CHAPTER 8

Going behind closed Doors

Ginny tapped her foot impatiently, the back of her neck prickled with anticipation as she tried to ignore the weight that seemed to pull down on her shirt, despite the camera being so small. This was the Ministry of Magic; to bring surveillance gear in was a serious offence, especially in her line of work. Why had George made her do this? Why did she agree? Ginny sighed, rubbing the back of her neck as the smooth voice came over the speaker,

"Level Three, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, including the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, Obliviator Head-quarters and Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee." Ginny leant back against the back wall, crossing her arms against her chest as a number of people left the elevator; one appeared to have scorch marks up the left side of his face, but she paid no real notice. A woman walked on, her eyes glancing through her spectacles towards files she was intently reading,

"Hello Miss. Weasley," she said without even a glance up. Her dark hair was tied into a knot at the back of her head, so sharply that it appeared as if you could shatter it if you tried.

"Afternoon," she said, pushing herself up from the wall as the elevator gave a steady lurch upward. A memo flew low near her; she casually grabbed it and shoved it into her back pocket. The woman flipped backwards and forward through a few pages of what she was reading, her red lips pursing as if she were annoyed before giving up altogether and folding it in half.

"Manage to catch that man the other day I heard." She said to Ginny, her lips forming in what she was sure was meant to be a convincing smile. Ginny frowned in a moments thought,

"Oh, yes," she said, "Lester. Sent off to Azkaban today." The woman nodded,

"Lovely."

The voice came over the speakers once more as the doors opened revealing the Auror Offices, posters and wanted photographs plastered every wall as Ginny walked down the hallway as normally as she could muster, her hand every now and then grazing past the camera.

Ginny had a newly appointed secretary, Jo, with long curled hair and a round face. She walked past her, and ignored her eyes as they widened to see her boss.

"Jo, hi, I saw a great Healer and he managed to clear me up for the day." Ginny leant her hands down onto the desk, she loved making the new secretaries squirm. "Can you please tell whoever was originally covering my 2 o'clock to keep it that way? Because those O'lachlan's are convicted and everyone knows it, even the O'lachlan's, surely they'll plead guilty and it'll just be wasted hours of my day. Schedule a meeting there instead for any and all Auror's, I have an anonymous tip. Also, tell everyone to drop the Lester case, it's over, he's gone, no need to be so uptight about it."

With that, Ginny walked into the office, with Jo scribbling down notes crazily. Her office wasn't very large or clean, papers were scattered over the table, and photos of people wanted were pasted against the wall, their beady eyes shining from the black and white portraits and newspaper cut-outs. Ginny unclipped the camera and pointed it at herself,

"You're bloody lucky no one noticed." She whispered in a hushed undertone, whether to herself or them she wasn't sure. She sighed and reapplied it, Ginny heard a voice behind her and jumped, she turned quickly to see Jo standing there.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" She said, pretending to clutch her heart, but in reality her palm was clasping over the device.

"When would you like it arranged?" She questioned, it took Ginny a second to work out what she was talking about. Ginny absentmindedly rubbed her temples,

"An hour, conference room," she muttered, gesturing for the young woman's departure. Ginny sighed in relief as soon as she left, her hand now secured on her sword, the cold metal soothing her clammy hands.

Ginny sat heavily in her chair, her eyes caught on two photographs on top of a filing cabinet, one was of Jack and her, Jack's eyes were dancing on Ginny's face as they swayed against the non-existent wind, a smirk spread across his face. The other one was the one Ginny had to turn around every now and again as she passed – only because it cut a fresh wound again when she saw it.

In the photo she was surrounded by her brothers, all of them clung onto her. Fred and George were messing her hair up as the others tackled her, their eyes shone with happiness and the unknowingness of their fate. They had no other question than what was happening at that time, and that dug deep into her like a sword through the chest. Remembering what it was like, remembering what it could have been like, if only Voldemort wasn't in their lives. She knew that grief was a curious thing, when it happened unexpectedly it was as if someone had ripped away a bandaid, but it took with it the top layer of the family, and of a person. Harry was right when he said she was paranoid… she knew she had changed for the worse. But it was how she coped with their deaths, and she just couldn't see herself becoming the old Ginny ever again.

Ginny saw the image on the wall closest to her, of the Death Eater she just captured… Lester. He had a wife and three children, all whom loved him dearly – but he was taken over by an unforgivable and had been taunting the headquarters' of the Ministry, only he managed to escape every time.

Ginny had stopped him; she piked his coat on the ground, where he fell flat on his back, immediately she sent a stunning spell in its wake. When she came over to his side his dark brown eyes were blinking slowly, she froze him and removed the sword, replacing it into its sheath. She didn't want the man to go to jail, she wanted the person who did this to the man to go to jail, but unfortunately she was ruled against and he was being sent to Azkaban.

Ginny ripped the picture down and shoved it into a draw filled with captured criminals. She pushed her palms hard against her eyes, seeing bright red, just as a knocking was heard.

"Hey," said a familiar voice, she glanced up. Jack walked into the office, holding a slip of paper, "just got the memo. I thought you weren't feeling well?" His eyebrows arched in curiosity.

"Felt this was more important," she said, Jack nodded, a strand of hair falling in front of his eyes, he pushed it away.

"Actually going with my advice huh?"

"Hey, don't make it sound like that's a once-in-a-blue-moon thing!"

"I don't know how you're going to pull it off though," Ginny stood,

"I'll figure out a way."

"How about convincing the Minister?" Ginny paused and bit her lip, she hadn't considered that. "Are you even going to tell the Minister?"

"I'll tell her when I need to... I think I've earned her trust…" she muttered.

"I wouldn't be so sure," he said, walking around the table so they were face to face. "I'll help you but there is only so much I can do." Ginny smiled slightly in thanks, Jack pushed his hand through his hair,

"Hear about the Dark Mark's appearance?" He asked absentmindedly, "apparently memos were flying around about it." Ginny stuck her hand in her pockets, feeling the memos underneath her fingertips.

"Yet to read them," she said. "Any truth in it?" Jack shrugged,

"Apparently, reports to the Muggle police about weird looking shapes in the sky, I spoke to Muggle-Worthy excuse Committee and they suggested either say it was a weird kind of Northern Lights, fireworks, or there will have to be some severe memory modification. Eric and Katherine have gone to check out the scene. You were meant to go but they thought you had the day off." Ginny wiped the fingerprints off the hilt of the sword, it glowed from the light, she so desperately was in need of a battle to get her mind off things.

"Anyway," said Jack, pressing his lips on hers, "I have to go, lots of paperwork. I'll see you in the conference room." Ginny sighed to herself as he left, sifting through the paper in her pockets to find if there was anything else of importance.

She heard a buzzing, she glanced around the room to find the source of the noise… surely no bugs would be able to get into the Ministry… the buzzing got louder and higher-pitch, through her right ear… she pushed it against her shoulder but the sound wouldn't diminish. Until then she had momentarily forgotten about the camera, about what she was doing and the whole point of her being there, but as the buzzing turned to crackling and slowly the voices emerged from behind it, it was a severe snap-back into reality.

"Ginny? Ginny?" Said the voice of George, she relaxed,

"Hey," she whispered, standing to shut her office door.

"You seem to be doing okay, just relax and act normally." Normally? What was her normal anyway? "Your workers seem to believe you, so that's good, just avoid questions and stick to the point." There was a pause and Ginny almost wondered if George had decided to end the conversation before he started again,

"Harry practically passed out before, I think he might have some severe internal, not just external injuries… bruising and everything." The question 'is he alright?' Burned the base of her throat, she swallowed as the other end went dead silent.

"Okay," she replied, not knowing what else to say. Ginny remembered, six months after Harry's death she had stumbled across a Death Eater, one who took part in the apparent murder of Harry, Ron and Hermione. She had laughed as Ginny slashed into her – creating no relief as the blood dripped onto the ground. There was a thud as the body fell at her feet, a reminder that in acting on revenge she was just as bad as the one that helped murdered them.

George had found her two hours later, her hands stained in dry blood, her sword still dirty from the fight. He took one look at her face and the shocked expression had altered to an understanding,

"Ginny, come on," he urged quietly, arm outstretched.

"I'm a killer," she whispered, her eyes running down the dead body by her side.

"Your not." George had said firmly,

"I am… look at me, she didn't even start this fight… she wasn't even looking for a fight and I – I killed her,"

George faltered as if considering what she had said "I would have done the same thing in an instant." He muttered, his eyes on hers. Slowly, Ginny wiped her sword on her jacket, staining it with blood, before taking his arm.

Ginny stood inside the conference room, remaining in her usual appearance, as if nothing bothered her – eyes stern and direct, sword glinting in its hilt, wand deep in her pocket, she kept this to suppress any fear from the Auror's that she was insane in what she was about to say. The room was filled with men and women, most covered with scars and cuts, carrying the same expression as those surrounding them, of curiosity and determination. Jack stood to the very right of her, leaning against the window with a fake interpretation of what was outside.

"Looks good Gin, address them." Came George's voice in her ear,

"I guess you're all wondering why we came here today," there was a small snort in her ear,

"Classic." She ignored it.

"I am Ginny Weasley, I would state my credentials but I see that as a waste of time. Anyone who questions my authority feel free to leave." She paused, a few people shifted in their seats but no one moved. "Who here has heard of Vereor nex?"

"Myth developed during Voldemort's first reign by the Death Eaters to reinforce fear and power." Said a young man near the back of the room as he leant back in his chair,

"Right you are, and that's what I thought originally too. But it's not mythical." There was a murmur of disagreement. "A man showed up a week ago at my house, horribly beaten and clearly tortured. I used Veritaserum to make sure and he recounts that Vereor Nex is indeed real." She said, stalking the front of the room,

"But, Veritaserum has its drawbacks, even with a truth potion its possible – if you have a high level of Occlum –,"

"I am well aware of the possible weaknesses of Veritaserum thankyou Sampson, and of course I've taken the right protocol to make sure that this is not the case." Suddenly, Ginny heard a muffled thump in her ear; she turned to see the source of the noise, there was nothing.

"What the?" She heard George say as there was a massive crash, like a door being thrown back at full-force against its hinges, a yell and a thud. Ginny's eyes widened and she stayed as still as a rabbit caught in a headlight. She focused completely on what was happening to George and Harry, managing to block out all other sounds in the room.

"That's him, we've got him." A man's gravelly voice stated with an air of triumph. Ginny felt panic rise up against her throat, she felt the eyes of the Auror's on her back as she ran from the room. Every instinct was screaming for her to run from the building, apparate over and help them. Just before she was about to bolt she felt a firm hand on her arm, she turned around. Jack closed the door behind him,

"They've got them!" She stammered, her voice hitching "they… they have them." A hot tear slid toxic down her cheek. Jack shook his head and pushed the tear away,

"Got who?"

"George and… and James they… a spell, I hear them in my ear and –," Jack shook his head again.

"I don't understand…" Jack said, "hearing people in your ear, what?" Ginny went to turn and run again but he grabbed her in a firm grasp, his voice coming warningly to her.

"You need to finish this," he said "leave now and you might as well give up the whole mission."

"The mission will end if they are taken!"

"They're strong Gin, you know it, there's nothing you can do. Besides, if there are Death Eaters there you will get captured as well; all you are going to do by going is putting yourself in jeopardy."

"Stupefy!" Ginny heard in her ear, breaking away from anything Jack was saying. Her breathing started to speed, her chest rising and falling as she heard a thump in her ear, a fallen body. Jack slowly shook his head,

"Don't Gin," he whispered.

Hope you liked it!

Pheonixxsong