Chapter 16

March 24th

Blaise,

Well, you'll be glad to know I'm absolutely dying of boredom without you (though with your ego, I really don't think I should be telling you that). Mum won't let me leave the house, and with Harry, Ron, and Hermione gone, there isn't really anyone to talk to. Fred and George stop by occasionally (thank Merlin), but other than that it's incredibly dull. Since I'm the only one of us left, mum spends all of her time fussing over me, which wouldn't be so bad if she didn't put on this awful fake smile all the time. I understand everyone's worried (mum especially, since we haven't seen Ron since before Christmas) but it's the fact that everyone tries to hide it with forced happiness that really annoys me. On the bright side, I've had a lot of time to work on my homework.

Anyway, I hope your holiday has been going better than mine. Maybe I can convince mum to let me go with the twins to work one day and we can meet up (though that's about as likely as Snape resigning to become a ballet dancer). If not, I'll just have to think of something else...

With love,

Ginny

March 27, 1998

Dearest Ginny,

I sincerely apologize that I can't keep you company during break. After all, amusing you is my greatest source of entertainment, and without it, I find myself slipping into irrevocable boredom as well. Perhaps I shall sweep you away in the night so we may run off together and escape such arduous circumstances.

With that said, I have to say your mother sounds absolutely delightful. I can't help but wonder what she'd think of my grand scheme. If she does allow you to go to Diagon Alley, I'd be happy to meet you there, but given your rather interesting comparison, I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon. (And thanks to you, I'll never be able to look at Snape again without the horrible image of him prancing down the halls in a pink tutu.)

Regrettably, I can't say my holiday has been much better than yours by the sound of it. Mum has been off seducing her next husband, so the house has been pretty much empty, but I'm used to it. The truly awful thing is the ridiculous amount of work our dear professors have assigned us seventh years. While the Carrows don't seem as hell-bent on preparing us for our NEWTs as the others, the homework is still going to take much longer than I'd hoped.

Missing you as well,

Blaise Zabini

P.S. Your owl nearly killed himself delivering this letter to me. He's taking a short break, so I'm sending this with my owl and I'll send him on his way back tomorrow. Might I suggest getting a new one?

April 2nd

Dear Blaise,

Do you always have to make everything sound so dramatic? I made the mistake of reading your letter when Fred and George were visiting and, because of my laughing, they seem to think I've been receiving letters from a boyfriend. So they've been pestering me to tell them the identity of my "secret lover" or something of that sort, but (sadly enough) I can't say I mind — it's given me something to do for the past few days.

Speaking of the twins, their birthday was yesterday and I don't think I've seen everyone so happy since the wedding. Obviously Fred and George were up to their usual antics, but Bill and Fleur also stopped by, among others. It was a nice change from how the house has been recently and mum seems to be in a better mood now. I talked to the twins about letting me come to work with them, and they're up for it, so now I'll just have to get mum to say yes. And I'm sorry about Errol (my family's owl). I've told dad before that we should let him have a rest and get another owl to deliver some of the post, but he insists that he does his job well enough. I'm sending this letter with Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon.

You're probably right about the professors trying to prepare you for NEWTs, since I don't have any more homework than I did last year. Just make sure you keep up with the Charms material — we don't want all your hard work to go to waste, right? (But for some reason, I don't think you've been studying very much with Mandy lately.) I promise I'll respond to your letter sooner next time, so you don't have to waste away doing homework.

I told myself I wouldn't ask, but have you heard anything from him? I'm a little worried, since he didn't seem all that enthusiastic about returning home for the hols, and I obviously can't send a letter to him so I was wondering if you had.

With love,

Ginny

April 5, 1998

Gin,

Once again, I apologize, but I haven't heard anything from him. Usually I do write him over the break, but he told me not to this year, and I thought it'd be better not to press the matter. I'm sure he's fine though, so you shouldn't worry too much.

I wish I had something more interesting to tell you, but things have continued to be a dull as ever around here. Although, I did stumble across one of our house-elves the other day who'd decided to have a little too much butterbeer. I didn't say anything to my mum, since she most likely wouldn't have found it nearly as amusing a sight as I did, but I did tell one of the other elves to cart him off to bed. Other than that though, I can think of nothing else that might interest you that wouldn't be completely made up.

Next time, I'd prefer you send your old owl again. This one hasn't stopped zooming around my room since he got here, and I can't get him to leave without a reply. In regard to your earlier question though, what made you think I was being dramatic? I would like to think I was quite serious when I wrote that wonderful piece of work. Though I suppose since it entertained you, it has served its purpose. And I'll have you know I've been getting remarkably good grades (by my standard) in Charms, even if I've been slightly... distracted by my tutor as of late.

Until next time,

Blaise Zabini

April 7th

Dear Blaise,

Well, I asked mum, and she shot down my idea before I'd even finished telling her. The twins offered to sneak me out, but that would just cause more trouble when she found out (and she would, believe me). So I guess I'm stuck here until the hols are over...

I remember Ron telling me about the same thing happening to Winky, one of the house-elves who works at Hogwarts. I'm glad you didn't tell your mum. I think you'd get along with Hermione quite well. I'm sure you've heard about her S.P.E.W. efforts by now. I admire her dedication, but she does seem to take it a little too seriously sometimes. (Dobby must have trillions of tea cozies by now because of her.)

And don't tell me you weren't being dramatic, you prat. I think I know you well enough to say that you tend to exaggerate things more often than not. Just like I think you exaggerate how poorly you're doing in Charms. You seem to pick up stuff quickly, so I'm not sure how you're having so much trouble with it.

See you soon.

With love,

Ginny

Draco flopped down on his bed angrily, a slightly damp cloth pressed against the deep gash above his eye. Leave it to bloody Potter to stir up trouble, he thought, wincing as he pulled the stained fabric away from his wound. I try to help his sorry arse and this is how he repays me? By stealing my wand and leaving me with this? Exhaling, he lifted the cloth to his forehead once again in hopes of stemming the bleeding.

Truthfully, he wasn't sure why he hadn't sold out Potter the first chance he'd gotten. If anything, he'd just been scared, but his mind vehemently rejected that idea. Of course, he also chose to ignore the fact that he was still shaking half an hour after their prisoners had disappeared, and the gut-wrenching sound of Granger screaming in agony echoing through his mind wasn't helping either.

Falling back against the plush covers of his bed, he closed his eyes wearily. The Dark Lord isn't going to be happy when he finds out... he reminded himself with a sense of dread. Their failure this time was just going to give him one more thing to be furious about, and being anywhere near the Dark Lord in a foul mood was never good. It was with this thought that he fell into a fitful sleep, his dreams riddled with haunting shrieks of terror, the horrified cries of someone he called his enemy, and the smiling image of the pretty ginger-haired girl he had come to care so much about.

A small clinking sound stirred the youngest Weasley from her slumber in the early hours of the morning, the noise continuing to irritate her even after she'd covered her ears with her pillow. So it was with a miffed countenance that she slipped out from under her warm covers to pad over to the window, where a ruffled brown owl was pecking against the glass. She recognized it as Blaise's owl, which was a little befuddling since he had probably just gotten her previous letter, as Errol could be a bit slow sometimes. Opening the window a crack, she let the owl hop inside before shutting it against the chilly morning air. She untied the letter without much trouble (Blaise's owl was surprisingly calm), and read the hastily scrawled note.

Gin, I'm not sure if your parents have told you anything yet, but your family is in serious danger. I just overheard my mum talking with her boyfriend, and it sounds like your brother was seen with Potter. It won't be long before they come after you, so for the love of Merlin, keep yourself safe and please don't do anything reckless. I'll send your owl back shortly, but I think it'd be better if we didn't send anymore letters for now.

Blaise

Ginny had just finished reading the letter when there was a knock at her door. Shoving the letter in her desk and shooing the owl into her wardrobe, she called back, "Yeah?"

"Can I come in?" It was Bill, which only added to her confusion.

"Mm-hmm." The door opened and her eldest brother walked in. Without thinking, she asked, "What happened?"

A small crease appeared between his eyebrows. "What?"

"I heard you talking down stairs with mum and dad," she replied quickly. "Did something happen?"

He leaned back against the doorframe, a tired look in his eyes that made him seem much older than he really was. "Ron and the others were caught last night." Her eyes widened with alarm, but he offered her a weak smile. "They're fine. They managed to escape from the Malfoys' place and they showed up a little while ago at Shell Cottage. Fleur's taking care of them now."

Her stomach churned when he'd mentioned the place they'd escaped from, but at least Blaise's letter made sense now. "So we have to go into hiding?" she wondered, her expression downcast. Where would they go? Bill and Fleur would be all right at their quiet little place if they set up enough wards, but staying at the Burrow would be too obvious. And the twins would be in trouble as well... Her eyes snapped up from where they'd been resting on the floor. "Have you told Fred and George yet?"

"I'm off to tell them next. They'll meet up with you at Aunt Muriel's." Ginny grimaced, causing him to chuckle. "I know, not the best place to stay, but at least you'll be safe there. So hurry and pack up some stuff; you're leaving soon."

"Okay," she sighed, oddly calm about the whole affair. Bill pushed himself away from the doorframe and clapped her on the shoulder with a sympathetic smile before heading out the door.

"I'll see you soon, Gin." She closed the door as he disappeared down the stairs and went to release Blaise's owl, who was patiently perched on one of her empty hangers, before scribble him a hurried response.

Thanks for the warning. I'll be fine, so don't worry about me. I'm sorry we can't keep writing, but hopefully I'll be able to see you again soon. -Ginny

Fastening the parchment to the scruffy owl's leg, she sent him on his way and proceeded to pack her belongings.

A/N - Well, I don't exactly like how the formatting translated from Microsoft Word to with the letters, but it can't be helped. As you can see from this chapter, I'm trying to follow the actual storyline of Deathly Hallows (even if I did mess around with some of the pairings : ) ), so I hope that doesn't annoy anyone. As always, I love hearing from you guys and I'll see you next chapter!

-Twilight-Songstress