Chapter 6: Spying 101
AN: I thank everyone for their reviews; I appreciate them more than you would think. It makes me more interested in writing when people respond to what I write. This chapter is a bit on the weird side, it shows Ginny's dark side.
"Its okay love, calm down. Don't you trust me?" For the first time those gray eyes looked hurt. "Nothing will ever hurt you. I won't allow it." He patted the lump in his shirt. Vullie had stressed out enough to pop a button on his shirt and climb in. He could feel her shaking. Ultimately, he had been able to lull her into the castle. He took her deeper and deeper into the castle every night. He thought it best to go step by step. Tonight he had gotten her into the Slytherin common room. She had been indoors every night for a month, but he didn't think that going into the common room would have made that much of a difference.
He stuck his hand in his shirt to attempt to calm her. She trembled but hesitantly licked his hand. "We'll go to my dormitory maybe you'll be a bit calmer." Vullie trembled as he closed the door to his room and he felt her go still. "It's all right everyone is still out in the common room. No one is going to hurt you." Vullie peeked her head out of the hole in his shirt. She looked around, ears swinging every which way. He pulled his tie off and started unbuttoning his shirt. He scooped her out and held her in his hands, "See nothing to worry about."
The Slytherin dormitories were almost identical to Gryffindor's, except they were green and the windows weren't the large bright portals of sunshine. They were small hatchways almost at the ceiling, not even large enough for a person, but large enough for her to squeeze through. Vullie leapt from his arms and wandered around the room. She sniffed out Draco's bed almost immediately. His smell seemed like and expensive wind. He smelled like flying, but he smelled expensive that was the only way she could describe it. She jumped up in his bed and started to roll around in the sheets. "Oy, you're messing up my bed!" He stomped over, she flattened herself and trembled. Draco groaned he realized that he couldn't really yell at her. "All right, go ahead." He sat down as she rolled over and rubbed her back through the sheets. Her eyes popped open when he started to rub her stomach. For the first time she was glad she had fur, or else she would have a full body blush. She completely stopped moving. She had no idea what to do. She knew she should move so he would stop, but it felt so good she didn't know if she could move. "See nothing to worry about." He smiled sweetly.
Ginny groaned inside, 'If only you knew what you were doing, then you would worry.' She closed her eyes, her mouth opened, as if by it self, her tongue dropped out and she started to pant. 'Oh god, this is embarrassing.'
"Oh you like that do you?" Draco grinned like a child with a puppy. Her muscles turned to jelly and she flopped over on her side, unable to keep herself upright.
She composed herself as she stared at the wall. 'All right, can't get myself in that position again. It was hard to keep my concentration and stay in animal form. Would he get a treat if I turned back and he saw what he was doing.' She scrambled up on his lap and rubbed her head against him. She managed to catch a glimpse at his watch. She had fifteen minutes until she had to be in Snape's office. 'Time for a show.' She picked her head up, ears swinging wildly searching for a sound. She growled, then buried herself into his robe and lumped herself at his back.
"What's the matter love? Do you hear something? Suppose I should let you back outside." He unbuttoned his robe and picked up the trembling ball. "I'm going to let you out through the window. It'll be faster and I don't want to get caught with you in here." He opened the window and levitated her up to it. "I'll see you tomorrow. Go calm down."
Vullie slinked through the shadows. She rounded a corner where she knew there to be a secret passage. She ran around the corner and saw three figures standing in front of the passage. Vullie strained her ears to hear what they were saying. Her heart leapt, it was Harry, Ron, and Hermione. She changed back to human and rounded the corner. She peeped over their shoulders.
"Wait, Ron, hold on. The map will tell us how to get it open" whispered Harry.
"But we are going to get caught, we need to hurry."
"Ron, you're a prefect and I'm head girl. I doubt we are going to get in that much trouble. You just need to calm down or we will get caught."
"I'll show you how to get in." The three of them spun around to look at the small redhead.
"Ginny what are you doing?"
Harry and Hermione clamped a hand over Ron's mouth. Harry whispered, "Ginny if you could open it we would be grateful."
Ginny smiled and curtsied, "At your service." Ginny cast a silencing spell. Then hit the appropriate combination on the stones. The wall opened up. The three went thought the door before Ginny could say anything and Ron's overlarge foot landed right on the trip stone to set off and alarm in Filch's office.
"Ron, you idiot! You set off and alarm. Run for it!" The three older kids hid under the invisibility cloak and ran off, leaving Ginny to fend for her self. Ginny changed back to a fox and fled for the dungeons. Ginny changed back and opened Snape's door as the second hand of her watch ticked off to 10:01.
Before she realized what had happened she was flat on her back with Snape's forearm pressed to her throat and his wand digging into her forehead. "You're dead Weasley." He pressed on her throat more until tears fell from her eyes. He groaned and released her. He stood up and sat at his chair. His entire composure darkened. "Please get off the floor Miss Weasley." She stood up and wiped the tears from her face.
"Sir, I…"
"Miss Weasley, your dead. You ceased to be." He glared at her. "You compromised everything and got yourself killed. This isn't a game."
"But sir, I had to…"
"It doesn't matter. Are you going to argue the circumstances when you're a ghost? No matter what happened, or why you weren't more careful, it makes no difference. You are dead."
Ginny cried. She fell into a chair and sobbed. Snape turned his chair away from her.
"We're done for the night. Get out." Ginny wiped her face off with her sleeve. She cast a wary look at the back of Snape's chair. "Leave, Miss Weasley!" She fled the office. She ran all the way up to Gryffindor tower, uncaring if anyone saw her. She blazed through the dormitory and flung herself on her bed. She waved her wand to close her curtains and cast a silencing spell. Heart wrenching sobs filled her ears. She didn't hear Hermione pull open the curtains. She didn't care that Hermione was rubbing her back and making soothing noises. She didn't even notice that she cried herself to sleep.
A pounding headache woke her up the next morning. Ginny opened her eyes and saw Hermione sleeping next to her. Hermione must have held and comforted her all night. There were tear stains on the older girls' cheeks as well, having cried for Ginny as she slept. Ginny slipped out of Hermione's arms and off the bed. She grabbed her shower things and freshened up for the morning. She pulled out her potion set and quickly made up two headache relief potions and downed one of them. Ginny climbed back into the four poster bed, and gently rubbed Hermione's arms to wake her. "Hermione, wakey wakey. Time to get up."
Hermione put a hand to her forehead. "Oh, that hurts."
Ginny put a vial in her hand, "Drink this, it'll help."
Hermione put it to her lips, swallowed it and gagged. "Ginny that was horrible."
"Yes, but do you still have a headache?"
"Well, no, but…"
"So it's fine then." Ginny pulled her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around them. "Thank you for staying with me."
Hermione pulled her self up and leaned against the headboard. "Your welcome." She looked at Ginny's blood shot eyes. "We saw you in Snape's office. What happened?"
"Oh, I got caught. He gave me detention."
"I'm sorry, we just ran for it. I though you were right behind us. We got up here and looked at the map and saw you in Snape's office. When you came up, you looked horrible, I was worried."
Thoughts of the night before flashed through her mind. Ginny's eyes started to tear up again. "No, I'm fine. I just got caught is all. Nothing I can't deal with." Ginny cocked her head to the side and smirked. "So what were you guys up to sneaking around last night?"
Hermione turned red. "We were just out talking with Hagrid. Nothing big. We stayed out too late and had to figure a way to sneak in."
Ginny nodded, they were keeping secrets again. The trio was out to save the world again, without the help of anyone. "I've got a favor to ask." Hermione looked up at her. "Can you try to keep people from looking at the map at night? I don't want Ron seeing me with Malfoy. He would fly off the handle. You know how he is."
"I'll do my best." Hermione noticed that Ginny looked tired, like a hunted animal. She had the look that Sirius had back when he had escaped from Azkaban. "Ginny, you look horrible. Maybe you should sleep some more."
Ginny smiled. "That would be nice but I've got quidditch practice. Cup finals are next weekend and Harry is running practice every chance possible." She wrapped Hermione in her arms for a hug. "Thank you for everything. Please, trust me. I need time and everything will be known. Please cover for me just a little while longer."
Ginny fled the room before Hermione could question her further. "I will, but you have to watch out for yourself first."
Between Quidditch time, school time, Malfoy time and Snape time, there was no time for Ginny. She began to feel thin and stretched out. She had too many lies and too many secrets. She kept pushing herself. She kept telling herself once the cup finals were over things would get easier. Snape was pushing her harder and harder. He kept her paranoid and ready to break. He stopped sugar coating everything. He became brutal. If he 'killed' her then she had to leave. No excuses would be accepted. He only allowed perfection. One wrong move, one wrong step or spell and she was dead. He forced her to realize that is anything went wrong, she would be dead; there would be no one to save her.
In a surprise move, he gave her the night before the Cup finals off. It looked odd to see him smile. He sat at his desk when she managed to get through the door. "Very good Miss Weasley. Go up and get a good nights rest. I want to see an excellent game tomorrow."
Everyone showed up for this game. This was one of the biggest games in Hogwarts' history. This was the famous Harry Potter's last Quidditch game at Hogwarts/ Tensions were high, spirit was up and because of certain teachers, and homework was down.
The teams met equally on the pitch. The paranoia of both captains was present in the second and third reserves. Harry and Draco met in the middle to shake hands. Draco was grim faced, but Harry smiled, "Thank you Malfoy."
Draco was bowled over. "What are you on about Potter?"
"Thank you for years of good games and thank you for never going easy on me." Harry gave a quick smile then backed off with his team.
Draco sighed, and then joined his team. "Quick change of plans, lads." The Slytherin team perked up. "Give Potter all you've got. He doesn't want us to go easy on him." The hunter clad team grinned evilly as one and set their sights on the object of annoyance they have dealt with for years.
All the pent up house hostility came out at once when Madam Hooch blew the whistle. Twelve players flew together all at once. The keepers flew to opposite ends. Everyone scrambled together. It was hard to make out who was hitting who in the mass of robes and brooms. A Slytherin chaser got hold of the quaffle and took off the end of the pitch. Ginny managed to pull herself out of the mob, kick the ball out of his hand and catch it as it fell. She raced to the opposite end, and once the mass of players saw her go, they finally broke up and started to chase after her, leaving the seekers to start looking for their goal. The Slytherin keeper managed to block the quaffle and threw it to one of his own chasers.
The game dragged on for hours and most of the game surmised to trying to beat up Harry, The Slytherins didn't pay much attention to scoring, which left quite and opening for the Gryffindor chasers. Soon after Slytherin sunk a goal against Ron, Harry screamed and fell to the ground. He slumped over his broom and started to have a fit. Madam Hooch called for a time out and Professors started to rush the field. Once the huddle of adults broke, Harry was taken off the pitch on a stretcher with Dumbledore, Pomfrey and McGonagall following. Ginny noticed Hermione had already left the stands and was chasing after them.
"Damn, they took Harry." Ron looked back at the team. "All right, Ginny, you're the best flyer, you're going to take over seeker. Pheleps, you're going to take over Chaser. Chasers, we need you to do your very best. Without Harry there is no guarantee for the snitch. They're calling us back, let's go."
Ginny frowned at Ron. She didn't mind that he took over after Harry fell, even though she was already named captain for next year. She just didn't like that he implied she couldn't catch the snitch.
The teams rose into the air and split up. "So, they replaced the Great Harry Potter with the Little Weasel." Draco smirked at her.
"Why Malfoy, do you think this is a fair match up now; A little girl against a big scary Slytherin?"
He growled and shot out at her. Ginny spun upside-down, giggling. He turned and saw her laughing and started to chase her around the pitch. For hours the pair flitted around like two butterflies. They stopped only when a glint of gold sped in front of them. They sped off side by side chasing after the little gold ball. Draco and Ginny tried to shove each other out of the way. They reached out to grab the snitch and each grabbed a wing. They snarled at each other. Draco then put an extra burst of speed and flew in front of her. Ginny collided with him and they fell to the ground. Ginny surprisingly felt Draco put his arms around her and take the brunt of the fall.
After they stopped rolling, Ginny opened her eyes and sat up. She was straddling Draco's stomach. Draco opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow in question at her position. Ginny just glared in response. She looked at the wing of the snitch still in her hand and the wing in Draco's hand. She looked around her hoping that the ball fell to the ground. A gagging sound under her made her turn her attention to the fallen Malfoy beneath her. He plucked something out of his mouth and showed her the snitch. He held it up in the air and Madam Hooch blew the whistle to end the game.
"Are you terribly comfortable Weasley?"
Ginny smirked, "Well, since you seem to have gone all froggy. I was wondering if I kiss you, would you turn into a prince."
Something felt too nice, too familiar. He had to destroy it. He had to get this feeling out of the pit of his stomach. "I'll never be your precious scar head Prince Potter."
"I'm not interested in Harry and you could never be anything like him." They glared at each other with loathing.
The teams came rushing over as Ginny stood up. Gryffindor had won again while Slytherin caught the snitch. Draco clutched the wing, threw the snitch into the soft ground and stomped off. Crabbe picked up Draco's broom and the Slytherin team followed him off the pitch. Ginny watched from the wildly cheering throng as Draco flew off to sit on a rooftop.
She felt weird. She didn't know how to describe it. She wandered off to sit by the forest, waiting for the pitch to clear out. She needed to sit on the pitch and try to connect with that feeling some more. It bothered her.
It took a few hours for the pitch to completely clear out and Ginny wandered back over as the sun was setting. She kept her head down and solely plodded over. She might have just been too deep in though to initially notice the irate Slytherin captain stomping around the pitch. "Go away Weasel. You're a bother."
"No."
"I said go away!"
"I've just enough right to be here as you." She jutted her chin out defiantly.
He growled loudly. "Oh, do whatever the hell you want to."
"I would have whether or not I had your approval." She sat down, knees tucked under her chin, on the ground. After trying to ignore Draco's stomping for an hour, her calm demeanor cracked. "Would you just stop that?"
"I can't. I'm angry." He glared at her and kept stomping.
"Well, stomping around isn't going to make it better." Ginny glared back.
"Well it sure as hell doesn't make it any worse." He finally stopped, crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. "You wouldn't even begin to understand."
She glared at him, resisting the urge to get up and punch him in the mouth. "Oh you, you, you. Poor little Draco Malfoy, no one understands him." He growled again. "You're being a twit." She smirked at him, "Just try me." She stretched her legs out and leaned back, getting comfortable to listen to his whining.
"You want to know, then, about poor little Draco Malfoy?" She nodded. He lunged at her, pinning her to the ground. "Fine then, you're going to hear it all, every gruesome little detail." Her eyes were wide with fear and he liked it. "I have been losing to that damn Harry Potter for six years! Every battle between us, he has won. When I finally won the fight and caught the snitch, he still won the battle. This was the end, he won the war. There isn't anything else. I can never say that I beat Harry bloody Potter. I haven't gotten any better from when I was twelve. That is what I'm angry about right now."
Years of fighting and keeping up with six brothers paid off and she flipped Draco on his back, pinning him to the ground. "All right, now you listen. Winning, losing, you're looking at trivial things. It's just a game. This isn't a war! But if those are the only terms you understand then so be it. You are a prat. How do you think that made me feel? I lost to you. You caught the snitch. You won the fight and if you say you haven't gotten any better from when you were twelve, what does that make me? Huh? That leaves me with nothing. The only one even good enough to challenge Harry is you. If you weren't who you are than Harry wouldn't be who he is and vice versa. You two play are a national level, while everyone else around you can barely keep up. They knew I would never have a chance against you, they knew no one besides Harry has a chance against you. So don't give me that bullshit." She tried to slam him on the ground to make her point but she didn't have the strength.
Just then she suddenly seemed to get the omen, the epiphany took hold, and her eyes watered. He flipped her, taking advantage of her sudden weakness. She went limp and turned her head to the side. She didn't want him to see her cry. He stood up and took a few steps away from her. Ginny curled up into the fetal position. She knew they would win the war, but she would lose the battle. They were sending her in to lose. She had no chance of winning.
Her agony quickly switched to anger. The more she thought about it, the more it started to boil over. The ground around the pair started to shake and as Ginny stood up, clumps of grass started to explode.
Draco stared at the small redhead in surprise, her fury was incontrollable. "Oy, Weasley, calm down." She started to walk to the school, bits of lawn exploding around her. "Weasley! Stop!" He kept watching the pitch being dug up around her, ash falling around her as she walked away. Draco saw that anger and he recognized it. He knew what it was capable of. He didn't know if he could watch this little innocent girl walk off and do something rash. He couldn't watch someone this innocent become tainted. He ran at her and tackled her to the ground. She screamed into the dirt and struggled to get loose. "Weasley, calm down!"
She screeched like a banshee. "No! No! I'm going to kill them! I'm going to kill them all! Let me go!" She got a hand loose and started to claw at the ground. "Let me go Malfoy! I have to kill them!" She struggled to turn around and faced him. She tried to claw at his face, so he pinned her hands above her head. She started kicking, so he wrapped his legs around hers. When she resulted to biting and screaming, he only had the choice to cover her mouth with his and kiss her.
Once she stilled, he broke off the kiss. "Are you going to calm down now?"
She glared at him. "Do you want to get off me now? It's almost ten and I have an appointment to kill someone." Her eyes were ice cold. Those sparkling brown eyes he joked around with earlier were dead. "I'm calm now." He released her and rolled off. She stood up and readjusted her twisted clothes. She took her wand out of her pocket and stomped off. Draco sat back and watched her walk away, he had absolutely no idea what was going on.
The air around Ginny seemed cool as her heart iced over. The dungeons were cool as it was, but the cold air stung against her face. She opened the door to Snape's office and when the professor tried to throw her to the ground she managed to pin Snape to the cold stone floor instead, pressing the tip of her wand into his forehead. "Any last words Professor?" She dug the piece of wood, that little twig that held his life, into his forehead.
"Miss Weasley, I'm impressed but…"
"Shut up! I'm going to kill you and that geezer up there that's trying to kill me."
"Weasley, what are you…"
"I'll do you little suicide mission, but I'm not going down alone. I'll take you two to hell with me."
Snape was shocked at her. She had realized, finally, what this mission was. Her sparkling happy eyes were now dead. "You have finally grasped the situation."
"Yeah, I grasped it. You are sending me out to die."
"Miss Weasley, you are probably the only one that could come back alive. That's why you were chosen." Snape started to slowly inch out a wand he always had hidden in his sleeve.
"You two are trying to kill me. What I do there will make no difference. I will lose and to lose means I die." A tear fell down onto Snape's face and then he put her into a full body bind. He put her stiff body off to the side, stood up and brushed himself off.
"Now Miss Weasley, you will calm down. Neither I nor the Headmaster means to kill you by sending you on this mission. That is the reason we have been working for the past month and a half. Anyone else would die, but not you. You finally got me today. You managed to kill me. I now know you have the guts to do it. You've finally realized the kill or be killed demeanor. I had probably tried to protect you from that, I didn't want you to fall like I did, but you have, all on your own." Snape undid the spell and sat at his desk. Ginny sat up slowly and looked at him. He looked as old as Dumbledore. She sat across from him and stared.
"I'm going to lose. I know it."
"The order is gaining on them."
"Damnit, I'm not talking about the Order, I'm talking about me. The Order will prevail, but I won't."
"Miss Weasley, don't be ridiculous. You aren't meant for battle. This is an information gathering mission. You are going to be a bug. There should be no reason for you to have to fight with anyone. I've just been trying to make sure nothing will happen. Call it over kill if you wish. The protection spells on that collar should be your ultimate defense; I just wanted to make you prepared, if something comes up. What made you come up with this conclusion anyway?"
"The game today, felt like an omen. It just seemed like some freakish foreshadowing."
Snape smirked then smiled, then started to laugh. Ginny just scowled at him. "Oh, Miss Weasley, I think you're a bit stressed out. You're making random connections between a war and a quidditch game. I want you to go up to bed, have a good nights sleep and have a lie in tomorrow. You've earned it. Let's skip tomorrow and we'll do some more on Monday. We'll start work on your infiltration skills from now on. I'll fill you in later." Snape smiled warmly. "Hold on a minute, I'll get you something." Snape retreated into his private work room.
Ginny sat a vacant shell of who she once was. 'Well,' she thought grimly, 'I don't feel so strained anymore. Now I just don't feel anything.'
Snape looked at the sixteen year old sitting at his desk. It chilled him to know exactly how much she had changed. Flask in hand, he returned to the position of the demanding Professor. "Drink half of this tonight and the other half tomorrow. It should help you sleep, calm you and revitalize you." Ginny eyed the concoction suspiciously. "I need you to be top of your game. Right now, you're angry, I understand that more than you would believe. But when you start to believe you'll lose, you will lose. If you have to hate us, do it, but use it to survive." He couldn't tell exactly what emotion passed though her, but she seemed to ease a little. "Now go on up to bed, ignore the party that must be going on and rest up. You need to relax."
Ginny took the proffered flask, cradled it to her chest and left. She plodded back up to the tower. She pocketed the flask and opened the portrait door to the loud, cheery warmth. Everyone was in a good mood. Ginny skirted around the crowd and snuck up to her dormitory. She changed for bed and drank half the potion. She instantly felt warm and full. She fell right off to sleep and slept the most fulfilling night's sleep she's had in months.
The next day was a beautiful day. She felt refreshed. She felt that yesterday's outburst was just a slip of madness. When she thought about her deduction logically, it really didn't make any sense. She quickly dressed in a loose shirt and skirt, tied a silk scarf around her neck, and threw on some sandals and ran outside to the grounds. She savored the feel of sunshine on her face, took her sandals off and lavished in the feel of grass on her bare feet. She mentally and emotionally relaxed. She sighed and walked around the grounds. It was still early and people were having a lie in, considering how late the parties ran last night. Ginny put her sandals back on and transfigured herself into Vullie. She wandered around until she found the specific window she was looking for. Everyone was still asleep in the dormitory. She managed to force the window open and squeeze through the crack. She fell to the floor soundlessly and looked around. Thankfully everyone was still asleep. She jumped up on a certain blonde's bed and curled up at his side. She sighed heavily; taking in his scent, then fell asleep.
Draco didn't stir until noon and felt a weird lump at his side. He patted at the lump and felt fur. He sat up and saw his sleepy little fox raise her head to look at him. A sleepy smile crept along his face as he lay back down. "I'm getting a bit hungry. What about you girl?" He felt the thump of her tail and took that as an affirmative. "All right. I'll go get us some food, you stay right here. I'll be right back." Draco got up, dressed quickly and ran off to the kitchen. Vullie moved into the nest of his blankets and pillows. She deeply inhaled the smell of Draco Malfoy. If there was only one thing about him that was distinctly his and his alone, it was his scent. It was bittersweet, she didn't know what she would do when she betrayed him and would never be able to smell him again.
Ginny quickly changed back, and as a human, for the first time took a whiff of him. It smelled just as good if not better when she was human. She poked her head out of the curtained bed and saw everyone asleep. She crept to his wardrobe and found a silk monogrammed handkerchief. She sprayed it with the cologne she found. She closed everything back up and jumped back in the bed. She rubbed the piece of cloth in the bed, trying to get his smell on it. She took a big whiff; it was close, not exact, but close enough. She pocketed it and quickly changed back.
Within minutes, Draco returned with a few plates. There were meats, cheeses, fruits and bread. "I wasn't exactly sure what you would want so I grabbed a bunch of different stuff." He sat cross-legged on the bed and offered up some meat and cheese on a plate for her. She ate it with no hesitation. They both ate to their hearts content and lay back lazily. "A few more weeks of school left. I can't believe it really. I've been here for seven years. This place feels more like home than my house does." He looked around the room. "I'm going to miss this place. Maybe I'll come back and teach or something. There are so many memories of hanging about the common room, picking on Scarhead and Weasel. It's just," he sighed, "There really is no other place like this. I honestly think that I'll come back and teach Defense against the Dark Arts. I think that would be hilarious. I could teach quidditch. That would be brilliant. I've never beaten Potter. My team has never beaten Gryffindor. I've only caught the snitch twice, once by a fluke and the other against a Weasley."
Vullie's ears picked up at the comment. "The Weasley chit, she's a puzzling one. She flies like she was born on a broom. The girl is good. She's only a tad below Potter's level, and then there was last night. I've never seen anything like that. She was pure fury. I'm not used to actually seeing that anger. I've always been told to suppress it. She let it all out."
Vullie shrank, embarrassed by her outburst yesterday. She couldn't exactly remember what happened yesterday. She blacked out after a while.
"It was oddly beautiful." She looked up at him. "Her hair was a mess, that red hair against the green grass, the sparkle of magic around her. She was most definitely a witch last night. She even tasted like magic." He smirked at his stolen kiss. He looked down at the small fox in his lap. "Don't worry; you're the only girl in my life." He pet her gently. "The Weasel is going to slug me today for touching his sister." He smirked. "Guess I'll stay tucked down here with my girl." He rubbed her back and forth, going with and against the fur. It felt absolutely wonderful to her. She could honestly say there was no better way to spend a day.
She spent all day down in the dungeons. She and Draco barely got out of bed. He eventually started to do homework and she wandered around the dormitory room trying to sniff out anything interesting. She would occasionally get something and Draco would find what she was looking for and pull out Goyle's pink fuzzy slippers, or Crabbe's baby blanket. Draco howled with laughter when they unearthed a picture of Pansy in Blaise's wardrobe drawer. There were also stacks of undelivered love letters.
Draco ran out and fetched dinner for them. He brought back some roast beef and various vegetables. It was only when she started to become restless and whimper, did he realize that she hadn't been outside to relieve herself all day. He threw on a pair of trainers, scooped her up and snuck outside. She ran wild, enjoying the early summer evening. She ducked behind a bush, not being able to handle Draco watching her doing her business.
The two walked around the school grounds, content to just be man and beast. This was as simple as it got. They were Draco and Vullie, Ginny in a simpler sense. They weren't a Death Eater and a Spy. They weren't a Malfoy and a Weasley. They weren't a graduating wizard and a training witch. They stripped away all of their pretenses and just enjoyed themselves for one night.
The next day, they knew they had to go back to the game. They returned to the real world. Ginny had been given certain tasks from Snape. She first had to find all the secret passages in the school. When she smirked, knowing about Harry's map, Snape told her that she was not allowed to use it. He left bits of parchment just inside the passage for her to show that she was making progress. He was shocked to find her stagger into his office one night looking ragged. She had gotten the last passage; the Whomping Willow.
"All right, you've gotten all the passages. You're able to find passages that aren't visible. The last bit is information retrieval. You already know two house passwords. I want you to get the passwords to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Bring back a souvenir. Try to find some of the Professors' private quarters, bring back something from them as well. I trust that all the sneaking around shouldn't be difficult for you." Ginny smirked, confident in herself. "I want you to try to dig up some useful information around the school. This is your main objective this summer, so this has to be taken seriously. Bring back everything you can. Report to me everything you find. Good night."
Every night Ginny returned to Snape's office offering exams, personal belongings and snippets of conversations. She brought back a bag of Dumbledore's muggle candy and the tartan ribbon of McGonagall's hat.
On the last day at Hogwarts, she sat across from Snape. He congratulated her on all of her accomplishments over the past few months. He gave her a box with a pass worded portkey directly to Hogwarts. She took the box from him and sat grinning at him.
"Miss Weasley, why are you grinning like a madman?"
"Because I think you taught me a bit too well."
"And why is that?"
She reached into her pocket and pulled out two faded pictures, one of a pretty young witch in a Hogwarts' uniform, the other of a young Snape holding a fluffy white kitten. "You weren't immune to my training." He reached over the desk grabbing for her. She flipped herself over the back of the chair, leaving the photos and fleeing through the door. He picked up the pictures from the floor and cradled them to his chest. She peeked her head through the door and she saw his private moment. "By the way, have a good summer, Snivilus."
She slipped through again before he could lock the door. "Damn Gryffindor!" He looked at the picture of the woman. "I hope she'll survive this summer."
Ginny entered the headmaster's office after the end of the year feast that night. He was sitting at his desk, lost in thought. "Sir?"
"Oh, Miss Weasley." He seemed a bit saddened and his clear blue eyes were devoid of their usual sparkle. "I apologize, I always feel a bit nostalgic at the end of every year." He smiled, "I've been assured by Professor Snape that you are ready for your mission this summer."
"I feel that I am as prepared as I can be."
"You have your preparations for an escape. Your specific mission is to find out what Voldemort is planning. There is distrust in Professor Snape. Lucius is trying to keep Severus out of the inner circle. He suspects Severus of being unfaithful, so he feeds Professor Snape false information. So I want you to find out plans and where exactly Voldemort is hiding." The aged wizard pulled out a sheet of parchment. "This is going to work similar to Tom Riddle's diary. You will put your memories into this parchment and that will communicate with me to the other half of the parchment." He put it in front of the wide eyed girl. "I want you to prick your finger, enough to draw blood." She did so. "Good lass, now stick your finger in that bottle of ink and write with the blood and ink on the parchment; 'I commit this parchment to my memories. I, Ginevra Molly Weasley, bind my blood and memories to the whole of this parchment.' That's it."
She finished scribbling and felt a flood of magic drain though her finger. "That's all sir?"
He smiled. "Yes Miss Weasley, that's all. All you need do is to add dates into your half with blood and ink, just as you did." Dumbledore ripped the paper in half and gave one side to her.
"So that's it then?"
"Yes, that's it. If anything happens don't hesitate to use the portkey. We will also make the necessary excuses to your mother, so don't worry yourself about that." He paused and smiled at her. "Is there anything else Miss Weasley?"
Ginny hardened herself, readying herself for the task ahead. "No sir. That should be everything. I'll do my best." She stood up and shook his hand.
It was a long walk back to the tower. She reminisced through the halls. She returned to her dormitory gathering what she thought she would need for the summer.
Vullie met Draco on the pitch and they spent their last night together on the pitch. She slept on the foot of his bed that night. In the morning she refused to be stuffed into a carrier. He finally gave up and transfigured his tie into a leash and led her out to the train. He led her to the unknown. He led her to the den of evil.
AN: I apologize for how badly this chapter was written. I didn't realize it until I was just about ready to post it and I am too burnt out right now to go through and fix it all. I'm going to blame it all on my inability to write action and the whole end of the school year thing. Good news it that I've got the story finished, its just going to take me forever to type it all up. There will be an epilogue that covers a bit more of their relationship. Please review its good for me and it means that I have criticism to help me write better.