Okay, I am so sorry guys. I know I didn't send people sneak-peaks and it is because I literally just moved house and my internet has been down for weeks. Anyway, I'm back up and running now. Thanks to all who reviewed, please continue to do so. I own nothing;( and on with the story! By the way, I know I kind of scrapped the whole song thing but I just think that Demons by ImagineDragon goes very well with this.
Ginny wiped away a tear as the taxi drove down the winding lane away from Malfoy Manor. Hermione, Blaise and Draco were still waving madly at her from the front door, and she could still faintly hear Blaise's proclamations of his love for her. However, the sound got quieter and quieter until it disappeared entirely underneath the hum of the car engine.
"The helicopter's just five miles away, miss. It's waiting to take you back to Scotland," said the portly taxi driver/Phoenix agent driving the car. She thanked him and lent back against the hard leather, putting in her headphones.
As the latest pop tunes blasted into her ears, she mused on the past few weeks. Her budding romance with Blaise; her pride at Hermione's budding romance with Draco; her happiness at how well the mission was going.
Despite what Hermione thought; the mission was going incredibly well. It had only been a matter of weeks and Hermione had successfully located the entrance to the underground lab, discovered top secret files and was well on her way to cracking the code to Lucius' computer. Ginny knew that Hermione didn't see it that way; she thought that she was doing badly.
Hermione had always been a massive over-achiever; she couldn't see how much good she'd already done. For all her brains, when it came to herself Hermione was surprisingly obtuse; she was fixated on how she hadn't yet got Lucius' code and not that she'd escaped being caught be Lucius himself where much older, more experienced agents wouldn't have known what to do. Ginny knew she didn't give herself nearly enough credit; so she made up her mind to tell anyone who would listen how brilliant Hermione truly was.
Ginny was slightly shocked at her own thoughts; usually she would be looking to advance her own standing. She was a perfectly nice person but ambitious and always looking for recognition. Having six older brothers will do that to you.
She mused on her sudden decision to sing Hermione's name in praise and finally settled on Blaise as the answer. Her dear, sweet Blaise had finally taught her an insy-bit of humility. It was terribly cliché, she knew, but from the first second Ginny had seen Blaise she had known that he was a kindred spirit.
Being an ambitious girl she had obviously dived headfirst with no regard to the fact that they were on opposite sides of a war. In her mind, that didn't matter. Sure, she had been taught over thirty types of martial arts and how to make a bomb out of the contents of a bin; but the first lesson she had been taught was that love is the most powerful emotion in this world. When the sky burns and the ground crumbles down to hell, the last thing you would do is tell your loved ones that you love them; not tell your enemies that you hate them.
Ginny knew that things between her and Blaise had the potential to go completely wrong; as another lesson she had been taught was the truth has a funny way of revealing itself at the most annoying moments. She had plenty of secrets and she didn't doubt that Blaise did as well. She didn't know anything about his childhood; whenever she asked about his parents he clammed up completely and a foreign hate slithered into his normally bright, happy eyes.
Whatever it was, she could tell that it had hurt him and she didn't want him to hurt. She wanted him to live a life full of light. There was more to life than a dark profession; there was love and friendship, ice-cream and dancing. Ginny knew he had a dark past and she wanted to erase it with beautiful places, beautiful music and her own devotion.
Something in his eyes told her that he felt the same way about her, that he wanted to protect her from the darkness surrounding him. If only he knew about what she was, what she was trained to do, then he would know that it wasn't only his darkness that they needed protecting from.
Sucking in a breath, Ginny refocused on the scenery whizzing by her. She did not want to walk down that particular path of memory lane. Some things were better left in the dark. She instead turned her thoughts to wondering what would happen when she got back.
Do doubt she would be drained of every scrap of information by the higher-ups; they would want to know exactly what had been going on. She decided to blur the details of her and Blaise's relationship; they would not be happy with that.
Her phone buzzed inside her pocket and she pulled it out. A text from Hermione popped up on the screen: 'He kissed me again earlier'
"Fucking hell!" Ginny swore loudly, causing the driver to swerve suddenly.
"Watch it," he growled. She barely muttered an apology before she sent a reply: 'What the hell? Why didn't you tell me instantly?'
Hermione's next text was slow to come, and Ginny could almost see the sheepish expression that would be on her face. 'Because I knew you would react like this.'
'Damn right, tell me exactly what happened!'
'He cornered me in the library, said he wanted to stop denying his feelings and kissed me.'
'Bloody hell.'
'I know right. By the way, Blaise misses you already. He's moping on a sofa.'
Ginny smiled to herself, she missed him too. 'Tell him I love him and if he wants it to stay that way, he'll text me. I know he's allergic to his phone, but I take priority.'
'He can't turn it on.'
Ginny rolled her eyes, Blaise plus phone equals disaster. She had no idea why he hated his phone so much, but it was like he was scared it would bite his hand off.
Another text from Hermione popped up, 'Draco wants to know where you get your hair-dye, he says he might try the 'carrot-top' look.'
She smirked; Draco and she had developed a relationship based on sarcasm and wit. They both pretended to hate each other, but Ginny knew that there was an underlying layer of mutual respect on their ability to hold their own in a battle of wits. 'Tell him it's from the same place he got his vampire-skin foundation.'
'He says fuck off'
Ginny grinned, 'That means I won.'
The car turned off the main road onto a mud track and Ginny saw her signal rapidly depleting.
'Got to go, tell Blaise I love him and tell Draco that the carrot-top look would suit him'
'Blaise says he loves you and Draco says fuck off. Again.'
Ginny giggled and switched off her phone as the car pulled into a large field here a helicopter was waiting for them.
Ginny thanked the driver and grabbed her suitcase out of the back of the car before making her way over to the helicopter. As she climbed in she saw two people already seated on the small bench. One of them looked very old with a long, white beard and half-moon spectacles, whilst the other was a tall, thin man with black hair and a hook nose who looked to be in his mid-thirties.
"Hello Ginevra, how are you today?" the old man asked her with a secretive smile on his face. Ginny reckoned he was the higher-up that would quiz her. She didn't know who the other man was, though.
"I am well thank you sir, and yourself?" she said politely, sitting down opposite to the two men.
"Oh, good thank you. Although I did run out of sherbet lemons on the way here." He smiled again wistfully and looked at her with twinkling eyes.
Ginny wasn't exactly sure how to respond, so she simple nodded and changed the conversation, "I assume you are here to ask me about the mission?"
The old man nodded, "Yes, as well as another topic we shall discuss later. For now, I suggest you put on your headphones as the helicopter is about to take off."
Ginny did as he instructed and put on the headphones, as well as strapping herself properly into the seat. When they were quite high, the old man spoke again. "I cannot tell you our real names, Ginevra, but for now you may call me Godric Gryffindor and this gentlemen here Salazar Prince."
Ginny nodded and mentally catalogued the names.
"Now, please tell us what Hermione has discovered so far." Godric said, eyes twinkling behind his spectacles.
Ginny coughed nervously, "Well, sir, she has managed to hack into Lucius's personal laptop, but she hasn't yet discovered the passcode. It changes every day and appears to be completely random. She has also discovered one of the entrances to the underground lab but she still needs the code, which she thinks will be stored in Lucius' computer. She found Lucius' hard copy of her file, and found some strange things in there. Lucius wrote that she could be a valuable asset but due to strong morals may also prove a threat. He also said she has a strong physical resemblance to '0285', do you have any idea what it means sir?"
Godric mumbled something under his breath and then spoke, "The part about a valuable asset will most likely be talking about whether or not Hermione could be initiated into the Slytherins."
"WHAT?!" shrieked Ginny, her hands flying to her mouth, "Hermione could never, she's one of us!"
"Of course she is," said Godric, "but do you really blame Lucius for considering her? She is smart, knows martial arts and can speak multiple languages. I have to say, I am glad she is on our side!" he chuckled at his own joke.
The man sitting next to him gave a mildly disapproving look but said nothing. His silence was beginning to bug Ginny.
"What about '0285'? Do you know anything about that?" asked Ginny.
Godric gave her a strange look, "No, Ginevra, I do not."
Something in Ginny's gut told her that Godric was lying and she had always been taught never to ignore a gut feeling. She didn't press the matter however; she had a feeling that Godric would not tell her anyway.
"Now," announced Godric cheerily, "on to our second order of business. You are probably wondering what Salazar is doing here. He is a spy."
Ginny snorted, "With all due respect, we're all spies sir."
Godric looked amused for a second, "Yes Ginevra, well spotted. Salazar however is a different sort of spy. Hermione's kind of spy."
Ginny gasped, "You mean that he's also undercover?"
"Yes, Ginevra, but he is much deeper in the enemy's council. He has been amidst Voldemort's ranks for years, building up their trust and now he is Voldemort's right hand man. Voldemort believes that he is actually spying on us, but he only gives Voldemort certain information. Salazar is very important to our mission.
Ginny eyed him warily, spies turning on their own side wasn't unheard of and something about the dark man screamed untrustworthy. His aloof gaze suddenly fixed on her, and she felt distinctly uncomfortable. She wished Blaise was sitting next to her so she could grip his hand, but instead she took a deep breath and turned back to Godric.
"I'm sure he is, sir, but why are you telling me any of this?"
Godric smiled widely at her, "Because you need to tell Hermione that he's on our side. It would be far too risky for him to sneak her a message himself plus he probably wouldn't believe her anyway. You will fill Hermione in on who he is and what he intends to do."
"What does he intend to do?" asked Ginny, looking warily at Salazar.
"You don't trust me." Salazar stated, startling her. His voice was rich, sardonic and brimming with contempt for the world, as if he no longer cared about anything. Ginny narrowed her eyes; men with nothing to live for were the most dangerous.
"With all due respect, sir, I've known you all of five minutes and you've only said four words to me. I don't tend to trust people who are closed off to the rest of the world."
"Then you are stupid and naïve. We are spies; it's our job to be closed off." he drawled lazily, not even looking at her. Ginny riled in anger at his blatant lack of respect.
"You speak to me as if I am nothing more than an ignorant child."
He scoffed, "That is exactly what you are, girl. In the meantime, you will learn to trust me."
Ginny raised an eyebrow, "I will learn to trust you when you learn to respect me."
"Respect is earned, Miss Weasley. What have you done to earn my respect?"
"What have you done to earn my trust?"
"Alright you two," Godric interrupted, "we are not here to argue. Miss Weasley, you will respect him because he is one of our top agents and has done much to further our efforts. And you, Salazar, will respect her because she is the daughter of Molly and Arthur Weasley and is also a spy in the field. Even you must admit that at eighteen it is an enormous privilege to be active in the field. Especially with a mission of the calibre; I would say Miss Weasley is second only to Hermione and you yourself."
Salazar scowled and turned away, his eyes full of loathing. Ginny wondered what had happened to make him so full of hate. Sighing, Godric turned towards Ginny.
"I fear that we shall soon be landing so this delightful little conversation must come to an end. However, I expect your presence in my office at 8pm sharp this evening. We shall wrap things up then."
Ginny nodded and turned to look out of the window, gazing at the passing mountains of Scotland.
"…but she didn't give up, oh no. She called the Manor's phone number just in the nick of time! She was a millisecond away from discovery but our brilliant Hermione lived up to the brain-bot name."
The audience of younger children sat around Ginny listening raptly to her tales. She had dimmed the lights and put on a scary voice just for effect; she couldn't help it she was naturally dramatic.
"What happened then?" A small girl whispered, fear and awe struck across her face.
"Well," Ginny smirked, "whilst Lucius was on the phone she snuck out of the room and then proceeded to ransack his office for any valuable information."
"What information?" another girl gushed.
Ginny shook her head, "Sorry, can't tell you. It's top secret; you never know who could be listening!"
There was a chorus of groans and Ginny chuckled as she shooed them out of the room. Stretching her arms she glanced at the wall, she still had forty-five minutes until she was needed in Godric's office. She decided to go and say hi to her assortment of brothers.
The twins were easy enough to find; they were goofing off in the library. They seemed to have started an odd competition of flicking bits of paper at the other people studying there without being noticed. When they noticed her they grinned widely and hugged her.
"Ginny! It's so good to-"
"-see you! We want to know-"
"-absolutely everything. You can start with-"
"-telling us about your-"
"-fancy new boyfriend!" They chorused in their odd mismatched sentences.
Ginny groaned and held her head in her hands, "How on earth do you know about that?"
"Ronald, of course!" they said at exactly at the same time.
Gritting her teeth, she looked up at her two goofy brothers. They didn't seem to care about her relationship with Blaise, but then again they didn't care about much outside the joke-shop. "I'm going to kill him. Do the others know?"
They both nodded and Fred, or George, said "Yes, and there were mixed reactions. Mum thinks it's sweet; Dad agrees with Mum; Percy grunted and went back to reading."
Ginny chuckled, "What about Bill and Charlie?"
George, or Fred, grimaced, "They didn't take it too well. We think they're in the gym at the moment; you should probably avoid them for a few days."
Ginny groaned again, "That bad?"
"Yep. They think you've been possessed."
Sighing, Ginny knew that it would be best to face her brothers now. They were like her; anger only increased over time. Saying goodbye to the twins she slowly made her way over to the gym hoping that playing the little sister card would work.
Both Bill and Charlie had been quite a bit older when she had been born; meaning that the sibling animosity between them was a lot less than that of, say, her and Ron. They still had their fair share of arguments like any siblings, but Bill and Charlie adored their little sister and were more protective over her than her Dad.
Entering the gym, she quickly spotted them sparring on the mats and took a deep breath before approaching them. As soon as they caught sight of her, they ceased fighting and stood with equally unimpressed looks on their faces. After a while, Ginny coughed to try and relieve the tension. When that didn't work, she spoke.
"Um, hi guys. How are you?" she said nervously.
Bill raised an eyebrow and Charlie snorted, "I hardly think how we are matters right now. What I want to know is for how long you continue to see that filthy Slytherin?"
"Hey!" growled Ginny, "Blaise is not a Slytherin and I don't think he wants to become one either. He's a good man."
"Yes, a good man," said Bill, "a good man that will mysteriously turn bad and you will get hurt. All because you were stupid enough to trust a sly, conniving little-"
"Why are you with him?" Charlie interrupted, "Is it to prove a point? Leverage? Explain exactly your motives."
Ginny scowled and shoved her hands in her pockets, "I don't have any motives. I like Blaise and he likes me, there's nothing more to it. I'm not in any danger and quite frankly I will continue to date him even if you don't like it."
Bill audibly growled and Charlie pulled him back, "You go mate, I'll deal with this."
Bill nodded and stormed out of the gym. Hermione sighed; Charlie was the mellower of the two and would be easier to persuade.
"Listen Ginny," he said gently, "even if you don't know it, you are in danger. Whether or not this Blaise guy intends to hurt you, it is inevitable one way or the other. I am content to let you make your own decisions as long as you are fully aware of the potential consequences. Tell me truthfully; can you deal with the consequences?"
"Yes!" Ginny said hurriedly, "Absolutely!"
Charlie nodded slowly and pulled her in for a hug. "I missed you, Gin. Now go and hug Bill, no doubt he's regretting his harsh words."
Ginny nodded and turned to leave.
"Oh, and Ginny?" Charlie called, "If Blaise does hurt you, I will gut him like a fish." he said in a completely calm, completely deadly voice. Ginny gulped and nodded.
"Ugh, I hate Salazar-bloody-Prince!" Ginny groaned, collapsing into her bed in the dorms.
Lavender glance up from painting her nails, "That's an odd name, who's he?"
"A completely annoying prick who treats me like a pile of shit. I had to debrief him on what Hermione's achieved because he's going to Malfoy Manor tomorrow. The name is just a cover."
Lavender nodded and inspected her nails again, "So, what's with Hermione and that Draco dude. He was hot!"
Ginny frowned, after having met Draco she couldn't really see past his arrogance. "I think they're together, I don't know. When I left they were both in denial about their feelings but according to Hermione Draco opened up to her and now they are all sunshine and rainbows. I hope so; because I put loads of effort into making sure she looked beautiful."
Lavender nodded, "She did look amazing at the party. It was very un-Hermione like. I really like her necklace, where did you get that?"
"I didn't, it was a gift to Hermione from Draco."
Lavender gasped, "But you said that they were in denial about their feelings! Boy buying girl a necklace does kind of equate to romance."
Ginny shook her head, "No, the necklace was a 'sorry you almost got raped' present."
"Hermione got raped?"
"No! She almost got raped. She managed to get away though."
Lavender gave an audible sigh of relief, "That's good, especially because Hermione hasn't actually ever done it before."
"That's not a bad thing, Lavender." Ginny said defensively.
"Wait a minute, are you a virgin?" Lavender exclaimed in shock causing Ginny to huff in irritation.
"Yes, I never felt the need to do it with any of my previous boyfriends."
"I remember Seamus saying that he slept with you."
Ginny rolled her eyes, "Don't believe half of the stuff that Seamus says; a bit of groping behind the shed does not equal full on shagging."
Lavender giggled, "Wait a minute; you said with any of your previous boyfriends, does that mean you want to do it with Blaise?"
Ginny blushed, something she rarely ever did, "I never said that. I mean, I can picture Blaise and I in a proper long-term relationship and that would eventually lead to sleeping together, but I'm talking about way into the future."
"I'm not sure those older brothers of yours will approve." Lavender teased, still giggling, "Seriously though, that whole 'protective older brother' thing they have going is extremely hot!"
"Ewww!" groaned Ginny, chucking a pillow at Lavender. "Bill's engaged as well! And I'm pretty sure Charlie's not interested in a relationship right now."
"Well what about your other brothers?"
"Ugh, this is a conversation I so do not want to be having. If you really want to know, I wouldn't go for Percy because he's Percy and surprisingly already has a girlfriend and I wouldn't touch the twins with a barge-pole. Wait a minute, aren't you dating Ron anyway?"
Now it was Lavender's turn to blush, "Well, yeah, I guess so. I've liked him for quite a long time, it's just I know Hermione also really liked him. She tried to hide it, but I could see right through that. I didn't want to create conflict, but with her away it just kind of happened. I just really hope Hermione doesn't get hurt as a result."
"It's alright, Lav," said Ginny gently, "I think Hermione's moved on. Besides, she already knows and she doesn't blame you. I think meeting Draco has made her realise that Ron isn't the only guy out there. I don't know how Ron became the love interest of two girls though; personally I don't see the appeal."
Lavender laughed and got up to hug Ginny, "Thanks, Gin. I would hate to be the reason for Hermione's heartache, so I'm glad she's moved onto someone better for her."
Ginny smiled, before yawning loudly. "I'm exhausted, I'm gonna go to sleep now."
Lavender nodded and went back to her own bed. Ginny checked her phone before she went to sleep and she saw one text:
'Sleep really well, beautiful. I'll sleep well because I'll be dreaming of youXx'
Ginny smiled sleepily to herself.
There you have it folks! Please review for a sneak-peak and I shall see you all soon!
GoldieXx