For the rest of Christmas break, Ginny did as much as she could to meet with Lupin, Tonks, Draco and her brothers to discuss matters of the Order, but often Ginny found herself wanting to leave the Burrow to escape the loneliness the house suddenly had. She tried to stay supportive of her mother, whom she found more often than not crying over something mundane, and then quickly pretending everything was normal for the sake of her children.
The night before she left to return to Hogwarts, Molly had found herself digging through the attic to find a coat she was sure she had bought for Ginny the year before when she found herself digging through old baby clothes. It was this finding that pushed Molly overboard emotionally and she spent the afternoon sobbing over the clothes. When Ginny found her, Molly was in hysterics. Unknowing what to do, Ginny sent for her father to console the weeping woman. In turn, Arthur had sent a worried looking Ginny to the twins joke shop for the night with the promise of a large send off breakfast in the morning. Nodding, Ginny left the attic and sent her twin brothers a quick Owl asking them to pick her up for the night.
By the time George and Ginny arrived to the joke shop apartment, Fred, Angelina and Draco were already preparing the twins loft for an evening of junk food, drinks and card games. The small crew felt the renewed dread with the approach of Ginny's return to Hogwarts, but the Wesley's were determined to make every gathering joyous and entertaining. During their long game of 'Cards Against Wizards', a muggle game the twins had discovered and had altered it to better appeal to them, Angelina and Draco did their best to join in with laughter and jokes, but failed in keeping their spirits lifted. The twins and Ginny had no problem in cracking jokes in the Carrow's and the Death Eater's expense. No one questioned anyone, no matter how terrible the jokes became or how fake Angelian's laugh sounded because they knew if the fake laughter stopped, or the jokes quit running, nobody would be able to keep their emotions together in the end. Everyone also seemed to have the unspoken recognition that nobody could leave the game floor set-up that night. Well into the morning hours, the group refused to clean up the game, and instead settled into leaning against partners and wrapping blankets around each other. Angelina was the first to fall asleep into Fred, and Ginny was soon to follow. Draco could not decide if he did not feel tired, or if he did not want to miss any moment holding Ginny.
"She's a hell of a lot tougher than she appears." Fred spoke softly as not to wake either of the girls.
"And she can be absolutely terrifying if she needs." George added nodding to his baby sister now curled entirely into Draco's arms.
"I know," Draco sighed, "I just can't shake the – dread. Sending her back to Hogwarts is like sending her into a prison camp and I can't do anything about it."
"I know." George sighed, "I don't want to see her go either. I wish I could stuff her into my closet and lock her there, but we can't do that. She's playing a huge part in this war, just like we are, and she has to do this. She wants to, and she as the ability to hold herself high above this all. All we can do is hold her close while we have her and pray Merlin will keep her safe."
"Out of everyone, we can hope that she will be the most protected, the professors won't let any of the students die from the Carrows, and Ginny can handle her fair share of scrapes and bruises." Fred continued, "I reckon she's the toughest Weasley."
"One of the smartest too."
"I had the chance to kill the Carrows two years ago, and I wish I had." Draco whispered.
"I don't." Fred piped up.
"If you had, You-Know-Who would have put someone competent in their place and then we would be really screwed."
"I guess that's a fair point. I wish she would keep her head down sometimes though. Be a little more Slytherin and not fight everyone's battles for them."
"If she did, she wouldn't be our Gin. Don't get me wrong, I am scared for her, and everyone else in this family is, but I trust her. I trust that if it came to the end for her, she would be smart enough to make it count in the end. It doesn't make it feel any better, so take the time you have together and cherish it."
"I would be more scared for yourself, mate." Fred pipped up after a long silence, "I heard that Lupin and you are organizing and training D.A."
"Oh, Merlin, I hope we aren't still calling it that." Draco gave a humorless chuckle.
"Whatever it is, I'll march beside you if it means You-Know-Who gets put into the ground for good."
"Lupin is organizing everything," Draco explained, "I'm just taking what my father taught me and using it against them. As long as Potter, Weasley and Granger can destroy the Horcurxs, we can take his army down. Everyone is scared, but everyone wants to fight."
"Why did you decide to fight with us?" Fred asked bluntly, "I know what you said the first time, but I couldn't help but to think there was more. And its not just Ginny either, there had to be more."
Draco gave a soft smile into the dim room and nodded.
"I was raised with the fear of the Dark Lord since I was a young boy, but I was also raised with other ideologies that I had troubles accepting when I was old enough to truly understand them. When the Dark Lord returned something was reset into my father. He was never a warm man before, but after…" Draco shook his head, "I never want to become something like him. And I never want to become so scared of my own life I become my mother. When I started running into Ginny more frequently, I became intrigued by her and watching you lot, that's closer to what I want to be. I want to fight for something because I believe in it, not because I am too afraid to turn away from it. I want to be my own wizard, not necessarily what my birthright says I must be. I'm not sure of everything I want to be, but I do know I want to destroy the Dark Lord for everything he has done, and I want my father to come to justice for his actions. Slytherins are supposed to be ambitious, resourceful, determined and clever. I want to be a true Slytherin, not the snake who has no backbone and is full of venom so many of us have become."
The twins nodded quietly taking in Draco's speech.
"I see why Ginny picked you then," George spoke softly.
"When this war is over, we hope you take good care of her."
"If I am still alive, I plan to." Draco swore giving Ginny's sleeping form a soft squeeze to solidify his vow.