"Miss Weasley," Snape drawled as he took his seat across from Ginny behind his desk. "I don't suppose you have any ideas how your brothers' excessively annoying… products… keep turning up in the halls?"
Ginny blew out her breath as quietly as she could manage in a sigh of relief. When Snape had deftly separated her from her classmates in the hall and escorted her personally into the headmaster's office she had no clue which transgression, of many, she was there to answer for.
On Dumbledore's ancient desk - she would never think of the desk as Snape's - lay a collection of Dung Bombs, Miraculous Mystic Mayhem Makers, Thor's Thunder Crackers, and, she noted with a pang of regret, some Skiving Snackboxes and Jinx Off kits that she had planned to use herself. Someone had ratted out the stash the DA had hidden in the Gryffindor common room by the looks of it.
Ginny looked up at Snape. "All owl post is checked and you've banned me from Hogsmeade already this year, so I can hardly guess why you would think I'm behind this," she shrugged and looked away, casually inspecting a hangnail that she had been picking at recently. "They may be my brothers but you've all but forbidden contact with my whole family, unless it's glowing letters of how grand my life here at Hogwarts has been this term."
"And yet," Snape continued dryly, "this was found in your own house's common room. I would think children following in their own siblings' footsteps would be less careless with their things."
"All the more reason to reckon someone else is responsible," Ginny said, keeping her voice as neutral as possible.
Snape did not respond this time, allowing a silence to grow between them. He began scrawling on a parchment with a quill, as if taking notes or filling out a form, Ginny could not determine which from where she was seated. She allowed the silence to grow as well, the only noise in the room coming from the scratching of quill on parchment and some gentle whirring noises from various instruments in the room. Even the portraits were silent.
Ginny stared longingly at Dumbledore's portrait, wishing with all her heart that he hadn't died - hadn't been murdered by the very man sitting across from her. The coward, she thought bitterly. If it weren't for him, Dumbledore would be alive and helping Harry. Perhaps Harry, Ron, and Hermione wouldn't even have had to run. But wishes were futile, she knew, and she tore her gaze away before tears could spring to her eyes.
To change her frame of mind, she let her thoughts drift as she took in just how little the office had changed from the last time she had been there. With the exception of Dumbledore's portrait on the wall, she felt she could reasonably expect to see Dumbledore walk in and expect Snape to remove himself from the headmaster's chair. All of his magical instruments remained, their purposes unknown to Ginny, along with several items mounted in display cases or on tables against each wall. Even a candy dish filled with lemon drops, looking more like a singular sticky lump now, sat untouched at the corner of the desk near her.
She would have expected the room to darken with Snape's presence; it seemed unfair that the windows let in so much light despite the circumstances. Ginny firmly believed the man belonged in darkness, in the bowels of the castle instead of the bright and airy top.
"Sign this," Snape said blandly, turning the parchment around to face her.
"What is this?" Ginny demanded.
"You'll get further in life if you learn to read, Miss Weasley," Snape smirked.
"I know how to read," Ginny groused under her breath as she skimmed the form set before her. Suddenly she spluttered, "You can't be serious!"
"I assure you, I am very serious."
"I didn't do anything!" Ginny scowled. "Sir," she added belatedly, "what proof do you have?"
"What more proof do I need? Weasleys have been a thorn in my side ever since I became a professor. This happens to be the first year I can do something about it."
"I thought Hogwarts attendance is compulsory this year. Especially for… pure bloods." She could hardly bring herself to say the words.
"Look on the bright side, Miss Weasley. Three of these and you'll be expelled. The same goes for all of your friends. It would do you well to spread the word among all the miscreants with dreams of vandalism and sabotage that I will not stand for it this year." Snape said.
"And if I refuse to sign it?"
"I would have to bring in a neutral witness. I'm sure I could find one of the Carrows to come assist in the matter."
"Neutral?! The Carrows?" Ginny nearly screeched in outrage. "You know what they're doing. To the students. To the school! You dare call us who stand against them the miscreants?"
Snape stood and tapped the parchment loudly. "Sign," he ordered.
Ginny bit her lip. What would Harry do, she wondered. "Fine," she sighed, and signed her name on the line at the bottom, her cursive neat and pretty above Snape's inelegant scrawl.
Immediately his hand seized the back of her neck like she was nothing more than a misbehaving kitten. She stiffened, but rose as the hand pulled to guide her upward. Snape held her in place for the space of five heartbeats, her gaze aimed at a window across from her. She saw a rebellious stream of sunlight slant through the glass, casting tiny rainbows against the wall and then down into a metal and glass bound case where a silver sword inset with large rubies rested on a bed of soft velvet. Ginny recognized it instantly, the very sword Harry has used to kill the basilisk her first year. The sword of Gryffindor.
The hand turned her, sharply but not cruelly, toward the door to escort her back down into the now empty corridor. "I believe you're late for potions, Miss Weasley," Snape said as he released her. "Let us hope for your sake Professor Slughorn is more forgiving than I ever was."
Ginny's breath caught in her throat as her eyes stung with unshed tears. She was grateful Snape had left her, so he could not watch her stumble at a half run straight to Professor McGonagall's office, the safest place she could now think of at Hogwarts, now that she knew her own common room wasn't safe.
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Professor McGonagall wasn't much help in the end. She soothed Ginny's frayed nerves over a cup of tea but she remained firm in her position regarding pranks at Hogwarts. After a fitful night of sleep Ginny cornered Neville in a nook in the common room and cast a hasty muffliato charm. Neville was glum when she gave him the news that not only did they have a leak in either their house or Dumbledore's Army, but they'd lost a whole stash of items they'd planned to last the members of the DA weeks, and then on top of everything Snape was planning on expelling her and likely Neville, Luna, and everyone standing against the control Voldemort sought to exert over the school.
"We need to meet with Luna, and only Luna," Ginny said solemnly.
"The library is off limits without a pass from a professor now. And we don't have a single class all together," Neville added grimly.
"Whatever we do will break curfew. We might as well try the Room of Requirement."
"Alright. I'll tell her at breakfast."
Ginny nodded. "Let's meet during lunch. I'll bring a basket from the kitchen. I have a plan."
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"What sort of plan?" Luna asked as she politely took a cucumber sandwich from the basket.
"We have to act, now, before one or more of us are expelled. While I was in Dumbledore's - Snape's - office, I saw it. The sword of Gryffindor. We have to take it back. For Harry," Ginny said, her eyes alive with excitement.
"How exhilarating," Luna said with a soft smile. "You've been in contact with Harry?"
"Well, no," Ginny's smile faltered. "But Dumbledore left it to him. It's Harry's."
"We can keep it safe for him," Neville suggested. "Until he comes for it."
"Exactly," Ginny nodded. She pulled two sandwiches out of the basket. Plotting made her peckish.
"Aren't you going to eat, Neville?" Luna asked. "You've got to keep your strength up."
"I'm not very hungry, I'm afraid," Neville answered. "I'd rather focus on the matter at hand."
"At least have some pumpkin juice," Ginny said as she pulled three goblets out and set them on the bare stone floor. "I reckon we should do this before the Halloween feast. What do you think?"
"That's only a week away," Neville pointed out. "Can we be ready that quickly?"
"Easily," Luna said soothingly, "I checked on the distractions we've stored in the blocked hallway and they're still there."
"Right," Neville nodded. "I'm the clumsiest, so I'll set off a distraction downstairs. When you hear it, that will be your chance to move, once the patrols leave the area."
"Unless Snape changes the password, I heard him say it when we passed the gargoyle. Luna, would you like to keep watch?" Ginny asked.
"Alright," Luna agreed. "I'll use the coins if there's any trouble."
"We all should," Neville said. "If any of us get into trouble. Ginny already has one strike against her."
"That's true," Luna looked concerned. "Maybe I should do the actual stealing."
"No, I can do it," Ginny said firmly after she finished eating the last bite of her sandwich. "But perhaps Neville could come keep watch after he sets the distraction. Then you could run up and help me, Luna, just in case."
"Sure," Luna and Neville said together, lifting their spirits just a little. "It feels good to finally be doing something, doesn't it?" Luna smiled.
"It does," Ginny agreed.
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It did feel good, at first. But as the days grew closer and then turned into hours, Ginny's unease grew. She found herself wondering how Harry, Ron, and Hermione managed to do risky things like this year after year. Luna and Neville seemed to be holding up well, the three of them gave each other confirming nods as they passed in the corridors and great hall. They avoided pairing up in the few classes one had with another.
Ginny had to make an effort not to wilt under what felt like intense scrutiny from Snape at the professor's table. She bit her fingernails to the quick while she tried to think only of upcoming assignments in potions and transfiguration. She filled her head with incantations and ingredients whenever she walked the halls or ate a meal, often bringing a book to appear like she was studying.
Could she do this? Safe in her four poster bed, Ginny agonized over the possibilities. What would Harry do, she wondered. Then she remembered Harry had his invisibility cloak. Harry had Hermione's brilliance, and Ron's strength. And Ron had a brilliance of his own as well, she had to admit, he was her brother after all. What did she have? Her own reckless ideas, Neville's stoic bravery, and Luna's occasional insightful brilliance.
It wasn't the worst team, she forced herself to admit. They had learned a lot when Harry was in charge of Dumbledore's army. If all went to plan that night, they'd have the sword carefully hidden within the room of requirement until they could find a more solid home for it. Maybe she could even pass it to her family if they came to visit in Hogsmeade. And if she could get Snape to allow her to see them. Perhaps her mum could insist on seeing her only daughter.
A soft chime interrupted her fanciful daydream of an afternoon hugging her parents, and listening to Fred and George banter as they took turns teasing her good-naturedly. She bolted upright and silenced the charm she'd set. The coin in her pocket warmed, the second signal it was time to go. She slipped out of her bed and sneaked across the warm wooden floor, bracing herself for the cold stones awaiting her outside Gryffindor house.
Neville met her in the empty common room and they pulled the hoods of their black robes up in preparation to leave. Neville went first through the portrait hole and Ginny saw the pack he was carrying. It braced her nerves a little to see him take charge. Thankfully, they moved the portrait slowly so as not to wake the Fat Lady, and were able to tiptoe off underneath the gentle sound of snoring portraits.
Ginny and Neville separated at the stairs; he went down as she went up to where Luna was waiting for her.
"Oh dear," Luna whispered in dismay as Ginny reached her. Luna held out a fist, faced down and Ginny nervously opened her own hand beneath it. Two small objects fell into her palm.
"To calm the nargles," Luna whispered into her ear.
Ginny peered down at two silver earrings from which dangled a stone that looked like a slice of watermelon; green on the outside and pink on the inside. She poked them into her ears as she led Luna down the hall toward the gargoyle, wishing for a sip of Felix Felicis instead. They slipped as one into the niche behind a statue and waited for Neville to make his distraction. Ginny bit into another fingernail that was already too short as she waited anxiously. She glanced over at Luna but it was impossible to gauge her expression in the darkness. She tried to absorb the serenity Luna seemed to exist in, and it helped for a moment, but then there came a series of rumbles deep below them. Dust sprinkled down from the ceiling as two groups of patrols ran past, shouting.
It was too late now for cold feet. It was time to do this. "For Harry," she whispered to herself. Luna followed her as Ginny approached the gargoyle and, after one last reassuring glance both ways down the corridor, stated the password. Stone slid aside and revealed the stairs to the headmaster's office.
"I'll see you when Neville gets here," Luna smiled as she turned her back to Ginny to keep watch.
Ginny nodded and made her way carefully up the stairs. She glanced at the portraits, all sleeping as well, she noted with relief. Wasting no time, she walked over to the display case holding the sword of Gryffindor. The metal and glass case was cool to the touch, and it wasn't until she went to open it that she realized it was locked. Ginny swore an ugly word under her breath. Now what?
"Alohomora," she said sternly, as if she could will the lock to open. Of course, it didn't. Ginny swore again and began to glance around nervously.
"What is it?" Luna asked from directly beside her, making Ginny nearly jump out of her skin.
"It's locked," Ginny growled through her teeth.
"Alohomora," Luna said cheerily.
The lock didn't budge, and Ginny bit her tongue instead of saying something rude.
"Should we just take the whole case?" Luna asked.
Ginny tried lifting one end, but it didn't budge. "Sticking charm, I think," she sighed. She twisted her mouth to the side and tapped her bottom lip with the tip of her wand as she thought.
Luna glanced at the doorway and back to Ginny. "I don't suppose you know any counter spells?"
"Worth a try," Ginny shrugged. The two each took turns bombarding the case with any quiet spells they could think of.
Suddenly Neville appeared in the doorway. "They're coming!" he gasped. "What's taking so long?"
"It's locked," the girls said in unison.
"And yes, we tried alohomora," Ginny hissed.
Neville raised his hands in surrender. "I didn't say anything. But we have to go," he warned.
Luna looked at Neville. "Do you know any good spells?"
"Not really," he shook his head. "Everything will make a ton of noise."
Ginny gasped.
Crash!
Luna and Neville watched in horror as Ginny carefully removed the sword from the glass she'd shattered with a thick candlestick. "Let's go!" she hissed as the portraits above awakened. She slipped the sword under her robe and held it there awkwardly as the three of them raced down the stairs.
"To the right!" Neville said as they reached the bottom and continued running without looking at the group of people at the other end of the hallway.
Ginny heard shouts and feet pounding the floor as the chase began. She could only cross her fingers and hope the moving staircases would move in their favor. In the back of her mind, she realized they should have split up afterward, but it was too late to change plans now. They ran past the wall for the room of requirement and hid in the darkness of a niche in a different intersecting hall.
The three of them waited, catching their breath as the group of students chasing them slowed and began to search more methodically. Ginny clutched the sword against her chest as she listened to them get quieter and farther away.
"That was close," Neville said with a wide grin.
"Too close," Ginny agreed. "I think it's safe to double back and hide in the Room of Requirement for a while."
She peeked out of the niche they'd hidden in and saw no one. They walked quietly back down to the wall.
"Stop!"
The three turned and Ginny recognized with a sinking feeling in her stomach Amycus Carrow.
"What have we here?" the man smirked as he twirled his wand. "Naughty students out past curfew. You'll have to be punished." Amycus aimed his wand at Neville as he said "Petrificus Totalus."
Neville stopped as if turned to stone. As Amycus passed him, he delivered a punch to Neville's gut. Amycus paused thoughtfully and then socked him in his left eye for good measure before stalking toward Ginny.
"Professor Carrow," she said as she backed away, "you wouldn't hit a girl…"
"Oh, but I would, blood traitor," Ginny heard as she backed into someone warm and solid. A fist rammed into the back of her head and her vision turned gray with sharp points of light for a moment.
"Good one, Alecto," Amycus congratulated his sister with a sneer. "Do it again."
"The blonde one looks too fragile," Alecto whined. She went to punch Ginny in the stomach, but unfortunately her fist connected with the sword Ginny still held beneath her robes. Alecto wailed loudly as she cradled her fist in her other hand.
Amycus closed the distance between himself and Ginny with three quick steps. "What did you do to her?" he demanded as he grabbed her by the front of her robes. He pushed the tip of his wand into her throat. "I'll crucio you if you don't answer me."
"You will do no such thing," Snape's voice fell across them all like a wet blanket, dampening everyone's mood at once.
"But we are the deputy headmasters," Alecto whined, "we have a right to punish them! And that one-" she pointed at Ginny, "-hurt me! Look, I'm bleeding!" she pointed at a red dot on her bruising knuckles and howled again.
"Let her go," Snape ordered. "Tell me, what is the meaning of all this?"
"We caught them breaking curfew," Amycus said.
"And why, pray tell, are they breaking curfew on the night before the Halloween feast?"
"Ah," said Amycus.
"Well," said Alecto.
Snape stared at them in turn. "Am I to understand that you have not questioned them yet?" he asked incredulously. "We do not incapacitate first and ask questions later," Snape rolled his eyes. Wordlessly, he released Neville from petrification with a swish of his wand.
"Leave us," Snape ordered the Carrows.
"But-" the two sputtered.
"Leave!" Snape snarled. For a moment Ginny wondered if they would actually stand their ground but with a glance, the two ran like children away from them all.
"You were in my office, what did you take?" Snape demanded as soon as the Carrows were out of earshot.
"Nothing!" Neville said, pulling himself up to Snape's height.
"Don't 'nothing' me," Snape sighed. He turned to look at Luna's placid face and then to Ginny. "You," he said to her. "Hand it over."
Ginny hesitated.
"Now, or I'll call Alecto to come search you," he threatened.
Ginny groaned and reluctantly opened her outer robes. "Here," she said, handing the sword over with dismay.
Snape stared at the sword in his hands, turning it over. "What on earth possessed you to think you could steal from me and not get caught?"
"I don't know," Ginny replied, wanting to cry all over again. She really didn't know. Her first chance to really prove to herself, Neville, Luna, and the whole of Dumbledore's Army that they could be successful without Harry, Ron and Hermione. That there was hope for the school year. That they could fight against these dark days and Voldemort would be defeated. Her first big chance. And she got caught.
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"You know," Harry said as he played with a lock of Ginny's fiery red hair, "when I asked you what the hardest part of being apart was for you, I never expected a story like that."
Ginny looked up at Harry from her position with her head in his lap. They'd spent the morning flying with her brothers around the Burrow until one by one they all found an excuse to go inside and Ginny found herself alone finally with Harry. The sun was bright in the clear sky, the white puffy clouds perfect for cloud gazing. For now, though, all she wanted to look at was the scruff on Harry's face and the warmth in his green eyes.
"Well, it wasn't a great story," Ginny sighed.
"It was a terrifying story when I first heard it, in the woods. We couldn't ask questions, to find out if you were alright, or how you'd been punished. We had no idea how bad it really was, either. Not until we had to come back for the diadem." Harry lifted the soft ends of her hair to brush along his chin.
Ginny shook her head. "I felt so defeated. Failing so miserably at our first DA mission without you, I wasn't sure we would recover from that."
"Ginny, you didn't fail. I can't even imagine how brave you had to be, to do that. I had so much help, especially from Dumbledore, and even I made mistakes. So many mistakes. I'm so lucky to have you, Ginny."
Ginny's eyes stung even as her heart swelled with pride. "It's nice to be able to tell you things, and you just understand. I can't tell mum… she would have kittens from that story alone."
"Someday I want you to tell me everything - all the stories. When you're ready." Harry's voice was so fervent Ginny had to close her eyes to properly feel the meaning behind his words, and pinch herself to know it wasn't a dream.
"We have time, now," she smiled as she brushed away a tear on each cheek that she couldn't hold back. "We can trade - a story for you and a story for me."
"And once we're done we'll make a lifetime of stories to top it off," Harry promised.
Ginny sat up and threw her arms around her boyfriend. "Oh, Harry!" she cried. They held each other until Ginny pulled back and pressed her forehead against Harry's. His lips found hers and the two of them forgot about the heavy weight of the past for a while, greedily taking time for themselves, with each other.
And if the curtain in the kitchen twitched as Molly looked out, well, she didn't say anything when they finally reappeared once the sun had gone down, the night had grown cool, and the table had been set for the family in the garden.
