Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I write for entertainment purposes only.

Author's Note: I decided to go ahead and push out another chapter because I had a few people in the comments asking for me to update, and since it took me a while to update after vacation, I thought you all would appreciate this. I do want to address the fact that this is a slow paced story - I apologize if it's going too slowly for some of you. It's just how I see it playing out. I could jump forward in time to bigger things and getting Ginny on the path to taking down the person who gave her the diary, but I have reasons for the slow build here. Next chapter features Sirius again, and soon we'll get to the point of alternating POVs between him and Ginny. So for now, I hope you'll bear with me as I nail down just a few more things that Ginny will need before she meets Sirius. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated, and please enjoy the chapter.

Prisoner 79934: Ginevra Weasley

By: Rae

-A Harry Potter Story-

Another week passed in the usual way. Time drifted slowly as the melodious cacophony of Azkaban became the bedtime songs that put Ginny to sleep. Rather than the sounds of her mother's voice humming a tune, she grew more and more accustomed to the shrieks and moans that punctuated the air around her. Even in her isolation, Ginny never truly felt alone, something she dwelt on a lot when she was feeling more thoughtful.

As the youngest child of such a large household, Ginny Weasley had never felt alone until she'd gone to Hogwarts, and even before she was there long, she met Tom and began a relationship unlike any she'd experienced before. It was one that left her not only feeling known but cherished, a feeling she'd never understood.

Certainly her parents loved her. Ginny had no doubt of that. The unshed tears in her mother's eyes each time they met across the table in Azkaban marked the love in Molly Weasley's heart for her precious daughter. Her father's clenched fists and quiet concern masking each careful inquiry told of his love. They loved her dearly. She was their only daughter, after all.

But Tom had made her feel cherished, a powerful feeling for a young girl who was always at the end of the line.

Even though the Dementors left her cold and empty with their visits, she still found herself returning to those happier moments in her time with Tom. Something in Ginny had broken apart into tiny pieces with his betrayal of her trust, and now that she'd been in Azkaban for this long, she'd really had time to analyze it and consider what went wrong.

Truthfully, she was too ashamed to admit, even to herself, that much of the time, she wasn't even angry at Tom for what he did. He'd given her something so precious she couldn't stop herself from continuing to daydream and dwell on the security of those feelings he'd evoked in her young heart.

That was why, when Lucretia started talking to her in the afternoon about the ways of Pureblood families, Ginny found herself taking mental notes and comparing them to...of all things...her experience with Tom.

"Your Pureblood education is woefully inadequate," Lucretia told her cheerfully, after a long bout of silence between them from their earlier studies that morning. She'd been in a strangely happy mood that Ginny did her darnedest not to break for fears of the nails on the floor. "I don't give away secrets of my blood easily, but you are a Pureblood after all."

Ginny waited as Lucretia seemed to consider her words.

"You won't have been betrothed, so there's no need to worry about the purity tests," Lucretia said offhandedly.

"Purity tests?" Ginny asked curiously.

A giggle split the air. It was the most girlish thing she'd ever heard come out of Lucretia's mouth, and in the starkness of the gray stone walls and floors, separated from one another by solid bars as they were, it was disturbing.

"All the oldest families do it," she said now. "It's a way to verify that you are pure enough for your betrothed on your wedding day." She giggled more now, and said, "Not that it's the most accurate test."

"You see," she continued in an almost teacher-like tone, "the purity tests are designed to determine your virginity or lack thereof. They hurt. You bleed. If you don't bleed, you're considered impure, and your family will disinherit you and kick you out, if they don't kill you outright for bringing dishonor on them."

Ginny gasped outright.

That girlish giggle split the air. "My betrothed demanded a purity test before we were married," she said, her voice taking on a sly tone. "He didn't believe I'd remained pure, and he knew we'd never…" She sighed now. "Anyway. I took the test. I bled. He married me anyway." Her voice turned cruel. "And what he never knew didn't hurt him."

Lucretia giggled again, the sound giddy in the drab walls. "Of course, he was right," she said. "A wizard wants to get pure stock, but a witch wants to enjoy herself. And I did. With every single one of his friends."

Ginny was shocked again. "How did they not tell him?"

"They forgot," she said, and the giggle turned into a cackle.

Ginny's mouth dropped open as she considered this. "You Obliviated them?" She asked, unable to imagine it.

Even when her father had talked about the official Ministry Obliviators who sometimes came out on jobs with him to tackle modifying Muggle memories, he'd been very clear that it was a dangerous and difficult spell to get right. It wasn't something taught at Hogwarts at all. Aside from it being illegal to Obliviate someone without permission or Ministry authorization, the spell itself required a great deal of concentration and intent focused on the subject of it. It was something that was taught to Ministry recruits only after they'd gone through a rigorous training program with the Aurors and proven themselves handy with defensive and offensive spells.

"It's not so difficult, really," Lucretia said thoughtfully. "Perhaps I'll teach you sometime. If you ever need to do it, the key is to make sure your subject is still. A good Petrificus will help with that, and then you get to see the whites of their eyes as they realize what you're about to do."

Ginny shivered.

"But no, you'll never need to know how to avoid a purity test," Lucretia said with a cackle. "You do need to know how to sneak about, however. A wee ickle firstie who can't avoid detection won't last long in the real world. I should know. More than one time I got caught out after curfew by Prefects. Just lucky none of them were Slytherins."

Her voice had turned even more pensive as she trailed off. Lucretia seemed deep in thought. Ginny sat quietly, mulling over their conversation again.

"Before I teach you the spells you need to know, Heir of Slytherin," she suddenly said, voice dark, "I think I'll teach you about the blood status rules you're woefully behind on, being a Weasley." There was a nasty pause here, and Ginny imagined the woman sneering. "Even a Weasley should learn how to interact with other purebloods of worth. Not that you ever will."

It was an offhand comment, but it still made her bristle.

Before she could fire back a retort, Lucretia launched into a series of rules regarding blood status. Ginny sat back on her cot and listened.

"There are only so many seats on the Wizengamot because it was determined during the days of Merlin that only pure wizards should have a place at the high table," Lucretia continued at one point. "But that doesn't matter because the Wizengamot will always defer to the Sacred Twenty-Eight on matters of law and order."

"The Sacred Twenty-Eight?" Ginny asked, uncertainly. It wasn't a term she'd heard before.

Lucretia scoffed. "I suppose your parents wouldn't tell you about the group you belong to as they're a bunch of Muggle-loving blood traitors," she said. "But if they'd even come remotely close to giving up their beliefs, you might not even be in here to begin with. The Wizengamot takes its powerful benefactors into consideration, after all."

That last bit was said in such a caustic manner Ginny recoiled.

"Then again," Lucretia mused, "perhaps not. Even the Heir of Slytherin can't be seen to be too prominently influential or the rest of the rabble might rise up against them." She barked a laugh. "Now listen up, girlie, while I tell you how the Sacred Twenty-Eight used to rule the Wizarding World through that puppet government."

And so Ginny did.