My sweet, this may be hard for you to understand because you have never known me, but please try to believe me when I say everything I've done is for the best. There were things that happened that I didn't have a choice in and things where my choices influenced more than I could have dared. Never forget that I love you and your father…well he was a nasty git, but that doesn't mean you should hate him. If anything, hate him for what he was, not what people say about him. Love always, your mother.
Across London, dusk set in reminding children that it was time to go home to their parents, to the safety of their warm bed where they could sleep away the night, ignoring what might be happening in the world outside their walls. The moon rose in the sky providing a guiding light and portraying calm that was most certainly not there. This was a dark time to be in London (or anywhere for that matter) and nightfall only meant it was even more dangerous for muggles and wizards alike. It was far safer to be at home with your family, in from the streets, in from where you could draw attention to yourself. For the Weasley family plus Hermione Granger and Harry Potter however, it didn't matter if they drew attention to themselves, they were already marked as trouble makers. Still it was best for them to be at home with the ones they loved, where they, and the wards surrounding their house, could offer protection for as much time as possible.
On this night, eleven sat in the cozy kitchen of the Burrow having a bit of a morale booster for the family. With the wizarding world at war, a war against an evil lord dead set on destroying all muggles and half-bloods, it was very easy for people to be in depressed states and not knowing who you wouldn't ever see again made it all the more important to stick together and visit often.
Of the Weasley clan, three (Arthur, Bill, Charlie) were on the "front lines" of the battles. They worked closely with the newly reformed Order of the Phoenix to secure intelligence about Death Eater activity and ambushing them every chance they got. The theory was that taking down the army would leave Harry free to attack the leader, the Dark Lord Voldemort. Percy, the third oldest, hadn't really talked to his family since taking his position as Junior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, he wasn't on Voldemort's side, but he wasn't really willing to help the Order either. The twins, immensely brilliant, but slightly immature enough to make jokes at inappropriate times, were technically considered part of the Order, but never given information or assignments. Ron, the youngest of the brothers, would be with Harry and Hermione on their quest, wherever it took them.
This left Ginny and her mother, Molly. Molly was technically not fighting, but she still was in plenty of danger. Her job was to make potions and food for Order members who were ill or couldn't leave their houses because of suspected attacks; Ginny was allowed to help with this part, but that was it. Molly on the other hand also had the task of delivering the care packages to the houses…which were subject for attack… Ginny still didn't understand how her mother could use the argument that she wasn't part of the war. Nothing mattered though, Ginny and Molly, and often times Arthur too had argued about Ginny's place in this war and what to do to keep her out of it.
Ginny, as a nineteen year old, who was more than of age and had finished her N.E.W.T. levels, felt that it should be up to her to make such a decision since it was after all, her life. No one else thought this way and so, without her being allowed to argue whatsoever, Ginny was told she was to stay at home (as in not leave ever) and help Molly make care packages. She was not to write to anyone nor was she to leave the safety of the house and its backyard. It was much like being under house arrest, though Ginny had committed no crime, and she pointed this out at every chance she got.
"But Mum! I got a near perfect score on ALL of my N.E.W.T.s! Why can't I do something more helpful?"
"Ginny dear we've been over this, you're much too young to waste your time fighting."
"I'm nineteen!! And how is wasting my time fighting any different from wasting my time in this house??"
"I don't know Ginevra but I much prefer that to the alternative of you being dead!"
"You REALLY think that I can't handle myself enough to not get killed? Why can't I even go with you, Mum? I'm a capable witch really! I was the head of the dueling club my seventh year!"
"Just drop it Ginny, you're not leaving this house, and that's final."
Ginny stormed off to the garden ignoring the shouts of her mother saying that she was in the middle of brewing a potion. It wasn't fair, and she was a capable witch. Ginny quite sure she could handle herself and do some good besides making potions, maybe even save someone. But no, she was the 'baby' of the family and of course the only girl so everyone seemed to think she was incapable. Well actually it was everyone except the twins, they treated her as an equal…too bad everyone else thought they were too immature to be included in anything either.
Standing at the shimmer that marked the spot where the protective barrier started, Ginny gazed beyond it yearning for her freedom. She knew she would do fine out there, she knew it was dangerous, she was well aware of how difficult it would be, but it didn't feel right to Ginny, not fighting.
'What's stopping you then?' The voice whispered across her mind, the thought coming to a rest. 'If you wish to fight, and you know you can, then why not leave? The barrier won't stop you from leaving; you can be gone in minutes…' That settled it for her, Ginny made her decision. She turned around and headed back into the house to apologise to her mother for ruining a potion and to get around to her other daily chores.
Later that night, when she was sure everyone had long since been sleeping, Ginny swung her feet out from under the covers and set about packing. Packing as light as possible, she quickly went through her clothing, grabbing some robes as well as muggle clothes, she flicked her wand shrinking them down to fit inside her old school bag. As a last thought she also grabbed a set of dress robes just in case she ever needed to blend in. Satisfied that she had everything she would possibly need from her room, she crept down the stairs being careful to check for sounds of someone being awake at each landing. In the kitchen, she put some of the newly made healing potions into vials and cast a cushioning charm on them so they wouldn't break in the bag. The last stop was the pantry where she put a stasis spell on some bread and cheese, and finally shrinking them down and into the bag they went. Escaping the house without waking someone up was easier than one might expect; during the summers at the burrow, the higher the room the hotter it was, so it was often that Ginny found herself taking a walk about the garden to cool down enough to sleep.
Once more standing at the shimmer, Ginny pulled her thoughts about her and carefully examined her decision. True it was dangerous, but she knew she could take care of herself. Her family might be mad, but they wouldn't keep her out, so if she ever got into trouble she could always come back...right?
"Gin? What are you doing out so late?" Two figures stepped across the threshold causing her to jump.
"What do you mean what am I doing out here, what are you doing out here?" She relaxed when she saw that it was just Fred and George
"We were doing some Ugly Sabotage, considering we aren't allowed to help in the daytime." said George showing her one of the many Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products that they had.
"Ginny, is that a bag o' luggage that mine eye doth spy?" Asked Fred, attempting to take it from her
"Yes, and you're not going to convince me to stay. It's a waste of talent if I stay cooped up here, I need to be able to do something good. If you try to stop me I'll hex you."
The twins stared at her imploringly before sighing simultaneously. "If you really want to go we won't stop you, mind you don't tell anyone we saw you or mum will have our heads…where do you plan on going?"
Ginny was shocked, she expected them to put up a fight, "Oh, I um…hadn't thought of a place yet, I was just concentrating on leaving…" She blushed.
George thought for a moment, "How about Oliver's? He's hardly ever at his flat and he won't turn you in if anyone comes asking. Listen, you still have your D.A. coin?"
Ginny nodded.
"Carry it on you at all times. If you get into any sort of trouble, even if you just stub your toe, I want you to let one of us know and we'll come help you, okay?"
Again Ginny nodded, unable to form words. It never occurred to her how wonderful her brothers really were until she was about to leave them. Rushing towards them, she threw an arm around each of them and squeezed tightly. "Thank you so much, both of you, I love you so much and wish I could repay you somehow."
The twins squeezed back reassuringly, each slipping WWW products into her bag. "Just come back in one piece, we would hate to have to go on a vengeance spree."
The trio grinned at one another one last time and Ginny stepped over the barrier into her new life, losing sight of her brothers instantly. Thinking clearly of where Oliver Wood lived, Ginny turned on the spot and felt her way into the vast nothingness before reappearing directly on the door step of 76 Largo Lane.
~~~~~~~~~In~~~~~the~~~~~End~~~~~There~~~~~~Will~~~~~~Be~~~~~~Tears~~~~~~~~
Grasping the metal knocker on the front door, she rapped a few times and waited for an answer. After standing there for a few minutes, it started to drizzle down causing her to become uncomfortably wet. Ginny tested for protection charms on the house, finding none she did a quick unlocking spell and allowed herself to step into the room.
"Homenum revelio." The spell showed no one in the apartment but Ginny checked all the rooms just to be sure. She went through every room, making sure no one could sneak up behind her. Finally reaching the last room, the bedroom, she saw that her spell had worked properly. No one was here, so Ginny assumed Oliver had simply had late practice. She did a few simple concealment charms and settled in on the couch in the living room to wait for him to come home. After a few minutes however, it became clear to her that staying awake to wait was not going to happen. Checking her watch, she saw that it was well past two a.m. and decided to allow herself a little nap while she waited.
The cracks of sunlight across her eyes woke Ginny up the next morning, she started for a moment trying to regain her sense of where she was. Looking around, she realized nothing had changed since she had first gotten there which meant that Oliver hadn't gotten back yet.
In the kitchen, Ginny found a kettle and filled it with water so she could make tea while she decided what to do about the seemingly absent Oliver. Finding a calendar on the counter Ginny looked through it to see where he was supposed to be. According to his hand writing schedule, he had finished training with Puddlemere United two days ago and was due to have dinner with someone named Mr. Al later that day; which meant, naturally, that he would have to stop by his flat at some point at least to change clothes if it was a business meeting.
Ginny didn't want to miss seeing Oliver when he came back, but she also did not want to spend her first day of freedom cooped up in another house. Finishing her tea Ginny went to change her clothes and decide her action for the day. Slipping into neutral coloured robes and a matching head band to keep her hair back, Ginny settled on leaving a note for Oliver and not being gone for long. This wouldn't be hard to do; her course of action was to go down Knockturn Alley and inconspicuously follow sketchy looking wizards around to get a general idea of what the Death Eaters (or Uglies, as Fred and George liked to call them) were up to, that way she could decide where she was most needed.
Attaching a note explaining that she had been there and was looking for him to the refrigerator, Ginny went out the back door to apparate to the Leaky Cauldron. Once more arriving at her destination with precision, she stopped by the bar to say talk to the barman, Tom.
"Hullo Tom, listen I need to ask you a favour, I'm um…birthday present shopping for my family, but if they know I've gone shopping, they'll look for their presents all over the house and spoil the surprise. Do you think that if anyone stops by asking about me, you could just pretend I never came through?"
Tom smiled at her with his toothless grin and nodded, "Of course Ms. Weasley, I used to have to go through the same trouble with my siblings, o' course I had a wee bit less o' them than you do."
Ginny smiled her thanks and hurried off to the back alleyway to the entrance of Diagon Alley, tapping the proper spot on the wall she stood back and waited for the bricks to finish shifting. Thankfully, she blended right into the small crowd with her grey robes and was able to move through the street without anyone stopping her to chat.
Near Gringotts, she crossed the street to the shadowed area that she knew to be the place she was never allowed as a child, Knockturn Alley. Down this gloomy street were shops for the dark arts and a popular hangout for those that supported the Dark Lord's cause. It was down there where Ginny would be able to do some good in this war, and so she cautiously made her way deeper into darkness carefully avoiding looking anyone in the eye. Stepping down a side street before she reached the proper shops, Ginny cast a glamour on herself so that her hair became a dark brown and her freckles blended with her milky skin so that to anyone that didn't know her, she was not recognizable as a Weasley.
Coming upon the first shop, Ginny peered through the window to make out if it would be useful to go inside or not, judging by the display in the window it was a potions supply shop and she would not know based off ingredients they were buying whether a person was worth following or not so she decided to pass along to the next building. This one turned out to be a book store so Ginny went inside. Weaving in and out of shelves, she ended up near the back of the store where she found a cluster of men talking in hushed tones on the other side of the shelf she was standing in front of. Pulling a book off the shelf, she pretended to be reading it while she stuck an extendable ear (a gift from the twins) into her ear and listened in on the quiet conversation.
"I don' know ter tell yeh the truf, they jus' mentioned the fact tha' if we was ter show up around six that day, there migh' be some fun ter be had" one gruff voice said excitedly.
"Where was it again, I'm not good with directions…" A mousy voiced asked. Ginny could tell this man was slow, but that was good luck for her.
"Burke park, it's a small walk south of here" said yet another voice, "but in case you forget, since its two weeks away, I'll stop by your place on my way and we can walk together."
"Thanks mate, dead helpful you are." The slow man answered back.
Ginny had heard enough to help her. She pulled the extendable ear out and stuck it back in her pocket. Replacing the book on the shelf, she turned to leave and nearly bumped into the group of men she had just been listening to.
"Hear somethin' yeh like missey?" The gruff voice belonged to the shortest man of the group, but he seemed to be their leader.
"I don't know what you are talking about sir, I was just considering that book there for purchase but it didn't have what I wanted so now I'll be on my way."
"Oh, I didn' realize that young witches straigh' outta hogwar's were keen ter know abou' blood rites." He responded with a smirk that made her blush.
How stupid could she have been choosing that book? "I was just looking for it for my….intended…"
The group laughed. "Is he into it then, your intended? What's his name, eh? Perhaps we know him. We could help you find what you're looking for, even give you a…" The tallest of the men looked straight into her eyes, "…a demonstration?"
Again they roared with laughter. Ginny, backed against the wall of the store could see no escape; the twins wouldn't get a message on the galleon fast enough which left her quick words that seemed to be failing her. "I um….I don't think…um"
The group moved closer to her and Ginny started cursing her decision to ever leave home in the first place.
"There you are Vanessa! I've just been to the potion supply store; they won't have any shipments of the veins in for at least another month." A cloaked man stepped into the aisle, clearly talking to Ginny. Though she did not know who he was, she was thankful for her savior, she smiled, "Oh hi honey, these men were just offering to help me find the book on the blood rites we were looking for, but I think I've gone through just about all of them in the shop." She stepped away from the wall, the men no longer pressing towards her, and turned to them, "Thank you for your help, but I really don't mean to be that much of a trouble, perhaps some other time them."
Finally past them, Ginny stepped next to the man who had rescued her and wrapped an arm around his waist, "Care to get a drink dear, I'm positively parched."
"Of course Vanessa," he put his arm on her shoulder, "we'll go next door. Good day gentlemen."
They left the store wrapped in each other like that and Ginny waited until they were in the safety of the fresh air to step away. "Thank you, you really, really saved me back there."
"Not a problem, Ms. Weasley."
Ginny gasped, "How…who are you?"
"I think, Vanessa, that we should go get that drink while we talk. I have a few things to discuss with you." The man wrapped his arm around her should once more and led the way into the pub that was near the book store.
Ginny could swear she knew his voice from somewhere, but she could not figure out where…
Inside the pub it was so smoky Ginny could hardly see from one table to the next and was grateful the man next to her knew where he was going, lest she get lost. They stopped by the bar and ordered two drinks, Ginny did not know what he called hers but she did not plan on drinking anyway. In a secluded corner they sat down, here the smoke was so dense she could not see anything but the actual table and its seats.
"If you remove your glamour than I shall remove mine." He said simply and considering he had already known who she was she saw no harm in doing so.
Pulling back his hood and with a quick flourish of his wand, her escort turned out to be none other than the potion master, Severus Snape.
"Oh great…I suppose you're going to tell me how stupid I was, how dangerous this place is and how I need to go back home at once or else." Ginny said mildly annoyed.
"Would you rather I was a Death Eater that had rescued you?"
"Aren't you?"
"Harsh words Ms. Weasley," Snape sighed and took a drink of his glass, "Harsh but true. Beside the point though. As to your inquiry, yes you did act rather stupidly, but not as stupidly as a few of your classmates would have. Under the circumstances and the training you've had, I would say you perform aptly. It is indeed a dangerous job, but then most things are these days. Finally, no, I do not wish you to go back if you do not wish so. It is your decision how you want to live your life."
Ginny stared at him flabbergasted, "Seriously?!? I mean…thank you. And thank you again for saving me…I should have chosen a better book to pretend to have read, and I could have stayed 'browsing' it until they had left, but I over excited myself at the prospect of having a tip to go on and acted rashly."
Snape studied her face for a while and nodded, "You have a level head on your shoulders, I trust you to use it more wisely in the future. As to the matter at hand, I did not bring you into this pub simply to share a drink. I cannot currently make contact with the Order and I have vital information that needs seeing to immediately."
Ginny's ears perked up instantly, "Of course, whatever I can do!"
"Oliver Wood, I am sure you know of him, was attacked when leaving his Quidditch training grounds two days ago. He was tortured for information on the whereabouts of the Order but gave nothing up. Unfortunately for him, this enraged the Death Eaters that attacked him and they left him within inches of his life. I cannot get close enough to him to tell much about his state but he is surely gravely injured if not mortally. If you apparate to him you will have minutes, if that, to retrieve him and make it out without being attacked. There are Death Eaters assigned to watch his body in case anyone from the Order tries to help him." Snape scribbled something on a piece of paper and pushed it across the table at her, "This is where you will find him, he will need many healing potions which are sold in Diagon Alley-"
"I have healing potions, I brewed most of them myself, but no one's complained of the quality yet…"
"Good that will simplify matters. Wait until the cover of darkness and make your move. I won't be there to help you again. As for the meeting you overheard in the bookstore, it is a dark revel and if you choose to go there, take every precaution possible."
"Yes sir."
Snape got up to leave, casting his glamour once more and pulling up his hood.
"Sir, how do I know that you aren't leading me into a trap? Most of the Order doesn't trust you after what happened with…the headmaster" She finished quietly.
Snape grimaced under his hood and said in barely a whisper, "I know they do not. I have no reason that you should either; I suppose you shall just have to trust your instincts."
Ginny nodded and replaced her own glamour as she watched him disappear into the smoke.
