Chapter 1: Blessed Be the Fruit
There were a lot of things Ginny wished she could've told her younger self.
The first one was not to open the diary when she was eleven.
The second one was to have actually listened to her mother. She should've stayed at home, not worried about the war, and fled abroad. She should never have ignored her mother when her mother said fighting for the Order was too dangerous for her.
Now that she was nineteen, it was frightening to see how much knowledge she lacked when she was sixteen arguing to fight in a war. She cursed her naivety but at the same time wished for it back.
Every rejection and argument she had with her parents in order to protect her, she had taken as an insult. She felt suffocated and patronised, and her stupid self would blame it on the fact that she was a girl.
It wasn't until after she was captured that she realised they weren't ever doubting her duelling skills. They were protecting her for reasons her brothers wouldn't have to face in captivity. They were aware of how much cruller the world was to a young girl.
The world was still cruel to young girls like her and the others in the same carriage as they were driven forward for the reasons why her parents fought hard for her to be out of the war.
She was never going to be ready to be.
Under the severe gaze of Umbridge, the girls got out of their carriage and lined up in duos with their heads bowed down. Wearing the same matching green robes and matching hairstyles, the girls looked like a single unit. Like mass produced dolls, ready to be displayed on the storefronts of Diagon Alley.
Personally, Ginny didn't find a problem with the monochromatic robes that stripped off their individuality. It was actually quite a refreshing change for her to wear top quality garments instead of mangy hand me downs for once in her life.
Growing up poor, all she could dream about was having her own fresh set of top quality robes, straight from a store without worrying about the price tag.
It was also a bonus that emerald green complimented her eyes and hair significantly. Safe to say she looked very attractive, but in a refined conservative manner.
Just outside the gates of Hogwarts, they grabbed onto the assigned Portkey, spinning them away until they landed in the middle of the large cavernous hall of the Ministry of Magic.
The bustling eyes of the reformed Ministry were on the girls in green as they fought against the disorientation.
Growing up she used to love visiting her father at the Ministry. She loved seeing the flurry of ministry officials, all shapes and sizes, whether they were there for work or to file a tax complaint. Her father would always take her and Ron to the water fountain, where the enchanted hippocampi statues would spray out water that would dissipate into streams of rainbows. She would marvel at such displays while Ron would patiently watch over her as their father would go off to get them some sort of treat from the cafeteria.
Usually they were Chocolate Frogs, Ron's favourites which was why he never complained about being her babysitter.
Thinking of her brother, Ginny's heart lurched as she stared at the grotesque monument that stood in place of her once favourite water fountain.
Magic is Might.
How could anybody look at the horrific sculptures of muggles and marvel at such cruelty.
Pushing her tears back, Ginny turned away from the fountain.
She couldn't bear to look another second at the reminder that everything she had once loved was gone.
Ron, where are you, she thought to herself as all she could see were girls in green dresses and pureblood supremacists. Please come back. I need you.
"Ginevra!"
Bile rose up Ginny's throat as a middle aged redhead woman in fashionable robes came over and kissed her on the cheek.
Ginny remained impassive, as her aunt Gwendolyn gave her a catty once over and beamed at her with approval.
"My dear girl, I cannot believe this day has finally come! Oh you have no idea just how proud I am of you!"
Ginny mentally scoffed at the sight of tears but just returned the banshee a small smile and a shrug.
Her aunt frowned but dismissed it quickly as she yabbered on about how proud her mother would've been, and how she was restoring the House of Prewett back to its original glory. It was a narrative Ginny had tired of hearing ages ago, reiterated ever since her aunt had vouched for her since her parents disappeared. If it wasn't for Gwendolyn Burke née Prewett, who knows what would've happened to her.
At the Burrow, Molly Weasley's life before marriage wasn't spoken of. Sure, there was their Great Aunt Muriel, outspoken and self-serving with no botherance of public decorum. but the Weasley's didn't associate with the Prewetts. Ginny was aware of her uncles Gideon and Fabian, twin brothers of her mother who fought bravely in the First Wizarding War. Her aunt Gwendolyn, however, was always a mystery. She had heard from Charlie that there was a fourth Prewett sibling, but that her mother's younger sister wanted nothing to do with the Weasley's.
All Molly had been willing to disclose that she had no sister, and that the only family that mattered was the one she married into.
After getting to know her aunt, Ginny understood exactly why that was the case.
Gwendolyn Burke was the polar opposite of everything Molly Weasley was.
She was posh, wealthy by the means of accumulating the entire Prewett vault and her husband owning most of Diagon Alley, and a devout Pureblood. She prided on her bloodline, her looks, and her elevated position now that Muggleborns were legally beneath her. She had two children who seemed to be very distant from her, and she carried herself in a warm but condescending manner.
"There are so many illustrious suitors this year," her aunt sighed dreamily, as she led Ginny up to the Hall of Ceremonies. "Cadence Nott's two boys are just so handsome! But you must also keep in mind the elder wizards who may be interested, Rabastan Lestrange has more gold than I can imagine! And Bartemius Crouch Jr. is such a high ranking official! Why you'd basically be the First Lady of the Ministry!"
"Nevermind, the fact that they're old enough to be my father," Ginny murmured under her breath.
"What was that dear?"
"I said I'll be sure to keep that in mind."
Her aunt frowned again but Ginny just plastered on a small smile.
Either her aunt was extremely dim-witted and lacked any social awareness, or she had a lot more temperance than Molly Weasley. Without another word, her aunt tittered off in her too high heels to the Hall of Ceremonies and all Ginny could do was follow her like an obedient, docile daughter.
As she stepped through the grand archways and examined the Hall that had hosted so many marriages and moments of celebrations something of a hysterical giggle threatened to spill out of her. Rows of pureblooded Ministry officials were lined up, standing beneath the Magistrate who was high up and protected in his podium.
The men ranged from as young as 17 to as old as probably 45 all stood grimly, though shimmers of lust and greed shone through their eyes and malicious smirks.
For the first time, Ginny noticed just how eery and disturbing it was to see young girls in green line up opposite these men who could be as old as their fathers. Gwendolyn stood behind Ginny, in line with the other parents of the girls who made up the second row, eager to sell their daughters off for the oh-so-disturbing glorious cause.
Most girls had their eyes averted to the floor, a sign of obedience as they stood in silent resignation.
A few like Ginny, however, looked straight ahead at the men opposite them. To Ginny's disappointment, like her aunt had said, Theodore Nott stood in front of her.
He looked at her but didn't see her, as his brown eyes seemed to focus behind her rather than her eyes.
She remembered back in her Hogwarts days fancying him from afar. He was a good looking bloke, skilled in Charms, and studious like Hermione. He always kept to himself and never entangled himself in malicious antics like Malfoy and his cronies. When she was in her fifth year, before the War had ravaged her life of relative normalcy, she liked arriving to Quidditch practice early just to see if he would interact with her.
He wasn't a Quidditch player, but rather he would sit on the stands scribbling away in his notebook or parchment with dreamy concentration.
She always wondered he would be writing about, but as he would notice her on the field he would depart without saying a word to her.
Teenage crushes were stupid.
And though it was most likely that Theodore was now a Ministry toy or worse, a Death Eater, Ginny couldn't help but hope she would be partnered with him.
Perhaps he would be kind. Perhaps he worked for the Ministry out of duress.
Whatever silly notions Ginny had were shattered, as the Magistrate's voice yanked her back to her dark reality.
Clearing his throat, the Magistrate adjusted his glasses and he peered down on the parchment.
"Weasley."
The bespectacled redhead in expensive robes stepped forward and all Ginny could taste was venom.
Not once had he the decency to even visit her, knowing where she was. And not a single bit did he look remorseful as he stood with the other high-ranking pureblood officials.
He was the epitome of the proud pureblood prodigal son who turned away from his family for the greater good.
He was the poster boy and respected now in society because well… Magic is might.
Percy did a fantastic job at ignoring her existence as he waited in front of the row of girls in green for his new wife.
"You're with Miss Anastasia Greengrass."
Anastasia stiffened next to Ginny, but surprisingly she said nothing as Percy moved towards her with long strides. Ginny felt her jaw tightened and all she could do was glare spitefully at the brother that had betrayed her. Fury burned in her chest as his gaze went beyond her and he sent a nod of acknowledgement to Gwendolyn, who radiated with disgusting pride at clearly her favourite nephew.
Percy offered his arm out for her, which Anastasia took begrudgingly.
The two disapparrated to what Ginny could only hatefully imagine was an expensively furnished residence that was void of anything reminiscent of the Burrow.
She barely had time to stew in her anger and bitterness before the Magistrate called out a name that made her heart stop.
"Lestrange."
Ginny heard her aunt take a sharp inhale of hope as the dark middle aged stepped forward.
He wasn't unfortunate looking, but his age and stone hard stare made Ginny's quiver with nervousness.
"You're with Miss Astoria Greengrass."
Down the line, from the corner of her eye, Ginny saw Astoria flinch. Lestrange moved forward and grabbed Astoria's arm, pulling her close to his chest, his wand drawn out.
Panicked green eyes met Ginny's for the briefest second before the youngest Greengrass sister, disappeared with a pop.
Shakily letting out the breath she didn't know she had been holding, Ginny berated herself for thanking that it had been Astoria and not her who had been sent off with Bellatrix Lestrange's brother-in-law. The thought of being anywhere near her, much less related to her was too distressing to Ginny she would rather slit her wrists than to be chartered off with the woman who had killed Tonks.
As Araminta was called up and paired off with her future husband, the unsettling realisation curled up in Ginny's stomach as she realised the alphabetical order the names were being called out in. Cardinia Farley and Flora Carrow were whisked away and Ginny swallowed as the Magistrate stared down at her.
She refused to back down her gaze from the brown eyes of the law as he waited to announce her sentence.
But for the first time in the longest time Ginny felt a bit like her old self again. Her posture straight and titled chin, she felt the courage that had laid dormant in her for so long ignite for the briefest bit as she raised her eyebrows challengingly to the pudgy old man.
She was Ginny fucking Weasley. A Gryffindor and proud blood traitor.
Do your worst, she wished she could say. Come on.
But again, the world pulled out the rug underneath her and quashed whatever spark of bravery that she had only just reclaimed.
"Your husband is Bartemius Crouch Jr., the current head of magical law enforcement. He awaits you at his threshold."
And with that an Auror grabbed her arm and sucked her away into the unknown.