Fourth Year, Part One.
"We're going to be moving tomorrow," her mother said, holding Ginny's hand, "to headquarters. We'll stay there until the end of the holidays."
Ginny nodded, completely suppressing the urge to rip her hand from her mother's grip and start screaming.
It had been a week since she'd returned to the Burrow, and it had undoubtedly been the most uncomfortable week she'd ever spent at home.
She figured it was because of Barty's true identity having been revealed and the Dark Lord's return, but her parents had been more overbearing than she could ever remember before, even worse than they'd been the summer after Potter had killed Tom.
Of course, Percy's choice to practically disown them all had certainly added to it.
The only time they left her alone was when she was in the bathroom or when she was going to bed, and even then, if she stayed in the loo too long there'd be a knock on the door, and more than once she'd had to feign sleep when she heard the floorboards creaking outside her room.
And whenever she was with them, they wanted to talk.
She'd only been home for a week, but she'd already had dozens of conversations about her lessons with Barty. Her parents, it seemed, were concerned that Barty might have been convincing her to join the Dark Lord.
It seemed like whenever her brothers weren't with them, they'd start talking to her about it. Questioning her about what exactly he'd taught her, telling her about the horrors of what the Dark Lord had done and telling her how much they loved her.
She thought that she was pulling her act off quite well. She told them how betrayed she felt, how she'd trusted him and even liked him and how guilty she was that she didn't pick it up earlier.
She forced herself to remember that his soul had been eaten, and allowed tears to drop from her eyes.
She thought she was pulling it off convincingly, but it was close to impossible to be certain. Her parents seemed slightly less worried when they spoke to her now than when they had the first day back, but they still barely gave her any time to herself. They still watched her all the time with cool, assessing gazes.
She still caught her mother looking at her and wiping at suspiciously wet eyes.
It had only been a week back, and she was quite sure that within another few weeks she'd lose her mind entirely.
Occlumency helped a bit, at least.
Ginny knew that she'd improved like crazy since returning to the Burrow, if only because she was doing it almost all the time. It was pretty much the only thing keeping her from running and grabbing the knife whenever her mother started another one of those well-meaning, absurdly frustrating conversations.
In fact, Occlumency had been the only thing keeping her from drawing her wand the other day, when her father had been talking about how terrible and evil the Dark Lord was.
Just like when she'd overheard her roommates talking about her, a red-rage had coated her vision, thoughts of blood and violence filling her mind.
Luckily, Barty had taught her well. Before her father could even notice her muscles tensing, she'd taken a deep breath, forcing all thought and emotion to vanish.
Then she'd slowly allowed it to trickle back and had almost vomited.
She'd made herself wait until the subject changed before excusing herself to the bathroom where the knife waited with its promise of sweet release from the guilty feelings twisting her stomach around.
She'd used the knife a lot, over that week. More than she could ever recall using it before.
It was the only thing that helped when she knew that she could be writing to the Dark Lord it only her parents would leave her alone for long enough to do it.
Without a doubt, it had been the most difficult week of her life. Worse than Higgs, worse than when Tom had been possessing her, worse than when Tom had been killed.
She was surrounded by her family, and couldn't recall feeling so cold and lonely ever before.
She'd asked if she could go to Luna's for a few days. Her parents had looked at each other then, her mother biting her lip and her father looking like he was steeling himself.
They'd told her no. With everything going on, they'd said, it was better for her to be around the family. With the Dark Lord having returned, it was better for the people who were on Dumbledore's side to stick together.
It was better for her to be where they could keep a close watch on her.
She hadn't tried to fight, not really. She'd told them that Luna was her best friend, that she loved spending time with her and that she really, really wanted to go.
And they'd still said no.
She still bore some hope that they'd change their minds after some time living at headquarters, but that hope was slowly dying.
"Hermione will be joining us next week," her mother went on, heedless to her hateful thoughts, "Ron's just heard from her. We're going to be putting the two of you together in a room. You're friends with Hermione, aren't you?"
"A bit," she said, "we talk sometimes."
"That's good. I really am sorry about Luna, but I just don't think it's a good idea with everything that's been going on."
'No, rather make me share a room with the Mudblood. Fuck. I'll never have time to myself.'
"But you said that he's being very quiet," she tried despite herself, "it's not like he'll attack the Lovegoods. Please, mum."
Molly shook her head sadly, clicking her tongue against her teeth and patting Ginny's hand softly.
"I'm sorry, dear. I know this seems terribly unfair. But it's terrifying for us. We know what it was like when You Know Who was in power before. We just want to do everything we can to keep you safe. And that means that you stay with us as much as possible."
'I hate you. I hate you. I hate you so much.'
Ginny bowed her head, forcing her fury to recede.
"We know that Headquarters is safe," her mother continued. "It's under the Fidelius Charm, and Professor Dumbledore's added plenty of other protections. It'll be difficult enough for us to send you off to Hogwarts this year, what with everything that's happened."
"But Luna-"
"Let it rest, dear," came the tired answer, "please. We're not going to change our minds about this. I know it's hard, but you'll see Luna before you know it. And you can still send owls to her. We love you, Ginny. We're just doing what's best."
'If you were doing what's best, you'd let me go to him! You'd let me be happy again!'
"Fine," she said, still not meeting her mother's eye, "ok."
"We're going to leave as early in the morning as we can," Molly said, standing up, "try and pack your things."
Ginny just nodded.
After a few moments, her mother sighed and left the room, leaving the door slightly open.
When she was sure that she could hear her mother in the kitchen, she snuck the piece of parchment out from under her mattress.
"My lord," she wrote, "my family will be moving into the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix tomorrow. My mother said that it is under the Fidelius, but I will find out everything else that I can. I hope to be able to get more information about their plans when I am there."
The stairs creaked and she quickly hid the parchment again, pulling out her trunk and starting to throw her stuff in it.
When she checked it later that night, the Dark Lord had replied.
"I want to know everything. Who is in this order, their relationships, their likes and dislikes. Everything. You will spend as much time with Potter as you can. Make certain that he sees you as someone he can trust. Barty said that you could be an incredible spy. Prove him right."
She hugged the parchment close to her chest, tears spilling down her face.
It was almost as good as having the Diary back.
While staying at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix was not as useful as she'd thought it would be, Sirius Black was by far the worst part of it all.
It took her a few days to figure out what it was about the man that so bothered her, but eventually she came to an understanding.
She'd spent close to two years thinking of him as the Dark Lord's right-hand man, two years during which she believed everything the books and papers had written about him and a part of her idolized him.
Of course, Barty had told her the truth a while ago. But she hadn't quite accepted it, hadn't fully absorbed the implications of her having hero-worshipped the enemy.
Knowing the truth did not prevent the disappointment of being face-to-face with a blood traitor whose family would have fully supported him had he wished to help the Dark Lord.
It wouldn't have been quite so bad, had the man not clearly cared so much for Harry. It was like a slap in the face when she overheard him talking to her brother in such caring terms about the boy who had ruined her life.
And it definitely didn't help that he carried the same effortlessly confident atmosphere as Higgs had.
Still, much as she may have wanted to, she couldn't just avoid the man.
After all, she'd been ordered to find out as much as possible about the Order of the Phoenix.
She'd thought that living in their headquarters would have given countless opportunities to do so, but of course, her mother had to ruin everything.
Along with Ron, Hermione, and the Twins, she'd been hurried away from wherever the Order meetings were taking place, given chores and set to work like house-elves.
She did what she could to listen in, but even with Fred and George's Extendable Ears it was easier said than done.
Ginny had, however, been successfully able to find out a fair amount about the members of the Order.
Every night she waited until Hermione's breathing had settled into the smooth rhythms of sleep before taking out the parchment and a quill and writing whatever she'd found out about the Order members. Very little of it was important, secret information, but the Dark Lord had been explicit that she should tell him everything she could.
And so she did, writing about how the other members had said that Moody had become more paranoid since Barty kidnapped him, how Sturgis Podmore could often be found talking with Emmeline Vance and how Dedalus Diggle was always with Hestia Jones.
She wrote as much as she could, feeling a strange tingle whenever she put quill to paper that always reminded her of how it had been with the Diary, barely able to keep her squeals of joy silent when she saw the spidery writing appear back.
She told him how Sirius Black was usually with Lupin and seemed to care about Harry Potter an absurd amount, told him how she'd managed to overhear her brother talking to her parents about a roster for guard duty and how she'd heard Sirius complaining about the useless reports they were getting from someone named Arabella.
She told him how Kingsley was the Auror in charge of the search for Sirius, and how he and Tonks kept the Order informed of the going's on within the Auror Department.
Every so often, she had to sneak away to the bathroom and use the knife after writing the messages. Usually, it was when she was reporting on her family's activities, but she'd noticed it happening more and more when she wrote about Tonks as well.
Out of all the Order people, Tonks was the one she liked the most. The woman was just...cool.
She was fun and nice, and easy to talk to, and Ginny thought she was pretty as well.
And she was on the wrong side.
So she bit her lip and used the knife, cutting away her guilt and telling the Dark Lord everything she could about his enemies.
It was hard to keep it up, what with her sharing a room with Hermione, but she managed to write something every day. After all, it was the only light in the darkness which was number twelve Grimmauld Place.
"It must have been so difficult for you," her mother said, patting her gently on the hand, "to find out that he'd been lying all along."
She forced herself not to sigh, cleared her mind to keep the annoyance and anger from showing on her expression.
All she'd been doing was sitting down to eat some of the leftover salad and enjoy the emptiness of the kitchen when her mother had come in and started another one of her little talks.
She couldn't help but feel a burning flash of hatred for the blood-traitor bitch who had birthed her.
A flash of hatred which was immediately followed by an almost overpowering sense of shame.
"It was," she said, making her voice as thick as she could. "He just seemed so-so caring. Like he really wanted to help me."
She looked down, forcing herself to remember what it had been like when Harry had killed Tom and how she felt when she found out what happened to Barty.
Tears formed in her eyes, one falling and splashing in the kitchen table.
"He was a good actor," her mother said gently, "he managed to fool everyone."
'He cared more about me than you ever have! He understood me!'
"I know. He just seemed so normal. Exactly how dad always describes Moody."
"You need to remember, dear," her mother said, patting her hand again and making her want to rip it out of her grasp. "The Death Eaters, they don't care about anyone except themselves. It's good that you didn't suspect him. He'd have had no qualms about killing you if he thought you were putting him in danger."
She couldn't stop the fire from flashing in her eyes, couldn't stop the rage from rising like bile in her throat.
'You stupid bitch,' she wanted to scream, 'you don't know anything! You and dad, all you care about is helping muggles and listening to Dumbledore and worshipping that fucking boy!'
Just for a second, she thought her feelings had been visible. For a fraction of a second, her mother's eyes seemed to narrow, a suspicious light coming into them.
Just for a second, and then it was gone.
"I-I know. They're-they're monsters. I saw at the World Cup."
She looked down again, hoping against hope that her mother would buy it.
"They are. Ginny, he didn't say anything about Muggles, did he? Or Muggleborns?"
She shook her head quickly.
"No."
"I suppose he wouldn't. It would have made you think that something was wrong."
Her mother stood up and leaned over, giving her a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"We love you more than anything, dear. I just hope you know that."
"'Course I do," she said, kissing her back. "And I love you too."
'Why can't you just leave me alone? Why can't you just let me do what I want?'
A small piece of the letter tore in her haste to open the envelope, a tiny scrap of parchment falling to the floor.
This was the first letter Luna had sent since Ginny had told her that she couldn't come for part of the holidays.
Usually, a gap of a few weeks in letter writing from Luna would be no cause for alarm, but Ginny had wondered if her mother's overprotective attitude had just cost her the only real friend she had.
Feeling slightly apprehensive, she unfurled Luna's letter.
'Dear Ginny,
I'm sorry I took so long to reply, my father and I were camping. As I said, we decided not to go away this summer so that we could save and go to Sweden next year, but we decided to spend a few days camping beside the stream near our house. It's been lovely, very quiet and relaxing. I wish you could have been with us, yesterday a family of robins landed next to our tent and they were so adorable you wouldn't believe it.
I'm sorry that your mother wouldn't let you come, but I'm sure she's just doing what's best for you. Daddy says he thinks You Know Who really is back, and everyone knows how close Harry Potter is with your family, so I can understand her worry.
I can't stop thinking about that day by the lake. I-'The rest of that sentence had been crossed out, scribbled over until Ginny couldn't read a word.
'I can barely wait to see you again,' the letter continued on the following line, 'I miss you. I hope your holidays are treating you well.
Love,
Luna.'
Ginny ran her fingers over the words at the end of the page, feeling as empty as she ever had before.
If only Luna would still love her if she told her the truth. If only she could even fool herself into believing that Luna would join her.
Everything would be so much better if only it didn't have to be an act.
With a sigh in her lip and tears in her eyes, Ginny began to write her reply.
She woke up in a cold sweat, sitting bolt upright with her hands shaking, heart racing, and her groin feeling like it was aflame.
It was an almost pleasant sensation, in fact, the wetness between her legs and the tightness of her breasts.
"What the fuck?" She whispered, staring into the darkness.
In response, Hermione turned over with a soft grunt.
Ginny scowled, clearing her mind and lying back in bed with her heart beginning to slow.
It had been the same old dream with the Great Hall full of bodies.
The same dream, until the end.
As always, she'd wandered through the hall in search of a living person.
As always, she'd found one.
But it hadn't been Tom waiting there for her.
It had been Luna.
Like when it had been Tom in the dream, they'd kissed, their clothes vanishing as their bodies twined around each other.
Slowly, her breathing went back to normal, her hand creeping under the cover and into her pants.
It had felt so real, the feel of Luna's hands on her body, the taste of Luna's lipstick, the sensation of her tongue flicking her friend's nipple.
Her fingers began to dance, stroking her clit and teasing at her entrance.
It had felt so real, like a wonderful version of what Higgs had done to her.
Dream Luna had gotten to her knees, lapping at Ginny and making her squeal, pleasure rising up to swallow her.
Her fingers became more frantic, caressing her lips and softly pushing their way in. Her breathing quickened, the remembered ecstasy spreading once more.
She'd looked down, in her dream, and it hadn't been Luna between her legs.
It had been Tonks, licking her with that wicked grin.
Her back arched, a moan escaping her.
"He's really furious," Ron said softly, rubbing at his hand, "Not that I can blame him much."
Ginny kept her expression solemn, nodding and wiping at the shelf with a feather duster.
She couldn't blame Harry for being upset either. She probably would be in his position.
Couldn't blame him, but she definitely could enjoy his discomfort.
They were sitting in one of the small lounges off of the main one, making a token effort to at least look like they were cleaning.
"I hope they go and fetch him soon," Hermione said, wincing as she opened a drawer to be greeted by a cloud of dust, "If it's much longer, I'll end up putting things in a letter that I shouldn't."
"They can't just leave him there. If there's already Dementors going after him…"
"They still haven't said when they're going to fetch him?" Ginny asked.
"No. And mum got shirty with me for asking, so don't bother trying."
"We could try the Extendable Ears again," Hermione suggested, "I'm sure they're talking about their plans."
"Tonks told me they're going to be putting Imperturbable Charms on the kitchen and lounge," Ginny said, "I think she knows about the Ears, she winked afterwards and said it's worth knowing."
"I don't know why they won't just tell us something," said Ron moodily, punctuating his words with a slam as he closed a drawer far harder than necessary. "It's not like we're going to go blab it all over school or something."
"You're too young," Ginny said, putting on an imitation of her mother's voice. "Order information is for Order members only, and you have to be of age to join."
"It is strange though," Hermione said, "For You Know Who to send Dementors after Harry. If he's trying to keep quiet, why would he do something like that?"
Ginny shrugged, ignoring Ron's exclamation that nobody could really know why You Know Who did the things he did.
She was far more puzzled about it than the others, especially since she knew that the Dark Lord hadn't sent the Dementors.
She'd told him about the attack on Harry as soon as she'd heard about it, sneaking away in the chaos the news had caused and writing a message.
And the Dark Lord had been surprised. He hadn't known about it, not until she'd told him.
Someone else must have sent them.
"Although," Hermione continued, "he could just be hoping that no one believes Harry. I mean, the Prophet hasn't even reported it!"
"They wouldn't," Ron said with a snort, "they'd want to make a big thing only if he actually gets expelled."
The voices from the main lounge grew louder as footsteps sounded close to the door.
The three of them quickly fell silent, returning to the cleaning just as the door opened and the Order members filed out, hushing one another at the sight of the teenagers.
Snape was near the back of the group, his lips curling into their customary sneer when he looked at Ginny.
And then it happened.
His beady eyes caught hers and locked into place, and almost immediately, she felt it.
The ticklish, tingling sensation at the back of her mind that warned of Legilimency being used against her.
But Barty had taught her well.
The moment she sensed Snape's attempted intrusion, she wiped her mind as blank as a clean blackboard, clearing away all thoughts and feelings.
As she did so, she split her mind, keeping the upper part as empty as she could while pulling away a section wherein she could think.
Before she could even start creating those false memories though, Snape blinked and looked down, a strange expression flickering across his face for an instant.
'What the fuck was that about?' She wondered, waving at Tonks and starting to walk toward her.
'My lord,' she wrote, gritting her teeth and keeping her fury as deeply hidden as she could, 'Potter arrived here tonight. He will be remaining here until September first. He seems to be very angry at having been kept without information. They're telling him about the Order activities now, but I was forced out of the room. I believe I will be able to get the Mudblood to tell me what they said.'
She watched the words sink into the page and vanish, the terrible fury swirling up in her again.
It was beyond unfair, for them to tell everyone else these Order secrets and for her to be kept in the dark. The one useful thing that she could do, and they were keeping it from her.
It was enough to make her want to scream and attack them all.
Her heart sped up, excited joy briefly sweeping over the rage as she saw his reply begin to form.
'Find out everything. Spend as much time with Potter as you can. Earn his trust, let him see you as a confidant.'
She swallowed thickly, excitement vanishing as quickly as it had risen.
She did not relish the prospect of being in Harry's presence any more than she absolutely had to, but she would do it.
She would do whatever he asked her.
'I will. My lord, Snape tried to use Legilimency on me today. I managed to keep him out with Occlumency, but he still tried. No one else is acting as if they suspect me though.'
The reply was almost immediate, the Dark Lord's writing singing to her heart as it appeared.
'Snape is my spy in the Order of the Phoenix, though Dumbledore believes the opposite. At some point after your return to school, I will inform him of your true loyalties and have him continue to train you. For now, do not worry about his suspicion, and continue gathering information for me. I have high hopes for you. Do not disappoint me.'
"I won't," she whispered, "I promise, I won't."
"That was good thinking," Harry said, "with that music box."
She plastered a smile on her face, wishing that she could show him how disgusted he made her, just once.
Ron and Hermione weren't around, having been forced to help the twins clean out one of the basements while the adults had their meeting.
If not for the fact that she'd been ordered to make him trust her, she would have been finding it a lot harder to stomach his presence without wanting to curse him.
"Thanks. You weren't so bad yourself, when those doxies attacked."
"It was probably the only useful thing Lockhart taught us, actually. What to do when tiny creatures are flying at you."
She managed to stop her fist from automatically clenching as it had tried to at the mention of that man.
'He probably admires him,' she thought, still keeping that easy grin on her face, 'probably wants to be just like him.'
"What did he do?"
"Hid under the desk. One of the pixies got hold of his wand and threw it out the window first."
"Well, I'm glad you didn't do that."
Harry shrugged, turning back to the chest he was trying to open.
"Had worse things to deal with over the last few months than a few doxies."
'Now. Do it. Get him to trust you.'
She walked up to him, placing a hand gently on his shoulder.
"It must have been terrible," she said softly.
She could feel his body shaking under her hand, knew that it hurt him to think about it.
'Good. He deserves it. He ruined everything, he deserves it. It's his fault Barty's dead, his fault they all know that the Dark Lord's back. I hope it hurts.'
"I can't imagine what it's like," she continued, "to fight him and then Dementors and all the bullshit the Prophet's saying. I'm sure it's terrible."
"It is," Harry said roughly, a tremor in his thick voice.
"You should talk about it. After my first year, I spoke to McGonagall about what happened. It helped. You need to get it out."
Harry kept his head resolutely facing away from her, totally silent for a minute or two.
"He just-killed Cedric," he finally said, "right in front of me. And it could have-it could have been me."
'It should have been you.'
"It would have been me, if he hadn't needed me alive. It was just-so quick, so meaningless. And no one understands, and I had to just go back to-to my aunt and uncle, with no connection to the Wizarding world, no idea of what was going on. And the Prophet keeps ragging on me, and they still don't want to tell me anything!"
She pushed up next to him, throwing an arm over his shoulder and quashing the tiny bit of sympathy that tried to spring up in her.
'He deserves it.'
"And they're just ignoring him," he continued, "Fudge and the ministry, they're just pretending like everything's ok. And it's all going to get worse before they realize."
"That sounds frustrating as anything."
"Yeah. It is. It's just so—"
He shook his head, sighing heavily.
"Thanks," He said, "I needed that."
"Any time. Honestly. That's what friends are for. And I'm sure things will turn out alright with the trial. It's going to be ok, you'll see."
'Even If he won't let me kill you, I'm sure he'll still let me hurt you. You fucking bastard, this is all your fault!'
She shifted on the hard kitchen stool, starting to grow impatient.
'I swear, if this takes much longer…'
"Ok, you can look now."
She opened her eyes, choking back a laugh at the sight that greeted her.
It was like looking into a really strange mirror.
Tonks had kept the pink hair, but had otherwise made her face look exactly like Ginny's, freckles and all.
"So? What do you think?"
"I think I should dye my hair pink," she said, collapsing into a spate of giggles immediately afterwards.
"I don't know," Tonks said, finally recovering as well, "I think you look better with the red."
It was still just the two of them in there, the final pieces of cake nothing more than crumbs on the table.
It wasn't the first time that she and Tonks had met for an impromptu devour everything left in the house session, nor was it the first time they'd ended up sitting and chatting for a while, with Tonks shifting her features into something amusing every so often whenever she felt the conversation needed more levity.
"So, you've been suspiciously quiet about any relationships at school."
Tonks said, leaning her elbows on the table and cupping her chin in her hands.
"Spill the beans. There must be some guy with his eyes on you. Or vice versa."
'The last guy to have eyes on me hanged himself.' She thought, suppressing an urge to cackle madly.
"Not really," she said.
"Come on! You know I'm not going to tell your brothers. Just tell me."
"What is this, some type of Auror interrogation technique?"
"This is just girl talk," Tonks said, "There's no one you have a crush on?"
Luna's face flashed through her mind, followed immediately by a memory of one of her dreams of Tom.
She couldn't stop the blush from spreading.
"Ha! I knew it! So, who is he?"
"Nobody," She quickly said.
Relentlessly, Tonks went on. "Is it that friend you mentioned, Colin?"
"God, no. Colin's just a friend."
Eyes sparkling, Tonks tapped her nose. "Just a friend, sure."
"It's not Colin. Definitely not."
"Is it...Ginny, is it a girl?"
"No! I-"
"It's perfectly fine if it is," Tonks interrupted, "You know that, right?"
"I'm telling you, I-"
The kitchen door opened, Fred and George walking in and stopping just inside the room.
"Aha! The culprits have been caught!" Fred said, his eyes locked on the empty cake tin.
"Our own sister," George said sadly, shaking his head, "stealing our cake. What is this world coming to?"
"Such are the deprivations of war," Tonks replied with mock-solemnity. "No cake is safe."
With Fred and George there, the conversation quickly shifted away from relationships.
Ginny wasn't sure whether she was actually happy about that or not.
"HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF-"
She separated herself from Fred and George, leaving them to their war-cry dance. She kept the grin on her face though, burying the desire to whip out her wand and attack.
She had to seem happy that Harry had been acquitted, had to seem excited and overjoyed, no matter how much she wanted to just fling the truth in their smiling faces.
To just shout it at then, to tell them that she would do everything she could to help the Dark Lord, to watch as their happiness crumbled into ashes.
She could see it perfectly clearly in her mind's eye, how her mother would start crying and her father would look like he had right after the fight with Percy.
She wanted to do it, to watch as they realized who she really was, as they showed her the hatred and disgust she deserved.
It would be worth it, to see them feel some of the horrific pain that she did.
It would be worth it, but only for a few seconds. Then they'd probably send her to St Mungo's, if they didn't emulate Barty's father and lock her in Azkaban or in the basement.
And then everything would be over.
She breathed deeply, walking over to the table and putting some salad on a plate, her mind empty as a summer sky.
A moment later, Harry walked up behind her, grabbing a plate of his own.
"Hey," she said, "Told you it'd all turn out alright."
"Yeah," he laughed, "you did. Seems you were right all along."
"I usually am," she said, flicking her hair over her shoulder.
"Maybe. Listen, I wanted to thank you for that talk the other day. It really did help."
She turned to face him, looking into his naive, guileless eyes.
"Of course," she said, "any time."
'He's going to kill you, you stupid piece of shit. He's going to kill you and then everything will be better.'
"My lord," she wrote, "I will be returning to Hogwarts tomorrow. I managed to get Potter to open up to me about his worries, and he has been trusting me more and more. I believe he is starting to see me as someone he can confide in."
Almost immediately, the Dark Lord replied.
"Tell me of his struggles."
"He is very frustrated with the ministry," she wrote, "that they have not accepted what he said. He is worried that many people will die before they see the truth. He is angry with Dumbledore for ignoring him and not telling him anything, and is upset with how the Prophet has been portraying him."
"Good. If he lives, he should at least live in fear and pain. Your efforts are to be commended. You are to continue gaining his trust and reporting to me. Soon, soon you will no longer have to hide your true allegiance. Soon I will proudly proclaim you as one of my most loyal and successful followers. But until that day, you will remain a spy."
"I will, my lord. Thank you, I will not fail you."
"See that you do not. I will ask Severus to continue your training in a short while. For now, you are my spy, but when that role can no longer be maintained I want you to be able to kill. I want you to be able to fight against the best. I want you to make me proud."
"I will," she wrote, tears of joy swelling up and overflowing onto the page, "I will, my lord."