Ginny followed Ron, Harry, and Hermione back over to her family, wondering why everyone looked so forlorn. A feeling of dread began in the pit of her stomach and, with every step, stretched into other parts of her body. By the time she reached her mother’s side, her legs were as heavy as lead.

Arthur had on arm around his wife’s shoulders and, with the other, reached out to hug Ginny. Percy stood off to one side, his hands in his pockets, looking both guilty and angry. He didn’t look up when Ginny arrived and she wondered vaguely if it had something to do with him.

Charlie and Bill stood next to him, the looks on their faces ones of disbelief and horror. Bill had his arms around Fleur, who had buried her face in his chest. Charlie seemed to not know what to do with himself as he stared at something behind Ginny’s back.

Ginny looked around and saw George sitting in a chair against the wall, his head buried in his hands. His shoulders were shaking slightly, but he was completely silent; almost eerily silent. He would usually be cracking a joke with his twin.

She searched the nearby crowd for Fred’s face, the dread she was feeling quickly making her whole head feel numb. When she didn’t see him, she slowly turned to Molly. “Where’s Fred?” she asked, her voice shaking uncontrollably so that even just those two words were difficult to understand.

A sob burst out of Molly’s and George’s lips simultaneously. Arthur waved a hand towards the group of bodies against the wall, then returned to hugging his wife with his mouth pressed closed tightly.

Ginny allowed her eyes to drift to the side and land on the familiar red head of her brother. His face was pale and his eyes blank. His lips were slightly parted in the remnants of his signature smile.

Her heart, which had stopped beating somewhere along the line, dropped to her feet. No. It couldn’t be. Not Fred. Any second she was going to wake up, still trapped under a ceiling in a drafty corridor, and it was all going to be a dream.

It sure seemed surreal enough. That couldn’t be her hand reaching to stroke the beloved cheek. His skin wasn’t really that cold. Fred had always been warm and lively. In a minute he was going to sit up and laugh. And then she’d kill him herself, because this wasn’t a very funny joke.

Something wet fell onto her hand, followed by hundreds of the same. It took Ginny a moment to realize she was crying. She lifted Fred’s limp hand and brought it to her lips.

Molly dropped to the floor by Fred’s legs and George knelt by his head. They were both crying openly now, great gasping sobs that instantly made everyone else around want to cry with them.

Molly kept mumbling, “My boy. My son.” Arthur was still trying to comfort her, but he himself was visibly torn up.

The look on George’s face alone was enough to break the hardest of hearts. He’d lost his brother, his best friend, business partner, and other half. Never again would it be ‘Fred and George’ or ‘the twins’. He looked absolutely lost as he stared into his brother’s face.

Charlie, Bill, and Ron were still trying to appear strong, but Weasleys had never been good at concealing their emotions. All of them looked strained as they resolutely held back tears.

Percy kept making little moaning noises and occasionally wringing his hands together. His gaze drifted from one family member to another and he gasped, “I’m sorry. Oh, I’m sorry.”

Arthur reached out and pulled him into the circle they’d unconsciously made around Fred. Everyone tried to tell Percy that it wasn’t his fault, but they all seemed incapable of stringing words together into intelligent sentences through their grief.

Harry and Hermione had pulled themselves slightly away from the group, but the instant Ron turned his red eyes on her, Hermione jumped forward and wrapped her arms around him. He clung to her for dear life and buried his face in her bushy hair

Ginny looked around at her depressed looking family, then back to her brother who, no matter how hard she wished it, would never laugh or joke or come home late for dinner again. “Fred wouldn’t want this,” she said suddenly, surprising everyone. “He wouldn’t want us to sit here and cry. He’d probably make a joke and tell us how ridiculous we all look.”

George choked slightly as he nodded. He ran his fingers lightly over his twin’s tousled head. “She’s right,” he whispered. “Even in… even like this, he’s smiling.”

Molly whimpered and clung tightly to Arthur’s arm. Then she sighed and pushed herself to her. “There are people who are injured,” she said. “One’s who… who still have… a chance. We should help them.”

Ginny stood up after her mother and pushed away her tears. She drew in a shaky breath and the two women made their way towards the section of the Great Hall that had been set aside for the injured.

They passed the Malfoy’s on the way and Draco jumped out of his seat. He took one look at Ginny’s face and grabbed her arms, effectively pulling her to a stop. “What happened?” he asked, his eyes searching hers. “Did someone… one of your brothers…?”

Ginny bit her lip and nodded, willing herself not to burst into tears. “Fred,” she told him in a small voice. “It doesn’t seem real.”

Draco wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled as he stroked her back with light, comforting touches. “Are you okay?”

Ginny buried her face in his shirt and nodded again, breathing deeply. He still smelled the same as always, but stronger somehow. A slight smoky smell clung to his robes, but it hardly interfered with his own scent.

She stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his cheek. “I’m going over there to help out,” she said. “Do you want to come?”

“I’m not going to be able to convince you to take it easy, am I? Not even for a broken leg?”

Ginny shook her head and Draco sighed. “Then I’ll join you,” he said. “That way at least I can make sure you’re not trying to do too much.” He nodded good-bye to his parents and they walked off hand in hand.

The Weasleys gave him half-hearted glares as they approached, but were too caught up in their grief to do anything more. They worked steadily side by side, Malfoy with Weasley, animosity put aside, until the sun had fully risen.

Ginny had started limping again, so when all the injured had received attention, she was infinitely relieved. She sat down on a nearby bench with a heavy sigh, and as the blood returned to her leg she was reminded of just how much it hurt.

Draco sat down next to her and she gave him a shaky smile. His eyes narrowed shrewdly as he asked, “Your leg still hurts, doesn’t it?” Without giving her a chance to protest, he waved to Madam Pomfrey.

The greying mediwitch dragged herself over to them and Draco explained in his most winning voice, “I’m sorry to bother you, Ma’am. I know you’re tired, but Ginny got her leg broken during the battle and it hasn’t been mended yet.”

Madam Pomfrey nodded and pulled out her wand. “Which leg is it?” she asked quietly.

Ginny pulled her robes to the side and held out her right leg, trying not to wince at how stiff it was. Draco squeezed her hand and she leaned against his arm as Madam Pomfrey said the spell. The tingle of bone mending spread through her leg for a minute, then she was fine.

“Who did this splint?” Madam Pomfrey asked as she vanished it. Draco told her and she turned to smile at Hermione. “Well done, Miss Granger.” Hermione blushed and the two left, chatting tiredly.

When they were alone again, Draco sighed. “I need to go back to my parents.”

Ginny nodded, but squeezed his hand tighter. She leaned her head against his shoulder and breathed in his scent. He just smelled so good. And looked even better. After nearly losing him twice in one day, she wasn’t ready to let him go just yet.

Draco used his free hand to tip her face up and she saw in his eyes the same look that must have been reflected in her own. The same look worn by most of the survivors of this battle. A combination of sadness, determination, and relief.

Impulsively she moved closer and kissed him, intending it to be a short, sweet, ‘I’m glad you’re okay’ kiss. But the instant their lips met, it seemed like she was being sucked into a vortex. An explosion erupted in her stomach and she clung to his neck to keep from falling off the bench.

His arms went around her waist, crushing her to him. The kiss became desperate; all of the feelings from being separated, along with the horrors of the day, crashing in on them at once.

Draco Malfoy, and his hands caressing the bare skin of her back beneath her robes, and his lips hungrily pressing against hers, and his tongue exploring her mouth, were the only things that mattered in that moment. All the rest of the world just drifted away.

His hand drifted around to her stomach and Ginny released a soft moan. Her fingers clenched in his silky hair and pushed his face closer to hers. She fumbled with the buttons of his shirt and they gasped together when she touched the skin of his chest.

How long they stayed like that, desperately clinging to each other, she didn’t know. When they finally pulled apart their lips were swollen and red and they were both breathing in short, whimpering bursts.

One of his hands curled around her cheek and his thumb stroked away tears she hadn’t known she’d cried. He leaned down and gently kissed each of her eyelids, then down her cheeks and over her nose before settling on her forehead.

Ginny closed her eyes and leaned into him, sighing contentedly. This minute could go on forever, as far as she was concerned. Just the two of them, sitting like this, not needing to do anything but touch each other.

“I love you, Ginny,” Draco whispered, his lips brushing against her forehead and his breath tickling her face. “So much,” he added with a slight squeeze.

“I love you, too, Draco,” Ginny breathed. Was it possible for one heart to be so full? She could hardly breath through the intensity of her feelings. He was okay, she was okay, they were together again, and they were in love. She felt like her heart was going to burst right out of her until it filled the whole room.

Draco leaned back, ever so slightly, and held up her hand. “Would you wear my signet ring?” he asked shakily. “Until I can propose to you properly?”

If Ginny thought it had been hard to breathe before, the way she felt now made the previous moments seem almost insignificant in comparison. A new stream of tears fell from her eyes as she nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

Draco looked as if Christmas had come early as he took off the heavy ring and slipped it onto her finger. The emerald snake that was entwined around the Malfoy ‘M’ glittered brightly, but neither noticed it as they came together for another kiss, this one sweet and loving.

As Ginny pulled back, she saw Harry out of the corner of her eye, watching them. She sighed and squeezed Draco’s hand. “I need to go take care of this,” she said softly.

Draco followed the direction of her gaze and nodded. “Right. Go set the great hero straight; let him know that you are mine.”

Ginny chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll do that.” She untangled herself from him and walked towards her ex-boyfriend.

Harry shoved his hands deep into his pockets as she approached and adopted his customary puppy-dog look. “Hey,” he mumbled.

“Hey,” Ginny said. “So, good job with Voldemort. I always knew you could do it.”

“Thanks.” He looked at his shoes. “I came over here because I wanted to talk to you about Malfoy, though. And us.”

Ginny played with the hem of her sleeve as she replied. “Harry, there is no us. You broke up with me last year.”

Harry shrugged. “I kind of thought you’d wait for me. I still like you, Ginny, and I think I’d be better for you than him.”

Shaking her head, Ginny said, “First of all, you gave me no reason to expect you would take me back after all of this. All you said was that it was too dangerous for us to be together and it would be better to break up.”

“That’s not what I meant, though!” Harry interjected. “I meant I didn’t want Voldemort coming after you.”

Ginny nodded and continued. “Second, we didn’t have that much of a relationship anyway. Ours wasn’t a true, deep love. Surely you can see that?”

Harry looked a bit sheepish. “Yeah, but we were happy. We would have gotten married and had kids and we would have been comfortable. I would have taken care of you.”

Ginny smiled. “I know,” she said. “But, while comfortable is nice, it’s not what I want, Harry.”

“And Malfoy can give you what you want?” Harry asked, looking skeptical. “He can do better than me?”

“Draco makes me happy,” Ginny replied. “We’re in love and I can’t imagine my life without him.”

Suddenly Ginny was being wrapped in her mother’s arms. Molly had managed to arrive without either of them noticing. “I’d certainly rather you had chosen Harry,” the other woman said in a choked voice, “but I can accept the Malfoy boy if he’s the one you want.”

Ginny returned the hug. “He is the one I want. And I’m sorry, Harry. I know I would have been happy with you.”

“But I’m not enough,” Harry put in. “I know.”

“Oh, Harry,” Mrs. Weasley began, reaching for him.

Parvati Patil disengaged from a nearby group. “I’ll take it from here,” she said, slipping her arm through Harry’s and looking up at him through her eyelashes.

Harry looked more than a little flustered as he was dragged away. Molly and Ginny giggled as they watched the pair. “I don’t think we’ll need to worry about him anymore,” Molly said.

With a smirk, Ginny replied, “Or rather, our concern has just taken a new direction. Parvati has been infatuated with Harry almost as long as I was and she’s the sort of girl who does what ever it takes to get what she wants.”

Molly shook her head in amusement. “Now. How about you, dear? Let me meet this boy who has made my daughter so happy.”

Ginny grinned and led the way to where the Malfoys were sitting. Everything was going to work out. Fred’s death was a black spot on the day, but they would get past it; they would move on and heal. Now was the time to go forwards and look to the future.

Draco saw them coming and stood up with a smile. Ginny smiled back and sighed contentedly. The future looked very bright indeed.


THE END

Author notes: OMG! Is that big THE END not the most bitter-sweet, happy-sad thing you have ever seen? I still can't believe that it's over and I've written THE END twice! Four times if you count this note... ;) So, that's it; there's no more to this story. I've thought about a sequel, but I don't have a firm idea yet, and I've got about six other stories going right now, anyway, so don't hold your breath. Thank you so much to 4everdandg, Jack Tamara, Nakita, raye and everyone else who reviewed previous chapters! Loves!

The End.
Flighty Temptress is the author of 8 other stories.
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