Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its universe were created and are owned by none other than the great JK Rowling. I'm merely borrowing it for my own creativity.
I am a simple girl, caught up in a complicated world. Had someone told me 5 years ago that I would be where I am today, I would have committed them to St Mungo's. My name is Ginerva Weasley, and this is my life story.
These days were dark and dangerous times. Harry Potter had disappeared after his 6th year at Hogwarts, only leaving behind a note apologizing for his sudden departure telling everyone that it was for the best, that he left to protect everyone else. He thought that by leaving everyone behind Voldemort would put his entire focus on finding Harry, alone and vulnerable.
Oh how wrong he was. With Dumbledore dead Voldemort had grown bold. There were now daily attacks upon Muggleborn witches and wizards. Three weeks after Harry left, Voldemort began attacking anyone who had association with him. It started with Harry's remaining family. Neither his Aunt, Uncle, nor cousin had survived.
The Order immediately put Mr. and Mrs. Granger into hiding at one of their secure locations. Not even 2 hours later Hermione Granger's home had been reduced to ash with the Dark Mark hovering above. The Burrow had been placed under extra security. Numerous wards and alarms had been placed around the Weasley's property and they had plenty Aurors to go around. Now they were just waiting, hoping an attack would never come. If only they had been so lucky.
Ginerva Weasley awoke at 2am to the sound of her mother's panicked voice. She could hear the alarms blaring throughout the house. Her mother burst through the door and rushed to her side.
"Ginny! Get out of bed! The Death Eaters are here! Take this," her mother said as she thrust a small bag and a cloak into Ginny's hand, "and go downstairs. Crawl outside through one of the windows on the left side of the house and run to the forest. Run as fast as you can until you reach the storage shed a mile south of the house. Take one of the brooms and fly to Hogwarts. You must tell Minerva and the others what has happened"
"What about you and the others?" Ginny asked as her mother rushed her down the stairs.
"Don't worry about us; we're going to fight them off." Her mother pried open one of the windows and ushered Ginny out. "Don't stop for anything, and do not look back! I love you Ginny." With that her mother kissed her forehead and slammed the window shut. Ginny pressed herself against the wall as she surveyed her surroundings.
The air reeked of blood and burnt flesh, and she could see the faint lights as curses were cast back and forth but there was not a person in sight. She ducked slightly as she moved quickly towards the edge of the forest.
Ginny froze as a twig snapped to her right. The Death Eater's had flanked the right side of the house and were coming around the back. Luckily they seemed preoccupied with barricading the back door shut, and Ginny had time to dive behind a bush. She lie flat on her stomach watching the happenings around her.
There wasn't a single Auror or Order member in site as she watched the Death Eaters place the Burrow under lock down. They were cursing every window and door locked. It wasn't under she saw one Death Eater cast "Incendio" that she realized what they were doing. She suddenly felt violently ill. They were going to burn her family alive.
The crack of disapperation could be heard throughout the forest as many of the Death Eaters left. Within minutes only a few remained, one of which, with is back facing Ginny, removed his hood and mask and pointed his wand to the sky as he cast the Dark Mark over her burning home. Though she could not see his face, Ginny could recognize his shoulder-length white blond hair anywhere. Draco Malfoy.
She could hear his laughter as he watched the flames rise higher and higher. People were scrambling around her house now, short screams from inside echoed outside as her parents and brothers did what they could to escape the flames. They pounded on the walls, doors, and windows to find some place to burst through. The smoke was so thick now that Ginny had a hard time not coughing as she breathed. She thought it was the smoke burning her eyes until a tear fell from her and cheek onto her hand and she realized she was crying. She didn't know if she was crying out of desperation for her family or it if it was the rising hatred for the man standing in front of her. Or maybe a combination of the two.
She focused completely on the man in front of her. Every muscle in her body longed to get up and rip it throat out as he continued his twisted and gleeful laughter. The more screams and panic that could be heard from the house the more he laughed. Her family was burning alive and he enjoyed every second of it.
Ginny had no sense of time at that moment, but she guessed it was about twenty minutes after the start of the fire that noises inside the house had quieted and the only sounds that could be heard were the crackling of the fire and the collapsing of her house as it burned. Her family was dead now. Her mother, father, Bill, Charlie, Percy, the twins, and Ron, they were all gone.
The only Death Eaters left now were Malfoy and who she assumed were Crabbe and Goyle by the way they constantly flanked him. Malfoy had circled the house after it had completely collapsed and now was only a smoldering pile of ash and charred wood, surveying the damage he had done. She could see his smirk from where she lay.
"Our job here is done," Malfoy finally spoke. "The Weasley's have been exterminated, as long as you all are sure they were all in there."
"Yeah," It sounded like Crabbe spoke, "All of 'em were in there, the two parents, all the brothers, and the sister." Ginny brows furrowed in confusion. How did they think she was dead? Her mother must have had some sort of look a like in the house to protect her. She was going to have to look into that.
"Excellent. Then it's time to return to our Lord and file our reports," Malfoy said, and with that the three of them disapperated. Ginny finally uncurled her fists she had clenched while Malfoy watched her family and her home burn. There were four small trails of blood dripping down each palm from the crescent shaped wounds her fingernails had dug.
Ginny rolled out of the bush and onto her back. She lay there watching the darkened sky for hours. It wasn't until the sun began to rise that she realized how long she had been laying there. And then she screamed. She screamed for her family, and for her home. She screamed for Malfoy and the seething hatred she felt towards him. She screamed for herself because it felt so good. She screamed until there wasn't a breath left in her body and her throat was raw and swollen. Then she wiped the trail of tears that fell down her cheeks and stood up.
There was no more time for grieving now. Her family was gone and no amount of crying or screaming would change that. Now was the time for revenge. It was time to destroy Malfoy and his family just as he destroyed her, and it was time to take down Voldemort with him. No other good families deserved a sudden ending as hers had received.
Ginny grabbed the bag her mother had given off the ground and made her way into the forest as her mother instructed. A few minutes later she found the hidden broom shed and grabbed one of the old Comets from inside. She flew just under the treetops of the forest. She needed to stay under radar. It wouldn't do any good to be found and killed, not when the Death Eaters, and soon the world, thought her dead.
Her mother had instructed her to go to Hogwarts, but McGonagall would never let her leave once she arrived. It was her duty to avenge her family and no one was going to stop her. It would be best if everyone thought her dead, be it friend or foe.
She had looked inside the bag her mother left her with and found about 800 Galleons inside. It would be enough to establish a new identity, get a decent apartment and hold out long enough for her to get a good job. Knockturn alley would be the best place to buy a new birth certificate, bloodline documents (it showed your family genealogy and how pure your blood was) and life story as well as ingredients for potions to genetically alter certain features such as her hair color and freckles.
When the forest came to an end it opened into a large, grassy field surrounding a small lake. Flying through the forest during summer weather had made Ginny's already soot covered body sweaty and sticky. She pushed down and landed a few feet from the lake. She piled her clothes and belongings next to her before she splashed her way into the cool water.
She ducked under the surface and scrubbed her hair and scalp with her fingers to loosen and wash away the filth. The lake bath couldn't replace and hot shower with shampoo and soap but it certainly felt good to rinse off. When she was as clean as she could get, she grabbed her clothes and rinsed them out as best as possible.
Ginny had her wand with her, but it would be impossible to use at the moment unless she wanted to alert the Ministry to the fact she was still very much alive. Wandless magic was the only type of untraceable magic. The Ministry tracked magic through registered wand and that was their only means of monitoring a witch or wizards doing. They set decrees that anyone who had mastered wandless magic had to register themselves, though people rarely did.
Hermione had been teaching her small amounts of wandless magic towards the end of the school year and beginning of the summer when she visited the Burrow for the day. Ginny hadn't been able to yet master more complex spells, but she could manage simple spells such as short length Accios and drying charms. No one else in her family had been able to accomplish any sort of wandless magic at all.
As much as Ginny despised him, Voldemort had affected her more than anyone thought when he possessed her during her first year. She had become substantially more powerful than she had previously been, she remained calm in situations when others could not, her thought patterns were more calculating, and she never would have thought about playing with the Dark Arts before Tom Riddle had shown her what they could do. As nasty as the Chamber of Secrets had been, Ginny was thankful for it now; she would never be able to defeat Voldemort if she hadn't been inside his mind.
Ginny magiced her clothes dry and dressed herself. Pajamas were not what most people walked around Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley in, but luckily her cloak was big enough to cover up her clothes. She pulled her hood tight around her face and looked down at her reflection in the water. When she saw her signature Weasley red hair was hidden, she mounted her broom and continued her route.
It was another 2 hours before she reached the outskirts of Muggle London. The sun shone down directly down telling her it was now noon. Her muscles were sore from riding, and her stomach grumbled from hunger. Ginny dismounted her broom and stretched her legs. It would be a 45 minute walk to the Leaky Cauldron from where she was, but any further towards London and you entered the Wizards no fly zone. It was too easy to be spotted by Muggles.
She set her broom on the ground and practiced her wandless wrist movement before attempting to shrink her broom. Her goal was to scale it down to pocket size, but the best she could manage was about a third of it original size. It was small enough to slide into one of the straps inside her cloak even if the bristles scratched at her legs while she walked.
Ginny made her way to the back of the Leaky Cauldron. Thankfully it was a very slow day, only a few of the regulars sat at the bar with their Butterbeers and Firewhiskeys. She made sure she kept her head down and the hood pulled over her face when she sat down. She glanced over the menu and decided on a sandwich and pumpkin juice when the waitress approached her table.
"What can I get ya hun?" she asked.
"I'll have a club sandwich, white bread, and a glass of pumpkin juice please," Ginny answered.
"Sure thing, comin' right up!" the waitress flashed her a smile and headed back into the kitchen. She brought out her drink and returned a few minutes later with the sandwich. "Here ya go! Need anything else?" Ginny shook her head. "Alright, enjoy." She placed the bill face down on the table and left.
A sandwich had never tasted so good. Ginny ate so fast someone would have thought she hadn't eaten in days. Five minutes later her plate and glass were empty. She looked at the bill, and dropped a Galleon and a few Sickles on the table and entered Diagon Alley. She passed a news stand and was stopped by the large image of the Burrow burned to the ground; right below it an image of her and her family happily waving. "Weasley family found burned alive inside home!" the headline read. She dropped 2 sickles on the news stand and grabbed a paper.
"A tragic lose for all of the Wizarding world when Molly and Arthur Weasley were found burned alive inside of their home last night, with all seven of their children with them. Neighbors were distressed when they saw the Dark Mark looming high in the sky surrounded by smoke, and alerted authorities. The Aurors arrived far too late. The Weasley's house had already been reduced to ashes with the family trapped inside. Several currently unidentifiable Aurors were found dead outside the front of the home. Speculators say they died trying to protect the family from Death Eaters. Arthur Weasley was a prominent figure in the Ministry of Magic as Head of Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects. His wife Molly spent her time at home with their children, William, Charlie, Percy, twins Fredrick and George, Ronald, and Ginerva. Fredrick and George had just begun to make a name for themselves when they opened their shop Weasley Wizarding Wheezes which had great success."
The rest of the article just talked about her family, their accomplishments in life and other gossip. She carefully rolled the paper up and tucked it under her cloak. She was going to save that paper. It would make sure she never lost focus on her task and she always remembered what Malfoy and the Death Eaters had done to her family. It would always remind her why she was doing what she planned to do.
Just like the Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley was practically empty. Ginny easily made her way through the empty streets and into Knockturn Alley. She was only vaguely familiar with its dirty streets and seedy shops, but she knew exactly where her first stop was. Not even 5 minutes later she found herself outside of Kaface's Wizarding Document's (since 1798). The windows had so much thick grime that you could not see through them. Most of the shops in Knockturn Alley were like that though. Ginny grimaced in disgust before she opened the door and stepped inside.
It was a very simple shop, inside was a large counter, behind it you could see parchment, quills, envelops and other such things. The owner, presumably Mr. Kaface stood behind the counter next to his cash drawer as though he was guarding it. He smiled at Ginny, and she could see his rotted teeth.
"What can I do for ya?" He asked.
"I'm afraid I lost my birth certificate and bloodline documents as well as my transfer papers from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic," she said with a slight French accent. "You see, I am transferring to Hogwarts for my seventh year of school, and one of my bags containing the documents disappeared. I was hoping that you could get me new ones."
"Of course, of course! I can get you anything you need, at a price…" he grinned at her again. Ginny dropped 60 Galleons on the counter.
"I think that would be sufficient, 20 Galleons per document." The shop keeper's eyes sparkled with greed as he snatched up the coins.
"Oh yes, I think we can agree upon that Ms…."
"Badeau, I am Charisse Badeau." The Badeau family was one of France's most prominent pureblooded wizarding families. They were a very private family, keeping mostly to themselves. It would be very easy to suddenly appear in England with that last name and not be questioned.
"Ah, very good. And you got top marks at Beauxbatons?" Ginny nodded. "And you were born March 14, 17 years ago to Antoinette and Andre Badeau?" She nodded again. "Take a seat; I will have your documents in a minute." He disappeared behind the curtain covering a doorway behind the counter. Ginny looked around and chose the chair she perceived as the cleanliest to sit while she waited. True to his word, it only took couple minutes before he returned with her documents in hand.
"Thank you Mr. Kaface. It was a pleasure doing business with you," she said as she took the papers and looked them over. They were flawless. No one would every guess that these were forgeries.
"Same to you Ms. Badeau, please see me again for any other documents you may need."
"I'll be sure to do so." Ginny walked out the door and decided on her next destination. She needed a new wand, one that would be registered to Ms Charisse Badeau and could be used without consequence to protect herself. Her wandless magic was not sufficient enough to her to survive in Diagon Alley until school started. She needed a new wand now.
It was too risky to go to Olivander's. The crazy old man remembered everyone who walked in that door to purchase a wand, especially since she hadn't even been able to properly disguise herself. The next best place was Madame Rouge's a few blocks from the document shop. The cheap wands were not as finely made as Olivander's, but the most expensive one's held just as much prestige, and they worked much better for practicing the Dark Arts.
After that she need potion supplies, an apartment, an owl to mail her transfer papers to Hogwarts, and a lot of books to find out what see was going to miss in sixth year. Ginny was very advanced for her age, she was a brighter witch than she usually got credit for, but she would still need to do some studying to be able to rival the top seventh years as her transfer papers stated she would.
Several hours later Ginny had gathered all her supplies, bought an owl, mailed her papers out, successfully brewed two potions, one to changer her hair from wave red to straight blonde and another to get rid of her freckles and give her a soft fair skin tone, and had gotten herself a job at Madam Malkin's shop and a small apartment above it. She had picked up a small new wardrobe with a good discount from her new employer, and had settled in to her new home.
Madam Malkin had been very warm to her. Ginny explained that her parent, Mr. and Mrs. Badeau had been taken by a horrible disease and to escape her memories had packed a small bag and came to England to finish school at Hogwarts. After the heartfelt story she offered Ginny a place to stay until school started and a good wage. Ginny had accepted and thanked her profusely.
Now all she had to do was work away the rest of the summer until school started. She wasn't sure exactly how she was going to go about destroying Malfoy and his family, but she had a couple months to work that out.
Ginny's apartment was small, but she didn't need much. She had her own bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchen; it was plenty of space for a petite 17 year old girl. She stood in front of the floor length mirror in her bedroom. She had taken a good long shower and felt much better. She inspected herself in the mirror.
The hair color change and skin tone potion had made her unrecognizable. Had her family still been alive, the only way her family would have identified her was by her voice, which with the slight French accent she now used was also unrecognizable. No, no one at Hogwarts or anywhere else would know who she really was. Malfoy would never know what hit him.