Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

The Brotherhood

A/N - Only three reviews last chapter? That's disappointing. However, I have to say thanks to DracoMalfoy4Ever and DukeBrymin for reviewing consistently every chapter. You both are big inspirations. This chapter is dedicated to both of you.

~~~ Chapter Twenty-two ~~~

"He offered what?" Ginny cried out in dismay.

Harry sighed and rubbed at his eyes wearily. "To join him and be his heir," he repeated.

He had returned only twenty minutes after he had been taken from the cell, completely unharmed, but a little bemused. He had explained that Voldemort had just wanted to talk, to offer him a position as his second in command.

"What are you going to do about it?" Ginny asked softly, watching Harry.

Harry frowned. "I don't know. I think…I think I could use this to my advantage. I could get him to let you go if I accepted," Harry murmured.

"You're actually considering this? Joining Voldemort? I thought you would never join him!" Ginny protested.

Harry glanced at her. "I wouldn't really be working for him. I'd be working as a spy. I could bring him down from the inside, without his suspecting a thing," Harry explained.

Ginny stared at him incredulously. "You seriously think that would work? What happens when Voldemort finds out – and he will find out – that you are trying to destroy him? He will kill you!"

"Maybe he will, but at least you'll be able to be free and warn Sirius and Remus," Harry replied.

Ginny stared at Harry before shaking her head. "I can't let you do it," she insisted.

Harry drew in a breath. "I have to,"

Ginny closed her eyes, "I don't want to loose you, Harry. Everyone says that it was just a crush, but I think it's more. Harry, I think I love you!"

As she said the last words, her eyes opened and her brown eyes met intense green.

Harry stared at Ginny before softly replying, "I…I love you too, Ginny. That's the reason I have to do this. It's for you, and my family. It's the best chance we'll have to defeat him."

Ginny let out a sob and threw her arms around Harry. "I can't live without you, Harry," she whispered.

~~~TB~~~

When a pair of deatheaters came to collect Harry for him to give Voldemort his decision, they found Ginny and Harry wrapped in each other's arms, both of them sleeping.

The two men exchanged a glance before opening the cell with a slam, awakening both of the prisoners.

"Be safe, Harry," Ginny whispered as the deatheaters pulled Harry up and away from her. Harry nodded at her, before allowing the deatheaters to take him away from her.

Ginny stared after him, silently pleading with anyone who would listen that his plan would work. They had talked through it in detail, trying to come up with something that would work without getting him killed. In the end, they had agreed on a plan that neither of them really liked.

Ginny felt very uneasy about the plan. It included a lot of deceiving people on both hers and Harry's side. She wished that there was a better way.

~~~TB~~~

Sirius sat alone on Remus' sofa, staring blankly into the fire. Remus and Tonks were at an Order meeting, which were happening more frequently since Harry had been captured. Of course, Dumbledore hadn't revealed that they were searching more for Voldemort for Harry's sake. The Order still believed Sirius and Harry were both guilty, and it would stay that way until some proof was given.

Unfortunately, that proof was with Peter Pettigrew, and not even the spies within Voldemort's troops had seen him around. For all their luck, Voldemort had killed off Pettigrew, and Sirius would never have a chance at freedom.

A sudden knock on the door made Sirius look up. A crease of worry crossed his face. Every person who would visit this place was at the Order meeting. Unless it was Harry.

Sirius jumped up and rushed to the door before throwing it open.

At first, he didn't see anyone, but then a soft groan made him look down. There was Ginny, unconscious, lying on the doorstep.

Crouching down, Sirius checked for a pulse and was relieved to find one that was steady.

Scooping the girl into his arms, he took her into the house and set her on the couch where he had been previously sitting.

Taking out his wand, Sirius murmured a soft spell and she woke abruptly, her eyes going wide with alarm as she looked around. Then her eyes fell on Sirius and stared at him in bewilderment before bursting into tears.

Sirius was never very good at handling weeping girls, but he carefully wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug to comfort her. Obviously, she had been through something traumatic, but why she had been returned, and not Harry, Sirius had no idea.

When Ginny finally calmed down and pulled away, she seemed embarrassed. However, Sirius needed answers.

"What happened? Where's Harry? Is he all right?" he asked in quick succession.

Ginny shook her head. "No. No," she insisted, pulling away farther from him.

Sirius stared at her. She was in shock, it seemed.

"Sirius!" a voice called. Sirius stood up as Remus entered, followed by Tonks. Both abruptly stopped as they saw Ginny on the couch. She glanced over at them, sorrow filling her face.

"Ginny! You're back? What happened? Where's Harry?" Remus asked, rushing over to her.

Ginny closed her eyes. "He was too convincing. Harry stayed, but convinced him to let me go. Harry joined Voldemort!" Ginny proclaimed, the tears falling again.

A silence fell as Sirius, Remus, and Tonks all stared at Ginny in shock.

"But he would never…" Sirius started to protest.

"You think I want to believe it any more than you? I saw it! He took the Dark Mark! He willingly joined Voldemort!" Ginny nearly screamed at them. Her voice lowered to a near whisper, "And all this time I thought he was innocent."

Sirius and Remus exchanged devastated glances. They didn't want to believe that Harry would join Voldemort, but why else would Ginny be so distressed?

Ginny buried her face in her hands and sobbed some more. The other three didn't comfort her, they were too busy trying to come to terms with it themselves.

A/N - Yes, I know, this chapters skips around and probably excludes several scenes that you would have rather read, but it was a difficult chapter because I'm not very good at writing Voldemort. It was this now or including the other scenes but having it posted way later. I may include flashbacks or something that do show the missing scenes later in the story however.