Ginny Weasley and the House of Broken Men

Ginny could hear screaming all around her. She knew that some of it was coming from her, but her own screams were lost in the roar. This is what it had come down to, four years later, the final battle at hand, and as the curses shot around her and from her, Ginny could do nothing but search for her own screams. She could barely tell whose side anyone was on anymore, she simply jinxed and counter-jinxed anyone who pointed a wand at her. It felt like the whole wizarding world was there, firing off spells or blocking against them—all that was left of the wizarding world, at least.
It seemed fitting that the final battle would be fought on the same ground as the first great battle of the second war—though this time it was what remained of the Ministry, rather than the seat of government itself. There was little left of the Ministry government these days, not after four hard, long years of war had taken the world far beyond governance and well into the realm of anarchy. But that was soon to end. Harry had destroyed the final horcrux, a long forgotten relic of Godric Gryffindor which Voldemort had hidden deep in the catacombs beneath the ancestral house of Gaunt, so many years before. Ginny dodged a flash of green and her wand emitted a shower of purple spikes seemingly of its own volition—she barely had to think for her wand to cast anymore, she was so accustomed to these sorts of frenzied combats. It would all be over soon, so very soon, Harry just needed to face Voldemort one last time, and then it would all be over. Ginny had complete faith in Harry succeeding, there was no other option; she had not spent the past four years living in constant fear, suppressing panic, and burying friends, and family, only to lose it all now. No, it would all be over soon, Voldemort and his demented followers would be finished shortly; it was just a matter of holding on long enough.
The central hall of what was once the Ministry no longer stood glorious, polished and shiny. All around Ginny was shattered stone and charred walls. The floors were badly damaged, requiring one to keep a deft step to keep from tumbling. Tarnished remnants of the chandeliers which had once lit the hall now littered the mangled floor, only adding to the precarious state underfoot. The Ministry had tried to stay open in the early years, tried to repair itself after each successive attack—from both inside and outside. Too often had the Death Eaters tried to overrun the Ministry with force and numbers, or worse, Ministry personnel revealed themselves to be followers of the Dark Lord and tried to seize control from within. Eventually, those who hoped to keep the anarchy at bay gave in to the inevitable, and drew wand for one side or the other, no longer attempting to maintain order for the world.
Ginny shot a double binding curse at the harsh-faced witch directly in front of her, then immediately deflected the Avada Kedavra of a large, gelatinous wizard who had taken to circling her. Ginny returned fire with a vicious, silent curse which left the man shrieking in a heap on the floor as his bones began to shrink within him. Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny noticed her brother Bill closing in on Adrian Pucey. Venomous fury raged behind Bill’s scarred eyes as he moved in, cursing and re-cursing Pucey, who had recently led an attack on Bill’s wife and young son. Several feet away, George and Fred stood back to back, shouting madly as they took on three or four Death Eaters at once. Hannah Abbot, her face a masque of frozen, distant detachment stood her ground on the other side of the twins, disarming two Death Eaters in rapid succession and cutting down a third at the knees with a vicious hex. So many of their Order were there, fighting valiantly, but Ginny sadly knew that so many weren’t.
Ginny noticed Ernie McMillan on the far end of the room, clutching his side in pain as he slid down the wall, still managing to hurl spells at the Death Eater bearing down on him. Ginny began to work her way across the room, finally landing a strong Sectum Sempra on the back of the wizard. Ernie grinned weakly at Ginny as she performed a quick succession of healing spells that were most useful on the field, and managed to cover her back as she did so. Ginny ripped off the bottom of her shirt and touched her wand to it, “Portus” she said and offered it to Ernie “I expect to get this back later,” she added wryly as he took it and disappeared. As Ernie’s image faded away, Ginny noticed that the yelling in the room was escalating and straightened to see Voldemort backing swiftly into the hall, his robes and a mysterious protective smoke billowing around him, the writhing masses flew out of his way as he repeatedly attempted to Avada Kedavra Harry who was forcing him into the room. Ron and Hermione were only steps behind Harry, continually sending buffing and protective spells to aide him. Voldemort’s wrath was palpable, even the Death Eaters in the hall seemed sickened by the energy the Dark Lord exuded, but that same energy seemed to rush right past Harry and his buffers. Ginny made a mad dash across to the center of the room, joining Ron and Hermione in their efforts. Together they continued to force Voldemort’s retreat through the wrecked Ministry halls and through what was once the Department of Mysteries. Prophecy globes lay shattered everywhere—not just in the Prophecy room and the mysterious brains which had once attacked Ron now floated oddly in midair. Ginny was dimly aware that the battle was following their twisted procession into the darkest cells of the Ministry. Voldemort roared furiously at Harry, refusing to admit that he was being overwhelmed by the insignificant Potter boy. Deeper into the Department they went, Voldemort continuously retreating and Harry resolutely pushing on. Vengeance was the call for all of them; Ginny poured all of her emotions into the spells she cast, the anger, frustration, and pain she had been enduring for years; all of her grief and suffering fed into the magic she cast, feeding into Harry, thrusting Voldemort back into the amphitheater, down the stairs and onto the dais which held the veil, whispering still. Fear showed in Voldemort’s ruined face for the first time, flashing across his evil red eyes as he summoned his strength to send one final, enormous AVADA KEDAVRA! right at Harry’s face. A green aura surrounded Harry for a brief moment, and had Ginny been in a position to see Harry’s forehead, she would have witnessed his scar glow brilliantly green as Harry laughed, “Don’t you see, old man, you couldn’t kill me before, and you can’t kill me now! This is the end, old man, are you finally ready to die? AVADA KEDAVRA!” Harry shouted triumphantly. Ginny watched as Harry’s wand fired an emerald missile at his life long enemy, a missile which shot straight down the middle of Voldemort’s own, splitting it, and the phoenix feather within it, directly in half. The spell caught Voldemort where his heart may once have been, staggering him. Voldemort stumbled back a few paces, clutching his chest. The next few seconds seemed to last a lifetime, as Voldemort’s flesh seemed to crack, emitting the grotesque green light of Avada Kedavra, as he tumbled backwards, it seemed as though the monstrous face of Voldemort morphed back into the visage of the Tom Riddle he once was, a horrified and disbelieving Tom Riddle pitching back, breaking apart into the nothingness of the veil beyond. As Voldemort disappeared beyond the veil, the frame of the veil itself began to quake and crack, breaking apart the same way that his skin had, and began to produce that eerie green light as well. The whole room began to shudder violently as a blinding light suddenly exploded from beyond the veil, sending everyone in the room to the ground. When the light finally subsided, the bodies of several unconscious people lay sprawled on the dais where the veil had stood only moments ago. Ginny moved forward with Hermione and Ron to where Harry crouched, an unmoving body at his feet. Ginny barely registered Sirius’s face when the word “CRUCIO” filled her head, and unimaginable pain wracked her body.