Terminus Est

Ginny shook herself. It was now or never. She had better be quick about this, or Voldemort would murder Harry. She raced towards the chest, invisible to all. She sank to her knees, searching for the inscription.

"It's on the right side," she heard Draco mutter. Thank Merlin for his keen ears, he must have heard her approach. She looked around quickly, but no one else had noticed anything unusual. Their eyes were fixed on Voldemort, who was gliding towards Harry, evil intent in his eyes.

"Voldemort!" Draco cried, as Ginny searched frantically for the inscription. "You shall not take Harry!"

"And what makes you say that?" Voldemort said, stopping in his tracks. Ginny realized that Draco was distracting him, giving Ginny time to save them.

Aha! There it was. Ginny knew it was the right inscription, for it was the only bit of English on the Chest. She read it quickly.

I am just two and two. I am hot, I am cold.

I am the parents of numbers untold.

I am a gift beyond measure, a matter of course.

I am given with pleasure when taken by force.

Ginny gaped at the inscription. Here she was, the supposed savior of the universe, and she couldn't figure out a simple riddle. Her eyes traveled back over the riddle, thinking hard.

"I won't let you," Draco said.

"You have no power to stop me, you inconsequential fool!" Voldemort shrieked.

What could this be? A gift beyond measure, but a matter of course? Something that seemed special, but happened all the time. Um, people got married all the time. But that didn't fit with the last bit. Given with pleasure, taken by force. At the same time? How could this be?

"Together, Harry and I have more power than you'll ever have!" Draco cried, swiftly walking over to stand by Harry.

"Don't forget about us!" came Blaise's voice.

Ginny glanced in their direction. Hermione was standing up, supported between Blaise and Ron. Defiant looks were on all of their faces as they moved to stand with Draco and Harry.

Ginny had to save them, she had to try. But she couldn't figure this riddle out.

Desperate for help, her eyes automatically sought Draco's face. He looked so handsome standing there, defying Voldemort to give her time. No matter how evil everyone assumed he was, she thought him a hero. And a damn good kisser, too, she thought irrelevantly.

Wait a second...two and two, hot and cold, given by pleasure, taken by force, gift beyond measure, matter of course. Of course!

"A kiss," she whispered.

-------------------

Draco heard Ginny whisper, but he didn't catch what she was saying. Well, you couldn't really blame him, he thought. He was in a standoff with the new, more powerful Lord bloody Voldemort, he couldn't be expected to hear whispers from three yards behind him.

His train of thought was abruptly interrupted as a bright light enveloped him and his friends. They were thrown away from the Chest, sailing through the air.

Draco had one last thought before darkness claimed him. Ginny.

-----------------

Ginny was thrown backwards with the others, and her head was threatening to blast right off her shoulders from pain. She assumed that she'd hit it on something. Whoever was screaming wasn't really helping her much.

Screaming? Ginny raised her head, to see Lord Voldemort bathed in light once more. This time, he looked to be in intense pain, and the screams were his.

The light seemed brighter than before, and Ginny squinted against it. It immersed the room in its shimmering power before concentrating on Voldemort. In one amazingly bright second, the light returned to the Chest.

The Chest of Set, artifact of Evil, disappeared for another ten thousand years.

We did it, Ginny thought wearily, and lay her head back down. She heard Draco let out a strangled whoop, somewhere off to her right.

"Ginny?" Draco called. "You all right?"

"If you don't count a splitting headache, I'm just fine!"

"Harry?"

"I agree with Ginny!"

"Blaise?"

"Ugh. I'm here."

"Ron?"

"Well, Hermione's laying on top of me, but aside from that I'm fine."

"Ron, you git, a hot girl is laying on top of you and you complain?"

Draco crawled over to Ginny, a smirk lighting his features. "They underestimated you, huh?"

"Yeah, they sure did."

Draco leaned in and gave her a kiss. "I'm glad."

"I am too."

"This is all very sentimental," said a high, cold voice. "But I'm afraid I'll have to cut this short."

As soon as Voldemort had started to speak, Draco had been on his feet. Now he turned to Ginny and held his hand out. She took it gladly, and let him help her to her feet. Together, they turned to face Voldemort.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw the others get to their feet. No one seemed to breathe as Harry led the others towards Draco and Ginny. When all four of them were standing slightly behind Draco, the blonde boy spoke.

"Cut this short?" Draco said, crossing his arms and lifting his chin, a picture of desperate defiance. "Exactly what are you planning to do?"

"You have rid me of the Chest, this is true," Voldemort said. "But the prophecy states that I must destroy the Potter boy, or he shall destroy me. If I kill him now, who will then stand in my way?"

"I will," Ginny said boldly.

"I will too," Draco said, taking Ginny's hand.

"As will I," Blaise said, moving to stand beside Ginny.

"And us," Ron said, moving to stand beside Draco, with his arm around Hermione.

"What touching sentiments, children," Voldemort sneered. "But five teenagers cannot stand in the way of Lord Voldemort."

"We can try," Draco said.

"Try and fail!" Voldemort shouted. "None shall defy me and live! You're dead, Malfoy!"

Oh no, what were they going to do to Draco? He had no chance against Voldemort and a dozen-odd Death Eaters. Ginny prayed that they would spare his life.

"Funny," Draco said, glancing at Harry. "You'd think I'd have stopped walking around."

Harry smiled, but Ginny had no idea why.

"You mock Lord Voldemort!" Voldemort cried. "You will be punished for your insolence!"

"Yes, that punishment you keep threatening me with," Draco said. "I honestly couldn't give a rat's ass."

"Oh, Malfoy," Voldemort said. "You shall pay, I promise you. But first, you shall suffer."

"Doesn't punishment entail suffering?" Draco asked.

"Silence!"

"Fine, I'm silencing, jeez," Draco said.

"I will give you a choice, Malfoy," proclaimed Voldemort.

"And what choice would that be?" Draco asked.

"You must join the Death Eaters."

"That really doesn't sound like much of a choice to me," Draco said.

"SILENCE! If you obey me, I will spare your friends' lives. If you do not obey me, I shall murder them all, and you with them."

"So, what you're saying is, I can either join with you or die. And I repeat, this doesn't sound like much of a choice."

--------------------

Draco could barely breathe. Either he would have to join the Death Eaters, or all his new comrades will be murdered. It was such a temptation. He wanted to throw this new life away, and cloak himself in the safety of his old ways.

It would be so easy to slip back into the routine, with everyone cheering him on towards greater evil. He'd sit at the right hand of Voldemort, and together they would rule. Voldemort would kill Harry, and then no one could stand before them.

The power was tempting, and anyone would be hard pressed to take the right course. But, just as he was about to give in, to follow the instincts clamoring for attention, he felt Ginny slip her hand into his.

Draco looked down at her, and she looked right back at him, her expressive eyes radiating trust, hope, and love. He couldn't let her down, he couldn't watch those eyes fill with pain as Voldemort killed Harry, and Draco himself betrayed her.

"I will not join you," Draco said, taking care that his voice rang loud and clear.

"Then you shall die," Voldemort said.

"Stupid baby Malfoy," came the voice of Bellatrix Lestrange. "You don't know a good thing when you see it."

"And just what is a good thing, Bellatrix?" Ginny asked coldly. "A life in the service of a Lord who will kill you if you stumble? Who would watch you die without batting an eyelash. Oh wait, that would be kind of hard. Voldemort is so convoluted that he doesn't even have eyelashes anymore."

It was the first time Draco had heard Ginny said Voldemort's name. Like all wizarding families, she had grown up fearing to speak it. Her voice gave him courage.

"You're wrong," Bellatrix told Ginny. "My Lord would never desert me."

"Oh, yes he would," Harry said. "Or did you forget the little incident in the Department of Mysteries?"

Bellatrix looked furious. "Well," she said, "at least I'm on the winning side! Look who the Order of the Phoenix has! A little clueless boy, against the greatest wizard of all time! You're dead, Potter, and then who shall stand in our way?"

Draco cringed. Her words mirrored his thoughts of mere moments ago, and he wondered at how silly they sounded when spoken aloud.

"I'm not dead yet, Lestrange!" Harry cried.

"You'll have to take me first, if you want him!" Draco shouted.

"You foolish children and your heroics," Bellatrix sneered. "What's your plan now? Draco, have any ideas?" She smirked at Draco, raising her eyebrows. "You can't count on these asinine Gryffindors, you know that. Their idea of a cunning plan is 'everyone on the count of three.'"

Draco glared at her, and held Ginny's hand more tightly.

"What will you do, Malfoy?" Bellatrix continued. "What's your amazing plan to save your little friends?"

Draco turned to look at Harry, who nodded. Ron saw the exchange, as did the three girls, and they all set their shoulders and glared straight at the Death Eaters.

Draco took a deep breath, and then said, with all the derision and determination he could muster, "Three."