Author's Note: Hey guys, this is most likely the last chapter! I hope you've enjoyed it so far…look for a new story from me soon!

Disclaimer: --I do not own Harry Potter. Most of these characters are property of the brilliant J.K. Rowling.

--The song Harry sings to Ginny is called "I'll Stand By You." Words and music by Billy Steinberg, Tom Kelly, and Chrissie Hynde. Original recording by The Pretenders, re-made by Carrie Underwood.

--As Long as You're Mine is a song from "Wicked, The Musical," music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. (Last few lines or so are based off of the end of that song.)

Chapter Twelve

I'll Stand By You, As Long as You're Mine

Everyone was still in Narcissa's bedroom, with Lucius laying Immobilized on the floor when there were numerous CRACKs that came from downstairs. "Harry, where are you?"

"We're up here, Sirius," Harry shouted back to his godfather. A moment later, Sirius lunged through the door stepping over Lucius, and over to Harry, followed by George, Claire, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Luna Lovegood.

"What are you lot doing here?" Ron asked them all.

"Harry sent a Patronus calling for help, little brother," George said, simply. "And since you said we could help, here we are."

"I asked them to come, Ron," Sirius told him. "I didn't know if Lucius would have called for backup as well by the time we got here."

"That's fine, thanks, Sirius, and everyone else." Harry looked around at all of them, just noticing who exactly had come. Seeing as there was no pressing danger at the moment, he walked over to Dean, Seamus and Luna. "Oi, how are you lot? It feels like Dumbledore's Army is back together again."

"We've never stopped being together, Harry. It's just, there hasn't been much danger," Luna said in her usual dreamy voice. Harry grinned at the sound of it. It brought back memories. "Since Daddy died, I've been continuing to travel to Sweden to look for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. Unfortunately, business was held back because Nargles kept getting in the way."

They all laughed at this, even Malfoy. Hermione, however, opened her mouth to say something, then decided to shut it and laugh along with everyone else. She, too, had missed Luna.

"Seamus, how's your mum? We heard from Ginny's parents that she's not doing so well."

"She's actually doing loads better. She's got a few years left in her, we think. By the way, Neville said he wanted to be here but he's stuck at Hogwarts."

"That's right where he should be," Hermione said matter-of-factly. The other three nodded their heads in agreement. They trusted Neville to be there with their children. It didn't hurt that Minerva McGonagall was still Headmistress.

Ginny walked over to Harry and took his hand. He knew by her touch that there was something wrong. She squeezed harder and Harry noticed that there were Death Eaters flying outside the window on broomsticks. They all ran out of the room and went downstairs, leaving Lucius where he was. Still gripping Ginny's hand, unwilling to let her out of his sight, he aimed his wand at the front door and she turned at his left on a 90-degree angle. Ron stood facing outward at his back, and Hermione was gripping Ron's hand to Harry's right. They all jumped as the door in the kitchen banged open and there a was shouting.

A great, booming voice shouted, "They're by the front door. I can smell the fear." They weren't afraid, though. They had each other's backs, which was more than the enemy could say. Travers and Yaxley came running towards them, Harry immediately Stupefying Travers, leaving Ginny to Yaxley. More Death Eaters Apparated out of nowhere as other shouting matches from other members of the D.A. and the Order fought elsewhere were heard ringing through the halls.

Harry didn't even recognize half of the new Death Eaters. Harry figured there must have been a mass breakout from Azkaban as well that had slipped through the hands of the Ministry. That thought was confirmed by the look on Hermione's face. He saw Crabbe Sr. and Goyle Sr. fighting Sirius and losing. Then, a couple of the men that Harry didn't recognize came bounding towards him and Ginny and he felt his hand wrenched away from hers. "HARRY!" she shouted, stretching her hand towards him as she was pulled away into battle.

With a sudden rush of adrenaline Harry ran towards her, firing a spell at some huge man with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. Behind him, Bill and Fleur came running through the front door followed by Molly and Arthur Weasley and then Oliver Wood, Angelina Johnson and Cho Chang. Harry very briefly smiled at their loyalty and continued to battle.

Harry ducked under flashes of light then remembered he shoved his Invisibility Cloak under his jacket on the way out the door. He threw it on, not being noticed by anyone. He ran up behind the Death Eater fighting Ginny. Ginny had just narrowly missed a flash of green light. Infuriated, Harry shouted "Avada Kedavra!" and the Death Eater crumpled to the floor. Ginny knew it was him, but she seemed to be the only one that was aware of his presence. Thinking Ginny defeated his companion, another Death Eater, female this time, began to battle her. Sirius, also unaware that Harry was feet away from him, tried to help Ginny by attacking the woman from behind. She heard him mutter "Sec…" and ducked before the "…tumsempra" and the spell hit Ginny squarely in the chest.

Sirius stopped dead, unable to believe what he had just done. "GINNY! NOOOOOOO!" Tears burst from Harry's eyes as he looked at his wife's bloody body laying helpless on the ground. Not caring about anything else, Ron and Hermione rushed over. "RON GO BACK AND FIGHT! YOU HAVE TO FIGHT!"

"No, Harry, she's my sister!"

"Fight for her, then, Ron!" Realizing that his other siblings and parents were fighting harder because of Ginny, he ran off to join them. Hermione, however, stayed where she was and began muttering spells up and down Ginny's body. Harry moved behind her and held her head in his lap, his tears spilling onto her forehead. He looked up momentarily at Sirius who was still standing in one spot.

"Sirius, get out of the bloody way if you're just going to stand there," Harry shouted. Snapping out of his reverie, Sirius walked over to Harry and knelt next to him.

"Harry," Hermione stopped casting spells. "We have to get her into the hallway where no one's fighting. I'll stay with her, you go fight. If you're with her, you're just going to bring the trouble back her way. They want you."

Realizing his best friend was right, Harry bent down and kissed Ginny on the lips, resting his there for a moment. Then he spoke softly to her. "Ginny, I love you, you can't leave me. Don't leave James, Al and Lily. They need you, love. Be the strong woman I know you are." Still bawling like a baby he turned to Hermione. "Fix her."

"I'll try, Harry, now go." With one last look at Ginny he took off towards the nearest Death Eater with Sirius close behind. Harry saw a huge man fighting Cho by herself and went over to help.

"Stupefy!" he shouted. Cho turned to his tear-filled face and frowned. Not able to look her in the eye, he ran towards where Claire was fighting Crabbe and Cho went in the other direction. He shot some spells without actually thinking about what they were. He was so angry he was taking out any Death Eater to cross his path. He shouted, "Petrificus Totalus!" at one that tried to shoot a spell at Luna. He noticed that Ron narrowly missed a flash of green. The face turned as Ron ran away to another angle and Harry saw that it was Pansy Parkinson. Across the room, Draco noticed her too.

"BITCH!" He ran at her and Stunned her. He looked down at her now-helpless eyes and said fiercely, "After everything you knew my father had done to me, you joined them?" He kicked her as he strode over to Goyle. This time it wasn't the adult Goyle, it was Gregory. The two engaged in battle and Harry couldn't help but feel sorry for Malfoy. All his friends went bad. It must have taken courage to part from the peer pressure. Harry silently thanked God for Draco's wife, Marissa, as he turned and started to fight someone new.

About an hour later everything had calmed down. With only a deep gash on his arm, he stepped over bodies of dead and stunned Death Eaters who would no doubt be receiving the Kiss from any of the few Dementors remaining in Azkaban. None of their side was down, except one.

"Harry." Harry turned around at the familiar voice. "Harry, I'm so sorry." Tears leaked ever so slowly from Sirius' pain-filled eyes. His tears did not match the waterfall that had been pouring from Harry's eyes for the last hour. Harry ignored him and ran towards Ginny and Hermione. They were soon met by the rest of the Weasley family. They and the members of the D.A. and the Order, however, kept slightly back as Harry went towards his wife. He slid down next to her and grabbed her hand. Sirius came up, put pillows behind Ginny's head, looked at Harry solemnly, and walked away.

"Ginny, my sweet angel, please open your eyes." He looked at Hermione. "How did you do?"

"I managed to stop the worst of the bleeding. I've conjured bandages and put them around her stomach and chest. We need to get her to St. Mungo's, but we shouldn't move her just yet." She looked up at Ron. "Ron, would you please send a Patronus to Professor McGonagall asking her to have Dilys Derwent get a Healer over here immediately?"

Ron kissed his wife's forehead, silently thanking her for being so calm and helpful for his sister, while he ran off to do as she asked. Meanwhile, Harry looked back down at Ginny and moving his legs out from underneath him, he lay down next to her. Everyone was looking down at him, but he didn't care. He wanted her to know he wasn't ever leaving her side again. He closed his eyes and put his lips to her ear. "I'll stand by you, I'll staaand by you. I won't let nobody hurt you, I'll stand by you. Take me in into your darkest hour, and I'll never desert you. I'll stand by you. And when, when the night falls on you baby, you're feeling all alone, you won't be on you own. I'll stand by you." He sang their song quietly into her ear then kissed her forehead. He heard Mrs. Weasley sniffle and Mr. Weasley held his wife.

Harry opened his eyes and saw Ron comforting the crying Hermione. He knew he must have looked silly. Sirius was sitting against the wall in fetal position, covering his face. George and Claire were huddled silently in the shadows next to Bill and Fleur, who was also crying silently. Most of them were bruised or bleeding a little. They had once again come to fight for him. Why couldn't he be the one who wouldn't wake? Why Ginny? The rest of the D.A. stood to the side, giving the friends and family room to worry. Just then, Healer Hart from St. Mungo's walked through the front door, being let in by Draco.

She approached the area where Harry was laying with Ginny. "Harry," Hermione stepped up next to him. "Harry, you have to let the Healer get to her." She tugged at his shoulders and he kissed Ginny's forehead before tearing himself painfully away.

He didn't know what to do. He knew the Healer needed room to work her magic, so he went over to Sirius and hugged him tightly. Unable to believe that Harry could possibly even want to come within feet of him after what he had done, he hugged his godson back tightly and fresh tears sprung from both pairs of eyes. Pulling away, Sirius worked up the nerve to speak. "Harry, you know I meant for that to be the Death Eater."

"I know," were the only two words Harry could muster.

"You know, Harry, if she doesn't make it, you don't ever have to speak to me again. I would understand."

After these words Harry was able to look up into Sirius' eyes and speak clearly. "Sirius. I've waited twenty-five long years for you to come back into my life, thinking that you never would. I couldn't stop talking to you, and Ginny wouldn't want me to. I actually think she'd be quite angry with me if I let an accident get in the way of us ever speaking again. Yeah, I know it was an accident. I know there's no way in hell you'd ever hurt Ginny on purpose. Same way you'd never hurt me. Although, I wish it had been me," he said painfully, looking over at Ginny's helpless body being examined by the Healer. Before Sirius could answer, Draco walked over.

"Harry, I don't know if you've noticed, but all the Death Eaters have been taken away by Ministry Officials. That's where Thomas and Finnigan have gone. The Death Eaters will be administered the Kiss tonight at midnight." Draco looked at Harry's face and felt he needed to say more. "You know, Harry, once upon a time, I survived this curse just fine." Harry's heart filled with guilt at the memory of the spell he had accidentally cast on Draco in their sixth year at Hogwarts.

"Right, but when I cast that, I didn't know what it did, so I'm sure it was less powerful." He didn't look at Sirius as he said this.

"Yeah, but…"

"Harry!" Mr. Weasley called, "Healer Hart is finished, you can come back."

Harry scrambled up and rushed to Ginny's side, lifting her hand to his lips before glancing up at Healer Hart for an explanation.

"She's going to be fine, Mr. Potter," Healer Hart said. "That was a really powerful spell, but the damage was repairable thanks to Mrs. Weasley's quick thinking," she nodded towards Hermione.

"Can I take her home?"

"Yes, I daresay you can, Mr. Potter." She smiled at his relief-stricken face. "Good night, all. I hope I can assume I won't be seeing any of you soon, at least in the hospital halls?"

"I sure hope so, Healer," said Mrs. Weasley as she ushered the woman through the entrance to the foyer. "Thank you very much for coming so quickly, so late at night. We really appreciate it."

The healer left and Molly came back in the other room as Harry was picking up Ginny, preparing to Apparate back to Bay Bluff. He looked around the room at everyone, his eyes last stopping on Cho. She looked at him, carrying his wife. She was thinking about how right they looked together. She was glad things never worked out with her and Harry. He loved Ginny with every fiber of his being, and that was made quite plain every time she saw them together.

Harry thanked them all for helping, promising to keep in touch.

Once they were back at Bay Bluff and Ginny was settled into hers and Harry's bed with him right there next to her every minute, Hermione brought up a tray with coffee and a few cookies. "Thought you might be hungry." She stood next to Harry and put her hand on his head, then to his cheek, looking thoughtfully into his face. "Healer Hart said she's going to be fine, Harry."

"I know, Hermione, it just scared me so much. I can't describe the feeling in my gut when I saw Sirius' spell hit her."

"That was Sirius?" she asked in awe.

"Yeah, he was trying to hit that cowardly bitch who ducked."

"I see, and are you okay? I mean, are you and Sirius okay?"

"I think so. Ginny wouldn't want me to blame him."

"I think you're right about that," Hermione smiled at how much Harry had matured. Back when they were at Hogwarts, he would have taken ages to forgive his godfather. She kissed him on the cheek and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Harry lay back down next to Ginny, snuggling under the covers, and nestling his face into the space between her neck and shoulders, just listening to her breathe. He kissed her neck and fell asleep with his arm wrapped around her stomach, and his legs tangled with hers.

He woke to sunlight streaming through the bedroom. When he opened his eyes he saw Ginny staring at him. "Thank God," he said aloud.

She spoke to him, barely audible. "Who are you and why are you in my bed?"

He sat up with a bolt. "WHAT?! Ginevra Molly Potter, are you telling me you don't know who I am? Please love," he wrapped his arms around her, "tell me you know me. I swear I'll throw myself out that window if you don't."

She smiled. "Gotcha."

He let out his breath that had been residing in his throat for the last minute and a half. "Dammit, Ginny, don't do that. That's not funny."

"Aww, poor baby." She grabbed his head and pulled it towards her. She kissed him passionately and he gave in, moving over her. He moved his hands under her back arching it towards him. He didn't think she was strong enough to make love to him yet, but he wanted her to know how happy he was. From that moment on he was going to be next to her. He could never let her out of his sight ever again. Not only because he wanted to protect her, but because he didn't want to ever stop looking at her. "Know I'll be here holding you, as long as you're mine, Ginny."

"I know, Harry. I know."

He looked at her for a moment. She had a look on her face he hadn't really seen before. He closed his arms tight around him, and she snuggled closer to him. "What is it?"

"It's just...for the first time I feel...safe."