, you would have died for treason." She quickly said, trying to cover up her outburst. Meanwhile, Draco sighed inwardly in relief. She did not know.
"The Dark Lord would take my word above any of his followers. Don't worry yourself, Nevra."
She went back to snuggling against him. They slowly fell asleep together. Not for the last time.
The Next Day-
Draco opened his eyes as the sun slipped over the horizon. He crept out of Nevra's infirmary bed and stalked over to Snape's room. He left two letters there: one for Snape, Dumbledore and the rest of the Order, and the other for Nevra. Then he grabbed his Death Eater mask and his wand, threw on his robes, and apparated to Voldemort's lair.
Snape opened his door to leave for his latest Potions class. He saw Draco's elegant script on the letters, and sighed. The time had come. He could not protest because he knew it was the only way. He called Minerva down and asked her to take his class. Then he headed up to Dumbledore's office. An emergency meeting of the Order met an hour later in the Room of Requirement.
Dumbledore sighed heavily. "Mr. Malfoy had begun his mission. We can only pray that he will be able to accomplish his job. Harry stands ready for Draco's signal."
Molly Weasley's tears ran down her face as she muttered to herself. "Oh Arthur, I hope you are watching this. I always told you to never judge a person by their name. A Malfoy is going to save the cause that you died for. Oh, that poor, poor boy."
As this meeting was going on, Ginevra awoke. Draco had left. Snape appeared in her room. "He has gone." The professor said abruptly. "He left this for you. Know that you are the person he lived for and he would die to save you. I think you changed my godson's life. Thank you for that." He handed her the letter that had been dropped on his doorstep. She looked at it blankly for a second as Snape strode out of the infirmary after a few whispered words to Madam Pomfrey. No time to read it now, it had begun. She had to stop him. She quickly slipped on Harry's Invisibility Cloak…she had borrowed it under the pretenses of going down to the kitchens for a late-night snack from the infirmary. She grabbed her wand off the bedside table, dropped her note on the counter and shut her eyes. She positioned the picture of the location from her dream in her mind. With a pop, she Apparated off the grounds. She appeared at the border of a forest just near the Swiss Alps. She could see the wards towering ahead. She sat down on the cold dirt and began to work away at them.
15 minutes later, she had a large hole formed. Quickly she stepped through, the ward filling in behind her. She was not powerful enough to keep it open after she went away a distance. It would not matter. The wards would open if her plan worked. She hoped the Order got her message…and her signal. She slowly walked over to where she could hear conversation. She heard Draco and Tom…and she could have sworn she heard Pansy Parkinson, and Malfoy Sr. Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle Seniors were there. Accompanying them were Wormtail, Avery, the Lestranges and Zabini (Senior, Draco had killed Blaise for Ginny).
"My Lord, Hogwarts is greatly weakened. If we attack again there, perchance we could-" Pansy began.
"No. It would not work. Last time we had people within Hogwarts helping us. And I know I would still be there, but one person is not enough. My Lord, our only option is to attack the Order Headquarters and get to Dumbledore. However, that will take months. Hogwarts is not a threat…we can hold off attack until we take care of the imminent threats." Draco snapped, trying to stall any immediate plans from taking place.
"You are right, Draco. The Dark Lord does not need to make his point in Hogwarts any longer. Dumbledore is crucial to the Light's victory. Destroy him! Get to him through his heart." Lucius broke in.
"Yes, the Malfoys are right, Parkinson. We will plan out an attack on Dumbledore next time we meet." It was time. Draco took out his wand and the glasses disappeared. Suddenly he turned his wand to his father. "Avada Kedavra." He smirked. He quickly killed Zabini Sr. (That's for all your bruises, Blaise! Draco thought), Parkinson, and Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange. Then he put up his shield.
Suddenly a redhead appeared in view. "Nevra, no!" Draco called. She smirked at him. His eyes widened. She added to Draco's shield, making sure he was protected and froze all the Death Eaters besides Voldemort with her "Petrificus Totalus Finite."
"So Tom, how are you?" Voldemort whirled, still in shock at the betrayal of the man who was like his son.
"Ginevra Weasley?" His voice was full of disbelief.
She laughed spitefully. "You better believe it, Tom. Crucio." Voldemort gasped with pain as the curse overtook him. "Leaving a bit of your soul in me has its negatives, Tom. I could kill you now if it was not destined for it to be Potter. But anything I do will affect you…because your magic is mine as well. Never thought a witch would give up her life for the good of a distant future she would never have a part of, right? I will not let my blood taint wizarding kind and let you have another chance to destroy our world. You always underestimated me, Riddle."
Suddenly Harry and members of the Order appeared and destroyed the frozen Death Eaters. Voldemort touched his Dark Mark and the rest of his force appeared. Voldemort and Nevra fought in a duel as Harry slowly crept up from behind. Draco watched helplessly, unable to do anything underneath the shield Nevra had put on him. The Order was busy fighting the Death Eaters. Suddenly one of the spells the Dark Lord shot at Nevra hit their target, and Draco's shield disappeared. He was immediately engaged in fighting with a Death Eater. Killing several wizards to get to her, he saw Voldemort lift his wand for the final spell. The one that would end it all.
"No." he whispered. "Diffindo Flamma." Voldemort writhed as a coil of flame encircled his hand. That gave Potter the opening to attack Riddle's mind and Voldemort screamed as Potter, furrowing his brows in concentration, flooded his mind with memories of love and things of the Light. Draco leapt in front of Potter, scooping up the fallen Nevra as he went, protecting Potter and Nevra from the sudden attack by the Death Eaters not engaged in a fight for their life by one of the Order. Just as suddenly as the fighting begun it stopped. As Voldemort collapsed, his mind broken by the love, all the Death Eaters collapsed, their hearts stopped. Only Draco, of all the people with the Dark Mark, remained standing. Draco smiled for the first time ever at Dumbledore…and Dumbledore smiled back.
"I am glad we took off all the magic surrounding your Dark Mark except for the Protean Charm, aren't you?" Dumbledore said, a twinkle in his eyes. Draco grinned.
"I am free. I am free, free, free, free! My father and Voldemort are DEAD! Ha-ha! Yes!" Draco yelled. Then, he looked down and the elation on his face became grim. "I have to go. Nevra…I don't know what hit her." He apparated to the Hogwarts Infirmary without another word.
Harry Potter looked at Dumbledore, realization apparent in his eyes. "Guess a name does not count for everything." Dumbledore laughed.
"Certainly not, Harry. He loves her, you know. Their love is eternal…it was written in a prophecy by Merlin years ago…The Angel and the Dragon. Their love would save the wizarding world, as we know it. And it did today. Draco's true change to the Light came when she did into his life. And without them fighting for the Light, you would have never gotten the chance to kill Him. Draco saved your life today, you know."
Harry sighed heavily. "I know, and I was a pompous ass…but so was he, you know. I am more like my father than I would like to think. But I will apologize, unlike James all those years ago."
Dumbledore smiled. "You have learned well, Harry. Learn from the past to build the future. Our work is done; our time is over. Now it is time for the future to take on our cause. Ginevra is dying…Tom left a bit of his soul in her. She is killing herself on the inside, so that he will never have another chance to hurt our world."
Tears gathered in Harry's emerald eyes. "No. It cannot…she cannot…Damn! How can Voldemort hurt me even after he is gone?"
Dumbledore's tears were lost in the tangle of his beard. "Let us pray this is the last time. Ginevra is pure of heart and soul. The world will miss the Angel."
As this went on, Madam Pomfrey frowned at Draco. "I do not know what is wrong with her."
"I know what's wrong with me." Draco looked down anxiously, caressing Nevra's cheek in his hand. She turned her tortured eyes to him. "Tell me." The pleading request was in her eyes.
He shuddered with regret. "We will be together forever. When this is all over, everyone will be able to accept us. We will move to the country. We will have two children and name them Narcissa and Arthur. They will have your hair and my eyes. We will have a flower garden and work together in it every day. Our daughter will put lilies of the valley in her hair and make necklaces with you. We will live there until we are old and gray, and our children will come back with their children and we will hear laughter in the garden once more." His voice shook. This was their dream, their forever if they were to have one. She took his hand in her trembling ones, and shut her eyes, not wanting to see his face when she told him.
"Voldemort left a bit of his soul in me when he left my body after the Chamber. This part of his soul will be passed down through my blood and eventually take over a weak person. Then Voldemort will be reborn to wreak havoc once more. I am too strong for it, but not all of my progeny will be. Someday in the distant future, if I remain, Voldemort will reappear. It is killing me all by itself…but if it didn't I would have to end my life myself."
Draco's eyes filled with tears that spilled over onto his cheeks. "Damn it, Nevra, we were supposed to be for forever." A sob slipped through his lips and Ginny shook with regret.
"We are forever. Our hearts are always together, aren't they?" She whispered to him. He nodded mutely. He got on the bed with her, and held her close. With tears streaking down his face, and his heart breaking, he closed his eyes. She did the same, and they fell asleep together. Madam Pomfrey looked on at the two young lovers with tears in her eyes. She brushed them away as news came to her from the battlefield. Ronald Weasley was dead, and Hermione Granger had died defending his fallen body. So many youth had died today. It made her wonder what the future held for the wizarding world. But as she looked at the Weasley Angel and the Malfoy Dragon, she knew that the world held hope. And with hope, everything was all right.
Draco awoke to Nevra's harsh breathing. He held her close as he called from Madam Pomfrey frantically. She rushed over as he smoothed her hair and she struggled within his grasp. "No, Tom, I won't let you. No, you can't." She muttered. Draco looked at Madam in panic. She shook her head in defeat.
Draco desperately whispered in her ear, "Dammit, Nevra! Fight this! You are stronger than he is. Do it for us! Do it for the children we will have. Come on, Angel! I love you and you know it. We are forever. Some little boy cannot stop you. Fight him!"
Nevra's eyes opened. Her fear was visible in her eyes. "Draco, tell me. Tell me." She writhed in pain. Draco's tears soaked her hair and his voice broke and cracked.
"I-I love you. We will be together forever…" He let out a soft sob. "When this is all over, everyone will be able to accept us. We will move to the country. We will have two children and name them Narcissa and Arthur."
She gasped and pain glazed her eyes. He kissed her forehead softly.
"They will have your hair and my eyes. We will have a flower garden and work together in it every day. Our daughter will put lilies of the valley in her hair and make necklaces with you."
Her limbs jerked as Madam Pomfrey looked on in horror, her hands covering her mouth. Draco's eyes gazed into Ginny's as he pulled her close and rocked her.
"We will live there until we are old and gray, and our children will come back with their children and we will hear laughter in the garden once more."
Ginny gripped his hand in a vise. "Dragon, I-I love you!" Her hand went slack and her eyes fluttered shut. Draco buried his face in her shoulder and sobbed. His world fell apart as he heard her heart slowly faded away. Her chest stopped moving and the ragged sound of her breathing disappearing, leaving the room silent. Madam Pomfrey slipped out the door, leaving Draco with his love, his Angel. He looked at her soft features. At the future they would never have. He touched her cheek softly as tears shook in his voice. "I love you forever, Angel."
One week later, Dumbledore handed Draco an unopened letter. "She never opened it. She did not need to. She already knew what you were planning. She saved us all. Without her to hurt Voldemort, Harry would have not gotten the opening he needed."
Draco grimaced bitterly. "In all honesty, the Light can go to hell if I could get her back. I really do not care about anything but her. I do not care what her death accomplished, what legacy she left or who she saved. I care that she is gone and we don't have a forever anymore."
Dumbledore said softly, "But you should care. She would have cared…she gave her life for the things she accomplished."
Draco turned his back to him. "She gave her life up. That is all that matters. She is not here anymore. I am lost. My Angel is gone…I always thought I would die before her…I don't know what to live for anymore. There is nothing left."
Dumbledore smiled. "Her love is wherever you look. In the trees, the summer breeze, in laughter, in hope, in the clouds. And that is what you live for. You live for children's laughter, for hope, for love, for laughter. You live for her. For what she lived for."
Draco slowly turned, realization on his face. He smiled for the first time in days. "Forever. For what she lived for." He turned and walked out of Hogwarts, never to been seen by the magical world again. Many years later, Dumbledore got a letter from a Muggle lawyer.
-
Dear Albus Dumbledore,
Mr. Draco Malfoy has been a prominent executive for many years. He has made quite a fortune in the wedding planning business. He recently passed away and left the execution of the will to you. It is quite simple. All of his 10.8 billion dollar fortune should go to Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Below is his message to you.
-
Dumbledore,
I did what you asked…well not really. Not until now. But I lived with this day in mind…the day of my death. The day I would fulfill Ginevra's wish, the day I would join her again. Anyways, I made a fortune in the wedding business. Every wedding I planned was like the one I dreamed of with Nevra. Hogwarts was where our love was born, where we knew it was forever, where everything came together. So my money goes to Hogwarts.
My only requirement for the use of part of this money is that every year, there must be a masked ball in Ginevra's honor. At this ball, the Headmaster shall arrange couples. No two from the same House may be paired together. Try to arrange it so that people get to talk to people they would never meet under normal circumstances. These couples must accompany each other throughout the whole dance. At the end, everyone shall take off their masks and find out who their date was.
The point of this is to prevent something like what happened with Nevra and me. We wasted so much time we could have had together because of our names. The rest of the money can be used in whatever way the Headmaster and the Board Of Governors sees fit.
Yours Truly,
D.M.
-
Dumbledore smiled. It looked as if Draco had found his reason to live. And it looked like he had found peace. All was well with the world. He settled down to arrange this masked ball Draco had requested. It seemed like a very good idea to him.
The Dragon and the Angel had made their love last forever. Their forever was as long as the sun shined, as long as there was hope, as long as children would laugh, as long as blossoms spread their petals, as long as there was good in the world. Forever was however long one wanted it to be…and Draco and Nevra had found that their forever knew no bounds…not the names Malfoy or Weasley…not even life and death.
A/N - Nothing mentioned previously in the Harry Potter books is mine. Ginevra overheard Draco's warded conversation because her powers combined with Voldemort's making her the most powerful witch in the world. She subconsciously did the magic to remove the wards. Dumbledore has removed Draco from the Apparition Ward, and Ginny used the example of Draco to free herself from the Ward previously. That is how they both can apparate off school grounds in this story. Ginny also has the ability (also from Tom Riddle) to "see" magic.