A week after her first meeting with Voldemort, Severus showed up in the early morning hours and slipped into her room. "Ginerva, wake up," he commanded her. She woke up startled, and grasped her wand ready to attack before she realized who it was. "We've been summoned. You have to come with me before anyone knows what's going on. Don't worry about dressing, you'll change into robes right before we get to the manor."
Ginny nodded, pulling her hair into a quick ponytail and felt the tingle of magic run over her, realizing Severus must have cast some cleansing charms on her so she would be ready faster. They apparated to Severus's home first, changing into their death eater robes and then showed up at Malfoy Manor. "Be prepared," she was warned. "He's angry."
They were the last ones to arrive, a fact Voldemort did not miss. He crucio'd Severus before turning to address the room. "I am most displeased. One of you in unfaithful to me. One of you decided to try and get out of my service by sending a tip off to the auror's office. Three of my faithful were arrested, taken to Azkaban, when they were supposed to be returning to me with a valuable hostage."
Ginny could feel the fear in the room as the death eaters looked at each other. She felt Severus's squeeze her leg painfully as she looked around, warning her to stop and pay attention to Voldemort only.
"There were a select few who knew of this plan, and I intend to know who betrayed me. Nott, Macnair, Blair, Zabini and Lucius. Come to me." His voice was calm but everyone knew it was barely concealing his rage. The five masked death eaters he called stepped forward warily and bowed before him. "You were the only ones here who knew of my plan. Let's see who we can get to crack first, yes? Weasley!" she jumped as he called her. "You still have much to prove to me. Come forward, you will take Lucius. Let's see what our newest member has been learning in Severus's library, shall we?"
She walked forward, pulling forward all the spells she'd learned over the last week. They all required anger and hatred to be effective, but given that he'd chosen Lucius Malfoy for her that wouldn't be a problem. Voldemort waved a hand, and their masks disappeared. Lucius worked hard to keep his face passive as she raised her wand, a gleam in her eyes that would have frightened most men.
"Thank you, my lord," she nodded to Voldemort before casting crucio. She watched with an amused grin as Lucius writhed in pain. When he didn't scream, she decided to move on to something fiercer. She silently cast a spell Severus had taught her the day before and let out a sadistic laugh as Lucius screamed this time. She knew his entire body felt like it was on fire and she kept the spell on him until his screams were hoarse.
"Enough!" Voldemort cried out. He cast Legilimens on Lucius and must have been satisfied, because he dismissed him and told Ginny to sit down again. "Draco…. We've seen what your classmate can do, why don't you come demonstrate what you can do? You take Blair."
Draco came forward quietly, and somewhat reluctantly. He looked at Ginny briefly, before bowing to Voldemort. Ginny could tell he was struggling as he crucio'd Blair. He must have been nervous because he didn't cast anything else. He tried crucio again but he couldn't make the man scream. Voldemort was angry, he pushed Draco down and crucio'd Blair himself. After about ten minutes of screaming, Blair was confessing to tipping of the aurors.
"Let this be a lesson for all in my ranks," Voldemort hissed, "betray me and you will regret it. Bella, take your sister and Nott, go to Blair's house and kill his family. They will pay for his mistake." Belatrix looked like Christmas came early as she bowed and left the room. "As for you Blair… I think Avada Kedavra is too painless for you. Come Nagini. Dinner time."
Ginny watched in horror as the snake struck out and bit Blair repeatedly before dragging the corpse off to her nest. Her face must have begun to slip, because next thing she knew Severus was squeezing her leg again and she became passive once more. Voldemort dismissed all but Severus and Ginny, and as soon as they were alone he began an interrogation on Harry.
"Tell me, Ginerva, things I don't know about Potter. You've lived with the boy before, I'm sure you have much to tell me." His voice was almost caressing, and Ginny could see the boy from the diary in him, seductive when he needed to be for information and loyalty, fierce if it didn't work and lustful for power.
"My lord, he is very much a normal teenager in many ways. He spends as much time as possible playing quiditch, and when he can't he polishes his broom relentlessly. Over the summer he usually becomes malnourished, and has very limited access to the magic world as his relatives abhor magic. He is currently suffering depression because of the loss of Sirius Black, and is replacing the father figure in his life with Remus Lupin I believe. And lately, he's been meditating several hours a day and working on shielding his mind. I heard him and my brother talking about several methods of mind protection the mudblood found in a book." She was almost surprised when she finished speaking, the words came out so smoothly and she didn't feel guilty at all for betraying Harry.
"Good. We will find this Remus Lupin and make him suffer. I will ensure the boy feels all the pain he can before I take his life." Voldemort smiled and Ginny felt extremely sick at the sight. "You are doing well, Ginerva. I can see you going far among our ranks. Keep learning from Severus, you two will be an unstoppable team. You may go now."
Ginny could have ran from the room but forced herself to keep pace with Severus. He guided them to the foyer and explained they would be flooing to avoid being seen. She nodded as her eyes caught Draco sitting at the top of the stairs watching them. He looked miserable, the way he did when Hermione was better than him at something and she felt a twinge of guilt in her stomach. "One moment, Severus," she whispered and made her way to him quickly. She leaned forward and said so only he could hear, "Find me on the train, Draco. I believe we have much to discuss." Without waiting for an answer, she moved back to Severus and followed him through the floo.
She removed the death eater robes as quickly as she could, feeling much less nauseas this time around than her first meeting. Severus slumped into a chair by the fire and poured himself a glass of fire whiskey despite the fact it was only 7 am. He offered her one, but she declined, knowing her mother would kill her if she came home smelling of alcohol.
"You did well again Ginerva." He conceded with a tilt of his head.
"Thank you Severus. Though I have to say… It was a pleasure to get back at Lucius after the events of my first year." She felt ashamed to admit it, but torturing him was enjoyable.
"I imagine so," he said with a small smile. "I've hated the man for years myself. It seems you have a chance to get closer to Draco though, doesn't it?"
She laughed. "He looked at me like I killed his puppy as we were getting ready to leave. He always hated being second best."
"Ginerva…. I'm going to tell you something, and it must stay between us, do you understand?" His voice was deathly quiet and serious. She nodded, sitting across from him and waiting for him to speak again. "Draco was given the task of killing Dumbledore before the end of the school year." She gasped, and covered her mouth, unsure what to say. "It is imperative we make sure he can't do it. He's not as strong as he seems. I think killing Albus would break him. This is why it's so important for you to be his friend. He needs someone who understands him, who he can talk to without being judged."
Ginny nodded. "No one will know, Severus. I promise. And I will do my best to help him through this."
Severus smiled at her, a genuine smile and she felt her heart flutter. "Come now, Ginerva. Let's get you back before Molly has an aneurysm."
