Disclaimer: the names of the chapters are Alice In Wonderland themed, and the quotes at the start of every chapter belong of course to Lewis Carrol alone, taken from Alice In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I don't own nether of them, nor the Harry potter fandom.

Reviews are very welcome :)

Chapter 1:

Black Pawn

"It's a great game of chess that's being played – all over the world – if this is the world at all..."

Ginny's body slammed into the wall and she choked. Her hairdo came apart as her head hit the hard bricks, and the golden pins that held it fell like autumn leaves at the end of the summer.

The Death Eaters scattered around the house like an epidemic, breaking and turning every object in their path, as if the person they were looking for could be hiding beneath them.

"He's not here!" The call came from behind the silver mask of a black- robed wizard that burst into the living room with his companions. "Only that friend of his is upstairs. Seems the filth of their house finally got to him, he's drooling and covered with pox. Disgusting."

"Should I get it out of him?" another Death Eater said in a deep voice, his wand dangerously close to Arthur Weasley's pale forehead. He was sweaty put steady, holding his sobbing wife bravely.

"They don't know anything," said the Death Eater who was the leader of the group with a sneer. "High and mighty Potter and his little friends would never put their loved ones in danger. Take anything that could be useful and let's go."

The curse that held Ginny was removed and she fell to the floor, landing in a bed of her dress' golden fabric, panting and holding her throat. To her right was Fleur, still in the glamorous wedding dress, huddled with her family. She was holding her weeping sister and Bill, whose scared face held a frightening look of hatred. On her left Fred and George crowd together, glaring murderously at the Death Eaters.

The Death Eaters emptied the kitchen and all the food left from the wedding party, in addition to all the potions from the pantry, before they left the house and Apperated. The crackling sounds were carried in the wind up to the house, and then everything fell silent.

Fred was the first to recover after the sudden attack. He went to the coat closet and picked up one of his father's old robes that the Death Eaters had thrown on the floor. "I never thought I'd say that, but were lucky that all our stuff is junk."

Instead of calming down, Gabrielle burst into even stronger sobs. Her parents hugged her, and Fleur clung to her new husband, who put his arms around her protectively. His frown turned into a pained look.

Ginny got up and went to the open door. Her legs trembled, but she ignored the unpleasant feeling, imploring herself to convert the fear into anger.

The summer night lay peacefully outside the house, oblivious of the event that had taken place, and that would change all of their lives. The Ministry of Magic was seized by Death Eaters. The war has taken a new twist.

Ginny stared into the darkness. Wedding decorations, tables and chairs were scattered around the yard in a complete mess. For a few moments she allowed herself to hope to see familiar figures marching out of the darkness, alert and ready for anything...

But the ruined yard remained silent. Ginny's mother and father came to stand behind her. Her mother sniffed and said in a strangled voice, "We'll have to clean all this up..."

"Don't worry about that, Molly," her husband said in a serious tone.

"Come inside, Ginny," Molly said, wiping her face with a handkerchief and insisting on acting as if everything was normal. "The night's chilly, you'll catch a cold."

Ginny ignored her because she knew she was only looking for an excuse to be overprotective.

"They're really gone," she said, more to herself than to her parents.

"Of course they are. They have been preparing for something like this since the beginning of the summer," Arthur said, and Ginny had never heard him sound so grave. "At least they weren't caught..."

"I can't believe they didn't take me with them."

"How can you say that, Ginny?" Molly said suddenly. "You're still in school, you can't – "

"They're still in school, too," Ginny said angrily, feeling the cold night air against her warm body. Suddenly tears choked her, and she used her fiery red hair to cover her face and hide them from sight. "I can't believe he left like that."

Her mother knew immediately what she was talking about, and she spoke sternly, "Harry has a job to do. He can't allow romance to interfere with his calling."

Ginny turned to her mother, feeling an urge to unravel all the tension she had accumulated since Kingsley's fatal announcement. "So what if he's everyone's hero? He could've at least said goodbye, he can't just – "

Arthur put a hand on his wife's shoulder, but that didn't help restrain her. Her face turned red and her eyes filled with tears of anger and fear. "It's a war, Ginevra, it's not a game. If Harry had stayed here to say goodbye to you the Death Eaters would have caught him, and what do you think would have happened then? You can't stand in his way – "

Ginny started her way between her parents, past her still stunned family, and climbed up the steps in a fury. The heels of her shoes, bought especially for the wedding, clattered harshly on the hardwood floor.

Ginny knew exactly where she was going. The Death Eaters didn't spare the upper floors, and Harry and Ron's room was completely destroyed. For a moment she panicked when she saw their family Roll, dressed in Ron's pajamas and looking oddly similar to him, growling and drooling in her older brother's bed, his skin covered with ugly purple stains.

How long have they been planning this sudden departure? The notion that they had been planning their journey for months and hadn't bothered to tell her angered Ginny even more. She hated being left out of the loop, and Harry knew that.

She took off her shoes and threw them furiously and with dangerous skill at the pictures beside Harry's bed with. His parents and young godfather retreated in panic when glass shattered and the frame hit the floor, the shinning wedding day destroyed. Her own image disappeared behind the frame of the other picture despite picture- Harry's pleas, and they too fell off the dresser.

Walking barefoot on the wreckage, she picked Harry's remaining belongings from the mess and tossed them against the walls, as if the childish gesture could have hurt him. She hated the Death Eaters for the war they were waging, but most of all she hated Harry for leaving her, even though he knew what he had meant to her, and her mother for siding with him rather than her, as if he were one of her sons. He always has been, damn him.

Soon Charlie appeared, holding her freckled arms tightly, stopping her from causing any more damage in her anger. The Roll muttered something indistinct and snored loudly, rolling over to his other side.

"I hate him!" She shouted at him, as if he were Harry himself. She felt she was suffocating with rage. "Why did he leave? He always leaves – "

"He had to, Ginny," Charlie said, and in made Ginny even angrier. He held her again, as if he was trying to soothe a nervous dragon, and said, "Don't take your anger out on me, kid. I hate to rain on your parade, but you know it's true. There are things he has to do."

Ginny knew he was right, that Harry was The Chosen One, but it didn't help sooth her sudden hatred for him, and the clashing desires to be with him and to never see him again. It seemed that this was how it has always been between them – a clash of conflicting emotions and desires.

Realizing that she has calmed down a bit, Charlie smiled and said, "You have to be strong now, for him and for us. Alright?"

"Not for him, for me," Ginny added in a low voice, still feeling disgruntled. The golden bridesmaid's dress felt irritatingly scratchy, and she just wanted to get in her bed.

"That's the spirit," Charlie said with some forced glee. His eyes darted to an object that was lying on the floor, half under Harry's bed. He lifted it and after a brief look handed it to Ginny. "Look, he didn't forget you. Your birthday's not until next week."

Ginny took the long, narrow box, which was decorated with a bright blue ribbon. On the edge of the box was written in Harry's handwriting:

'To Gin,

Happy Birthday'.

"Probably some silly piece of jewelry," she said, feeling suddenly tired.

"But it's nice that he took care of it in advance, don't you think?" Charlie tried to cheer her up.

Ginny made an unsuccessful effort to smile at him."Good night, Charlie."

Once in her ruined room she took off her dress, tossed it on the rubble of her fallen table, and put on a big T-shirt that lay beneath a Weird Sisters poster that had been ripped off the wall. She garbed Arnold, who was hiding under his bed, and soothed him. Then, lying on the bed from which the sheets were stripped roughly, she put her face in her hands and sighed deeply.

She decided she was glad he was gone. She hated the way he avoided her gaze, and yet kept watching her when he thought she didn't notice. She hated him for thinking he had to protect her.

She vowed to stop thinking about him then, telling herself that she was only worried about her brother Ron and her good friend Hermione. Harry Potter, the heroic and noble git, could take care of himself, and avoid death even better than he had avoided her searching gaze.

Finally she was overcome by curiosity and opened the box that lay on the bed beside her. She was surprised to find that instead of a piece of jewelry, on the silk bed lay a medium-length wand made of reddish wood.

Ginny felt a mix of confusion and renewed anger. Was Harry so stupid that he thought she didn't have a wand?

Or could there be logic behind that gift? Ginny didn't want to believe it, but she knew there might come a time, maybe sooner than she thought, when she would need that gift. She decided to keep it a secret, just in case.