Chapter One: Talks, Plans, and Disguises
The flecks of sunshine sparkling in through the window was just enough to remind Ginny about just how tired she actually was. Waking up before the crack of dawn and waiting inside the Auror Department in the Ministry of Magic wasn't something she would do normally, but today she had a reason. She needed to talk to the head of the department, and long time best friend: Hermione Granger.
Sighing sleepily, Ginny's hazel eyes danced along the half darkened hallway hoping that any second the studious woman would push open the doors and march in, her arms full of heavy books. Hermione had always been like that. Studies before leisure, books before pleasure... or perhaps, books were her pleasure. That was how Hermione had gotten her position at the Ministry. Not only was she a logical and intelligent witch, she was very powerful and clever.
A position, Ginny thought grimly, that should have been her own. She shook her head sadly, not wanting the old thoughts to return to her. Yet these old thoughts were the reason she had come to wait for Hermione in the first place. Out of all Ginny's family and friends, Hermione was the only one who did not believe her to be weak and unable to take care of herself.
Hermione knew what a powerful and strong young woman Ginny Weasley was. She had seen it first hand on many occasions. Hermione had been the first to see that Ginny was an independent and powerful witch during Ginny's years at Hogwarts. Right out of school, she had taken the spot as top Auror. No one had ever called her innocent and young back in those days. She had been at the top of her game, and the arrogance that had come with it had send Ginny straight to the bottom one night when she hadn't been careful enough.
A noise at the end of the hall snapped Ginny out of her daydreams, bringing her back into the world of reality sharply. She listened carefully as a door slid open, and then turned her head to watch as Hermione appeared at the end of the hallway. Just as Ginny suspected, her arms were full of books.
Hermione's bushy brown hair was the only part of her head that Ginny could see, the pile of books exceeded any level of books a normal person would have carried. Wearing plain black robes, and a dark purple cloak, Hermione hurried to her desk and set the books down with a slight thud. Her round brown eyes gave the room a searching look before landing on Ginny, and then narrowed holding question inside them.
"What are you doing here so early?" Hermione asked her voice full of surprise.
Ginny stood up from the chair she had been sitting in and dusted off her dark patched up robes. Ever since her reliability had been damaged she hadn't been given much to do, and therefore had very little money for robes. "I needed to talk to you," She explained.
"About what?" Hermione turned looked away from her friend and began to move the books about the office. Ginny knew that Hermione had only asked the question for politeness, it had to be obvious what Ginny wanted to talk about.
"I had that dream again," Ginny told her softly.
Hermione sighed and stopped what she was doing, her eyes traveling back to her friend. The office was now almost completely lit by the morning sun. Any shadows of the room had long since faded into what was left of the night. The very clean office, (all because of Hermione's need for organization) glistened under the light. A silence fell between the two woman in which both knew what the other was thinking.
"Ginny..." Hermione began.
"No," Ginny replied firmly, "I can't."
They were talking of course about telling Ron, Ginny's over protective older brother. As much as Ginny knew that Ron would be all for looking for the man who had saved Ginny's life, she couldn't bring herself to admit to her brother after two years that she still thought about that night every day. Ron already believed she was innocent and naive again, and this would be icing on the cake. He'd send her back home without another a wandering thought.
For Ginny's dreams were haunted by that night. One wouldn't call them nightmares however, for they all had the same wonderful ending. The man with the gray eyes would appear and save her, cradling her in his arms and protecting her from danger. It sickened Ginny she thought of him that way... she wanted so much to be strong and powerful as she once was. Really she had never stopped being that woman, but the rumors and slander from Co-workers, family and friends had a very negative effect on her once soaring self confidence.
"It would put all this to rest," Hermione persisted, "Then you could get on with your life. You could move on and take back all of that you once had."
"If I tell Ron, he'll never live let me down. I can't take being Ginny Weasley anymore. I'm sick of being fragile, and innocent, and all that other bullshit!"
"Then you have to take a stand Ginny," Hermione told her patiently, "You have to prove your not all those things again."
"How?" Ginny asked angrily, "They won't let me do anything anymore." She sighed and turned away from Hermione, gazing out the window, "I can't do anything."
"Why is that?"
A very good question indeed. Ginny didn't know why she hadn't fought to get back Auror jobs to improve that one bad day. She had taken the rumors, the talk, and the protective brothers and hadn't done a thing to stop it. Maybe it was because she was afraid of something like that happening. Maybe deep down she really knew that her savor would not come again. She sighed, and shook her head.
"I don't know," She admitted.
"Exactly," Hermione continued, "Thats what you have to figure out before you can make the next step." With a small smile, Hermione continued with her early morning work.
Sinking down into a chair again, Ginny put her face in her hands. She suddenly had a horrible headache. Every since that night she was very prone to them. It had to be because of how hard she had hit her head. She didn't remember anything about that night except for the eyes of her savoir. She only knew when she had woke up that she had been in a coma for a few days. Her head injuries had been substantial. Sometimes she had a very hard time remembering old memories from her past.
Usually the worst was forgetting about her own family. Her father, and three of her brothers had been killed by Death Eaters and the memories she had shared with them were mostly lost in the wind. It hurt so much not to be able to remember them that sometimes she just felt like hitting her head again in hopes to remember...
Her mother's words returned to her whenever she thought of doing that. Perhaps, Molly Weasley had said, It was better that she didn't remember. Then she would have nothing to miss. The point was however, that she wanted to miss them. How would she respect them and honor their memories if she didn't remember the times they had spent together? It wasn't fair.
Nothing was fair in this world anymore. It was all death, blood and violence. Peace was a small speck on a very wide and far away horizon. The chances of its victory was small and every day the Dark Side won another battle and claimed more lives. Even though the Ministry struggled to tell the public that everything was fine, even they knew that it was all lies.
Over the many years Ginny had gotten used to it, but that didn't mean she liked it. After awhile the same old news got boring and tiresome. It wasn't worth waiting up for the newspaper anymore. Journalist jobs were probably one of the most depressing careers out there.... that and Ministry jobs.
Even the Order of the Phoenix wasn't as popular as it used to be. Once a gold mine for young men and women who were against the Dark Side, it was now more of a suicidal program. You only joined the Order if you wanted to give your life to what you believed it. Mostly, it was for those who had lost everything to Lord Voldemort, and no more reasons for living.
Ginny had been a member of the Order once. It was after her attack and near murder that the Order had begun to fail. That was just something else to hang on her shoulders. Not that anyone blamed her for what happened to Dumbledore's brave solders of the Light Side... No, that was something reserved just for her conscience.
The office door burst open so violently that Ginny started, looking up and coming out of her day dreams. Harry Potter and her own brother, Ronald Weasley had just stormed into the office, both of which looking extremely pleased with themselves. Behind them Neville Longbottom stalked in, much less enthusiastic then those he followed.
"Hermione!" Ron called, and in Ginny's opinion rather loudly considering Hermione was standing five feet away from them. "Can you set us up a raiding party for tonight?"
"Why do you need one of those?" Hermione questioned, looking her friends and fellow Auror's over.
"We found a hideout for about five or six Death Eaters," Harry explained to her, "And we can't get them all by ourselves."
"You can't just rush in there with a bunch of Aurors and try to capture them Harry," Hermione said stricken, "You need a plan and a good strategy..."
"We don't have time for that Hermione!" Ron said exasperated, "They could move by tomorrow!"
"If you just run in there you're going to get a lot of people killed and that isn't what we're trying to do here! We're trying to capture Death Eaters."
Ginny watched this conversation carefully, looking back and forth as Hermione stubbornly insisted on a plan and Ron and Harry begged her for a raiding party. Neville stood behind them all, staring determinedly at the ceiling. Her mind buzzing, she wondered if they would mind if she voiced her own opinion.
"Why don't you send someone in ahead of time to pose as a Death Eater?" She asked.
Harry, Ron and Hermione all quieted and glanced over at her, all three mildly surprised. Neville looked at her too, but with hidden admiration. Blushing the same color as her hair, Ginny shrugged lightly.
"It's what I'd do," She added as an afterthought. However she quickly regretted it after seeing the looks on Ron's face.
"That's not smart Ginny," Ron said as if she didn't know anything at all, "That's how people get killed."
"And your way is any better?" Ginny shot back, highly annoyed, "At least my way only one person would get killed instead of five."
"Yes well, we're not doing your way because you have nothing to do with this raid," Ron told her harshly, "So stay out of it."
"Actually," Harry said suddenly, "That isn't that bad of an idea Ron."
"What?" Ron looked irritated.
"It's a good idea, and we're going to do it." Harry repeated firmly, he gave Ginny a smile, "Thanks."
"What?" Ron gasped, looking horrified.
"If its alright," Harry added looking at Hermione.
"Of course it is!" Hermione exclaimed brightly, "This is perfect! We just have to find the Auror who is willing to do it."
"I'll do it," Harry said instantly.
"No way," Neville said, "Harry you can't. Your too valuable. If we loose you, we loose the war!"
"Sometimes you have to make sacrifices," Harry told him harshly.
"No Harry," Hermione interrupted, "Neville's right. We can't use you for this."
Ginny stared determinedly at the floor, Hermione's earlier words returning to her. This was her chance to prove herself... but getting them to say she could do it, would be very difficult indeed. Unless of course, Ginny didn't ask for their permission.
"What about Tonks? I'm sure she'd love to do it. Besides she can easily change her appearance and they'd never be the wiser." Ginny said suddenly.
"Oh that's right! I never thought of that," Hermione admitted, "I'll send her an owl then... she if she'll do it."
"Oh don't bother," Ginny continued a plan forming in her head as she spoke, "I have to go down to the Order headquarters to talk to my mum anyway. I'll give her the message for you Hermione."
"Would you?" Hermione looked vaguely surprised, and fixed Ginny with a searching stare.
"Yeah she would," Ron said unhappily, "It'll give her something to and keep her out of trouble."
"Leave her alone Ron," Harry said shaking his head, and then he grinned at Ginny, "She's our best planner."
Blushing slightly, Ginny shrugged. Once they were sure that Nymphadora had accepted, they wouldn't care about the plan until she had returned with news. Only Tonks would never know about this plan and she would never go undercover. No one would know what Ginny had done until after Ginny was back and triumphant. She really was the best at planning.
"Well here," Hermione handed Ginny a folded piece of parchment. "Give this to Tonks and owl back a reply."
"No problem," Ginny promptly replied, "I'll head off then, she you all later." Ron nodded unconcernedly, while Harry and Hermione nodded. Neville seemed to be lost in his own little world again. With one last glance at them, Ginny swept from the room.
It wasn't until she was outside in a London street did she let any sign of her glee. Ginny set off for her brothers joke shop. If anyone could get her a good disguise and promise not to tell anyone what she was up to, it was Fred and George.
Identical twins down to the last freckle, Fred and George had been famous at Hogwarts for their pranks and jokes. They ran a very successful joke shop, and were very well known for their tricks that sent Death Eaters raging. It had been their cursed candies that had caused three Death Eaters to get caught once. They had never forgotten this and it had inflated their heads a bit.
Unlike Ron, Fred and George felt differently about Ginny. They weren't as overprotective, and they certainly had more respect for her... but they felt as if Ginny had lost her nerve, even if they didn't say it openly to her face. Today they were in for a nice shock.
Arriving there about twenty minutes after her departure from the Ministry, Ginny slipped in to the shop and looked around. Weasley Wizard Wheezes was nicely sized, but it seemed at if the Twins were neglecting their organization. Almost tripping over some rouge boxes on the floor, Ginny moved around a display of fake wands and started off to the back.
"Fred?" She called, "George?"
Silence greeted her, and frowning Ginny pushed open the gate to behind the register and knocked on the door that led to the back. There wasn't a sound in the shop except for her own breathing. Uneasily, Ginny pushed the door open.
The back room was just as messy as the front of the shop. As well as dark, the workshop was full of books and ingredients of several of the things they made. A work man's desk in the very back was covered in what looked like newspaper. Looking around curiously, Ginny took a few steps into the room, until she was practically dab in the middle.
"Well hello there little sister," A voice from behind her say suddenly. Ginny jumped a foot in the air and spun around to find Fred leaning against the wall behind her smirking.
"Jumpy?" George said from behind her. Ginny tuned back to what she had been facing before Fred had startled her and saw George standing there.
"How did you do that?" Ginny demanded. She felt very annoyed and embarrassed that her brothers had done that to her. Maybe she really had lost her nerve in being an Auror. If she got so worked up over something like this, then what would happen tonight?
"Our little secret," George responded with a wink.
"What can we do for you Gins?" Fred asked, moving out from behind her.
"I need supplies that I can use to make a disguise. Preferable things that Death Eaters would wear."
"What for?" Fred and George asked at the exact same time. Ginny grinned.
"My little secret."
"Very funny," George told her, "But I'm afraid you'll have to explain to us why you want to look like a Death Eater before we're giving you anything."
"I'm going undercover," Ginny explained, and when both her brothers looked at her with an incredulous expression on their faces she continued, "Really I am!"
"And does Ron know about this?" George asked.
"Of course not!"
"Good!" Fred began to search through the nearest box as George put his arm around Ginny's shoulders.
"Your beginning to learn Gin. This is the proudest day of my life..."
"Do you think we should make her out to be an evil slimball or an stuffy prat?" Fred questioned, looking up from the box.
George looked Ginny over carefully before saying, "A stuffy prat, she'd have a better time playing that out."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny wanted to know.
"Nothing at all Gins, nothing at all..."
Ginny elbowed him in the stomach. "I am not a stuffy prat!"
"Of course not!" Fred exclaimed, his arms now full of pieces of Ginny's costume, "Now Ginny these were taken from a very elegant woman...."
"A Death Eater's wife as a matter of fact," George added.
"Who?"
"Never you mind that," Fred told her, dumping the pile of clothes into her arms, "Just get all that one.... there's a bathroom on the other side of that door.... and then come out so we can see if this looks right on you."
"Right," Ginny replied, and she moved towards the door.
Shifting the things in her arms, she opened the door to find it was just a simple little closet. Before she could turn and question Fred, a bucket of water went flying out of the closet and threw it contents on top of a startled Ginny.
"FRED!"
Fred and George were laughing. "Sorry Gin I couldn't resist... its that door," He pointed to a door on the opposite side of the room, "Really I'm not kidding," He said sincerely when she looked at him suspiciously.
Ginny looked around the small bathroom carefully before she shut the door and set the clothes down on the sink. Looking up into the mirror she saw her own face looking back at her. Bright red hair, a face full of freckles and round hazel eyes, she looked just like any other Weasley. She knew she would have to use some magic to fix up her face or it would be a dead give away that she was a Weasley. Damn that red hair!
Sighing she looked down at the clothes, and unfolded them. Her brothers had given her a very long and silky dress robe. It was black and dark purple, Ginny noted, and didn't look that old at all. They had also given her a long black and purple cloak, and elbow high black gloves.
Ginny couldn't believe that anyone, even someone who actually wore this, would want to look so elegant all the time. It was typical of female Death Eaters to want this sort of stuff, except for perhaps Bellatrix Lestrange.
Understanding and knowing the Death Eaters was an important part of being an Auror, and it was something that Ginny never had forgotten, even thought more important things to remember, like her family, had vanished from her head.
She unfolded the dress robes, and as she did so something fell to the floor with a clatter. Looking down, she saw what looked like a necklace. Curiously she bent down to investigate. It looked like a silver locket that was attached to a silver chain. There was a engraving on the front of the locket that went around the inside, but it was so small that Ginny couldn't read it. She attempted to open it, but it seemed quite stuck. With another sigh, she pocketed it.
Ginny changed as quickly as she could before gazing at herself in the mirror again. Her red hair definitely didn't fit with what she was wearing. Frowning, she adjusted the clothes a bit as they seemed slightly bigger then she was. After she was positive there was nothing else she could do to improve her outfit, she walked out of that bathroom to show her brothers.
"They fit," Fred noted as they looked Ginny over.
"But the hair," George muttered, "What do you think Fred?"
"White blonde or black." Fred told him.
"What are you two, fashion designers?" Ginny asked heatedly, "I just came for a costume not a make over."
"We know, but if you go with that hair you'll be cut to pieces." George tapped her head with his wand and said a spell. Fred then took over and marched Ginny back into the bathroom to look in the mirror. With a gasp of surprise, Ginny saw that her hair was white blonde.
"What did you do?" Ginny demanded, "Why this color of all colors in the world?"
"Because it fits with your character," George explained, "Oh and if you were smart you would say your name was Rhoswynnl Malfoy."
"What?" Ginny turned around and fixed both her brothers with an angry stare, "This is my undercover mission, and I don't want to pretend I'm a Malfoy! What is this all about? Are you trying to get me killed?"
Ginny was very confused and very upset. What were Fred and George up to? Of all Death Eaters to pretend to be, why a Malfoy? Everyone knew that Draco Malfoy was the only child to Narcissia and Lucius. It would be a dead give away if she marked in there pretending to be a Malfoy. Besides, even though Ginny didn't remember it, her own father had been killed by Lucius. She didn't want anything to do with the bastard.
Fred sighed, "Gins... do you trust us?"
"Of course I do! But your not making any sense! I asked you to help me get disguised, not to run my undercover mission!"
"This is more then that," George told her, "Ginny, you wouldn't deny that this is your chance to get back into the game right?"
"I wouldn't deny it, no."
"Then trust us, and do what we say. In the long run, you won't regret this."
"But..."
"Please," Fred said softly, "We know what we're doing there, and this will work out to be the best for all of us. Just remember, your Rhoswynnl Malfoy, and you have amnesia."
"I...what?"
"Ginny!"
"Okay, I have amnesia, and my name is Rhoswynnl Malfoy. I got it."
Fred and George seemed so excited about this, that she couldn't let herself demand to change the story a little bit. None of this made sense, but she did trust her brothers... and if they thought this would help her gain all she lost in the long run...
"I better get going," Ginny told them with a slight sigh in her voice, "I want to make sure I can get into the hideout."
Ginny had never been more relieved to leave her brothers behind. She told them to send a letter to Hermione pretending they were Tonks, and saying she would take the job. She knew they would have plenty of fun with that. Ginny slipped out of the shop that back way and unfolded the letter that was supposed to go to Tonks. She read it over, making sure she knew the directions very well.
It was time to get her job and reputation back.
**
Authors Note: Well, my first chapter for this fiction. I was having computer problems and then I had to start school so that's why this too so long to get out. Expect a new chapter every three days or so. This chapter is actually 9 completely pages, and I hope all of the chapters will be about this long. I hope you like it. I had a lot of foreshadowing in this chapter... I didn't like it too well because I felt I moved to fast and didn't set the stage. Oh well. Please read and review. Oh and one final note. The name Rhoswynnl comes from my 'sister' Terra. Thanks Terra. ^.^