(A/N: I'm finally nearing the end! I've had so much fun writing this story and I almost don't want it to be over… THANK YOU TO ALL WHO REVIEWED! You guys kept me going for over a year, and I'm so grateful for all the support I received, even when I thought I could never finish this. This is not the last chapter, so keep a look out for the epilogue. This chapter is by far my favorite, and I wouldn't change a thing about it…but I would still like to know if you all like it, so read, review, and enjoy )

Chapter XV
Alone, Together

The castle's house elves scuttled about, nervously anticipating Tom's return from Coventry. Ginny's disappearance had not gone unnoticed. Realizing she was absent from the breakfast table, Ginny's chambermaid went to check on her, only to find an empty bed. The entire castle was now frantic with fear. A sharp bang sounded from the entrance hall and the castle had fallen silent with terror. A victorious Tom appeared. Calm and unscathed from battle, he sauntered up the spiral staircase toward the master bedroom, unaware of the nervous stares from the house elves.

He had been thinking of Ginny even in the midst of battle. Her innocent face had the power to soften the ugly reality of war, even if it was imagined.

"I'm home darling…" He opened the heavy oak door and slipped inside. Early morning sunlight streamed through the drawn curtains illuminating the untouched bed. Tom stared amused about the room. She should still be sleeping…it's early enough. I've never seen her out of bed before 6:00.

Ignoring the strange stirring in his stomach, he walked across the hall into Bridget's nursery. Empty, too. With an annoyed sigh, he returned to the hall and started down the stairs into the garden. Outside, the only noise came from the chirping of birds and the quiet splash of water springing from the stone snake fountain.

"Rigby!" The head house elf was summoned and appeared with a pop. "Where is Ginevra? Has she gone to visit with the doctor?" Tom asked, staring down at the trembling creature. "You know that she isn't allowed to leave the castle without me."

The elf writhed under Tom's heated gaze. "Well, sir, she…she…" Rigby broke off, burst into tears, and clenched his ears tightly, preparing to punish himself. "A lawn gnome seen her leave with a boy."

Tom's stomach dropped. The house elf's words were choked as he struggled to continue. "He had black hair and a broom and glasses…we couldn't do anything, sir."

Tom stood silently, with dangerous narrowed eyes, as he stared around the garden. The house elf's cries seemed to be coming from miles away. He was disconnected from the earth. The green eyes of the fountain's snake statue seemed to taunt him as he seethed with an irrepressible anger. Green eyes.

A furious roar escaped Tom's lips as a purple jet of light erupted from his wand. The snake was blown to pieces, with its tiny bits of debris splashing nastily into the fountain. She's left me. She has run away…with Potter, no less. His breath came short and his chest burned with rage. No! She wouldn't leave. Ginny was taken. She wouldn't leave me… Tom's hands began to shake. Potter has her. He has stolen my wife and my daughter.

With another animalistic cry, flames shot out of Tom's wand, burning the azalea bushes. Within minutes, the garden was reduced to smoking ashes. Trees, flowers, and shrubs were torn apart, littering the charred grass with fragments.

Tom wanted Harry to suffer. He was out there somewhere, out of sight. I'll destroy him…I'll torture him and slash him to ribbons until those vile green eyes are go dead.

"My Lord," McNair called meekly from the garden's entrance, staring around at the burnt remains.

Tom stood unmoving and silent.

"My Lord, I've contacted our spies…Potter has been found! He's in a safe-house near the east coast. Ginevra and your daughter are with him."

An eerie smirk crept onto Tom's face as he twirled his wand between long, trembling fingers. "And you know the location of this 'safe-house,' McNair?"

The Death Eater shivered at the deathly calmness of Tom's voice. "Winchester Lane," he stammered. "It's in a muggle neighborhood."

"Gather the Death Eaters," Tom said quietly, staring at his wand. "But leave Potter to me."

A muggy breeze shifted the delicate lace of Ginny's dress. The hazy summer afternoon had been disturbingly serene. Ginny was living her 11-year-old fantasy; Harry tried his hardest to take Tom's place as Bridget's father. He was attentive, concerned, and he genuinely cared for her. Yet Ginny still couldn't shake the feeling of a strange incompleteness. She felt as if she could burst into tears at any moment, or scream at the top of her voice and no one would hear her. Harry and the Aurors and everyone assumed she would be happy to be free of Tom, and took no notice of her depressed sighs and dull-eyed stare. She closed her eyes. She could almost picture Tom's reaction. Ginny thought back to her first escape attempt. He had been furious. Even weeks after the incident, Tom would cringe at the mention of Harry's name. As if he needs another reason to murder him…

Light raindrops fell to the ground, striking the sun-baked earth. The sky was turning darker as faint rumblings of thunder sounded from the distance. Ginny opened her eyes and squinted into the horizon. The sky was black.

Suddenly, Harry emerged onto the veranda looking anxious. "Ginny, get in the house," he said hurriedly, glancing up at the hazy black cloud.

"What's going on?"

Harry shook his head and opened the door. "There's no time. Get in the house now!" He said, shoving her into the house and raising his wand.

Once inside, Ginny was immediately led upstairs to Bridget's nursery by the tall, mustached Auror. Through the window, she could see a thick, dark fog descend upon the house. "What is happening? Why—."

"Death Eaters," the Auror said faintly. "I've never seen so many before…Harry wants you to be safe and out of the way. Don't leave this room until someone from the Order comes for you."

The Auror closed the door of the nursery behind him, leaving Ginny staring indignantly at the place where he stood. "Of course. What use am I?"

Ginny sighed and walked over to Bridget's cradle. A bright flash of lightning ripped across the sky followed by a deafening crack of thunder. The tiny baby merely shifted in her blanket cocoon, and did not wake. She could sleep through anything!

Another explosion pierced the air. Ginny peered out of the tiny window. Hundreds of Death Eaters surrounded the house—all masked and dressed in black robes. The strange dark fog still encircled them as they fought the Aurors guarding the house. Nervously, Ginny studied the crowd of anonymous Death Eaters. Tom wouldn't wear a mask…

Transfixed by the horror outside, Ginny stood watching as her friends and schoolmates apparated into view to join the battle. Suddenly, the house shook furiously as a carefully aimed spell blasted through the front door.

"POTTER!"

Ginny shivered as she heard the chillingly familiar voice from downstairs. Tom had found her. Ginny's heart pounded feverishly in her chest as she strained to listen. I don't want Harry to die! Not because of me!

"Where is she?" Tom began dangerously. "Tell me where she is before you're reduced to a bloody, lifeless heap on the floor."

Ginny heard Harry's voice answer this time. "I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it," he replied tauntingly. "Lord Voldemort assembling his entire army in pursuit of a girl."

Ginny crept out of the nursery to watch the scene from the stairs. Unnoticed by both Tom and Harry, she froze, terror-stricken by the exchange. Harry stood, visibly shaking from head to foot, betraying the false confidence of his voice.

"Well I'm sorry, but your Helen of Troy isn't going anywhere. Do you really think that Ginny cares for you?" Harry's wand arm was quivering as the two circled the room. Tom's eyes shined with a murderous glint.

"If you haven't noticed, she runs from you whenever she has the chance. You're nothing to her," Harry continued haughtily.

"Stop talking about things you know nothing about, Potter," Tom replied darkly. "Ginevra belongs to me, and playing house with her is not going to change that. Now tell me where you're hiding her before I torture it out of you."

"Will that really satisfy you, Tom? Killing me out of rage because your wife doesn't love you?"

Tom smirked. "Killing you? No, that will not be satisfying at all. However, everything up until the killing will be immensely entertaining."

The room was deadly silent for a moment, before streams of red and green light simultaneously erupted from the ends of their wands. Spells fired relentlessly from their wands, rebounding and destroying the room around them. The antique china cabinet was blown to bits, along with several windows, leaving razor-sharp fragments of glass littering the floor. Tom hissed in frustration and jabbed his wand upward in the air. Lightning crackled from the tip as he forced the spell toward Harry. In an instant, an orb of yellow sunlight shot from the end of Harry's wand, protecting him from the curse. Panting, he immediately fired back with a jet of blue flames. The drapes covering the broken window were set ablaze as Tom vanished into a smoky black fog, narrowly escaping the spell.

Tom re-emerged and waved his wand over the shards of broken glass. The pieces flew at Harry like bullets as he stumbled out of the way, casting a shield around him. The fragments rebounded and sailed back toward Tom, who had taken cover behind a couch. With another aggravated roar, Tom pointed his wand at the hanging cable above the chandelier. The cable snapped, sending the crystal chandelier crashing at Harry's feet.

"Enough of this!" Tom screamed, eyes dancing with an exasperated anger. He vanished for a moment in another black smog, only to reappear behind Harry.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Time seemed to stop as Tom's cold voice echoed through the house. Ginny watched, utterly heartbroken, as Harry collapsed onto the floor in a blaze of green light. Her vision was blurred with tears as she stared at Harry's lifeless form lying among the wreckage and fading embers. Panting and laughing triumphantly, Tom dropped his wand and sank onto his hands and knees, shaking with hateful mirth. He was laughing. Without thinking, and without a word, Ginny took off down the stairs. Tom's discarded wand was laying inches away from him. Breathing heavily, she snatched the wand off the floor, just as Tom raised his head.

Ginny's teeth clenched. "You sadistic bastard!"

Tom's grin grew wider as he gazed up at Ginny. Clearly not threatened by the wand in his face, he laughed again. "What do you think you're doing? Put that down before you hurt yourself, doll."

"STOP LAUGHING!" Ginny waved the wand, and Tom was thrown violently onto his back. The smile began to fade from his face. "After all that you've done to my family and my friends…after all that you've done to me…"

Tom gaped at her, disbelievingly; he hadn't expected such forcefulness. "It had to be done Ginny, you know that. It was either him or me."

Ginny gave a short, miserable laugh. "Don't bother trying to justify it! You're Voldemort. You take lives without a thought—you tarnish all that is good! You're a monster!" She bellowed, pointing the wand at his heart.

Tom slowly stood up, looking steadily into her eyes as she attempted to compose her hysterical form. "What are you going to do? Are you going to kill me?" He asked in a low voice.

Ginny froze for a moment, biting her lip. She hadn't really thought about what she was going to do. Anger surged through her as she stared into Tom's questioning eyes. The wand felt heavy in her small, wavering hand. I should kill him. He deserves it…he deserves to die…

A silence passed that seemed to span an eternity. Dust and debris wafted around the two as they stood, eyes locked. Ginny's grip tightened on the wand. He deserves it!

The tense stillness was painful. Ginny blinked hard, fighting tears, and tore her eyes from Tom's face. Struggling with herself, she let the wand fall to the floor with a clatter, unable to bring herself to harm him.

A beat passed, and slowly Ginny brought her eyes to Tom's again. Without a word, they lunged at one another into a kiss, releasing their intense pent-up tension and ferocity. Their hands moved fast, ripping off shreds of the other's clothing. Soon Ginny's lace dress was in tatters along with Tom's vest and trousers. Desperately, they fell to the floor, kissing and touching and moaning in spite of the battle raging outside.

"You're an evil, horrible man, Tom," Ginny said, gasping beneath him.

"And you love me for it," he replied with a charming smirk.

Ginny smiled. There was no denying it anymore. "I do."