Thanks Eviee

Okay, I'm sad to say that this is the second-to-the-last chapter of this Fanfic. I'll, um, say my proper goodbyes when it's completely finished, but I thought I should heads-up you guys. Enjoy and review!



Chapter 30 - Part Two

I backed into the crowd of students, family, and teachers that were gathered around the two legendary wizards. I felt two strong arms around my shoulder and a scruffy chin on my head. I leaned back into Charlie, keeping my eyes locked on Harry, but feeling grateful for the security my brother was giving me.

“He’ll be okay,” He whispered, his voice the only sound I could hear besides my own breathing. The crowd had gone silent – it seemed as if everyone was holding their breath. I felt like I was going to be sick.

Just as I was about to run back over to Harry, Voldemort’s voice rang out louder than usual. A cruel, high-pitched laugh echoed around the school grounds. I felt tears prick in my eyes as I saw the look on Harry’s face; he was very pale in the moonlight, and his jaw was set firmly in an effort to not look afraid. I could tell, though. I could tell that he was terrified – he thought he was looking at Death right in the eyes.

I didn’t want to think about whether he was right or not.

“Get it over with, Tom.” Harry’s voice, although it wasn’t magically magnified, could be heard by every single person that was watching him. “I know you want to make a show of this – you’ve already done so by attacking Hogwarts. You want to kill me, so do it already. Come on. I’m right here.”

“You dare call-“

“Yes, Tom Riddle; I know who you are, and you’re not who you say you are.” He looked around quickly, then back at Voldemort. “None of your puppets are here right now, are they? They aren’t here to witness as you defeat The Boy Who Lived. Why is that, Riddle?”

“I don’t know what you’re-“

“You’re a half-blood, Riddle. You aren’t the perfect Pure Blood that everyone thinks you are, and you told the Death Eaters not to be here because you didn’t want them to know. I know you’re an orphan, too. You never had a real family, and that’s why you don’t believe in-“

“Love!” Voldemort screeched. “Love! Love does not exist! Dumbledore used that excuse for everything! They say that’s why you lived, because of Lily’s love.”

“How else, Tom, could I have survived that night? I was just a year old. You were the most powerful dark wizard ever to live. How was it that I survived that night, when you were shattered?”

Another painfully long silence. I was digging my fingernails into Charlie’s forearm, but I couldn’t pay enough attention to my body to make myself stop.

“I don’t know how you survived that night, but I do know that you’re going to die tonight. Avada Kedavra!”

A green flash of light came from Voldemort’s wand. In a split second, Harry had hit the ground. In the second after that, Death Eaters had started apparating in the midst of the students and adults gathered around Voldemort and Harry. There were many screams, and the crowd started to disperse. People started shouting and spells started flying, but I only had one goal in mind as I pushed, shoved, kicked, and clawed my way out of the crowd.

“Harry!”

I could see him, lying right there on the grass next to the lake. He was completely still. All thought left my head as I ran for him, tripping over my own feet in my rush to get to him. I fell onto the ground a few feet away from him and crawled the rest of the way.

“Harry,” I whispered, leaning over him, one hand on each side of him. I stared into his face, which was so peaceful. No. No. No.

My body was acting on its own accord, now; it was like I had completely lost the ability to control it. My hands were brushing Harry’s face and hair. My body was shaking – from cold, fear, loss, and emotion. My face, had anyone been looking at it, would’ve looked unemotional, had it not been for the tears running down my cheeks and falling onto Harry’s face, hair, and neck.

The coherent part of my brain told me that I needed to get away from the battle and that I could die at any moment from any of the green lights that were coming from wands – but the bigger part of my brain, the part that wasn’t caring about anything except Harry, kept me on the grass.

“Harry,” I moaned, laying my head on his chest. “Harry, Harry, Harry…” I cried onto his shirt – his dirty, bloodstained shirt – for a long space of time. I couldn’t believe it had ended so quickly – that Harry was gone. It just couldn’t be true – I wouldn’t believe it! I lay on him for I-don’t-know-how long, sobbing soundlessly into his chest. When my sobs stopped, I started to calm down while listening to the slow, steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

…Heartbeat?

“Harry?” I whispered, pushing my ear into his chest. There was no change about him, but I marveled in the sound of his heart: proof that he was somehow, by some sort of miracle, alive.

Suddenly, a hand was covering one of my hands that had been in Harry’s hair.

“Gin?”

I was crying harder, harder than I had ever cried before. I lifted my head up to look into Harry’s beautiful green eyes – green eyes that sparkled despite the confusion in them. I didn’t care about the battle going around us; I didn’t care about the fact that any Death Eater could see us. I didn’t even care that I didn’t know where Voldemort was. All I cared about was that Harry was here. I kissed him.

I tasted my saltwater tears, dirt, and blood on Harry’s lips as we kissed, but I all I knew what that he was Harry. My hands tangled in his hair, his tangled in mine. We slowly sat up, kissing passionately, marveling in each other. As the kiss slowed, I felt Harry smile, but I was still crying.

“I love you,” we both said at the same time, hugging each other close.

“Ginny,” Harry murmured against my shoulder, “What’s going on?”

“You died.” I answered, choking on more sobs that threatened to overcome my body. “He killed you Harry, I saw it. But… you’re here! You’re here.” I buried my face in his shoulder, taking in the smell of him, the feel of him, and the sound of his deep breathing.

“Why is everyone fighting?” His voice sounded innocent, like a young child.

“I don’t know,” I breathed, “I… I don’t think the war is over just yet.”

“I need to finish it, don’t I?”

I wanted to tell him no. I wanted to keep him with me, away from harm, where I could hold his hand and prove to myself that he was okay, and that he would never, never leave me like I thought he had.

But he was Harry Potter. And things like that didn’t happen for him.

“I need to finish this.” he answered himself, nodding. He stood up, helping me up, too. He kissed me quickly, and then dropped my hand. “I love you,” he reminded me.

“I know.” I whispered.

I stared at him for a split second before he turned around. He kept a firm hold on my hand as he headed for the castle. Miraculously, we dodged the spells flying around us. Most of the remaining battle had moved into the building, where Voldemort was surely in charge.

We walked up to Hogwarts holding hands. Harry stopped us outside the big front doors.

“Whatever happens in there,” he said, catching a tear on his finger as it fell from my eye, “I love you.”

“Don’t talk like that, Harry,” I whispered, “You’ll come back to me. Because I love you too, and the world isn’t cruel enough to take you away from me again.”

A single tear fell from Harry’s eyes as he kissed me. When I opened my eyes again, it was gone and replaced with a look of determination. I dropped my hand from his. With a look and a silent agreement, Harry walked into the Great Hall.

It only took a few seconds for everybody to realize who had just walked into the room. When I followed Harry in, every single person was staring at him. He was searching the room for a certain someone, and it was obvious when he found what he was looking for.

“Y- you’re dead.” Voldemort’s voice rang out again over everybody. Now, though, it was obviously confused.

Everybody but Voldemort ran for the walls, not wanting to be caught in the middle of the room. Harry slowly and deliberately took a step into No-Man’s-Land. He gripped his wand tightly, and I prepared myself for a heroic speech.

“Yeah? Well, I’m … not.”

It seemed that Voldemort had been expecting a speech too, because after staring at Harry in shock for a moment, he laughed.

“Not yet, it seems. But you-”

“Come kill me,” Harry challenged, “Come here and face me like a real man. I’m not afraid of you.” Voldemort, looking amused, walked closer to Harry.

“Expelliarmus!”

“Avada Kedavra!”

I closed my eyes at the flashes of red and green, but opened them again almost instantly. The two wizards were standing about twenty feet apart, arms outstretched, with colors shooting out of their wand tips. The spells had connected, forming a green-and-red barrier between the two. Voldemort was grinning. Harry was gritting his teeth, both hands on his wand as he fought to keep his spell going. There was complete silence in the room.

I watched the spells battle while keeping an eye on Harry. Every time the green would gain up on the red, Harry’s face would get angrier and the red would blast harder from his wand.

I was so busy watching his face that I didn’t look away from it until I heard a thud and a collective gasp from everyone watching the battle.

“Harry!” I screamed as soon as he lowered his wand. He was the only thing I cared about. I rushed at him, flinging myself into his arms, not even thinking about what the thud was.

“He’s gone.” Harry whispered, stunned. “Ginny, Voldemort’s gone. I … I won.”