Difficulties of Avoidance
by dead2self
A/N: This went faster than expected. I hope you enjoy it.
On a side note, I am so sick of coming up with these ocean/water/drowning related chapter titles. I want to go back six years and kick myself for doing that instead of properly calling them "Chapter 1" and etc... What do you all think of the chapter titles? Cheesy or pointless or worth my effort?
Reviews are much appreciated!
Even as she watched Riddle eat, she had not decided how to act around him. She was reluctant to start lying again, but it was equally terrifying for Riddle to know the school was being run by Death Eaters. Doubtless another escape plan was underway, and she had no desire to turn it more desperate and violent with that knowledge.
Ginny had sneaked into the Room with leftovers from dinner while Luna met with Snape and Harper, so she could not claim homework and escape quickly. The result was that she sat on the edge of her seat, arms draped over the side in a gesture of casualty while chewing on the inside of her cheek. She had burst in with fake bravado, bragging about her new method to carry food, but Riddle had been unimpressed. He seemed content to study her while he ate.
Riddle finished all too soon, and Ginny fell back on old strategies. "I'm holding you to that new plan of yours, the pretending to be nice and doing homework and such," she said. A brilliant thought formed and her nerves flew from her mind. "I was thinking Charms. I need a flawless Disillusionment Charm before N.E.W.T.s."
"Happily," Riddle drawled. "It should help you sneak around as well."
Ginny's heart picked up, but she laughed. "Well, yeah, I have to uphold the twins' legacy."
"Ginevra, do not be coy. I thought we were being honest with each other."
"I'm not joking. They regularly encourage me to defy authority." A patronizing smile spread on Riddle's face as he slipped closer to her, hands wide. "Two arms," warned Ginny.
Riddle halted, but his smile only curled wider. "Today I was fed by a pile of food dumped through my door. Clearly something has happened."
Ginny froze. She felt an intense need to drop her eyes, look away to think, but she could not shake the feeling that he would pounce if she broke eye contact. Swallowing, she nodded.
"Dumbledore is dead now. Voldemort has never attacked Hogwarts directly because Dumbledore was the only wizard he ever feared.
Tom bristled, so Ginny hurried ahead.
"People have been panicking, and now the Ministry has decided that McGonagall isn't fit to be Headmistress. They've appointed a new Headmaster." She rolled her wand between her fingers, frowning for a chance to measure her words. "The problem is, he isn't a member of the Order and he doesn't know about you. I told you we're protecting you. It's more important now than ever."
"In other words, you've lost an ally. What grand news."
"Don't be glib. The Ministry has been arresting innocent people just to make it look like they're doing something. If they find you… well, I think it's obvious what they'd do. This is your own skin on the line, Tom. Maybe you should start acting like it." She swung out of the chair and crossed the distance between them, stopping toe-to-toe with him. "So, a Disillusionment Charm? And what happened to our two arm's lengths?"
Riddle frowned down his nose at her, and then broke into a chuckle. He stepped away the appropriate distance. "Such a way with words, Miss Weasley," he said. "A true wordsmith. Do your friends and family know you lie so fluently?"
"You haven't met my brothers," she laughed, raising her wand. "Here's what I can do so far." She demonstrated her Disillusionment Charm, after which Riddle spent nearly an hour ridiculing her imprecise wand movements and weak results. Ginny had no idea there were so many wrong ways to tap your wand atop your head. Despite this unpleasant environment, Ginny felt reluctant to leave. Whatever Luna's meeting with Snape was about, it was not likely good. She checked the map until Harper and Luna had left Snape's office. Waiting for Harper to return to Slytherin's common room before casting her Patronus, she left under the cover of a barely passable Disillusionment Charm
"Look at this rot," Ginny hissed to Demelza over breakfast. The evaluations of Hogwarts had finished and the Prophet's report was not glowing. Demelza leaned closer to scan the newspaper, casting a wary glance at the staff table.
"Kind of makes you want to study for N.E.W.T.s just to prove them wrong, doesn't it?" Demelza muttered.
"Wouldn't go that far," joined Gregory. "What I do want is a crate of Weasley fireworks to light them up like Umbridge."
"If I didn't think they'd arrest Fred and George for it, I'd be in," Ginny said dryly. "I think we're on our own here."
"Has he said anything to Luna?" asked Colin, joining the conversation. "Anything other than what we heard, I mean. She's Head Girl after all."
Conversations around them petered off as the Gryffindor table leaned in to hear Ginny. "We haven't talked yet this morning," she answered. Ginny had taken Riddle's food on her own, and they had not talked either. "We're certainly not getting any help from the Ministry – probably not from outside at all. But Snape all but told Harper to bugger off when he tried to snitch on Luna and I. I don't think he's interested in dealing with students anymore, now that he doesn't have to."
Silence fell over the table until Demelza glanced up at the Carrows. "But they're not any better." Ginny swallowed; the seventh years had their first Defense lesson this morning.
Benches began to scrape as students stood to leave. Ginny waved her friends closer and whispered, "Be careful what you write. They're reading our post." Colin and Dennis shared a blanched glance, but Ginny caught sight of Luna and took off after her without another word.
"How'd it go?" she whispered, falling in step behind Luna.
"We're to direct any misbehaving students to the Carrows," Luna murmured. "Cheered Harper up." Luna cast a glance over her shoulder, and then pushed a rolled up magazine into Ginny's hand. "Here – Daddy's taken up a new focus lately. It's far more mainstream, but I think you will appreciate it."
Ginny slipped the Quibbler into her bag for later and squared her shoulders. "Ready for class?" Luna swallowed hard, so Ginny added, "He can't be worse than Tom."
Granted, Amycus Carrow came pretty close, if only because he had a wand and lacked even Tom's occasional false charm. The lopsided sneer he gave them at the start of the lesson, holding up the Daily Prophet from that morning, held no hint of irony.
"Listen up, you brats," he began. "Appears the lot of you are hopeless. I'm here to teach you now that you've got a Headmaster with his head screwed on straight. You just do what I say."
His beady eyes flicked to Ginny and she met his gaze solidly. With him, she was certain there was no fear of Legilimency.
She regretted catching his eye almost immediately, for his eyes lit with recognition. After all, he had shot countless Cruciatus curses at her just weeks back. "You there. Weasley, aren't you? Whole family a bunch of filthy blood traitors, ain't they?"
"Yes, sir," she said. Luna was trying to catch her eye, but it did no good. All she could think about was the Ravenclaw first year from the day before, and she spit the words like acid. "Carrow, right? I heard your family is all just filthy."
Laughter sounded from the Gryffindors in the room, but Carrow's face hardened. He clomped through the rows of desks until he hovered over hers. "Think you're clever, don't you girl?" he sneered, close enough to smell his stale breath.
"Not at all, sir," she shot back. "I only assumed after I saw you and your sister."
Amycus Carrow cut through the laughter before it had a chance to start with a wand to Ginny's nose. "Twenty points from Gryffindor, Weasley!" The room went quiet as Amycus wheezed through his teeth and Ginny's fingers curled around the seat to keep from her own wand. "An' you're going to help me with today's lesson. On your feet."
Absolute silence surrounded Ginny as she slid from the desk. Rumors of the Carrows had spread, and though none of the seventh years had had Amycus yet, Ginny was sure that "help" really meant "target practice." She steeled herself at the front of the room opposite the Death Eater and held her head high, but could not help thinking Harper was about to have the best class of his life.
She blocked the first ten spells intended to peel back her fingernails – offensive Defense, Carrow called it – but a wiry Slytherin with more enthusiasm than their other classmates slipped past her shield. Ginny screeched through her teeth but she managed to stay upright against the blackboard and block the next three in line.
"Right, right, get off that," Amycus said, pulling her from her spot. "Creevey, you're up front."
Colin nearly went green. Seeing this, Ginny yanked her arm free from Amycus and took her place back at the board. She waved her wand over her fingertips like Riddle had shown her, stopping the bleeding. "Sorry, sir, I'm fine to keep going. It was just the shock at first."
"You've got no more nails, Weasley," said Harper, the next in line. "Step aside."
"I've got toenails," she spat. "Get on with it already."
Ginny did not hear the incantation, but she hit the ground, screaming and thrashing. The pain was excruciating, but not so much that she lost the sense of bodies dashing about the room and a large, lumpy figure bent over her. Then the pain was over almost as soon as it had begun. She was curled on the floor, hissing through her teeth, and staring up at Amycus Carrow. Her wand was still in her hand and she nearly cursed him, until she saw Luna hovering behind Amycus, raising her wand with a face like a ghost. She struggled upright, shaking her head, but Amycus seized the collar of her robes.
"I say Creevey is up front," he snarled, "so Creevey is up front." He dragged Ginny up, throwing her in the direction of the line and Luna caught her, stumbling, before her legs could give out. Trembling like a field mouse, Colin took her place. Ginny clung to Luna, quivering too. Her insides felt ripped apart all over again; it was the best she could do to stay upright as they watched Colin fend off curses. His small stature was an aid to him in this case, as he was quite quick. A sharp look, like a seedling, was emerging on his face with each dodged spell.
Finally the class was over and Colin had not been hit once. He was out of the room before Amycus had a chance to rectify this, but the rest of the class moved slowly with the need to digest what had happened. Ginny waited in the doorway while Luna collected their things, and Harper hovered beside her for a moment, his mouth tight, before decidedly walking in the opposite direction. She left the classroom on her own two legs, but in the end needed Luna's help to make it to the hospital wing, where Madam Pince was apoplectic. Hoping not to draw any attention to the altercation in the seventh floor corridor, she had not retrieved her potions since Snape's takeover. Ginny was banished to a bed for the afternoon even after her nails grew back.
Given the afternoon alone, she took up an examination of the new Quibbler against the prospect of dedicating further thought to Snape and the Carrows. There was not a Spectrespec or Gurdyroot infusion recipe to be found. Instead she opened to a solemn letter from the editor, urging all readers who were against You-Know-Who to aid Harry Potter. Feeling a swell of pride for Luna's father, she tore through the magazine for familiar names. She found nothing but bad news.
Tonks' family had been tortured with the Cruciatus Curse the night of the Ministry takeover, likely to find Harry's location. Dedalus Diggle's house had been burned down, though the wizard himself was nowhere to be found. As Ginny continued reading she discovered that no news was good news. She read accounts of Muggle families killed in what their authorities puzzled were gas leaks, but Lovegood reported were Death Eaters wantonly exercising the Killing Curse. Overnight a division of the Ministry devoted to Muggle-borns had emerged fully staffed by purebloods and headed by Dolores Umbridge. Their function was not officially disclosed, but rumors named it the Muggle-born Registration Commission. Muggle-borns were urged to go into hiding as soon as possible, with an advice column dedicated to points along the coast where a strong Apparate could reach France. Information on how to book passage on Muggle flying machines was even included in a small aside.
Ginny was left with an overwhelming desire to jump from the hospital bed and curse down any Death Eater that crossed her path, and an urge to curl in a ball with the covers over her head. Their plight have never felt more overwhelming, and it stung that her only contribution could be sticking her neck out in a Death Eater's Defense lesson and squabbling with a lost cause miniature of the Dark Lord.
She begged her way to dinner and ate silently until she realized that half the table was casting her furtive looks. "I'm fine," she told Demelza. "Pass it down and everyone can stop staring."
"They're not staring 'cause they're worried for you," she answered, flashing a grin that looked out of place in the Hall.
"I'll take it next time," said Colin from her other side. He was turning a knife over in his hands, the utensil forgotten as he caught Ginny in a straight gaze. "Thank you for trying, I really mean it. But you were right today – someone has to stand up to them, show them they can't control us. I want to help too."
She raised an eyebrow at him, taken aback at this interpretation. "That's not what I was doing," Ginny insisted. "I was just angry, and it all came out. Besides, if you didn't notice, I ended up in the infirmary all afternoon, compliments of a Cruciatus. Not what I'd strictly call control of that situation."
"I'm angry now too," said Colin, "so I'll take it next time."
"Colin…" she said, struck by the sheer conviction on his face. In a flash she pictured him on the floor, writhing under the Cruciatus Curse and looking smaller than ever. Shaking her head of that thought, she snatched the Quibbler out of her bag and handed it to him under the table. "You better read that," she whispered. "I think your Mum and Dad might need to leave the country. They have bits of advice for Muggle-borns in there." Colin murmured his thanks and slipped it away.
"Colin's right, though," whispered Gregory, leaning across the table. "We ought to do something."
Demelza nodded toward him. "Like what?"
"Well… I never was a part of it, but we all heard rumors. What about Dumbledore's Army?"
"I still have my coin," offered Colin.
"We'll talk in the common room," said Ginny, cutting them off with a look at the staff table. "It's not safe here."
They followed her gaze and then bent over their meals, finishing in silence. Ginny glanced around the table for food that might stay good until the morning and slipped some into her lap when no one was looking. Tom would have to make good with leftovers, because she was not going to scamper the length of the castle every morning with the Carrows about. She hoped Luna had gotten enough food for his dinner, because before Ginny could push through the students leaving the hall, Alecto Carrow descended from the staff table and started barking at the Head Girl. She left the hall with her housemates, heart sinking, but she had recently mastered sending her Patronus galloping flush with the walls along the seventh floor from Gryffindor tower. She would just have to check the Map so no one would see.
Ginny's wariness was easily swallowed in the thrumming enthusiasm that was being passed unspoken among her classmates. It seemed they could not get up to the common room fast enough, edged on though they walked in complete silence. They burst through the portrait hole with exuberance and Colin dashed up the stairs to his dormitory. Gregory kicked two second-years out of the armchairs in the furthest corner of the room. Ginny cast the Muffliato Charm under her breath as Colin returned with a Galleon in his hand.
"Here, I've got it," he said, flashing the coin at Ginny.
She motioned him to put it back in his pocket and said, "I'll find mine too. Is anyone good at Protean Charms?"
No one answered and silence doused some of their enthusiasm. "We'll figure it out," said Colin, pocketing the coin. "Hermione did it her fourth year and we're all N.E.W.T. students now."
"So what should we do?" asked Demelza, balancing at the edge of her chair.
"We could learn defensive spells again," said Colin. "And let everyone else know that people are fighting back against Snape. We could meet in the Room of Requirement again—"
"No, we cant!" Ginny snapped. Heads swung around toward her and she leaned back in her chair, attempting nonchalance. "The seventh floor corridor is off limits, remember? I'd say ignore it, but Harper's been out for my blood. I've seen him watching me for a chance to hand me over to the Carrows, and if I step a toe into that corridor, we'll all be in trouble. Besides it's different than with Umbridge. There's no rule against students getting together in groups."
"For now anyways," said Gregory.
"We could meet in the dormitory," offered Colin. "We're all Gryffidors this time 'round."
Ginny struggled against exasperation. Didn't they notice how extremely in over their heads they were? "We have to be careful. Someone could overhear us. I want to believe we can trust everyone in Gryffindor, but look what happened last time – and Umbridge wasn't even a Death Eater."
The group went silent. "It's true then?" asked Colin.
"I dueled Amycus Carrow the night Dumbledore died, when Death Eaters came into the castle. Snape was our spy, but he turned on us. They're all three Death Eaters, and Snape is You-Know-Who's right hand man."
"Blimey," said Colin with a rush of breath. "What's he doing in a school?"
Ginny privately thought that Snape was here for Tom, whether he knew it or not, but answered otherwise. "Maybe in case Harry comes back. This is probably the only place they think he'll come eventually."
"Is Harry going to come back?" asked Demelza.
She paused. "Harry is doing all he can to stop V—You-Know-Who. We can't rely on him to be here." A jolt of bitterness shot through her. Harry got to destroy Voldemort and she was stuck with the impossible task of saving him. A task that would only be made more difficult if she spent her nights thinking up pranks. "I don't think this is a good idea. We can try to keep them from hurting other people, but we need to keep our heads down."
The other Gryffindors stared at her, Demelza open-mouthed. Colin had crossed his arms and looked smaller. "I guess—" he started.
"What's wrong with you?" snapped Gregory. "Did Pomfrey give you something that went to your head?"
"You guys don't understand how dangerous this is," Ginny snapped back, leaping to her feet.
"You just told us and we're still ready to go."
She wanted to shake him, all of them, force it into their heads that her stand against Amycus Carrow that afternoon had done nothing but leave her sore and drained. Hogwarts as they knew it was over and school-time antics had no place in it. Colin was a Muggle-born and she doubted the Carrows would stop at fingernails and Cruciatus Curses for him. She already had Luna and Tom; she could not protect the whole of Gryffindor playing like gnats against a draconian Snape. But their faces told her they would hear none of it, so instead Ginny stalked off to wait for Luna's Patronus. Her happy memory felt far away.
Ginny gave Riddle the leftovers from dinner early in the morning, before her own breakfast. She had no inclination to talk, as she was running through a list of reasons for this new "Dumbledore's Army" to leave well enough alone, but Riddle had a sixth sense for her bad moods and swooped to take advantage.
"Do you love your family and friends, Weasley?" he asked, eying cold carrots with some disdain.
Ginny was instantly on guard, for such a question could lead nowhere pleasant with Riddle. "Of course," she replied.
"Does it scare you that, even if you succeed in imprisoning me indefinitely, my followers or my present self are likely to kill them regardless?"
"Piss off, Riddle," she said, but she could not help thinking of the Tonks, what had likely happened to her own family—
"Honestly with nine people odds are good at least one will die. Poor Harry Potter's family of three got whittled down to one last war."
"We're not at war," she grumbled, hoping that this would slip by on account that the war was sort of lost and not official to begin with. "But, yes, I worry for them. This is not mind-blowing stuff here. And I'm not incapacitated with anxiety or weakened by my care for them, if those are your follow-up questions."
He curled a smile at her and as he opened his mouth, she jumped to speak over him.
"You don't have anyone to care for but yourself," she said. "Do you worry about yourself dying?"
"I can't die."
"You might soon enough. Best start thinking about it."
"Your confidence is absurdly misplaced. Potter can't be everywhere at once, and he certainly can't stop me murdering your family while he pops about looking for Horcruxes." His eyes nearly glittered as he watched her scowl deepen into something fearful. "It would be my first thought if I wished to draw him out."
Ginny opened her mouth, but could not respond. Anxieties that she had been clamping down since reading the Quibbler were bubbling up, and she realized she had lied, not to Riddle, but to herself. She was incapacitated; worried that defending other students and rebelling against Snape would bring the Death Eaters down harder. Her family had not been mentioned in the magazine, but she did not know if she could stand to read "Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes gutted for suspected conspiracy against Hogwarts Headmaster. Proprietors missing." Riddle was right, and nine people were a lot to take on as a responsibility. Worse, she realized she was burdening herself with not nine, but ten. It was too early for Tom to be found if the Death Eaters focused their attention on her; they needed more time—
Just like that, Ginny was struck with the realization that, for the barest second, she had believed that Tom Riddle would come to their side. She looked up at him with wide eyes, and then burst out laughing. Riddle appraised her as though she had gone mad.
"Thanks for the pep talk Riddle," she said, catching her breath through her laughter. It was as though the thought had cleared her mind, like rubbing fog off a window. She could only imagine the earful Fred and George would give her if they discovered she was withholding misdeeds against Snape on their account. "I needed reminding that my family's all grown Order members. We knew what we were getting into, supporting Harry. They'll take care of themselves and I'll do my part."
Tom smiled at her and resumed eating. "I was merely pointing out your need for concern."
Ginny checked the time and sent off her Patronus. "I wouldn't let my family worry you too much, Riddle. I expect whoever goes after my mum will be in for a surprise – she was a dueling competitor during her time at Hogwarts." Gathering her things, she slipped out of the room at the sight of Luna's hare.
"You lied. Which part?" he called after her.
"Most of it," she answered, and shut the door. It took the walk down to breakfast for Ginny to stop shaking her head in disbelief at herself.
She had to pass around a ladder on her way into the Great Hall, but it was Snape that arrested her attention. He caught sight of her as she edged inside and the sneer he blatantly directed at her stopped Ginny in the doorway. Her heart galloped into her throat. Did he know?
Other students buffeted her inside and she realized the hall was buzzing with whispers and low murmurs. Every head was bent together, and not even violent gestures from the Carrows seemed to quiet the room. Turning, Ginny stared up the length of the ladder. Atop it, Filch was directing all his energy into scrubbing away "Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting," painted in brazen gold and red.
Ginny stifled a laugh behind her hand before she could catch herself. It seemed things had gone ahead without her in stunning fashion. As she joined her housemates, she could not keep from grinning.
"It's brilliant," she said, siting next to Demelza. "Sorry I lost my head."
"I'll say," mumbled Gregory.
"I wasn't overreacting," she jumped to say. "Everything was true. Still, that wasn't right of me, walking out." She gave their handiwork a nod as she tucked into her breakfast. "Honestly, brilliant."
This seemed a satisfactory apology, for her housemates resumed eating. She was itching to hear the details of last night's excursion, but Snape's eyes on their table kept her quiet. That alone was telling. She would be his prime suspect in any event of rebellion; keeping her head down would be next to impossible.
Then the Daily Prophet arrived.
Harry's face filled the front page, scowling under thick black print that read, "Wanted for Questioning About the Death of Albus Dumbledore." Cries of outrage went up from the Gryffindor table as students caught their newspapers, and Ginny read along with Demelza with general disgust. It was worse than the Quibbler. Across from her, Colin grew white as he read the article on the second page, a confirmation that the Muggle-born Registration Committee was actively targeting Muggle-borns for the Ministry.
This time, however, she caught herself imagining something different. She could not look away from the Headmaster, picturing the horror that would form on Snape's face if Tom Riddle were ever to appear in the middle of the Great Hall, leering at him down the length of a wand.