The End of the World

Chapter Fifteen: Ginny.

How long had Ginny been down here waiting for Draco to return? Ginny didn't know for sure, but it felt like hours. Long enough for her mistrust of Draco to turn into hunger and impatience, anyway.

She sat on the cold, hard floor of the basement, staring with narrowed eyes at the tin cans Draco had given her.

"Spaghetti in Tomato Sauce," proclaimed one label.

"Sliced Peaches," read the other.

Ginny's eye twitched. She had studied the cans in great detail. The informed her of all sorts of useless facts (the spaghetti contained less that 1% fat for instance) yet neither gave any indication of how to get to the food.

She had tried throwing them and standing on them, hoping they would burst open or something. She had tried puncturing the cans with her teeth and ended up with nothing but an aching jaw. She even tried burning them the bloody things over one of the candles. All that had done was blacken the labels and make the cans too hot to hold on to.

So now she was just sitting on the ground and staring at the infuriating Muggle inventions. If only she had her wand, then she would have been able to hex them open, or at least transfigure them into something useful. As it was, she didn't have her wand and was now attempting to open the cans using her mind.

It wasn't working.

She let out a growl of frustration as her vision blurred and doubled from staring too intently at the cans. Casting them a truly evil look, she stood up and marched over to the cupboard in which Draco had found them. She swung open the old wooden doors with a bang.

Inside the cupboard were rows and rows of similar cans.

Ginny felt her ears turn red as she struggled to repress the screams of frustration that were building up inside her.

In the center of the room, the Sliced Peaches fell over.

Ginny slammed the cupboard closed.

oOo

It was many hours later when Draco finally returned. Ginny had completely given up trying to open the cans (but had put them near the top of her Why I Despise Draco Malfoy list) and had fallen asleep on the mangy couch with her stomach rumbling.

Her eyes snapped open when she heard the metal rubbish bins being moved from ton top of the trapdoor entrance and she sat upright on the couch. Draco came down the stairs and stood at the bottom, swaying slightly and avoiding eye contact with her. Finally he pulled something from behind his back and threw it on the ground at his feet.

"I found your bag," he said. There was another moments silence.

"And my family?" Ginny demanded, her heart throbbing painfully in her throat. Draco let out a deep sigh and sat down heavily on the bottom stair. It was bad news, Ginny could sense it. They were all dead. Draco had seen them. His dad had probably killed them all-

"They're all in Azkaban. Potter. Your family."

"And Hermione?"

"Her too."

Draco fell silent again, staring at the floor. Ginned chewed her bottom lip, absorbing this information.

"But they're alive?"

"As far as I know."

There was another pregnant pause. Ginny stood up.

"Right then. Well, that's where I have to go." She strode over to her bad and swung it over her shoulder. Draco finally looked her in the face and Ginny noticed for the first time how incredibly pale he was - much paler than usual.

"Go?" he asked incredulously. "Go? To Azkaban? And how the hell are you going to get there? Do you even know where it is?"

Ginny opened her mouth to reply but she didn't have anything to say.

"And even if you did get there, then what would you do? Do you seriously think you're a match for the Dark Lord and all his Death Eaters? Do you really think that you can just turn up there and they'll all be set free?"

Ginny felt her courage and resolve slip away as Draco's words hit home. He was right. She didn't know how to get to Azkaban. She had no plans, she had no way to save them.

"They're my family. My friends," she whispered finally. "I can't just let them die."

"To try and rescue them would be suicide. It's impossible."

"But I have to try."

"Then you will die," he snapped.

Ginny fell silent at Draco's harsh words. A single tear slipped out of her eye and rolled slowly down her cheek.

"You don't understand, Draco. There's nothing else I have left. Look around - the country is in ruins. It's the end of the world. There's nothing left."

"There's nothing you have left? What about your life?"

"Voldemort has finally won. I'm going to be killed sooner or later, aren't I? I don't want to stay in hiding. If I'm going to die, I want to die fighting. I'll die fighting to save my family, like they would do for me."

Ginny's voice cracked as she tried desperately not to cry. There was no point in crying. She would meet her death bravely. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing her weak and vulnerable. She was a Gryffindor. She took a deep, shuddering breath and blinked back her tears.

"You're a fool," Draco stated softly. "No one ever got anywhere by risking their life for other people. You have to look after yourself. There are more important things in life than running around trying to save other people just because you think they'd do it for you. When push comes to shove, they probably wouldn't."

Ginny gazed at Draco, amazed that anyone could be that bitter, that pessimistic.

"They would. My family would. My friends would. They've done it before, and they would do it again."

"You can't save them. Why walk straight into the clutches of the people who are just going to kill you? What will that achieve? Nothing."

"At least I will die with dignity. I'll die knowing I tried. I'll die knowing that I never gave up."

Ginny stood her ground, her jaw set and her eyes determined even as they continued to shine with tears. Draco said nothing. There was nothing he could say they would make her see sense. She seemed fully determined to walk out of this room no matter what he said. Finally he spoke again.

"You can't do it alone," he said so softly that Ginny had to strain to hear him.

"What?" Ginny eyed him icily.

"You're can't save them by yourself."

Ginny was silent.

"Then you'll have to come with me."

Draco sighed in defeat, and rubbed tiredly at his shadowed eyes.

"I guess I will."

oOo

A/N No question as to what house they were put in, huh? So - what do you think about all this? Do you think Draco will actually be able to help her, or does this just mean that now Draco will be killed as well? And the 100Galleon question. . . how did Draco find out where they were? What took him so long?

Thanks for reviewing - love you all (of course)

Depth of Soul: lol - I honestly don't mind if you only read the Ginny chapters. As long as you enjoy them, that's all that matters to me lol. There are a couple of other people doing that as well, so you're not alone. Yeah, I know they chapters are kinda short compared to other people's fics, but they're pretty long compared to my other fics lol. I dunno. . . I just can't seem to write really long ones. I always come to a really good place to stop when they're still quite short. But the less I write, the quicker each chapter gets done and the quicker you get updates :P As for the Draco chapter. . . I thought you wanted to read just the Ginny ones so you find out everything as she does! I probably wont be writing a Draco one now (reasons for that in the last chapter), but don't worry - there is going to be a ton of Draco in this fic anyway!

Marauder Angel: Glad you like it! Thanks for the review, sorry it took a bit longer to post this chapter, but it's here now :D Hopefully the next will be up soon.

SarkLover: Wow, thank you! Your review gave me the warm and fuzzies. Hope you liked this chapter as much as the rest.

Mo the Deatheater: Oh, I talk to myself too. I just try to avoid doing it when other people can witness it :P Well, I feel very flattered that you read the Hermione chapter even though you only wanted to read the Ginny ones. Although I think you read all the Hermione ones anyway, didn't you? Ah well. The point is, this is a Ginny chapter so you better read it. Thanks so much for all your reviews!

Awkward: Glad your exams are over! Hope they went well. Thanks so much for saying how nicely the story flowed etc - it means so much to hear that. Thank you for all your reviews - you're fabulous!

Severus Lover: Don't worry cupcake, there's going to be plenty more Snape in this fic. I hope. Well, of course there will be, I'm obsessed with him. I can't believe I wrote 15 chapters and only had him appear for several paragraphs in chapter 14! But there will be more Snape-action, don't you worry.

Sage and Snape: lol, oh she'll eat it eventually, I'm sure. Yeah, his telepathic powers are like Legilimency. Some branch of it or something. I hadn't really though exactly how it worked, but figured if he can read minds then why not talk to people in their head as well. Or. . . something. Ah well, the fact is he can :P There will be more Snape, of course. How can I not have him in here. Mmmm mysterious what-side-is-he-on-today?Snape :P Will probably find out what happened to Ron in the next chapter. Of course, I haven't really thought that far ahead (you know how I write - I'm surprised this fic even has a plot lol) but he might be there. Who knows.

So, yep. That's all for now really. If you're looking for other fics to read, then definitely check out my faves list - there are heaps of great fics on it. Most of them are humour ones, but if you like more serious ones, then I definitely recommend Sage and Snape's trilogy - it's really long (and still going) but totally, totally worth it. I've been following it for over a year now and it's still fabulous. Heaps of fantastic InCharacter!Snape and a dead sexy original character. You can't go wrong :P Anyhoo, start with the first fic called Snape's Student Sage revised, and then read the other two (the latest chapter in the third fic is something to look forward to - it's bloody hysterical!). Oh, and review of course!

I'll recommend some others in the next chapter, if you want - if you're looking for good stories then tell me what sort of stuff you're looking for (ships, genre etc) and I'll recommend some for you - I read a LOT of fics!

Anyhoo...

Next Chapter: What do Hermione, Ron, Snape and potion-enhanced porridge have in common? They're all in Chapter 16. (Incidentally, this is now officially my longest fic - I've only got one other fic that is 15 chapter's long and it doesn't have as many words. And this one is still going! Wow. . . I'm impressed lol)