AN: This chapter is a little longer and hopefully more interesting. I had to use my imagination on some parts, probably stretching a bit on the canon, but I hope it's close enough that it's not too much of a distraction. Enjoy!
Hogwarts Express
There was a cloud of anxiety hanging in the usually hectic atmosphere at Platform 9 ¾. Never had Ginny experienced a Hogwarts Express boarding in such hushed and harried conditions. Where there had once been excitement and boisterous babble, now there was only rushed, murmured conversations between parents and students before hurrying to get settled on the train and out of the vulnerable expanse of the platform. Molly and Arthur were as nervous as any, if not more so. Ginny's father walked purposely through the barrier after his wife and daughter, pushing the trolley loaded down with Ginny's belongings and directing them with curt instructions toward the train. Maintaining an unreadable, stoic expression, he glanced only once at a set of dark robed, sinister figures standing watch a few feet away. Their wands were drawn and their shaded eyes scanned each face that boarded, training their gaze for any hint of Potter among the crowd of students. Ginny wasn't about to divert her gaze, lifting her chin and narrowing her eyes at the pair as Molly gripped her arm and steered her quickly past. She wasn't the least bit intimidated; did they honestly think he would show up at King's Cross carrying his trunk full of textbooks? How completely foolish; if that was the kind of intelligence they were up against it was a wonder the Ministry had ever been taken at all.
"Hurry, Ginny," Molly encouraged her forward as Arthur loaded her trunk onto the train. "I want an owl home every week. Send one as soon as you've reached school. Yes?"
"Yes, mum." Ginny refrained from rolling her eyes only because she wasn't the only one among her classmates receiving these instructions.
"Take care you mind the headmaster," Molly continued, catching the spark of flame which ignited in her daughter's eyes with the unreasonable request. Leaning forward and pulling Ginny in for one last hug, she spoke low in her ear with a warning. "Do it, Ginevra. No matter how tough, mind everything Headmaster Snape tells you. Don't make things harder for Harry than they already are."
Harder for Harry? Ginny's jaw clenched furiously, watching the pair of brand new Ministry Law Enforcement recruits over her mother's shoulder with unbridled hatred. How could resisting Snape possibly make things any harder for Harry than they already were? Keeping her burning thoughts to herself, Ginny merely nodded to settle her mother's fears, pulling away and reaching for a quick hug from Arthur.
"Train's about to leave." He placed a comforting hand on her head with an attempt at a smile. "We'll see you real soon."
"Don't worry, Dad," Ginny assured him. "I'll be safer at Hogwarts than anywhere."
Both Arthur and Molly nodded, all three valiantly trying to believe that was the truth.
With one last goodbye, Ginny waved and climbed the stair, stepping into the cool, low-lit corridor of the train car. Dragging her trunk behind her with Arnold the Pygmy Puff's cage perched on top, she looked into each compartment down the line until she found Neville sitting alone beside the window, hunched over a book.
"What're you reading, Neville?" Ginny pushed her way in without bothering to ask permission, knowing she could skip such niceties with Longbottom.
"Hi-ya, Ginny," Neville barely glanced up from his reading. His face was set in concentration. "Nice holiday?"
Ginny nearly laughed at the implied sarcasm. "Just dandy, thanks for asking." She set Arnold's cage aside before struggling with her trunk, hoisting it into the overhead compartment. Neville finally pulled himself away from his book, setting it in the open seat and rising to assist her until it was stowed away. The train lurched as it set into motion, leaving the station. The book dropped with a thud on the floor, and Ginny bent to pick it up, taking a seat where it recently rested and reading the cover.
"Morgan le Fay's Cunning and Combative Spells," she read, raising her eyebrows at Neville as he returned to the bench seat beside her, taking back the book with a slightly guilty smirk.
"A little extra preparation doesn't hurt," he shrugged, tucking the worn volume back in his bag at his feet. "It's Gran's. She doesn't realize I brought it with me, but no matter."
"How did you even get it on the train?" Ginny couldn't help but be impressed.
"They haven't searched us yet, have they?" Neville pointed out. "That'll be at the school gates."
"And they won't exactly be thrilled you have it. One look at the title and you can say goodbye to Gran's dusty old book."
Neville merely shrugged again, sitting back in his seat and watching London flash by out the window. "No matter, I have most of it memorized anyway."
"Then why bring it at all? It will only get you detention the first day back." Ginny was a little surprised. Neville had gained some self-confidence their previous year of school, but nothing like what he was showing now. He almost appeared to carry a touch of Potter arrogance Ginny didn't know he possessed. "Snape will have you cleaning potion jars for a month, or worse most likely."
"Most likely," Neville agreed carelessly.
"Then why?"
He turned back and met her eye, a roguish grin catching at the corner of his mouth. "To set a precedent, of course."
Ginny nearly smiled herself, finding this new version of Neville fantastically un-Neville. "Of course." His confidence was catching, and Ginny was even more bolstered for her plan. "Brilliant logic, Longbottom, perhaps you could direct some of that toward an idea I've been considering."
"Only if it involves undermining Snape," Neville's jaw tightened, his gaze drifting back out the window, all humor gone suddenly from the compartment.
"Then we are on the same page." Ginny shared his contempt, always knowing she had an ally where he was concerned. Realizing something, she looked around as if looking for a missing item. "Where's Luna?"
Neville pulled himself out of his reverie. "Oh, she's here," he nodded toward a trunk overhead, plastered with brightly colored, psychedelic stickers. "She's making her rounds distributing issues of the Quibbler to the other compartments."
"Must have missed her," Ginny muttered, settling into the cushion with her feet propped on the opposite seat across the tight aisle. "There's less students this year," she pointed out conversationally. "And not just with—"
"Them gone," Neville knew. "Yeah, I think there will be more at school when we get there. Gran almost didn't want me taking the train either. She debated on it for all of two seconds then decided the best way to show the Death Eaters that we're not afraid was to go about business as usual. So here I am."
"Yeah, I think that was Mum and Dad's intention as well," Ginny thought about it. "They sure seemed nervous though."
"Who isn't?" Neville shrugged.
"Not me," Ginny said it almost to herself, defiant and self-assured.
Neville watched her with a nit brow, considering the declaration seriously. "Me neither." They smiled for real this time and the atmosphere lifted slightly. "So what's this elaborate plan of yours?"
"Let's wait for Luna," Ginny shook her head. "I want her to be a part of this too. And we'll need to recruit as soon as we see who is all at school, not to mention who will be on our side."
"Dumbledore's Army re-organized."
"Exactly," Ginny nodded. Her mind was reeling with ideas. She hadn't lived with Fred and George all those years without being influenced. If Snape thought Umbridge had it bad, he would not be prepared for what was in store for his upcoming reign. Ginny's parents weren't going to appreciate her antics but, unlike her brothers, she knew how to accomplish a task and maintain anonymity. Notoriety might have suited the twins, but in this case, Ginny would accomplish more for the cause if she could wreak havoc and stay in the shadows at the same time. That wasn't to say she wasn't prepared to take a little punishment for her intended crimes. Ginny was expecting some backlash but did hope to avoid it as much as possible.
"So how did it happen?" Neville interrupted her thoughts. "Mad Eye dying?"
"You heard about that?"
"Gran did. And we heard Snape took George's ear."
"Yeah," Ginny didn't want to be reminded of that. "Mad Eye got hit when Mundungus disapparated."
"Git," Neville said it exactly right, and, again, Ginny wondered at the change in him. They had all grown a little cynical after everything that had happened since Voldemort's return, but in some ways it made Ginny sad. No one was innocent anymore and they never would be again.
Although, if she chose to think about it, she never really had been. Not since the start of her magical education. The image of sixteen-year-old Riddle emerging out of that cursed diary made Ginny's blood run cold, and she had to push the thought from her mind, focusing back on Neville.
"Harry was all for leaving that night, just after everyone got back to the Burrow. I thought he was going to," she admitted. "I half expected we would find him missing the next morning. He was still underage though, otherwise I think he would have been gone."
"When did he leave?" Neville asked after nodding, understanding how Harry had felt.
"The night of Bill's wedding, when the Death Eater's showed up at the Burrow." Ginny let her own gaze drift out the window at the drab landscape whizzing past. Here was another memory she would sooner forget. She hated to admit that she had been terrified. Ginny would never tell Neville, perhaps not anybody, but in that frightening moment when the peace of the celebratory evening was disturbed, the wedding tent filled with the chaos of fleeing guests and dueling wizards, she had stood frozen. What was she supposed to do? Her gown had no place to keep her wand; she wasn't allowed to use it even if she had been carrying it. All she could do was stand there and stare at the place where Harry, Ron, and Hermione had just vanished. Her only feelings which had registered were that of panic and complete loss. It was Charlie who saved her from nearly being hit by a deadly curse. It had connected with a nearby table instead, sending an explosion of lacquered wood, bits of glass, and fragments of charred fabric flying all directions. Ginny had felt the sting of pain as a piece of shrapnel imbedded itself into her leg, just below the left knee. This had brought her back to life and she ran, stumbling and limping while surrounded by the protection of the twins who escorted her back to the relative safety of the house until it was all over. They had to endure a search; they were looking for Harry of course. They found nothing but the ghoul in the attic pretending to be Ron before being called away on some more urgent matter. Ginny had worried for days that that matter was Harry until Lupin sent word that all three of them were hiding out, safe at the old Order Headquarters in London.
"Where do you suppose he is now?" Neville once again brought Ginny back to the reality of the train compartment.
"Still in London, I think," she told him, not entirely sure. "At least we haven't heard otherwise."
"Doing what though?"
Ginny shrugged, "I don't know, but whatever it is, it involves the Sword of Gryffindor."
Neville looked confused, opening his mouth to ask a question before getting interrupted by the door opening from the corridor. Luna stepped in looking as dazed and pleasant as ever, seemingly unaffected by the general poor disposition of the other passengers on the Express.
"Hello, Ginevra," she passed Ginny a dreamy smile while taking a seat opposite and smoothing out her knee-length floral print skirt.
"Hello, Luna, how are you?" Ginny generally didn't permit anyone other than her family to call her Ginevra, and sparingly at that, but Luna…Luna was always an exception.
"Oh, I'm wonderful. Although I will have to send an owl to my father immediately after we reach the castle. The demand for Quibblers has gone up; I've given out every last copy with several requests for more. Daddy will be thrilled!"
"Well, he's the only one printing what matters," Neville agreed. "I imagine it would sell out."
"The Quibbler strives to only ever print the truth," Luna responded earnestly. "That's daddy's policy."
"Of course," Ginny nodded, as if that was obvious, sharing a humorous glance with Neville who was kind enough to keep a straight face.
"Well, tell your dad we appreciate all he's writing about the Ministry and the support he's showing Harry," he told Luna. "My grandmother won't subscribe to anything else anymore, not even the Prophet."
"Neither do my parents," Ginny added.
"But—" Neville turned back to her. "You were talking about the sword?"
"Excalibur?" Luna perked up.
"Close," Ginny held up a finger, prepared to lay out her plan now that both of them were present, "the Sword of Gryffindor. I don't know why but I'm certain that whatever Harry is doing, the sword has some connection."
"Why?" Neville asked the question he had been holding on to since Luna joined them in the compartment.
"Because Dumbledore left it to him in his will."
The news had the effect that Ginny was looking for. Neville's eyebrows went up and Luna's abnormally large eyes grew even wider. "Oh," was all she said, softly and with less surprise than excitement.
"Harry has the sword?" Neville asked, and Ginny shook her head.
"They wouldn't give it to him, said it belonged to Gryffindor house."
"Harry's a Gryffindor," Neville argued. "He should get the sword."
"The Ministry didn't agree, obviously, but I do. We need to get that sword." This time Ginny's announcement received only stares, Neville appeared unsure if he had heard her quite right. Luna just looked thrilled at the prospect.
"Break into Dumbledore's office?" Neville's voice went up an octave with disbelief.
"Oh, didn't you hear?" Luna interjected. "Professor Snape is headmaster now."
"How do you propose we do that?" Neville ignored her, inquiring an explanation from Ginny. "The entrance is password protected. It could be any number of passwords since Snape took over."
"Dumbledore," Luna spoke matter-of-factly, blinking her wide eyes expectantly.
"What about him?" Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"Dumbledore," Luna repeated. "It's the password to the headmaster's office. 'Dumbledore.'"
Neville and Ginny exchanged an incredulous look. "What?"
"It's well known that when a witch or wizard dies while serving as headmaster the password to their office becomes their name for the ensuing year. It is a precaution against any delays or confusions in the replacement process." Luna blinked, waiting for a response as if she felt as if this was enough of an explanation. When neither Ginny nor Neville responded she gazed serenely out the window and continued lazily. "You know, in case there are disagreements on who should be headmaster, substitutions, or short-term fill-ins. It safe-guards against one witch or wizard changing the password to deny others access out of spite. The password precautionary spell was put into place after Headmaster Vindictus Veridian died in 1703. The transfiguration instructor, Bennet Oliver, considered himself a more suitable headmaster than Veridian's replacement, Marley Bloom. He was banished from the castle because of his eccentricities, but not before closing off the headmaster's quarters with a number of complicated spells and obscure passwords. It took Bloom eight months to regain entry to his own office."
Ginny wasn't sure whether or not this was just another of Luna's characteristic, quirky tales or actual fact. Since she had never read Hogwarts, A History all the way through, she really couldn't verify for certain. "Well, it's worth a shot," she shrugged. "We'll try it Luna, and I hope your right, because my idea to get the password was much more complicated."
"How so?" Neville asked, glancing up as the compartment door slid open and the Honeydukes Express arrived pushed by the trolley lady. He got to his feet and dug into his pocket for some gold, buying several chocolate frogs and Cauldron Cakes for them to share. When the trolley had moved on and the door closed, Neville tossed a few sweets at Luna, dumping the rest on the seat between him and Ginny. "How would you have done it?" he repeated his question, breaking into a Cauldron Cake.
"Well," Ginny picked up a chocolate frog. "Let's just say it would have involved a lot of spying and hanging around the third floor corridor with a pair of Extendable Ears with the likely possibility of being caught by Snape."
"'Dumbledore' it is then," Neville agreed.
The door opened again and the three looked out into the corridor to find Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan. "Neville!" Seamus sounded excited to see his fellow seventh year, but the expression only reached as far as his voice. The rest of him looked as on edge as everyone Ginny had seen on board the train. If Seamus looked uneasy, Dean looked worse, and Ginny passed him a sympathetic look as he entered the compartment and shut the door behind him.
"Ginny," he nodded and sat down beside Seamus across from her. "Doing okay?"
"Fine," she nodded in return. "You? I actually didn't think you would be here."
"I almost wasn't," he told her honestly. "Seamus convinced me to come. You've heard the rumors then?"
"Not just rumors," Ginny said. "Dad told me they were already bringing people in at the Ministry, demanding they prove their Blood Status."
"They won't do that at Hogwarts," Seamus was sure. "Not even Snape would do that, would he?"
"It's Snape," Neville pointed out.
"Anything's possible," Ginny agreed, still watching Dean. "Aren't you worried?"
"Let them check," he shrugged. "I don't care."
Ginny knew Dean well enough to know when he was putting up a front of confidence that wasn't altogether truthful, but she let it slide, hoping for his sake that there really was no reason to worry. For the rest of the trip they discussed Harry's need for the sword and what that could mean. Ginny filled Dean and Seamus in on the events of the summer at the Burrow and her plans to get a hold of the sword for Harry. They threw out ideas of how to best hide it, if and when they managed to steal it from Snape's office. Then there was the matter of smuggling it out of the castle without being spotted. Another problem, but Ginny knew that once they did she could rely on Bill or one of the twins to meet her in Hogsmeade and take it from there. Somebody would know where to find Harry and get it to him, she was sure.
As the train drew closer to the station and darkness fell in the mountains, Seamus and Dean ducked out to return to their own compartment to put on their robes and gather their things. Ginny, Luna, and Neville did the same and, by the time they reached Hogsmeade, Ginny was tired and hungry. Her mind was reeling with all they had discussed and planned, but all she wanted at that moment was to get to the castle, enjoy the feast as best as she could, and retreat to Gryffindor tower for an early retirement.
What she wasn't expecting was to walk upon a group of gruff-faced, cloaked figures standing guard by the horseless carriages, barring any way through until each student had been inspected and questioned.
"Ginny," Neville stopped short, his exclamation faltering in a hoarse whisper. "Ginny!" he grabbed her arm tightly to slow her down. "They're checking for Blood Status." Just as he said this, Ginny saw a first year dressed in brand new robes, standing in the shadow of a trunk twice her size with tears running down her pale cheeks while she watched her wand get snapped in two by a surly looking Death Eater. A wand the young girl would never get to use.
"Dean," Ginny's heart pounded as she whipped around and searched the slow moving crowd pushing out of the open train doors. Spotting him two cars away, she shoved her way through, desperate to get to him before he could make it to the front of the queue for the carriages. "Dean!" she clamped onto the sleeve of his robes, turning him around. "Go, apparate now."
"What?" he looked up in alarm, catching sight of the row of Death Eaters.
"Go! You need to leave now, they're confiscating wands. Now, Dean!" Ginny pushed him back a few feet, into the shadows of the train, hoping to keep him from being spotted. Seamus hesitated with a hand on his trunk, torn between wanting to go with his friend and not knowing what to do. Dean didn't give him time to consider it, pulling his wand from his pocket and turning on the spot, disappearing from the platform and leaving his own trunk behind.
"Why didn't they tell people?" Neville wondered, encouraging Seamus to keep moving with his voice low near Ginny's ear.
With her blood boiling, pounding through her veins at the injustice of it all, Ginny's jaw clenched in fury, her eyes flashing under the orange glow of the hanging lanterns outside the station depot. "My guess is they did, but not everyone is paying attention to the announcements in the Daily Prophet anymore, are they?"
"Especially muggles," Neville nodded bitterly.
"They should have told them," Seamus looked as heated as Ginny. "They should have warned them in Diagon Alley when they purchased their wands."
"Maybe Ollivander didn't know." Ginny didn't understand it either, but felt sick with rage. What was that little first year and all the other misplaced students of muggle heritage supposed to do now? Would they send them back on the train to London? Who would notify their parents? Did they even care? One thing Ginny did know, as soon as she reached the castle she would track down Professor McGonagall and ensure that something was done about it.
"Blood Status?" a witch with a prominent, angled nose on a long, thin face demanded she present her wand when Ginny reached the front of the queue. "Family name and place of residence."
"Ginny Weasley, full-blood, Ottery St. Catchpole , Devon, England."
"A muggle village?" the witch looked less than pleased while checking her list of names on a long, curled piece of parchment.
"Yes," Ginny responded a little too defensively. "My family lives at the Burrow nearby."
"Youngest child and only daughter to Pure-Blood Wizard Arthur Weasley?" the witch demanded.
"Yes."
"You may pass, move along to the next available carriage and await transport to the school."
Ginny yanked on her trunk and moved out of line, glancing back as Neville and Luna stepped forward to state their case for acceptable wizard status. Seamus was already through, standing looking lost without his best friend at his side. "Come on," Ginny encouraged him. "Let's find a carriage."