My Angel

In the morning, Ginny was nearly certain that yesterday's depression of sorts was caused by her over-consumption of caffeinated drinks. And as for the encounter with Harry in the middle of the night, she wasn't even so sure that that had really happened, and to her relief Harry did in fact seem to think it had been a dream. So, her attitude that morning was a lot better than it had been the previous day. She was cheerful as she ate breakfast, then swept off to work with her nearly completed pile of letters and answers.

Her day went by unusually quickly, so by the time she got back to Headquarters, she had nearly forgotten everything that had happened during the battle the other day. However, as soon as she saw Draco brooding by the fire, everything came rushing back at once and she got slightly dizzy. Leaning on the doorframe, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths, trying very hard to push those memories to the back of her mind.

"Ginny?"

Ginny opened her eyes and saw Draco about a foot in front of her. She was slightly startled, but she quickly overcame that and before she knew it, words were tumbling out of her mouth and it didn't seem like there'd be any stopping them.

"You!" she exclaimed, pointing a finger at him. "You disgust me! You took advantage of me! And to think I almost trusted you! You kiss me, hold me, nearly unclothe me, and then ignore me!"

"Ginny, what are you talking about? You kissed me! Why the hell would I kiss you, you b--"

"Shut up! You did, don't deny it. You scum, you foul little--"

"No, you shut up, Weasel, you just--"

"No, Malfoy, no, I've had enough of you. Why did I think you'd changed? Why did I think you weren't the same evil git? Why did I let you do this to me? Arg!" And with that, Ginny stormed away, leaving a speechless and fuming Draco in her wake.

For at least the third time that week, Ginny slammed the door to her room and locked herself in. She threw herself onto her bed and glared at the door, as though all this were its fault. She hadn't meant to explode like that, but at that moment she hated Draco Malfoy with every ounce of her being. Furious with herself and with him and with everything else, she chucked a pillow at the door. She clutched her other pillow to her chest and drew her knees up to her chin. Once again, she felt tears welling up in her eyes, but this time she made no effort to stop them.

She never wanted to see that greasy little git ever again! She hoped Voldemort took over Draco's body and then Harry killed him. She hoped that slimy little scumbag burned in the furthest depths of Hell. She hoped...she hoped...she hoped he would take it all back and sweep her off her feet, apologize, brush her hair back, and kiss her tenderly. But she knew that wouldn't happen. Malfoys don't apologize, nor do they fall in love with lowly Weasleys.

~~~~~

Once the flow of tears lessened, Ginny heard a knock on the door. She wiped her eyes and smoothed her hair, then got up to open the door. She found Ron standing there looking anxious.

"Ginny, we have to go, now," Ron said quickly. "You-Know-Who's attacking right now."

"Here?" Ginny said in a panicked voice.

"No, not here! Somewhere else--have you been crying? Ginny, what's the matter?"

"Not important," Ginny replied, grabbing her potion kit and running down the stairs after her brother. She found the residents of the house congregated in the front hall, with the exception of Draco of course. As soon as she and Ron arrived and touched the Portkey, they were whisked off.

This time, they arrived smack dab in the middle of a swirl of hexes and wands. Ginny had no time to get her bearings, because a Death Eater had already thrown himself on her. They shot spells back and forth, until Ginny was finally able to Stun him. She escaped that one with nothing but a gash across her cheek. However, before she had a chance to even take a breath, another Death Eater was fast approaching. Ginny lost herself in a haze of curses and people, not even aware of what was going on around her or how many people she fought.

Ginny was feeling rather lucky, as she had sustained very few injuries so far. However, her luck soon ran out. People were falling all around her, their faces blurring in her peripheral vision. She had been so focused on the Death Eater before her that she hadn't heard the one that came up behind her. She was hit with a spell from behind, square in the middle of her back, and she fell to the ground.

Ginny was increasingly aware of fewer and fewer things. She was trying to avoid the blackness gathering at the edges of her mind. She was dying slowly, she was sure of it. Her senses were becoming fuzzier. Her hearing was dimming, her eyesight failing. The darkness was steadily clouding her mind. The sharp pains that she had first felt were now slowly dulling. She would slowly drift off into the unconscious for the final time...

"Ginny!"

She was dimly aware of someone calling her name, but it sounded so far off, and she was so very weak. Her every limb felt like an overcooked noodle; her spine like a piece of string. She felt someone roll her onto her back. She blinked a few times, trying to get the face that had appeared in front of her into focus. However, it was blurred beyond recognition. All she could make out was shining blonde hair. Angels are supposed to shine...Is this my angel, come to take me away?

"Ginny! Ginny, wake up! No, Ginny, please! Don't die, don't die! Please..."

She could still hear that voice. My angel's voice? It was vaguely familiar, but her mind was so clouded she could hardly think.

"Ginny! Ginny, please, don't die! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, just don't die! I...I...I love you!"

Something clicked in her increasingly fuzzy mind. I love you...Someone just said I love you to me...My angel? She found it odd that her angel would be telling her not to die. But then, all sense of logic was becoming muddled, and her vision was even more blurred than before. She felt a hand fumbling around in the pocket of her robes. She was dimly aware of a voice by her ear.

"Hold on, Ginny, please! Don't give in, hold on! Don't die, Ginny, please..."

Someone opened her mouth and she felt a liquid being poured in as a hand held up her head. She swallowed instinctively, though she didn't know from where she found the strength to even do that. Her breathing was becoming shallower and shallower, as it was becoming steadily harder to inhale. She was still dimly aware of a voice whispering in her ear...dimly...dimly...not so dimly. Her mind was clearing, her vision sharpening, her hearing returning. The fuzziness was leaving her, but without the fuzziness the pain returned to her threefold. She gasped in pain and her breathing started returning to normal.

"Ginny!"

Ginny looked at the person who had just saved her. As the face swam into focus, she gasped again. She found herself looking up into the gray eyes of Draco Malfoy. My angel...

"D-D-Draco?" She barely had the breath to utter his name.

"Shh..." he said, gently lifting her into a sitting position and hugging her close. She found the strength to wrap her arms around his neck, resting her head against his chest. She could hear his heart beating, so she concentrated on that, needing something on which to concentrate so she wouldn't slip back into the darkness that still lingered on the edges of her mind. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see what was going on around her, afraid of what she might find. She just concentrated on Draco's heartbeat, making it the only thing that filled her mind. She could feel him holding her against him with one hand, stroking her hair with the other.

After a few moments, Ginny realized that the room was oddly quiet. She opened her eyes and looked around. The fighting had stopped. The dead were lying scattered on the floor, but all eyes were on one corpse. It had ghostly white skin, red eyes with catlike pupils, and slits for nostrils. Standing over it was Harry, red-faces and sweaty, breathing hard, looking like a total mess but victorious nevertheless.

He had triumphed--good had triumphed.

"It's over," Ginny whispered.

The Death Eaters had all gone, save for the dead. Lupin was striding serenely up to where Harry stood. Hermione was leaning on Ron, panting and staring at the former Dark Lord's corpse. It looked as though all the members of the Order were present, whether dead or alive.

Slowly, the realization that Voldemort had really been defeated dawned on everyone. Soon, the silence was filled with joyful congratulations as everyone went up to Harry, nervous laughter as people tentatively returned to a state of happiness, and tears as people discovered who had died. Ginny tuned it all out and turned her head to look up at Draco.

"You saved me," she said softly as he looked down and met her gaze.

He simply smiled, a rare thing indeed, and then kissed her deeply. Ginny, weak as she was, kissed back with just as much feeling. Vaguely, she heard her brother gasp as he saw whom his little sister was kissing, and heard Hermione tell him to stop staring and that it wasn't his business. However, Ginny couldn't care less if her brother disapproved. Draco had started out as her enemy, and had turned into her snarky little angel, as paradoxical as that is. And now that she was fairly certain that what she was feeling had nothing to do with caffeine, she knew exactly how to respond to the letter that had stumped her all this time.

Dear Attracted to Opposites,

Just follow your heart. If indeed you two

are meant to be together, you will be. And if

not, then you'll move on. It will all work out,

as long as you don't lose sight of what's in

your heart.

Don't lose sight of what's in your heart. She had loved him all this time, she had known it, but it had taken a near-death experience to get her to finally admit it.

"I love you too," Ginny whispered.