Hello my ever-faithful readers! Did I not promise an update by the end of June? Yes, it's the very last day of June, but it's here. I want to thank everyone SO much for being patient. The reviews were amazing - I read them all to push myself to continue with this story. This chapter is for every one of you, and for my amazing beta, Amanda, who went right to work even after I disappeared for a few months.
There are possibly four chapters left. Possibly as in I never really know where the chapter or storyline will take me until I'm writing it. July is going to be pretty hectic, but I decided to permanently make Wednesdays my writing days. This is why you all should know how much I appreciate you - I'm skipping the gym to finish this story, and I'm a gym junkie!
Enough rambling. On with the show!
Chapter Sixteen
~*~
When Ginny opened her eyes, Draco was hovering over her face. His face was pale and panic-stricken, and looked older than the face she had just seen in her mind. Or her memory, Ginny thought, of how she and Draco started their secret relationship. He may have initiated it, but she followed through.
Draco's hands cupped her face; his skin felt hot against her cheeks. "Are you OK?" he asked, his eyes wild and his voice strained. "Do you feel different? Anything hurt?"
Ginny stared up at him, confused. She could tell by the sound of his voice that something wasn't right. But she had more important things to figure out.
"The Evening Prophet," she said, "the one that announced your father's death. Do you have it?"
Her steady voice betrayed how she felt; her mind was in a whirlpool, and she was trying to fight the current. What she just dreamt - no, it was real. Or at least it felt real. What just went on her in mind - a memory, a flashback, a hallucination - it felt as real as Draco's hands against her face. Her only hope of not losing her mind was to prove how much of it was factual.
Draco scrunched his eyebrows, but to Ginny's relief he did not ask questions. Instead, he gave her a quizzical look before he stood up. Only then did she notice she was lying in bed, naked, as she had been before she had the vision, but that Draco had pants on and was standing next to the bed.
"What happened?" Ginny said, her voice weaker. She felt her face; it was warm and moist, as if she was sweating.
"You fainted," Draco said from across the room. At the sound of a drawer closing, Ginny clutched the blankets around her chest and sat up while Draco walked away from a small desk in the corner of his room. He handed her a crinkled, faded copy of The Evening Prophet. It was just as she had seen it in her mind: "Lucius Malfoy Found Dead in Ministry" in bold, black letters. She wasn't going crazy and if that was true, then the following events had happened as well.
She put the paper up her lap and looked at Draco who was still standing. "It was exactly how you described," she whispered, more to herself. "Your father's death … me coming to your room … us. You were telling the truth."
She thought Draco would be satisfied with her words, but his face was tight, and there was no smile. "And how do you know that?"
Ginny frowned. His cold voice erased any warm feelings that were gathering. "I … in my head. I was thinking about it after you told me, then I felt a sharp pain and -"
Ginny stopped. She knew she had said too much by the look of anger and sadness on his face. It was the same look when she had found out that he had taken her memories, and when he said she wasn't ready to accept the truth and he couldn't force her. It was the look of a defeated man who regretted a decision he had made.
"What did you do to me?" she whispered.
Draco grabbed a robe off the ground and handed it to her. "Get dressed." He wouldn't look at her.
Ginny stared at the robe, then him. "You did this when you took my memories. You … you did something wrong."
Draco's hand clenched the robe, but he still would not look at her. "I don't make mistakes. I know exactly what I'm doing."
"Then why is your hand shaking?"
They both looked at his shaking, pale hand that still clenched the robe as if it was someone's neck. Ginny knew he wouldn't remove it, though, because that would draw attention to the fact that she had something on him. And he couldn't back out of the corner that easily.
Instead, she leaned over and grabbed the robe. He didn't look at her as he let it go and she put it over her naked body. Despite what lie he was telling, she just couldn't see him in such a state. It frightened her to see Draco so unnerved.
She stood up next to him. She stayed there until he finally looked her in the eye. They held each other's gaze for a moment.
"How do you expect me to believe what you say about the past when you don't tell me the truth about the present?"
Draco showed no emotion. "Before you never doubted me."
Ginny tightened the sash around her waist. "I'm not too sure that part of me existed."
She walked away and out of his room before he could convince her to do otherwise. When she thought her newest memory would bring her one step closer, it only put her and Draco two steps behind.
~*~
It was hard to put herself in Draco Malfoy's shoes when she wasn't sure who he really was. The Draco she grew up with was easy to describe: arrogant, spoiled, evil little bugger with greasy hair, who never had a worry so she would never be in situation of seeing it from his side. And he was the same when she was brought to Malfoy Manor as a prisoner, minus the greasy hair.
But the Draco she knew now … despite what was truth or lies, she had seen hurt in his face. She had heard his laughter. She had felt his gentle hands on her body. The more she was around him, the more she realized Draco Malfoy was a human being after all, and not a monster.
Had she done that? Had she changed him?
Ginny pondered over this as she brushed her hair. She had showered and changed into a simple shirt and jeans. Though her wand was in the back pocket and she could have used magic to do her hair, she enjoyed the soothing strokes of the brush. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend it was her mother's hand, trying to calm her.
The closer Ginny was to discovering who Draco was there was another setback. There had been many situations that proved there was more to Draco than a nasty human being, but what was his motive? If his whole mission was to gain her trust, reveal their secret past - maybe even hope for her to fall in love with him again - why wasn't he laying all the cards on the table? His big secret was out; what was Draco still hiding?
There was a knock at her door, making her hand pause. She wasn't ready to face Draco yet. If she had to deal with one more lie, one more reason to make her question everything leading up to this point, she didn't know how she would handle it.
After another knock, Ginny made an effort to take a deep breath, put down her brush, and walk towards the door. No matter how angry, annoyed, or tired she was of it all, she would have to face what was on the other side of that door. She didn't come this far to give up.
Ginny opened her bedroom door. "What is it this time, Dra-"
Snape stood in front of her, not Draco. Ginny almost yelped at the sight of him. It has to be a shock for anyone to expect a face like Draco and instead get Snape.
"Wha- what are you doing here?" Ginny asked, collecting herself. "Did Draco send you?"
Snape pushed past her and shut the door behind him, locking them in her room. A sudden fear clutched at her chest - not at being stuck in a room with a Death Eater, despite what Snape's story may be - but at the look on his face. She had seen Snape angry, annoyed, and even startled. But now, he just look worried and made no attempt to hide it. To see Snape so … normal scared her.
"Draco doesn't know I'm here, so we must make this quick," Snape hissed. He pulled out his wand and cast a silencing charm on the door.
"What's wrong? Is everything OK?" Ginny asked.
Snape shook his head. "It's Lovegood," he said. "She's dying."
Ginny's legs felt like jelly; she had just enough strength to stumble back onto her bed before she hit the ground. "Luna?" was all she could mutter. The only friend who had survived the war? The person she had just found so recently … she was leaving her like all the rest of them? Those two words grabbed hold of her and brought her back to the place she tried so hard to forget - the dark, cold, empty place she felt her mind recede to somewhere inside when those she loved were picked off one by one.
Ginny willed herself not to cry, not in front of Snape, not like this. "How … why …"
"She went through premature labor," Snape said, looking over his shoulder at the door. "Flint was … a bit too rough with her."
Thoughts of despair and grief were replaced with sudden anger; it was like a high. Adrenaline coursed through Ginny, bringing her to her feet. "That bastard," Ginny spat. She wanted to hurt him. If she only had when she was at the ball, when she had that knife pressed to his neck, making him promise to leave Luna alone …
And then, that worried look Snape had fell into place. He wasn't worried about Luna's state, because he had never shown much concern for her in the first place. He was worried about Ginny's reaction to what happened to Luna, and what caused the abuse in the first place.
"It was because of me," Ginny said. "I threatened him. I told him to leave her and the baby alone, and I'd let him live. And then he saw my face."
When Snape's face didn't change, she knew it was the truth. Nausea swept over her, but she fought it. "It's revenge," she said. "He's doing this just to get back at me, to ruin me."
Another event occurred to her, one that happened before she discovered Draco's memory of them being lovers. "The last time I saw you was when Draco was called away to You-Know-Who. It was after the incident with Flint, when Draco attacked him to save me, and I thought Draco was being punished for doing so. But you said nothing happened. Was this -"
"Flint never went to the Dark Lord about what took place at the masquerade ball," Snape said. "That would ruin all the fun for him."
Ginny shook her head. "No, no this can't be happening," she said, getting louder by the word. "She's the only one I have left. He couldn't have … how could he sacrifice a life for his pride?" She stared at Snape with an urge of desperation. "And the baby?"
Snape glanced at the floor. "She's struggling."
A girl. Luna had a baby girl. A glimpse of hope passed through her, not only for the baby to survive but also at the chance Flint may give her away since she is a female and couldn't be his heir. Any home would be better than a rapist's and a murder's.
"You said Luna's dying," Ginny said, "as in she's not dead yet - she's still alive."
"Before she lost consciousness she asked me to get you." Snape shook his head. "I thought she was speaking gibberish. How could she know I have contact with you?"
"You'd be surprised at how well Luna can read people," Ginny said, thinking back to her meeting with the blue-eyed girl, when she spoke of Draco's true feelings. "But that's enough talking." She grabbed her green cloak off the chair. "Take me to her."
Ginny was surprised but thankful when Snape didn't object. His whole being here - sneaking around Malfoy Manor, silencing the door, taking her to the one place Draco wouldn't want her to be - went against how he had acted so far. But when Snape opened the door and checked if it was clear, she realized this was his final act of loyalty. Snape had been known for years as a traitor to the Order of the Phoenix, and now he was about to clear his name to help the last member save her only friend left.
When they were in the hallway, Ginny hesitated outside Draco's door. She was mad at him and sick of his games, but she had a nagging feeling that she should tell him where she was going. Last time she was near Flint, horrible things almost happened. And they only didn't because of Draco.
But Draco would also stop her from going. He wouldn't care - couldn't understand - that someone she loves is dying, and she needs to be with that person. Luna was still alive, and every second Ginny wasted trying to explain herself to Draco, the closer Ginny was to loosing her. If Flint was there, she would deal with him. This time she had a wand, and only Snape and Draco knew that.
Ginny followed Snape down the stairs and out of the manor. This was her fight. The war wasn't over yet.
Snape told her, as they quickly walked down the path towards the gate to Apparate to Flint's mansion, not to worry about Flint. When he learned his child was a girl, he told Snape to "toss it" and then left in a rage. According to Snape, he was either drunk or at one of his whores' places.
That didn't stop the nerves in Ginny's stomach before they Apparated together. When Ginny opened her eyes again, she was inside a room.
"How did we get inside?" she whispered to Snape. She couldn't help but keep her voice down at the enemy's house.
"I took down the wards before I left," he said. He grabbed her arm and led her out of the main hall. "We can't waste any more time."
Ginny nodded and let Snape guide her up the spiraling staircase. Each step built the tension in her muscles and the adrenaline in her nerves. She was terrified of what she would find, but her loyalty to Luna and hatred towards Flint overpowered it.
And somewhere in the middle stood Draco. There was once a time when she despised him more than Flint. If what Draco said was true about them being secret lovers, then there was also once a time that her loyalty was to him, and she chose him before her friends and family.
It was not that time now. She pushed Draco out of her mind. With every step his image grew stronger in her head, and her heart beat faster with a secret wish that he was there by her side. But up until this point, Draco was always making the decisions, and choosing the sacrifices. Where did that leave her besides alone, confused, and aching for something real? Now reality was in her grasp, and she couldn't just walk away. She remembered the dead look in Luna's eyes and the numbing pain in her voice. Ginny had to save Luna.
"What's really going on with you and Draco?"
Snape's voice made Ginny jump, and his wording confused her. Before, he had seen enough to gather his own decisions: walking in on her and Draco in bed, seeing the contraceptive potion. Regardless of what she tried to say in her defense, Snape always passed along his warnings to not get close to Draco, and that he wasn't to be trusted. If that wasn't enough, her last visit with Snape uncovered that her memory was blocked.
"I … I don't know what you mean," Ginny said. Was there a chance that Snape knew what Draco blocked, of their secret affair? Her stomach turned at the thought; she was tied between wanting another side of what happened and fearing that it could be used against her or Draco. She felt safe enough with Snape to bring her away from Malfoy Manor, but she also knew if anyone learned the truth of what Draco had done, he would be in trouble.
She glanced at Snape, and saw his pale cheeks flush red, as if he was angered at her playing stupid. First he was worried, and now he was angry. She had never seen him react this much.
"I mean," Snape said slowly, "that you can confide in me. Surely you must trust me enough."
They had stopped outside a door, and though she knew Luna was on the other side, all Ginny could do was stare at Snape. Something was bothering her. Snape of all people should know what it was like to trust anyone in the dark world they now lived in. She couldn't even trust the person she was sleeping with, whom she had a supposed past with. Snape would have enough sense not to question a subject of trust.
It reminded her of when she overheard Snape ask Draco if he trusted her. "Trust is a tricky thing that I don't think any of us should take lightly," Draco said.
Snape opened up the door to a dark room. "Luna's in here."
Ginny didn't move. Draco's words were on repeat in her head. Somewhere a clock chimed the hour, and Snape's eyebrow twitched, as if his patience was running out.
"Ginny?"
Ginny stared into the room. It was Luna's voice. It sounded strained and faint, and all of her confusion with Snape faded from her mind. She was here for a reason.
"Luna," she said and pushed past Snape. When her eyes adjusted to the dark room, Ginny stopped. There was a bed, but no one was in it. Ginny spun around to question Snape. "What -"
Ginny stopped. There was a wand in Snape's hand and a smirk on his face. He whispered a spell and as candles lit around them Ginny watched Snape's crooked nose shape to a smaller, upturned nose, and his black eyes turned to blue. His height shrunk, his body became curvy, and his hair went from greasy black to straight and brown.
It wasn't Snape who had brought her to Flint's mansion. It was Pansy.
All Ginny could do was take a step back. It was too late to go for her wand - Pansy was already pointing hers.
"What's the matter, Weasley?" Pansy asked in a voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard. "You look as if you've never seen the effects of Polyjuice Potion before."
Ginny's head was spinning. How could she be so stupid? She knew something was off with Snape the moment he walked into her bedroom and looked worried. And then to have him question her and Draco …
"Where's Draco?" Ginny asked. "What have you done with him?"
"Well aren't you a loyal pet?" Pansy asked as she took a step closer. "Haven't you noticed that that's what got you here in the first place?" She laughed. "We knew it would be too easy to get a Gryffindor running over here. All you need is to offer them a little bait and make them a hero."
Dread filled Ginny's stomach. "We?"
"Now how would I be a proper host if I wasn't here to greet my guests?" said a male voice behind her.
Ginny spun around. Flint was leaning on the wall behind her next to a mirror.
He barked out a laugh. "I forgot how much I miss that look," he said as he stared at her. "Have you forgotten already, Weasley, what Slytherins are best at? We're not all as nice as Malfoy."
Flint spit Draco's name as if it was dirt on his lips. It made Ginny flinch, but she held her ground.
"You want to know something funny?" Flint asked as he walked away from the mirror and towards her. Ginny fought not to back away, and was thankful when he stopped a few feet in front of her. "At Hogwarts, we thought of Malfoy as some sort of leader. I mean, with a father like his, he was raised to know hate, to understand how to screw over everyone and do anything - and I mean anything - to get what he wanted. Even though he was younger, I knew one day with the Dark Lord in charge, Malfoy would be at the top.
"I always hated the prat, but I respected him. We had a mutual understanding of each other. Among Death Eaters, there are no friends. Only those who you know won't turn on you if given a chance."
Ropes sprung out of his wand before Ginny could move. She yelled as they wrapped tightly around her torso, pinning her arms to the side. Panic didn't set in until it stopped there, and she saw that her legs were not tied together.
When she looked up, Flint was in front of her. He was so close that she could see the glint in his eyes, and smell tobacco on his breath. His smirk was replaced with a crazed smile, like someone who had waited his whole life for something, and it was now in his grasp.
"But that all changed, didn't it?" Flint whispered. He walked away from her and leaned against the bed, staring at her. "Don't think of me as a bitter man, Weasley. My heart isn't broken that Malfoy had the nerve to attack me."
Ginny's heart stopped. From the moment she saw Flint, she assumed this was his way of getting even with Draco. Of course, for Draco to attack Flint for her, a traitor and filth to Flint, had to cross him enough to seek revenge. "Then why am I here?" Ginny said. She may have felt fear, but she refused to show it.
Flint smiled at her. "I want a taste of whatever was good enough to break the famous Draco Malfoy."
Ginny forced herself not to cry. She knew from the moment she saw him to when he left her legs untouched what he planned to do with her.
But when Flint reached for her and grabbed the ropes, Ginny did yell. She screamed the moment she felt his rough hands on her skin. When he went to grab her clothes, Ginny kneed him hard in the crotch.
Flint dropped his hands with a sharp breath, but before Ginny could recover, he slapped her across the face so hard she staggered backwards. The wall caught her, and as Ginny leaned against it, catching her breath, she looked up at Flint through the curtain of hair that covered her face. Before he was playing. Now he meant business.
"That's enough." Ginny jumped at Pansy's voice - she had forgotten she was there. Pansy pointed her wand and Ginny and the ropes dropped to the ground, freeing her. For a brief moment, desperate hope engulfed Ginny that as a woman, Pansy wouldn't allow such a thing. That even though Pansy killed many people, she couldn't stand by and watch another woman be raped.
But the look on Pansy's face scared her far more than Flint's. In Flint's words, he wanted a sample of Ginny. In Pansy's eyes, she wanted to get rid of Ginny.
"We agreed that I would seek my revenge first before you break her," Pansy said to Flint. She looked back at Ginny when she said "break."
Ginny wanted to feel relief that Flint couldn't touch her, not yet, but she couldn't breathe from the look in Pansy's eyes.
Flint didn't like the idea either. "Not anymore," he growled. "You had your chance when you brought her over here."
"She wouldn't talk, you idiot," Pansy snapped. She pointed her wand at him, sparks erupting from the tip. "Get out now, or I'll make you."
There was no room for choice. In all her years of knowing Pansy, Ginny had never seen her so serious or so angry. Flint must have thought so, too, because though he glared at her, he left the room without a look back. He slammed the door, causing the candles to flicker from the gust of air.
Ginny and Pansy watched each other in the flickering light. Shadows of light danced across Pansy's face, making the anger in her face more intense, and Ginny more aware that she was better off with Flint.
"You should have killed yourself when you had the chance, Weasley."
Ginny's mouth dropped open. "How do you -"
"How do I know you slit your wrists before the Dark Lord could murder you?" Pansy finished. "I gave you the knife."
Silence filled the room. The two stared at each other as Ginny tried to collect her thoughts and memories. "But you were with Draco that day," Ginny said. "He told me. I thought it was you and he said you were with him."
"You really are worthless," Pansy said. "It was Polyjuice, Weasley. I had Flint use it to become me. I told him to go with Draco that day, that I had a special assignment from the Dark Lord I needed to take care of. But really, I knew if I succeeded, and you killed yourself, Draco wouldn't stop at anything to find out who it was. And he'd kill them as well."
It wasn't finding out that Pansy gave her the knife that made Ginny's stomach drop. It was that before Draco claimed Ginny as his prisoner, Pansy knew that a Malfoy would care that a Weasley was killed.
Pansy knew Draco's secret. She knew everything.
Ginny's face flushed; she felt like she was going to be sick. Pansy must have seen it on her face, because she nodded.
"That's right, Weasley," she said. "All this time Draco thought he was being so careful. He certainly did fool a lot of people, including the Dark Lord. Except Draco had forgotten that before you came around, I knew him best."
Ginny took a deep breath, making sure her stomach would stay down. "How long did you know?"
"The moment he wouldn't look at me anymore," she said so quietly, Ginny thought she maybe was imaging it. "Unlike Flint, I don't take it lightly when someone on my side chooses filth over me."
For a moment, Ginny almost felt sorry for her. She could see the pain in her face, a feeling she must have harbored for years and told no one about. Ginny remembered Draco talking about him and Pansy, and saying it was like her and Harry - they were together merely for appearances, but the feelings weren't there. She imagined Harry looking like that if he had ever found out about her and Draco.
Her and Draco. She knew at that moment, from the broken look on Pansy's face, that they did indeed have something going on at Hogwarts. Ginny may not have known the details, but the truth was written all over Pansy.
"Does Draco know?" was all Ginny could ask.
Pansy looked at her, as if she was coming out of a daze, or a memory. "Of course not," she said. "Do you think he would trust me enough to let me live?"
"But you haven't said anything yet."
"That's because unlike him, I know where my loyalties stand," Pansy spat. "This isn't about some teenage love, or me not getting my way. I sat back for years knowing what was going behind everyone's back because I didn't have the strength to turn in the one person I had any connection with. We lost people on our side also, Weasley. Every time he would appear happier, or hesitate before he attacked a Gryffindor, or sneak around duties and have other people die in his place, I knew it was all for you. Every damn time I was one step closer to going to the Dark Lord because I was so sick of seeing it all, but as more people died around me, I realized I couldn't lose him. I just couldn't do it."
Pansy's eyes glistened, and her body shook. "So when you were caught and in prison, I knew then that the only way to get rid of the problem was to get rid of you."
Ginny was too shocked to react to Pansy's last sentence. She had never thought about how the war affected the other side on an emotional level. Every time someone she loved died, she hated the Death Eaters and dark side even more. And every time one of them died, it was a win for her.
"I don't remember anything," Ginny said before she could think. She wasn't making excuses. She just had to say it. "He took all my memories of him. Of us."
Pansy nodded. "I thought as much. You were different in prison than you were at school. If I was careful enough at Hogwarts, I could see you sneak glances at him in the Great Hall, or smile a little when your shoulders brushed in the halls. But when you were brought into prison, after mysteriously being away while your whole family was murdered, you looked just as confused as the rest of us. And the few times I saw you after with Draco, you looked at him differently. You didn't love him, but I also noticed that you didn't hate him, as a prisoner should. As a Weasley and Malfoy should."
Pansy's words struck a chord. "It's true then?" she asked. "I really did love him?"
For a moment, it felt like Ginny was talking to a best friend, someone she could spill all of her secrets to with the relief of no longer carrying them around. But then reality kicked in as Pansy's face darkened. Pansy may have known the truth, and she may have kept it to herself. But she wanted to hear nothing more of it.
"I told you Weasley," Pansy said, "there will be a time and a place when Draco can't rescue you."
Ginny stared at Pansy's wand pointed towards her. She had to buy time. She had to think. "But if you kill me Draco will know it was you. He'll come after you."
"Who said I'm going to be the one to finish you off?" she said. "There's a reason I told Flint he could have you after I'm done. To him, you're too damaged to fight him off. To Draco, it will look like Flint raped and murdered you. I'll have no part in this."
"But if you really care about Draco like you say you do, wouldn't it kill you to see him suffer like that?" Ginny cried as she backed against the wall. "Do you think he's just going to go back to you and forget about me?"
The last words came out more bitter than she had meant. Up until that point, Ginny's plan was to reason. But then the truth snuck out, and she knew there was no reasoning with someone who had probably planned this for years. Whatever Ginny and Draco had done in the past to hurt Pansy, she was dealing with it now.
The look on Pansy's face promised that Ginny would feel every ounce of hatred.
"Crucio!" Pansy yelled as she pointed her wand at Ginny's chest.
The curse threw her against the wall and dropped her to the ground. It was a pain Ginny had never known was possible. Through the deafening pain she could hear screams coming from a body she no longer wanted. She was being stabbed over and over, everywhere. Her body writhed on the ground; it convulsed as she desperately wished for it to end. Her throat grew raw from her screams but still she continued, growing louder with the increasing pain. Why hadn't she killed herself when she had the chance? She would take death over this pain. She would -
It stopped. Ginny gulped air and struggled to breathe as her body shook on the ground. Sweat dripped from her body and tears streamed from her eyes. Why was she being tortured for something she didn't remember?
"Get up," Pansy snarled, kicking Ginny in the side. "Come on, where's your bravery now, Weasley?"
Ginny cried out to the new pain. She tried to curl up in a ball, but Pansy kicked her again. But still Ginny's body shook from the curse, and still she cried. Was her family tortured before their death? Did they still struggle to stand and fight? But what was the point anymore, Ginny thought. She was fighting every day to stay alive, but she wasn't meant for a life in this new world. If she managed to get out alive today, what would tomorrow bring? And the next? She was meant to die with her family.
A memory filled her mind so suddenly it stopped her tears. It was of Hermione before her death. She said, "Don't be sad, Ginny. Death will set me free. But you … you still have more waiting for you. I know it."
She still had Draco.
Ginny closed her eyes and pictured Draco. She knew it was too late; he couldn't save her this time. But she would go out fighting like he will to avenge her death. He had done and sacrificed so much to get her this far. Ginny refused to die giving up on the floor.
Despite her shaky arms protesting, Ginny slowly lifted herself to her knees, and then her feet. She rested her hands on her hips and keeled over slightly, catching her breath. She looked down at Pansy's shoes tapping impatiently.
"Pathetic," Pansy said. "I have no idea what he ever saw in you. At first I thought it was to piss Potter off. But Draco still stuck around even after he killed your boyfriend."
Rage coursed through Ginny's body. She grabbed her wand from her back pocket, pointed it at Pansy, and screamed -
"Avada Kedavra!"
A jet of green light filled the room and blinded Ginny. When she opened her eyes, Pansy was dead on the ground, her face forever frozen in shock. And in the door stood Draco, his chest heaving and his wand still pointing at Pansy.
~*~
You'd think after the long wait I'd be compassionate enough to not leave a cliffhanger, but that's just not my style!
Who is excited for the Harry Potter movie coming out??
Once again, thanks to everyone, and especially those who take the time to review.
Much love,
Liz21