Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Well, I've finally updated as I promised! It's longer than I had expected, so it took me longer.

I'd like to give my special thanks to Sabrina-Rosalie who gave me such great encouragement on my writing, and kindly informed me of my mistake which disabled those who haven's logged in of leaving reviews. (Silly thing to do:))

But I do hope to see your reviews now that the mistake has been corrected. So please read and review!

Ginny's Mission

Fifty years into the future, Virginia Weasley walked swiftly past the corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, pondering what the headmaster had called her for.

The war against Voldemort was still ranging on, people were self- defending, Aurrors were fighting, even the DA was seriously preparing to become a real army, under the guidance of Harry Potter---the boy who lived, who was pressing himself to an extreme with alert and endless training. Even so, with Fudge's constant arrogance perversion and the ministry's disorder caused by terror and spies, the light side failed to gain the upper hand. Order's business rushed Dumbledor off his feet, but despite of his effort, the Order failed to become as strong as everyone hoped, due to Voldermort's tactics of infiltration and disintegration. The members were, in most of the times, some hind of special agents rather than fighters, gaining information and carrying out small but crucial tasks. So the defense and fights lay on the shoulder of Aurrors, most of whom, under the influence of Fudge, sometimes refused to take the information provided by the Order seriously. Gradually, the situation turned from bad to worse. Houses were burnt down, places of assemblies were destroyed and most importantly, whoever opposed the Dark Lord or stood in his way of ruling the world was mercilessly assassinated or butchered, leaving lots of scared people with the pureblood families that Voldemort favored, who advocated the Dark Lord's idea.

Though both sides were still sometimes avoiding direct encounter of large scale, many people were sensing the nearing of the inevitable final battle. And forced by situation, Dumbledor called for all students above sixth year to be organized and prepared, for all that was to come, bad news and tough time.

So with a heavy heart, Ginny was hurrying towards the headmaster's office, anxious and worried. Password given, the gargoyle jumped aside, revealing the spiral staircase leading to the unforeseen future.

'Good morning, Miss Weasley. We are mostly honoured to have the pleasure of your presence in this meeting.' Dumbledor said, kindly, eyes twinkling above his half-moon spectacles.

Only then did Ginny noticed the other two people present, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. Surprised and worried, Ginny inhaled and asked hurriedly, 'Professor, what's wrong?'
Dumbledor held out one hand to stop her, smiled reassuringly and said, 'Don't worry Miss Weasley, nothing is wrong. We were just about to ask for a favor of you.'

He gestured for Ginny to sit in one of the armchairs in front of his desk, which she obeyed, and offered, 'Lemon Drop?'

Ginny shook her head, 'No, thank you. What is it?'

The professors' expression grew serious and Dumbledor slowly said, 'Ginny, what we are about to ask you to do, is a dangerous risk which might cost you of all your happiness, even your life, if not handled right. You must be aware of this first, and then decide whether you would go on with the task or not.' At this point, he signed slightly and continued, 'Ginny, we hope you can go back to the past to change Tom Riddle.'

Prepared as she was to carry out any mission necessary, she wouldn't have expected this. Having given out a pressed scream, she stared blankly into the space for quite a while, before turning her misted eyes to the headmaster, repeating half to herself, 'go back in time to change Tom Riddle?'
'Precisely,' Dumbledore paused, seeing the shocked and desperate look on her face, sympathy and sadness filled his eyes. Professor McGonagall petted her back in a motherly gentleness, opened her mouth in an attempt to give her at least a little comfort, but managed nothing. And the usually hateful Snape also shot her a concerned glance, feeling sorry and ashamed inside.

It took sometime for the message to sink in. Finally, Ginny asked in a trembling voice, which reverberated heartrendingly in the hollow round room, 'Why?'

'We have to make that decision because,' Dumbledore began in an evenly soothing tone, with a long undetectable sigh buried under the words, 'we are truly losing the war. We've done all the things possible in this time that we can come up with, still we can see no hope. So we searched for possibilities in other times, and one of the best options is to veer the course of things from the beginning...'

Ginny listened half-mindedly, when memories of her first year gradually came back---the first time she wrote in Riddle's diary with uncontainable rejoice, the first time when she found out her blank in memory and Riddle's kind comfort, the time when he humbugged her into the chamber to die and when his cold shimmering figure immerged out of the diary...The terrible memory was so overwhelming that it took all Ginny's self-control not to shiver or sob. 'Why me again?' she whimpered under her tone.

'If you don't want to go, we'll all understand. Honestly, who would want to do this if the situation weren't this bad?' said Dumbledore, who seemed to have heard her whimpering. 'But the reason why we asked you first is that you've had encounters with him, which makes you relatively more familiar with him and therefore more prepared. This, as you understand, is very important.' At that, Dumbledore finished, regarding the girl in front of him silently.

Ginny was not made for heroic deeds at all. Before the age of ten, she was Mummy's 'honey baby', and even in the early years of school, she was still 'silly little Gin' in her brothers' eyes. And the incident in her first year especially gained her the title of 'Object No.1 of Protection'. But through the years, Ginny had grown up on her own accord. Although still obscure among those Star Gryffindors, she got her own perspective and judgments and an unwavering determination that came from her independence. Her appearance, as well as her mind, had matured a lot. No longer was the feline-like little figure, in the place that stood Ginny Weasley now a vigorous redheaded young girl, at the blooming age of sixteen, radiating and charming when she wanted to be. But at this moment, that figure was considerable dimmed by the sudden, uncertain and dangerous and...unnerving mission awaiting her.

It didn't seem right to refuse Dumbledore's request, whatever it was. She sincerely wanted to do anything to help the Order, regardless of any dangers ahead, but this time, she hesitated, mulling over all the information and possibilities. It was not the dangers of the mission that unnerved her, but in order to change the future Voldemort, she had to be friend with him, and how can it be possible with his constantly reminding her about the threat he was about to pose to the world and the harms he would do to all her friends' families and herself? Or maybe she could just find a chance to kill him and end it all?

This thought gave some clarity to the matter, and Ginny, gathering up all her courage, said, 'Yes, I will do it."

Dumbledore's face turned even more sober with respect, and slowly he said, stressing each word, 'Before you make your final decision, I want you to be aware of all the serious consequences that may come out of our actions. I didn't entirely mean the interfere-with-the-future thing, in fact, the prospect of your being near to Voldemort and trying to change him is much more dangerous. Even I don't know how far he'd gone on that path at that time, so I'm not able to warn you of anything. But if anything really goes wrong, you will be faced with the worst. As I said earlier, you may be stuck in the past or even killed, which generally mean the ruin of your life. I'm really sorry to put you at such a risk, but if you think it better not to do this...'

'No, Professor.' Ginny cut off him, finally determined, 'I want to do this.' 'If this is the fate, then let it be. Even if I died, I would still try to make sure some good come out of it. It'll be better than staying here seeing us losing...'her mind continued to go on with the most encouraging thoughts she could think of.

'However I'll give you one day for the final decision. If you don't want to go, it's OK. If you make up your mind, you can use this day to prepare yourself and say goodbye to your family and a few trustworthy friends---we still need some secrecy---and see me here tomorrow morning. I've already contacted your family, and here is their answer,' handing Ginny a thick envelop, Dumbledore continued, 'They will all be here at five o'clock in the afternoon, unless you'd prefer they wouldn't? OK, then they'll come.' He paused a little to look at Professor McGonagall, and then Ginny, 'I've got no more to say. Do you have anything to ask?' Receiving a negative gesture, he sighed and stood up, 'Then Professor McGonagall, would you mind accompanying Ginny to Gryffindor Tower, where I'm sure she needs a good thinking or rest?'

'Of course not, Albus. See you later.' answered McGonagall, who held Ginny close to herself like a daughter and walked out of the wooden door of the headmaster's office.

The next morning, Ginny again stood in front of that door, trying to calm herself and even her breathe. Scenes of farewell came flooding to her mind.

'You will take care, won't you? It's such a difficult and dangerous task but we can't be there for you...But whatever happens, take care, and we hope to see you back safely and...successfully.' said Hermione out of a faked smile.

Harry didn't cover his gloominess, and said plainly, 'I'm sorry Ginny. I didn't do well, I can't defeat Voldemort, and I have to give the burden to you! I hope I can go instead of you...' he shook his head and closed his eyes for a while, 'Do take care, Ginny. You know I'll miss you all the time...'

'I hate the idea of losing my sister, but if you ever compromise to that devil...'shouted Ron using a faked irritation to hide his sadness and anxiety.

Then she was handed from Hermione's arms to her parents'. Molly held her tightly as if not about to let go forever, while Arthur said solemnly, 'Ginny, Voldemort is not someone easy to deal with, and caution is never too much for you. Remember this, don't trust appearance and don't give yourself easily. Maybe you will inevitably do something er...audacious to achieve the goal, but whatever you do, watch every one of your steps, keep your mind to yourself and remember to pull back whenever necessary. Whatever you do, bear this in mind, and you can come back safely. Don't be sad. It is necessity, and now you have the hope of our world. We all wish you success.' With that, Arthur gave her an encouraging hug and left with her mother.

Ginny didn't understand completely the words of her father, but bore it in mind nonetheless. She was just about to try again to make it out, when the door to Dumbledore's office suddenly opened, revealing the white- bearded Professor who was smiling slightly to her.

'Ready yet?' asked the old wizard.

Ginny felt like the world was coming to its end. Desperation again rose in her heart, together with the taste of sour and bitterness. The press of the unforeseen future felt heavy and crushing but there was no way back out. She hoped for nothing but to end this inner struggle as soon as possible.

'Yes, sir.' She answered, trying to sound confident. 'I HAVE to do it and I WILL do it' was all she thought.

'Excellent!' said Dumbledore, leading her in, and got down directly to business, 'We planned to send you back to 1943 when Tom Riddle was the same as your age. I think that'll give you some convenience, do you approve of that?'

'Yes.' said Ginny, still trying to be composed, mulling over the information with the little reason that yet left. 'And I'll use that to get near him.'

'Good. I'll give you a time-turner, which can send you back from the past to when your age required you rightfully to be. I won't use it to send you to the past though, in case it broke during such a taxing journey. Keep it well, and it will save you if danger comes or if you want to come back.'

Saying this, Dumbledore put a metal and glass thing in her hand. It was a time-turner but was more delicate yet more powerful than the one Hermione used in her third year. It had a sapphire-looking cover over the small hourglass and other components which were fixed together on a golden base that was attached to a beautifully carved gold chain. It was really stunning.

Ginny put her hand around it gently, put it in her inside pocket and nodded.

'If you are ready, I'll perform the magic, and you'll be there.' suggested Dumbledore in a kind gentle voice.

All she had been waiting was this moment, but when it really came, a cloud of doubt fleet across her heart. 'Yes, I'm ready.' She said, gave her hesitation no consideration.

Dumbledore had his right arm slowly raised. 'Wish you good luck, Ginny.'

'Goodbye, everyone. Goodbye, silly little Ginny.' She said in her heart, and finally got prepared.

In a flash of light, the world around her seemed to be ripped away. She couldn't think, only felt her body going back rapidly in the black space that surrounded her.

Left in the office, Dumbledore gave a deep sigh, shook his head and walked into the inner room.

A/N: The 'went-on-a-mission' is, as I realized half through this chapter, a rather stupid idea. I've just chosen this in an effort to skip some of the 'time-turner' routines. Where will this lead? I'm not sure. But maybe I'll know it with the development of the story, which I'll try my best to keep reasonable.

I think Ginny had better use a faked last name; do you have any idea about that? I'm not good at names and of course not at English names. If you have a good last name in mind, please leave a review and tell me. I'm looking forward to it!