She comes home to find Number 12 in an uproar.
A cacophony of voices greet her in the foyer, volume at such a pitch that she's surprised she hadn't heard her mother's hysterics competing with the late Mrs Black from outside. Sirius is pacing the length of the foyer, furious and trapped in the manor as members of the Order rush to the floo or push past her, running out the door. Owls are flying everywhere, papers and feathers swirling in miniature cyclones on multiple surfaces.
Ginny freezes on the threshold, shocked at the amount of chaos she hasn't seen since moving in day. She is forced aside rather abruptly by the snarling form of professor Snape, followed by a visibly angered Dumbledore, whose eyes meet hers briefly before rushing out the door. She scurries into the dining room, where Ron and Hermione are harassing anyone they can, trying to find out what the hell is going on with little success. She hides in the corner of the room, cobwebs and peeling wallpaper beside her as she searches for her father in the mess. He's in the corner, using the top of the old haunted piano as a desk, and writing furiously. No sooner has an owl taken his latest letter does he begin the next, sweat on his brow and arms shaking, he snaps a quill, swears violently under his breath before grunting a thanks at Tonks when she passes him a fresh one.
She turns when 'Mad Eye' Moody taps the space beside her, crushing a busy spider under his thumb and sending out a plume of dust as he leans against the ageing wall. They cough slightly, waiting for the dust to settle before she leans over to speak in his ear.
"What did I miss?" She says as softly as possible, weary of being noticed by her mother, who at this point is vowing curses on 'Mundungus Fletcher, that little rat, oh I'll show him!'
Mystified, Ginny shifts her focus to Moody, now slightly more determined to find out what happened, and how the little thief she had met not some thirty minutes prior could have caused this much chaos in his absence.
Mad Eye's eye revolves around the room, always on the lookout, before answering, "Well you missed quite a bit little missy," he chuckles, before adding, "you know that the Order's been assigned to keep an eye on your little boyfriend?"
Ignoring the way she bristles at the implication, he continues, "Well a patroller was a late in gettin' to his post." He humphs unhappily. Having already heard his lecture on constant vigilance and security, she makes a face. He nods at her. "Now we both know Potter, and his penchant for gettin' in trouble as soon as the eye is turned," he illustrates this by rolling his eye in a nauseating pattern, his scared face twisting into a grotesque attempt at a grin. "Well what d'ya know, a couple o' dementors decide tonight's the night to come out to pay your boy an' his cousin a visit, if you get me drift." He pauses, scanning the room, and she fears he's about to let out a bellow about 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE', but lucky for her, he paves on. "So the boy casts his patronus - an' a good thing too otherwise him an' his cousin would'a been goners - but now the Ministry is tryin' to get him expelled for performing magic outside of school. An' magic in front of a muggle to boot."
At this point Hermione can no longer contain herself to where she and Ron had been eavesdropping in the corner, and interjects, "But the statute says in dire situations-"
"That it does lass."
"- And it's Harry's cousin, not some random muggle, surely because of their knowledge of magic he wasn't actually breaking the Statute-"
"I'm sure it wouldn't have been a big deal for anyone else Hermione, but remember this is Harry Fucking Potter we're talking about," Ron interjects, "and there's obviously someone out to get him again this year." He pauses, looking pleased with himself as Hermione stops and thinks about that.
"Exactly boy!" Moody booms as Ginny sneaks away, eager to escape now that she's got some information to go on. "Good skills of observation this one has! CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
There's an awkward moment of silence as the outburst from Moody breaks through the activity of the others in the room, but soon enough Molly is screeching at the children to get up and out of the way, to leave these things to the Order, and soon the staircase is full of thundering steps of Weasleys eager to escape their mother's wrath.
Ginny follows more slowly, wondering to herself. Such a small conversation with a little thief in an alley had had such a large effect. If she still had magic, she wouldn't have been out there, and Fletcher probably wouldn't have been delayed in getting to his guard duty. Though without her, Fletcher might have been caught by those thugs, so it might have been all the same outcome regardless. She pushed those thoughts aside, long past spending her time dreaming of 'what if' scenarios where she still has her magic and still believes in Harry Potter. Shaking her head, she focuses instead on the present, on the power she had to disrupt the Order and create such chaos with but a conversation. With a quirk of her lips, she carefully steps over the flesh coloured string the twins had left lying around, and makes her way upstairs, invisible to those around her.