Chapter 12:

When Ginny awoke the next morning, Hermione was actually still asleep. Ginny looked to the clock- it was still seven in the morning, which was very early for her. She lay in bed a moment, vaguely wondering why she was awake so early. Then it came back to her- Harry was coming today. She felt butterflies in her stomach. Well, there was no way Harry would like her, so why did she even care? She was a Malfoy. He was a Potter- fancying him would be like becoming a traitor to her family, and to Draco. And it would have to be in secret if he ever liked her as well. So she was better off with Michael- she really liked Michael. He was a good boyfriend.

After untwining from her sheets, Ginny got up and took a quick shower, and then dried her curly hair. She decided on wearing a sapphire robe that matched her eyes, but when she finally got dressed, she realized that they no longer matched, and, in a huff, she changed into some silky green robes. When she reentered her room, Hermione was still asleep. Ginny sat down on her bed and started a letter to Draco.

Dear Draco,

I still can't believe your news about- tal Hinch Eck. Dosh Amp Rili Kon. Lark osh ript dine! Mother must be having a heart attack. So what other news is there? Anything good? Things are going steadily downhill here. I hate my hair and eyes, but at least Father removed my freckles… And the Mudbloods and Weasleys are horrid company. So are all their friends. But you'll never guess who's- ugh, I can't write it because of the stupid contract- guess who sees us sometimes? Cousin Nymphadora! She's doing good, but she's a blood-traitor. As are many other people I come into contact with. I hate them! I wish I could go home… And Potter's coming tonight. Don't you feel so bad for me? Do you know who the Defense teacher next year will be? I just can't wait another month until school! This is awful. Do you think the contract will be broken by next summer? Or, better yet, winter break? Here- I'm sending you a new candy I tried the other day, and it's absolutely delicious!

Love Always,

Ginny Malfoy

Ginny sealed the letter with a satisfied smile, and she sent it off with Meryl. Finally, Hermione was beginning to wake. Ginny didn't know why she was waiting for her, but she just was. She didn't want to go downstairs alone- she hated being alone with any of the stupid Order adults, except sometimes Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. They actually were quite funny. Apparently, Harry's dad and Peter Pettigrew were best friends with them once.

Ginny had heard the whole story of the defeat of the Dark Lord from both sides- and this one, believe it or not, was a lot less confusing. According to these people, Peter Pettigrew had been a spy for the Dark Lord, and had been made the Potters' secret keeper, though everyone thought it was Sirius Black. Then, the Dark Lord found the Potters, killed Harry's parents, and somehow couldn't kill baby Harry. Nice fairy tale. Only that was impossible, because there had to be a good reason the Dark Lord wanted to kill Harry, and a better reason why he couldn't.

"Morning," said Ginny passively as Hermione stood up and stretched. Hermione glared at her coldly.

"What's the matter with you?" glared Ginny.

"I thought we'd been getting along well," said Hermione, "And, out of nowhere, you strike out at us. That's not the way you're going to fit in here, Ginny! Why won't you give your birth family a chance?"

"I am giving them a chance!" exclaimed Ginny. "I really like Bill- And Fred and George are cool; I sent Draco a Canary Cream just today!"

Hermione began to say something, but then her lips twitched. "You sent Draco a Canary Cream?" Ginny smiled sinisterly.

"Yes, I did. Isn't Draco so in touch with nature? Ferrets, canaries… you name it, he's been it!" Hermione smiled, and Ginny felt a bit better. Even though she hated her- she was just trying to survive in this house full of enemies.

"So…" she said, apparently trying to start up a conversation, "Which brothers do you not like?"

Ginny thought for a moment. She decided to be absolutely truthful. "I don't like Percy, and I don't like Ron too much."

"Why don't you like Ron?" asked Hermione curiously.

"He's a bit of an idiot," confessed Ginny. "I don't know… maybe we'll be friends one day. Whatever. I like Draco the best." Hermione frowned once more.

"I can't see Draco Malfoy being the big-protective-brotherly type," she said, eyebrows slightly raised. Ginny smiled.

"Well, that's because you don't know him," she explained. "And you're a Gryffindors, and I think that Gryffindors underestimate other people.

"Do you?" asked Hermione, surprised. "But you're a Gryffindor."

"So I've noticed," said Ginny coolly. "I think I underestimate people also. But- do you know what? I am a bit hungry. Want to get breakfast? And what time is Potter coming, anyway?" she tried to ask in an off-hand voice. She noticed Hermione's smirk and frowned.

"Later tonight," she said. "Probably around the time of the meeting."

"Yeah; all right," said Ginny, following Hermione downstairs. There was no traffic on the stairs for once, and Ginny was getting more and more nervous about Harry's arrival. When they reached the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was preparing a large breakfast.

"Good morning, girls," she beamed as they entered the room. Hermione said good morning and Ginny said hi quietly. Nobody else was in the kitchen, and Ginny listened uninterestedly as Mrs. Weasley and Hermione discussed the OWLs coming up. Ginny was glad she wouldn't be taking them this year. She stayed quiet until Sirius moodily stomped into the kitchen, sitting down huffily across from Ginny. Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked him skeptically. He frowned at Ginny.

"I'm a bloody prisoner! I can't even go on the mission to get my godson…. Good Merlin, James would've never wanted this crap! Stupid Dumbledore…"

"I agree with you on that," sighed Ginny. "Dumbledore doesn't understand!"

"No kidding," grunted Sirius. Mrs. Weasley frowned.

"Are you still brooding on about the meeting yesterday, Sirius? Honestly, Dumbledore only cares about your well-being. He doesn't want you caught!"

"Sure he doesn't. He just doesn't want me to be fed veritaserum and to say that Dumbledore's been hiding me. As if they'd even give me veritaserum. They'd just give me the Dementor's Kiss and be done with me, just as they almost did two years ago."

"Why did you break into the castle anyway?" asked Ginny curiously. "In my second year? We never were told the reason."

"I was trying to kill that filthy rat Pettigrew… your brother's pet, remember?"

"No," said Ginny. She noticed Mrs. Weasley blushing deeply. Evidently she was embarrassed that they had sheltered a murderer for twelve years.

"Where did you get Pettigrew?" Sirius asked Mrs. Weasley. Hermione nodded.

"Yeah. I always kind of wondered the same thing."

Mrs. Weasley bit her lip. "Well… I suppose Percy found him one day outside, and asked if he could keep it. He'd been wanting a pet for ages, and, well. It was a few days after Ginny went missing, and Ron was screaming and we had officials about to come to the house, and the twins were planning to use it for a joke on Charlie, so I told Percy he could keep it if he took care of it, and kept it away from the twins and anyone who came to the house. He agreed and ran upstairs. It must've been over a year until I even saw it again- I'd forgotten I told Percy he could keep it, and by this time he was already quite attached to the thing. So that's what happened, I guess. I never even looked at it, to tell you the truth… I barely even remember that day; I've blocked so much of those few weeks out…" Mrs. Weasley trailed off. Ginny suddenly felt rather bad. This woman had been caused so much pain by her being kidnapped! Yet she acted like a spoiled brat and preferred the family who would trade her over to the Dark Lord if they had to.

Hermione was looking at Ginny pointedly as Mrs. Weasley began wiping tears from her eyes, as if telling her to go hug her mother. And she was right- but Ginny could not allow herself to take orders or advice from a common Mudblood. No, it wasn't happening. Ginny was luckily relieved of the awkward moment as Tonks entered the room, stretching happily. "Morning, all," she yawned.

Everyone murmured hello, and Ginny excused herself and ran upstairs. She was really getting tired of this whole upstairs-downstairs-upstairs again business. In the hallway, she peered into Fred and George's room. They were already awake and looked as if they were in deep discussion about something. Ginny didn't want to interrupt, she decided, and she set off back to her room in boredom.

The day passed monotonously, and, finally, it was time for the guard to set off to find Potter. In the minutes before they left, Ginny sat down in the entrance hall with Tonks and Sirius. "Don't tell Harry I'm here," warned Sirius. "It'll be a surprise."

"Sounds good," yawned Tonks. She then turned to Ginny. "Will you all be tuning in to the meeting tonight? Snape will be giving a special report."

"I wish," muttered Ginny. "We can't tell whether the doors have Imperturbable charms on them. When they do, we can't ever listen to the meeting. Snape's giving a report? Do you think he'll drop upstairs to say hello?"

"I doubt it. He definitely won't want to run into Harry or Ron or any of the others… I don't know why you would want to talk to him, anyway. He's a greasy git," said Sirius with disgust. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. No offense, Ginny, but I'll have to side with Sirius on this one… but I'll tell you what. You can tell if there's an Imperturbable Charm on the door by just chucking things at it. If they don't make contact with the door, it's Unperturbed. Got it?" Ginny nodded.

"Yeah, thanks-" she began, but was interrupted as Fred and George suddenly Apparated into the room with a loud pop. They'd been Apparating everywhere for the last few weeks, since they'd gotten their licenses. It had about driven Ginny, and everyone else, mad.

"What is the problem?" asked Sirius, startled. "Keep it quiet- d'you want my Mum to wake up?"

"Sorry," whispered one of the twins. "No, we don't, I assure you. Just thought we'd warn you- Mum's crying about Percy again. She sent him a letter and he didn't even open it, and he sent a Howler back telling her to leave him alone, because he doesn't want to be associated with us any longer." Ginny frowned. She and Percy, sadly, were alike. Both waging war on such a nice family. Pity. But Ginny hated Percy even more than the rest- he was an arrogant bastard, to put it plainly. Nobody liked him, The Dark Lord's followers, Dumbledore's followers, nor the Ministry executives.

A moment later, the rest of Harry's guard came piling into the Entrance Hall. Ginny slinked up the stairs after Fred and George, since she greatly disliked most of these people. Professor Lupin, however, smiled at her, and she grinned back quickly at the werewolf before turning around. Are these people poisoning my mind? She thought incredulously. I can't wait until I can go back home.

Upstairs, Ron and Hermione were in a room flirting. Ginny grinned on the inside- they were crazy about each other, though neither would admit it. She had bets going on with Fred and George about when they would finally start going out. Ginny said around Christmas this year, Fred said next summer, and George insisted that they were so dim that they wouldn't realize their feelings until well into their seventh year. Twelve galleons were on the line, so Ginny was taking it upon herself to push their relationship as much as was possible.

"Oh, hello, Ginny," said Hermione as Ginny entered.

"Hi, M- Weas- Ginny," said Ron, frowning. He and Hermione were halfway through a game of Wizard's Chess by the looks of it. Ginny hated Chess. She and Draco used to play sometimes, but that was a long time ago. Ginny was suddenly stabbed with homesickness for her brother and parents. She wondered if they missed her or not. What if they forgot about her and didn't even want to break the contract? That would never happen!

"So what time will Harry be getting here?" asked Ron of Hermione. "Are they Flooing?"

"No way," said Hermione, rolling her eyes. "That would be way too dangerous. Honestly. I think they decided on going by broom. So it'll probably be a few hours."

"Hours?" gasped Ron. "I don't know if I can wait that long to wait, 'Mione. I'm starving." Ginny rolled her eyes.

"DO you ever stop eating?" Ron looked affronted for a moment before he realized she was joking. Ginny was even surprised when she realized she'd been joking. Joking with a Weasley! Her… brother, Ron Weasley. And she was Ginny Weasley. Annoyed with herself for joking with Ron, Ginny made up an excuse and fled the room. When she got downstairs, she ended up meandering around until she ran into an unexpected pair. Bill and Fleur! They actually weren't Snogging, but they were getting there. They both looked up, surprised, as Ginny entered the room.

"Oh, sorry," said Ginny awkwardly. She wondered if she would be teasing them right now if she's grown up with this brother, rather than backing out, embarrassed.

"Oh, no problem," said Bill, grinning.

"Yes," said Fleur, smiling. "Come and sit down," she said warmly. "We were just dizcuzzing Hogwarts, actually. You must love it zere." Ginny smiled and entered the room, sitting tentatively on a recliner.

"Er… yeah, I like it. I was going to go to Durmstrang; as was my brother. But I think it would be rather dreadful and cold there, so I'm glad I went to Hogwarts."

"Ah, yes," smiled Bill. "Those were the good old days. I remember the time some joker locked up everyone into their classrooms one day. I still envy those who had free periods… I was in Transfiguration, but McGonagall had stepped out for a few minutes, and we had no teacher. We were locked up for five days, until someone finally managed to break all the locking charms to every classroom. They never even caught the people who did it… We had the class with the Slytherins, and about half the class was knocked out or suffering from some hex- it was a nightmare." Ginny laughed.

"I'd love to see that happen… the most exciting night we ever had was the time Sirius Black was supposed to be in the castle, and we got to all sleep in the Entrance Hall, in smushy purple sleeping bags. It was so fun! We stayed up all night playing truth or dare with some people in other houses under a tent we made out of sleeping bags. We played until the stupid Headboy… it was We- Percy, I mean, that year. He sucked all the fun out of everything." Fleur laughed.

"But you had an eezcaped convict in ze school! Were you not afraid?" Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Well, we were for about a second. But then we decided that he was most likely already gone, so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity." She grinned. The three talked for about an hour, at which point Bill and Fleur left to begin the meeting. Ginny went upstairs and nicked some Dungbombs from the twins' room, throwing them at the kitchen door to see whether it would be possible to use the extendable ears. Mrs. Weasley had already found out about them and had gone on a wild purge. Luckily, several had escaped. But that day had made Ginny decide rather quickly not to make Mrs. Weasley mad. The woman was such a contrast from her other, sweet-tempered mother, who cared so much about keeping prim and emotionless in public. The difference never ceased to amaze Ginny, who hadn't ever really seen what other mothers were like. All of the Dungbombs soared away from the door.

Suddenly, Ginny heard loud noises coming from upstairs. Her heart began pounding- it was Harry! And he sounded mad. She raced upstairs, and, a few minutes later reached the door to the room everybody was in. They were talking about the meeting.

"You want to be careful," Ron was saying, "If Mum catches you with one of them again…"

"It's worth the risk," said Fred or George, "That's a major meeting they're having." Ginny took a deep breath, gaining composure, and opened the door, deciding to try and be nice to everyone.

"Oh, hello, Harry," she said, as everyone turned to look at her. "I thought I heard your voice," she said in a hopefully offhand tone. She then turned to the twins. "It's no-go with the Extendable Ears. She's gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door."

"How d'you know?" asked George sadly.

"Tonks told me how to find out. You chuck stuff at the door, and if it doesn't make contact the door's been Imperturbed. I've been flicking Dungbombs at it from the stairs and they just soar away from it, so there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap." Fred sighed.

"Shame. I really fancied seeing what old Snape's been up to."

"Snape?" asked Harry. "Is he here?" Ginny held back her disappointment that Harry had ignored her as George answered. Ginny sat onto one of the beds. Apparently Ron or Hermione had told Harry about her being kidnapped by the Weasleys, as he didn't seem surprised to see her. Ron was talking about Snape.

"The way he looks at us when he sees us…"

"Bill doesn't like him either," said Ginny truthfully. He had told her as Snape story downstairs. Ginny definitely liked Bill better than any of her other brothers. During the next few minutes, the conversation turned to Bill, then Percy, and then Rita Skeeter, as Ginny studied Harry. He looked different, somehow, than last year. Less innocent, older, and taller. He looked more stressed, and more burdened. Ginny didn't know why she had ever liked him. He was cute, though, she had to admit. Ginny felt a bit bad when they started about Rita Skeeter. She and Draco and some other Slytherins had told her quite a bit about the Dream Team. Ginny had been disappointed that she hadn't been quoted in any articles back then. Now, to be honest, she nearly felt sick with herself, hearing it from the other side. No, no, no! You were right… Draco was right… Father is right, and the Dark Lord is right! Suddenly the conversation was about Harry again- he had been expelled! Ginny tuned into the conversation.

"I mean, if you're expelled," Hermione was saying quickly. "You really shouldn't be, not if they abide by their own laws, there's no case against you." So Potter was getting expelled for fighting against the Dementors. Draco would be delighted. Ginny wondered vaguely whether her father was partially behind this, whether if she was at home she would be celebrating with her brother and their friends and- Suddenly, the door was opened by Mrs. Weasley.

"The meeting's over. You can come down now and have dinner, everyone's dying to see you, Harry. And who left all those Dungbombs outside the kitchen door?"

"Crookshanks," said Ginny quickly. "He loves to play with them."

"Oh," said Mrs. Weasley, glancing at Ginny. "I thought it might've been Kreacher, he keeps doing odd things like that. Now don't forget to keep your voices down in the hall. Ginny, dear, go and wash your hands before supper- all of you…" Ginny bit her lip and left the room behind Mrs. Weasley. She was a bit embarrassed to be told to get clean by a Weasley, of all things, but ignored it and went into the bathroom. When she emerged, she found that someone had set off Mrs. Black in the hall. She was screaming at the top of her stupid portrait lungs.

"Scum! By-Products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers-" Ginny hopped down the stairs into the entrance hall, where Tonks was apologizing, covering her ears.

"SHUT UP!" yelled Sirius at the Portrait. Ginny slipped by into the kitchen, gladly escaping the confusion and annoyance.

A/N: Sorry for the logn wait! The next chapter will be coming soon! Please review! :-D

Jinglez