OK I created the title from a mauled first line of a song – just because! I only changed one letter, virtual chocolate frog to those who get it.

Chapter seven: Names, Changes and Fears

The next couple of weeks passed in a bit of a blur for Ginny. She was still getting nightmares about what the future was going to hold for her new friends, but she tried to leave those nightmares in her bed and enjoy the time she had getting to know them. She tried to focus on all the things she could tell Harry when she got back about his parents and Godfather. And she developed a plan. 'OK, I can't tell anyone anything' she thought to herself, 'but I can try to change things in a more subtle way.' When things got too hard, she went to see Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall. Both of them gave her whatever time she needed, and allowed her to cry herself out when it was necessary.

Her main action plan, simply because she knew more about the situation, was with Sirius and Remus. She was going to make sure they trusted each other if it killed her! She also worked on Peter, when she had the chance. What turned Peter bad? Maybe she could plant enough seeds in his mind to stop him going over to Voldemort. Her main impact, had she just realised it, was however, in the unplanned things, the things she did naturally. Ginny (or rather Jenny Weston) had developed a reputation for being the one people came to when they wanted an opinion on something. People didn't always agree with what she said, but they respected her opinion.

Back in her own time, she never noticed this talent. Mostly because, when people wanted an opinion on something back then, they went to Harry or Hermione. Her own classmates had valued her opinion and, in the few short weeks of her sixth year before she had been thrown back in time, many of the other Gryffindors had started coming to her too. Her best friends, back in the Hogwarts of her own time, had become Neville and Luna. Out of the three of them, Ginny had never realised that she was the undisputed leader. Hermione had also gone to Ginny for advice at times: advice on wizarding world things, advice on girl things.

Back here, in the past, her natural good sense (coupled with a knowledge of the future that they did not have) had started to make her indispensable to her fellow students.

One Friday, over the evening meal, most of the older students were at one end of the table discussing some of the recent Death Eater attacks. The previous week had seen a rash of them, ranging from small scare tactics, through to a number of random killings. Ginny was feeling her usual guilt over the situation – surely there was something she could have done to stop it. Even though she knew rationally that she hadn't had every incident memorised, that most of the things had never made it into the history books (simply because, at that time, there were so many incidents) she couldn't help her guilty feelings. It was for this reason that she was always fairly quiet during these sorts of discussions, unless someone asked her opinion on something directly.

However that evening, something snapped. "Don't call him that!" The other Gryffindors look at Ginny stunned that she would snap at someone out of the blue. "All of you, stop it. It's stupid – all this 'You-Know-Who' and 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' business. Of course he can be named! His name is Voldemort – use it!"

The others collectively winced at her use of the name and there were cries of "No!" "Don't say it!" and similar variations.

"Look," she continued in a more reasonable tone of voice, "Voldemort's" she ignored the routine flinching at the name "main purpose with these attacks is to create fear amongst us all. That's his worst weapon – Avada Kedavra kills one person at a time, yet each time he uses it, 100 people become frightened." She looked around the table, the others were looking at her in a sort of stunned silence.

"What Voldemort wants" she continued, "is for us all to be so afraid that we won't fight back, so afraid that we won't even use his name. Every time you say that ridiculous phrase, he wins. If you are too afraid to say his name, he's beaten you before you've even raised your wand in battle."

"Aren't you scared?" asked one of the fifth year girls.

"Of course I'm scared – but I'm a Gryffindor" she grinned, "no-one is going to kill me without a fight. Not even Voldemort." She looked up and caught Sirius' eyes. "If I can't say his name, if I give in to my fear then I'm nothing."

"Well I suppose it is pretty stupid to be scared of a name." Lily commented.

"And it's not even a very scary name!" James added, sneaking his hand into Lily's (where it seemed to spend most of it's time) "What is it supposed to mean anyway?"

"In French", said a shy sixth year boy tentatively, "I know 'mort' means death and I think 'vol' is flee or flight or something and I know 'de' can be of or from."

"He's named himself after what he's scared of!" Said Ginny suddenly "Lord Flee-from-death!" The other students giggled, there was a release of tension at that end of the table.

A couple of the muggle-born students started chanting "Run away, run away!" and collapsing in giggles that were incomprehensible to the pure-bloods. One or two people started trying out the name 'Voldemort'. It still made them feel uneasy but Ginny had made sense. They were Gryffindors. Gryffindors were brave. No Gryffindor would give up without a fight.

After that conversation some, and gradually more, of the older Gryffindors started using Voldemort's name. Although many people were tentative at first, gradually they started to become more confident. One person in particular hadn't been at the dinner that night though. Remus. That Sunday, two days later, Ginny and Lily were sitting eating breakfast when James and Remus wandered down to join them. James was explaining the previous conversation to Remus as they arrived in the great hall.

"Remus was ill that night." James explained to Ginny

"Oh of course it was the full moon!" Ginny said without thinking. Then, realising her mistake, she put her hand across her mouth in horror. "Oh my God I did not mean to say that! I'm so sorry Remus I wasn't thinking – carry on, pretend I don't know! Oh God I'm an idiot!"

Although initially shocked by her comment, her distressed reaction was so funny Remus started to laugh "Never mind, I suppose I don't need to worry about you with the stuff you've said before!"

"I'm still a grossly insensitive fool, honestly what was I thinking!"

"Rest assured, I'm not worried about any of my real friends knowing Jenny. And I'd say you fitted into that category."

Ginny went quiet. 'Real friends'. That is what she had been trying to avoid thinking about these last few days. They were all here, in this time, starting to become real friends and she was continuing to lie to them. About everything. And horrible things were going to happen to them and she wasn't stopping it because she was worried about the future. 'How much longer' she wondered to herself, 'can I actually cope with this?' She looked at Remus "Friends." She said quietly.

"So how did you know?" James asked her.

"I guessed, kind of." She responded untruthfully, her mind working quickly. "Some of the things he said, Snape" as usual the name came out with a sneer, 'that first evening, someone said something about you often being ill, you know. I mean it's not like I haven't seen the signs before."

"I suppose." He said. He seemed to know she wasn't being entirely truthful, but couldn't work out how else she might have known. He stored it in the back of his mind for further investigation, but low priority. After all, if Moony wasn't bothered, why should he be? And any girl who had such a strong hatred of Snape couldn't be bad.

"Actually" said Lily, "That brings up a point I've been curious about." The other three looked at her. "I understand why Remus is Moony, but where do your other names come from? You started using them in fifth year I remember that."

"Why Evans!" Said James in mock shock. "I didn't know you were paying me such close attention back then. I thought you believed I was an arrogant prat?"

"You still are, and don't go back to calling me Evans or I will start calling you Potter again!" She said with a smile, and the two returned to bantering good naturedly, Lily not noticing how neatly the conversation had been diverted.

Ginny noticed and Remus wondered at the knowing quality of the slight smile she wore.