Chapter Seventeen – A Plan is Formed

Ginny ripped the letter from her mother in half. The tearing sound was pleasing to her ear, so she ripped it half again. And again. Until the parchment was no more than confetti.

"Bloody Mum," Ginny whispered under her breath. Her mother had written, telling Ginny how concerned she was. How the moment school was over that Ginny would go back to counseling, that they would get through this time as a family.

Ginny sighed and leaned back on her bed. She supposed her mum meant well, but the concern was maddening. Now that everything was out in the open, Ginny couldn't even imagine spending another summer at the Burrow, or even worse, Headquarters.

Curled up in a tiny ball, Ginny closed her eyes and pictured Draco in her mind. It had been three weeks since she had felt Draco's hands on her skin. Her need for him was all consuming, and would never be filled.

A knock on the door woke Ginny from her reverie. Slowly, Ginny stood up and walked to the door. To her surprise, Hermione was standing at the doorway.

"What do you want?" Ginny asked dully.

"To talk with you," Hermione said briskly, her hands on her hips.

"Did Ron, Dumbledore or my mum send you?" Ginny asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"I'm here on my own," Hermione said. Ginny could see a look of disgust in the young woman's eyes. This intrigued Ginny. She gestured from Hermione to enter the room.

"What are we talking about?" Ginny asked.

"How to kill V-Voldemort," Hermione said.

Ginny arched one eyebrow. Now she was really interested. "Where's the rest of the golden trio? Shouldn't you all be discussing this together?" Ginny asked sarcastically.

"I happen to be able to get along without them quite well, thank you very much," Hermione snapped. "There are things I'd rather talk to you about."

"Very well," Ginny said, shrugging her shoulders.

"I know that you really don't want to work with us. But you're willing to in order to defeat Tom. Right?" Hermione asked.

Ginny nodded slowly. "That's right."

"I'm trying to form a plan in my mind, Ginny. Do you know anything that's useful?" Hermione asked hopefully.

Ginny stayed silent for a moment. She hadn't told anyone what she had learned that day in the owlery. But now might be the time to share.

"He's in love with me," Ginny said slowly.

"You-know-who?" Hermione asked in horror.

"Tom," Ginny corrected. "And through that, a bit of the Dark Lord is probably in love with me as well. He's convinced that when Harry Potter is defeated, he'll get his old body back."

Hermione seemed to think about this. Ginny played with the necklace Draco had given her for Christmas. She could wear it now without wanting to cry.

"If he thought you were in danger, would he try to save you?" Hermione asked.

"If he thought there was no risk to him, I'm sure he would," Ginny said. "But if he thought it was a trap, he wouldn't go for it."

"Are you still in contact with him?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"I force him out of my mind when I realize he's there," Ginny said quickly.

"But what if he's there and you don't realize?" Hermione asked.

Ginny walked to the window and looked out at the quidditch pitch. It looked like the Hufflepuff team was practicing. "I always know when he's there," Ginny said, not bothering to turn around to look at Hermione.

"Did you enjoy working for the dark side?" Hermione asked suddenly.

Ginny spun around and looked at Hermione like she had never seen her before. Their eyes locked.

"I thought we were friends," Hermione whispered. A tear fell down her check and Hermione wiped it angrily away. Ginny saw her left hand and her jaw dropped. Hermione was wearing a thin silver band with a small diamond.

"You and Ron are engaged? When did this happen?" Ginny asked.

"Do you care?" Hermione asked, all business again.

Suddenly, Ginny realized she did care. She cared very much so. But she couldn't seem to tell Hermione this. So she went back to the window and looked outside.

After a minute, Ginny heard the door closed. Ginny glanced behind her; Hermione had left the room.

That night, Ginny dreamed of the attack on Hogwarts. But this time, instead of ignoring her pleas for help, Draco flew with her, and together they saved as many students as they could.

----

Just a week later, Professor Dumbledore called her into his office. She was surprised to see Harry, Ron, Hermione and Professor Snape all waiting for her.

"Please sit down, Miss Weasley," Professor Dumbledore said kindly.

"I'd rather stand," Ginny said tensely.

"As you wish, Miss Weasley. Using what you have told me in confidence and what Miss Granger has shared, I have come up with a way to defeat Voldemort forever," Professor Dumbledore said.

Ginny's eyebrows shot up. She hadn't thought that a plan would be concocted so quickly.

"Tell me what I have to do," Ginny said quickly.

"This is complicated, Miss Weasley," Professor Dumbledore said quickly. "You say that Tom is in love with you, correct?"

Ginny nodded slowly. Harry, Ron and Hermione were all staring at her interestedly. It was obvious that Professor Dumbledore hadn't shared his plan with them.

"However, from what you've told me, there is something that he wants more desperately than anything else in the world."

"And what's that?" Ginny asked sarcastically, thinking the answer to be killing Harry.

"To get his old body back."

"What?" Ginny whispered.

"This is what we're going to do..."

----

Two nights later, Ginny, wrapped in Harry's invisibility cloak, snuck out of the common room. In her hands was a satchel, with a map and some provisions and her broom. It was three o'clock in the morning. As Ginny stepped out of the common room, she realized that her shoes were making a loud noise on the tiled floor. Quickly, she took her shoes off. She would put them back on once she was out of the castle.

Looking back, Ginny wasn't sure why she agreed to Professor Dumbledore's plan so quickly. She did know, though, that the plan was brilliant, but hardly fool-proof. Ginny was very aware she might be killed.

But it was a risk she was willing to take.

Because of the cloaks, she had to walk very slowly. But before she knew it, Ginny slipped through a small door and found herself outside. She glanced up and saw that there was no moon tonight. The darkness around seemed to consume her.

Ginny knew better than to cast a spell out in the darkness. Someone could easily be looking out their window and see her. She shivered; even though it was April, she was quite cold.

She started walking without the use of the invisibility cloak. When she was at least four miles outside of Hogwarts, Ginny finally brought out the map.

The map led to a field more than two hundred miles away, far from Hogwarts and far from Tom Riddle's house, where Voldemort was waiting. Ginny put the cloak in the satchel and then threw that over her shoulder. Mounting her broom, she started flying south, towards the direction of the field.

It was decided that Ginny could only fly under cover of night. Her disappearance would be reported soon; it would be too risky to travel during the daylight hours.

Two hours later, Ginny stopped near a small forest. She flew up to a thick branch, where she could sleep.

Ginerva...

"Go away Tom," Ginny muttered, half-asleep.

You are not at Hogwarts...

Ginny snapped awake. Using all of her concentration, Ginny forced Tom out of her mind. It was absolutely imperative to the plan that Tom doesn't appear until Ginny called for him.

When Ginny woke up again, her stomach was grumbling. Glancing at her pocket watch, Ginny saw that it was already three o'clock in the afternoon. She started nibbling on a cauldron cake. Her stomach immediately felt better.

She spent the next few hours staring at the small muggle town that the forest was near. Cars were going back and forth, stopping, and then people getting in and out of them. She saw a few children playing in a playground. Finally, she decided that it was dark enough to risk traveling again.

She mounted her and felt the cold wind brush against her cheeks. There was no longer a new moon, she could see a silver of the moon staring back at her.

Tom crept into her mind. She let him linger, but would not let him stay long.

Ginerva...what are you doing?

It was time to set the plan in motion.

"I miss you so much, Tom," Ginny said with a sob. "I want to be with you, only you."

Do you mean this, Ginerva...

Ginny heard a trace of hope in his voice.

"Yes, Tom. I do," she whispered.

Then we will be together. Do not worry. You should go back to Hogwarts. I can see that you are frightened...

"I want to be with you now," Ginny said fiercely, picturing Draco in her head.

What ever do you mean, Ginerva?

With a sigh, Ginny answered. "I'm coming to find you."

----

A/N – Sorry this took so long to update. Next chappie won't take so long. Promise!