Thank you to my lovely reviewers, you guys keep me going! (In particular: Swagatamalfoy, Grovek26, booklover19a, & SereniteRose) And speaking of going…here you go.

M. x

Lightening slashed the sky as a loud crack sounded; an ear-splitting crash of thunder superseded it, masking the sudden appearance of magic. Harry Potter immediately whipped out his wand and looked about in wonder. There, several hundred feet in front of him stood the massive ruins of a sinking castle. Its boarded up windows and crumbling walls loomed forebodingly, as if daring him to enter such a place.

A large DANGER! DO NOT ENTER sign hung creaking softly in the growing wind. Harry knew this must be the concealment charm in affect, for he was sure this was where the Irish Quidditch team would be taking up residence in just a few days time. The thunder rolled on. He glanced to his left, Hermione stood there, determinedly, staring up at the derelict building with a mixture of determination and fear. Beside her, Malfoy looked like a fresh corpse. Dried blood spattered his clothes and he was deathly pale. His ghostly eyes, however, were not looking up at the monstrosity before them, instead, they were glued to Harry's own gaze. Whatever emotion Harry saw there had filled him with certain dread. The eyes gazing back at him seemed to be communicating, I know your secrets, all of them…I know you want her. Whatever had transpired within the thirty-five minutes that they had been separated, Harry was not sure of, all he knew was that whatever it was had seemed to unhinge and enlighten his sworn enemy. Hermione's husband. He thought bitterly as he turned his gaze to the woman in question.

Yes. Yes. He did. He loved her, and hell, he couldn't deny it, yes he wanted her. How many times he had dreamed of her underneath his hot flesh? But there was nothing to be done about it! She had made her choice, first with Ron and then with Malfoy. He hadn't expected her to give him more; she had already given him so much. Harry Potter might have been a lot of things, but he wasn't a fool. So he had pushed it all aside, his feelings and selfish wants. But now, now suddenly, it was as if he could no longer control the thoughts pouring out of him. As he gazed into her eyes he saw everything he ever dreamed of, images and futures that he could only imagine in the darkest of nights. He felt as if a spell had come over him, his mind was suddenly filled with nothing but the thought, the prize of claiming Hermione. Of making her his own…who was Draco Fucking Malfoy anyway: Nothing but a sore loser, a man without convictions, the monster that had murdered his best friend and stole the woman he loved. Harry was reaching quickly for his wand when Hermione's arm shot out, halting him. The look in her eyes told him she knew exactly where his thought pattern was headed, even if she was spared the graphic details.

"None of us are safe." She whispered. Harry gaped back at her, the feeling of her skin against his had an immediate calming on his senses and seconds later, he had no idea where his vile and treacherous thoughts had escaped from. Before he could contemplate the strange hate that had coursed through his veins, Hermione was already turning her head and addressing Malfoy. "Remember, remember what I told you." Hermione reached into her back pocket, pulling out a small bag that Harry remembered from their days of hunting Horcruxes; she slowly reached in and pulled out the sword of Gryffindor.

Harry moved instinctively for it, but she pulled back, giving him a look of warning before extending her arm out towards Draco, offering him the hilt. His eyes moved rapidly over it, and Harry saw fear and mistrust lock onto Malfoy's features. He was afraid of it. Would it reject him? Harry thought with a sudden savage glee. The sword would only give itself to those who were brave of heart, who were worthy.

He was still staring at it.

"Draco." Hermione's sweet voice broke the silence incased around them. Harry tore his eyes from the sky; any second now, those black clouds of doom were bound to unleash a fury on them. More lightening struck, the flash reflecting wickedly off the blade; Malfoy hissed in pain as the light bounced onto his arm, burning his flesh.

"Draco." Hermione's voice was stronger, laced with power and conviction. His eyes snapped to hers. "Take it. Do not fear the light. It will guide you." They shared a long, silent moment of communication. Harry watched on in bitter wonder as the two lost themselves in each other's gaze. Whatever Malfoy was seeing deep in her wondrous soul had given him the courage to reach out and wrap his fingers around the sword. He never broke eye contact as a shock rippled up his arm, he tightened his grasp and although he looked as if he were in pain, he managed to hold on. Silent tears were streaming down Hermione's face. The defiance and courage she saw in her husband's eyes made her throat clog with emotion.

"I love you." He whispered violently and the sword gave a great shudder before falling limp at his side. His grip tightened even more as his gaze snapped to Harry, daring him to challenge his words.

The sound of rusted hinges screaming with shrill insanity, sent all of their heads snapping back towards the abandoned ruins. The entrance doors had been pulled back by an invisible force. A high-pitched giggle sounded suddenly from the somewhere inside, echoing and fading into the darkness. Lightening lit up the sky once more, giving Harry the sensation that behind those ominous depths, some evil force was hard at work. Hermione nodded once and as all three of them took a step forward, the skies opened up with torrential rain and massive hail; they took off, their heartbeats pounding furiously along side their steps.

She was waiting for them, of course. She knew. She had known for hours now that they would show their faces; come to put her in her place with all their righteous justice. But no, they would not triumph now. No. Most certainly not. Ginny contemplated the large onyx ring incasing her finger as the roaring fire of the lounge, danced shadows across her sinister face. She twirled a glass of whiskey in the other hand, waiting otherwise in mute darkness. The rain pounded as she thought back to the last few weeks…. how laborious her efforts had been, how nothing had gone according to plan but she had still somehow managed to succeed. And yet, in her narcissistic mind, she had convinced herself that no one could possibly figure it out. It was too clever. No one, except maybe the perfect Mudblood know-it-all, the Queen of the fucking Wizarding World. Wasn't that supposed to be her? Wasn't she the one married to Harry Potter? It was only right that the title was bestowed upon her. But it was snatched, from right beneath her nose, and the smell lingered there, a burning taste that had infected her throat, her heart and finally her mind.

First, it had been Ron. Not that she cared her stupid; waste of a brother was dead. What did it matter? He was always worthless and forgotten; a drunken, slobbering, pathetic mess. Another reminder that Hermione Granger had taken a piece of her life and destroyed it. Then, her disgusting union with the ferret. That sickened Ginny beyond belief, how someone with so much money and status could also fall under the spell of someone as simple and common as Hermione. How? And finally after years of trying to rise above, after Ginny was forced to accept being second best to the public, being second best in the eyes of her brother and family who still fawned over the bitch…and to their friends who did nothing but build that little tart up… Hermione had gone and taken Harry as well.

Harry, her rock, her heart, the reason she was anything at all. How could she go on without him? The answer was, that she couldn't. Ginny just couldn't face that she had lost one more part of herself, the most important part, to that fucking Mudblood. She could still taste Harry's lips on hers as she recalled his lean body on top of her, inside her, grasping onto her hips with dear life as he threw his head back in ecstasy, his eyes shut so tightly as cried out her name.

In reverence.

In love.

In absolute devotion.

And then something had snapped.

Something deep inside of Ginny's unraveling brain finally gave way, and the cracks could not be repaired; doubt and hate, jealously and wrath oozed out of her, shattering her to her very core. And only one bright thought had burned in her brain ever since; break her, break her, break her.

And she had. According to the papers, anyway. And upon reading that Hermione Granger had lost her husband and her mind, Ginny could once again breath easy. Justice had been served. Hermione would have to be put her away in St. Mungos, Draco would be locked away, tortured and sentenced to death, and Harry, so distraught at losing both Ron and Hermione, would come crawling back to her. All would be right again.

These delusions of grandeur sifted through Ginny's mind for the remainder of the week. Until she heard hours ago from her mother via floo of Draco's escape, at the hands of two thirds of the Golden trio. She had panicked slightly and packed immediately, fleeing to the safety of Dublin, where she would come up with a plan and an alibi. After all, she looked down at the ring again; she had powers on her side that would surely destroy them all. She felt a savage sort of fury at the thought of her husband and the Mudblood teaming up on her, attempting to take her down.

Their footsteps drew nearer and Ginny let a slow, twisted smirk slide across her features as she threw back the rest of her drink and turned in her chair to face them head on. Even if they killed her, she would make sure to do enough psychological damage as possible before she left. The thought sent an electric wave of excitement trilling through her bones. Let them come.

Hermione, Harry and Draco came around the corner and into the dimly lit lounge just as Ginny was placing her empty glass on the mantel above the crackling fire. All three had their wands drawn and eyed her with extreme weariness, shock and vengeful hate. She smiled in response to their entrance.

"Well, well, well….what do we have here? Is this the making of a brand new trio? Maybe not so golden, tarnished perhaps?" She giggled eerily as her mad eyes roved over each of them. It was Harry who spoke.

"What did you do Ginny?" She looked at him in mock surprise, her smile never reaching her cold, dead eyes.

"I think the question, Harry, is what did you do?" She turned her gloating gaze to Draco, whose body was wrought with barely concealed tension. "Wouldn't you agree Malfoy?" His eyes never leaving her, he raised the sword. "Oh come now, I'm not the enemy here. I didn't peg you for an idiot, Malfoy. You must know that I only opened your eyes to the truth." Her eyes snapped suddenly to Hermione and filled with an immense, black loathing. "Hello, whore." She taunted, flinging her glass at Hermione's feet. Hermione waved her wand just in time, repelling the glass shards that would have sunk deeply into her flesh. Draco let out a roar filled with animal like rage. Ginny laughed in his face as she took off his ring and held it out on her palm. "Take this Draco. Take it. It will show you the truth. Then you will understand...I am trying to help you."

"The hell you are!" Bellowed Harry who had stepped up to her. She looked up at him with bland, unfeeling eyes. "You better start talking Ginny or things are about to get extremely ugly." She noticed he was shaking with emotion; of course he was concerned about that little whore.

"By all means." She cooed smoothly, returning to her chair. All of three of them steadied their weapons at her in anticipation.

"I guess we should start at the beginning, no?" She turned directly to face Draco, who was watching her with all the hate in his heart. "Since the beginning of their friendship, Harry and Hermione have pretended that they do not lust after one another. The countless hours that the two of them have spent together outweigh the years that both of us have been married to them. You should know the only reason that Hermione was with my brother instead of Harry was because Potter here could never work up the sack to actually tell her how he feels. And by the looks of it, he still hasn't fully admitted to it. So really Draco, you and I were just devices. Just pawns in order for them to mask their true feelings, isn't that right? Look! Just look at them now." She turned her venomous glare back to the duo, standing slightly apart from Malfoy. If he hadn't noticed the arrangement before he certainly did now. He narrowed his eyes and turned back to Ginny.

"And your speculation was enough? You felt so strongly about it that you decided to frame me for murder?" He hissed, advancing on her as Hermione moved closer to his side. Harry watched her, feeling his heart tangle. Did she know how much he loved her? God, how he had tried to hide it.

"I never meant for there to be any question of your guilt, Draco. I had hoped, that under the influence of my….magic….you would be given the mental capacity to commit the murder yourself. I thought we were so…similar. I had not foreseen you becoming good and honest; I have your Mudblood to thank for that. Oh yes, you fought me every step of the way. It was near impossible to keep you under control completely, to erase your thoughts for more than a few minutes, you kept surfacing to reality; it was only when I realized I could control Ronald as well, that I thought I might have a chance." Her eyes fell on Hermione again, sneering with contempt. "But apparently, my brother's attack on you was not significant enough for Draco to kill him. I had a feeling I was running out of time, and that Miss brains over here would figure it out soon enough."

Harry was breathing rapidly, his eyes staring in horror at this witches' face. He had no idea who she was anymore.

"After I replaced Draco's ring with a little, itty bit of my soul," She cackled. "I blocked the memories from his mind and sent him on his way. I sent him a forged letter from Harry asking to meet at the Ministry, where I took his wand and murdered my pathetic brother myself! Blaise Zabini was an easy target, what a fucking drunk! A couple of false memory implants and a very accurate memory modification was all it took to make Mr. Malfoy our number one suspect." Hermione bit back the bile rising in her throat. What kind of sick woman was this? What had Harry done to push her to this madness?

She kept repeating the thought over and over again in her mind as she watched Draco gripping and flexing his hand that was latched onto the sword. Ginny's mad, rolling eyes, heavily lidded, turned suddenly to Harry's.

"I did it for us. I did it so she would disappear, and you would be free from her. Just like Ron….he's free from you now!" She screamed at Hermione, tears bursting from her bloodshot eyes. "I love you so much, Harry. I can give you everything you've ever wanted. Don't you see? It's all been lies, she has been stringing you along and hurting you all these years…bouncing from man to man, ripping your heart out every time you've had to pick up the pieces." But Harry was shaking his head in denial.

"You know that's not true Ginny, you know it's not-"

"Stop defending her!" She roared, flipping the chair over as she stood furiously, stalking up to him. "Don't you dare-" She whispered. '"How could you? How could you do this to me?" Harry swallowed deeply as he looked into the demented eyes of his wife.

"Ginny," He breathed quietly. "You've done this to yourself."

"No!" She wretched herself away from him, turning back to the fire. "No, Harry. It was you." She looked to Draco. "He was inside of me. Fucking me so deeply, so passionately, with all of the love in his heart. If I was going to get pregnant, I was sure, this union would be the one to consummate it. He was wild, savage, without restraints. I was consumed, drowning in him. He was utterly drunk. He had been, every single night since your wedding." She hissed, a small sick smile gracing her haunted features. "And when I thought I could take no more, when I thought his love would make my heart explode, he came. And as he came, as he held onto me as if his life depended on it, he screamed her name." Her steady gaze turned rapidly to Hermione, who was staring with disbelief, with utter pain and confusion. "Your name, Mudblood."

"Stop calling her that!" Screamed Harry, now pointing his wand at her throat. Draco had also raised the sword, his body wracked with tremors, sweat and rage apparent all across his face.

"Why not? It's what she is! A filthy little Mudblood. What?! Are you two going to share her after you kill me?" She screamed with relish. "I think not! Come Draco, if there is anyone here you want to destroy, surely it's Harry? He's going to get her, sooner or later, you know. The Chosen One can have whatever he wants. He was probably fucking her while you were locked away! Fucking her, in your own bed!" She screamed with rabid joy, at the same time Malfoy charged her, swinging the sword upward with every intention of cracking it down into her skull and splitting her, once more, in half. She was too quick; she slipped to the side, flinging the ring that was clutched tightly in her grip. It spun out as if in slow motion, falling gracefully and sluggishly to the floor. It bounced three times and settled a few inches from Draco's feet, there was a pause, a moment of silence and the room exploded as if it had been hit with a nuclear weapon.

All four of them were tossed of their feet as a wicked cloud of fire and black smoked whipped around them and began to take form. Ginny lay on her back, arching her body and laughing a high pitched, psychotic song as she embraced the evil that twisted and roared through the air.

Hermione clutched onto the floor with all her strength, feeling if she let go she would be thrown head first into the vast blackness circling above her. Harry was yelling over the rising screech of wind, trying to reach her, as he crawled across the floor, but she could not hear anything he was saying.

Inflamed serpents took shape in the noxious clouds and Lucius Malfoy's voice boomed loudly throughout their heads. Kill the Mudblood Draco; she is a smear on your name. Kill her, she is not worthy, she had disgraced you, shamed you, first with a Weasley and now with Harry Potter. Kill them both, son. They are the reason you always failed. You are a failure. Failed. FAILED! FAILURE!

Draco's tortured cry sounded in her ears but she could no longer see him, he was obscured by the darkness incasing them. With a sudden jolt of unparalleled fear; Hermione heard her own voice above the chaos just as Harry reached her.

I only wanted you for your money, your prestige. I've been using you all these years, Draco. Why do you think I wouldn't take your last name? You think I would want to be associated with people like you? You were nothing but a stepping-stone, a way to get my foot in the door. Of course, I don't love you. Harry is the only one. Anytime you're away, any time I've take a day off, anytime I've cancelled plans…

Harry's voice bit through the storm with a harsh grit.

It's because I've been with her. In her. While you were rotting in prison, I slept in your bed. I kept her safe and warm and satisfied. You could never do that Malfoy, you have no heart!

Hermione's heart and head were close to exploding. She was losing her grip on the rough stones, her fingers bleeding in protest as Harry finally grasped onto her hand. They huddled on the floor together, as the Horcrux asserted its power over them, trapping them. Hermione looked up to see a vision, made of black smoke; it was hers and Harry's naked forms attacking one another with lust, moaning and writhing in pleasure. She was vaguely aware of a dull scream that was growing louder and louder by the second until it was an unbearable ache in her brain. She felt her ears pop as blood oozed from her nose and mouth. The sound was Draco, he was shrieking in unimaginable pain and torment. She tried to yell his name, but all sound, all breath had been robbed from her lungs. She clutched Harry's hands tighter as the storm continued its assault; she heard Draco bellow and swear in fury and looked up just in time to see him cutting his way through the smoke, the sword of the enemy coming directly down towards her chest. Hermione rolled quickly to her side as the blade sliced through the air and into the ground where she had just been. A wild scream erupted as the stone floors blew apart and Draco was thrown off of his feet and into the far wall. The black smoked rushed quickly from the room and into the floor that had broken apart, as if someone had pulled a drain. It swirled murkily as the screaming wind faded with it into a pop. Silence.

Hermione pulled herself up to her knees shakily and crawled towards the sword, she wretched in free from the stone and examined it with relief. The ring had looped itself around the blade; he wasn't trying to kill her. Her gaze shot immediately to Ginny who was backed up against the wall, a look of innocence plastered across her face as Harry pulled himself up to his feet, his wand leveled at her heart. A moan issued from her right.

"Draco." She whispered, dropping the sword and rushing to his side. She ran her hands over his face and chest; his head had taken quite the blow.

"You okay?" She breathed. He nodded once, feeling his skull and forcing himself to sit up.

"Is it gone?" His heart was drumming an insane beat as he wiped the blood off his forehead. The things he had seen, fuck, he had been seconds away from a mental collapse. Her love, her love had been the only thing that had saved him.

"Yes." She lowered her forehead to his, taking his face in her hands. "You were brilliant." He barely smiled, his thoughts still contaminated with Potter fucking his sweet wife in their bed. His gripped tightened around her convulsively. He had to tell her how he felt.

"Granger, I-"

"It wasn't real Draco. None of it was real. Like I told you, it's the darkest sort of magic. Your love won. Our love." She smiled then and he was too tired to argue as he suddenly he felt all the blackness of the past few weeks leaving him. Like a festering cancer had suddenly been sucked out through his pores. He felt clean again, himself. He was still here.

Hermione turned back to Harry who had tied Ginny up and was lifting her roughly to her feet. She spit in his face. Draco pulled Hermione's attention back to him, greedily.

"Potter is lucky I just got the shit kicked out of me, or I would put his head through a fucking wall."

"We will deal with all of that later, Draco." She blushed slightly at the thought of her and Harry's next private conversation and pulled away again; Draco's gaze hardened with pain and insecurity.

"It doesn't matter!" Ginny was laughing at her. "It doesn't matter Mudblood, in the end, you still won't get what you want! Did you tell her, Draco? Did you tell her about the old magic?" Hermione rolled her eyes, more ravings from a complete lunatic, but as her eyes fell to her husband, she noticed his body had stiffened and his eyes had taken on a glint of slight panic.

Hermione felt her breath hitch and her heart rate increase at the anxiety written all over his face. Before she could open her mouth Ginny's slanderous words continued. "Since you're a Mudblood, I'll spell it out plainly for you. A rare magical bond, not any that you would find in your precious books, is formed when the male heir of an ancient pureblood line is born. This binding assures that male will marry and procreate with the most suitable of matches to carry on the bloodlines of greatness. In other words, he can only have children with a women of the same blood status as himself." Harry's eyes snapped between the two of them and then back to Ginny, hating her and hoping in a very selfish way that she was right.

"So we cannot have children." Hermione stated more to herself. "The magic works as an ingrained sort of….birth control."

"Yes," Ginny hissed, her eyes alight with malicious glee. "But there's more, would you like to do the honors of the final blow, Draco?" She laughed viciously. Draco looked as if he was going to puke.

"Granger-" He began weakly.

"What? What else?" She heard herself say, the oxygen was leaving her brain, she prayed to Merlin he wouldn't answer. And he didn't. The fucking coward. No. Instead Ginny opened her mouth for the last time.

"He's ruined you, you stupid slut! All the times he's come inside of you, it was all a joke! He knew you would never have his babies, he knew it was impossible! He selfishly kept that secret from you! And it's not just him, Mudblood, his sperm; it's destroyed you, made you barren. You won't ever be able to have children; your family will die with you! And you know why? Because you are not worthy! Even Malfoy knew that!" She screamed, spit flying from her mouth as she pulled against the ropes binding her shaking body.

Hermione felt her knees buckle beneath her. No one was there to catch her as she hit the floor. She bent her head, suffocating her face with her hands as she mustered all the strength in her body to not scream until her vocal chords tore. A loud blast issued from behind her, it echoed across the room followed by a horrible laughing scream as Ginny's body flew in the air and smashed sideways into the stone wall, her neck snapping delicately on impact. She fell to the floor like a used rag doll, limp, wide vacant eyes staring. She would move no more.

Silence reigned. No one moved, or breathed. Harry looked at Ginny's corpse for several moments. Hermione was yet to lift her hands from her face; Draco lowered his wand as if in a trance, and got to his feet. She heard him approach slowly, his footsteps rang loud in the echoing silence, and they reminded her of an executioner's arrival at the Guillotine. She refused to look up but could feel his presence right beside her.

A cold shaking hand landed on her shoulder and she shrugged it away with an anguished sob. How could he lie to her? How could he take away her choice and never say a word? Suddenly she was on her feet, eyes blazing, she turned, emotion exploding from her heart as she faced him. The moment their eyes locked, Hermione almost passed out. He was so angry, so furious, enraged and in pain; but the coldness, the regret of his eyes made her body weak and unstoppable all at once; she realized suddenly, all this emotion was directed internally, he was loathing himself.

Draco opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it once more and nothing came out. He would not make excuses; he would be forthright as always. He would take responsibility for this. He had not learned of the magical binding until after he had already been coming inside of her for months, he had still not told her. Why? His gut whispered it was because he knew then that she would leave him. That she would run back to Weasley, or now Potter and replace him with someone who could give her more. It was wrong, he knew it was wrong, but it didn't matter to him. It wasn't about kids, it was about her! He loved her, and after his childhood he wasn't sure if he even wanted to have kids. Still, he should have told her.

For Hermione, his silence did nothing but confirm that Ginny's words had been true. Especially the part about her being unworthy, why else would he lie?

Hermione nodded once, allowing these awful, horrible realities into her brain; her heart breaking into a million pieces as she closed her eyes tightly, turning on the spot and disappearing into nothing more than a small wisp of smoke. Nothing more...Her last thoughts faded.

Draco was suddenly hit with a suffocating blanket of devastation. He had lied to her. He had lost her. She was gone. He turned towards Potter, whose stare was one of white-hot rage. Here it was. The final battle. Alas, another mortal struggle of good triumphing evil; he hoped Potter would kill him.