Terminus Est

"Three," Draco cried, and Ginny sprang into action.

She flung curses at random, aiming more or less towards the group of Death Eaters in front of them. The others were mimicking her, all except Harry.

Harry was heading straight towards Voldemort, his steps quick. Ginny turned back to her own fight, knowing that he was their only hope. She put her trust in him, as easily as they all had put their trust in her minutes ago.

This ongoing fight, this battle between Harry Potter and Tom Riddle, would end now. One way or another.

Ginny glanced around her, watching for any curses headed her direction. She saw Ron, who was fighting side by side with Hermione. They looked a fierce sight, faces lit up, the fire of battle in their eyes. Ginny watched as Death Eaters fell in their path.

She looked at Blaise, who was involved in a deadly ballet with her father. He'd send a curse at her, and she'd twist away with panther-like grace. She'd shoot a curse back at him, and he'd deflect it with a wave of his wand. Neither was making any progress, and they were both tiring.

Ginny turned as she sensed something behind her, and deflected a curse from a Death Eater she didn't recognize. She twirled to the right, avoiding another curse. She turned back to her antagonist and quickly disabled him with a Jelly-Legs Jinx.

She watched as Nott sent a killing curse towards Draco. Acting quickly, she cried, "Protego!" The curse was deflected, and Draco turned to her in surprise.

"Thanks!" he called, before putting Nott in a Full Body Bind. Ginny deflected a few more curses, and then dared a glance at Harry. He and Voldemort were facing off, and all fighting ceased as the two confronted each other.

Ginny looked between them, knowing that one of them would die tonight. Not Harry, she thought fervently. She looked at Harry, whose face was set in grim determination, with his wand outstretched. She looked at Voldemort, whose once handsome features, now unrecognizable, were set in a snarl.

"We've done this before, Potter," Voldemort said. "Let us not do it again."

Harry nodded his head, and Voldemort cried, "Avada Kedavra!"

"Protego!" Harry said, flicking his wand. The jet of green light was halted by his shield. Harry looked at Voldemort, and Ginny saw something unhinged in his eyes. Something not quite sane. She knew that he was faced with two evils, and she prayed that he knew the right course. Kill or be killed. Save us all or leave us to die.

Come on, Harry, she cried silently. He had to do this now.

But Voldemort made the first move, crying, "Crucio!"

It was all over now. Harry would succumb to the pain, and Voldemort would rid him of his life. It was all for naught, this fighting. They were all doomed.

"Protego!" Draco cried, deflecting the jet of light.

Harry's eyes flicked to Draco briefly, before turning back to face Voldemort.

"Potter," Voldemort said softly. "I killed your parents. You would never have been what you are now, if it hadn't been for my little mistake. I made you, Potter. I shaped your entire being. I can take it away."

"You can take nothing from me!" Harry cried. "You've made my life a living hell, and taken those I love from me! What more is there for you to take?"

"I can take your sanity," Voldemort making you doubt who you really are. I can possess you, taking away everything replied. "I can torture you into madness, for the pain will be too intense for you to bear. I can take your self-awareness, that makes you Harry Potter. With a flick of my wand, Potter, I can ruin your life."

"You can do no such thing, beast!" Harry yelled. "Go back to the hell from where you came!"

Voldemort started to speak, but was cut off by two words, coming from the mouth of a boy who had everything to live for.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Harry shouted. Voldemort was too surprised to react, and the bolt of green light hit him square in the chest. The evilest wizard of all time, the once-man thing that had ruined so many lives, fell to the ground. The Boy Who Lived had prevailed once more, and for the last time.

But it wasn't over yet. With their master fallen, the Death Eaters fought with a new desperation.

The Death Eaters circled Ginny and the others, everyone still throwing curses hither and yon.

Draco rushed over to Ginny, deflecting curses as he came. "Ginny!" he shouted above the din, taking her hand. "Ginny, I don't think we can hold them off much longer!"

"Don't give up, Draco!" she said desperately. If Draco lost hope, then there was no reason for Ginny to hope. He had to believe, for her sake.

"Ginny," he said, looking into her eyes for a brief moment. "I have to tell you, I..."

CRASH.

In burst a group of adult members of the Order of the Phoenix. Fred and George looking excited and angry, Tonks cursing three Death Eaters in as many seconds. Shacklebolt making his way towards them, and Lupin looking thirsty for blood. Arthur Weasley and Professor McGonagall shouting curses at the top of their lungs, while Bill and Charlie covered each other. It was over in a few helter-skelter minutes.

The Death Eaters lay all over the floor, disabled by one curse or another. The teenagers stood looking at the Order members, who stood looking right back. Ginny was vaguely aware of Draco's hand still clasping hers.

"What on earth did you think you were doing?" said Ginny's father, in an angry voice Ginny had never heard before.

"It was like this..." began Harry.

"Dad, it was..." said Ron.

"Mr. Weasley, don't..." Hermione said.

The story spilled out in a few minutes, and you could see the impact on Mr. Weasley. His face turned from angry, to confused, to angry again, before looking surprised, then astonished, then practically dumbfounded.

"You mean to say," he said slowly, as the other Order members bound the Death Eaters. "You mean to say that You-Know-Who...is dead?"

The six teenagers nodded in unison. To their surprise, Mr. Weasley started to cry.

"Minerva, did you hear that?" he said through his tears.

"I did, Arthur," McGonagall replied, looking misty-eyed herself.

"That's it then?" Fred said, in a disbelieving voice.

"It's over?" said George.

Harry looked around at the others, clearly confused. Ginny caught his eye and shrugged her shoulders.

Charlie let out a whoop. "It's over!"

Lupin hugged Tonks. "It's over, Dora!" he cried, laughing hysterically.

"It's over! We won!" shouted Tonks.

The six very confused teenagers watched as the adults made total fools of themselves. Slowly, a grin started to form on Ginny's lips. She looked up at Draco, who was grinning back at her.

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

"We did it, Ginny!" Draco cried, with a huge smile.

He picked her bodily off the ground and spun her around. She laughed, and hugged him close as he sat her back on the ground.

Ron was watching their antics with a smile. Draco was surprised when Ron walked over and held his hand out to him

"I owe you an apology, mate," he said, meeting Draco's gaze unflinchingly.

Still smiling, Draco reached out and shook Ron's hand. "Don't think on it."

Ron turned back to Hermione, who held out her arms. He ran into them, and kissed her on top of the head.

"We did it, 'Mione," he said.

"We sure did," she replied, smiling up at him.

Not to be outdone, Draco turned to Ginny and kissed her soundly on the lips. To his surprise, the room fell silent. He looked up, and his stomach sank. Damn it, he had just kissed Ginny Weasley in the presence of every brother she had, excluding Percy.

How big of an idiot was he?

Ginny just stuck her tongue out at the audience, and pulled Draco in for another kiss.

When they parted, she smiled up at him.

"Come on, Draco," she said softly. "Let's go home."

Home. Draco realized with a start that Grimmauld Place had truly become home for him. He looked around at Harry and Blaise, who were hugging and crying, and Ron and Hermione, who were still embracing. He looked around at all the adults, who were in various stages of ecstatic celebration, and realized that these people were his family. He almost snorted. There goes a good thing, he thought to himself. Now he couldn't say that his entire family was in Slytherin.

"Yeah," he said, returning his gaze to Ginny. "Let's go home."

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

"No!" Harry exclaimed, covering his ears. "I refuse to believe that Millicent Bulstrode and Crabbe shagged in the greenhouse."

"Disbelieve it all you want, Potter," Draco said, taking a swig of Butterbeer. "But that doesn't make it any less true."

"Well," said Ron, propping his feet up on the coffee table. "That's not as bad as the time I walked in on Seamus and Lavender going at it in the dormitory."

"Ron," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "Don't put your feet on the table."

Ron obediently lowered his feet.

Ginny made a noise that sounded like a whiplash.

"Whipped!" cried Draco.

They were all sitting around the fire in the drawing room at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Harry and Blaise were sitting on the love seat, holding hands. Ron was leaning back on the couch, and Hermione was resting comfortably in the circle of his arms. Draco was sitting in an overstuffed armchair, with Ginny looking positively cozy in his lap.

Ron kept glaring at the two of them. "Malfoy, that's my little sister in your lap, you know?"

Draco looked supremely unconcerned. "And your point is?"

"My point is, I'd rather you didn't act so cozy in front of me."

"Well," Draco said, eyeing Ron maliciously. "I think of Hermione as a sister. Could you not hold her so tightly in front of me?"

"Point taken."

Ginny sighed and lay her head on Draco's shoulder.

"You two are impossible," she said without rancor.

"Ah, yes," Draco said, pinching her. "But would you love us so much if we weren't?"

"Draco!" Ginny squealed, slapping ineffectively at his hands.

"You know," Blaise said thoughtfully, watching their antics. "I never imagined that I'd be here."

"I know what you mean," Draco said, ceasing his cruel pinching of the redhead on his lap.

"Well," said Ron, putting his feet back on the coffee table. "I don't know what you mean. Care to explain?"

"Ron," Hermione began, but Ron clapped his hand over her mouth. She looked indignant, and bit him viciously.

"I mean," said Blaise, watching Ron nurse his hand and throw sulky glances towards Hermione. "I never imagined that I'd be sitting in front of a fire with a bunch of idiot Gryffindors. No offence," she added hastily.

"Well," Harry said sarcastically. "Don't we just feel special now?"

Ron looked at his friend thoughtfully. "You know, I think Malfoy's rubbing off on you. You were never this snarky before."

"Oh, I was," Harry assured him. "You were just too busy drooling over Hermione to notice."

"I was not!" Ron said.

"I have to agree with Potter on this one," Draco said. "You did sort of...drool."

"So says the guy with his hands on my sister's arse. Malfoy, if you want to keep those appendages, I suggest you move them approximately four and a quarter inches upward."

"See," Harry said, putting his arm around Blaise. "Malfoy's rubbing off on you, too."

"No," Blaise said laughingly. "His big brother instincts are just kicking in."

"That could be it," Harry agreed. "Thank Merlin you don't have an older brother."

"I agree," Hermione said. "None of us could deal with two Rons."

"I'll drink to that," Blaise said, raising her Butterbeer.

The others followed suit. "To having only one Ron," Draco said.

"Amen," Ginny said fervently.

"I propose another toast!" Harry cried. They all lifted their Butterbeer bottles again.

"To snarkiness."

"Is that even a word, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Of course not," Harry said. "That would ruin the fun."

"To snarkiness," Ron said, and they all drank.

"One more toast," Ginny said, raising her glass again. "To kissing. Without loads of snogging, I would have never solved that damn riddle."

"And I'll drink to that!" said Draco.

"Malfoy," Ron said warningly. "Don't start with me."

"Ginny," Draco said in a nonchalant tone. "What are our plans for tomorrow?"

"Oh, I hadn't really thought about it," Ginny said. "I suppose we could clean out the attic."

And so, with much fighting, snogging and all around snarkiness, they lived happily ever after. At least until the next time someone decided to kill them.