Chapter 20: Eternity
Draco's muscles tensed. He used wet, shaky fingers to rub his eyes before looking at Riddle again. The dark wizard blinked and smiled.
"You're supposed to be dead!" The boy finally cried out. "You have a hole in your head!" Draco's eyes were bulging as he pointed at Riddle.
Then Riddle slowly moved his arms out from the mud and sat up. "Do I look dead to you, little Malfoy?"
"Damn! Why can't you just die?" Draco hollered.
Riddle looked up through the rain at the hole in the Manor that they'd fallen from. "Why can't you?" He retorted.
Draco gritted his teeth and tried to think things through calmly. He'd promised himself that he wouldn't let Ginny get hurt… which wasn't going well so far. He glanced at Ginny again; she looked wet, dirty, tired, cold, and strangely, at peace. Draco envied her for that. She was so pure, so unmarred…so unlike himself—a cold, hard piece of ice. It'd be the death of her if the fire inside her ever went out. She'd become like him, and fire and ice were never meant to be because one would terminate the other and vice versa. It was already happening and Draco could see it. Nothing this drastic would ever have happened to Ginny Weasley if she hadn't been with him. He was terminating her.
But still, a Malfoy never breaks a true promise—not even a promise to himself, and he'd promised himself that no matter what, he'd prevent Ginny from getting hurt as he'd seen in his dream.
Draco gripped his wand hard.
"Tut, tut, little Malfoy! You wouldn't attack an injured man, would you?" Riddle said.
Draco was about to say something about his leg, but stopped himself just in time. Riddle didn't know about his broken leg! Not yet, anyway. "You're not injured," Draco said stoically.
"Come now, I've just revived myself! I should get some points for that!"
"You're a freak," Draco said bluntly.
He needed to think of something to do! He couldn't keep throwing comebacks at Riddle all day long. Draco racked his mind for anything, and suddenly he had an idea. He remembered earlier, when he'd still been inside his room and quite dry (he cursed inwardly at the thought), Riddle had said that his being alive meant that Draco would remain a vampire. So it was quite clear that the ultimate objective was to kill Riddle. Draco scoffed. Potter's been trying to do this for years! Where the bloody hell is the prat when you need him? Then he stopped himself. What was he thinking? Since when did he need help, of all things, from Potter? The thought alone was sickening. He was basically a vampire now and Riddle was a vampire as well. This would be a fight between two vampires—a fight to the death. No room for Potter to hog the spotlight; this was far out of his league.
Draco smirked to himself.
"You dare laugh at my expense?" Riddle growled, his eyes narrowed.
Draco clenched his fists. He suddenly realized that his left hand's fingers were now wrapped around his wand and his right hand's fingers were…tightly grasping Ginny's right arm. Her warm skin under his cold fingers was beginning to turn white, so he removed his fingers off her arm, but his hand instantly began trembling, so he placed his hand back on Ginny.
But when he looked up next, his pupils dilated and he grasped Ginny so hard he was sure his fingers would leave bruises. Riddle was charging at them! He shoved Ginny aside and rolled out of Riddle's way, favoring his injured right leg, just in time.
Draco turned over, still sitting on the ground, and began backing away, pulling Ginny with him.
Riddle faced Draco. "It's time I teach you some discipline, little Malfoy." He began walking toward Draco.
Draco kept backing away, constantly making sure Ginny was well behind him. Before he knew it, Riddle lunged at him again, and again, and again. Dodging the seemingly endless attacks was draining Draco of his energy quite fast and his injured leg was hindering him. He was breathing hard. He inhaled deeply, clenched his teeth and shoved Ginny away from him before looking up to see where Riddle was.
The dark wizard was crouched over, his arms almost reaching the ground, making him look like a savage dog. Without a moment's notice, he leaped into the air with a gazelle's grace and eyed his target like a stealthy panther.
Draco evaded the attack as usual, except this time one of Riddle's hands had landed on his leg—his injured leg. "Aaaargh!!!" Draco wailed in anguish. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the burning liquids slowly spilling through his clenched eyelids and the gut-wrenching pain he felt traveling throughout his whole body now. "Son of a— aaargh!" With a considerable amount of effort, he slid his leg out from under Riddle's hand, gasping for air as he did so. "You—you—you bas—!"
"So that hurt, did it?" Riddle found some sort of sick amusement in this and jumped at Draco's left leg. "Does this one hurt, too?" His hand had touched a little bit of it, but judging from the lack of emotion, Riddle sneered and greedily jumped for Draco's right leg. "So it's—" he jumped again for Draco's right leg, which kept moving since Draco was dodging the attacks rather effectively for the most part, "this—" he dove again, "leg?" Riddle landed again on Draco's injury, causing the boy to yelp in pain.
Occasionally whimpering, Draco began crawling away at what seemed a snail's pace, wishing the world around him would stop rocking and spinning so much. He turned back now and then to see if Riddle was about to attack again. After a desperate fifteen or so seconds of crawling, Draco saw Riddle's knees bend. He gave Ginny one final push and began crawling toward her when he felt a dark shadow pass beyond him. Riddle had jumped over him! Draco felt his jaw slacken as he realized who Riddle's target was. Just in time, Draco pulled Ginny toward him and cradled her in his arms as Riddle landed where Ginny had been only seconds before. "What're you doing?" Draco seethed.
"What? You thought I was going to bite into your neck? Honestly, little Malfoy, don't you know anything? I'd die if I bit into you, and so would you, since I'm a full vampire and you're… well, you're whatever percentage vampire you are… though you're definitely one-hundred percent Malfoy, I'll admit. Definitely your father's son. Fake."
"Shut up about my father," Draco growled, slowly moving away from Riddle.
"Testy, testy!" Riddle chided. "Now, you don't really care for this girl… this Gryffindor. You don't belong with her… with her kind… you're one of us. And besides, I'm supposed to be disciplining you. So why don't you make this easier for the both of us by moving out of the way and letting me feast on her blood?" He was carefully observing Draco. "You'll have a little playmate afterward… a playmate for life. It's beyond me why you'd pick her of all people to protect like this, but I take it I am correct in assuming you've taken a liking to her? Maybe you even fancy her?"
Draco pursed his lips and remained silent. Riddle was just messing with him—there was no time to waste on him!
"Thought so," Riddle continued. "She is a pretty little thing. But you know she'd never like you back… never love you back."
Draco looked up.
"Got your attention, have I?" An eerie smile slithered its way across Riddle's countenance. "But let me turn her into one of us. That way, she could love no other. She would only have you to love… only love for you. Only…"
Draco blinked and rubbed his eyes. It seemed as though Riddle was slowly disappearing and becoming transparent and suddenly, Draco heard a twig snap behind him. He whipped his head around to see it was Riddle... holding Ginny's limp form in his arms! The girl's head lolled and her arms dangled lazily in the air. Riddle hadn't even been speaking all this time—it had been an illusion! A trick! A trick so Tom Riddle could get to Ginny's throat… to her blood. "Get away from her!" Draco hollered.
Riddle saw the boy from the corner of his eye. There was a few paces' distance between them. He smirked at Draco, licked his lips, and slowly lowered his fangs. They touched the smooth skin on Ginny's throat. Thoughts of staining the ivory of her neck flooded his mind and gave him a sadistic sort of glee and pleasure, but before his fangs had even scraped the surface of anything, Riddle felt the wind being knocked out of him as he sailed through the air.
"I said to stay away from her!" Riddle heard Draco growl into his ear.
Then Riddle's eyes widened as he saw Draco open his mouth to reveal a maturing set of vampire fangs where his canines should have been.
Riddle hollered at the boy that was pinning him down on the ground. "NO! STOP! WHAT'RE YOU DO—!" But now there was nothing else the dark wizard could do. Draco had sunk his fangs into Riddle's neck.
And now that his fangs were attached to Riddle's gullet, Draco wasn't quite sure what to do. His initial plan was to just rip his throat apart like a tiger might, gory and bloody as it may seem, but long as his fangs were, they prevented him from biting too far into Riddle's neck. Now Draco felt Riddle's warm blood begin to ooze out of the puncture wounds his fangs had made. His lips began to get slippery with all the blood under them. With nothing else to guide him, Draco followed his instincts, sucked in a mouthful of blood, and swallowed it.
"You'll kill us both!" Riddle coughed, seething.
Draco felt the liquid go down his throat and felt a chill run up his spine. He felt Riddle struggle beneath him, so he sucked in more blood. Draco suddenly began to feel clammy and his head was swimming.
Why was he doing this again?
Because Potter was always the hero. Because that damned Mudblood Granger always got one point higher than he did. Because Weasley and his disgusting little clan spent sleepless nights planning his demise. Because he didn't really have any friends to go back to; they just 'liked' him for his father's money, status and power. Because he'd been kicked out of his family. Because his father cared more for the Dark Lord and his cause than the fate of his own son. Because he had nothing else to live for. Nothing… nothing but one last promise.
That was why.
Draco was to the point where he could hardly feel anything at all. He couldn't tell if he was blinking rapidly or blacking out over and over again. With much effort, he finally tore his fangs off Riddle's neck; the dark wizard lay completely still with his eyes and mouth wide open. Draco took in slow, raspy breaths and eyed Ginny, who was still unconscious.
Damn that Weasley. She slept through the whole thing! Draco thought. He crawled toward the girl. He wished he could detach his leg, as it was causing him much unneeded pain. When he reached Ginny, he nudged her with his hand. "Wake up," Draco croaked. He shook her softly, which took him a great deal of effort in his current state. Draco repeated himself and he saw the girl's eyelids flutter open.
Ginny stared at him and as her eyes widened, she sat up straight and looked from Draco to Riddle to the window to Riddle and to Draco again. "Draco!" She cried. "Draco, you're hurt!"
A quick one, that Weasley.
The stupid girl began crying right then and there. But what a sight he must've been. He was soaking wet, bruised and broken all over, blood smeared across his face, absolutely awful hair, and muddy, no doubt, after crawling all over the ground for so long. But at least she was safe and unharmed for the most part. He just needed to get her out of Malfoy Manor now.
Breathing was becoming a burden. He felt his heart beat slowly and softly. It burned the inside of his throat to breathe. He felt his head hit the muddy ground, for just holding it up was testing his strength now. Draco knew he was about to pass out—that much was clear, and whether or not he'd wake again afterward, he didn't care.
"Get… out… of… here…" Draco whispered to Ginny.
Ginny finally realized the severity of Draco's condition. "Sure, Draco," she sobbed. "Hang in there, we're—we're going to get out of here. Just hang on a little longer." She was trying to find a way to get Draco in her arms—to protect the odd young man who had protected her for an equally odd and mysterious reason, but he kept pushing her away.
"Leave," Draco tried to say firmly.
His eyes closed, and just before he succumbed to the darkness, he heard another voice—maybe two. "Ginny!" He heard. And then he was lost…
…but she was safe.
x x x
Ron and Hermione were walking in the courtyard on the backside of Malfoy Manor.
"Ron, are you sure you had a vision that told you to come this way? I really don't think new Diviners can control their visions this quickly," Hermione said doubtfully.
"How would you know? Are you a Diviner?" Ron placed his hands on both sides of her head and narrowed his eyes. "No… no, my Inner Eye tells me you're not."
"Shut up, Ron," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "We need to find you sister and—"
"GINNY!" Ron suddenly yelled.
Hermione looked up and saw a soaking wet Ginny Weasley whip her head around at hearing her brother's voice.
Suddenly, a wave of relief swept over Ginny and tears she didn't know she was holding back began spilling down her cheeks. "Ron!" She cried. "Oh, God! Ron!" She hastily left Draco and ran—more like stumbled—toward her brother.
"Ginny!" He'd finally found her! Ron dashed toward her and moments later, finally had his little sister in his arms again.
Safe.
"Draco Malfoy!" Hermione suddenly cried from somewhere behind Ron.
Brother and sister looked at Draco. "Ron," Ginny pleaded with her eyes. "Ron, Draco saved my life! We've got to do something!" Another bout of tears and hiccoughs began. "And he…vamp…Riddle said… then he… the blood…vampires…bit him—and oh, Ron! Ron, I think he's going to die!"
Ron turned to look at Hermione for help, but she seemed frozen in her tracks. She was looking at something beyond Draco's still body. He turned back around and gasped at the other fallen body he'd failed to notice earlier. "Gin—Ginny! Stop crying," he said in a steady voice. "Now, who's that?" Ron pointed.
"Tom Riddle," Hermione said as if she were in a daze.
Ron blanched and held his little sister out at arm's length. "Bloody damn hell! You killed Tom Riddle?" His mouth was wide open.
Ginny was a bit more in control of her emotions now and shook her head. "I didn't kill him! Draco killed him and now I think Draco's going to die because… because…"
"Because Draco's part vampire," Hermione said quietly.
"So?" Ron asked.
"Draco bit Tom Riddle," Ginny said.
So?" Ron asked again, almost afraid of the answer.
"It's bad because vampires suck blood out of all sorts of people—people with type A, B, AB, and O blood. All the blood types are mixed into a vampire's bloodstream and create a kind of unique blood for the individual vampire. However, if the blood of two vampires is mixed—even if so much as the saliva of one vampire enters another, both vampires are terminated because the vampire's nervous system gets confused and begins fighting off the invading blood cells, but then ultimately begins fighting off the vampire's original blood cells as well," Hermione trailed off.
Ron saw the worry present on his best friend's face. This meant Malfoy was dying as they stared at him. His body was in the process of terminating itself. True, he hated Malfoy with all his heart, but he never actually, truly wanted him dead. Ron unknowingly shook his head. Malfoy couldn't die here… not under his watch. He wouldn't be in debt to a Malfoy. That platinum-haired scumbag saved his little sister's life, so he would make certain his scumbag ass would be saved as well.
He let go of his sister and turned around to face Hermione. "So Malfoy's going to die?"
"Not unless we can get him to a MediWitch… or to Madame Pomphrey or something. We need an expert," she walked over to where Draco lay, kneeled down, placed two fingers on his wrist and listened for a heartbeat. She turned back with watery eyes. "He's not going to last long," Hermione whispered. "His energy's going fast and he feels cold, not to mention he's been out in the rain for so long."
"Draco," Ron heard his sister whisper. He looked at her and knew that the fact that someone's life was in danger was making her upset, but why did she keep saying Malfoy's name like that?
"Hermione," Ginny sniffled. "Remember that power-transferring thing Harry did for Draco? I want to do the same for Draco." Before Ron could even open his mouth, she said, "Please, Hermione. It's the least I could do to pay him back for what he's done for me."
Ron crossed his arms over his chest. Now something really was up. "What has he done for you?" Ron asked sternly.
Ginny walked over to Draco, kneeled down, brushed strands of platinum off his face, and placed a tiny kiss on Draco's forehead. She turned back to her brother and replied in a sad voice, "More than you'll ever know."
Ron's eyes were plates on his face. He kept pointing at Draco, then mouthing wordlessly at Hermione, then convulsing at the sight of his sister. "Ginny!" He finally yelled. After waving his arms around some more, he said again in a somewhat disappointed tone, "Ginny!" He massaged his temples with the fingers on his right hand. "Ginny, this is, like, immoral!"
"Ron!"
Ron's eyes widened. He'd expect Ginny to protest, but it was, in fact, Hermione!
"What?" He wailed.
"This isn't the time nor the place! We need to figure out how to get out of here," she said.
Ron stared at his best friend. How could she be so calm about this? Did she not care that Ginny had just kissed his nemesis? His rival? Hermione was worried about him thinking about such things at a time like this? Ha! Why wasn't she worried about Ginny slobbering all over Malfoy's face at a time like this?
"Hermione, the spell," Ginny said.
"No, you can't," Hermione said, frowning.
"Of course I can! I want to, so I will!"
"It's not that, Gin," Hermione said. "Only a male can do that spell. Don't you remember earlier? You actually asked the same question." She looked at Ron. "Only a male can conduct the spell."
"Whoa!" Ron began backing away. "Don't look at me! I saw what that Dark Magic spell did to Harry!"
Ginny completely ignored him. "Hermione, is there any way to apparate back to Hogwarts or any place near Hogwarts?"
"I'm sure there is, because something's wrong with the spells around Malfoy Manor and there are no magic shields surrounding the grouds," Hermione said, looking worriedly at Ginny, "but I need to think of a way we can transfer all four of us back."
"Well, if it's easier, think of a way to transfer just three people back, because I—"
"Just three people?" Ron hollered. "What? Now you're going to trade your brother—your own flesh and blood—for a Slytherin!"
Ginny crossed her arms. "Before I was so rudely interrupted," she glared at her brother, "I was saying that if it's easier, think of a way to transfer just three people back because I am willing to stay behind." She saw Ron's mouth fall wide open. "There aren't any spells around Malfoy Manor, so I can get back to Hogwarts on my own as soon as I'm back on one of the main roads."
"Considerate as your offer is, Ginny," Hermione smiled, "You really need to get back. Madame Pomphrey needs to check if you have any injuries or not."
Ron was still red from realizing that after all this his sister was still selfless. "Well," he stuttered. "You could just transfer us each back to Hogwarts one at a time," Ron suggested.
Hermione's eyes flickered. "Actually, Ron, that's a really good idea! I was so busy thinking of how to get all four of us back at once that I didn't realize I could just do the transfers one at a time! Brilliant, Ron!"
Ginny acknowledged him with an angry glare all the same. "I can't believe how—"
"Okay! I've got the spell!" Hermione shouted before Ginny could finish yelling at her brother. "Gin, stand still. You're first."
"Bu—wha—wait!" Ginny hollered.
However, there was no time to wait. With a swish and flick of Hermione's wand, Ginny saw the Malfoy Manor courtyard start to swirl further and further away from her before it had completely disappeared all together.
With so many thoughts swirling through her mind, Ginny forgot to prepare for a landing, and therefore arrived at her destination with a thud. She felt something hit her head hard, and then blackness.
x x x
Ginny's eyes slowly opened to find herself in a dimly lit room. A spot on the back of her head throbbed as she turned to face the window. The moonlight from a perfectly clear and quiet night illuminated her face as she turned back into the shadows. Everything wasn't perfectly clear… what pathetic fallacy… how on earth could a night so clear and beautiful with the sky speckled with stars so bright and twinkling be before her when things were so horribly wrong?
Draco, she thought.
Immediately, Ginny sprang up and attempted to get out of bed, but a pair of strong arms prevented her from doing so.
"No—Gin! Ginny, calm down! Relax!" Harry hissed at her. His glasses were off; he'd been sleeping in the chair beside her bed.
"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed in a whisper. "Harry, it's so good to see you!" She gave him a warm hug. "Everything's gone terribly wrong and Draco—"
"It's okay, he's being taken care of upstairs and your brother—"
"Upstairs?" Ginny shrieked, her eyes growing wide. "Harry, how can you tell me to relax? He's upstairs! That's the 'Critical Care Ward'!"
She fought Harry out of the hospital bed and began changing into her clothes that were laid over a chair. Harry immediately turned away, the deep scarlet color of his face almost unnoticeable in the dark hospital room. He put on his glasses as if the spectacles might form a shield to hide his blushing face.
"Ginny," he said, stopping abruptly as his voice gave a loud squeak. He turned redder, if that was possible. "Ginny, just wait a minute!" He turned around to stop her, but when he looked where she'd been standing, no one was there.
A moment later, the door out of the infirmary room clicked shut.
Harry sat down alone on the empty hospital bed and stared out the window at the desolate night sky.
x x x
Ginny burst into the Critical Care Ward.
The first person she saw was Hermione. She sat next to an empty bed and looked as though she'd been sleeping as well.
"Hermione!" Ginny cried. "Where is he? Where's Draco?"
"He's gone, Gin," she said in a very tired voice.
Ginny felt the bottom of her stomach disappear. "What?" She stuttered. "He can't just—he's not—but he—"
Hermione's eyes suddenly bulged. "Oh, dear! Ginny! No! Not that sort of gone! I mean, he's been released from the infirmary. He's resting back in his dormitory under the care of Professor Snape," she trailed off.
Ginny felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted off her and smiled. "Hermione, don't scare me like that again!" She was about to leave, but stopped herself. "Why are you still here then?"
"Ron," Hermione said in one simple word.
Ginny suddenly felt awful all over again. "Ron!" She hollered. Though the bed next to Hermione was empty, when Ginny ran past the screen next to it, she found her older brother lying peacefully under the hospital's polyester bedcovers. "Hermione, what's happened to him?" She began tearing up.
"When you left," she began, "He performed that spell… the Dark Magic spell. Even though Draco wasn't a vampire anymore, his reverting back to a human was going to cause him to die, but Ron gave energy to Draco, which is why Draco recovered so quickly. But he gave him a lot of energy. Ron couldn't figure out how to stop the flow of energy, so he gave him a bit too much," she explained. "He's very weak right now."
Ginny stared at her brother and finally noticed just how much the bags under his eyes seemed to stand out against his pale skin. The freckles on his face were like flecks of blood and his face was so serious… she could hardly remember a time when he wasn't laughing or when his bright eyes weren't twinkling playfully at her.
"Is he going to be okay?" Ginny asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"Fortunately, yes," Hermione said.
Ginny gave a sigh of relief.
"Since I transported him here immediately after the spell, Madame Pomphrey was able to heal him and give him enough energy to support his dormant body for now, but had he performed this spell in the same manner any other time, Gin, I don't think he would've made it." A single tear fell down Hermione's face. She looked up. "Gin, you owe him a lot."
"I owe him my life."
Ginny and Hermione jumped. They turned at the door to find Draco blocking the entrance. He invited himself in, supported by a pair of crutches. He also had a bandage wrapped around his head and one around his left hand. Hermione got up and Draco gladly took the seat, taking care not to hit his bandaged right leg anywhere.
"Uh, I'll leave you two here… I'll go check on Harry," Hermione mumbled as she left, closing the door on her way out.
The room seemed suddenly dark without the light from the hallway flooding into the room.
"Draco," Ginny suddenly said, breaking the silence.
He looked up. She still couldn't see beyond his slate gray eyes. What was he thinking?
"My father and Tom Riddle's body were never found," Draco noted matter-of-factly.
"I'm sorry," Ginny said.
"For what? It's not your fault. Just means mum and I get the house all to ourselves, I guess," Draco said, acting as though nothing was wrong.
Silence.
"I," she stuttered. "I'm so sorry about… about all this," she said as she motioned to his injuries.
"It's not your fault," he muttered again. "If anyone should take the blame, I should," he said in a deep voice.
"Draco, you're the one that's hurt," Ginny tried to soothe him. "Physically and mentally… emotionally," she trailed off. Ginny sat on the foot of Ron's bed so she could see his face, but she only saw a large shadow that was cast on it.
Silence again.
"So," Draco broke the silence this time. "I guess no more Quidditch for me for a while," he gave a tiny grin as he moved his face into the light. "And these bandages are awful on my hair."
Ginny smiled at the awful humor and the kind eyes that peered into her own.
Silence once again.
"Now what?" Ginny finally asked. It was the question they'd both been trying to get to and now it was out in the open. Now what?
"How do you mean?" Draco asked.
Ginny saw him retreat back into the shadows. "Don't play dumb," she said softly. "You have feelings for me, don't you?"
She almost thought he wasn't going to answer when he softly said, "Yeah."
"Well, I love you, Draco. I love you with all my heart and I want to be with you more than anything," Ginny told him. "Is that how you feel about me? About us? Or… am I taking this too fast?"
"I love you, too, Ginny," Draco stammered. It felt weird on his tongue to call her by her first name instead of her last name. "You're the first person I've loved so much, Ginny."
She felt a little relief at hearing him say those words, but still, she needed to make sure. "Then why are you so quiet right now?"
"Probably the medications," he said offhandedly. He felt Ginny stare into him. "Er…"
"Draco," she pleaded.
"I," he stuttered, "I love you a lot, Ginny. At the beginning of this whole escapade, you were just another redheaded Weasley and now it's so odd that I've got such strong feelings for you. I mean, I still hate Potter and that bookworm Granger and Weasley—your brother… well, I guess I might have to work on him, but I don't know what it is. I feel like a light inside me has suddenly been flicked on. Being with you makes me feel stronger and makes me want to be a better person. I love you so much, Ginny Weasley… so much that I wish I could keep you in a box and take you with me everywhere. I don't want to lose you. I don't ever want you to leave my side—"
"I won't!" Ginny cried, placing her hand on his face.
"Alas, Ginny, you must," he said in a very sad tone. "It doesn't matter how much I love you nor how much you love me. You can't stay with me," he shook his head and Ginny's hand fell away. He looked up very sadly at Ginny's face, tears already rolling down her cheeks. "No, don't cry," he whispered. "You must understand we can't stay together. Just look what's happened in this one day. Because you were with me, because you were at my house, because I love you," he trailed off. "You could've been hurt, Ginny, and now that I know it is you whom I love, I can't let anything happen to you. You're just so perfect and I—"
"Draco," Ginny said sternly and softly.
It suddenly began raining outside the window in the room.
"Draco, nothing is perfect. Nothing and no one. And even if you feel you've found something as close to perfect as you think, you can't just place it in a box to carry around with you forever. Nothing is forever, Draco. I want to be with you and you want to be with me, and whether it is just for tonight or for the rest of our lives, we love each other right now so we should be together no matter what." Ginny looked straight into Draco's eyes. "I love you, Draco. If you can look me in the eyes and tell me the same—truly tell me the same, there's no way I'm letting you go."
Draco looked into her eyes for what seemed like a long time. "But nothing is forever," he said, looking down.
"Of course not. I already said that," Ginny said.
Draco felt his insides begin to burn.
"But," Ginny suddenly said. "Love is eternal."
Draco let the words process and finally looked into Ginny's eyes. She held her breath. "I," he began in a soft whisper. He bit his lip for a moment and then—finally, "I love you, Ginny."
Without a moment's hesitation, overcome with joy and happiness, Ginny leapt at Draco and kissed him. The chair he'd been sitting in tipped over and he groaned through the kiss as his leg hit something, but he soon ignored his leg, ignored the cold floor, ignored everything else and allowed himself to melt into Ginny's kiss.
Suddenly, a loud crack of thunder and then lightning illuminated the whole room. Startled, Ginny accidentally pushed Draco away.
"That scared me!" She was breathing hard and without even a moment's hesitation, burst into a tiny, almost silent giggle fit.
"What?" Draco exclaimed.
"Your lips are so red now!" She squealed.
Draco narrowed his eyes. "Your face is all smeary and you're not wearing make-up and your hair's messed up."
Ginny mouthed wordlessly at the rude comments.
"And you look gorgeous," Draco smiled.
Just before another round of kissing, Ginny saw the covers of Ron's bed move. "Ron!" She cried, running to his bedside.
When she arrived at his side, he'd opened his eyes. "Gin," he whispered in a croaky voice. "Where am I?" His eyes hadn't adjusted to the dim light yet.
"You're in the hospital ward, Ron," she put her hand on his forehead and pushed his hair back. "Everything's going to be fine."
"Malfoy," Ron said. "How's the prat doing?"
"Uh," Ginny stuttered.
"The prat is doing fine," Draco said, "Though your choice of words wounds me, Weasley."
Ron tried to sit up but couldn't manage it, so he stayed where he was. "What's Malfoy doing in here?" He hissed.
"We, uh, well, he—no, er, I, actually—"
"I can be in here with my girlfriend if I want," Draco finally declared.
Ginny felt warm at the thought of being Draco's girlfriend, but ignored the thought for now. She watched as Ron's face turned red.
"GIRLFRIEND?!" He hollered at the top of his lungs. "GINNY!" He was absolutely repulsed.
The room's door suddenly burst open to reveal Harry and Hermione.
"We heard Ron," Hermione said. "He's up, how's he doing?" She almost cut herself short when she saw Draco next to Ginny and Ron glaring at them both.
"Ah, Ron, calm down, mate—" Harry began.
"CALM DOWN?" Ron screamed. "Draco," he said with an attitude, "has just announced that Ginny is his GIRLFRIEND and you want me to calm down?"
"Girlfriend?" Hermione squealed. "Oh, Ginny, congratulations!" She clapped her hands.
But that made Ron turn redder. "Let me at him!" He growled through clenched teeth. A moment before Ron could hardly even sit up, but now he was slowly propping himself up. Harry and Hermione ran to either side of his hospital bed to push him back down.
"Ron! You've got to rest! Get," Hermione pushed his shoulder, "Down!" She huffed as Ron lay scowling now in his hospital bed.
Another awkward silence… but Draco had had enough awkward silences, and if he was going to be with Ginny, her little Gryffindor friends would have to get used to him. "I guess Weasley's going to get better quicker than we'd anticipated," he smirked.
Ginny began to giggle, bid Ron a good night, and pulled Draco out of the room.
"Hungry?" Draco asked Ginny, hobbling slowly on his crutches.
"Starved," she replied.
When the couple arrived to the Hogwarts kitchen, Draco gave specific orders to the elves while Ginny waited outside the kitchen. When the meal was prepared, he called her back into the kitchen. She came in and found the kitchen's lights slightly dimmed, a table for two, and a single candle in the middle of the gargantuan feast the elves had prepared for them.
"A candle-lit dinner—oh, Draco!" She gasped.
They walked over to the table and Draco used one arm to lean on a crutch and the other arm to pick up a glass of champagne. He raised it up. "To eternity," he gave Ginny a debonair smile.
She blushed slightly, returned the smile, and reached for her own glass. "To eternity."
Author's Note: Okay, I know the last part with the candle-lit dinner was a bit corny and cliché, but I was going, "Awwww!!!" the whole time I wrote it! Anyway, I'm finally finished! The infamous DINB is complete! w00t, I say! This was my first HP fanfic and I'm so relieved and happy to have finished it and I hope you're pleased with the ending as well. Also, if you're upset about R/Hr and H/Hr, I was planning to pick a ship and write it into the fic, but I finally decided not to. I feel safe writing D/G because it's a very low possibility that J.K. Rowling will actually make them a pair in future HP books, but I don't want to choose R/Hr or H/Hr and have JKR choose the ship that I didn't choose… it would just complicate everything, so I'll leave it up to JKR to reveal the mystery behind R/Hr and H/Hr! ;)
Also, my writing skills improved vastly through the process of writing this fic and perhaps some day I'll go through and edit parts of the earlier chapters… they're awful compared to the last few chapters! But back to the point! Now that DINB's finished, to quote Ginny, "Now what?" A few people asked me if there would be a sequel to DINB, and I really doubt it. I'm a senior in high school right now and am busy preparing for college, choosing a major, and surviving Senioritis! Also, one of my dreams is to some day publish a book of my own, so working on a HP fic would take time away from creating that dream book. But fear not! I'll still be writing ficlets and short stories because I can't stay away from my HP fanfics for long! So, I'm not really trying to say goodbye… uh… I know! See ya soon! XP LOL! It's been phun!
But before I go, one last thank you to my faithful reviewers! You're what kept me going: Maureen, Maggie, bigreader, Eiko, Jonah, Erika, Quietus, Spinn, Legolas-Obessesionist, Trinity, Sportz-Crazy, and reagan-felton.
Draco's muscles tensed. He used wet, shaky fingers to rub his eyes before looking at Riddle again. The dark wizard blinked and smiled.
"You're supposed to be dead!" The boy finally cried out. "You have a hole in your head!" Draco's eyes were bulging as he pointed at Riddle.
Then Riddle slowly moved his arms out from the mud and sat up. "Do I look dead to you, little Malfoy?"
"Damn! Why can't you just die?" Draco hollered.
Riddle looked up through the rain at the hole in the Manor that they'd fallen from. "Why can't you?" He retorted.
Draco gritted his teeth and tried to think things through calmly. He'd promised himself that he wouldn't let Ginny get hurt… which wasn't going well so far. He glanced at Ginny again; she looked wet, dirty, tired, cold, and strangely, at peace. Draco envied her for that. She was so pure, so unmarred…so unlike himself—a cold, hard piece of ice. It'd be the death of her if the fire inside her ever went out. She'd become like him, and fire and ice were never meant to be because one would terminate the other and vice versa. It was already happening and Draco could see it. Nothing this drastic would ever have happened to Ginny Weasley if she hadn't been with him. He was terminating her.
But still, a Malfoy never breaks a true promise—not even a promise to himself, and he'd promised himself that no matter what, he'd prevent Ginny from getting hurt as he'd seen in his dream.
Draco gripped his wand hard.
"Tut, tut, little Malfoy! You wouldn't attack an injured man, would you?" Riddle said.
Draco was about to say something about his leg, but stopped himself just in time. Riddle didn't know about his broken leg! Not yet, anyway. "You're not injured," Draco said stoically.
"Come now, I've just revived myself! I should get some points for that!"
"You're a freak," Draco said bluntly.
He needed to think of something to do! He couldn't keep throwing comebacks at Riddle all day long. Draco racked his mind for anything, and suddenly he had an idea. He remembered earlier, when he'd still been inside his room and quite dry (he cursed inwardly at the thought), Riddle had said that his being alive meant that Draco would remain a vampire. So it was quite clear that the ultimate objective was to kill Riddle. Draco scoffed. Potter's been trying to do this for years! Where the bloody hell is the prat when you need him? Then he stopped himself. What was he thinking? Since when did he need help, of all things, from Potter? The thought alone was sickening. He was basically a vampire now and Riddle was a vampire as well. This would be a fight between two vampires—a fight to the death. No room for Potter to hog the spotlight; this was far out of his league.
Draco smirked to himself.
"You dare laugh at my expense?" Riddle growled, his eyes narrowed.
Draco clenched his fists. He suddenly realized that his left hand's fingers were now wrapped around his wand and his right hand's fingers were…tightly grasping Ginny's right arm. Her warm skin under his cold fingers was beginning to turn white, so he removed his fingers off her arm, but his hand instantly began trembling, so he placed his hand back on Ginny.
But when he looked up next, his pupils dilated and he grasped Ginny so hard he was sure his fingers would leave bruises. Riddle was charging at them! He shoved Ginny aside and rolled out of Riddle's way, favoring his injured right leg, just in time.
Draco turned over, still sitting on the ground, and began backing away, pulling Ginny with him.
Riddle faced Draco. "It's time I teach you some discipline, little Malfoy." He began walking toward Draco.
Draco kept backing away, constantly making sure Ginny was well behind him. Before he knew it, Riddle lunged at him again, and again, and again. Dodging the seemingly endless attacks was draining Draco of his energy quite fast and his injured leg was hindering him. He was breathing hard. He inhaled deeply, clenched his teeth and shoved Ginny away from him before looking up to see where Riddle was.
The dark wizard was crouched over, his arms almost reaching the ground, making him look like a savage dog. Without a moment's notice, he leaped into the air with a gazelle's grace and eyed his target like a stealthy panther.
Draco evaded the attack as usual, except this time one of Riddle's hands had landed on his leg—his injured leg. "Aaaargh!!!" Draco wailed in anguish. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the burning liquids slowly spilling through his clenched eyelids and the gut-wrenching pain he felt traveling throughout his whole body now. "Son of a— aaargh!" With a considerable amount of effort, he slid his leg out from under Riddle's hand, gasping for air as he did so. "You—you—you bas—!"
"So that hurt, did it?" Riddle found some sort of sick amusement in this and jumped at Draco's left leg. "Does this one hurt, too?" His hand had touched a little bit of it, but judging from the lack of emotion, Riddle sneered and greedily jumped for Draco's right leg. "So it's—" he jumped again for Draco's right leg, which kept moving since Draco was dodging the attacks rather effectively for the most part, "this—" he dove again, "leg?" Riddle landed again on Draco's injury, causing the boy to yelp in pain.
Occasionally whimpering, Draco began crawling away at what seemed a snail's pace, wishing the world around him would stop rocking and spinning so much. He turned back now and then to see if Riddle was about to attack again. After a desperate fifteen or so seconds of crawling, Draco saw Riddle's knees bend. He gave Ginny one final push and began crawling toward her when he felt a dark shadow pass beyond him. Riddle had jumped over him! Draco felt his jaw slacken as he realized who Riddle's target was. Just in time, Draco pulled Ginny toward him and cradled her in his arms as Riddle landed where Ginny had been only seconds before. "What're you doing?" Draco seethed.
"What? You thought I was going to bite into your neck? Honestly, little Malfoy, don't you know anything? I'd die if I bit into you, and so would you, since I'm a full vampire and you're… well, you're whatever percentage vampire you are… though you're definitely one-hundred percent Malfoy, I'll admit. Definitely your father's son. Fake."
"Shut up about my father," Draco growled, slowly moving away from Riddle.
"Testy, testy!" Riddle chided. "Now, you don't really care for this girl… this Gryffindor. You don't belong with her… with her kind… you're one of us. And besides, I'm supposed to be disciplining you. So why don't you make this easier for the both of us by moving out of the way and letting me feast on her blood?" He was carefully observing Draco. "You'll have a little playmate afterward… a playmate for life. It's beyond me why you'd pick her of all people to protect like this, but I take it I am correct in assuming you've taken a liking to her? Maybe you even fancy her?"
Draco pursed his lips and remained silent. Riddle was just messing with him—there was no time to waste on him!
"Thought so," Riddle continued. "She is a pretty little thing. But you know she'd never like you back… never love you back."
Draco looked up.
"Got your attention, have I?" An eerie smile slithered its way across Riddle's countenance. "But let me turn her into one of us. That way, she could love no other. She would only have you to love… only love for you. Only…"
Draco blinked and rubbed his eyes. It seemed as though Riddle was slowly disappearing and becoming transparent and suddenly, Draco heard a twig snap behind him. He whipped his head around to see it was Riddle... holding Ginny's limp form in his arms! The girl's head lolled and her arms dangled lazily in the air. Riddle hadn't even been speaking all this time—it had been an illusion! A trick! A trick so Tom Riddle could get to Ginny's throat… to her blood. "Get away from her!" Draco hollered.
Riddle saw the boy from the corner of his eye. There was a few paces' distance between them. He smirked at Draco, licked his lips, and slowly lowered his fangs. They touched the smooth skin on Ginny's throat. Thoughts of staining the ivory of her neck flooded his mind and gave him a sadistic sort of glee and pleasure, but before his fangs had even scraped the surface of anything, Riddle felt the wind being knocked out of him as he sailed through the air.
"I said to stay away from her!" Riddle heard Draco growl into his ear.
Then Riddle's eyes widened as he saw Draco open his mouth to reveal a maturing set of vampire fangs where his canines should have been.
Riddle hollered at the boy that was pinning him down on the ground. "NO! STOP! WHAT'RE YOU DO—!" But now there was nothing else the dark wizard could do. Draco had sunk his fangs into Riddle's neck.
And now that his fangs were attached to Riddle's gullet, Draco wasn't quite sure what to do. His initial plan was to just rip his throat apart like a tiger might, gory and bloody as it may seem, but long as his fangs were, they prevented him from biting too far into Riddle's neck. Now Draco felt Riddle's warm blood begin to ooze out of the puncture wounds his fangs had made. His lips began to get slippery with all the blood under them. With nothing else to guide him, Draco followed his instincts, sucked in a mouthful of blood, and swallowed it.
"You'll kill us both!" Riddle coughed, seething.
Draco felt the liquid go down his throat and felt a chill run up his spine. He felt Riddle struggle beneath him, so he sucked in more blood. Draco suddenly began to feel clammy and his head was swimming.
Why was he doing this again?
Because Potter was always the hero. Because that damned Mudblood Granger always got one point higher than he did. Because Weasley and his disgusting little clan spent sleepless nights planning his demise. Because he didn't really have any friends to go back to; they just 'liked' him for his father's money, status and power. Because he'd been kicked out of his family. Because his father cared more for the Dark Lord and his cause than the fate of his own son. Because he had nothing else to live for. Nothing… nothing but one last promise.
That was why.
Draco was to the point where he could hardly feel anything at all. He couldn't tell if he was blinking rapidly or blacking out over and over again. With much effort, he finally tore his fangs off Riddle's neck; the dark wizard lay completely still with his eyes and mouth wide open. Draco took in slow, raspy breaths and eyed Ginny, who was still unconscious.
Damn that Weasley. She slept through the whole thing! Draco thought. He crawled toward the girl. He wished he could detach his leg, as it was causing him much unneeded pain. When he reached Ginny, he nudged her with his hand. "Wake up," Draco croaked. He shook her softly, which took him a great deal of effort in his current state. Draco repeated himself and he saw the girl's eyelids flutter open.
Ginny stared at him and as her eyes widened, she sat up straight and looked from Draco to Riddle to the window to Riddle and to Draco again. "Draco!" She cried. "Draco, you're hurt!"
A quick one, that Weasley.
The stupid girl began crying right then and there. But what a sight he must've been. He was soaking wet, bruised and broken all over, blood smeared across his face, absolutely awful hair, and muddy, no doubt, after crawling all over the ground for so long. But at least she was safe and unharmed for the most part. He just needed to get her out of Malfoy Manor now.
Breathing was becoming a burden. He felt his heart beat slowly and softly. It burned the inside of his throat to breathe. He felt his head hit the muddy ground, for just holding it up was testing his strength now. Draco knew he was about to pass out—that much was clear, and whether or not he'd wake again afterward, he didn't care.
"Get… out… of… here…" Draco whispered to Ginny.
Ginny finally realized the severity of Draco's condition. "Sure, Draco," she sobbed. "Hang in there, we're—we're going to get out of here. Just hang on a little longer." She was trying to find a way to get Draco in her arms—to protect the odd young man who had protected her for an equally odd and mysterious reason, but he kept pushing her away.
"Leave," Draco tried to say firmly.
His eyes closed, and just before he succumbed to the darkness, he heard another voice—maybe two. "Ginny!" He heard. And then he was lost…
…but she was safe.
Ron and Hermione were walking in the courtyard on the backside of Malfoy Manor.
"Ron, are you sure you had a vision that told you to come this way? I really don't think new Diviners can control their visions this quickly," Hermione said doubtfully.
"How would you know? Are you a Diviner?" Ron placed his hands on both sides of her head and narrowed his eyes. "No… no, my Inner Eye tells me you're not."
"Shut up, Ron," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "We need to find you sister and—"
"GINNY!" Ron suddenly yelled.
Hermione looked up and saw a soaking wet Ginny Weasley whip her head around at hearing her brother's voice.
Suddenly, a wave of relief swept over Ginny and tears she didn't know she was holding back began spilling down her cheeks. "Ron!" She cried. "Oh, God! Ron!" She hastily left Draco and ran—more like stumbled—toward her brother.
"Ginny!" He'd finally found her! Ron dashed toward her and moments later, finally had his little sister in his arms again.
Safe.
"Draco Malfoy!" Hermione suddenly cried from somewhere behind Ron.
Brother and sister looked at Draco. "Ron," Ginny pleaded with her eyes. "Ron, Draco saved my life! We've got to do something!" Another bout of tears and hiccoughs began. "And he…vamp…Riddle said… then he… the blood…vampires…bit him—and oh, Ron! Ron, I think he's going to die!"
Ron turned to look at Hermione for help, but she seemed frozen in her tracks. She was looking at something beyond Draco's still body. He turned back around and gasped at the other fallen body he'd failed to notice earlier. "Gin—Ginny! Stop crying," he said in a steady voice. "Now, who's that?" Ron pointed.
"Tom Riddle," Hermione said as if she were in a daze.
Ron blanched and held his little sister out at arm's length. "Bloody damn hell! You killed Tom Riddle?" His mouth was wide open.
Ginny was a bit more in control of her emotions now and shook her head. "I didn't kill him! Draco killed him and now I think Draco's going to die because… because…"
"Because Draco's part vampire," Hermione said quietly.
"So?" Ron asked.
"Draco bit Tom Riddle," Ginny said.
So?" Ron asked again, almost afraid of the answer.
"It's bad because vampires suck blood out of all sorts of people—people with type A, B, AB, and O blood. All the blood types are mixed into a vampire's bloodstream and create a kind of unique blood for the individual vampire. However, if the blood of two vampires is mixed—even if so much as the saliva of one vampire enters another, both vampires are terminated because the vampire's nervous system gets confused and begins fighting off the invading blood cells, but then ultimately begins fighting off the vampire's original blood cells as well," Hermione trailed off.
Ron saw the worry present on his best friend's face. This meant Malfoy was dying as they stared at him. His body was in the process of terminating itself. True, he hated Malfoy with all his heart, but he never actually, truly wanted him dead. Ron unknowingly shook his head. Malfoy couldn't die here… not under his watch. He wouldn't be in debt to a Malfoy. That platinum-haired scumbag saved his little sister's life, so he would make certain his scumbag ass would be saved as well.
He let go of his sister and turned around to face Hermione. "So Malfoy's going to die?"
"Not unless we can get him to a MediWitch… or to Madame Pomphrey or something. We need an expert," she walked over to where Draco lay, kneeled down, placed two fingers on his wrist and listened for a heartbeat. She turned back with watery eyes. "He's not going to last long," Hermione whispered. "His energy's going fast and he feels cold, not to mention he's been out in the rain for so long."
"Draco," Ron heard his sister whisper. He looked at her and knew that the fact that someone's life was in danger was making her upset, but why did she keep saying Malfoy's name like that?
"Hermione," Ginny sniffled. "Remember that power-transferring thing Harry did for Draco? I want to do the same for Draco." Before Ron could even open his mouth, she said, "Please, Hermione. It's the least I could do to pay him back for what he's done for me."
Ron crossed his arms over his chest. Now something really was up. "What has he done for you?" Ron asked sternly.
Ginny walked over to Draco, kneeled down, brushed strands of platinum off his face, and placed a tiny kiss on Draco's forehead. She turned back to her brother and replied in a sad voice, "More than you'll ever know."
Ron's eyes were plates on his face. He kept pointing at Draco, then mouthing wordlessly at Hermione, then convulsing at the sight of his sister. "Ginny!" He finally yelled. After waving his arms around some more, he said again in a somewhat disappointed tone, "Ginny!" He massaged his temples with the fingers on his right hand. "Ginny, this is, like, immoral!"
"Ron!"
Ron's eyes widened. He'd expect Ginny to protest, but it was, in fact, Hermione!
"What?" He wailed.
"This isn't the time nor the place! We need to figure out how to get out of here," she said.
Ron stared at his best friend. How could she be so calm about this? Did she not care that Ginny had just kissed his nemesis? His rival? Hermione was worried about him thinking about such things at a time like this? Ha! Why wasn't she worried about Ginny slobbering all over Malfoy's face at a time like this?
"Hermione, the spell," Ginny said.
"No, you can't," Hermione said, frowning.
"Of course I can! I want to, so I will!"
"It's not that, Gin," Hermione said. "Only a male can do that spell. Don't you remember earlier? You actually asked the same question." She looked at Ron. "Only a male can conduct the spell."
"Whoa!" Ron began backing away. "Don't look at me! I saw what that Dark Magic spell did to Harry!"
Ginny completely ignored him. "Hermione, is there any way to apparate back to Hogwarts or any place near Hogwarts?"
"I'm sure there is, because something's wrong with the spells around Malfoy Manor and there are no magic shields surrounding the grouds," Hermione said, looking worriedly at Ginny, "but I need to think of a way we can transfer all four of us back."
"Well, if it's easier, think of a way to transfer just three people back, because I—"
"Just three people?" Ron hollered. "What? Now you're going to trade your brother—your own flesh and blood—for a Slytherin!"
Ginny crossed her arms. "Before I was so rudely interrupted," she glared at her brother, "I was saying that if it's easier, think of a way to transfer just three people back because I am willing to stay behind." She saw Ron's mouth fall wide open. "There aren't any spells around Malfoy Manor, so I can get back to Hogwarts on my own as soon as I'm back on one of the main roads."
"Considerate as your offer is, Ginny," Hermione smiled, "You really need to get back. Madame Pomphrey needs to check if you have any injuries or not."
Ron was still red from realizing that after all this his sister was still selfless. "Well," he stuttered. "You could just transfer us each back to Hogwarts one at a time," Ron suggested.
Hermione's eyes flickered. "Actually, Ron, that's a really good idea! I was so busy thinking of how to get all four of us back at once that I didn't realize I could just do the transfers one at a time! Brilliant, Ron!"
Ginny acknowledged him with an angry glare all the same. "I can't believe how—"
"Okay! I've got the spell!" Hermione shouted before Ginny could finish yelling at her brother. "Gin, stand still. You're first."
"Bu—wha—wait!" Ginny hollered.
However, there was no time to wait. With a swish and flick of Hermione's wand, Ginny saw the Malfoy Manor courtyard start to swirl further and further away from her before it had completely disappeared all together.
With so many thoughts swirling through her mind, Ginny forgot to prepare for a landing, and therefore arrived at her destination with a thud. She felt something hit her head hard, and then blackness.
Ginny's eyes slowly opened to find herself in a dimly lit room. A spot on the back of her head throbbed as she turned to face the window. The moonlight from a perfectly clear and quiet night illuminated her face as she turned back into the shadows. Everything wasn't perfectly clear… what pathetic fallacy… how on earth could a night so clear and beautiful with the sky speckled with stars so bright and twinkling be before her when things were so horribly wrong?
Draco, she thought.
Immediately, Ginny sprang up and attempted to get out of bed, but a pair of strong arms prevented her from doing so.
"No—Gin! Ginny, calm down! Relax!" Harry hissed at her. His glasses were off; he'd been sleeping in the chair beside her bed.
"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed in a whisper. "Harry, it's so good to see you!" She gave him a warm hug. "Everything's gone terribly wrong and Draco—"
"It's okay, he's being taken care of upstairs and your brother—"
"Upstairs?" Ginny shrieked, her eyes growing wide. "Harry, how can you tell me to relax? He's upstairs! That's the 'Critical Care Ward'!"
She fought Harry out of the hospital bed and began changing into her clothes that were laid over a chair. Harry immediately turned away, the deep scarlet color of his face almost unnoticeable in the dark hospital room. He put on his glasses as if the spectacles might form a shield to hide his blushing face.
"Ginny," he said, stopping abruptly as his voice gave a loud squeak. He turned redder, if that was possible. "Ginny, just wait a minute!" He turned around to stop her, but when he looked where she'd been standing, no one was there.
A moment later, the door out of the infirmary room clicked shut.
Harry sat down alone on the empty hospital bed and stared out the window at the desolate night sky.
Ginny burst into the Critical Care Ward.
The first person she saw was Hermione. She sat next to an empty bed and looked as though she'd been sleeping as well.
"Hermione!" Ginny cried. "Where is he? Where's Draco?"
"He's gone, Gin," she said in a very tired voice.
Ginny felt the bottom of her stomach disappear. "What?" She stuttered. "He can't just—he's not—but he—"
Hermione's eyes suddenly bulged. "Oh, dear! Ginny! No! Not that sort of gone! I mean, he's been released from the infirmary. He's resting back in his dormitory under the care of Professor Snape," she trailed off.
Ginny felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted off her and smiled. "Hermione, don't scare me like that again!" She was about to leave, but stopped herself. "Why are you still here then?"
"Ron," Hermione said in one simple word.
Ginny suddenly felt awful all over again. "Ron!" She hollered. Though the bed next to Hermione was empty, when Ginny ran past the screen next to it, she found her older brother lying peacefully under the hospital's polyester bedcovers. "Hermione, what's happened to him?" She began tearing up.
"When you left," she began, "He performed that spell… the Dark Magic spell. Even though Draco wasn't a vampire anymore, his reverting back to a human was going to cause him to die, but Ron gave energy to Draco, which is why Draco recovered so quickly. But he gave him a lot of energy. Ron couldn't figure out how to stop the flow of energy, so he gave him a bit too much," she explained. "He's very weak right now."
Ginny stared at her brother and finally noticed just how much the bags under his eyes seemed to stand out against his pale skin. The freckles on his face were like flecks of blood and his face was so serious… she could hardly remember a time when he wasn't laughing or when his bright eyes weren't twinkling playfully at her.
"Is he going to be okay?" Ginny asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"Fortunately, yes," Hermione said.
Ginny gave a sigh of relief.
"Since I transported him here immediately after the spell, Madame Pomphrey was able to heal him and give him enough energy to support his dormant body for now, but had he performed this spell in the same manner any other time, Gin, I don't think he would've made it." A single tear fell down Hermione's face. She looked up. "Gin, you owe him a lot."
"I owe him my life."
Ginny and Hermione jumped. They turned at the door to find Draco blocking the entrance. He invited himself in, supported by a pair of crutches. He also had a bandage wrapped around his head and one around his left hand. Hermione got up and Draco gladly took the seat, taking care not to hit his bandaged right leg anywhere.
"Uh, I'll leave you two here… I'll go check on Harry," Hermione mumbled as she left, closing the door on her way out.
The room seemed suddenly dark without the light from the hallway flooding into the room.
"Draco," Ginny suddenly said, breaking the silence.
He looked up. She still couldn't see beyond his slate gray eyes. What was he thinking?
"My father and Tom Riddle's body were never found," Draco noted matter-of-factly.
"I'm sorry," Ginny said.
"For what? It's not your fault. Just means mum and I get the house all to ourselves, I guess," Draco said, acting as though nothing was wrong.
Silence.
"I," she stuttered. "I'm so sorry about… about all this," she said as she motioned to his injuries.
"It's not your fault," he muttered again. "If anyone should take the blame, I should," he said in a deep voice.
"Draco, you're the one that's hurt," Ginny tried to soothe him. "Physically and mentally… emotionally," she trailed off. Ginny sat on the foot of Ron's bed so she could see his face, but she only saw a large shadow that was cast on it.
Silence again.
"So," Draco broke the silence this time. "I guess no more Quidditch for me for a while," he gave a tiny grin as he moved his face into the light. "And these bandages are awful on my hair."
Ginny smiled at the awful humor and the kind eyes that peered into her own.
Silence once again.
"Now what?" Ginny finally asked. It was the question they'd both been trying to get to and now it was out in the open. Now what?
"How do you mean?" Draco asked.
Ginny saw him retreat back into the shadows. "Don't play dumb," she said softly. "You have feelings for me, don't you?"
She almost thought he wasn't going to answer when he softly said, "Yeah."
"Well, I love you, Draco. I love you with all my heart and I want to be with you more than anything," Ginny told him. "Is that how you feel about me? About us? Or… am I taking this too fast?"
"I love you, too, Ginny," Draco stammered. It felt weird on his tongue to call her by her first name instead of her last name. "You're the first person I've loved so much, Ginny."
She felt a little relief at hearing him say those words, but still, she needed to make sure. "Then why are you so quiet right now?"
"Probably the medications," he said offhandedly. He felt Ginny stare into him. "Er…"
"Draco," she pleaded.
"I," he stuttered, "I love you a lot, Ginny. At the beginning of this whole escapade, you were just another redheaded Weasley and now it's so odd that I've got such strong feelings for you. I mean, I still hate Potter and that bookworm Granger and Weasley—your brother… well, I guess I might have to work on him, but I don't know what it is. I feel like a light inside me has suddenly been flicked on. Being with you makes me feel stronger and makes me want to be a better person. I love you so much, Ginny Weasley… so much that I wish I could keep you in a box and take you with me everywhere. I don't want to lose you. I don't ever want you to leave my side—"
"I won't!" Ginny cried, placing her hand on his face.
"Alas, Ginny, you must," he said in a very sad tone. "It doesn't matter how much I love you nor how much you love me. You can't stay with me," he shook his head and Ginny's hand fell away. He looked up very sadly at Ginny's face, tears already rolling down her cheeks. "No, don't cry," he whispered. "You must understand we can't stay together. Just look what's happened in this one day. Because you were with me, because you were at my house, because I love you," he trailed off. "You could've been hurt, Ginny, and now that I know it is you whom I love, I can't let anything happen to you. You're just so perfect and I—"
"Draco," Ginny said sternly and softly.
It suddenly began raining outside the window in the room.
"Draco, nothing is perfect. Nothing and no one. And even if you feel you've found something as close to perfect as you think, you can't just place it in a box to carry around with you forever. Nothing is forever, Draco. I want to be with you and you want to be with me, and whether it is just for tonight or for the rest of our lives, we love each other right now so we should be together no matter what." Ginny looked straight into Draco's eyes. "I love you, Draco. If you can look me in the eyes and tell me the same—truly tell me the same, there's no way I'm letting you go."
Draco looked into her eyes for what seemed like a long time. "But nothing is forever," he said, looking down.
"Of course not. I already said that," Ginny said.
Draco felt his insides begin to burn.
"But," Ginny suddenly said. "Love is eternal."
Draco let the words process and finally looked into Ginny's eyes. She held her breath. "I," he began in a soft whisper. He bit his lip for a moment and then—finally, "I love you, Ginny."
Without a moment's hesitation, overcome with joy and happiness, Ginny leapt at Draco and kissed him. The chair he'd been sitting in tipped over and he groaned through the kiss as his leg hit something, but he soon ignored his leg, ignored the cold floor, ignored everything else and allowed himself to melt into Ginny's kiss.
Suddenly, a loud crack of thunder and then lightning illuminated the whole room. Startled, Ginny accidentally pushed Draco away.
"That scared me!" She was breathing hard and without even a moment's hesitation, burst into a tiny, almost silent giggle fit.
"What?" Draco exclaimed.
"Your lips are so red now!" She squealed.
Draco narrowed his eyes. "Your face is all smeary and you're not wearing make-up and your hair's messed up."
Ginny mouthed wordlessly at the rude comments.
"And you look gorgeous," Draco smiled.
Just before another round of kissing, Ginny saw the covers of Ron's bed move. "Ron!" She cried, running to his bedside.
When she arrived at his side, he'd opened his eyes. "Gin," he whispered in a croaky voice. "Where am I?" His eyes hadn't adjusted to the dim light yet.
"You're in the hospital ward, Ron," she put her hand on his forehead and pushed his hair back. "Everything's going to be fine."
"Malfoy," Ron said. "How's the prat doing?"
"Uh," Ginny stuttered.
"The prat is doing fine," Draco said, "Though your choice of words wounds me, Weasley."
Ron tried to sit up but couldn't manage it, so he stayed where he was. "What's Malfoy doing in here?" He hissed.
"We, uh, well, he—no, er, I, actually—"
"I can be in here with my girlfriend if I want," Draco finally declared.
Ginny felt warm at the thought of being Draco's girlfriend, but ignored the thought for now. She watched as Ron's face turned red.
"GIRLFRIEND?!" He hollered at the top of his lungs. "GINNY!" He was absolutely repulsed.
The room's door suddenly burst open to reveal Harry and Hermione.
"We heard Ron," Hermione said. "He's up, how's he doing?" She almost cut herself short when she saw Draco next to Ginny and Ron glaring at them both.
"Ah, Ron, calm down, mate—" Harry began.
"CALM DOWN?" Ron screamed. "Draco," he said with an attitude, "has just announced that Ginny is his GIRLFRIEND and you want me to calm down?"
"Girlfriend?" Hermione squealed. "Oh, Ginny, congratulations!" She clapped her hands.
But that made Ron turn redder. "Let me at him!" He growled through clenched teeth. A moment before Ron could hardly even sit up, but now he was slowly propping himself up. Harry and Hermione ran to either side of his hospital bed to push him back down.
"Ron! You've got to rest! Get," Hermione pushed his shoulder, "Down!" She huffed as Ron lay scowling now in his hospital bed.
Another awkward silence… but Draco had had enough awkward silences, and if he was going to be with Ginny, her little Gryffindor friends would have to get used to him. "I guess Weasley's going to get better quicker than we'd anticipated," he smirked.
Ginny began to giggle, bid Ron a good night, and pulled Draco out of the room.
"Hungry?" Draco asked Ginny, hobbling slowly on his crutches.
"Starved," she replied.
When the couple arrived to the Hogwarts kitchen, Draco gave specific orders to the elves while Ginny waited outside the kitchen. When the meal was prepared, he called her back into the kitchen. She came in and found the kitchen's lights slightly dimmed, a table for two, and a single candle in the middle of the gargantuan feast the elves had prepared for them.
"A candle-lit dinner—oh, Draco!" She gasped.
They walked over to the table and Draco used one arm to lean on a crutch and the other arm to pick up a glass of champagne. He raised it up. "To eternity," he gave Ginny a debonair smile.
She blushed slightly, returned the smile, and reached for her own glass. "To eternity."
Author's Note: Okay, I know the last part with the candle-lit dinner was a bit corny and cliché, but I was going, "Awwww!!!" the whole time I wrote it! Anyway, I'm finally finished! The infamous DINB is complete! w00t, I say! This was my first HP fanfic and I'm so relieved and happy to have finished it and I hope you're pleased with the ending as well. Also, if you're upset about R/Hr and H/Hr, I was planning to pick a ship and write it into the fic, but I finally decided not to. I feel safe writing D/G because it's a very low possibility that J.K. Rowling will actually make them a pair in future HP books, but I don't want to choose R/Hr or H/Hr and have JKR choose the ship that I didn't choose… it would just complicate everything, so I'll leave it up to JKR to reveal the mystery behind R/Hr and H/Hr! ;)
Also, my writing skills improved vastly through the process of writing this fic and perhaps some day I'll go through and edit parts of the earlier chapters… they're awful compared to the last few chapters! But back to the point! Now that DINB's finished, to quote Ginny, "Now what?" A few people asked me if there would be a sequel to DINB, and I really doubt it. I'm a senior in high school right now and am busy preparing for college, choosing a major, and surviving Senioritis! Also, one of my dreams is to some day publish a book of my own, so working on a HP fic would take time away from creating that dream book. But fear not! I'll still be writing ficlets and short stories because I can't stay away from my HP fanfics for long! So, I'm not really trying to say goodbye… uh… I know! See ya soon! XP LOL! It's been phun!
But before I go, one last thank you to my faithful reviewers! You're what kept me going: Maureen, Maggie, bigreader, Eiko, Jonah, Erika, Quietus, Spinn, Legolas-Obessesionist, Trinity, Sportz-Crazy, and reagan-felton.