Along with the rest of Hogwarts, Ginny watched in fascination when the dark trio of Hermione, Harry and Draco seemed to have some sort of major falling out at the beginning of November. Since she'd started school, Ginny couldn't remember ever seeing Harry and Hermione fall out, and since the truth about them had been revealed, they'd been as thick as thieves with Draco. However, for a couple of weeks relations between the trio were distinctly frosty and Ginny could count on one hand the number of times she saw the threesome interacting with each other.
Ginny had hoped whatever was happening was something she and her brothers could capitalise on, and she'd immediately wrote to them informing them of the falling out. Bill and Charlie had been eager to hear of the falling out, and they'd asked their sister to keep them updated. Sadly, it was only a couple of weeks before Ginny was writing back to her brothers and informing them that whatever had happened between the trio, it seemed to have been fixed. One morning Draco and Hermione came into breakfast together as though nothing had happened and the friendship between the couple and Harry looked to be back on track.
Despite the brief hope of using the falling out to their advantage, Bill and Charlie had quickly moved past the disappointment and came up with a plan they'd told their sister about. The plan was very simple really, and all Ginny needed was to get hold of some of Daphne's hairs before the final Hogsmeade visit of the year. Not knowing how difficult it would be, Bill and Charlie had given their sister plenty of notice about their plan, so she'd had several weeks in which to procure the hairs. In the end it had been a simple task of walking past her while she was studying in the library, and plucking a few long blonde strands of hair from her cardigan that was hanging off the back of her chair.
On the morning of the Hogsmeade visit, Ginny was awake bright and early and after getting dressed and having an early breakfast she was among the first students who left the castle. Since it was the last trip of the term, and the last chance for people to buy any Christmas presents from the village, Ginny expected the village to fill up quickly so she wanted to find Bill and Charlie as soon as possible and find out the fine details of the plan. Her brothers had told her to meet them at the same bench outside of the village where they'd spoken last time, and when Ginny arrived she was pleased to find them both waiting for her.
"How's things?" Bill asked his sister.
"They'll be better once we've dealt with Harry, Hermione and their family," Ginny answered. "I'm just so sick of everyone carrying on as though nothing is happening. It's as though no-one cares You-Know-Who is taking over our world."
"Some people just like an easy life," Charlie said with a shrug. "And I have to hand it to the dark, they've played a smart game this time around. Most people won't fight, because they haven't seen anything to fight against."
"How about killing Dumbledore?" Ginny spat. "And Ron. We all know he was killed."
"We do, but the official line is something very different," Bill gently pointed out. "And as for Dumbledore, a lot of people are just putting that down to You-Know-Who settling some old scores. If things had continued to be violent, we would have had a lot more support, but as it is, no-one wants to be the ones seen to be causing the trouble."
"Sometimes I wonder why we even bother," Ginny said with a sigh as she settled herself in between her two brothers. "Here we are trying to save the wizarding world from tyranny, and no-one cares."
"You have to fight for what's right, Gin. Even if you're the only one fighting," Bill said.
"Or in this case, the only three," Charlie added. "You're not wanting to back out, are you?"
"Of course not," Ginny said determinedly. "Let's do this. So what's the plan?"
"Simple," Charlie answered with a grin as he pulled a small vial of potion from his pocket and handed it to his sister. "It's polyjuice potion, so add the hairs you've taken from the Greengrass girl." Charlie waited until his sister had done as directed, and had safely tucked the vial into her pocket before continuing. "You need to watch Harry and his girlfriend. The second they're separated you take the potion, charm your clothes to look like what she's wearing and approach Harry. We want you to lure him to the alley behind the Hog's Head."
"Can you manage that?" Bill checked with his sister.
"Of course I can," Ginny answered with a smirk. "What happens when we reach the alley?"
"Bill and I will be waiting, and we'll take it from there," Charlie answered. "Once we've got Harry, you keep out of sight until the polyjuice potion wears off, and then you get yourself back to school before anyone realises Harry is missing."
"I do hope you're going to make him suffer," Ginny remarked as she got to her feet.
"Oh, he'll suffer," Bill vowed in a dark voice.
Feeling an excited shiver run down her spine at the thought of Harry suffering for all his betrayal, Ginny turned and headed back into the village. Even though she wanted to find Harry, she didn't want to seem suspicious so she wandered the shops, pretending to be browsing the Christmas gifts, until she spotted her former friend. As usual, he was with his group of friends. As she watched them, laughing and joking, Ginny had to stop herself from marching over and giving Harry and Hermione a piece of her mind. It still riled her how easily they'd slipped into their true dark natures, and it was as though all the years they'd spent as Ron's friend had meant nothing to them.
Ginny slyly watched Harry and his friends for over an hour, and in that time she memorised Daphne's outfit. The longer she watched, the more Ginny thought her opportunity to grab Harry alone was going to come when they went for some dinner, but ever so slowly the group started to disperse. First Theo and Padma went their separate ways, and then Blaise and Luna headed off, until it was just Harry and his girlfriend, and Hermione and Draco. Although, her hopes really started to rise when Draco and Hermione peeled off from Harry and Daphne.
"The Three Broomsticks at half twelve," Harry called after his aunt and best friend as they slunk off together.
"We'll be there," Draco called back.
"Perfect," Ginny whispered to herself as Harry was left alone with Daphne.
Ginny was hoping that as the couple browsed the shops that they would split up, possibly to buy presents for each other, and twenty minutes after they'd been left alone, the couple did just that. Ginny watched with revulsion as the pair shared a steamy kiss in the middle of the street, before Daphne wandered into the quidditch shop. With a dopey smile on his face, Harry ambled across the street and stopped to look in the jeweller's window.
When Harry went into the shop, Ginny saw her opportunity. In the shadows of Honeydukes, she pulled out the polyjuice potion and downed the foul tasting liquid in one gulp. Practically gagging at the taste, Ginny quickly regained her composure and stuffing the bottle back into her pocket she altered her clothes to look like the ones Daphne was wearing before striding over to the jewellers, all the while keeping an eye out to make sure the real Daphne stayed in the quidditch shop.
"Harry," Ginny purred, pouncing on Harry the second she spotted him in the doorway of the jewellers.
"That was quick," Harry said with a chuckle. "Did you not buy anything?"
"That's for you to find out," Ginny replied, shooting him a smile that she hoped was flirtatious. "Did you buy anything?"
"That's for you to find out," Harry parroted with a grin.
Ginny forced herself to giggle as she took hold of Harry's hand and began to pull him away from the quidditch shop. Ginny half expected Harry to question what she was doing, but he was happy enough to let her lead him through the streets of Hogsmeade. In fact, he didn't stop her until they'd nearly reached The Hog's Head and she tried to tug him into the alley where her brothers would be waiting.
"Where are we going, Daph?" Harry asked, halting what he thought was his girlfriend.
"It's a surprise," Ginny purred, trying to sound seductive and not sure if she was managing it in someone else's body.
"In a dingy alley?" Harry asked sceptically.
"It's dark and we'd be alone," Ginny said persuasively.
"I can think of better places to be alone," Harry murmured.
"Are you scared?" Ginny asked, deciding to try and different tactic.
"And what would I be scared of?" Harry laughed. "I'm The Dark Lord's grandson, Daph, nothing scares me."
"Then prove it," Ginny said with a smirk. "Come into the alley and let's have some fun."
"If it's fun you want, then fun you shall have," Harry replied with a grin.
Before Ginny could respond, Harry surged forward, dragging her into the alley. Before she even got a chance to look around for her brothers, Harry pinned her against the wall and his lips were on hers. Despite the fact she detested him with every fibre of her being, Ginny found herself responding to the breath-taking kiss, and she couldn't help the whimper that fell from her lips as Harry's right hand ghosted over her body and settled on her breast. When Harry pulled away a few seconds later, Ginny found herself disappointed, but then she spotted his face and apprehension washed over her. He wasn't looking at her with any sort of love or affection, the look on his face was pure malice.
"You're not Daphne," He stated menacingly.
"Of course I am," Ginny replied, her eyes darting around for her brothers but finding no sign of them.
"You're not. I know my girlfriend, and you're not her," Harry snarled. "Who are you? Ginny?"
Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but before she could say anything she spotted Bill and Charlie silently emerge from the shadows behind Harry. Instead of trying to deny who she was, she let her face break out into a smug smirk.
"You caught me," She laughed. "But I fooled you."
"As if," Harry snorted. "I know when I'm kissing a cheap tart like you."
"But yet you followed me into a dark alley," Ginny responded, ignoring his crack about her being a tart. "You weren't too bright there, Harry."
"I can take you in a second," Harry laughed.
"Probably," Ginny agreed with a nod. "But what about my two big brothers."
Ginny laughed as Harry's eyes bulged in shock, and reaching for his wand he spun around. Unluckily for Harry, Bill and Charlie were all ready for him and their wands were already pointed at the younger wizard. Before Harry had even had a chance to pull his own wand from his pocket, Bill and Charlie had cast simultaneous stunning curses at him. Harry went down with a thud, his green eyes blazing in anger as he stared up at the three Weasleys.
"Funny, I expected more fight from the grandson of The Dark Lord," Bill mocked.
"You have to hand it to Ginny, she kept him distracted perfectly," Charlie said.
"She did," Bill agreed. "Although I could have done without the kissing."
"You and me both," Ginny muttered, trying to ignore the fact her kiss with Harry had been the best kiss of her life. "Now what happens?"
"We leave," Bill answered as he reached down and grabbed Harry by the collar. "Be careful Gin."
"Don't worry about me, you two go," Ginny urged her brothers.
"See you soon, Ginny," Charlie said with a grin, before the pair vanished with a pop, taking Harry with them.
Not knowing how much longer she would look like Daphne, Ginny remained in the alley hoping that no-one spotted her. Luckily no-one did spot her and the second she felt herself turn back to normal, she readjusted her clothes, hurried out of the alley and after grabbing a bag of sweets from Honeydukes she headed back up to the castle. When Ginny reached Gryffindor Tower, she was pleased to find it was only half past twelve. Chances were, it was only now that people were realising Harry was missing, and here was she back up at the castle and well away from Hogsmeade and whatever drama would unfold there over the coming hours.
A/N - I just want to thank everyone for their support of this story, and I'm glad that the vast majority of people are still enjoying COTD (Although why people who have a problem with the direction I've taken this story are still reading is beyond me). Anyway, just to let people know that there won't be another update to Children until next Friday - which will be the 30th. I hope everyone has a great Christmas, and hopefully in the New Year when I get back down to my writing, I can finish Children and finally let you all know how many chapters there will be in this final part. Merry Christmas, and thanks again for your wonderful support.