Warning: This chapter contains some content not suitable for people under sixteen.

The Midnight Hour

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Betrayed

Ginny was shaken out of a nightmare by the harsh whispers of Hermione, she looked up to meet her eyes and Hermione leant close to her.

"Get your dressing gown. We have to go." Hermione muttered hissed.

"What? Where?" Ginny asked, Hermione put a finger to her lips and threw Ginny her dressing gown. Ginny got out of bed and tugged it on, following Hermione nervously out of the room.

When Ginny reached the common room she noticed that Harry and Ron where there in their pyjamas also, talking to Professor McGonagall. She looked at Ginny and Hermione and gave a polite nod before walking out of the portrait hole. The students followed.

"What is going on?" Ginny hissed to Harry.

"Shhh." He replied, she bit her lip, she knew it had something to do with the Order. Her heart felt as if it stopped beating, what if it was about Severus? She tried to push all of her bad thoughts from her mind as she followed her Head of House through the corridors of Hogwarts and out into the cool air of the Hogwarts grounds at night. When they reached the pumpkin patch behind Hagrid's hut she pointed to a small pumpkin. They all touched it at the same time and were transported into the hallway of Grimmauld place. The students were directed into the dining room where many members of the order were seated. Ginny looked around and blinked back tears as she realized that Severus was not their, but neither was Dumbledore. Perhaps they were together, Ginny had to believe it.

No less than ten minutes later Dumbledore stepped into the room, a sober look on his face, eyes shining with sadness. Bill followed him in, looking as though he was hard pressed not to cry. And to Ginny's great relief Severus followed her brother, looking unharmed and relatively unemotional. They all took their seats at the table and Dumbledore begun to talk.

"It is with great regret that I have asked you all here. There is both good, and bad news. Severus' latest mission has revealed some rather shocking and revealing facts. It is to our satisfaction that not even an eight of the people we suspected had turned to the dark side. However, the news is not all good." His eyes scanned all of the Weasley's, and lingered on Bill for what seemed an eternity. "It seems that Percy Weasley has indeed joined the Death Eaters." Molly gave a howl of despair and Athur pulled her into his chest, his arms around her comfortingly as a tear escaped his eyes. "Percy was accompanied by Fleur Delacour." Dumbledore stated, Bill bit his lip and Ginny could see a drop of blood forming under his tooth. Bill and Fluer were engaged, he genuinely loved her. She could see the effect of the betrayal in his eyes. She too begun to cry, Harry wrapped his arms around her. As much resentment that she felt towards Percy, she still loved him as a sister loved a brother. He was part of her family, and now he had turned into something she despised, something her parents had warned her against. It made her feel as if their relationship had been a lie, everything she knew was set alight before her eyes. She spared a look in Ron's direction, his face red with anger, Hermione's hand on his seemed to be the only thing that prevented him from jumping out of his seat and ripping the entire room apart. "Apart from those two," Dumbledore continued, "Severus did not find anyone else with a connection to us. So, with that in mind, when you talk to Percy or Fleur I urge you to watch what you say." Dumbledore looked around the room sadly. "In this time, I also ask that you support each other, because in the darkness we shall find light in each other's hearts." Dumbledore rose from his chair and stepped away from the table, as did many other members of the order. A few people left the room immediately, Severus was one of them. Ginny stood up and walked out of the room, ignoring Harry calling her name. She saw Severus sneak off into the lounge room and she followed him.

Severus stood in the lounge room, hoping Ginny had seen him walk in. His heart ached for her. When he saw her crying he wished nothing more that to be able to hold her, but instead, it was Potter who had his arms around her. Potter that whispered things to calm her down.

"Severus." Came Ginny's weak voice, he turned to face her and she ran towards him, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the forehead.

"It's okay my love." His whispered, running his hand through her messy hair. She put her head on his chest and he pulled her closer. "It will be okay." She shook her head.

"He was my brother." She whispered, he held her face and turned it so he could look into her eyes.

"He still is you brother." He hissed, she averted her gaze from his. "Ginny, things will be fine." He kissed her on the cheek and she begun to cry again. He pulled her head against his chest and decided that it was best to let her cry. He rubbed her back softly.

"Thankyou Severus." Came a voice from the doorway, it was Bill Weasley. Panic ran through Severus and he tried to look as awkward as possible, his soft rubbing of Ginny's back turned to awkward patting and he inched away from her "I can take her for you." Bill walked over and hugged Ginny, Severus backed out of the room and Ginny shot him a look of despair over Bill's shoulder

"I'm so sorry Gin." Bill whispered, Ginny looked up into his eyes.

"I'm sorry too Bill. I can't believe she did that to you." She said through quivering lips, Bill tried to blink back his tears, he was rather unsuccessful.

"And Percy… that bastard." Bill cried angrily, his fists clenched against Ginny's back.

Ginny and Bill stayed in the lounge room, and slowly, other members of the Weasley family joined them, Fred, George, Ron, Molly and Arthur. Ginny couldn't remember a time where she had seen her family so heartbroken.

Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione walked towards through the Hogwarts grounds that afternoon behind Dumbledore, McGonagall and Severus. Since the meeting last night, it seemed as though everybody was in an unhappy mood. Ron and Hermione were walking hand in hand and Harry and Ginny were walking next to each other. Harry looked over at Ginny and smiled, Ginny frowned back at him.

When they returned to the common room Ron suggested a game of exploding snap, and eager to get her mind of the betrayal of her family, Ginny agreed. Harry and Hermione joined in. After ten minutes of playing their mood was slightly better.

"Hey Ginny," Ron said, Ginny looked up at him. "Bill told me that you were hugging Snape last night." Ginny gulped, what could she say to that?

"He told you?" Ginny asked, Harry and Hermione looked at her interestedly.

"Yup."

"Oh, how embarrassing." Ginny said, forcing a blush, Harry and Hermione laughed. "I hoped he wouldn't tell you." Ron laughed at her "Well, he was the only person there." She said, smirked.

"Wow, you must have been pretty desperate to hug Snape. I am surprised he didn't push you away and take one hundred points of Gryffindor." Harry and Ron cracked up.

"Oh, don't be so horrible you two. I am sure that he does have a heart hidden somewhere." Hermione reprimanded them. Ginny wanted to slap her brother. No, she didn't want to slap him, she changed her mind. She wanted to tell him about her relationship with Severus, tell him that he was the most amazing person that she had ever had the honour of loving. That would anger him.

It was two days before Ginny sat in Severus class again, and the realisation that Percy and Bill's fiancée were not going to return to her side finally sunk in. Hazel had asked her many times what was wrong, but Ginny just smiled and said that she didn't feel too well. Ginny stirred her cauldron and looked up to the front of the room, she caught Severus' eye and gave him a smile. He blinked back at her and rose from his seat. He strode down the gap in the middle of the classroom and rounded on her cauldron.

"What is this Miss Weasley?" He asked, she shrugged.

"A potion Professor." She replied matter-of-factly, he glared at her.

"It that's what you can call it. You have completely ruined it. Look at the consistency. Were you not listening when I told you it was supposed to be lumpy?" She looked over the simmering potion. "Or did you think that you would stir the bumps out to make it look prettier?" Ginny bit her lip. "It's lucky that you are only allowed to have two remedial potions lessons a week, because otherwise I would be forced to see you every night due to your incompetence." He spat before stalking around the room and looking at other cauldrons, barking orders at the students and taking points off here and there.

It was to Ginny's great relief that she walked through the door to the potions classroom that evening. She spotted Severus at a desk at the back of the room and walked over to him, when he saw her he smiled.

"How are you holding up?" he asked her.

"Much better, thanks." She said with a broad grin. She sat on the seat behind him and looked into the cauldron he was stirring. "What's in there?" She asked.

"An anti-infection draught." He told her, "For Madam Pomfrey." Ginny nodded and put her hand on his lap.

"It is so hard Severus." She whispered, he looked at her questioningly.

"What is my love?" he stopped stirring the potion and rested the spoon on the dest.

"This. Everything. I sometimes wish that I could tell people about you and I, so that we didn't have to hide it anymore." She said sadly, Severus nodded and let her continue "The only person who knows is Hazel, but I am sure many other people suspect something." She rested her head on his shoulder.

"They may, my love. Before you know it you will be finished school and we wont have to hide anymore." Ginny shook her head.

"Well, I wont, but you will… Because I am sure the Weasley clan will be hungry for your blood." He laughed and kissed her softly.

"Your family doesn't scare me." He joked, she looked up and smiled at him.

"Do you think they suspect anything?" she asked, Severus shook his head confidently. "There was a bit of a slip up on Friday night though, when Bill walked in on us hugging. I told him later that you were too upset to know what you were doing. I am actually more worried about Dumbledore." He said, Ginny gasped.

"Dumbledore?" She repeated, he nodded.

"After the final quidditch game he called me to his office and asked why I behaved rather peculiarly. I made up some excuse about being sick of the Slytherin tactics and the way it effected on house reputation, he said that he understood exactly what I was talking about and then asked why I didn't let Harry bring you to the hospital wing."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I love you." He whispered, caressing her cheek.

"You didn't tell him that did you?" she asked, shocked.

"No, of course not. When I arrived on the pitch Harry was just sitting beside you like a stunned garden gnome. He had no idea what to do. So, I told Dumbledore that I saw that you needed medical attention immediately, and did what I thought was best at the time." He explained

"Did he buy it?" She asked, he shrugged.

"I don't know. Right after I told him, he told me that he thought that Harry liked you a great deal, and that it is strange how you two are not together." Ginny bit her lip.

"What did you say?"

"I just told him that I didn't pay attention to the intrigues of studen'ts day to day lives."

"Hmm…" Ginny voiced thoughtfully, Severus pushed some loose strands of hair off her face.

"That was all. He is the only person I am worried about. We will just have to be careful until you have finished school." He told her, she looked up at him and grinned playfully.

"Do you think we will be together that long?" She whispered, he smiled back at her.

"I don't see why not." She stretched up and kissed him softly.

The weeks flew by and Ginny read about another attack by the death eaters. This time it was in Hong Kong, China, killing only ten people but injuring many more. It now seemed as if the wizarding world was on it's toes, watching carefully for another attack.

Ginny and Severus got through the time by seeing each other in remedial lessons, talking on the two way mirror and occasional detentions. Ginny was becoming increasingly aware of the love and devotion she felt towards Severus, and her respect for him grew daily. The winter months ebbed away, the snow melted, and Ginny could taste the end of the year. With the exams due to begin that week, Severus was constantly playing the role of a concerned teacher, urging her to study, and actually teaching her in remedial potions class.

When Ginny made her way down to Hagrid's hut for her first exam, Care of Magical Creatures, she was reasonably sure that she would do well. She spotted the hippogriffs in the pen and smiled, if there was an animal she loved, it was hippogriffs. She smiled and made her way over to Hagrid.

"How are yeh?" He asked, she smiled.

"Fine thanks, yourself?" She replied, he smiled and nodded.

"Not too bad. This exam should be easy for ya." He told her, the rest of the class made their way over to the hippogriffs. The class, if you could call it that, was small. There were only four students, but Hagrid insisted on teaching them in the beginning of the year. Ginny noticed that he had managed to find enough hippogriffs so they could have one each. "Today I want yeh all ta give the hippogriffs 'ere medical exams. Yeh'll have one each, and there's ta be no talkin'." He said, Ginny nodded. "Yeh may begin." Ginny made her way over to her favourite hippogriff, a marvellous white beast named Hyperion.

Ginny sat in her last remedial potions lesson for the year. It was several days before the exam, and she was feeling rather disappointed. She had tried to kiss Severus a few times, but he refused to allow her to, saying that she had work to do. After writing for a very long time she stopped.

"Severus?" She asked.

"Hmm?"

"If I continue to do my work like the wonderful student that I am, will you give me a kiss later?" She asked sweetly, he looked as though he was considering her proposition carefully.

"You will have to wait and find out." He told her. She glared at him and he shrugged before pointing to her work. "Write." She put her quill down.

"Considering I love you, and you love me, I think our time would be better spent basking in the glory of our relationship. So, why don't you just give me the answer to the test and we can put this time to better use." He laughed.

"Cheating are we?" He asked.

"No!" she replied indignantly "Of course not." He shook his head.

"Work." She rolled her eyes before resuming her writing

Ginny completed her Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies, Divination and Transfiguration exams with a reasonable amount of confidence. Even though she told everyone that she asked that she was going to fail miserably, she knew that it was just a buffer so that she wouldn't be disappointed if she did.

The end of the school year was close enough to touch as Ginny sat in the potions classroom, exam paper in front of her. The exam was a written one, consisting of many short answer question and two essays. She looked up at Severus and his eyes twinkled at her. Her ask for hints on what was on the exam paper went unfulfilled in the past week, so she just had to hope that what she knew was enough to get her by. When she had asked Severus for answers, he had just laughed. Hazel had asked whether Ginny was able to give her any information, so Ginny just laughed at her.

"Your reading time starts now." Came Severus' potions-master drawl. Ginny opened the paper and scanned it with her eyes. From what she could tell, it was nowhere near as hard as she had expected.

Two and a half hours later Ginny took her paper to the front of the room and handed it to Severus with a smile.

"There you go Professor." She said before walking out of the room, as soon as she reached the corridor she realised that tommorow, her sixth year would be over, and that she would be on the Hogwarts Express and back to Grimmauld place.

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A/N: So, that sums it up for Ginny's sixth year. There will be more to come, I assure you. I can also assure you that Ginny's second year will be full of goodies, detentions, remedial lessons, love letters, war and death. I will also throw in another few surprises, but you will have to wait for them! The next chapter will be up A.S.A.P! And in case some of you were wondering, I do have another story under this account! It is called 'Angels' and I about Ginny again, I have decided she is my favourite to write about!

Oh, and I have finished school FOR EVER! My last exam was drama on Friday and the butt heads on the radio forgot about us! How could they? They said economics was the last exam… sounds about right…. For anyone out there who thinks drama is easy, let me tell you that you are completely and utterly wrong! It is the most nervewracking and phsycially challenging subject I have ever done! Sorry about that, needed to vent my anger at people forgetting about drama. But yeah! IT IS OVER! And I am happy, well, that is at least until I get the results!

Mistress of Eternity: Sorry about the cliff hanger, I don't know why but I have a strange obsession with them. Well, now Severus is back you can rest easy. And yes, Voldemort is wiping out everything, but you haven't seen the end of bald old Voldie yet! Did I end this on a cliffy? Let me see… No. Good.

arrestingseraph: Before I thank you I would like to say you have a wicked name! Thanks for your review, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Lollylover: Was it really intense? Hmph… that's cool! Here is the chapter, the next one shouldn't take too long.

maddudewalking: I will see how I can work those words into the chapters to follow. And about Fluer… POOR BILL. I feel terrible doing that to him, I really do, but I think it is kind of interesting to experiment with different characters. Let's just say that that isn't the last you will hear of Fleur…. evil grin. Thanks heaps for your comments, they rock my socks!

hatebelow: Thankyou so much for your review, it is VERY much appreciated!

Anglic Bladez: Don't be so silly, your exams are just as hard to you as mine are to me! I wish you all the best in these exams and the ones to follow, and I will try not to rub in the fact that I DON'T HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL ANYMORE… squeals and dances around room like lunatic. Take my word for it, when you finish school it is the best damn feeling in the world! Take care! P.S. What part of Australia?

sparklemonkey: I wasn't particuar about schoolies, I don't really know whether it is worth it. My exams finished on Friday with drama… thank god! UTS huh? Good on you. They don't have the course I want there. I have applied for psychology at UWS… all the other ones need a UAI of 90 something. Grrr, stinking UAI! Thanks for your review too. Oh, when is your formal? Mine is Friday, and my dress isn't don't yet! Hehehe.

I Love Nerds 919: Why thank you my dear! I hope you liked this one too!

HarryGinnyFan23: Don't worry about Severus, what will happen will happed. The Ginny's next year will be just as exciting as her last!

Hugs and Kisses,

Sinister Spiders