Disclaimer: I did not create any of the Harry Potter characters, etc.

Warning: This fanfic has been increased to M/R, but I will just emphasise that I will never go too graphic with anything, however the adult themes are not exactly suited for T/PG fics.

A/N: This is the last chapter. Hope you enjoy it.

In the swirling darkness that surrounds me, the life vanishing from my lungs as my blood runs cold in this lonely space of nothing… I find myself calling your name...

OOO

Draco opened his eyes groggily, his whole body feeling torn in every possible way, but looking down his skin seemed intact. He could barely remember what happened last night, but the cuts that marred his marble-like skin reminded him of the fight he had struggled in. Frowning as he stared at a gash on his arm, he realised that it had been half healed. In fact, a lot of his wounds seemed to have been clumsily healed, and someone had even placed a robe over him…

Sitting up he looked around the messy room, seeing bloody paw marks all over the carpeted floor, bookcases overturned and mangled, and the mutilated body of Fenrir Greyback lying in a pool of blood, his head crushed under a bookshelf; blood and brain splattered everywhere. Draco felt his stomach turn, the sudden feeling of needing to vomit rising until he was spewing up on the ground, coughing and gasping for air as he turned away from the sickening sight.

Still coughing slightly, he took a deep breath, rubbing the vomit away from his mouth, when his eyes fell on a figure curled up in the far corner. His frown deepening, he got shakily to his feet, clutching the robe to his naked body, and limped over, kneeling down again when he was near the sleeping girl. With a sinking heart he saw the uniform and hesitantly turned the girl over. Letting out a breath, he just sighed as he stared at the blood-smudged face of his best friend, her black hair plastered to her face with crimson.

"Pansy," he said softly, giving her a gentle shake. "Pansy, wake up."

Pansy made a small noise, her blue eyes opening sleepily to look up at him. She gasped and sat up with a rush, practically falling into his arms as she threw herself at him with a sob, clinging to him desperately.

"Shh," Draco whispered soothingly, wrapping his arms around her as she sobbed into his chest. "It's okay now…"

"Draco," Pansy mumbled in a choked voice, her tears falling against his skin. "I was so scared…"

Draco just held on to her tighter. He didn't know what she had seen or what he had even done, but he knew that it couldn't have been pretty whatever had happened. Seeing her breaking down like this, he couldn't be angry with her for staying back, though he was still upset she had not left when he had told her to…

"Are you hurt?" he asked softly, still holding on to her.

Pansy shook her head. "I hit my head when I tripped over a bookcase, but I didn't get scratched or bitten. Once Fenrir got trapped under the bookcase you pretty much collapsed. I tried to heal your wounds the best I could, but my healing spells aren't very good…"

He nodded his head as she talked, and pulled himself away from her slightly, pushing back her hair to see the cut on her forehead where the skin had split from impact. It wasn't that bad, which was a relief.

"Where are the others?" he asked, noticing that there was no one else here but them.

"They left," Pansy answered quietly. "They wanted to get back to Ginny."

Draco clapped a hand to his head. "Ginny! I completely forgot!"

"What?" Pansy asked in surprise.

Sighing and running his hands through his hair, he looked at her through worried eyes. "If my father knew we were going to be here it'd make sense that he also knows about Ginny. She could be in danger right now! We have to get to her!" he said firmly, standing up.

Pansy sniggered slightly, causing Draco to look down in surprise. "What could possibly be so funny?" he asked in a confused voice.

"You might want to reconsider going in your current state." She said with a smile.

Draco looked down and felt his cheeks heat as he realised he was standing in front of her completely naked. "Right," he muttered, his blush increasing. Quickly picking up Pansy's robe that he had dropped in his haste, he looked around for his wand, and blinked as he saw Pansy's hand in front of his face.

"Let me. I'll increase the size so it fits you."

He nodded his head and handed her the robe, his face still pink. Pansy quickly resized the robe to fit him and handed it back. Hastily putting it on, he made great efforts to ignore her laughter and looked for his wand. Spotting it finally, he picked it up and pocketed it for safety.

"Let's go." He said firmly.

Pansy nodded her head, her expression serious once more. There would be no turning back now, no waiting for a chance to prepare or plan. This was the end, and Draco was going to make sure they all made it through alive….

OOO

There's so much darkness here. So much emptiness… I want to find reality again but I'm trapped… All I feel is cold, icy death curling at my body, the light diminishing with each shaky breath I take…

OOO

It seemed like hours before they were back at Hogwarts, but in reality it was only a few seconds as they both apparated outside the gates. Seeing their brooms still waiting for them, Draco and Pansy flew over the wall, their eyes peeled for any danger, but there was nothing... The sun was rising in the pale, blue sky, but no students were out yet. The normalness of the morning was making Draco feel tense, and as he ran up towards the castle a sort of surreal feeling came over him. It was almost odd to think that someone he loved could be dying right now on such a perfect, normal morning, but the idea was very real.

"Are you sure your father is here?" Pansy asked, her blue eyes finding his anxiously. Draco frowned as he stood outside the gates, not looking at her as he pondered her words. He had thought Lucius would be at the house but it had been a trap… yet how had Lucius known they would be there? He obviously had a good spy, and if he knew that then surely he would know about Ginny… and then it hit him…

"Delacroux…" Draco said softly.

"What?" Pansy asked in a surprised voice. "What about him?"

"He's the one who has been spying on us. He's the one who set us up, and he's the one who will have Ginny if anything has happened! C'mon," he said quickly, yanking Pansy by the arm as they ran inside the castle. "We'll have to split up…. You go to Gryffindor tower and see if Ginny is there, and if she isn't get the others, and tell Dumbledore what happened!"

"And you?"

"I'm going to go see Professor Delacroux…" Draco said softly, having made up his mind. He had no doubt that this guy was the one behind all this. It all made sense now and he felt so stupid for not realising it sooner. "If Ginny really is in danger than I can at least stall him until the others get there…"

Pansy stared at him for a moment before pulling him into a quick hug. "Be safe, Draco."

Draco nodded his head, giving her a small smile. "I'll be fine, now go! We can't waste any time."

Nodding quickly she darted off up the steps. He watched her disappear from his view before making his own way down to the dungeons, his heart beating faster and faster with each step. He could practically feel his heart clenching, the fear growing in anticipation of what he would find when he entered that office now that he had realised all too late his mistake…

Coming to the door he wasted no time in entering, pushing at the heavy wooden door only to feel his stomach plummet sickeningly as he saw Ginny's body lying lifelessly in the middle of the room. His brain seemed to shut down, his whole body feeling like it was frozen in a painful block of ice.

He walked forward, completely forgetting to be alert and collapsed in front of her body on his knees, his eyes stinging with a strange burning sensation as he stared at her deathly pale face.

"Ginny," he whispered in anguish, reaching out his hand to tentatively touch her cheek, pulling back in surprise when he felt how cold her skin was. His heart sped up with an ominous feeling, but before he could check to see if there was a pulse, a shadow loomed over him. Turning around, he saw a tall boy with raven hair watching him, his dark blue eyes glittering slightly with an unreadable expression, though for some reason the boy looked oddly hazy, as if fog was surrounding him...

"I wondered if I would meet you," the boy said smoothly, an analysing expression on his face. Draco felt like he was being read inside out, and he didn't like it.

"Who are you?" Draco demanded angrily, standing up again, his fists clenched. "And what did you do to Ginny?"

The boy glanced down at Ginny and an almost regretful expression flashed over his face, but before he could speak Draco heard a horribly familiar voice come from behind him…

"So you survived did you." It wasn't a question, more just a statement, but Draco had never felt more terrified than he did hearing that voice, and as he turned, meeting the cool grey gaze of the tall blond man, he could only swallow deeply, staring into the eyes of the man who had shattered his life.

"Father?" Draco said in a broken voice, his throat constricting. He had dreamt of this moment, confronting his father and making him see what a monster he really was, but now that he was here staring into that cold face, he only felt weak and vulnerable, like a small child lost and alone. "Why?" he asked in a choked voice. "Why did you have to do this?" He realised now that it was never Professor Delacroux; it had been Lucius all along…

Lucius Malfoy walked forward, a sneer forming on his face. "I've been watching you Draco. This whole time I have watched you snivelling around like a coward. You disgust me, and associating with this filth-" he gestured to Ginny's body- "only made me realise how truly lost you are to me."

"But I'm your son!" Draco exclaimed in a broken voice, his mouth trembling pitifully as tears started to work into his eyes. This was the man he called father- this insane, horrible monster that wanted to kill him. It was all too much, and he found himself shaking slightly as tears slipped from his face. All he had done, all he had struggled to achieve, it was all for nothing…

"Yes, Draco," Lucius said softly, walking forward and wiping the tears from Draco's face. "You are my son, but that is why I must do this. You have betrayed me by coming here and being with this girl, and like the good father I am, I will cure you from this sickness that makes you act in such a way. I will heal you by ending your life. I gave you a second chance by letting you become a werewolf, but you disappointed me again…"

His hand fell from Draco's face, his grey eyes filled with loving warmth as he gazed down at him- the same warmth that Draco had used to see when he was younger when his father would hold him in his arms. "I won't let you do this to yourself, my son. I am helping you, don't you see?"

Draco shook his head as stood back in horror, his eyes freely letting the silent tears fall. "You're insane…"

Lucius merely laughed, a slightly mad expression coming to his face. "Insane am I? Oh you really are your mother's son aren't you? She used to say the same thing; that I was losing it, that I was going insane..." His eyes hardened as he walked closer to Draco. "But I am not insane, Draco. I know very well what it is I have to do."

Draco watched as his father lifted his wand at his face, a strange glint coming in his eyes. "Father please," Draco begged, his own hand clenching around his wand.

"Think what you're doing!"

"I know what it is I'm doing," Lucius said smoothly, his wand digging into Draco's cheek. "And nothing you say or do will stop me…"

Draco felt his heart trying to burst from his chest it was pounding so hard, his body shaking in sickly fear at the knowledge that he was seconds away from death. He could see the dark-haired boy still watching them through the corner of eyes, but Draco knew he would not help him. No one was here to help him… His father would kill him just like he had killed Narcissa, and then it would all be over…

Taking a shaky breath, he aimed his wand at his father, the tears streaming down his face as he realised what he had to do. Closing his eyes, he said the two words that would end all this, not wanting to see the expression on his father's face when the spell would hit. A flash of deathly green passed across his closed eyelids and then a loud thump resounded around the room. Not a sound was made after that sickening crash, and Draco could only stand there against the wall, his eyes firmly shut, as he realised what he had done.

His wand fell from his hand to hit the ground with a distant clatter. The sound seemed to release something inside Draco, and letting out a small sob he placed his hands over his face, sliding down the wall where he wept bitterly into his knees. Everything had just gone so wrong… What could he do now? How could he even live with himself after knowing he had killed his own father? It didn't matter that Lucius had tried to kill him for some twisted reason; it didn't matter that he had murdered Narcissa or forced Draco to become a werewolf- all that mattered was that Lucius was his father and Draco had loved him… but now he was dead, and Draco would live with that regret and pain for the rest of his life, knowing that he had done it- he had killed him…

"Why are you crying?" The boy asked in a surprised voice. "He had tried to kill you, so why do you care?"

Draco lifted his tear-streaked face to glare at the boy. He had almost forgotten that the boy was still there, and picking up his wand again, he stood up shakily, aiming it at the boy. "Who are you?" He demanded, his chest heaving as the sobs continued to try force out of his mouth. He was already on edge, and now he just wanted this all to be over.

The boy sighed slightly, "Tom Riddle."

"Riddle?" Draco repeated, his face twisting from anger and hurt to horror. This was Voldemort! This boy that was standing so serenely at Ginny's body was the Lord Voldemort…

"But you were trapped in her soul," Draco said dazedly, feeling suddenly very overwhelmed. Hadn't he faced enough already in these past two days without having to deal with Tom Riddle as well?

Tom glanced down at Ginny's body, an unreadable expression on his face. "That man you just killed, your father- he performed a ritual on Ginny... It forces her body to shut down and allows my soul to leave, but because our souls are linked she is dying as we speak. Her very essence is fuelling my return…"

"You mean she's not dead?" Draco asked, sudden hope bursting into his chest.

Tom shook his head. "She's not dead, but she will be soon."

Draco's fists clenched angrily. He'd had enough of this! First it was his mother, then his father, and now Ginny? NO! He wouldn't let this all fall apart now! He wouldn't let anyone else be the sacrifice…

"Then stop it!" He shouted, taking a step towards Tom. "Stop the ritual and help me save her!"

Tom looked pained, and Draco could see there was a conflict going behind his eyes. He knew in that moment that Tom truly cared or at least had cared about Ginny. Tom was torn between wanting to save the girl who he had shared a soul with for nearly five years, or else choosing to be free to live in the world again…

"I can't," he said finally, his dark eyes filling with pain. "I can't stop it. Even if I wanted to I couldn't stop it."

Draco let out a frustrated noise, moving closer to Tom. "Don't make her suffer for this, Tom," he said earnestly, wondering if the boy would even listen. "I know you can stop this."

He remembered Hermione saying that the only way the souls could be split was if Tom willingly sacrificed himself. It may be too late but it was worth a chance. He had already lost everything else, but he refused to lose Ginny too. She meant everything to him…

Tom shook his head, the pained expression becoming deeper. "I don't want to die. I don't want to go back to being nothing…" he said firmly, though there was sense of urgency in his voice.

"Could you live with yourself knowing that you are only alive because she is dead?" Draco asked, his eyes gazing intently into Tom's dark blue ones.

Tom stared at Ginny's lifeless body again, his hands clenching slightly. The frown on his face became more pronounced, his eyes glistening with an odd quality. He knelt down beside her, one hand reaching out to stroke her face, a small tear slipping down his cheeks…

"You love her, don't you?" Draco persisted, seeing that he was starting to make some progress. "I can see that you care about her at least. Could you really live with yourself knowing she is dead because of you?"

Tom glared at him then, a rather ugly expression on his face. "Don't even think to question me on love," he said coldly. "Ginny meant everything to me. I loved her, I gave everything I had to her, and she threw it all away!" He said bitterly, his hands clenched tightly into fists. "She was going to leave me, did you know that?" His eyes narrowed, the ugly look etched into his face. "She wanted to get rid of me, but fate is on my side. She'll be the one to die, and I will live…"

"It's because you hurt her!" Draco retorted angrily, not wanting to hear Tom's excuses. "You frightened her and made her want to run. It's your own damn fault she was going to leave, so don't turn around and make her suffer for your own mistakes!"

They glared at each other for a moment, until Draco finally let out a breath, realising he had to be calm. "Look," he began tiredly, letting all his defences down. "I know you know I love Ginny, and I know you probably hate me for it, but she's dying," he said in an anguished voice, his eyes pleading for Tom to understand, to take pity… "This beautiful girl that we both love is going to die if you don't try help her, and then where will you be? You'll be alive, yes, but is it really worth it? Is it really worth killing the girl you love just so you can have another chance at life?"

Tom was silent, his eyes flicking from Draco's face back to Ginny's.

"She doesn't deserve to have her life end this way. She deserves to be happy, to be free, to live life," Draco continued, just wishing that Tom would give in- that he would help Ginny before it was too late… "If anyone should be dying it'd be you and me, but that's not the way this is working. She's the one suffering here, and you're the only one who can save her. All you have to do is let it go," Draco said earnestly, his eyes locked on Tom's face. "Just let it go, Tom; let her live…."

Tom turned to look at him, his eyes shining with tears. "But I'll die..."

"You never really lived anyway," Draco said softly. "You're nothing more than a piece of soul that has been trapped in Ginny's body. You were never meant to live again…"

Tom looked back at Ginny, once more letting his fingers trail across her pale cheek. Finally he took a deep breath and looked at Draco. "Alright. I'll do it."

Draco nodded, a serious expression on his face. He would not thank him, for he knew Tom was not doing this for him; he was doing it for Ginny, for the girl he loved…

Standing back, Draco watched as Tom stood up, reaching in his robe to pull out a wand Draco recognised as Ginny's. Tom met Draco's gaze as he held the wand to his own chest, his expression once more unreadable. "Take care of her," he said softly, tears coming to his eyes before the lids closed and he was whispering those two, deadly words: "Avada Kedavra."

The rush of green spilled out from the wand tip, flaring with a sinister light before it crashed into Tom's chest, burying itself in his heart. His body fell gracefully through the air, the wand slipping from his fingers as he collapsed against the ground, his expression peaceful as he slipped into the eternal embrace of death…

Draco closed his eyes, collapsing to the ground as he sat amongst the lifeless bodies. He felt drained, both mentally and physically, and all he could do was sit there, taking deep calming breaths as everything that had happened washed over him. His father was dead, Tom was gone, and now Ginny's life hung by the smallest thread…

The door opened and voices flooded around him, but he could barely hear them. He opened his eyes, blinking slightly as he stared at Ginny, watching her chest feebly rising and falling, praying that her heart wouldn't stop…

"Mr Malfoy, please won't you come with me," someone was saying, but Draco didn't move. He just continued to stare, his whole world shattering around him as he wondered what would happen now. How could this possibly be the happy ending he had wanted?

Dumbledore inspected Tom's body, while Harry, Ron and Hermione all flocked to Ginny. Draco just continued to sit in silence, as if he wasn't really a part of anything anymore. Even when Pansy threw herself against him, he just sat there staring at Ginny's face, her stillness seeming to freeze him in place. The fairy tale ending he had dreamed up was slipping through his fingers as fast as it had come… He did the only thing he could do; he cried…

"Draco," Pansy said softly, pulling him into her arms. "I'm so sorry," she said in a pained voice, clutching him to her as he wept bitterly, his eyes haunted with everything that had happened. He had finally broken…

"Miss Parkinson, please take Mr Malfoy to the Hospital Wing," Dumbledore said firmly.

Pansy nodded her head and hauled Draco to his feet, practically dragging him to the door. His eyes glanced back through his tears, past Lucius and Tom's bodies to focus on Ginny's, seeing her lying on the ground, her eyes shut, her cheeks pale as if death had already sucked the life from her body…

"Hold on," he whispered, his eyes locked on her face.

"What?" Pansy said in surprise, looking at him in bewilderment. "Hold on to what?"

Draco ignored her question, simply turning the other way as he left the room, the door shutting behind him with a final bang…

OOOOO

Is this the end? Am I to give up and surrender to the deathly calls that seek to take me from your side?

My body is broken, my lungs deprived of breath, my soul decaying in this bitter touch of death… but still I hold on, for I wonder if it has to be this way… I wonder if I have to be alone…

I wonder if this is really the end…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed and enjoyed this story. It's been a hectic ride after having to rewrite it from my ever-confusing plots. Thankfully I finally got it to make at least some sense, and I hope to see you all for the sequel (Yes there will be a sequel).

You'll find the sequel under the name of "Mending Hearts". Keep an eye out for it, and THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!!