A/N: Chapter Six! This chapter should be called "Gryffindor Lioness"—but that's only if it gets where it's supposed to be going. Meaning that I can't put that many memories in this chapter. If any. We'll see.

I'm back! And I'm never leaving again, I swear to God. It's called getting an overload of creative energy that results in new fics… I am now writing ten fics and have another TEN in planning. ARGH.

If any of you would like me to e-mail you when I get a new chapter up, please, please, please leave your e-mail address (or sign in if you're a member) AND TELL ME THAT YOU WANT THE E-MAIL.

Pairing: Ginny/Draco, Hermione/Severus

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Um… I don't own it?

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Ginny breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the train in the distance. It wouldn't be more than three minutes now. Which was especially good, since she was in danger of being caught up in the past, and now, when everything depended on her actions in the present, that was not a particularly good idea. Why, oh why did she have to Draco now after all these years? Why couldn't it have been at a different time? Her emotions were crazy enough without him in the picture.

She landed on the roof, knowing that they now knew she was there, due to the charm they had placed on it. She hopped through the hole made by Cordelia Parkinson earlier that day and checked her watch. 2:58. She had two minutes to make a deal.

"Why hello, my dear," a voice purred from the doorway of the compartment. It took a moment for it to register as Cordelia Parkinson. "What are you doing here?" she asked, stepping into the room. Ginny glanced down at the woman's feet, swallowing as she saw Auror Salinse's lifeless body on the ground. The older witch followed the younger's gaze. "Yes, he's dead. Didn't put up much of a fight… Who would have thought that he was the 'best of the best'?" She laughed, the sound a cruel one. "Expelliaramus!" she shouted.

Ginny made a small sound in her throat as her wand flew through the air at Cordelia. The woman smirked, catching it and putting it inside her robes. Ginny swallowed. "I'm here to exchange myself for the hostages," she said, her voice steady, although inside she was quaking at the loss of her wand.

An eyebrow was raised delicately in answer. "I see. Lucius!" she yelled.

"Yes, my dear?" the man asked, appearing in the doorway, leering at Cordelia.

"It seems Professor Weasley is here to exchange herself for the hostages," the woman purred.

Lucius turned his lecherous gaze to Ginny, and she felt herself shiver in response. He smirked. "Looks as though the little Gryffindor lioness is really a cub in disguise," he laughed evilly.

Ginny froze. He couldn't know, could he? She shook herself inwardly. Of course he didn't. No one knew, except Hermione of course. She straightened. "Mr. Malfoy, I am here to give myself up for the hostages. I request that you release them as promised in your demands."

Lucius tilted his head. "Little girl," he snarled, "you have no authority here." He paused, composing himself. "However…" he walked out of the compartment. "Crabbe! Goyle!"

Ginny heard mumbling which she supposed were the two he had just called. Suddenly the train stopped. She heard the shuffle of feet and let out the breath she had been holding. At least they were letting the children go.

"Cordelia!" Lucius yelled. "Bring her."

Cordelia's upper lip curled in amusement and she grabbed Ginny's upper arm, pulling her out into the corridor and down to the front car. She threw Ginny forward, causing the younger witch to lose her footing and fall down on her knees. "Here she is," the older witch purred.

Ginny looked up. There were six other students in the room, most of them first, maybe second, years. Lucius had his wand trained on one of them. He smirked at her. "Well, Professor Weasley… So glad you could join us. You're just in time for a little fun!" He turned to the student in front of him, a boy, brown-haired, blue-eyed, probably Muggleborn judging from his clothes, and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"

"No!" Ginny shouted, jumping forward. But she was too late. The boy was dead. She cradled him in her arms, tears streaming down her cheeks, and looked at Lucius, her gaze filled with hate. "Why?" she whispered.

Lucius raised an eyebrow as though he found the question stupid. He held up his pocket watch. "It's 3:05. One student every fifteen minutes, remember?"

Ginny's eyes narrowed and she could feel herself stiffening. "Why are they here?" she asked, jerking her head towards the other students.

"Collateral. We didn't get what we want and although I know that you'll be enough to convince my son," he scowled blackly, "I don't think you'll be enough to convince everyone else."

"Get. Out," Ginny whispered menacingly.

"Who's going to make us?" Cordelia asked haughtily.

Ginny growled. Only it wasn't a growl you would expect a human to make. Then again, it didn't much matter whether a human would make it or not, especially since she wasn't a human anymore.

She was a lioness.

And she was angry.

She had been provoked.

Those who had provoked her—by murdering one of (what she thought of as) her cubs—had dared to make fun of her.

She growled again, racing at Lucius. He didn't have any time to react, and by the time he'd gotten over his shock, she had broken his wand. The wizard let out a strangled cry and fell to the ground, his face buried in his hands. Cordelia had fainted, and Ginny leapt forward, nosing through the older witch's clothes until she found the woman's wand. She bit it fiercely, growling all the while.

Ginny turned back to Lucius, growling at him. He backed up until he hit the door and fled out of the compartment, completely disregarding the unconscious woman on the floor. Not that anyone was surprised that he did… After all, he was Lucius Malfoy. The lioness hissed at his retreating back before looking back at Cordelia. She seemed to be regaining consciousness, if the fluttering of her eyelids were any indication. The witch froze, as though suddenly remembering what had happened.

The younger witch—although she was currently a lioness—growled deep in her throat and put a restraining paw on Cordelia's chest. The woman opened her eyes wide and fainted. Again.

Ginny closed her eyes and transformed back into a human. "Bitch," she whispered, completely disregarding the children in the room. The sound of a child crying jerked her back to reality. She turned and stepped forward, pausing when the children backed away from her. They seemed…scared of her. There were two girls and three boys. "I'm not going to hurt you," she whispered. "Please, can you help me? I need something to transfigure into a rope, preferably some cloth of some sort."

One of the boys stepped forward. "M-my trunk is right there," he stammered, pointing to the corner of the compartment.

Ginny smiled reassuringly at him and quickly got a robe out of the trunk, transfiguring it into a canvas-like material that was easy to weave into a rope. She'd always been good in transfiguration, although she'd been better at charms. It was nice to put it to good use. She turned back to Cordelia, binding the woman's hands behind her back as the woman came to again, and binding her feet as well. She got her wand out of the older witch's robes, smiling as she felt the cherry wood against her palm. Oh, how she'd missed it! She almost laughed. She'd only lost it for a few minutes.

Turning back to the children, she looked at the boy who had told her about the trunk. He was definitely new to the school, and had black hair—so much like Harry's, she mused—and brown eyes. He was looking at her inquisitively. She smiled at him again. "My name is Professor Weasley. I'm going to be your Charms instructor when—" she was careful not to say if—"we arrive at Hogwarts. What's your name?" she asked the boy softly.

"Jonathan," he said quietly.

Ginny gave him a small smile. "That's a nice name." She glanced at the other four. "What are your names?"

One of the girls stepped forward, blonde haired and green eyed, and said, her voice shaking slightly, "My name is Eliza Evans, professor, and this is Dora," she pointed at the other girl, who was also blonde, although she had blue eyes. "She's my cousin."

Ginny smiled at the girls. "Those are very nice names," she said, flinching inwardly. She was already repeating herself. "What about you two?" she asked the two boys who hadn't spoken. One had brown hair and gray eyes while the other had sandy blonde hair with hazel eyes. It was the latter one who answered her.

"I'm Daniel, ma'am."

The other stepped forward. "How do we know we can trust you?" he asked, frowning.

Ginny raised a brow. She hadn't expected any opposition. "You don't know the Weasleys?"

He tilted his head. "I don't see why it makes any difference."

"Do you know the Malfoys?"

The brown-haired boy scowled. "Yes."

"We are the opposite of what you believe the Malfoys to be. Weasleys, that is. Gryffindors, every one of us, and not a one sided with Voldemort, neither willingly or unwillingly."

He still didn't look as though he believed her, but 'the wind had gone out of his sails,' as she'd heard at one point. "My name is Ron," he whispered.

Ginny's heart clenched. "My brother's name is Ron."

Ron tilted his head again and shrugged. "Huh," he said.

Ginny shook her head. Now was not the time to get sentimental. But what to do? What could they do? It seemed as though there was nothing to do except wait to be rescued—but her feministic side (a very large part of her, in fact) objected. She should be able to do something…

But what?

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A/N: This was finished on April 6, 2003 because I caved and started writing. Lol, I find it kind of funny. Well, I'm back! Finally…

Chapter 5 (or before) Replies:

Nugristiel08LG: Glad you found it worth the wait. Hope this meets your standards as well, especially since the wait was even longer this time.

LadyRhiyana: I loved the fierce Quidditch captain Ginny as well. I'm glad you like the Hermione/Severus undertones. Not very many people like that 'ship, which is why I'm trying to keep it to undertones and not fluffy scenes. Glad you loved the whole Draco-being-protective-of-Pansy thing… I enjoyed writing that. I enjoyed writing that whole chapter, actually. And you finished Unforgiven! Yay! :D

KeeperOfTheMoon: I'm glad you like it so much. ^^

Neca: Glad it meets your standards… And what IS the all-common D/G plot?

Freak like me: Thanks. :)

harrypotter4ever: Yes, memories. Not this chapter, but maybe the next… I'm not certain yet.

sassw14: You're welcome, and thank you. ^^

SarahSenior04: Yes, I suppose it is the writer's privilege to take as much time as they need. I don't much like it when writer's either do a half-assed (oops, excuse the swear) job or only write half a chapter just so they can get it out. For me, it's either all or nothing.

Jade Stellar: There will be more history. When, I don't know, but maybe the next chapter? Glad you liked Dennis. He was fun to write.

Amadrieclya: You are on the updates list. :D

opal.star: Glad you liked that line. Hehe. Fred and George are funny characters.

tortify: Well I hope you're not dead yet, 'cause chapters should be coming pretty regularly after this!

Taunting Ave: Glad you're liking it. Thanks! Glad you're attempting to come to grips with the Hermione/Severus pairing. I know it's not a favorite of a lot of people's, but it is of mine, and I didn't know who else to pair Hermione with, lol. It would have either been Severus or a new character, 'cause I can't pair her with anyone from Gryffindor. Well, maybe Percy, but… Well, I didn't think of it then, lol.

ringette-chick: Actually, Snape is only about 40 years old, maybe 38 at the youngest. Think about it: Snape was in school with Harry's dad, right? So they were the same age, and I imagine that James and Lily got married right after graduation, and had Harry really soon, so if Hermione is the same age as Harry, and Snape was the same age as James, then they're only 18 years apart, maybe 20 at the most. Glad you still like the story though, hehe.

Felicia22: Thanks!

Reply to all for Author's Note:

Thank you all (harrypotter4ever, Wind and Ashes, Nugristiel08LG, opal star, jax) so much for your support! It's really helped me stay on track.