Ginny rarely reflected on her life, but her Legilimency sessions with Severus made her act otherwise. Growing up in a big family, her life went from one major event to another and she didn't have time to pause and ruminate: was she doing the right thing?
Ginny began to remember events that had been lost in her subconscious—Occluded from her own memory. Her past—a novelty to her.
She saw herself at eleven, sitting on the sofa in her home with her mum and Severus. Her mum held her hand tight and kept whispering that everything was going to be alright. She saw Severus taking pages and pages of notes in thick moleskin journals. She remembered the feeling of his hands as they touched her forehead—his voice right before she slipped into a deep sleep.
"You're in a safe place, Ginny," he said.
The same scene played in her head over and over again, only her mum and Severus were dressed differently each time.
She thought of Voldemort—Tom, as he asked her to call him. Her sight would shift between his boyish and young face—back when Voldemort was still the human Tom Riddle—and Severus'. She knew it was all part of Severus' conditioning, him trying to meld her memories so that she would see the Dark Lord in a positive light. What she wasn't expecting was to see Severus in a positive light as well. It was as though her former professor was really looking out for her, like he really cared for her. Ginny knew that couldn't be true—Severus Snape was only helping her mother out of obligation. No one else in the Order really felt the need to be kind to the wizard. Even before discovering his relationship to the Dark Lord, Severus Snape had been cold, cruel and sharp. Once they had caught the Dark Lord, Severus—Mr Snape—would become what he had always been to her: somebody that she used to know.
But in her mind, on that sofa in the Burrow, Severus Snape did care for her. He cared for the young girl whose mind had been possessed by a Dark Power. Perhaps he was the only person who ever understood what it was like to be seduced by darkness since he himself had joined the Death Eaters as a teenager. No one she knew in Hogwarts —neither Harry, nor Hermione nor her brothers— nobody really understood what she had gone through when she found Tom Riddle's diary and began to communicate with Voldemort.
Maybe, Ginny considered, I want to believe Severus understands me so that I won't feel so alone.
She considered mentioning her feelings about the ordeal to Severus during one of their sessions. There was a reason why the wizard had erased even himself from her memory. He likely didn't want Ginny to grow up thinking he, a person in authority, would ever have any friendly or compassionate feelings towards her: feelings she as an eleven year-old could have misinterpreted to mean otherwise.
Ginny kept her thoughts to herself. The last thing she needed were feelings of awkwardness between her and Severus concerning matters that had long passed.
-xxx-
Finding Marcia, the Obscurial, had been the easy part. She made herself known as Ginny, walked into a boutique at the far end of Cagailshire with her friends and saw her taking measurements for a client. Ginny made it clear that she wanted to become her friend and welcome her to town. A few coffees with Marcia and a few trips to a local slam poetry reading and Ginny was sure she could confide in Marcia that she really didn't share the political opinions of the new Minister Shacklebolt. Ginny was certainly feeling happy her father and brother Percy argued about politics often at the dinner table, so she was in the know of many internal issues with the management system. Becoming a supporter of anarchy was not difficult when your brother was the Minister's right hand man.
"They're all a bunch of crows up there anyways," said Marcia, taking a deep drag of her willow-leaf cigarette. "You sound like the kind of witch who could talk some real politics."
Ginny's heart skipped a beat. Finally, Her training with Severus was paying off and she felt closer than ever to being accepted to the warehouse to meet the rest of the members of Voldemort's new army.
Severus with thrilled at the advancement. In his own way of showing his enthusiasm, he peppered her with a variety of possibilities in how her first meeting with the members of the Death Eaters could go. He needed numbers–he needed names. In the end, Severus surprised even himself by adding that he would be 'right at her side in case the operation went awry."
A/N: Giving you a breather with a slightly shorter chapter (previous chapter over 2000 words). Next chapters are definitely a lot more chewy and plot-based. We are almost at the midpoint of the story, enjoy!