I don't own Harry or any of his friends. Go figure.
Two weeks had past and Hermione was back in the Death Eater Headquarters. She was taking a tray of tea and biscuits into a special meeting of Death Eaters. This was it, she could just feel. She would find something huge out tonight. She stopped in front of the door, and rapped sharply on it.
"I've got some food here, would you like me to bring it in?" she asked fervently hoping they would.
"Yes, bring it in and serve it to us." came the reply.
She turned the handle and came in. In the room were a small number of men, Rookwood, Avery, Crabbe, Goyle... and Draco Malfoy. Hermione started slightly in surprise, but managed to recover herself enough so that she didn't seem suspicious. She walked over to a table and put the tray down. She had her back to the rest of the people in the room, but she could see them in the mirror above the table. She removed the cups and pieces of cutlery as slowly as she could, so that she would have an excuse to stay in the room.
"So, Avery, is there any particular reason you asked me here?" Malfoy drawled.
"Ofcourse." Avery grunted, "You've heard the rumours about the new witch that has joined us, I hope?"
"Indeed, I have. Apparently she is quite powerful."
"She is," Avery whispered, for dramatic effect, "And very interesting, for - many reasons. Would you like to meet her?"
"I would." Malfoy said, leaning in closer.
"And, I would love to introduce the two of you - although you have already met- however, how can I be sure that I can trust you? After all, you sold us at to Harry Potter and his lot. "
"I didn't sell you out, they tortured it out of me. As embarrassing as it is, I simply was not strong enough to hold out against them. But, I have been feeding you information about the Ministry, at my own risk. You can trust me."
Avery thought for a minute, "Okay, I believe you. Goyle, please fetch Selene for me."
Goyle got up clumsily and left the room.
"Girl!" Avery snapped, "Where is my food!"
Hermione quickly tipped a bit of tea onto the tray. "Sorry, sorry, I'm just a little clumsy."
"Idiot." Avery hissed.
The door creaked open again and Goyle re-entered the room with a woman. Malfoy immediately stood up, obscuring Hermione's view in the mirror. She turned, still holding the tray, and walked towards them.
"This, gentlemen," she heard Avery announce, "Is Selene."
Malfoy moved slightly to the left and Hermione had a clear view of the 'Selene' woman.
"Ginny!" she screamed, before she could stop herself. The tray she was holding slipped out of her hands and crashed to the floor. All five of the men turned and looked at her.
"How...?" Rookwood started.
"She's a spy! She said she never got accepted to Hogwarts!" Avery exclaimed, withdrawing his wand from inside his robe. He walked towards her.
"Now, which spell am I going to use? So many to choose from."
"No!" Malfoy said, jumping forward, "Let me. Let me prove myself."
Avery smiled, "Very well, Draco."
Malfoy turned and faced her. He stared at her for a moment, then sighed. He took a few steps towards her, and then spun around.
"Expelliarmus!"
Rookwood's, Avery's, Crabbe's and Goyle's wands flew at of their hands.
"What the hell!" Avery roared.
Malfoy grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her out of the room. As they left, she desperately looked around for Ginny, but she was nowhere to be seen. They ran down the hallway towards the front door.
"You just had to, didn't you? You had to ruin it, Granger!" Malfoy hissed.
"How did you know?" Hermione asked, dumbstruck.
"I have my sources. Hurry up, they'll catch us in a minute!"
They were almost at the door when one of the Death Eaters shouted out a spell.
"Impedimenta!"
Because they were moving so fast, both Malfoy and Hermione fell headfirst into the floor.
"Go, I'll slow them down." Malfoy whispered to Hermione as she scrambled up. He stood up and before he could stop it, Avery had summoned his wand.
"Accio Malfoy's wand!"
He walked up to Malfoy, apparently confident that there was nothing Malfoy could do to stop him. He stopped short as bright red blood seeped onto his robes.
"What have you done?" he uttered, before he collapsed in a heap on the floor.
Malfoy ran to join Hermione as she opened the front door.
"Wandless magic?" she asked.
"Yeah, and it works, I should know."
They ran out into the street and were just beginning to feel that they might get away, when they were surrounded by Auror's.
"Stop where you are!" one of them yelled in a magically enhanced voice.
They halted. A man pushed through the Auror's. He smirked.
"Got you now, Malfoy."
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Ron smiled to himself as Malfoy and the woman were led away. Finally, he'd caught Malfoy red-handed. Now there was no way the Minister could ignore his claims, however much he wanted to.
He, the Aurors and their prisons apparated back to the Ministry.
"Take the woman to Interrogation Room Two, I'll deal with Mr Malfoy."
He grabbed Malfoy by the arm and led him into an Interrogation Room.
"So, Draco, why don't you tell me what exactly you were doing?"
Malfoy stared at him with his cold, grey eyes. "I don't have anything to say to you."
"Don't be stupid Malfoy, if you give up some of your Death Eater friends, them maybe I could cut you a deal, like only thirty years in Azkaban."
Malfoy raised his eyebrows, "Do you really expect me to believe that?"
Ron sighed, and paced the room. "Where is Severus Snape?"
Malfoy looked surprised, "He's dead. Come now Weasel, even you aren't so dense as to have completely missed that. There were articles in every paper about it."
"Yes, I saw the articles, but I don't believe them. Snape is more skilled a wizard than to be caught off guard by a trainee Auror. Anyway, the body was never recovered."
There was a knock at the door, and one of Ron's assistant's came in.
"Sir, the woman we captured is saying she'll only see you."
"So? Tell her to wait."
"Um, I did sir, but she says she has something important to tell."
Ron looked back at Malfoy, "Look's like your little girlfriend is selling you out."
He turned back to his assistant, "If he says anything, get me immediately."
Ron walked out of the room, and down the corridor. As he got to the room that the woman was being held, he heard her yelling.
"I want to see Ronald Bilius Weasley!" he heard her say.
He opened the door, "Here I am, so what was it that couldn't wait till I'd finished with your friend?"
"Get them out of here." she snapped, pointing to the guards.
"Out." he said to the guards. One of them opened their mouth to argue, but Ron cut him off.
"I'll perfectly fine with her, just wait outside the door."
Once the men had gone, he sat down.
"So...?" he started.
"Oh Ron," the woman sighed, "It's been so long."
"What?" he asked, "Do I know you?"
"You don't recognise me, well, I suppose you wouldn't."
Ron stood up again, "Who the hell are you?"
"It's me Ron, Hermione."
Ron gaped at her.
"Look," Hermione continued, "I've been going under cover to see what I could find out about what the Voldemort's former Death Eaters are doing -"
"You did what?" Ron demanded, seemingly coming to his senses.
"It was an assignment and -"
"An assignment, an assignment? You might have ruined everything my team and I have been working on, for a bloody article? I can't believe you, I really can't. I thought you were supposed to be the intelligent one!"
Hermione stood up aswell, the top of her head only coming to Ron's nose.
"Don't you dare speak to me like that, Ron!" she hissed, "I was on to something, something really big. If you could just calm down, then maybe I'll tell you!"
Hermione sat back down, and straightened her robes. Ron stayed standing, breathing heavily in anger. Neither of them said anything at first, they were both still too angry.
"Have you seen Harry lately?" Hermione asked softly, breaking the silence.
"What? No, not for years."
"You should have, we both should have. We've been really bad friends to him."
"He's not my friend anymore, Hermione." Ron said bitterly.
Hermione looked at him, frowning. "I know you blame him, for her death, but it wasn't his fault."
"Yes, it was." Ron said, banging his fist on the table, "She came because of him."
"You didn't blame him for Charlie's death, why not?"
"Because... she loved him, and she followed us because of him, and he should have tried harder to make her leave." he said quietly.
Hermione sighed, "It didn't help, you know, blaming him. He was so cut up about it, and he really needed his best friend, and I tried to be there for him, but it wasn't enough. Have you ever seen a grown man cry? It was horrible."
"Yes, I have. My dad, when he found out about what happened to Ginny. Harry did that, he destroyed our family."
"No, he didn't," Hermione said, "Voldemort destroyed your family, and mine, and Harry's. Anyway, that's what I wanted to tell you. I - I think that Ginny is alive." The last part was barely above a whisper.
"Say that again." Ron said, the merest hint of anger seeping into his voice.
"I was there, at their headquarters, and then she came in. They called her 'Selene' but it was her, it was Ginny."
Ron stared at her, and started to pace the room again. "Why would you say that, why would you lie to me? She's dead, I saw her die."
"There wasn't a body though, was there?" Hermione asked.
"Well, no. It got burnt, just like half of Hogwarts did."
Hermione got up, and walked over to Ron, who was still pacing the floor. She grabbed him by the shoulders, and faced him.
"Ron, we were friends once, and I know somewhere along the line we forgot about that, but one thing you can always be sure of is, I would never lie to you. Everything I told you when I was eighteen still stands. I still... care for you deeply."
Ron looked down at her, and pushed a strand of her frizzy hair away from her face, "I know, I feel the same way."
They stayed like that for a second, just staring at each other, before Ron broke away.
"Well, I'd better go, and do - something. Do you want to get something to drink, just some butterbeer, maybe?" Ron asked, blushing slightly.
"That would be lovely," Hermione smiled.
They walked out of the room and were heading to Ron's office.
"I just have to finish some stuff up, then I should be able to get out of here." Ron paused, "At least we got Malfoy."
He smiled as he started going through his papers.
"Oh, about that. He didn't actually do anything, he was undercover too. He - saved me, strangely enough."
Ron groaned, "So, you're telling me that I got nothing out of this evening?"
"You might have got your sister back, isn't that enough?"