Her fourth year, everything changed. Voldemort was back, if Harry was to be believed—and in Ginny's eyes there was no reason not to. The summer had been filled with drama Ginny didn't want; she spent most of her time with Fred and George hiding from it all. It was selfish of her, but she didn't care. In some ways she knew she was not ready; in others, she was far beyond the Order's petty squabbles.

The worst news by far, however, was waiting for them back at school. Umbridge invaded Hogwarts and suddenly there was an enemy more powerful by twenty than Draco Malfoy. Ginny was sitting with Fred and George at the Welcome Feast, saw their eyes flash with muted fury just as Hermione's glistened with foreshadowing of the dark times to come. Ginny always knew to look at Hermione when she was uncertain; the clever witch wore her emotions clearly, and always knew when trouble was coming.

Umbridge was all they stood against, everything they hated personified and distilled down into one tiny pixie of evil. It was their entire purpose to bring her to her knees as a victory for the Order. They trained all the harder now that they had a purpose lighting their eyes was a fire that matched their hair.

Ginny marveled at the twins' enormous capacity for mischief, as if their minds had simply be hibernating until the right catalyst came along. Suddenly, they had five plans working at once; one involving Peeves, one hinging on certain first years getting detention with Filch so they could break in to his office, one where Fred actually stole Harry's invisibility cloak so they could check Umbridge's office and plant illegal potions in her cabinet. They started brewing overtime, demand for Wheezes skyrocketing. Ginny barely remembered attending class; all she could think of was the resistance.

Ginevra longed for Christmas break. Away from Umbridge, Snape, and Malfoy; away from the war and all its implications; away from her own misgivings. Christmas in the Burrow was always a hectic affair, but she loved the secret moments when Fred and George whisked her away from chores or wrapping to fly through the falling snow or chuck ice balls at the gnomes.

News of spending the break in Order headquarters hit her harder than she liked to admit. She understood the logic behind it, of course, and to everyone else was the face of calm acceptance. Fred and George, predictably, knew better and wouldn't let her get away with it.

"Little siiiister," Fred sang, coming up from behind her.

"What's wrong, Ginevra? What's stolen your sunshine?"

"You mean besides your ghastly faces?" she retorted, but stopped to duck into an empty classroom with them.

"Winter is coming, sister, aren't you excited?" George asked, leading her to the window to show her.

"Winter is here, silly, and of course I'm excited."

"Liar," Fred murmured, leaning in to stare deep into her eyes. George put a hand on his twin's shoulder.

"What's wrong, gingersnap?" George asked, a hint of worry in his voice, but much calmer than Fred. She rolled her eyes at the old nickname.

"I want to go home."

"Wait a few days, and home we'll be," George said, knowing full well what she meant.

"No, not Sirius' house. Home. The Burrow." There was silence for a moment, then all three sighed. George, then Fred, wrapped their arms around her.

"It's just another casualty of war," George said. She grimaced.

"I'd been hoping to get away from it," she confessed, looking down, but Fred grabbed her chin.

"We all wish for that. Nothing to be ashamed of." His eyes shifted, gaining flashes of steel. "But we've taught you better than to show it. We have to be strong, for Harry and for ourselves." She nodded, resigned, hating the war all the more for taking another Christmas from them, one they would never regain.

Sirius was bursting to full with energy when they arrived. The only visitors he'd had all semester were members of the Order coming for meetings or coordinating during an emergency. Ginny could see the longing in his eyes to be part of a family; she wished so dreadfully she could trade his isolation for her adventure. She knew he would be happier at Hogwarts, joining in the madness and the drama. All she truly wanted at the moment was the peace of climbing out on the roof with the twins by her side and watching clouds come and go.

The days passed quickly, and Christmas was coming up on them. They were all scattered around the house when there was a pop, then a scream. Ginny ran down the stairs, Harry and Ron behind her, Hermione already down the hall from the library. They all crowded in the kitchen doorway, then stopped short: standing in the middle of the kitchen was Draco Malfoy. He carried what looked like a beaten dog, but when Ginny looked closer she saw a glimpse of black oily hair. She gasped and instantly felt sick, and from the retching behind her she could tell that Hermione was doing no better. Her mother, however, had recovered from her shock enough to begin yelling at everyone to get out. Sirius—who had come in behind them— looked like he wasn't going to take that news lightly, but Molly looked like she would skip the hexing and go straight towards backhanding whoever disagreed with her. One look at her face and even Sirius knew better than to argue. He disappeared before Malfoy could catch a good glimpse at his face.

"No," Draco said as Ginny backed out. "You stay, Ginny." The name sounded completely foreign coming from his lips, like an exotic potion instead of just a name. He pronounced it as if it was an unknown language.

"Hey, you git—" Ron started, but Molly cut him off.

"No, he's right, I need some help. Go on, dear," she waved Ron away," Don't worry about us. Floo Dumbledore and the others," she added to Sirius who was still lurking. "Now out!" And with that she shut the door.

"What happened," asked Molly, taking Draco by the sleeve and pushing him into a chair.

"He was shown to be a spy," Draco said dispassionately. Ginny surmised he was still in shock, and wondered if she should fetch him something.

"Who knew? How? No, not now, what did they do to him? I must know so I can—"

"My father knew," Draco said, voice still monotone. "As a reward he tortured him. My father is cruel but not creative. Extensive Cruciatus Curse over broken glass, hence the blood. Once all the others left I was able to get a Body-Bind in on father and took Severus. He'd told me about this place. He wanted my to spy for the Order, save my from my father… but now…"

"Yes, that's quite enough," Molly said, "you're very brave, but if we don't tend to him immediately your bravery will have been useless. We need to relax his muscles and fix his broken bones." Draco moved to stand but Molly pushed him back down and motioned to Ginny. "Get him some blankets and a cup of tea. Check his temperature and…"

"I know first aid, mum," Ginny interrupted. "Get to work on Snape." Molly nodded and Ginny fetched some spare blankets from the pantry.

Everything moved quickly after that. Ginny knew Molly had studied to become a mediwitch but had never seen her work. She was efficient, brutally so. There was little for Ginny to do but hand her gauze and make sure Draco didn't slip into unconsciousness.

Draco had begun to focus on the world around him again, but all he could seem to notice were the freckles on Ginevra's nose. He stared until she blushed and covered her face, but his head felt so heavy he did not bother to move it. He kept staring at the place where her nose used to be, now the back wall. He reached out to turn her face back, and nearly toppled over.

"Here, stand up. Maybe you'll feel better if you move," Ginny suggested. She put a hand on his elbow and helped him stand. Draco could now see Severus' body—a sight he had been trying to avoid—and Molly working over him. He was clean, at least, and looked less pale. Draco could see the scar on Severus' neck now that his hair was finally out of the w—

"His hair!" he exclaimed, and Ginny looked, then gasped.

"Mum, what did you do?!" She cried. Molly didn't even look up.

"He had multiple wounds on his head and it had to go. Otherwise the wounds wouldn't have healed properly. He can take a potion to grow it back once he's well."

Ginny and Draco just looked at Snape and his now nearly bald head. It was one of those moments when, in the midst of all the horrible atrocities of war, all the blood and loss and death and despair, something so tiny makes everything feel absolutely bloody absurd. Ginevra looked sideways at Draco, and he caught her eye.

Both quite suddenly exploded with laughter, holding onto each other and feeling the breath catch in their throats. Their laughs sounded scratchy, like they were crying so hard there was nothing left to do but laugh.

Feeling empty, Ginny stepped back, numb. A hand wrapped around her waist and she did not question it, leaning into the warmth (warmth that came from hot, rushing blood, blood that had come spilling out from Snape's wounds, flowing all over her, blinding her, filling her lungs and drowning her—)

She shook and gagged, and cold hands brushed against her neck to collect her hair as she leaned over the sink. After a few awful moments, she stood and took the handkerchief pushed into her hand.

"Ginny, hand me that—" and she was back to numbness, the unfeeling motions of one who must serve. 'It's just another casualty of war' she heard her brother's words in her head, hardly realizing she was thinking at all.

Some time later, Snape was still unconscious but looked significantly improved. Molly had gone upstairs to take a shower, and Ginevra had been told to stay put. She was not to let anyone in, and especially not let Draco or Snape (should he wake) out.

"You shouldn't be here," Ginny said to Draco once they were alone. He stood by Severus, holding the man's limp hand. "I can't believe Snape told you about this place."

"It's a bit too late for that, and aren't you glad he did?"

"You've brought him, and some would say that's a good thing, but I've never been allowed to go to Order meetings so I wouldn't know. But in any case, you should leave."

"I would if I cou—"

"Now, now," a voice said from behind the door, and Mad-Eye Moody revealed himself with a shaky motion towards the table. "Let's show some hospitality. Tea, biscuits, and a bit of explanation." When no one moved he added, "Now." Malfoy sat, Mad-Eye across from him. Before Ginny could move to close the door, cursing herself for letting Moody get in, Sirius slid past and winked at her. He stood discomfortingly close to Malfoy, clapping the young man on the shoulder. Anger clouded his handsome face.

Malfoy yelped.

Sirius grinned, and the coldness of it send shivers up Ginny's arms.

"I should have known they were keeping you here, Black," Malfoy said once he had regained his voice, though it still shook. "If you so much as tou—"

"The little Malfoy finally realizes what he's gotten himself into," Sirius murmured circling around Malfoy, a vulture with ruthless intentions. "Life will only get worse from here, Draco," he spat the name like a particularly nasty disease. "I intend to know everything you know…"

"I'll tell you anything you want," Draco said, bravado seeping away to unmask his fear.

"How pathetic," Sirius said, looking at Mad-Eye, who absently nodded.

"Ginny, you should leave," Sirius said, unknowingly echoing her earlier sentiments. She would have none of it.

"You and Moody torturing Malfoy for the hell of it? I'm not leaving." Malfoy raised an eyebrow, and Sirius looked furious. Mad-Eye smiled as if nothing at all surprised him anymore.

"You shouldn't care about this little shit, Ginny," Sirius began, but Ginny rolled her eyes.

"I don't. His father is still a powerful man, and you're a wanted criminal. You could go back to Azkaban, Moody could lose his job. None of that would help the Order at all. And besides, he's willing to talk."

"She's right," Draco added enthusiastically.

"Shut up," Ginny and Sirius both said, and their voices made Draco flinch. Ginny turned back to Sirius.

"Malfoy was actually brave, Sirius. He petrified his father to get Snape here alive. If you don't think that takes balls, then you don't remember Lucius Malfoy well enough. I happen to know what he can do really well; I still have to thank him for turning me into Tom Riddle's personal slave." Everyone looked severely uncomfortable at that statement, except Ginny, who seemed bolstered by their looks. "Get off your high horse and deal with the fact that not all bravery comes from Gryfindor. Snape and Malfoy are on our side, so grow the fuck up and stop making me resent you more than them!" She took a breath and turned on Moody. "And you should be smarter than to go along with one of his antics. Honestly," she sighed, unconsciously mimicking Hermione. Malfoy tried to hide his snigger behind a cough; he's seen Granger tell Potter and Weasley off enough times to know the mannerism. But his chuckle immediately died when she turned her fiery eyes on him.

"Don't even start, Malfoy," she said. "Now, I want both of you idiots out before mum comes down and I get in trouble."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say Molly was already here," Sirius muttered to Mad-Eye as they beat a hasty retreat. Moody shook his head and tried to pretend none of this had happened.

"You're so cute when you're angry, Weasley," Malfoy said.

"Ah, good, you're back to your old charming self," Ginny deadpanned, turning to check on Snape—and covered her mouth to muffle a shriek when she met his coal-black eyes.

"Not even the dead could sleep through your rantings, Ginevra Weasley," Severus Snape said, voice as velvety as ever.

There was no peace in the little house after that.