A/N: Tada! Here it is! The final chapter! Wow, I never thought I'd make it to the end. What a relief! Now I can focus on the other gazillion stories I'm working on at Fictionpress. And the zillion stories in my head as well. Yippee!

A/N2: I completely forgot about the eavesdropping ears that Fred and George created in the fifth book! I should have used those! Oh well, they're always inventing stuff . . . but yeah, I just read the fifth book again and I have officially given up on trying to make this story consistent with it.

Piecing the Puzzle

Ginny tightened her already closed eyes and turned her face away from the bright light filtering through her eyelids. The sound of someone walking by reached her ears, but she paid it no heed. Why wouldn't that light go away? And why wouldn't Draco shut up? He kept calling her name and it was interrupting her sleep. Suddenly her eyes flew open and she found herself looking into the face of Draco Malfoy.

"Ginny!" he breathed with relief. "I'm so glad you're awake."

"What happened?" Ginny mumbled.

But before Draco could answer; Ron, Harry, Hermione, Jackson, Chloe, and Amber surrounded them.

"Gin! Oh thank goodness you're okay!" Ron exclaimed as he shoved Draco out of the way. Ginny glanced worriedly at Draco, but he caught her look and didn't say a word.

"I'm fine, Ron," she managed to say. Her mouth was so dry it felt like she had been chewing cotton for a week.

"Would you like some water, Gin?" Draco asked, offering her a goblet.

"Yes please," she mumbled. Now it was Ron's turn to be shoved out of the way. Something Draco did with obvious pleasure.

"Sod off, Malfoy! You dumped her, remember?" Harry muttered as Draco helped Ginny sit up and take a sip of water. She noticed that he was wearing a large bandage on his head.

"That's enough Harry," Ginny said softly, feeling much more like herself now that she was up and had had some water. Harry's face flamed red and he muttered something about returning to his own bed before leaving the group.

By this time Ginny had figured out that she was in the infirmary and smiled as she took in the many flowers that adorned her corner. "Who sent me all these?" she asked.

Draco blushed and ducked his head. "I'm responsible for most of them," he admitted.

"Yeah, but we got you that nice big bouquet over there!" Ron jumped in, indicating a funeral wreath. Ginny rolled her eyes and nodded her thanks.

"I'm sorry," Hermione whispered to her, "but I'm afraid Harry and I have been a bit unwell ourselves and had to send Ron to get them. I knew we were in trouble when he asked us if roses are the really tall ones with yellow petals. " It was then that Ginny noticed a thin scar running down Hermione's neck and just how pale Hermione was.

"What happened?" Ginny exclaimed.

"Voldemort," Hermione sighed. "I'd better get back to my bed as well. Wouldn't want Madame Pomfrey coming after me." Giving Ginny a wry smile, she headed to the opposite side of the infirmary.

"Hey Gin," Chloe said softly, approaching the bed, "Just went out to fly around for a bit, right?"

"I'm sorry, Chloe," Ginny apologized, "but if I had told you the truth you would have tried to stop me."

"And that would have been bad?" asked Amber, gesturing toward Ginny as if to emphasize that Ginny's not being stopped had had worse consequences than if she would have just stayed at Hogwarts.

"All right, that's quite enough," Madame Pomfrey announced as she approached the group. "This girl has been through a traumatic experience and she cannot fully heal with you lot constantly around. Back to your common rooms!"

"Wait," Ginny said, grabbing Draco's hand as he turned to leave. "Stay."

Draco glanced at Madame Pomfrey who threw her hands in the air and stalked over to Harry.

"What happened?" Ginny asked him again as he seated himself on the bed. "I remember going to you house and being attacked by You-Know-Who, but then . . . nothing. How did we get out?"

"I suppose there's no need to tell you about the staff meeting that was held on our behalves." It wasn't a question.

Ginny's eyes widened. "How'd yo . . ."

"Peeves ratted on you. Told the headmaster that he'd seen you snooping around the staff lounge just before the meeting. Dumbledore had the staff lounge searched and they found your 'special' ginger snaps."

Ginny nodded sheepishly. No doubt Peeves had been told that he'd been fed a load of rubbish and had gotten his revenge by reporting her.

"Anyway, back to how we ended up here . . ." Draco waited for Ginny to return her attention to him.

"Oh, yes . . ." she said, still looking rather embarrassed.

"McGonagall went up to Gryffindor as soon as she got out of the staff meeting."

"McGonagall was assigned to watch me?" Ginny interrupted. She grinned at the look Draco was giving her. "I didn't wait around to listen to the whole meeting, you know."

Draco shrugged and continued his story. "Anyway, she got there and your friend told her you had gone out to the pitch to fly for a while. She immediately went out there, but you weren't there."

"I flew around for a bit before leaving just in case anyone came out."

"Yes, well, in McGonagall's opinion you didn't hang around long enough. Apparently they searched the entire castle and forest for you. That was when Peeve's told them that you had been snooping around the lounge just prior to their meeting."

"You're well informed Mr. Malfoy," Ginny commented.

Draco shot her a look for interrupting yet again. "You're not the only one who was asking a lot of questions upon waking up," he shot back.

"When you woke up?" Ginny asked leaning forward, "Were you knocked out?"

"No. Stunned." Draco replied shortly. "Unfortunately I don't take being stunned well and didn't wake up in time to warn Dumbledore about Voldemort's plan to capture Potter in Hogsmeade. But Potter got lucky, again. Now, do you want to hear the story or not?"

She had been on the verge of asking another question, but immediately snapped her mouth shut. Nodding meekly, she settled back onto the pillows that were supporting her.

"They found the ginger snap, but thought nothing of it. Then an owl flew in with a letter from your mum asking if the twins' latest invention was permissible on Hogwarts grounds. She then explained that she had discovered that Fred and George had sent you some. Dumbledore put two and two together and realized you must have heard at least a goodly portion of the meeting. I guess they had come up with some sort of plan to get me away from my father and they immediately put it to work."

Ginny snorted in self-derision. "A lot of good I did you, then," she mumbled. "You would have been saved that night by wizards more capable of such a task. All I did was give them one more thing to worry about."

"But you did save me, Ginny," Draco said, squeezing her hand, "Dumbledore was going to wait until the next morning before calling in the aurors. Once they realized that you must have gone to save me, they decided not to wait. If they had waited until the next morning . . . I, I'd have already been a death eater."

"Would you have really joined them, Draco?" Ginny asked in horror.

"I wouldn't have had a choice, Gin," Draco said softly, "They threatened you. I . ." He stopped, clearly uncomfortable with what he had been about to admit.

Ginny smiled at him and pulled him towards her. She kissed him softly before pulling back. "So the aurors came in and saved the day, then?" she asked, trying to ignore the fluttering feeling she was feeling. Draco had all but admitted that he loved her!

"Almost. You-Know-Who and some of the other death eaters got away using one of the secret tunnels. But, my parents-as well as the death eaters who didn't make it out- are now in Azkaban."

"I'm sorry, Draco," Ginny said sympathetically.

Draco waved the apology away and stared at the floor. "They may have conceived me, Ginny Weasley, but they were never my parents. I may as well have been an orphan growing up in that enormous house."

Ginny was shocked at the conviction she heard in his voice. She had had no idea that the bitterness he carried for his parents went that deep. He had hidden so well in all the time that she had known him. She almost felt sorry for him, but she knew that he didn't want to hear that. Instead she expressed a different emotion that she was feeling for him.

"I-I love you, Draco," she whispered.

Draco's head snapped up and he stared at her with his mouth forming a silent, "O." What on earth had prompted her to tell him that? She couldn't have picked a more random moment. More importantly, did she really mean it? Of course she means it, you dolt! Why would she tell you she did if she didn't? A voice in his head answered, Better yet, if she didn't love you, do you think would she have risked her life to save you? This train of thought was interrupted by a small giggle coming from the portrait of a nymph that hung above Ginny's bed.

"Well?" She asked, her big blue eyes bursting with excitement, "Say something!"

Draco rolled his eyes and returned his gaze to Ginny. "And I love you, Ginny," he whispered as bent down to give her a much longer kiss than usual. The nymph tittered even more loudly and when Draco broke off the kiss and looked back at her portrait, she was gone.

"She's probably on her way to tell any portrait that will listen to her," Ginny replied, drawing his attention back to her. She said it casually, but her eyes twinkled with excitement.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And how do you know that?"

"Because she's how I found out that you dumped me because of your father. She was telling another portrait in the library all about it. That nymph lives off gossip."

"You knew my father was the reason behind our break up?" Draco asked, surprised. He was sure that had she known his real reasons, she would have approached him about it.

"Yes, and I was even going to talk to you about it and hopefully work things out," Ginny frowned, "but you must have been taken shortly after I found out, because the next time I saw you was in your father's library."

Draco nodded and stared out the infirmary window for a moment. At the mention of his father's house it set him to wondering what would become of him. For all intents and purposes, he was an orphan. Luckily he would come of age this summer, but still . . . he would spend the entire summer alone in the manor. I'm sure it won't be that much different than the past summers, he reassured himself.

"I'd better go," he said, giving Ginny a peck on the cheek, "I've got exams to study for."

Ginny entered the Great Hall for the End of Year Feast and took in the beautiful scarlet and gold décor. Once again Gryffindor had won the house cup and this time Ginny had been one of the main contributors to the victory. She had been released from the infirmary only the day before. Just as Madame Pomfrey had finished her lecture on taking it easy, Professor Dumbledore had arrived.

"Well, Miss Weasley," he had said gravely, "I'm afraid that I must speak with you concerning an important matter."

Knowing what was coming, Ginny had gulped and prepared herself for the worst.

"It has come to my attention," the headmaster had continued, "that a certain eavesdropping device recently came into your possession and that you used said device to listen in on a confidential staff meeting. On top of that, you left school grounds without permission to travel to the home of a known death eater. Therefore, I am taking fifty points from Gryffindor."

Ginny had nodded and said that she understood. She had been staring at the floor, but her head had immediately snapped up at his next words.

"However, you showed great ingenuity in handling Peeves the way you did. Not to mention the immeasurable courage in your attempt to rescue Mr. Malfoy. And, according to Madame Pomfrey, you have been a model patient; especially in the way you handled having to take your O.W.L.s in bed. Most students think if they are sick enough to be in the infirmary that they are sick enough to put off the O.W.L.s until they are well enough. They don't seem to understand that it is simply not fair to the other students that they get more study time. Of course, it's understandable to miss them if you're unconscious or . . ." He had been cut off by Madame Pomfrey clearing her throat, "Yes, well, anyway I am awarding Gryffindor two hundred points which-I do believe-puts you exactly twenty points ahead of Slytherin and the winners of this year's house cup."

Amber and Chloe practically attacking her drew Ginny from her thoughts.

"Oh Ginny!" exclaimed Chloe as she squeezed the breath out of her, "I'm so glad you're okay! I can't believe you had spend three weeks in the hospital wing just because you were stunned."

"Yes, well," Ginny gasped as Amber took a turn at suffocating her, " When I fell I hit my head on a bookshelf and tumbled back down into the secret passage. I broke several bones, got a concussion, and various cuts and bruises. Not to mention being unconscious for over a week." The three girls made their way to the Gryffindor table and sat across from Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Hey," Draco said as he sat down next to Ginny, "I see Warden Pomfrey finally released you."

Ginny smiled at him and started to reply but was interrupted by Ron.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Ron growled, "You're not in Gryffindor."

"There's no rule saying you can't eat at a table other than your house's, Weasel," Draco smirked and put an arm around Ginny. "Any competent prefect would know that," he added, giving Ginny a kiss on the cheek. It was clear that Draco was only being cute with her because it would further goad Ron. Ginny didn't mind, though. It served Ron right after all the times she had to endure Ron and Hermione practically snogging in front of her.

Ron was currently moving his mouth rapidly, but no sound was coming out. Finally he managed an irritated, "Humph," and turned his attention to Hermione.

"Oh Gin!" Chloe said, "I almost forgot. This came for you at breakfast yesterday." She pulled a piece of parchment out of her pocket and handed to her.

Ginny opened it and smiled. "It's from Mum!" Her grin grew wider as she continued to read. "She feels terrible about what happened to you, Draco and she says she won't have staying in that big manor by yourself." She glanced at Ron before turning to look at Draco, "She insists that you spend this summer at the Burrow."

An enraged cry escaped Ron's mouth and he lunged across the table to snatch Ginny's letter. "She doesn't say that!" he exclaimed, returning to his side of the table, "You're just pulling my leg, you are!" As he skimmed the letter his face paled.

"Why, Ronnykins!" Ginny exclaimed, "I wouldn't lie to you about something like that. Well, how about it, Draco? Do you think you could stand to spend the summer in my family's overcrowded home with this prat?" She jerked a thumb at Ron.

He gave her a kiss before smirking at Ron and answering, "I can't think of anything I would enjoy more."

Ron started to howl in protest, but was interrupted by Professor Dumbledore beginning the feast. Ginny paid no attention to the speech, her only thought was that this summer would certainly prove to be interesting.

A/N: okay, there you have it. THE END! And I just inadvertently set myself up for a sequel. Dang it! I promised myself I would never again write a story that took place in Harry's seventh year because then I would have to figure out how to destroy Voldemort and I already used the one good idea I had in Getting to Know You. So, we'll see. If you have any ideas for my dilemma, feel free to email me at Thanks! Serepidia