Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

I realize that this chapter will seem super rushed, and that's because it was. Between my exams and the fact that I'm going through a period where I really don't want to write anything in the Just Going With It universe at the moment, it was hard to write even this much. (If I get a review from anyone saying something along the lines of "lyke omgz, pleeease dnt quit dis storyyyy!" I promise I'll scream.)

Chapter Forty-Eight: Led Astray
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'I don't know if …'

There were so many ways for Ginny to end that sentence.

If I can trust you.

If I should do what you're asking.

If this is worth it.

If there's even a way out of this now.

If I'll be able to live with myself if I turn and walk away.

She sighed. She had to do this. For Harry.

'What if you're wrong about this? I mean, Harry seems to think that he's the Horcrux,' she said. She knew she'd make a mistake the second after those words left her mouth. Did she forget who she was talking to? Snape would probably eat that up.

But he didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

'Yes, well,' said Snape. 'Leave it to Potter to make absolutely everything about him.'

Ginny bit the inside of her cheek. She didn't think she could stand hearing all the negative and cutting things Snape had to say about Harry, but she knew better than to attempt to set Snape straight.

But at the same time, her heart was jumping. Did Snape know something she didn't? Something Harry didn't?

'What do you mean?' she asked, and it was impossible to sound nonchalant. 'Harry's not a Horcrux?'

Snape scoffed. 'No,' he said. 'Harry Potter couldn't handle being a Horcrux.'

But the truth was that Harry could handle a lot more than anyone – probably even she – gave him credit for.

Ginny bit her lip in indecision. 'I don't know about this …'

'I have neither the time nor patience for your games.'

'But do you really think it's the snake?' she asked, ignoring him. 'Why should I believe you? Why – how can I be sure that I'm not walking into a trap if I go with you?'

'You will be walking into a trap,' he said, sounding frustrated. 'Do you listen to anything?'

'Why would you try to help us?' she asked. 'Why would you just call a meeting with me and offer up a Horcrux? Without even wanting anything in return?'

'I was merely passing along information and making an offer that I feel would put the both of us a little further ahead in this situation.'

'Why are you trying to help Harry?'

Why wouldn't he answer any of her questions with actual answers?

'I am not trying to help Potter,' said Snape. 'Just because I do not root for Harry Potter to win doesn't mean I root for him to lose.'

Ginny frowned. 'You can't do that, though. You have to pick a side.'

'Clearly,' he said, 'it would appear that I do not.'

'This is war,' she told him. 'There has to be a winner and a loser. And you have to pick a side and stick to it, no matter what the outcome. You can't just float around in the middle like some sort of –'

Snape narrowed his eyes at her, the way he had in so many Potions classes, and she could do nothing but fall silent and blink stupidly.

'How many Horcruxes are left?' he asked.

Ginny shook her head. She'd been, admittedly, pretty stupid so far. But this was one piece of information she knew she couldn't divulge, no matter what the circumstance.

'You aren't telling me everything, so I'm going to give you the same treatment,' she said.

His eyes bore into hers, dark and cold, and it was only after he'd broken the contact and smirked that she realized he'd probably been reading her mind since the minute she'd met up with him.

'I'm going to need an answer,' he announced.

She gulped and closed her eyes. 'If I say yes,' she said slowly, 'what's going to happen?'

'I've already explained it.'

'Well, explain it again.'

There was silence for a long time. Ginny wondered if he was even still there, but she didn't want to open her eyes. This was the only way she knew how to prevent him from snooping around in her mind and getting even more top-secret information from her.

'If you agree to come with me,' Snape began, and she realized, though not for the first time, that the sound of his voice made her skin crawl. 'I'll send a letter to Potter telling him to come to Hogsmeade if he ever wants to see his girlfriend again. He'll spot the chance for heroics and come running. I can ensure that Nagini will be there, and all Potter has to do is recognize the opportunity.'

'And why do this?' questioned Ginny. 'What are you getting out of it?'

'My loyalties, as of late, have been … questioned,' Snape said with great distaste. 'If I can make it look as though I've taken it upon myself to deliver both you and Potter to the Dark Lord, I should be able to eliminate any … doubts, at least for the time being.'

It sounded reasonable. But Ginny was so far out of her element right now that almost anything sounded reasonable. She was considering his proposal. She was literally moments away from agreeing.

Was she out of her mind?

What if Snape was lying? What if he and the other Death Eaters had concocted this plan and she was falling for it as expected? What if the plan included having Snape save her back at the Manor, just so down the road they could ensure another encounter?

She put her wall down. If she could just reach Harry and tell him all of this, he could talk her out of it. He'd never let her do this.

But he was busy training, and so he didn't put his wall down and he didn't talk her out of it, and it resulted in Ginny opening her eyes and agreeing.

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Harry didn't recognize the owl, but he recognized the handwriting. He didn't understand what this was about. Was it some sort of stupid joke? A stupid attempt to lure Harry away from everyone else so Voldemort could face him one-on-one? He could have screamed. Maybe he did. McGonagall came over, but his fingers had curled and the letter was crushed in his fist.

He threw his wall down, but Ginny didn't respond. Bugger. She'd been trying to reach him earlier and he'd been too distracted with everything to answer her. What if she'd been trying to get through to him and tell him that she was in trouble? What if she wasn't answering now because she was knocked out or Stunned or dead?

McGonagall said nothing more and merely followed him. He led her to The Burrow. Because all of those awful things could have been happening, but there were also other solutions. Ginny could have been sleeping. Or simply angry with him for not answering her earlier.

If he had learned one thing from all these training sessions and battles and Order missions, it was that he couldn't dive into situations head first. It was hard to believe, even for himself, but Harry Potter was actually starting to get a (tiny) grip on his emotions.

'Where's Ginny?' he asked Mrs Weasley the second he saw her. He'd thought he was calm, but his voice shook and every muscle in his body felt tense. His hair was standing on end. Why wasn't Ginny in the kitchen? Was it merely that she was upstairs? Or was she in serious danger and Harry was being a fucking useless prick?

Mrs Weasley's head shot up too quickly. This wasn't good.

'She's at Hogwarts,' she said. 'She's with you.' It sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

'She's not with me,' Harry said. Fuck, this was so not good. 'She was never at Hogwarts.'

'She has to be there,' Mrs Weasley insisted. Didn't she see that Harry wasn't kidding? That fighting Harry on this wasn't doing anything but wasting precious minutes? 'I watched her Floo there. She said she was going to see you.'

'Miss Weasley did not come to Hogwarts,' McGonagall said. 'We were –'

'What's going on?' asked Ron. He and Hermione came into the kitchen.

'Ginny's gone,' Harry said.

'What?' they said at the same time.

Ron pried the note from Harry's hand and cursed as his eyes flew over the words and he took in their meaning. 'Hogsmeade?'

'This is Snape's handwriting,' noted Hermione. She put her hand over her mouth. 'Oh …'

'What?' demanded Harry.

'Last night … she got a letter from someone,' said Hermione. 'She told me it was from Luna … but she didn't let me read it and she was acting strange and went to bed immediately after …'

Hermione Disapparated. Before Harry could even connect the dots on where she'd gone, she returned with a letter of her own.

'Here it is. The Quidditch stands. Noon tomorrow,' she read.

'Why the hell is Ginny getting letters from Snape?' Harry yelled, as if the others had the answers. 'And why is she going to Hogwarts to meet him?'

'I will gather the Order together,' McGonagall volunteered.

'There's no time,' Harry said. McGonagall turned to him, ready to argue or lecture him or do a million other things, none of which were going to help Ginny. He shook his head. 'Go! Hurry!'

McGonagall left. Mrs Weasley was running into the other room, calling for Charlie.

'Harry,' said Ron. 'Can you get her?'

'If we go now,' Harry said, misunderstanding.

'No,' said Hermione. 'With your mind – can you lower your wall and get to her?'

Harry was taken aback. 'How do you know about –?'

But the answer was quite clear. Ginny had told them, obviously. How could she do that? Who else had she told? Hadn't they agreed to keep it a secret?

He closed his eyes. Was this really the time to worry about that?

His wall had been down for several minutes now and he'd gotten nothing from Ginny yet.

'I'm trying,' he said. 'But I'm not getting anything. She's probably Stunned.'

She had to be Stunned. Because if she wasn't Stunned, that meant she was either dead or purposely ignoring his attempts to reach her. And both of those options were inconceivable

But was it all that hard to imagine that Ginny would be purposely ignoring him? After what she'd done?

Snape hadn't abducted her from The Burrow. He'd contacted her with a time and a place, and she'd gone. Why? How could she even think it would be a good idea? She had to have known that she'd end up in trouble.

She was in trouble, wasn't she?

Yes. She was in grave danger. Because there was no other possible explanation. Snape was the enemy. Snape had taken her so he could lure Harry there, and then he would try to kill them both. That was the only logical thing.

But what about Ginny's behaviour was logical?

Soon, the Order and the Weasley family were all converged at Headquarters. They were coming up with a plan, a strategy. They were dissecting both letters, bit by bit.

But when Harry looked at the faces of Ginny's brothers, he knew that they were all thinking the same thing.

For one reason or another, she had done this because of Harry.

……………………………………………………………

Panic was a funny thing. It was more than an emotion that reared up deep inside of someone. It was a physical thing. A living, breathing thing that took up too much space in a room that Ron was already suffocating in to begin with.

What could Ginny have been thinking? Going with Snape? That was what happened, wasn't it?

He would feel awful if Ginny had been snatched right out from under their noses, through no fault of her own, and everyone was silently blaming her and wondering what the hell could have possessed her to join Snape.

Nothing could get Ginny to join Snape. There was more to the story. Something wasn't matching up. Ron knew his sister nearly as well as he knew himself. They were Weasleys, and maybe they did unreasonable things from time to time, but they didn't run off with the enemy. The didn't know much, but they knew where they stood in this war and they knew that disappearing with a known Death Eater was unacceptable and just bloody stupid in general.

No. Ginny couldn't have gone voluntarily. Ron had faith in his little sister. She lost her head when it came to this war, and she jumped at even the smallest chance to help Harry … but getting herself captured again didn't help Harry at all. Did it?

There was some other explanation for this madness. Something they were overlooking.

But even if it was the truth – even if Ginny had gone to Hogwarts to meet Snape – she was in trouble now. She was in way over her head. She needed the Order to help her. She needed her family to help her. And there was nothing Ron wouldn't do to get her back.

Every second felt like an hour. Did they really need a strategy? Couldn't they just Apparate to Hogsmeade and save his sister already? This was bloody ridiculous.

Ron kept his eyes glued to Harry, waiting for some sort of sign – a change of expression, a sigh, anything – that meant Ginny was communicating with him.

Merlin, what if Ginny was dead?

She wasn't. She couldn't be.

Right?

No. Harry would know. Harry would have to know. When Harry had been half-dead, Ginny had known. She'd been a bloody mess because of it. So all Ron had to do was monitor Harry and everything would eventually work out. Because Harry didn't know what it was to fail, especially when a Weasley was concerned. Was there anyone in Ron's family that Harry hadn't saved at one time or another?

'We have to get to Hogsmeade,' Charlie said, as if nobody else had considered this.

'We need a strategy,' said Tonks. 'We can't just go rushing in. We don't even know what part of Hogsmeade they're holding her in. And we don't know how many of them are there. We have no idea what to expect.'

'Let's go,' said Mrs Weasley. 'Our strategies are usually shot to hell anyway. We have to go get my baby.'

'We'll split up,' Harry said. 'Charlie can take Tonks, Kingsley, Fred, George, Percy, Mr Weasley and Mundungus and spread out and look from The Three Broomsticks to Zonkos. Ron, Hermione, Bill, Mrs Weasley, Remus and Professor McGonagall will come with me. We'll look past Zonkos, to The Hog's Head to Madam Puddifoot's. The second anyone sees anything or needs any help, send up sparks like at the Triwizard Tournament.'

'Sounds fair enough,' said Bill. 'No more talking – let's go.'

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Hogsmeade was hell. Thinking back to the first time Harry had ever come here, it was nearly unrecognizable now. Everything was empty and deserted and dark. They were the only ones there, and Harry tried so hard to remember a time that he had laughed with Ron and Hermione here, shouting to hear each other over the sounds of all the other people around them.

It was so cold, but Harry couldn't even begin to feel anything but rage. They'd kidnapped Ginny. Didn't they realize that Harry was going to stop at nothing to get her back? Or – at the very least – that he was going to die trying? They were all going to suffer for this. For taking her.

And directly behind that thought was another:

Ginny could've gone with them voluntarily.

He never thought this day would come. The day that he'd actually have to doubt Ginny on something that mattered. But this wasn't just him overreacting and jumping to ridiculous conclusions. She'd gotten a letter from Snape and she'd of course recognized the handwriting, just as Harry and Hermione had. She'd lied to her mother and slipped away to meet him. Those were all facts.

Whether Ginny had been ambushed by Death Eaters or had gone all on her own, she was gone and it was up to the rest of them to save her. Had Ginny voluntarily done this? Did she realize how much danger she was putting everyone in? What reward could she possibly be getting out of this deal that would be worth potentially leading Harry, her family, and the Order straight into a trap?

Madam Puddifoot's came into view and Harry cringed at the memory of himself and Cho in fifth year. If they lived through this war and Hogwarts reopened, would Ginny make him take her there? And would he mind as much as he had with Cho?

It felt as though it would be a million more years before Hogwarts reopened and things went back to normal. He probably wouldn't be around to see it. But Ginny would. He knew she would. She would live to see another Hogsmeade weekend at Hogwarts. He would make sure of that. Because no matter how utterly stupid she'd been to walk straight into this trap, and no matter how much hell he was going to give her later, she was still the only thing in the world that was worth him fighting for.

Harry?

He nearly jumped when he heard Ginny's voice. When had she put her wall down?

Gin? Are you okay? Where the hell are you?

The Shrieking Shack, I think.

'Ginny's at the Shrieking Shack!' he yelled, and took off in a run. He couldn't tell if the others were following, but he didn't particularly care. He didn't need them, anyway. The way his fingertips were tingling now, he felt as though he could take out every Death Eater all on his own without even batting an eye.

I'll be right there.

You will? Wait ­– what d'you mean?

I'm on my way. How many are there with you?

I don't know … about seven. But there's more outside. They've got something planned, Harry. Please don't do something stupid.

Don't worry, he thought. There's nothing I could do that would be stupider than what you did.

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Ron struggled to catch up to Harry. And the rest of them struggled to catch up to Ron. They met up with the other search party outside of The Three Broomsticks.

'She's at the Shrieking Shack,' Harry yelled to them as they passed.

Charlie was behind Ron instantly, yelling back, 'How the hell do you know that?'

It occurred to Ron that Charlie was the only one who had questioned Harry. Even though nobody else (except Ron and Hermione) realized that Harry and Ginny had a connection that allowed them to communicate in such a peculiar way, everybody had followed without wondering how Harry could have possibly acquired this new information.

They were less than a hundred feet from the Shrieking Shack when they met up with the first wave of Death Eaters.

Ron's eyes instantly searched the crowd of people for Hermione, but he didn't get much time to look before he heard someone yell Stupefy! and everything went black.

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So many things were happening at once. Harry didn't even realize that a curse had been thrown his way until he found himself being pushed to the ground. Snape collapsed beside him.

But wait – did that make sense? Had Snape just protected Harry? What the hell was going on?

He crawled over and shoved Snape, none too gently, but the git didn't stir. Bugger. What was Snape playing at by jumping in front of Harry as if they were on the same bloody side. As if either of them had any sort of obligation to the other?

He hated himself then, because he was going to have to do something that he would probably hate himself for later. But if Snape had just intentionally saved his life … he couldn't just leave without at least trying to help …

Could he?

He knew the answer. Of course he could.

But he didn't want to.

And not for noble, heroic reasons, either.

Even if this really was what happened, Harry still hated Snape with every ounce of his being. And he would not hesitate to do to Snape what Snape had done to Dumbledore back at Hogwarts. But not now.

He refused to be in Severus Snape's debt for the rest of eternity. Just as Snape had once saved Harry because he couldn't stand the thought of being in James Potter's debt, Harry was going to save Snape.

Snape didn't get to die like this. He didn't get to look like a good person. He didn't deserve the credit he'd get if everyone knew he died in a valiant attempt at saving Harry Potter from a nasty (and apparently fatal) curse.

He leaned forward and pressed his palm against his enemy's forehead, opening his eyes wider than ever and trying to remember everything he could from his training with McGonagall. Things were so much harder to remember outside of the controlled environment of a classroom or private lesson. Honestly, if his teachers were ever going to give a real attempt at helping him becoming a better warrior, they should seriously consider simulating genuine battle scenes the next time they tried to teach him something. At least then he'd be able to know whether or not he was truly capable.

Snape's forehead was sweaty – and greasy, of course – and Harry pressed harder, willing this to work. He took several deep breaths and felt his senses becoming more acute. He could nearly feel some of his energy draining out of his fingertips and into the bastard lying before him.

And when his former Potion's Master opened his eyes, gasping for breath, Harry removed his hand and left.

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Review, and remind me that this shit is still worth writing even though this chapter was probably downright painful to read.

Read the new one-shots, Despondence and Ashes.