Chapter 1 – Wait.

Ginny sat on her bed staring out of her bedroom window. She could see the fields and the drive, deep welts in the mud where the Ford Anglia used to reside. She could see the spot where her friends had vanished on the patch of slightly yellow grass from the shade of the marquis under which her eldest brother had been married the previous day. She had been restricted to her room for almost 17 hours and hunger was beginning to gnaw at her insides. She knew better than to disobey her mother in such a serious situation however, and remained where she was. She could hear hushed voices from the room above where Fred and George were waiting, and a silence resounded through the floor boards in the absence of the shouting of Death Eaters which had echoed through them the previous night. It was a long night. They had taken the family and interrogated them one by one – all except for Ron as they believed him to be dying, in a bed below the loft, of Splattergroit. One of the scariest experiences of Ginny's life thus far had been sitting in her dark kitchen surrounded by Death Eaters – all masked – whilst they asked her intimate questions about Harry and their relationship, did she know where he was, what he was doing, who he was with…she said nothing. She knew nothing! After an hour, some Cruciatus curse and begging from her mother – Molly – they allowed her to return to her room. She hadn't left since.

The sun was starting to rise now. Harry consumed every thought of Ginny's; the same questions the Death Eaters had asked. Where was he? What on earth was he doing that was this important? And were Ron and Hermione his only help? She wished she could have gone with them but as Harry had said – it was too dangerous and she didn't know enough. Everyone else had a reason for her to stay at home, and all she wanted was to help him.

"Ginny!"
She crossed the room in two steps and wrenched the door open, flinging herself onto the staircase outside.
"Mum?" she called in response. Two ginger heads appeared over the banister above her, and then another a little further up, and last, Bill and Fleur looked over. Mrs Weasley was stood at the bottom of the stairs.
"They've gone. Come down and I'll make some breakfast. Has anyone seen…" she paused, looked around for a moment nervously, "Ron?" she whispered the last part as though worried they were being spied on. Everyone shook their heads silently. She looked tense and like a nervous wreck that might fall apart at any moment. Ginny started down the stairs as quickly as possible, rushing to help her mum to a chair and help her make some breakfast as the others made their way down.
"Mum, where's dad?" she asked tentatively as she set a mug of steaming fire-whiskey (it seemed appropriate) in front of Molly.
"Oh, he's fine. They said that if he was truly loyal to the ministry then he should be working from normal time, no matter the special family occasion. He went with them. I don't think they'll hurt him with no proof we've been…" she stopped again. "anyway, they do still suspect us so we'll have to be careful."
"Of course." said Fred behind them. The others had gathered in the kitchen and were starting to put together some food, letting Molly have a rest for a change.

Once there were some eggs and bacon on the table alongside a sizable helping of toast, and everyone was sitting down, more morbid and eating less than usual, Charlie raised the question they had all been thinking. "So, what happens now?"
"We go about as normal. Ginny, you go to Hogwarts on the first of September as usual, George, Fred – either run your joke shop or do what you want to do discretely and Bill, you and Fleur had better go to your new house, I can send you instructions from the order from there. Charlie…you need to spread the word. The Order will go on! We have to help Harry in any way we can, now that Voldemort is getting stronger, and in control at the ministry, there's so much we can do and so little time to do it, it's the least we can do to try. You are travelling most of the time, you have connections." She seemed to be throwing caution to the wind; else she had decided that there was no point in worrying about spies as everyone knew them as blood traitors anyway. "This is the least we can do." She said again. They all nodded, except Ginny who was frowning.
"What are these instructions from the order for Bill and Fleur? And why do I have to go to Hogwarts? That place is going to be hell now that Dumbledore's…not around. And you can bet Voldemort will target it. There's so much to do I can help! Mum-"
"No Ginny, Hogwarts is the safest place for you. You are underage and can't perform magic outside school legally, you still have the trace. And people will notice you're missing from Hogwarts, if you're seen outside school it'll only be obvious what you're up to. It could jeopardise the entire family. You have to go to Hogwarts. Besides, you might be able to help from within! There's bound to be pro-Voldemort propaganda floating around, you can help by inspiring people to stay strong, stay together, and help Harry Potter! Ginny he'd want you to be safe."
Ginny thought about it for a moment. "I bet Neville's not going." She muttered.
"Ginny Weasley you thank Merlin you are not Neville Longbottom! And I know his grandmother – he'll be going back.
There was silence for a few moments following this speech. They were disturbed by a sharp rapping on the window and Fred and George both sprang to their feet. Lupin was stood right outside the window, looking hesitantly over his shoulder and imploring them with his eyes to open the door. Fred hurried forwards and opened the door a crack with his wand in his hand.
"The name I got tattooed on my ankle in the fifth year that you helped me remove at midnight?" he asked quietly. Molly frowned disapprovingly.
"Angelina." Lupin said in a hushed voice and slipped inside. George grinned at his brother discretely and as Fred sat back down Ginny heard them kick each other under the table.
"Molly, I've news. Probably the kids, but don't worry they weren't found. No one's actually seen them, but a report was made of a mugging and vandalism spree in London in a small café. There were three of them, teenagers, and they beat up and knocked out two fully grown men then trashed the place. And the waitress that was on a shift that night was screaming all sorts of things when she turned up at the police department – they were waving about sticks and the lights were flashing apparently. My guess is that the two men are death eaters and since there's no trace of the kids, I'd say they took off. According to the ministry report I intercepted, two innocent men were left with no memory and in a full body bind curse. If death eaters had got hold of the kids, they wouldn't have just left two of their own at the scene would they? And there'd be more of a sign of a struggle…Harry wouldn't let them take Ron and Hermione without a fight would he? You know what he's like. My guess is they're hiding somewhere. Arthur sent a patronus as soon as he was alone telling them everyone's ok. Molly they aren't stupid. Harry acts before he thinks which will come in handy if he's up against an opponent, Ron's one of the most loyal friends I've ever seen and he'll keep Harry grounded, and Hermione's the cleverest witch of her age. They've all proved themselves before in situations similar to this. I know they're safe, and I know they'll stay safe. Don't worry Molly."
"How can I not worry Remus?"
"Mum…think about it- " Fred said in an upbeat tone that he must have thought would lighten the mood.
"If anything happens to Ron- " George continued,
"You've got six other kids- "
"So there's replacements- "
"Yeah, not like it's Gin, she's the only one- "
"mind you Perce doesn't really count anymore- "
"So really it's more like five replacements. Four minus Ginny."
"But keep your head up he's stupid enough to get through this."
Ginny frowned at them both. "You aren't helping." She muttered.
"Just trying to diffuse the tension." Fred said in a sort of sing-song voice.
"I'll make more tea." Charlie piped up. "Staying Remus?" he asked as he flicked his wand and the kettle flew across the kitchen under the now streaming tap.
"No, no, Nymphadora hasn't been well this morning, not since last night…we hardly got any sleep. I came out at dawn to try and find out what's going on and I only came to bring the news here on my way home. George is right, Ron'll be fine. He'll get through this. He's probably more worried about you than you are about him right now." Lupin got up and made for the door. "I'll keep in touch." He said, and then he was gone. He turned on the spot as soon as he left the house.

"You'd all better get some sleep." Molly said. "You've been up since this time yesterday. Go on, go to bed. Don't give me that look William, I'll be up in a minute."
Ginny rose and headed for the stairs. As she passed the clock, she glanced at it out of habit. All of the hands were at home except for Arthur's whose head was pointed at "Work" and Ron's whose head, to her dismay, was set firmly at "Mortal Peril."