A/N: Ha, i finally came out with another fantastic fic!!! Enjoy, yo! oh yeah, this fic is based on Shakespeare's play "Twelfth Night or What You Will."
Chapter One p
The Burrow was oddly quiet. After having the twins move out and Percy as well, the house just seemed like a shell of what used to be. Ginny didn't mind the quiet as much as Ron did. She actually enjoyed it a bit. Ron, however, thought it very spooky.
Ginny was up in her room taking advantage of the quiet by reading a book. She could always be found somewhere around the house with her nose stuck in a book. She was a sucker for romance, and even indulged in a few Muggle books when she could get her hands on them. Muggle life seemed so exotic to the seventeen-year-old red head.
Ginny was lying on her bed, her feet up in the air, and her newest romance open to the last chapter. When Ginny finished she rolled on her back, hugging her pillow and sighed.
"Oh, I'd kill to be Gertrude and have Sir Lex sweep me away on his white stallion." She sighed, and then stared up at the ceiling, imaging what it would be like to fall in love.
Of course Ginny couldn't count her crush on Harry as love. They'd never shared the intimate scenes she'd read so often in her books, so it couldn't be love. But she always thought that if she could just get Harry alone for a few minutes, she'd make him see that they were meant to be together.
Ginny heard someone knock at the front door and wondered who it could be. She ran to her window but before she could see whom it was they were let into the house. Ginny ran down the stairs, two at a time, thinking that maybe it was Harry. They had a week before school started again, and Harry hadn't come all summer.
Ginny stopped in her tracks as she saw the aging man in front of her.
"Prof--Professor Dumbeldore!" Ginny exclaimed.
"Hello, Ginny." He smiled at her.
"Run along, Ginny. The Headmaster needs to talk with us." Arthur said.
"Actually, Arthur, Molly, what I have to say involves Ginny."
Ginny's eyebrows rose considerably.
"Is Harry here?" Ron asked, coming down the stairs. "Professor Dumbledore?"
"Ron, go back up to your room, please." Molly said this time.
Ron gave a hurt look, then trudged up the stairs. Arthur motioned for Dumbledore to take a seat, and Molly, Ginny and Arthur sat on a worn coach.
"I have a proposal to make to Ginny, but I need your permission." Dumbledore looked from Ginny then to Molly and Arthur. "Voldemort is growing stronger, and we need to place a source somewhere to collect information. We have known for quite some time that the Slytherin house has a sort of Fraternity that only admits those of pure bloodlines. We need to place someone in their midst to be accepted into their group and collect any information on Voldemort's plans of attack."
"What does this have to do with Ginny?" Molly asked, worried.
Dumbledore looked at Ginny and smiled. "Ginny, will you be our informative?"
"What?" Arthur asked, standing. "No, this is out of the question."
"Professor, not my baby." Molly began wringing her hands.
Dumbeldore motioned for them to quiet, then continued. "We think Ginny would be the best for this. She's courageous, and keeps a cool head."
"But, Professor...Fraternities are for boys." Ginny said as if she was stating the sky was blue.
"We would have suggested a polyjuice potion if it were a boy, but find it, er, inappropriate in Ginny's case. Our Potions Master has experimented with a few transfiguring potions that will change Ginny's hair to a brown color and her eyes blue. It will also cause her voice to deepen a bit, but its effects aren't long lasting. Every twenty-four hours on the dot the potion will wear off and must be taken again."
"Why don't you use a boy?" Arthur asked.
"Arthur, I and those who are heading this operation feel that Ginny is the best person for the job. She'll be completely safe, no harm will come to her." Dumbledore winked at Ginny.
Arthur and Molly began arguing with Dumbledore about putting their little girl in such a dangerous situation. What if they found out who she was? Surely someone would notice Ginny wasn't at school. But Ginny's thoughts lay elsewhere.
"This is just like Helen in The Brigadier! Helen was forced to wear men's clothes to hide from murderers! Oh, this is so romantic." Ginny thought, then said aloud, "I'll do it!"
Molly and Arthur both questioned Ginny's smile. It unnerved them to see their daughter so happy about asked to do something they were against.
"Thank you, Ginny." Dumbledore gave her a thick packet full of papers. "Read this and memorize it. It's who you are. I trust you can make up some plausible story as to why Ginny won't be attending Hogwarts...visiting relatives in America?" Dumbledore left.
Ginny opened the packet and read the papers; Her name was John Macabee. She's from southern England and had been away at a Wizarding School in America, who'd be spending his last year at Hogwarts. The packet contained much more information about her fake family, fake friends, and even fake pets.
"Wow, they're really thorough." Ginny smiled. "I love it!"
~*~*~
It was rather difficult to pull the whole thing off in front of Ron. Telling him that they had distant relatives in America piqued his interest and wondered why Ginny was going to be visiting them. Molly and Arthur evaded his questions until he tired of asking them. Ginny began sending owls to her friends telling them to not expect her on the train this year.
One night Arthur came into her room to have a little chat with her.
"Ginny," Arthur paused, pacing up and down her room. "There are certain things guys do that girls don't know about, and in order to pass yourself off as a guy you have to know them."
Ginny looked at her Father very curiously. "Like what?"
"Well, the way you walk, for instance. A girl walks likes she's gliding on water--very elegantly. A guy walks like--well...just watch." Arthur began pacing the room again, taking long strides. Ginny followed her Father around the room, and once she got the knack of walking like a guy, he continued. "And guys talk about things when they're alone together..." Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Well, if you feel offended just walk away and tell them you have something important to take care of."
Ginny had begun to get an idea as to what guys talked about. She vaguely remembered one of her friends telling her about the one thing guys thought about every fifteen minutes. Ginny tried to stifle a laugh.
"Is that all, Dad?" She asked, smiling.
Arthur took a long breath, and then nodded his head. He grabbed Ginny in a hug and wished her good luck.
Ginny's eyes brightened as she waited in the front room for a car to pick her up the day before school.
"Ginny, they're here." Molly rushed to her daughter and gave her a huge hug. "I love you Ginny, and if you feel like stopping all this at any time, just send me an owl."
"Ginny," Arthur put his hand on her shoulder. "You're a very brave girl, and I admire that." He embraced Ginny.
Both her parents watched Ginny leave the house and enter the car.
"Where's her luggage?" Ron asked.
"We'll be sending it to her later." Molly said through misty eyes.
"Sheesh, Mum, it's not like she's going to the moon."
Ginny watched through the window as the car drove further away. A Ministry Member was in the back seat explaining her mission more clearly.
"We have a trunk prepared for you at the Leaky Cauldron. Now remember, your name from here on out is John Macabee, and who are your parents?"
"Wilfred and Cynthia." Ginny replied, rather gloomily.
"And how far back does your wizarding line go?"
"Are they seriously going to ask me that?" Ginny tore her gaze from the window to look at the man beside her.
"Slytherin's are rather cautious about new people, especially if they're not pure bloods."
"I have wizard blood in me as far back as Merlin." Ginny sighed.
This whole thing wasn't sounding as romantic as it had. She was going to see her friends walk past in her the hall and not be able to go up to them and say hi. Worse yet, she'd see Harry! And he'd see her as a boy. A Slytherin boy at that!
"And remember," The man said as they pulled up to the Leaky Cauldron. "You have to get into the Fraternity--it's known as The Snakes." The man handed her a vial of a sickly green substance. Ginny's face cringed as she downed the potion and instantly she felt a tingling sensation on her head as her hair began to shrink and change.
"It feels weird." Ginny said in a deep voice, then gasped. "Is that my voice?" She placed her hand on her neck and began clearing her throat.
"Yes, now John, here's your room key, you're luggage is already in your room. A car will pick you up tomorrow and the driver will approach you by name. Here's your spending money, buy some uniform robes and dress robes."
The man said all this quickly that Ginny's head began to swim in confusion. What did he say? But before she could ask the door opened and Ginny found herself watching the car drive away. She had a heavy sack in one hand and a key in the other. She felt like crying and screaming, but did neither.
Ginny turned around and looked up at the Leaky Cauldron. She'd been here only one time before, a few years ago, but that was with her family. Now she was all alone, and she was definitely not used to being alone. She squeezed the key, and then headed into the establishment. She asked the Inn Keeper where she could find her room and upon seeing the key he gasped.
"Oh, John Macabee, we've been expecting you. Got your luggage this morning." The Inn Keeper wiped his hands on his pants and held it out to Ginny's, but Ginny just looked at it, dumbfounded. "Right...this way sir."
"Wow," Ginny gazed at the splendor. It must have been a suite! There was a huge bed and a throw rug at the foot of it. The wood was a deep red, everything looked like King Midas had sneezed on it.
Ginny rushed to the bed and jumped on it, laughing. She felt so giddy and free! She soon tired of jumping and just lay there, on the nice newly made bed, when a thought crossed her mind. What did she look like?
Ginny quickly sat up and rushed to the bathroom. She stopped in front of the mirror and her jaw hung down. In front of her was someone that looked familiar, but was also a stranger. She still had her facial features, but her hair was cropped above her ears and was a light brown with blonde highlights. Her eyes were a bright blue. Ginny looked down at her robes and flung them off. She sighed in relief. She still had her, um, womanly assets.
"I wonder what clothes I have." Ginny bit her tongue as she rushed to the chest inside the room.
The chest contained clothes that probably cost more than all the clothes she ever owned. She felt the nice silk shirts and dark slacks. There were some boots shoved into the corner and some ties. Thank the stars Ginny knew how to tie ties!
Curiously, Ginny slipped on some of the clothes then headed back to the mirror. "Not bad," Ginny said allowed. She actually looked quite good...for a girl dressed as a guy. If she'd met someone looking like her reflection she'd have given him a second look. Ginny's face turned into a smile and a rather girlish laugh escaped her lips.
"Oh, that won't do." Ginny tried frowning, then smiling unpleasantly. A low forced laugh echoed in the bathroom. "Why, hello there." Ginny said to her reflection. "You look sweeter than a sugar quill." Ginny quoted a line some guy tried on her, then began laughing her girlish laugh.
Ginny knew if she didn't control that laugh of hers, no one would believe she was a guy...or at least a strait guy.
Chapter One p
The Burrow was oddly quiet. After having the twins move out and Percy as well, the house just seemed like a shell of what used to be. Ginny didn't mind the quiet as much as Ron did. She actually enjoyed it a bit. Ron, however, thought it very spooky.
Ginny was up in her room taking advantage of the quiet by reading a book. She could always be found somewhere around the house with her nose stuck in a book. She was a sucker for romance, and even indulged in a few Muggle books when she could get her hands on them. Muggle life seemed so exotic to the seventeen-year-old red head.
Ginny was lying on her bed, her feet up in the air, and her newest romance open to the last chapter. When Ginny finished she rolled on her back, hugging her pillow and sighed.
"Oh, I'd kill to be Gertrude and have Sir Lex sweep me away on his white stallion." She sighed, and then stared up at the ceiling, imaging what it would be like to fall in love.
Of course Ginny couldn't count her crush on Harry as love. They'd never shared the intimate scenes she'd read so often in her books, so it couldn't be love. But she always thought that if she could just get Harry alone for a few minutes, she'd make him see that they were meant to be together.
Ginny heard someone knock at the front door and wondered who it could be. She ran to her window but before she could see whom it was they were let into the house. Ginny ran down the stairs, two at a time, thinking that maybe it was Harry. They had a week before school started again, and Harry hadn't come all summer.
Ginny stopped in her tracks as she saw the aging man in front of her.
"Prof--Professor Dumbeldore!" Ginny exclaimed.
"Hello, Ginny." He smiled at her.
"Run along, Ginny. The Headmaster needs to talk with us." Arthur said.
"Actually, Arthur, Molly, what I have to say involves Ginny."
Ginny's eyebrows rose considerably.
"Is Harry here?" Ron asked, coming down the stairs. "Professor Dumbledore?"
"Ron, go back up to your room, please." Molly said this time.
Ron gave a hurt look, then trudged up the stairs. Arthur motioned for Dumbledore to take a seat, and Molly, Ginny and Arthur sat on a worn coach.
"I have a proposal to make to Ginny, but I need your permission." Dumbledore looked from Ginny then to Molly and Arthur. "Voldemort is growing stronger, and we need to place a source somewhere to collect information. We have known for quite some time that the Slytherin house has a sort of Fraternity that only admits those of pure bloodlines. We need to place someone in their midst to be accepted into their group and collect any information on Voldemort's plans of attack."
"What does this have to do with Ginny?" Molly asked, worried.
Dumbledore looked at Ginny and smiled. "Ginny, will you be our informative?"
"What?" Arthur asked, standing. "No, this is out of the question."
"Professor, not my baby." Molly began wringing her hands.
Dumbeldore motioned for them to quiet, then continued. "We think Ginny would be the best for this. She's courageous, and keeps a cool head."
"But, Professor...Fraternities are for boys." Ginny said as if she was stating the sky was blue.
"We would have suggested a polyjuice potion if it were a boy, but find it, er, inappropriate in Ginny's case. Our Potions Master has experimented with a few transfiguring potions that will change Ginny's hair to a brown color and her eyes blue. It will also cause her voice to deepen a bit, but its effects aren't long lasting. Every twenty-four hours on the dot the potion will wear off and must be taken again."
"Why don't you use a boy?" Arthur asked.
"Arthur, I and those who are heading this operation feel that Ginny is the best person for the job. She'll be completely safe, no harm will come to her." Dumbledore winked at Ginny.
Arthur and Molly began arguing with Dumbledore about putting their little girl in such a dangerous situation. What if they found out who she was? Surely someone would notice Ginny wasn't at school. But Ginny's thoughts lay elsewhere.
"This is just like Helen in The Brigadier! Helen was forced to wear men's clothes to hide from murderers! Oh, this is so romantic." Ginny thought, then said aloud, "I'll do it!"
Molly and Arthur both questioned Ginny's smile. It unnerved them to see their daughter so happy about asked to do something they were against.
"Thank you, Ginny." Dumbledore gave her a thick packet full of papers. "Read this and memorize it. It's who you are. I trust you can make up some plausible story as to why Ginny won't be attending Hogwarts...visiting relatives in America?" Dumbledore left.
Ginny opened the packet and read the papers; Her name was John Macabee. She's from southern England and had been away at a Wizarding School in America, who'd be spending his last year at Hogwarts. The packet contained much more information about her fake family, fake friends, and even fake pets.
"Wow, they're really thorough." Ginny smiled. "I love it!"
~*~*~
It was rather difficult to pull the whole thing off in front of Ron. Telling him that they had distant relatives in America piqued his interest and wondered why Ginny was going to be visiting them. Molly and Arthur evaded his questions until he tired of asking them. Ginny began sending owls to her friends telling them to not expect her on the train this year.
One night Arthur came into her room to have a little chat with her.
"Ginny," Arthur paused, pacing up and down her room. "There are certain things guys do that girls don't know about, and in order to pass yourself off as a guy you have to know them."
Ginny looked at her Father very curiously. "Like what?"
"Well, the way you walk, for instance. A girl walks likes she's gliding on water--very elegantly. A guy walks like--well...just watch." Arthur began pacing the room again, taking long strides. Ginny followed her Father around the room, and once she got the knack of walking like a guy, he continued. "And guys talk about things when they're alone together..." Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Well, if you feel offended just walk away and tell them you have something important to take care of."
Ginny had begun to get an idea as to what guys talked about. She vaguely remembered one of her friends telling her about the one thing guys thought about every fifteen minutes. Ginny tried to stifle a laugh.
"Is that all, Dad?" She asked, smiling.
Arthur took a long breath, and then nodded his head. He grabbed Ginny in a hug and wished her good luck.
Ginny's eyes brightened as she waited in the front room for a car to pick her up the day before school.
"Ginny, they're here." Molly rushed to her daughter and gave her a huge hug. "I love you Ginny, and if you feel like stopping all this at any time, just send me an owl."
"Ginny," Arthur put his hand on her shoulder. "You're a very brave girl, and I admire that." He embraced Ginny.
Both her parents watched Ginny leave the house and enter the car.
"Where's her luggage?" Ron asked.
"We'll be sending it to her later." Molly said through misty eyes.
"Sheesh, Mum, it's not like she's going to the moon."
Ginny watched through the window as the car drove further away. A Ministry Member was in the back seat explaining her mission more clearly.
"We have a trunk prepared for you at the Leaky Cauldron. Now remember, your name from here on out is John Macabee, and who are your parents?"
"Wilfred and Cynthia." Ginny replied, rather gloomily.
"And how far back does your wizarding line go?"
"Are they seriously going to ask me that?" Ginny tore her gaze from the window to look at the man beside her.
"Slytherin's are rather cautious about new people, especially if they're not pure bloods."
"I have wizard blood in me as far back as Merlin." Ginny sighed.
This whole thing wasn't sounding as romantic as it had. She was going to see her friends walk past in her the hall and not be able to go up to them and say hi. Worse yet, she'd see Harry! And he'd see her as a boy. A Slytherin boy at that!
"And remember," The man said as they pulled up to the Leaky Cauldron. "You have to get into the Fraternity--it's known as The Snakes." The man handed her a vial of a sickly green substance. Ginny's face cringed as she downed the potion and instantly she felt a tingling sensation on her head as her hair began to shrink and change.
"It feels weird." Ginny said in a deep voice, then gasped. "Is that my voice?" She placed her hand on her neck and began clearing her throat.
"Yes, now John, here's your room key, you're luggage is already in your room. A car will pick you up tomorrow and the driver will approach you by name. Here's your spending money, buy some uniform robes and dress robes."
The man said all this quickly that Ginny's head began to swim in confusion. What did he say? But before she could ask the door opened and Ginny found herself watching the car drive away. She had a heavy sack in one hand and a key in the other. She felt like crying and screaming, but did neither.
Ginny turned around and looked up at the Leaky Cauldron. She'd been here only one time before, a few years ago, but that was with her family. Now she was all alone, and she was definitely not used to being alone. She squeezed the key, and then headed into the establishment. She asked the Inn Keeper where she could find her room and upon seeing the key he gasped.
"Oh, John Macabee, we've been expecting you. Got your luggage this morning." The Inn Keeper wiped his hands on his pants and held it out to Ginny's, but Ginny just looked at it, dumbfounded. "Right...this way sir."
"Wow," Ginny gazed at the splendor. It must have been a suite! There was a huge bed and a throw rug at the foot of it. The wood was a deep red, everything looked like King Midas had sneezed on it.
Ginny rushed to the bed and jumped on it, laughing. She felt so giddy and free! She soon tired of jumping and just lay there, on the nice newly made bed, when a thought crossed her mind. What did she look like?
Ginny quickly sat up and rushed to the bathroom. She stopped in front of the mirror and her jaw hung down. In front of her was someone that looked familiar, but was also a stranger. She still had her facial features, but her hair was cropped above her ears and was a light brown with blonde highlights. Her eyes were a bright blue. Ginny looked down at her robes and flung them off. She sighed in relief. She still had her, um, womanly assets.
"I wonder what clothes I have." Ginny bit her tongue as she rushed to the chest inside the room.
The chest contained clothes that probably cost more than all the clothes she ever owned. She felt the nice silk shirts and dark slacks. There were some boots shoved into the corner and some ties. Thank the stars Ginny knew how to tie ties!
Curiously, Ginny slipped on some of the clothes then headed back to the mirror. "Not bad," Ginny said allowed. She actually looked quite good...for a girl dressed as a guy. If she'd met someone looking like her reflection she'd have given him a second look. Ginny's face turned into a smile and a rather girlish laugh escaped her lips.
"Oh, that won't do." Ginny tried frowning, then smiling unpleasantly. A low forced laugh echoed in the bathroom. "Why, hello there." Ginny said to her reflection. "You look sweeter than a sugar quill." Ginny quoted a line some guy tried on her, then began laughing her girlish laugh.
Ginny knew if she didn't control that laugh of hers, no one would believe she was a guy...or at least a strait guy.