Ginny was still reading the Quibbler's account when Colin gently tapped her on the shoulder and informed her Binns' class was over. She quickly pushed the magazine in her bag and hurried out, afraid she might run into one of Rookwood's flunkeys in the hallway.
Contrary to their initial appearance, the people he'd brought weren't proper Death Eaters, as far as she knew. None of them had been at the Department of Mysteries or featured in Harry's account of the graveyard. That did not prevent them from stalking the halls in robes and masks though, looking for unrest to sniff out and Muggleborns to terrorise. It took a particularly sad kind of people to find pleasure in terrorising teenagers.
One of them had sat in on their Potions class the day before, lurking in a corner as a visibly nervous Slughorn stammered his way through his explanation on the Deflating Draught. His eyes had sought out Ginny and she could see he was just as fearful of the future as she was. She had gone to his offices later that evening, hidden under the cloak, but had found the door locked and no one present to answer her knocks.
For now, she had Herbology to get through, even as her head was crowded with thoughts. Xenophilius had offered a dry and haphazard account of the night of Thursday on Friday, based on what little he'd been able to gather from his sources. For the first time in history, the Quibbler apologised for what it considered insufficiently sourced statements.
Still, it had given her a decent enough overview of what had happened. As Binns' had droned on, she had read about Voldemort. He had assaulted the Ministry in the middle of the night. Flanked by his Death Eaters, he had marched into the atrium where three months earlier, he'd killed Albus Dumbledore and staked his claim with fire and death. The battle had raged for hours as the Ministry issued a call to arms; Aurors fought Death Eaters for the right of their flawed society to exist, because it was still better than the alternative.
Yet as it turned out, being in the right meant little in the face of overwhelming force. She read of the death of people whose names she'd only heard in passing, like Aurors Proudfoot and Savage who had watched over Hogwarts during the first semester. Yet when the tables had been turned, no one had watched over them. And always, Voldemort had advanced, until Scrimgeour and his inner circle had retreated into the halls of the Wizengamot for what had ended up being their last stand.
After that, reports got even more unclear. The Order of the Phoenix had been present, answering the call that had gone out. Maybe that was what Moody had discussed with Scrimgeour on the day of Charlie's funeral. Scrimgeour had faced down Voldemort alone in the end, standing on the benches of the Wizengamot as they traded fire. Ginny had heard tales of Scrimgeour in his youth and as Xenophilius struggled to find words to describe what he called a duel of titans, Ginny decided there must have been truth to them after all.
Yet in the end, Voldemort had won and she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she had told Scrimgeour about Horcruxes all those months ago. Would he have faced a mortal Voldemort? Or would it simply have been a secret pulled from his mind as he fell to the Dark Lord? The Quibbler did not detail his fate, but she doubted their Prime Minister had survived the confrontation.
Yet with a journalist's precision, Xenophilius did not restrict himself to the single battle. There were many tales of woe left to uncover. She read of Kingsley Shacklebolt and her heart skipped a beat as she read how he had duelled Death Eater after Death Eater, felling three before having been carted off to St. Mungo's in a pool of blood. She read of Professor McGonagall, who had last been seen duelling two Death Eaters at once. Ginny just hoped this meant she had to lie low now.
But try as she might, she didn't find any word on the fate of the Weasleys. It seemed impossible to consider that her family wouldn't have been there on the front lines, just like they'd been there last time. And yet, their names were conspicuously absent from Xenophilius' account. She told herself that was good news, that they at least hadn't been included in the names of the fallen, or even the missing such as poor Dedalus Diggle. But still, uncertainty gnawed at her and accompanied her, all the way to dinner
Then Hermes came flying into the Great Hall. Mail in the evening alone was a remarkable occurrence, but with how little personal mail had gone through lately–and almost exclusively for the Slytherin table–that guaranteed that all eyes were on her when Percy's owl landed in front of her and extended his leg. Her hands were shaking so badly Colin had to help her untie the letter from a by then visibly vexed Hermes.
Dear Ginny,
It is my pleasure to inform you that as part of Minister Yaxley's ambitious new reform, I have been promoted to the position of Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. He believes that his vision and my diligence can lay the basis for a stronger and magically more buoyant Wizarding Britain.
As you are no doubt eager to emulate my example, allow me to give you two words of advice. Firstly, study well for your O.W.L.'s. Secondly, Minister Yaxley has dispatched a man of unrivalled intellect to Hogwarts in Professor Rookwood. While I know you may have had your differences in the past, I encourage you to look past them and instead focus on the future. Minister Yaxley has assured me he asked Augustus to do the same.
Your brother,
Percy
That was it. Nothing about their family. Nothing about the monster that had torn down the foundations of their society. Just this ambitious drivel so similar to what he'd sent to Ron last year. It couldn't be for real, could it be? Percy would never betray them.
Yet he did so last year.
He had come back tearful and begging for forgiveness, a changed man.
Changed so much it seemed almost abnormal, didn't it?
Kind Percy. Concerned Percy. Curious Percy casually asking after her meetings with Dumbledore. Ambitious Percy, praised by Yaxley, a man who had made her skin crawl and had now become Minister. Almost certainly a Death Eater. And now Percy held the same title Dolores Umbridge had once filled for Fudge?
It seemed impossible, and yet there was this. It had to be a ploy. Surely he wouldn't dismiss what had happened between her and Rookwood so casually? Maybe his mail was being monitored. Maybe he was playing the long game. Or maybe he hadn't changed after all and any friendliness had been just an attempt to get closer to her and Dumbledore's secrets. To ensure he would have a place in the new world order. She didn't know what to think anymore.
Merlin, couldn't Percy at least have mentioned their family? Was it that difficult to sneak in a hint, even if he was being watched? Or had he decided they no longer mattered and hoped she'd reach the same conclusion, just because she'd once had Voldemort in his head? She tucked the letter in her robes and rose, suddenly no longer hungry. She might as well go to the Room already.
#
Astoria arrived not long after her. Either she'd seen her leave, or she hadn't been hungry either. She dropped down next to Ginny and cast a questioning look at the parchment Ginny had dug out again. She'd read it again and again, cast spells, held it against the light, tried anything that might uncover a hidden message. Still nothing.
"Read for yourself," she muttered, handing the missive to Astoria.
Astoria's eyes scanned its contents and when she reached the end, her eyebrows were lifted.
"Surely he can't be serious," she said, handing back the letter.
"Last year he wrote something similar and then he was dead serious," Ginny admitted.
"Sure, but he wouldn't make the same mistake twice, would he?"
"I don't know Tori, I don't know," Ginny said, shoving the letter in her satchel. "Couldn't he have snuck a hint in there? Any? Just to let me know he hasn't completely lost his mind? I mean, we know Snape's a spy, why couldn't they tell us about this either?"
"Maybe he improvised?" Astoria suggested.
"Maybe," Ginny sighed. "I guess I'll find out at Easter." And until then, she'd have to believe Percy was playing the long game. With how short on brothers she was, she couldn't lose one to betrayal a second time.
"Speaking of Snape, you still haven't told me what happened," Astoria asked.
"He tried to pressure me into revealing what Dumbledore had told me," she said. "He claimed it was necessary for the war."
"And did you?" she asked.
"No, of course not. So then he used Legilimency on me," Ginny said.
"What?" Astoria gasped. "So now he knows about the Horcruxes?"
"No."
"Wait, you know Occlumency ?" Astoria asked, visibly surprised as she jumped to the logical conclusion—though she wondered where her friend had learned about occlumency. Were her parents that paranoid?
"No, I—" asked Tom Riddle for help. "I used a trick," she said.
That answer didn't satisfy Astoria, she could tell. It looked like her friend had never struggled quite as much to keep silent and not insist on an answer. But eventually, she nodded.
"Must be quite the trick then. Figured out those runes in the Quibbler yet?"
"Yeah, here," Ginny said, digging through her bag and handing her the magazine. "You were right, they weren't runes. Just some charm to keep the contents hidden."
"Hmm, clever, I'll give him that. Hopefully clever enough to escape the Death Eaters' notice," Astoria replied, her expression turning graver with each turn of the page. "There's no mention of your family in here. That's good right?" she asked as she reached the end.
"That's what I've been telling myself at least," Ginny replied as she took the Quibbler back. "I hope McGonagall is alright though. And Kingsley."
"You knew Shacklebolt?"
"Order of the Phoenix," she admitted, figuring that there was little point in keeping that particular secret still.
"I see," Astoria said, getting up as the rest of the DA began to trickle in.
Ginny pushed herself back up as well, trying not to think about Percy's letter. Better to focus on something she could at least do something about.
"So, anyone here read the Quibbler?" she asked, receiving nods from several of the group.
After Harry's interview, a lot more had taken out a subscription and it seems that at least within the DA, they had been able to figure it out. Not necessarily surprising; they had shared weekly sessions with Luna for about half a year.
"It's bad, isn't it?" Padma said with a sigh.
"It's pretty bad yeah," Ginny admitted, trying to get a feel for the room.
Everyone looked scared. They'd all known the transition of power probably hadn't gone peacefully, but to read about the battle itself was something else entirely. It made it realer. Made them realise that the Ministry had tried its hardest to hold out, and had fallen short. And now they turned to her for reassurances yet again. What could she offer, really? But if she didn't do it, no one would and then, they'd surrender. And that was even worse than lying about their chances.
"It confirms what we already suspected," she told them. "And contrary to the Prophet's words, the war is not over. We are still fighting in here and outside, there is still the Order. You all read Xenophilius' account, so you know not everyone is accounted for. McGonagall will never surrender, you know that," she said, forcing herself to smile as she thought of her stalwart Head of House.
The rest shifted nervously on their feet, not quite reassured but not quite ready to break either.
"Was that in the letter you received?" Chang asked. Of course she would have noticed. It seemed she was better at keeping track of Ginny than at spotting Snitches.
"No. That letter was… was nothing," Ginny said. "I suspect our mail is being monitored, so I doubt I'll receive any interesting news from the outside. We'll have to wait until Easter for that."
"And until then, we keep our head down?" Susan asked, still sounding like she'd much rather march on the Ministry.
It wasn't that Ginny didn't understand. Especially after reading about the heroics in the Quibbler, it was tempting to do something – anything. To take back control, to have a role to play other than meek and subservient student. But Snape's new world order didn't leave much room for that. And she would not lead them to their deaths like… like Harry had. Best intentions mattered little in the face of Death Eaters.
"We bide our time still," Ginny said. "We practice and wait. That is what the Order of the Phoenix will do as well. Let them think they've already won, we'll prove them wrong. Not today or tomorrow. But eventually," she said.
It was all she could promise them and judging by their expressions, it was enough. Not what they wanted, but enough. And judging by the approving nods, most even saw the wisdom of it. They hadn't had Tom inside their head, so they couldn't know, not really. But the writing on the wall was there still.