The first week back to school was interesting, to say the least. Ginny found herself the object of horrible whispers and muttering, everywhere she went. She figured that it must've been Cho or Eira who let the entire school know she was a Weasley. Or possibly it was that her name had been changed on the roll call in classes (though most teachers didn't need to call roll any more, Umbridge was new and particularly enjoyed putting students on the spot). However, the new mutterings weren't that bad, in Gryffindor—well, any house but Slytherin. In fact, people seemed to act as if her being a Weasley was a 'logical explanation' or something!
"Well, there was her hair sometimes—"
"—And she's so stubborn!—"
"—She got along well enough with Fred and George—" The most popular reasoning Ginny had heard was:
"—Well, she is a Gryffindor, I mean, she couldn't be a Malfoy—!" And Ginny was surprisingly fitting in better than she ever remembered. She couldn't decide whether she liked being a Weasley or not, which was the worst thing of all. The Slytherins wouldn't like her even if she tried to act like one of them—just because of her blood. It wasn't fair! This must be how Mudbloods feel, she thought sadly, all traces of Malfoy-ness being sapped from her weary mind.
It was one such day during Potions that Ginny, to the rest of her classmates, finally became a Gryffindor. The day had started out like any other. She'd eaten breakfast with Ceridwen and Maeve, walked with Michael and his friend Terry to Transfiguration, and then sat outside on the lake with a few Slytherins who didn't act as if they hated her yet—Draco, of course, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Trista Caffery, and a boy in her year named Desmond Lestrange—Ginny's Aunt Bellatrix's nephew. After that, she ate a quick lunch and met Aidan on the way to Potions.
"Hi," she smiled, subconsciously playing with her hair.
"Hey, Ginny," he said happily. He had gotten quite tall since first year. He was well over a head taller than Ginny, and still had straight brown hair and sparkly eyes. In all honestly, Ginny wished she was going out with him rather than Michael. Of course, Harry Potter was still her first choice, but… she very much doubted that would ever happen.
"So, want to go on to Potions with me?" asked Ginny casually.
"Er—sure, but would Michael mind?" he asked curiously. Ginny sighed.
"If he does, he can get over it. I mean, we're only walking to the dungeons. And what he doesn't know can't hurt him, can it?" she asked, starting to walk.
"I guess not," shrugged Aidan, following her quickly. It didn't take long to reach Potions, where Ginny sat down next to him, as she had since first year. Unfortunately, Snape was not in the best mood. He entered the room before the bell even rang (luckily everyone was in class already), and with a wave of his wand the windows shut and the door slammed (but this had been manual).
"Today, we will be studying The Draught of Peace. Can anyone tell me what this is?" Everyone looked at each other stupidly. "Weasley. What is The Draught of Peace?" Ginny glared at Snape.
"Er—I'm assuming that it makes its victim…peaceful," she said slowly. Then, grinning to herself, she added, "Uncle Sev." The entire class stared from Ginny to Snape, not knowing whether to laugh. Snape stared at Ginny with disbelief.
"What did you say?" he demanded threateningly. But far from making Ginny afraid, she wanted to laugh.
"I said 'Uncle Sev'. Your hearing isn't going, is it? Maybe I'll ask father—er, Mr. Malfoy if he can get some kind of antidote for you. What? Oh! Maybe you're not my godfather anymore as I'm a Weasley now!" she exclaimed in mock-confusion. "But then who are my godparents?" Snape was gripping his wand.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor, Miss Weasley," he said, turning white with fury.
"Wow. And Hermione Granger gets that many points taken away when she gets a question right!" exclaimed Ginny, egged on by Ceridwen and Aidan's impressed smiles. "I'm glad to know our relationship's still intact and all; you wouldn't believe how many people have turned against me, just because I'm a blood-traitor now. But, then again," she added with a smirk. "You would know what that feels like—you're a half-blood, aren't you?" Nearly all of the Slytherins in the class gasped, shocked, evidently, that their favorite teacher wasn't even Pureblooded.
"A hundred points from Gryffindor! And detention with me the whole week! Come here, and bring this to your head of house!" He scribbled on a note angrily and sealed it. Ginny stood up slowly and marched to the front of the room. She snatched the note and walked out of the class, slamming the door in a very Snape-like way. Pleased with herself, she all but skipped to McGonagall's office, passing Peeves on the way. But she arrived to find the room already occupied. Upon peering through the small glass window, Ginny discovered that it was Harry Potter. Delighted that she'd get to see him, she stood outside the door and waited for what seemed to be an eternity. Finally, the door opened, revealing Harry eating a ginger snap.
"Hi, Harry," said Ginny cheerfully.
"Oh—Ginny. What're you here for?"
"I yelled at Snape," she said, grinning. "It was amazing; he was so embarrassed! And I told all the Slytherins that he was a half-blood. Father's going to kill me!" Harry frowned a moment in confusion, but then a look of comprehension crossed his face.
"You mean Lucius Malfoy? And Snape's a half-blood? Who would've guessed that?" he said in disbelief.
"I know," said Ginny gleefully. "Anyway, I better go on in…see you!" With that, she entered McGonagall's office cautiously. McGonagall was looking particularly stressed out, reading a note on her desk with a dark expression. "Er—Professor?" she asked tentatively.
"Oh! Miss M—Weasley. I didn't see you there. Come on in, sit down. Now what's the problem?" Ginny took a seat in front of McGonagall's desk. "Have a biscuit," said McGonagall, irritated, before Ginny began talking. Ginny frowned and reached into the tin, taking a small bite of one.
"Well, Professor, I've been sent to see you." McGonagall sighed with exasperation.
"You too? Who sent you?" she demanded, unsealing the note Ginny handed her. "Ah—Severus." She read the note quickly, frowning. She then looked up, took off her glasses, and sighed. "You and Mr. Potter are certainly giving Gryffindor a bad reputation today," she said.
"Harry too?" asked Ginny. "What did he do?"
"He—er, got into a fight with our new Defense teacher. About He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Have you had a lesson with Professor Umbridge, yet, Miss Weasley?"
"Yeah," said Ginny quietly. "I didn't listen most of the time; it was really boring. But at the end of the lesson she told us to come and report anyone who told lies about the Dark Lord being back. Why are they all acting like that? I heard Hermione telling Harry and my—my brother—" Ginny took a deep breath, "that the Ministry was interfering here! My brother—Draco, that is to say, is really pleased about Umbridge thinking that, but I don't understand. Why isn't he coming into the open?" McGonagall sighed.
"Yes, it must be difficult for you being in the middle," she said sadly. "But You-Know-Who doesn't want people to know he's back yet, and the Ministry's playing it up perfectly. He's planning, and gaining power. But all the same," she added disapprovingly, "I'd expect you'd at least have the sense not to go shooting off your mouth about him in her class! If you can even call it that, she's not even letting you all use magic…" Ginny smiled wanly.
"No, Professor. So, er, I suppose I'll be going then!" she said, deciding to try and evade further chastisement.
"Not that fast, Miss Weasley. Sit back down! Now let me get this straight. You told the entire class that Professor Snape was a half-blood?" Ginny nodded, trying not to look so pleased with herself. "I mean, not that blood really matters, and the Slytherins need to get over blood-issues, anyway; hardly any Purebloods are left… but was this in a negative way?"
"No, Professor!" swore Ginny. "I just said that he must sympathize with me now because everyone's telling me I'm a blood traitor, and that people who care about blood and all must give him a very hard time about being a half-blood! I mean, I would've said that to anyone! Ceridwen, Harry… all the half-bloods."
"Hmm," said McGonagall speculatively. "And when you called him, 'Uncle Sev,' were you trying to embarrass him?"
"No! Of course not," said Ginny dramatically. "I just—you know, when a student is related to a Professor, sometimes you slip! I mean, did you have any nieces or nephews who ever called you 'Auntie Minnie'?" she asked convincingly. And, to her surprise, McGonagall actually smiled!
"I did," she said grudgingly. "That was long ago…very long ago. Well, Miss Weasley, I will try, but I strongly doubt Severus will decrease your punishment. Why don't you go along and have a nice long conversation with Mr. Potter about disregarding authority?" Ginny grinned.
"Okay, that sounds great," she joked. "Thanks, Professor!" With that, Ginny stood up and walked calmly out of the room. The moment she closed the door, she skipped all the way back to the Common Room.
That night dinner was exciting, to say the least. The entire school seemed to have found out about both Ginny's and Harry's run-ins earlier. For Ginny, this was wonderful. Gryffindors she'd never met were coming up and congratulating her; Fred and George lifted her onto their shoulders, claiming that they'd always known she was their sister; Ron seemed to have a bigger respect for her; and even the teachers were being nicer than when she was a Malfoy. Unfortunately, Harry didn't seem to be gaining as much positive attention. Rather, people were gossiping about him more and more, saying that he hadn't faced You-Know-Who, that he hadn't seen Cedric murdered, and that he was losing it, like the Daily Prophet said. All of this made Ginny surprisingly angry, and she wanted to hex all of the people who went around saying those horrible things, and yell at them that the Dark Lord was back!
Of course, this wouldn't exactly go over well, between Umbridge and McGonagall and Draco and the Dream Team and the Daily Prophet and Snape and Dumbledore and both her families… so Ginny decided it would be in her best interest to hold her tongue.
The next morning, Ginny was invited by Draco to the Slytherin table to eat breakfast. Since the other option was sitting at the Ravenclaw table with Michael, she sighed and agreed, sitting down in between he and his cow of a girlfriend. Well, he said she wasn't, but Ginny had her doubts judging by the way Pansy Parkinson was positively cooing over him. Ginny glared at her as she sat down before looking to Draco. "So what's new?" she asked brightly, praying that he wouldn't ask her about Snape. Draco narrowed his eyes.
"I'm starting to have my doubts about you, Ginevra," he said disapprovingly. "Why are you doing all this and acting all…Gryffindor?"
"I—I'm not!" she protested hotly, her cheeks turning red.
"You even blush like a Weasley," said Eira observantly from across the table. Ginny glared at her.
"It's called genetics, Eira," said Trista in Ginny's defense. "And she had to…didn't you, Ginny? To trick them?"
"Yes," said Ginny gratefully. "I had to. Don't look at me like that, Draco! And don't even think of yelling at me, Zabini. Even if your blood has a better record than mine, I still have better connections than you!" She turned to her brother a moment later, who was looking from Blaise Zabini to Ginny as if he'd just realized something. "And, Draco," she said, deciding that she needed to put on a good act, "The Dark Lord is going to favor me above all others when he realizes that I can serve as a double agent," she said quietly. She expected Draco to retort, but instead he smiled.
"I guess you're right," he said shortly. "But guess what I've just realized? Blaise, mate, you're not betrothed, right?" Ginny suddenly felt a sinking feeling, knowing what Draco was up to. Blaise nodded, confused. "You can marry Ginny!" he exclaimed. Blaise choked on his pumpkin juice.
"What?" he sputtered. "Me, marry Ginny?" he asked as if checking whether Draco was delusional.
"No, Draco. I'm not. No way," she said warningly.
"I'm writing to mother," said Draco proudly.
"You prat!" exclaimed Ginny. She turned to Blaise angrily. "You don't want to marry me, do you?" she asked threateningly.
"Well—I mean, no, you're a Weasley…but with Malfoy money and status—and I mean, you're really pretty—it wouldn't be the end of the world, I mean to say…" Ginny sighed in frustration.
"I don't believe this! I'm going!" she exclaimed unnecessarily, since she'd already stood up and begun walking away. "This isn't over, Draco!" she yelled. Incidentally, she had yelled this quite loud and many Gryffindors heard and looked even more approving of her. How ironic. When Ginny returned to the Common Room after her first class, she found it full of First years, all surrounding her brothers Fred and George. She narrowed her eyes, sure that they were up to no good. And sure enough, a moment later, several of the First years began to faint. Ginny bit back a laugh as Hermione stood up angrily and strode over to them.
"That's enough!" she yelled at the twins, who looked up at her with astonishment.
"Yeah, you're right," one of them said (Ginny was pretty sure it was George). "This dosage does look strong enough, doesn't it?"
"I told you this morning," yelled Hermione, "you can't test your rubbish on students!"
"We're paying them!" said Fred as if this justified testing potentially dangerous foods on kids.
"I don't care, it could be dangerous!"
"Rubbish," scoffed Fred.
"Calm down, Hermione, they're fine!" assured Lee Jordan, inserting purple candies in each first year's mouth.
"Yeah, look, they're coming round now," said George comfortingly. Ginny watched as several of the first years woke up, all in utter confusion. She had to guess that they'd not known quite what they were getting into.
"Feel all right?" asked George gently of a small girl.
"I-I think so," she said quietly, standing up and wobbling.
"Excellent!" exclaimed Fred. But a moment later, Hermione snatched his clipboard and his bag of—what were they?—fainting fancies.
"It is NOT excellent!" she exclaimed with fury, drawing herself to her full height.
"'Course it is, they're alive, aren't they?" demanded Fred.
"You can't do this, what if you made one of them really ill?" she demanded. Fred retorted as Ginny looked around the room, where everyone's attention was focused on Hermione and the Weasleys. Well, Fred and George Weasley, anyway.
"If you don't stop, I'm going to—"
"Put us in detention?" asked Fred mockingly.
"Make us do lines?" smirked George. Ginny laughed, as did many others in the room. She looked over at Ron, who was slouching in his chair looking as if he'd rather be anywhere else.
"No," said Hermione angrily, "but I will write to your mother." Ginny cringed. That was a pretty harsh punishment.
"You wouldn't!" exclaimed a horrified George.
"Oh, yes, I would," answered Hermione. "I can't stop you eating the stupid things yourselves, but you're not giving them to first years." Fred and George exchanged incensed looks. Hermione then thrust their clipboard back at them, stalking over to Ron and Harry.
"Thank you for your support, Ron," she said loudly and edgily. Ginny didn't hear his reply. She instead walked over to Fred and George.
"Don't ever become a Prefect!" yelled George at her moodily.
"I wouldn't want to," said Ginny, glaring at Hermione. She had just ruined what would've ensured entertainment for at least a few weeks. Hermione was now putting little woolen things under various items of clutter.
"And she calls herself a Prefect!" exclaimed Lee loudly. "Look, she's trying to free the school House Elves…" Ginny giggled and walked over to sit with some fellow fourth-years.
"Hi, guys," she said cheerily, sitting in a chair between Ceridwen and Aidan. Colin and Maeve were sitting on large cushions on the floor.
"Hey, Ginny," greeted everyone.
"You're so lucky that Fred and George are your brothers!" exclaimed Maeve. "Actually, not so lucky, I suppose—I mean now you can never date one of them!" Ginny's mouth opened.
"You fancy my brothers?" she asked with disgust. Maeve sighed dreamily. "Gross! They're so annoying and they're always playing tricks on people at home—er, well, at their…our house…" Ginny trailed off thoughtfully.
"Do you think you could talk to one of them for me?" she asked happily.
"Er—I suppose, but what do you want me to say?" she asked with annoyance. Maeve didn't answer; instead, she got up and started towards the staircase.
"Come on Ginny; Ceridwen… let's go on up to bed, I have to talk to you guys." Ginny shrugged.
"Okay. 'Night, Aidan, Colin…"
"Good-night," said the boys, and with that, Ginny and Ceridwen hurried up the stairs. They entered their room and hopped onto their respective beds, changing and getting ready for bed.
"So what's up, Maeve?" asked Ceridwen finally when they turned out the lights. Jaclyn and Kayla were there as well, so all the girls combined were able to conjure a big comfortable cushion on the floor. They all took their blankets and pillows and sat down in a circle. Ginny smiled and said a spell to make a fire in a jar, and Ceridwen summoned a bunch of marshmallows. It was a ritual the girls had begun in second year, and it had not been easy learning to conjure so early in their schooling.
"So," said Kayla comfortably. "What are we discussing tonight?"
Maeve spoke first as she lit a marshmallow on fire and blew it out. Ginny scrunched her nose; she'd always hated marshmallows burnt that way. "Well, Harry Potter and…and You-Know-Who, obviously."
"I think he's telling the truth," said Ginny immediately, paying extra care to her marshmallow as it browned nicely.
"Me too," said Ceridwen.
"I don't know what to believe," said Jaclyn, upset. "I mean, all of the evidence definitely points away from him—and Umbridge, and the Daily Prophet and the Ministry all say that he's not back. I hope he isn't! Nearly everyone knew people who died last time, I heard…"
"It's true," said Maeve. "I mean—gosh, it's just so terrible, if he really is back! How could he be? He was hit with that killing curse! And where do you get your information, anyway, Ginny?" she demanded, her dark brown hair glinting in the fire's light.
"Trust me," said Ginny. "I mean, I obviously would know… the Weasley part of me sees everything that goes on with Harry, and the Malfoy part everything that goes on with—well, the Malfoys…"
"They're not Death Eaters, are they?" asked Jaclyn quickly.
"Of course not," said Ginny, a bit too quickly. Ceridwen gave her a funny look, but made sure nobody else noticed.
"What's a Death Eater?" asked Kayla after a moment. Everyone else exchanged looks. Ginny decided to explain.
"Er—I don't know much about it," she said quickly, "but they were the group that followed the Dark Lord really closely."
"Oh," said Kayla, deep in thought. "He—he hates Muggle-borns, doesn't he?" Jaclyn nodded at her best friend. "D'you think that if he's really back, he'd—well—I mean, he couldn't take over could he?"
"He came pretty close last time from what I've heard," said Maeve darkly. And as Ginny thought about You-Know-Who ordering her kidnapping as a baby, and wanting her either alive or on his side, and in later years possessing her with that awful diary, Ginny wanted to cry. She didn't want to join him! But would he kill her if she refused? And would she want to be on Dumbledore's side, either? And Ginny knew. She did want to stand by Harry. She wanted to help destroy the man—or thing—that had nearly ruined her life, twice.
In the following weeks, Ginny found herself with quite the cheerful disposition. Snape had gone pretty easy on her in detention (probably because she refused to speak with him) and had allowed her to skip detention Friday to try out for Quidditch. He probably had no idea that this was actually helping Gryffindor (he didn't think Lucius had ever allowed Ginny to play before), but Ginny was only made a reserve Seeker while Ron, who was terrible, made Keeper. Thankfully, no word came from her mother—the Malfoy one—about marriage to anybody. Draco didn't mention it again, though Ginny kept oddly finding herself accompanied by Blaise when walking to class. Finally one morning, Michael lashed out at him.
"Will you leave us alone for one minute, Zabini?" he demanded during break when Ginny was talking animatedly with Blaise about Quidditch and the Gryffindor and Slytherin prospects for smashing Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Ginny looked at Michael, annoyed.
"Relax!" she said angrily. "I spend loads of time with you." Michael raised his eyebrows. "Oh, whatever. I'll see you later, Blaise." Blaise nodded cordially to her and then glared at Michael, gripping his wand threateningly. She and Michael walked in the courtyard in an uncomfortable silence for several minutes before Ginny excused herself to Herbology, with the other Fourth Year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. Herbology was boring, and Ginny was paired with Luna Lovegood of all people. And as much as Ginny tried to dislike her, she found it quite hard, because Luna was insane, yes, but remarkably interesting. She kept interrupting the Herbology lesson with questions on the effects a Heliopath would have on Devil's Snare. Sprout, more annoyed with each question, finally dismissed the class five minutes before it officially ended.
On her way out of the Greenhouse, Ginny saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione coming back from Care of Magical Creatures. "Hi!" she said brightly, smiling but not stopping to talk. However, a moment later everyone was looking interestedly at Luna and Harry. Ginny turned around and started inching forward.
"You can laugh!" Luna was yelling at two Fifth years, "But You-Know-Who is back!" She went on for a moment before hurrying away. Ginny watched as another fifth year walked up to Harry pompously.
"I want you to know," he said loudly, "that it's not just weirdoes who believe you. My family stands behind Dumbledore one hundred percent!" Ginny thought about this curiously as she walked back up to the castle. The school seemed truly divided—nobody knew what to believe. Ginny wished that she was one of those horribly unaffected people, who didn't yet know nor have reason to fear the Dark Lord's return.
The days passed by slowly, and one morning, the day before Hogsmeade, Hermione Granger hurried up to her in the Common Room. "Ginny!"
"Oh, hi," said Ginny, who was lounged in a chair and writing a boring essay for History of Magic.
"Listen…you know what a bad teacher Umbridge is, right?" Ginny nodded emphatically. "Well, we were thinking, and…do you want to learn Defense this year?"
"Well, of course," said Ginny reasonably. "I mean, with You-Know-Who back and all," she whispered.
"Great! We were going to plan a—well, you can't tell anybody—secret Defense group, and Harry's going to teach us—I mean, there's nobody really better that we can think of," she said slowly.
"A secret?" asked Ginny, smiling. Finally, they trusted her! Hermione nodded.
"We're inviting a number of people that we think will want to learn Defense. Can you think of anybody trustworthy?"
"Well, my boyfriend Michael," she said thoughtfully. "And he has a few friends; I know they'll want to learn Defense. And my best friend Ceridwen. And there's this girl—she's a Slytherin, though," she said slowly.
Hermione hesitated. "I mean…how do you know we could trust her?"
"Her name's Trista," explained Ginny quickly, "And she's always stood by me, even after I was a Gryffindor, and then a Weasley. And her family isn't very into the Pureblood nonsense, so I'm sure—"
"But, she would be the only Slytherin," said Hermione carefully. "I don't know, I just don't know. I mean, she could ruin it."
"Hermione," said Ginny, pleading. "You-Know-Who killed members of her family. We've talked about it when we were really young. Couldn't I just ask her?"
"I guess," said Hermione finally. "I'll just need to think of something really foolproof to make sure people don't give us away." Ginny nodded, smiling.
"Thanks, Hermione. So when are we meeting?"
"Tomorrow's the first meeting, in the Hog's Head. I'll see you then?" Ginny nodded.
"Bye, see you tomorrow!"
A/N: Sorry it took so long! I hope you liked the chapter. Please feel free to give any ideas you have for the story, and if I can I might fit them in. Thanks, and please review!
Jinglebellz