I'm SOOO SORRY. Everyone I can't explain how sorry I am that I basically took a millenium hiatus without telling anyone, but my junior year killed me, and now I just finished with college apps, so I'll be able to return to writing regularly...

I'm sorry I haven't been able to respond to all the AMAZING reviews... this story has become much larger than I ever hoped it to be and you all have stuck with it time and time again!

Since there has been such a long gap between updates there's a quick recap of everything that has happened up to now to refresh your memories.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

*Recap*

Hermione is at Hogwarts researching horcruxes while Harry and Ron search for them and bring them to her until they know how to destroy them. Hermione is head girl, and the head boy is Blaise Zabini, who she later discovers is in an open relationship with Draco Malfoy who is a spy along with Severus Snape for the Order (Still hbp compliant). She falls in love with them, and though having a rocky relationship at times, they stand strong. Hermione has also taken up DA, and befriended Zacharias Smith, who has become a spy in the organization she calls "the junior death eaters". Hermione learns that with an act of love and basilisk venom she is able to destroy the horcruxes. In doing so, she creates a dementor named Inky. After destroying the horcruxes, a plan is mad for the final battle, and Harry and Ron return to Hogwarts as the school prepares for war. At the end of the last chapter, they are informed that Ginny Weasley has been kidnapped, and they must change their battle plan because a spy has told Voldemort.

*end recap*

Ginny Weasley did not hesitate to admit that she had messed up. She knew she shouldn't have snuck out alone and followed that tosser. But when she saw him sneaking out of the Great Hall she knew something was up. And she had been right. She caught him red handed that traitor.

She followed him all the way to the Dark Forest where he had been meeting up with a Death Eater. And she had almost gotten away with spying and being able to tell the others about the traitor! She had taken every precaution to not get caught. She'd used a disillusionment charm, and Muffliato. She would've never been caught if it had been any other Death Eater the stupid traitor met up with.

But no. Couldn't have been Dolohov, Rookwood, or even that bitch Bellatrix. No it had to be bloody Fenrir Greyback, who could smell her. She'd been caught and brought to Malfoy Manor, and placed in this bloody room. She was lucky that Rabastan Lestrange was with that filthy beast otherwise he would have bitten her with his foul mouth, and likely raped her too- but Rabastan had realized how "valuable" she was.

She was surprised that she hadn't been thrown in the dungeons. The room she was imprisoned in was quite nice actually, but a prison nonetheless. They'd stripped her of her wand, and the door and windows were all warded. She'd already tried smashing the blasted things with a lamp.

If the door had been a sentient being, it would've cowered away at the glare Ginny was giving it. Ginerva Molly Weasley was most certainly not a witch to be trifled with. She looked around the room trying to find something that would be useful, there was only a wooden rocking chair, and a bookshelf. She had to escape for Harry's sake and hopefully she'd take a few of those bastards with her.

Well the books were mostly useless. She pulled a couple of the larger one's off just in case- they could be used to chuck at someones head if need be. Then she examined the rocking chair. What could one do with a rocking chair? Well, it was wooden. And a moving chair would propel her faster if she jumped off of it. A plan was starting to form in her mind.

Oh, they wouldn't know what hit them. If they thought that her Bat-boogey hex was bad, they'd really need to get be prepared for this.

Hermione could've screamed in frustration. How had she not noticed before? The person she had tied to a chair in McGonagall's office was certainly not Ginny Weasley. And she was waiting for the polyjuice potion to wear off so she could find out exactly who this tight-lipped imposter was. It should wear off any minute now-

And the fake Ginny Weasley's face began to bubble and melt, transforming into a face Hermione Granger had scarred for life. Marietta Edgecombe. As Hermione recognized the girl, she began to smile rather smugly.

"Bet you wish you had never jinxed that parchment now Granger!"

Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously into slits. "Why you bi-"

Ron held her back as she thundered toward the red-haired Ravenclaw.

"It won't help 'Mione," he whispered gently. Hermione immediately calmed and stepped back, looking oddly at this Ron. It was strange how things changed- had Hermione pictured this situation a few months back, she would've pictured their reactions to be the reverse. Ron really had matured.

McGonagall finally returned to the room, a vial of clear liquid in her hands, and quickly administered it to Marietta, who spluttered as the truth burned down her throat. Hermione had to refrain from smirking as Marietta's eyes went glassy and the veritaserum kicked in. And the interrogation began.

"What is your name?"

"Marietta Edgecombe," a toneless voice repled.

"Where is the real Ginny Weasley?"

"At Malfoy Manor."

"What do the intend on doing with her?"

"Using her as bait to catch and destroy Harry Potter."

"Why did you join the Death Eaters?"

"Revenge." The word hung in the air, heavy on their minds as they looked at the once innocent Ravenclaw with the word SNEAK marred upon her forehead.

Ginny Weasley was poised ready to attack when the golden door knob finally began to twist. The door opened and she catapulted from the chair as it gave one final rock, a blur of red as she slammed her weapon into the skull of some nameless Death Eater and landed on top of them, continuing to bash their head till it was clear that they were unconscious.

The Death Eater never really had a chance. Ginny dragged the body further into the room, and quickly took the robe, mask and wand of the Death Eater she had brought down. Alecto Carrow.

Ginny Weasley had gotten lucky, the robes of the short woman would fit much better than any other Death Eaters. She slipped the mask on and walked out of the room nonchalantly as the door clicked shut. She was one step closer to escaping the Manor. She wouldn't let Harry down.

Harry Potter clutched his head in his hands as the weight of the situation crashed down upon him. Ginny- how could they have gotten to her? He had tried to make she was safe at every turn, since the day he had saved her from the Chamber of Secrets...

But she had become so much more to him than that. She was what kept him going when they were horcrux hunting. Her hair, her eyes, the 63 freckles on her nose- that was what he pictured before he went to sleep.

A shock of red hair appeared next to him as his best mate clapped him on the back.

"Gin can handle herself mate. And we'll rip those snake-bastards to shreds."

Harry tried to give Ron a small smile but failed.

"How are we supposed to fight Giants Ron?"

Ron's nose scrunched up as he struggled to give Harry and answer. Harry watched as Ron's face suddenly lit up with an idea.

"Fancy a game of chess?"

The hallways of Malfoy Manor was long, dark, and cold. Portraits lined the wall, glancing at her snottily and raising their chins as she walked past. She wondered how Malfoy's ancestors would react if they realized she was really a blood-traitor Weasley. That was certainly an amusing notion.

Now that she escaped the confines of her prison she tried to figure out how she was going to get to Hogwarts. She couldn't Apparate there. The Floo would probably be closed. So what to do? A portkey would be ideal, but she didn't know how to make one of those. Not to mention, she wasn't sure how Carrow's wand would react to her with such powerful magic. It felt out of place and gave her a dreadful prickle.

She really wanted her old wand back. But how to find it?

As she continued walking deeper into the bowels of Malfoy Manor she heard another set of footsteps, and quickly hid herself around a bend.

As the footsteps grew closer she could hear the inane cackling of the only woman who could freeze Ginny in her shoes.

Bellatrix.

Ron could've laughed at the look of incredulity on Harry's face if it weren't for the grave situation they were in at the moment.

"A game of chess Ron?"

He nodded, and pulled his best mate up, heading towards a tapestry they knew well. Harry protested the entire time, and Ron ignored him as he paced three times in complete concentration and a large wooden door appeared.

He dragged Harry into a room that was creepily familiar.

In front of them was a life size chessboard almost exactly like the one they had come across in their first year, except this one was much larger.

And as Harry looked closer there were far more pieces than in an ordinary chess match. Pieces that looked nothing like regular chess pieces. There were two spaces empty, and just like in first year, they went to take their places.

Ron surveyed the board on his place sitting on they gray horse as he looked across the chess pieces. The spot to his left where the stone statue of Ginny should've been was empty and instead surrounded by black pieces on the opposite side of the board. An exact replica of Kingsley was on his right, and Harry had taken his place in the queen's square. It was a very strange thing to see your friends around you carved in lifeless stone. The game had already begun before they arrived so there were already pieces broken and cast to the side, and the formation was not perfect to mimic the action that had already happened.

What Ron found interesting though was the piece that was Ginny's that had once been white had turned grey on the other side, and was now sitting in the rook's seat next to Snape's knight, while Alecto Carrow's stone form lay crushed on the side.

Was the room giving them a tidbit of information that they hadn't had before? That seemed like the only possibility. Ron grinned. That's right Gin. Give them Hell.

The game began.

Bellatrix Lestrange was possibly the most insane person she had ever laid eyes upon. She was skipping and twirling down the dark hallway as if it were a meadow, and zapping the walls with various curses and hexes, not caring about the damage they may have inflicted. She was singing a child's tune Ginny recognized, but the lyrics were most certainly not the innocent ones she had learned as a child.

"My mother tends the garden,

she tends it very well,

I help her tend the garden,

and she teaches me a spell.

I grab the mudblood's hairs,

And pull them out the ground,

And I carve them with my knife,

To see if they will make a sound!

They scream until they cry,

It's music to my ears!

The spell my mamma taught me,

is the last thing they will hear!"

Bellatrix's cackles faded down the hallway echoing and taunting, until she was much further away, and Ginny could finally let out the breath that had been constricting in her chest. That woman was absolutely stark raving mad!

She peered once more down the morbid hallway about to resume her escapade, when her cloak was suddenly restricting her neck and a smooth voice asked.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Revenge.

That word wouldn't cease to grate on Hermione's mind as she continued the training in the Great Hall, once again, unable to do anything but wait as Harry and Ron tried to find a way to save Ginny. Only a few had been informed of Ginny's kidnapping, and it would have been too strange if Lieutenant Granger, as the twins had begun calling her (and of course it stuck), wasn't overseeing training like she did everyday.

So she was here helping correct and mentor their soldiers, but Marietta's words would not leave her mind. Revenge. She had personally driven someone to the dark side. If she were being honest with herself, Hermione knew that she should have removed the enchanted boils from Marietta's face after a week, not refuse to give the counter, and let her be scarred.

Revenge. Even after she had been told the full story- how Marietta's mother's job had been threatened, and how she was a single mother and the only one taking care of Marietta and her sister, she still had shown no mercy to Edgecombe.

And now look where that had led. Revenge. She had handed the dark a potential Death Eater on a platter! Oh, she could make plenty of excuses, she was trying to protect Harry, Marietta deserved it, but what she had done was ultimately inexcusable.

She had planted the seeds of hatred in Marietta's heart, and now she was reaping the bad harvest.

Revenge.

"You Ms. Weasley have proven to be the most reckless, insufferable, foolish, dunderhead in your entire clan!" Snape thundered callously peering down at her over his large hooked nose.

Ginny had the decency to look reprimanded as Snape berated her.

"However, you have also shown yourself to be more intelligent, resourceful, and useful than them as well, and have taken care of possible the most wretched woman aside from Bellatrix Lestrange and Dolores Umbridge, that I have had the misfortune to meet. And had we been at Hogwarts I think I would have been forced to give an abhorrent amount of points to Gryffindor."

Ginny beamed. It wasn't often you got praise from Snape. Snape merely glared in response. "Now Ms. Weasley exactly how were you intending to return to Hogwarts?"

The game seemed as if it were played in slow motion. The magic of the room had some how enabled the players that were not under their control to move on their own, as they would behave or as they currently were behaving.

And by the end of it Ron had discovered the most intricately beautiful strategies he had ever crafted. They would be ready.

The next installment should come soon! I can't apologize enough, and I promise to respond to your lovely reviews again... once again I'm sooo sorry!