Never Look Back

It was still dark as we climbed the slippery hill. We saw the eerie lake in the foreground, the enormous castle of Hogwarts in the back. We silently, but sturdily, sat on the muddy ground. Everything around us was still and deadly quiet. My head pounded as tears fell down my grimy face. The moon's reflection glittered gleefully on the lake, almost seeming to mock our somberness. A number of trees around us were split in half and had chunks blasted out of them from powerful spells that were thrown about. I bowed my head in sorrow. This place was once my home, but it was now a graveyard.

"I just can't believe this is real," he finally whispered, his voice raspy. I turned my head slowly and stared at him. Never in a million years would I have dreamed we would be sitting side by side on this day. The moon reflected on his blonde, normally well kept hair. He stared out at the lake and I followed his gaze without saying a word.

My body ached horribly and, feeling like I couldn't possibly hold myself upright any longer, I lay on my back. He did the same as he took my hand in his. It was a comfort to know I wasn't alone at that very moment.

"Draco..." I choked out finally, no longer able to hold it in. I started shedding tear after tear before, finally, fully sobbing. I hadn't slept or eaten in three and a half days, I saw people I grew up with getting murdered, and I had been chased by Voldemort, himself, right up until the second he was killed. My body, my mind, and my spirit had all had enough.

"Let it all out," he said, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close. "Let it all out, Ginny." He stroked my hair as I closed my eyes and sobbed into his chest.

"I simply want to forget...." My voice came out thick and unstable. Draco's grip loosened in the slightest and his body tensed, but he continued to hold me with a strong grip. If he wanted to let go, he was free to do so, but made no move to.

"I know," he whispered in my ear. Memories flooded my brain, making my heart hurt and yearn for the past. After what felt forever, I wriggled out of Draco's grasp and sat back up, tears still falling from my eyes. I didn't want him to see me so vulnerable, but I just didn't care anymore. It's not like it really mattered.

Draco sat up on his elbows. We stared at the ruins in front of the school; the very one I would have graduated from a year and a half before. "The war destroyed my life, Draco, as well as yours. The bloody war took many lives. People we know. Our friends, our families." I shook my head in disbelief as my tears choked me up. "There's no way it really happened. It's just not true!"

Draco sat all the way up and held my hand without speaking. I stole a glance at him and saw his blank expression. I knew that face well; he was trying to hold back his feelings.

I looked out over the lake and saw the beginnings of the make of a new day. Bitterly funny how almost everyone you knew was either blown up or jailed, yet the sun saw fit to create a beautiful sight as it slowly rose. The purple had already lit up the sky on that end of the lake, and the pink was starting to show, but to my far left the stars continued to twinkle in the still black sky.

"Just think of it this way," the boy, no, man, to my right said quietly, still firmly holding my hand. "You'll no longer have to live, day-to-day, in fear of your life. It's over. For the rest of our lives." I turned my head and looked him, and he turned to look at me. Even in the very dim start of the day, I could see the brilliantly smoky color of his worn eyes. "Voldemort is dead. Tom is dead."

I turned my head quickly from his in reflexive shame. He knew about everything that happened in my first year. Everything.

We sat silently and, soon after, two people slowly emerged out of the castle. Ron and Hermione had gone to look for survivors in the castle almost four hours ago. I was starting to worry that something had happened to them. I was so lucky that they, as well as Draco and I, were alive and well.

A couple of minutes later, three other people stood at the entrance of the doorway. They looked tired and hungry. I couldn't make them out at first, but as they walked down the steps to my brother and his wife, I finally realised that it was Colin Creevey, Susan Bones, and a magically handcuffed Pansy Parkinson (Draco chuckled hatefully and remarked "Doesn't surprise me," when he saw his ex). Ron waved up at Draco and me, and called to us that they were going to the Ministry (or at least what was left of it) and then he, Hermione, Colin, and Susan were going to go to The Burrow.

As I watched them leave, my heart lightened. I had people I could look forward to in my future. I tightly squeezed Draco's hand and he leaned in close. "I'm so glad they're safe," he whispered sadly. I felt him stiffen next to me and looked at my feet, becoming lost in thought. I had all of those people in my life, yet he had nobody at all. I suddenly felt very sorry for him.

"Draco, live with us," I said, a little more loudly than I'd meant to. I looked back over at the horizon; pink, purple, and yellow mixed together in the sky, now. The darkest part of the sky was a slightly dark blue with red hue.

"What?" he asked, surprise filled his voice. His eyebrows shot up and his eyes were unreadable. I couldn't tell if it was confusion or something else. It terrified me.

"I said come live with us. You don't have a mother or a father. No friends. No home to go to. Live with me... my family. Please come live with us." I was surprised at how strong my voice held up, but even more surprised by my boldness.

Out of the blue, he said, "I'm sorry Potter died. He did it bravely, though."

I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my chin on them. I thought there could possibly be no more tears left in me, but I was completely wrong.

-

"Voldemort, hold your Death Eaters back! This is between you and me!" Harry yelled, breathing heavily. "I'm holding my side back, so hold yours!"

I was very awed at the sight before me. Harry was scared senseless, I knew this. He had told me the night before, but he knew he had to do it. It struck me how very brave, yet very, very stupid the man standing before me was. Yet I stood behind him, my wand at the ready, friends and family on either side. My knees were shaking horribly, from both nervousness and weariness. Harry stood his ground, wand raised at Voldemort.

"Hold your fire," Voldemort hissed at his followers. I knew they would attack as soon as they had the chance, because Voldemort knew this was his last chance to live; Harry and Voldemort were literally in the dual of their lives. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had found and destroyed all of the remaining Horcruxes. This was it. If he died, he had no more chances. I could almost see the fear in his eyes.

There were explosions on every side of us, but we were focused on the scene before us. It was surreal, what was happening. Blood was pouring from Harry's side, yet he was so determined. I was afraid he'd die from blood loss right then and there.

"Are you ready, Potter, to let the wizarding world down?" Voldemort hissed at him.

Harry stayed quiet. I was almost certain he was trying to find the strength in himself to continue. I knew he could do it.

At that moment, though, both wands emitted a bright green light, hitting the opponent in his chest. Both men keeled over right there. A second of silence before reds, greens, blues, and yellows were being thrown around. A purple beam here and there. A cry of pain. A thud indicating stun, or perhaps even death. Disgusting words were being thrown back and forth between sides.

I was then faced against my second greatest enemy. Lucius Malfoy sneered in front of me. "You should have died seven years ago, my dear. It's now time to meet your fate."

Before I knew it, I was being thrown backwards. Not by a curse, but by Draco's arm. He belted out, "CRUCIO!"

-

"You were brave," I whispered. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. You saved me." Draco stayed silent, just staring at his boots. I decided to elaborate. "You killed your flesh and blood. It might not have been for me, but you did save me."

-

Lucius screamed out in pain as the curse hit him. Draco looked utterly mad. Then, Lucius started laughing. "I knew you never had it in you."

"CRUCIO!"

Lucius screeched as if he had been lit on fire. He was bending backwards, his face twisted in pain. It lasted for quite a long while this time. Then, to my horror, Draco did it.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

I cried out as Draco's father's eyes went blank; he stopped screaming. It seemed life had slowed for those short seconds. I looked at Draco, but quickly glanced away because of what I saw; he had absolute horror painted in his eyes... horror and, above all else, mad satisfaction.

-

"Yeah..." He trailed off in thought, as did I. Where were my parents? Were they safe? Even alive? What about Bill and Charlie? Percy had been killed at the start of the war, because of his place at the ministry. The twins were alive. They had a secret passage in their shop they had built upon the news of the war. We didn't know about it until two days ago, so we had no clue what their status was.

Almost as if Draco was reading my mind, he had asked, "How is your family?"

I shrugged. "Percy is dead; Fred, George, and Ron are alive; and I don't know about Bill, Charlie, or my parents." I was trying to keep my mind away from my family, because it hurt too much to think about them. I blinked and tried to think about other things.

-

"It's an owl," Colin whispered, sounding distraught, watching a black owl fly in. "Ginny, it's yours!" After the first owl flew in, though, the ceiling flooded with others.

"See, Colin," I laughed, watching my owl fly down to bring me The Daily Prophet. "You were worried about nothing!" I put the right amount of Knuts into its pouch and it flew off after I untied the paper.

Thirteen in the Ministry Found Dead

The title jumped out at me. I just knew what was coming. I was right. As I read on, it listed all of the names of the deceased. Percy was the last.

Though I wasn't on speaking terms with Percy, it hurt. It stung. I wanted to cry. I didn't, though. The fact that he died didn't hit me until much later.

-

"What about your mum?" I asked quietly in return, bringing myself back to the present.

"She died. She was pregnant; died giving birth."

My head snapped up at this. Chills ran down my spine. "What about the baby?"

He shrugged and gazed at the sunrise. "I don't know," he whispered. Draco was trembling and I could tell he wanted to be holding that baby in his arms, though he didn't come outright and say it. "I think Voldemort may have put it somewhere for safe-keeping."

"Meaning, he was going to raise him?" I shuddered at the thought.

He shrugged. "It's possible."

I looked at the sunrise. It was so beautiful. On the yellow canvas of a sky, a sun was painted; surrounding it was a mix of blue, purple, pink, green, and orange; absolutely breathtaking. My heart ached for Draco, though. As if almost on cue, he turned to look at me and I couldn't control it. I leaned in and we shared our first kiss together. His lips were so amazingly soft, even the mud and blood caked on both our lips couldn't spoil the moment. His hands flew to either of my cheeks and he pulled my face in closer; my hands automatically went to his shoulders and I pulled his body closer to me.

A lone tear fell from my eyes. I promised it would be the last one for the day. As I pulled back, written on Draco's face was utter confusion; then he looked satisfied, yet a bit uncertain. "Thanks," was all he said, putting his arm around me.

"It's just so beautiful out here," I whispered, trying to explain. I stared at the sunrise. "I couldn't help myself."

He pulled me close. "If I come to live with you, we're not living in The Burrow. We're not living in Malfoy Manor, and we're definitely not living in Grimmauld Place. You, your brothers, your parents, Granger and I all are going to move somewhere new. We're all going to live in the same place, at least for the first year. We're going to start over. Most important of all, though, we won't dwell on the war. We're not going to look back and think on it every second of the rest of our days."

My eyes welled up with tears, but none of them fell. I nodded my head. It sounded like a plan.

He stood up, then turned around and held out a hand. I grabbed it and he pulled me up. "We're going to The Burrow and we're not moving until we find out about your parents and your other two brothers."

I nodded. I wasn't sure I was capable of actual words until I finally opened my mouth. "We're going to find your baby brother or sister. I swear to you. It's the least I can do after what you did."

He nodded in return. We held hands the whole way home and didn't look back.