Author's Notes: After much arsing around, I'm back and getting down to business with this fic. Thanks to Marcia for the spectacular beta. The next chapter will be the last. - fallenwitch
Chapter 9
I Love You, Ginny
Draco held his wand out, straight and steady, and cast the unforgivable killing curse, watching it fly from the tip of his wand into his father's heart. No, he never saw it coming and never knew what hit him. As Lucius's body began to fall, a high-pitched sizzle spread from the point of impact, roaring through the stifling cavern and shaking the meters thick walls with a tumultuous set of low humming vibrations. One violent shake later, the ground jerked out from under him.
As Draco fell, he grabbed onto his wand with both hands in a death grip, unwilling to lose the only thing capable of saving his life. A second later, the cavern imploded, sending him flying through the air, his hands still gripping his precious wand until everything went still and quiet.
He lay there disoriented and gasping for air, extracting what oxygen he could from the dust-ridden air searing his lungs. His life was being sucked out of him one molecule at a time, but he had successfully held tight to his wand, the magical gift that would save his life once again.
Draco awoke confused and gasping for air as he hung onto his non-existent wand. He felt her silent struggle before he saw it. Looking down, his hands were locked around Ginny's neck, strangling the life out of her. She was no longer pummelling him with her hands and feet. She was too weak for that. Her face was flush and held a lethal bluish tint. Her eyes were fixed on his, wet with fear and pleading. Fuck!
"Ginny!"
He released her and watched her body collapse. She rolled over onto her stomach and took her first lifesaving breath, both hands clutching her chest, eyes watering. She took one gasping breath after another, coughing and sputtering as her frantic lungs spasmed in deoxygenated terror.
Draco was at her side, sick and helpless, one incantation away from St. Mungos even as her struggle eased. His eyes were focused on her body as it relaxed and rolled over. She was no longer clutching her chest or wheezing. Sitting up, she pushed her tangled mane of crimson out of her face.
Before she could speak, Draco snatched her precious life form to his, crying his incoherent and heartsick apology over and over again. He was hysterical with fear and grief and unable to tolerate the thought of his insanity snuffing out her life. Rocking her back and forth, he would not loosen his hold on her or let her go.
"No, Draco…don't…it's okay. I'm okay."
He shook his head. Her soothing touch was on him, comforting him as he fell into her lap, clutching her waist, too distraught to move.
He lay in a heap, unable to move, as the enormity of the danger continued to filter in, leaving its murky stain on his already blighted consciousness. Ginny laid down next to Draco and pulled his frightened frame to her, cradling him in her arms. Draco closed his eyes and listened to the rhythmic beating of her heart and her slow, comfortable breathing over and over again, reassuring himself that her life force was indeed intact on this side of that damn veil.
How many times had he had that wretched dream lying side-by-side with her? How many times had he unknowingly put her life at risk? Her life wasn't a game he cared to gamble on. He couldn't even love her in an appropriate fashion. What kind of miserable, worthless excuse for a wizard was he? Hell, he had been castrated years ago and was just getting around to figuring it out. What a fucking joke.
"Lumos."
Minutes later, Draco held Ginny's throat in his hands as he examined the fresh, red bruises which mirrored his hands and formed a grotesque circle around the translucent skin of her neck. He held her protesting hands at bay and ignored her verbal admonishments.
"Stop fussing, Draco, honestly. It's nothing."
"Dear god," he murmured, wanting to close his eyes and shut out the horror of his actions, but he wouldn't allow himself that fantasy. Not tonight. "I nearly killed you." As his wand traced the telltale circle around her throat, he whispered the same healing incantation over and over again, vanishing bruise after bruise. But there was no spell for the horror inflicted on his heart.
Ginny wiggled as Draco's wand sent a warm, tickling sensation over every inch of her throat, finally letting out a giggle and whacking his wand aside. "That tickles," she admonished. He glowered at her.
"Well, it's not funny, Gin. Not even close." She nodded at the pain in his voice and the anguish in his eyes and held out her throat for him again. Several minutes and one minor explosion of giggles later, all visible traces of the event were gone. Draco cast off the light, took Ginny into his sick, guilt-ridden arms and contemplated cutting off his own hands.
"Draco?"
"Hmm?"
"What do you keep dreaming about?" she asked, not looking into his eyes or his face but keeping her chin on his shoulder instead. When he failed to respond to her, she put a reassuring hand on the back of his head and soothed his platinum locks between her fingers. "It's okay," she said softly. "You don't have to answer."
Draco stared out into the darkness enveloping their world and sighed. "Death. I dream about death."
"Your death?"
He let out a gentle snort. "No, not my death. If it were my death, there wouldn't be anything more to dream about, would there?" One elegant hand slipped around the back of her head, his cheek against hers, each looking in opposite directions.
"Whose death?"
"I love you, Ginny," he whispered.
"Who do you dream about?" When she attempted to draw away from him and look into his eyes, he held her firm with his hand on the back of her head.
"I dream about you."
"Me?"
"Yes, you."
"I don't understand."
"I dream about killing your family, Ginny."
"What?"
"Your father and your mother and your brother, Bill. I killed them all."
"You what?" Ginny's eyes went wide as she struggled to understand what he was saying. She found herself unable to wrap her mind around his words. Her brain kept slipping on the slick surface, playing tricks on her.
"I killed them all."
"No," she protested in a stunned whisper, "No." Ginny felt Draco release her. When she leaned back to stare at him, he didn't look away, but his pale grey eyes went dark. "You couldn't have been the wizard in that cavern," she reasoned out loud. "Your father was killed there as well." She heard him let out a weary sigh as he stared at her denial.
"I killed him, too. And my mother six months later." He could see Ginny slowly backing away from him with horror and revulsion filling her eyes. No, he didn't try to stop her. What was the point? She never should have stumbled across his hell-bound soul in the first place.
"Why?" she asked, snatching up her wand, her terrified eyes never leaving him.
He shrugged his shoulders. "I loved you, Ginny. I've always loved you."
Grabbing her Muggle coat, she hugged it to her chest. "I don't understand."
"Neither do I," he said, placing his wand aside. He remained unarmed on his bed as she stumbled backwards, toward the door.
"Why aren't you in Azkaban?"
He snorted at this and shook his head. "Bad luck. Ask Potter, why don't you? He decided to stick his Gryffindor nose into my business years ago." 


----- ----- -----
Where the hell was he? She continued banging on his door with both fists, while cursing under her breath. Since when did he become a heavy sleeper? Was he getting a bit soft now that the War was over? She was about to Apparate into his bedroom, nighttime guests or not, when the door cracked open, wand first. Then she heard his disgruntled groan.
"Merlin, Ginny, do you know what time it is?" The door swung fully open as an exasperated and freshly awoken war hero stood and glared at her through his glasses, askew as ever.
"It's an emergency, Harry," she said, brushing past him on her way inside.
"Come on in," he said, watching her back disappear into the kitchen. He sighed and shut the door, charming it locked again, seven different times. "Tea?" he called out before he walked into the kitchen and saw her pouring him a cup of her brew. He slumped down into the chair across from her, waiting for her biscuits. The witch could conjure a hell of a biscuit, and that was the least she could do for him at this ungodly hour of the morning.
She watched him chewing on her biscuits, waiting for his irritation to ease. "Good?" she asked. He nodded, mouth too full to speak. She slipped another one on his plate, for insurance.
"What's up?" he asked, taking another sip of tea, trying to rouse his still sleeping mind.
"Did Draco Malfoy kill Mum and Dad and Bill? If so, why didn't he go to Azkaban?"
Harry spit out his half swallowed sip of tea, coughing and choking and almost landing his once eaten biscuits topside again. Ginny casually cast a "Scourgefy" or two and refilled his cup of tea.
Harry wiped his mouth on his pajama sleeve and looked up at her. "Where did that come from?" Ginny stared at him, eyes steady. "Malfoy?" When she nodded, Harry shook his head. "Merlin, Ginny, he's not back in the country again, is he?" She nodded again. "You're not seeing him. Are you?" When she nodded a third time, Harry drew in a swift breath and collapsed onto the table, burying his head in his arms.
"Stop it, Harry," Ginny admonished, swatting him impatiently. "I need answers, not opinions. I don't care what you think about my personal life. If I cared, I would have asked for your permission, wouldn't I?" Harry peeked up between his arms.
"You never could get him out of your system, could you?"
Ginny sighed, "Please, Harry, don't. This isn't about us. This is about Mum and Dad and Bill. I know you know something."
He sat up and pushed his glasses on straight. "You want me to divulge Ministry secrets so you can carry on with Malfoy?"
"Since when did you develop such a love for the law?"
"Since you walked in the door with Malfoy on your heart, that's when." He was about to add something about her knickers but thought better of it.
Ginny stood and slammed her fist down on the table. "Fine. If you won't help me, I'll get the information myself." Harry, being Harry, had his hand around her wrist before she could even reach for her wand. He was still the fastest.
"No, you won't. Sit down. Just give me a second, will you?" Harry gave her arm a firm tug, and she sat, watching as he threw his head back against the chair and stared at the ceiling. "What do you want to know?"
"Did he kill Mum and Dad and Bill or not?" How many times did she have to ask the bloody question?
"Yes and no."
"Harry, you either kill someone or you don't. You can't be a little pregnant."
"Right. Then, no, he didn't kill them."
"Harry," she was tugging on his sleeve, trying to get him to look at her. When he refused to budge, she stood up and walked around, looking down into his eyes. "Harry, you're not making any sense."
"What else do you want to know?"
She sighed. "How did Lucius Malfoy die?"
"Draco Avada'd him in the cavern."
"He did? "Why didn't he go to Azkaban?"
Harry sighed and sat up, dropping his head into his hand. "Because I went before the Wizengamot and told them the truth, that's why. Draco was never anything more than a pawn in Voldemort's game. He's no more evil than you or I, just a bit weak in the gut."
Ginny nodded and sat back down. "How did that keep him out of Azkaban?"
"He destroyed the 6th Horcrux and pointed me to the 7th, that's how."
"Why didn't you ever say anything? Why doesn't the whole wizarding world know about it?"
Harry laughed, looking up at her. "Believe me, Gin, plenty of people know about it. And half of them want him dead for it. He's no fool. Why do you think he went into hiding?"
"He gave me the impression that he wanted to go to Azkaban, that he would have preferred it that way."
"Wouldn't you if you killed your father and your mother committed suicide as a result of it? What does he have left out here? He's a traitor to both sides and a conspirator to Dumbledore's murder, all blackmail aside. That kind of behavior doesn't buy you a lot of friends."
"Why did he tell me he killed Mum and Dad and Bill if he didn't?"
"Because he did, but not intentionally. He thought Lucius was going to kill your mother so Malfoy Avada'd him while Bill was trying to take down the wards surrounding the 6th Horcrux. That spell caused the wards to implode the cavern, keeping the Horcrux safe but killing everyone inside. It was a quirk of luck that kept Malfoy alive."
"How do you know all of this? Did he tell you this?"
Harry shook his head. "No. Not voluntarily, anyway. I used Veritaserum on him, with Ministry approval, of course, while he was in Azakaban. I had a hunch about the 6th Horcrux but no proof. When I went for that information, everything that went on in the cavern came out as well. He destroyed the 6th Horcrux after the implosion. I didn't think he had it in him but he figured it out. That's how he got out of Azkaban. He earned his way out - paid for with his sanity and half his soul, or so I'm told."
Ginny sat there staring at Harry. He knew. He knew all along, and yet he never said a blasted thing to her about it.
"Why?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I was sworn to secrecy by Malfoy. He never told me why, but I figured it had something to do with you. Now that he's told you himself, I have no obligation to keep it from you any longer."
Ginny knew Harry kept a million secrets, and that he meant no malice or harm by it. She nodded and put her hand on his arm.
"Thanks, Harry."
"Be careful, Gin. Not only is he a little unbalanced, but he's also got the worst of the wizarding world out to kill him as well. Call me if you need me." She nodded. "And Ginny... "
"Yes?"
"Let me come over and put an iron lock on your wards for you, alright?" Ginny nodded, leaned over, and kissed Harry on the cheek. Harry wrapped his arm around her and held on a moment too long.
"Don't worry, Harry, honestly. I'm fine."
Then the witch, who was foolish enough to be shagging the most wanted wizard in the world, Disapparated from his view a moment later.
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