Chapter Nine- Party Part Two
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Ginny smiled happily up at Draco as he gently dipped her and he smiled happily back down at her. Anyone in the room could see their love for each other. A select few saw their relationship as the one weakness that could break apart every careful plan ever formed by Draco Malfoy.
Tonks, from her position high on the balcony leading into the inner chambers where she would make her report to Master Malfoy, could see how strong their love burned and could also see that if Dumbledore ever decided to confine Ginny to the Order Headquarters, Draco would drop everything in order to free her. The eventuality would cripple everything. Luckily, if Dumbledore and his other Gryffindor obsessed friends ever tried such a tactic; Tonks was there to free Ginny.
At the moment Tonks was feverously waiting for the dance to end and for Draco to return to his duties. The raid was to happen at midnight, a terribly clichéd time, Tonks mused, and Draco Malfoy needed to know about the attack before it occurred.
The music finally ended and the hosts left the dance floor to gentle applause. Their dancing had been beautiful and the love they had shown for each other had made everything enchanting. Draco Malfoy's followers could appreciate beauty and they respected their betters.
Five minutes later Tonks was ushered into the receiving room. Zabini and Parkinson had been left in charge of the party while Malfoy and Ginevra sat together in a small loveseat across from a table and a single chair
III
Draco looked at his watch and paled. It was a quarter till midnight. He was sure that the Order was watching for people apparating away and for the use of the floo network. He would have to be very circumspect in his plans.
"Ginny," he turned to the beautiful witch beside him, "will you gather the children and hide them in the secret passage in the basement?"
Ginny nodded. "How will you get the guests out?" She asked quietly.
Draco smirked at her. "What guests?" He joked before winking cryptically at her and sweeping out of the room.
Draco picked up a small champagne flute from the side table and walked up to the dais. He motioned for the musicians to stop playing and waited for everyone's attention to rest on him.
"I propose a toast!" Draco called to all of his guests. Once all the guests had gotten a drink he continued, "First I want to wish you all a Happy Christmas and good health for the coming year…" Draco continued aimlessly along this vein for a while and slowly the guests began to realize that Draco was actually speaking in code.
"Gather your family and calmly follow Blaise and Pansy to safety."
Draco finished his speech with a flourish of his arm and drank deeply from his glass. He watched over the rim as his people slowly followed his directions. Blaise and Pansy took turns leading all of Draco's loyal followers to a secret passage that lead under the Malfoy Lake and deep into the forest. Once they were in the forest, everyone had permission to disapparate.
III
Tonks joined up with the Order group with only a few minutes to spare.
"Sorry I'm late," she said breezily, "I got a little lost apparating here. I must have ended up in three different forests before I got the directions right." She giggled and tripped over a tree root. Lupin sighed and helped his girlfriend stand straight.
"We're ready," Moody hissed.
The Order blasted through the huge front doors of the Malfoy Manor and spread out into their positions. The only people they found were Draco Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy safely tucked into their beds.
The raid was a complete failure and, as Draco Malfoy had angrily promised when he was forced from his bed, now the Ministry was angry at the Order and was prepared to take control of the Order from Dumbledore.
III
All in all, Draco thought absentmindedly, it had been a very good night. Draco had proved his strength to his followers by helping them escape the clutches of the Order and had then outwitted the Order and gotten the Ministry on their backs; an excellent job when he looked back on it.
He slipped out of bed around six in the morning when he was sure the Order was gone and headed down to the basement.
Draco opened the passage and could not keep a small smile from lighting on his face. Most of the children had fallen asleep draped across Ginny's lap. She held the baby in one arm and had her other arm wrapped around the two youngest children.
To Draco's surprise, Fred and George were also in the passage. Each had a child on his lap and, if Draco was not mistaken the twins, a boy and a girl pair, were sleeping between Fred and George.
Snape stepped out of the shadows with Aaron at his heals. "I believe that we need to lay low for the next few weeks," Snape whispered, conscience of the sleeping children.
Draco nodded slowly and turned to look at Ginny who was now awake. She nodded at him and smiled softly.
"Right," Draco said while nodding back to her. "Snape, if you and my father will take the children to the Malfoy beach house…?" Draco began.
"There is no possible way for me to take all of them Draco," Snape said with a shake of his head. "Plus, Ginevra can not come."
"We can take these four to help out in the shop," Fred chimed in with a careful gesture towards the children sleeping with George and himself.
"Pansy and I can take nine or ten to the Zabini beach house," Blaise called into the passage as he and Pansy made their way across the basement floor towards the open door.
"Ginny, can you go to your parents house for a couple days?" Draco asked. She was silent for a moment and Draco lifted one eyebrow in question.
"Yes, of course. Everyone has come home from their vacations by now and Mum would love to have me at the Burrow." Ginny answered but Draco saw the trepidation that lined her features. Draco understood her feelings as they matched his own. Ginny would have to go into the real world and hide the fact that she was truly of Salazar Slytherins' line. She would have to pretend to believe in Gryffindor and to follow the wizarding world's misguided laws, just like the rest of Slytherin house did every day of their lives. Draco felt awful for subjecting Ginny to such torture but they both knew that it was necessary.
"I am not going into hiding." Aaron said in a strong voice. "I need to finish my training with Draco. Plus I think we have some plans that could be put to good use now," he sent a meaningful look towards Draco and Ginny.
Draco and Ginny shared a long look. Ginny stood up and brushed off her robes before holding out her hand for Aaron to shake. "Then I expect the next time I see you will be at Hogwarts."
III
"Ginny?" Molly Weasley opened her front door to see her youngest daughter standing on the stoop.
"Hi mum. I'm sorry for stopping by unannounced but I was in the neighborhood and it's Christmas so…" Ginny smiled serenely at her mother and waited for the inevitable wash of compassion.
"Oh! Ginny come in. It's wonderful that you decided to stop by! Here, take a seat by the fire and I'll go get you some tea and biscuits."
Ginny sat on the worn couch sleepily munching on the biscuits her mother had brought. She had not gotten a lot of sleep the previous night. She had gathered the children into the basement with little problems but it had taken hours for the children to calm down enough to sleep.
She was so tired that when the argument started in the other room Ginny almost did not bother lifting an ear towards the noise. A minute later she was glad that she had taken the effort. The argument was of vital information for Draco.
"No! You listen Arthur. As long as the Ministry is interfering with the Order we are completely stifled. We are unable to make an offensive against Voldemort let alone plan a defensive with the information Snape smuggles us. Not only will this pose a huge threat towards the wizarding world but it could potentially set the final confrontation back by a few years, a few very dangerous years."
The conversation quieted after that profound statement made by Alastor Moody but Ginny had heard enough. Those few years that they had been arguing about were of vital importance towards Draco's cause as well. In a few years Aaron would come of age and would be able to take his rightful place as one of the most powerful people in Draco's regime. They could build their power base to such heights if given those years. This was good news. Ginny was just sad that she would need to wait until after New Years before she could tell Draco.
"Ginny!" Her mother called from the kitchen. "If you help me set out lunch we can get to Diagon Alley sooner! Don't you need to replenish your potions supplies?"
III
Ginny stopped short in the middle of the crowded street of Diagon Alley and cocked her head to the side as if she were listening for something. Disgruntled shoppers glared at the girl as she impeded their path but she paid then no heed. Harry watched the red head with a small smile on his face. He was used to Ginny's odd quirks and just waited patiently for this instance to play out.
Ginny took off at a fast walk down the street and Harry followed a few steps behind. She turned down a small side alley and bent down next to a rubbish bin.
When Ginny stood up Harry saw that she was carrying a tiny black kitten with white paws. It mewled helplessly and Harry couldn't help but smile as he saw Ginny comfort the poor cat.
Harry could imagine Ginny gently holding a child instead of a cat and he knew that she would make a great mother some day. What did it matter if the child he saw her holding had messy black hair and green eyes?
There was a quiet sigh from the front of the alley and Harry quickly spun around. He stopped reaching for his wand when he saw that it was only Lupin.
"It's always the innocents who get hurt in a war." The old ex-professor sighed. "If Ginny weren't around there would not be anyone willing to save a homeless cat. The world needs more people like her." Harry nodded in agreement.
"If the Order had even one more person with as pure a heart as Ginny Weasley, the war would be won." Lupin continued. "Kindness and Love will defeat Voldemort after all."
Ginny scowled at their words and buried her face in the kittens fur. She had heard the cat howl sadly from where it had been hidden and had quickly rushed to find it and help it. Now, after overhearing the words Lupin and Harry had spoken about her, all Ginny wanted to do was run off. True, she was still a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Just because she had pledged her loyalty to Draco did not mean that she had to abandon her family and the vision of peace the Order strove for. The only difference was that she knew the truth and all the Order knew was the lie they thought was the truth.
One of these days her true loyalties would come forward and those words, words regaling her innocence and purity, would be recanted; her family and Gryffindor friends would hate her. Luckily the enormous good she was doing on behalf of Draco and Slytherin would balance that. Plus, she would always have Draco to fall back on if the disgust from her family became too much.
Ginny gathered her kitten and the supplies she had purchased and followed Harry out of the alley and back into Diagon Alley proper.
"Can we go back to the Burrow now? I want to feed Diana." Ginny asked quietly petting her newly named cat. Harry and Lupin had been sent with her around the Alley for protection. Her father and another Order member were with her mother and Hermione at the other end of the shopping district.
"Yes we actually need to get back at once. That's what I was coming to tell you about." Lupin said as he guided them into the Leaky Cauldron and the blazing fireplace. "We found one of the missing children," he whispered before handing each teen the bag of floo powder.
When Ginny stepped out of the fireplace at the Burrow the first person she saw was Aaron sitting on the living room couch. He looked curiously up at Harry, Ginny and Lupin and somehow managed not to show any recognition at the sight of Ginny.
Unsure as to what exactly her face showed as she looked at the boy, Ginny quickly ran into the kitchen to find Diana some food.
Her mum came bustling in a few moments later looking harried. "Oh, Ginny. It's good that you're here. The Order is having a meeting about what to do with the boy and I can't let them discus such important matters without feeding them lunch. Once I get these sandwiches on a tray you can bring them into the meeting.
Ginny hefted the tray in one hand and carefully opened the door with another. A couple Order members nodded their heads in greeting but no one seemed compelled to stop their conversation just because Ginny was in the room.
"But Albus! The boy knows nothing about the Wizarding World. If he enters Hogwarts he'll be in first year classes." McGonagall seemed outraged at the concept.
"So be it, Minerva. I don't see any way for him to be able to join the third years."
Ginny grimaced at the idea. Poor Aaron would be subjected to first year classes when the boy had already surpassed seventh year magic. It would be an unnecessary sort of torture for him.
"Don't penalize him just because he missed a couple of years of schooling," Ginny piped up. "That would demoralize him even more. What if you place him in third year classes with his peers and I tutor him every night until he catches up?"
"You must understand Ginny," her father said calmly, "he has had his memory wiped of what we are sure where traumatizing years. Can you handle dealing with the problems this could cause?" Ginny nodded vigorously.
"The boy was also set free," Moody murmured. "The Death Eaters let him go to fulfill a certain purpose. You must be very careful not to let him learn anything you overhear in Order meetings and be especially careful to watch out for nefarious actions on his part."
Ginny nodded again. "I'll be cautious."
Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "Let me discus the boy's future with the boy himself. If he agrees then the plan sounds wonderful." The old man rose from his seat and walked into the other room. Ginny gathered the empty plates and followed him out.
III
"Welcome back to Hogwarts! I hope you have all enjoyed your break. Today we have a new student joining us."
Aaron stepped up next to Dumbledore and smiled at the assembled faces gathered for dinner in the Great Hall. He sat down on the three-legged stool and waited as the floppy old sorting hat was placed on his head.
Ginny watched as Aaron was sorted and smiled with anticipation as the ripped brim on the hat opened and began to speak.
"Gryffindor!"