Chapter 30

Ginny POV

Ginny woke up with a lazy groan. She lay in bed for several minutes, her body strongly refusing to rid itself of its grogginess. The headache that she fell asleep with was now a dull thud; however, as she dragged her body up into a sitting position it throbbed back to life. She groaned furthermore as it flared with every heartbeat and she forced herself to get out of bed.

"Breakfast, Miss?"

Ginny peeked open an eye when she heard Dobby across the room. Sure enough, there he stood with a tray of food ready for her. She had to smirk.

"Thanks, Dobby." He looked absolutely thrilled as he nearly bounced over to her and set the tray gently down on the bed.

"Did Harry Potter's friend sleep well?" He asked.

She gave an ill-advised shake of the head as she picked up a piece of toast.

"'Fraid not, Dobby. Yourself?"

"Oh, fine, Miss. But it pains Dobby to know that Harry Potter and his friends are so upset. Dobby will try to find out more today," he promised with an eager nod. His promise reminded Ginny of something and she turned to him, newly aware.

"Dobby, can you do me a favour, please, and get me today's copy of the Daily Prophet?" She asked.

With a nod the petite house-elf disapparated and before Ginny had even had a chance to bring the goblet of pumpkin juice up to her lips he reappeared next to her, holding out a copy of the paper.

"Here, Miss!" He announced enthusiastically.

"Thank you," Ginny said quietly as she took it from him with a bit of hesitation, knowing she'd probably greatly dislike what she would read. Ginny didn't even have to hunt for the article, it was right there waiting for her on the front page. She growled as she saw Rita Skeeter's name next to the latest headline. Ginny's stomach turned into a knotted mass as she saw an image of Hermione in a prison uniform exploding at someone. The redhead scoffed, of course the Prophet would use the most incriminating footage it could get its grubby hands on - especially with Rita Skeeter behind the quill on this latest exploit. With growing contempt, Ginny began to read.

Her hands shook as she read in great, glorious detail about how Hermione had once more proven herself to be over-zealous, ill-tempered, and willing to stop at nothing to make sure that her radical reform succeeded. Skeeter described her as devious, malicious, emotionally unstable, and other equally untrue things. All the while, Skeeter made sure to include a whole paragraph about how despite this dark cloud that had been cast over the Ministry, one, bright, shining light had shone through to guide them all, and that was Ms. Blake.

Beyond the flamboyant gloss that Skeeter was so fond of in all of her writings, Ginny did learn that Hermione was served with five years in custody before she would be released. Apparently, the courts examined Hermione's wand and found that she had performed numerous illegal spells. They went on to state that Hermione performed these charms in an effort to garner support for her reform and that's why the reform had become so successful despite the doubt that had lingered overhead not even two months prior.

"That's it?" Ginny exclaimed as she shook the paper in her hand for emphasis. "They just checked her wand and boom, throw her in a cell for five years?" She continued in disbelief as she shot varied glances towards Dobby who looked about as upset as she. "Is Harry at the Ministry?" She asked.

"Yes, Miss. But he said he will be back at lunch with Wheezy," Dobby told her; she knew by Wheezy he meant Ron.

Ginny nodded and looked to the plate of food before her. "Dobby, I'm really sorry, but I don't have any appetite right now. I'm sorry," she said, hoping he wouldn't be offended. He seemed to understand and took it away in good spirits.

"Still in bed?"
"And we thought Ron was bad."

Ginny's eyes snapped up to see Fred and George standing in the doorway, both leaning against opposite sides of the door frame, arms crossed with teasing grins on their faces. Ginny just shot up out of bed and threw her arms around her big brothers, hugging them tightly and earning playful complaints from the pair.

"You know," George said as he eyed her with that trademark glint in his eye, "I don't think Hermione would approve of you skipping class."

"Yeah, she's a prefect through and through," Fred chimed in.

"And not capable of the rubbish that they're spewing in the papers," Ginny remarked as she gestured rather fiercely towards the discarded newspaper that lay on the bed. "Ms. Blake put the Imperius Curse on her, I know it," Ginny proclaimed as she eyed the twins intensely. They nodded, their trickster minds deep in thought.

"Tough enemy, we have here," Fred stated.

"I'll say," Ginny said as she rolled her eyes. "The woman has a house-elf that she's placed under the Fidelius Charm so nobody else but her can see or hear him, other than Dobby and I assume other house-elves," she explained. "But he's still under her ownership, so even though we brought him here to protect him until we could figure out a way to undo the charm, she ordered him back and now even Dobby can't get to him."

"Clever woman," George piped up and for split second Ginny foresaw herself strangling him.

"Has Dad said anything?" Ginny asked.

"He's under constant watch, he says," Fred relayed. "He's looking for a way to help and trying to spot anything out of the ordinary, but Ms. Blake has everything so locked down and regulated that he doesn't have much wiggle-room." Ginny made a noise of disgust and folded her arms against her chest in disdain.

"How long do you think it'll be until I can visit Hermione?" She asked in a flat voice.

"I've heard the loops they make the inmates jump through to get permission to see visitors are quite extraordinary," Fred responded in a tone much similar to Ginny's. "Could be weeks." Ginny sighed and shook her head, bringing a hand up to her face, grimacing as a thought struck her.

"Since Hermione's been convicted," she paused, "I'm going to have to tell her parents." The twins both let out matching "Ooo"s of both sympathy and impending peril.

"Merlin," Ginny muttered as she screwed her eyes shut at the thought of delivering such news.

"Speak with Dad first," George suggested. "Maybe he can go with you, make it a bit easier." Ginny just shook her head and gave them both a look that made them drop the subject.

Ginny could feel that heavy silence about to drift in when Fred revealed a deck of cards, flashing them artfully around in his hands.

"Care for a game of Exploding Snap? We've modified the deck to make it a bit more...daring," he waggled his eyebrows up and down in an attempt to entice her.

Ginny chuckled through a groan. Of course the last thing she wanted to do was play cards.

"There's nothing you can do for her right now. We need to at least speak with Harry and Ron first," George said in as serious a voice she'd ever heard from him before.

With a nod of resignation, Ginny responded. "Sure. Let's go."

"Gah!"

Ginny and the twins turned around at the cry that rang across the living room in Grimmauld Place. They simultaneously snickered as they saw Ron slapping at his hair frantically with both hands - the exploded card simmering on the ground next to his stamping feet.

"What in blazes-" he muttered through gritted teeth as he stormed towards them, the tips of his hair singed, a bit more in some places than others.

"Oh, sorry about that," Fred offered airily. "We tweaked the cards a tad - increased the severity of the snap, you see."

"Good range on that one," George nodded with an approving look, which Ginny mirrored.

"You're like children, you all are," Ron whimpered as he pulled up a seat, ignoring his siblings' laughter, along with Harry who now joined in.

"So," Ginny started, turning serious as she looked between Harry and a still-offended Ron, "What's the news?"

"Well," Harry said exaggeratedly, as he gave her a pointed look, "Let's see here, when we got to work we each had our wands read, we had to sign in, and to get back here we had to have our wands read again, our latest spells had to be cross-checked against our Auror Training Agenda, and then we had to register where we were going." He finished with a nod of false cheer.

"Yeah," Ron grumbled. "Ms. Blake and the Minister want to ensure that no more 'slip-ups' occur."

Ginny picked up a card and flicked it across the room - to her pleasure it ignited mid-flight and sizzled as its remains floated to the floor.

"Is she back in London?" She asked as she pulled her attention away from the card.

"Yeah, heard she was in the office today," Harry replied.

Ginny let out a grunt of discontent. "Figures." She sighed. "So, how are we going to bust into her place to get Brumski and her wand." She asked the question with such casualness that Fred and George erupted into laughter.

"Oh li'l sis," George chuckled. "I do love your attitude."

"Were you expecting something else?" She asked in the same easy manner and they both shook their heads as their laughter continued. "But seriously," she added, "how are we going to pull this off? I have the feeling that getting into her manor will be about as simple as breaking into or out of Azkaban." She stated the comparison before she could stop herself and just the word Azkaban and its association with Laurophey left a horrid taste in her mouth.

The group was silent and Ginny stared expectantly at the boys before her as they avoided her gaze.

"Well!" She exclaimed. "Since when have you guys been so cowardly?"

"It's not a matter of bravery," Harry retorted, "We're all plenty stupid enough to barge right into her manor and get the wits blasted out of us. It's just a matter of pulling it off successfully enough so that we actually get the evidence we need to present to the Ministry."

Ginny sighed knowing he was right.

"We could really use Hermione's brains right now, couldn't we?" She chuckled. The laugh sounded empty and forced in her head. "Well, I don't know how accurate this claim is, but I'm thinking that as soon as we step foot in that house of hers - that's it. We have to pull it all off at once because after that she'll have an excuse to send all the Aurors and everyone else in the Ministry after us."

"Luna said something to that effect, too," Harry offered regretfully.

"So we'll have to know how to undo the charm on Brumski before we head in - we won't have time to figure it out afterward," she went on. The room fell silent as everyone was lost in their own thoughts once more. "Maybe...maybe, we could take her second wand, the dark magic one, and place the Imperius Curse on her and get her to release Brumski...," Ginny thought out loud. The idea was mad and outrageous, but to Ginny, it was essentially the only thing that seemed plausible in her mind.

"Gin," Ron warned, "That's absolutely bonkers. You could end up in Azkaban for the rest of your life."

"Yeah, I don't think I can support this idea," Harry concurred.

"It'd be with her wand," Ginny persisted.

"But what if she takes Veritaserum, or uses a Pensieve or something along those lines," Harry remarked. "She'll be given a full trial and given every benefit of the doubt. If they can trace it back to you in any way, you're done."

"Hermione is in prison, she's probably scared and she's all alone. Her career is ruined, and Merlin knows what other consequences will come from Ms. Blake's manipulations," Ginny implored. "I can't sit idly by and just let that rat get away with this."

"Don't forget to get Ms. Blake to give herself a royal Bat Bogey Hex before you release her from the Imperius Curse," Fred contributed with a subtle nod. Ginny smiled broadly.

"I won't. And I, along with whoever wishes to come with me, will take Polyjuice Potion before we go - in case she does end up using the Pensieve during her trial, it'll protect us at least a bit," she declared. "We'll go to her manor while she's at work and find Brumski. We'll put her under the curse the second she steps into the manor - we'll be waiting."

"As in we're going to purposely risk getting into a duel with her?" Ron asked in disbelief. "Wouldn't it be easier to just go in at night when she's sleeping and put the curse on her then?"

"That's the coward's way," Ginny snapped before restraining herself somewhat. She continued in a more controlled fashion. "That's what she did to Hermione. I won't stoop to the same level. Besides, we don't know where her second wand is or how to get it. We'll need to speak with Brumski again first to even have a chance at it and it will probably be easiest to get to him when we don't have to worry about waking or alerting her."

"She detected you guys messing with the house-elf and his memories last time, won't she be able to again? She'll bring all the Aurors in England with her if she knows you're trying to rescue him and are in her bleeding house," he stressed further.

"Oh I believe George and I can be of some assistance in that department," Fred piped up with a complacent grin. Ginny merely gave him a curious look and he went on. "We'll keep Ms. Blake and everyone else as occupied as possible at the Ministry - buy you guys some extra time in case getting to Brumski is a bit of a task.

"And even if she decides to come after you, we'll ensure the rest of the Aurors are predisposed," George added with a wink.

"See? They understand me," Ginny commented as she eyed her other brother.

"'Course I don't. You're out of your mind!" Ron exclaimed. "You all are!" He cried as she looked at his siblings. "The only ones with any sensibility are me and Harry," he claimed while turning to Harry rather proudly.

"I'm in," Harry said to Ginny with a nod.

"What!" Ron yelled. "You're mad too!"

"You're just scared," Ginny baited.

"Am not!"

"Yes - you are. Merlin only knows how you ended up in Gryffindor," Ginny replied in a heated manner.

Ron's eyes flitted back and forth among his siblings and best friend before his shoulders slumped in slight dejection. "Fine, I'm in too," he grumbled. "You know Hermione wouldn't approve of this plan. She'd never let you go through with it."

Ginny took a moment to contemplate the assertion and eventually gave a nod. "Likely," she said lightly before forging on. "But she's not here to actually confirm that, and quite frankly, I don't really listen to anyone but her, so."

George must've noticed that Ron looked ready to argue further and cut him off. "Just let it go. I don't think you're going to win this one," he chuckled. Though Ron didn't look quite pleased at first, he eventually cracked a bit of a grin.

"I guess you're right, Gin. Hermione's always the voice of reason. What can be expected without her around? It's only natural we'd turn into a reckless mess."

"Exactly," Ginny replied and gave the group a wink. "Now, let's go get Hermione back before we figure out any other death-defying stunts to pull. I'm pretty sure she'll forgive me for one, but two might be pushing it."

AN: Nothing too outrageous (at least in terms of action lol) in this chapter, so I'll post the next one a bit sooner. Thank you again to everyone for your continued support and feedback, it's much appreciated. I hope everyone has a good week!