Thank you to everyone that gave me positive reviews! Even the one that I had to use Google Translate for ;D
Chapter 10- Year Five
The Burrow and Hogwarts- 1995-1996
At fifteen years and two days old Ginny was sweeping up the floor of the Burrow. Housework had been incredibly light for the past few weeks. This was because the rest of her family was at the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters, and she was not invited. It hadn't seemed like it was an easy choice for her parents to make. She'd sat at the closed door of her bedroom listening in on the conversation being held in the kitchen about whether or not to take her. The whole family had felt strongly that they needed to contribute to the upcoming war, but none felt like Ginny could be trusted.
A part of her thought she'd deserved it. On the inside she still longed to be the girl she was when she was ten, but part of her was happy that her family abandoned her at the Burrow. She could fly, pick wild flowers and hum to herself as she tidied up the rooms. Hours upon hours of solitude and peace.
But as soon as her father or mother came home at the end of the day she was back in her room. She had grown accustomed to the noticeable fact that they did not like to look at her. Stories had been spread around about her at school to this day, and she knew they made it home. Stories that she was selling her body out to the boys at schools, or offering favors, when in fact she had never even kissed a boy.
They didn't trust her; thus, she was stuck at home while the rest of the family was preparing to fight in the war. Someone had to come home to check on her every once in a while, though. And whom ever it was, she didn't want to see the distain in their eye when they looked at her.
Over the years she'd stuck to hiding out in the library at school, and had read nearly every book in there. Her grades had improved dramatically, almost to the point of what Tom had received. That placated her parents enough. And she had not gotten another detention since her first year. Chances of her becoming a prefect were still zero however after those missing first few months of first year. And she didn't exactly act like a leader amongst her peers, she acted invisible more often than not.
Actually, she was invisible more often than not.
Ginny finished sweeping up the kitchen floor and moved over to fill the sink to clean down the surfaces when she saw someone at the edge of the property through the kitchen window. It wasn't anyone she recognized.
Adrenaline shot through her. What if this was a Death Eater come to attack her family? If they found only her here would they kill her? Torture her? Take her prisoner to try and extract information?
Weren't there wards around the house to protect it?
She quickly ran back to her room to grab her wand and sunk low by the window side to see if she could get a better look at them. But they weren't in the same spot as before. She crawled over to her door and listened carefully down the stairs to see if she could hear anyone.
There was no sound except for the wind tinkling the chimes at the front entryway. She crawled up the stairs into the twin's room. They would have something in there that would cause a diversion if she needed to run away. She snuck into their room and as carefully as possible stepped over their boobie trap line. They had several jinxes in place to try and catch people unaware, should anyone be 'stupid enough' to go through their things. But Ginny knew them all.
She opened their treasure trunk and was careful to keep her thumb putting pressure on a switch under the lid to stop a firework from going off. She pocketed some Peruvian Darkness Powder and closed the lid again. She then went to their potions storage and snuck a look out the window.
Ginny could see a woman with crazy dark hair brandishing her wand. She was sure it was to reveal if the Burrow had any inhabitants or not. And she was positive she would soon have company. Pocketing a bottle of a caustic and acidic potion she found she walked downstairs. If they were coming in and knew she was there, then there was no point in hiding. She tried to steady her furiously thumping heart as she made her way back to the kitchen.
Standing in front of the stove, she put the kettle on. She also put the glass bottle of potion on a fry pan and turned the burner on low.
Then her heart stopped along with her breath as she heard the door opening behind her.
"Putting on the tea for us, are you?" Ginny shivered slightly at the cold, patronizing voice. She turned to face them.
There were three. The one dark, crazy haired woman had a deranged look in her eye. Ginny recognized her to be Bellatrix Lestrange. One of the men with her, the shorter of the two, was her husband, Rudolphus Lestrange, also escaped from Azkaban. She didn't know the third, younger, burlier man, but he looked just as terrifying as the other two.
"It is the polite thing to do." Ginny managed to get out. Her voice more of a croaking whisper.
The unknown man licked his lips at her and looked her up and down. She instantly regretted her clothing choice from that morning. After spending all year trying to hide her developing body from the other students, she was enjoying the freedom that came from being alone all the time, and threw on a short summer dress that was a little snug around her bust, as her mother had given it to her over a year ago.
"Such manners. Now why don't you answer some questions for us while we wait for the kettle?" Bellatrix smiled. Ginny wished she hadn't, clearly Azkaban had not allowed their prisoners the luxury of a tooth brush. Bellatrix had dark decaying teeth that made her look all the more malicious. "Crucio."
Before the spell hit her Ginny took note of how innocently it was said. Pain ripped through her body like a million paper cuts, and she fell to the floor in agony. It only lasted a minute.
"I love the way you make them scream." Ginny heard Rudolphus say to his wife. She hadn't realized she had screamed. She just lay there, breathing and assessing any injuries.
"I want to make her scream." The unknown man said. She could hear the lust in his voice and wanted to throw up. She'd take the Cruciatus curse again over that.
"Hold still Fabian. Girl, where is the rest of your family?"
"I don't know." Ginny whispered.
"Crucio." The pain erupted again and subsided quicker than the last time. "Now that is no way to talk to your guests is it? What do you know about the Order?"
"Nothing." It came out as a gasping sob. "No one tells me anything." She managed to say with more conviction.
"Well then, you not much use to me then, are you?" Bellatrix stood over her smirking, then turned to face her companions. "Fabian, have at her."
As Bellatrix moved away from her Ginny thought quickly about how to get away from them. The glass vial was slowly getting warmer and warmer. It should be making the potion bubble, and the glass break soon. How soon though, she wasn't sure. Should she try to fight him off of her? Or save her strength?
"Well, this is a pretty one isn't she?" Fabian grinned. Ginny closed her eyes tightly and slowly moved her hand into her pocket. She was shaking in fear, but felt him over her. His body cast a shadow over her eyes. "You still a virgin girlie? I love taking virgins."
She heard him zip down his trousers as the water in the kettle began to boil. She opened her eyes and they immediately went to his hard and very veiny cock in his hand. He was leering down at her with excitement written all over his face. Bellatrix and Rudolphus were still in the kitchen too. They'd actually sat down at the table with their backs to them, as though nothing odd was going on.
As Fabian was just leaning down to cover her body with his she heard the sound she'd been waiting for. The distinct 'tink' that glass makes just before it explodes. She couldn't control the smirk that came to her face as she heard it. She locked eyes with his and watched the confusion wash over his face.
In a second she tucked herself tight and rolled over against the stove on the floor as the potion bottle exploded, spraying the room with shards of glass and the acidic contents that instantly burned the flesh it came in contact with. She listened to their screams as the three clutched their bodies in surprise. Ginny had stayed out of the splash zone and abruptly stood. She threw the Darkness Powder at them and ran out the door.
She estimated that she would manage about a thirty second head start. She ran to the broom shed to grab a broom and took off for the woods, staying low to the ground. The only thing she had on her now was her wand.
Ginny made it to the trees and went up to a high branch with enough cover that she shouldn't be seen by them. Her head start seemed to be just the right amount of time that she needed. Sitting down on the wide branch she clutched at her heart with the hand that wasn't steadying her in the tree. Tremors ripping through her body.
From the distance she could make them out as they left the kitchen, then watched as they sent a wave of fire back at the Burrow. For all that had just happened, what sprang to her mind seeing their destruction was that she was going to be in so much shit. They apparated shortly after that.
With the damage she'd caused them she assumed they wouldn't be back immediately. So, she quickly flew back and started putting out the flames. She threw buckets of dirt on the flames after performing a flame repellent charm on the majority of the kitchens structure. Luckily it hadn't spread past that. There had already been flame repellent charms over the inside of the kitchen, but some of the siding still caught fire. It looked singed, but no more structurally unsafe than usual.
It was a miracle that they hadn't opted to use Fiendfyre, of the whole place would have gone up.
Inside the kitchen she looked around in despair. The kitchen was a mess. It was only two in the afternoon, if anyone would be coming to the Burrow that day it would be after dark. As though someone else had control of her body she assessed the damage, and made a mental list of where to start. There was too much to do to reminisce over how she had just been attacked by three Death Eaters.
She steeled herself and went to the pantry, careful to avoid the splotches of potion on the floor, and grabbed the baking soda. It would neutralize the acid so she could clean it up.
She'd already used magic once, and there hadn't been a letter from the Ministry, so one more charm couldn't hurt. Ginny tossed a cup full of the baking soda into the air and cast a North Wind charm. It spread the baking soda over the entire surface area of the kitchen. She then went to retrieve her dragon hide gloves from her trunk and changed into jeans and a long sleeve shirt, feeling the need to cover herself up for more than chemical safety purposes.
It took hours to clean up the mess. She washed all of the drapes, pulled down every one of the knick knacks from the shelves and washed all of the walls and the ceiling carefully. As she washed and scrubbed she occasionally felt a tear roll down her cheek.
After the last of the evidence drained down the sink she looked outside. It was properly dark now, and it seemed no one was going to come and check on her tonight.
She sat down and stripped off her gloves and stared at the spot on the floor by the stove. Now that she'd done as much cleaning as she was going to get done today, she allowed herself to think on it.
Ginny wondered if she would have been killed after being raped, or just tortured more until they were truly convinced that she didn't have any information. Maybe they would have kidnapped her. How long would it take for her family to figure out she was gone, or perhaps they would think she just left. Or think that she became a Death Eater herself.
Ginny couldn't stay in the house. She wouldn't be able to get any sleep there. She took a blanket and pillow from the couch and left the house to make her bed in her fathers shed. Before leaving she went and took some more supplies from the twin's room. She was going to boobie trap the door of the shed.
There were some cushions of various sizes piled in the corner of the shed. She lay them out over the floor and wrapped herself in the blanket. Hugging her pillow close she cried herself to sleep.
()()()()
The sound of the roosters crowing awoke her the next morning just before dawn broke. She'd slept terribly, with dreams of being trapped in a dark red room with no windows. Ginny now contemplated whether she would have been happier to stay there.
Robotically she made her way to the house to shower and change. Her chores over the summer had always been the same. Tend the garden, feed the animals, finish the laundry, etcetera.
She was hanging the drapes back up in the kitchen when the door burst open and as quick as possible she shot a hex towards it.
Ron was blown backwards and hit the back of his head on the door jam. "Ow! What the fuck? You crazy BITCH!"
"Ron?" Her mother rushed in and held Ron's head in her hands, examining the injury.
"I didn't" Ginny started.
"Why would you do that to your brother?" Her mother screeched at her. "How dare you attack him!"
Ginny froze standing on top of the bench on the other side of the room watching the care with which her mother cleaned and healed Ron's head. She gently helped him to the kitchen table and more of her brothers filed into the kitchen and glared at her. She couldn't help but watch the love her mother showed her youngest brother, and though back to how long ago it was the she had last received a hug.
There was a strong stinging sensation at the back of her eyes, and a tingling in her nose. Ginny ran out the door before she started to break down in front of them. They didn't let her explain. They probably wouldn't have listened to her anyways.
"Ginny, what happened to the wall?" Her father shouted after her as she ran past. She hadn't gotten around to washing and repainting the outside of the kitchen yet. She ran to the pond and wanted to scream.
Why did they have to come home? Where the fuck were they yesterday while she was under attack? She sat at the waters edge and stared at it. She was sweating in the heat, and with all the work she'd been doing. The water looked refreshing. With out putting any further thought into it she stripped down to her bra and knickers and waded in past the weeds and lay back to float.
For a moment she wondered if she drowned herself, would they be sad or annoyed that they had to deal with the body? She stared up at the clouds and tried to imagine a day that she might be happy again. Probably never here. Even if they would all shut up long enough to listen. Or if she could muster up enough courage to tell them.
A glint of something caught in her peripherals. For a second, she saw the sun reflect of the glasses of a dark mop of messy haired head. Harry seemed to be spying on her from behind a tree. She cringed thinking about how she was dressed and his full-frontal view of her from the tree he was hiding behind. It didn't concern her enough to do anything about it. She sighed and closed her eyes, her life was so fucked up.
She stayed out and away from the Burrow for as long as the light stayed in the sky. Harry had left his hiding spot behind the tree after a few minutes and she'd carried on floating for another half hour at least. Then wandered around until dark and made her way back inside.
The rest of the Burrow occupants were in the kitchen when she arrived. They all glared at her, except for Harry who blushed lightly and avoided her eye. She remained silent and walked through the room to head back up to her bed. She prayed silently that they would head back to their secret location soon.
()()()()()()()
It had been a relief to come back to Hogwarts.
Only one brother left at school that she could easily avoid. Her bed and desk in her dorm had her spells to make her dormmates forget about them, so they left her alone. Her little business of writing essays for people, which she was considering expanding to certain potions that wild and randy teenagers would generally be in need of, was back up and running.
Ginny was really good at potions. Professor Snape wasn't the best teacher, letting his smarmy annoyance and distain for 'children' shine through every lesson. But he wasn't the Potions Professor this year. He was DADA. In the first week alone with Professor Slughorn she'd come to learn new aspects of mastering potions that she hadn't even read about. Chemical compositions and marriable substances and the like. Ginny had had to pay extra close attention to what he'd said as they all brewed.
The idea of taking standard potions and tweaking them to be something a little better, or slightly different, was something she thought she might be capable of. For the first time since she was 10 she had some idea of what she might want to do after Hogwarts. As clearly a career in Quidditch was much to far fetched.
Becoming a Potions Master was something interesting, solitary, exploratory and potentially fulfilling to do with her life. Ginny started feeling better, less hollow. And her idea for what potion she would start off trying to tweak came from her dorm mates who were complaining about the taste of hangover potion.
Altering a taste might be a good place to start off. It felt so good to just bury her head in her project. She had focus now. One that didn't involve stalking rapists. And it was shaping up to be a very peaceful year.
Ginny still used her Notice-Me-Not charm in the corridor, but everyone basically ignored her in classes. She wasn't unaware of how sad it was that this was her idea of a peaceful existence. All she had wanted before coming to Hogwarts was to make a ton of friends, get on the Quidditch team- the Gryffindor Quidditch team- and have Harry Potter decide she was amazing and fall madly in love with her.
That thought actually made her laugh out loud. Luckily she was alone when that happened. She may still harbor some wistful ideas when it came to Harry Potter, and he may have noticed her when she was next to naked and thoroughly soaked floating in the pond, but there was no way.
Ginny shook her head and cringed at the memory of the last two episodes she'd had with the opposite sex. She'd had her revenge when it came to Adrian Pucey, but melting part of Fabian's face, and hopefully part of his revolting dick too, hadn't been enough.
The whole rest of the summer she'd been anticipating another surprise visit from the three Death Eaters at the Burrow, but perhaps they somehow knew that she wasn't the only one there anymore. They could have had one of their Junior Death Eaters come after her in retaliation too at school. She knew for sure that Draco Malfoy had the mark, no one in her year seemed to though.
While she waited to be attacked she just kept her head down. Even in potions she did what she could to fly under Slughorn's radar. He seemed to collect the top students and invite them all to dinner parties. She didn't care for that at all, so her potions were kept basic and passable. The same for her potions essays. She would actually write out her true essays and sell them to her fellow peers and watch as they received their Outstanding marks.
It gave her some kind of twisted pleasure watching them benefit from her insights.
Meanwhile, havoc was being wreaked beyond the grounds of the school. She couldn't hold back her curiosity, or block out the gossip of what Tom Riddle was having his followers do. Muggle's and Muggleborn's were going missing all over the countryside. People in office at the Ministry were making calls and passing laws that didn't seem right.
The later into the year it got, the worse the world around them became. It found its way into the school as well. Katie Bell was cursed with something meant for the Headmaster. And then Ron was poisoned, then saved by none other than Harry Potter himself.
That was two of her family members he'd saved, in as many years, from the brink of death. She'd wrestled with the urge to go and visit Ron in the hospital wing. He wouldn't want to see her, but she didn't know if he would even be conscious.
In the end she did go, but under her charm. She sat across the room from him for nearly three hours, and was relieved to see that aside from his slightly paler coloring, he was fine. She watched in humor as he pretended to be asleep while his girlfriend checked in on him. Then with more humor after she left and he tried to look his best and brightest for his 'friend' Hermione. Harry had been there too.
Ginny felt the urge to both laugh and growl when she learned this was all coming about because of a love potion Romilda Vane had sent Harry that Ron intercepted. Vane was some fourth year Gryffindor that had it bad for him apparently. Ginny fought the dark thought of wishing Vane had been one of Pucey and Belby's victims. At least that way she would have had a better understanding of why you shouldn't try to take someone's free will away.
Ron, it seemed, was going to be fine, and there wouldn't be any lasting damage from the poison. It did look like he was disappointed that he would still be required to do his homework, and he'd be missing playing a Quidditch game. All normal Ron behavior.
School carried on as normal right up until near the end. The night the Death Eaters came in. The night that Dumbledore's lifeless body fell from the Astronomy Tower.
Ginny had been headed up to the tower on the south side of Hogwarts, near the Divination classroom to place Blaise Zabini's final Arithmancy assignment in it's designated pick-up spot when she saw, through a window, the Headmaster's body fall. At first she thought it had just been a trick of the light. But she went closer to the window's edge and saw the twisted body on the cobblestone below, with her eyes open in horror.
Person after person came to surround the body. She heard shouts and watched as one by one every person below raised their wand in memorial. The light caused Ginny to look up into the clouds and she saw the mark of the Death Eaters.
At the time she hadn't realized the body belonged to the Headmaster. It had been too far away, and too dark for her to make out who the person was that had been killed.
In a daze she continued to her drop off location and put the assignment there, then returned to her dorm room. Each step she took through the corridors and down the stairs was on autopilot. Someone had been killed by Death Eaters at Hogwarts.
There could still be Death Eaters in the school. In Slytherin.
No.
There were most certainly Death Eaters in Slytherin.
And there was nothing she could do about it.
AN- I had a lot of trouble with this chapter. I actually wrote the first part of it a few months ago, before I decided to do past and present chapters so you all could see what led Ginny to be the way she is in 2004. I realize nothing really happened to her at school, but I can't have some life defining moment happen every school year. She'd established a routine and figured out how to hide herself in plain sight now.
