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‘All too easy,’ thought Ginny, removing her security measure from the door. With Mrs Weasley spending so much time at St Mungo’s by Mr Weasley’s bedside No. 12 Grimmauld Place had fallen back into its old ways - dark and dusty with hordes of pests taking up residence. No one in the Order lifted a finger to do anything about it and if something was said it was only said to Ginny; as though they all expected her to step into her mother’s shoes, completely overlooking the fact she was not a qualified Witch and couldn’t do the necessary spells outside of Hogwarts. Actually Ginny could have but given the Ministry’s close monitoring of underage magic she risked exposing the location of the Order of the Phoenix’s secret headquarters and she wasn’t willing to take the risk.
She managed, despite the constant pressure.
Ginny made do with what she had, which had led to the present mess that carpeted the first floor drawing room with the remains of a loveseat, a ladies' desk and a lounge. A haze of dust particles filled the air. Stood neatly by the door were two large buckets full of deceased or stunned Doxys. Downstairs, Sirius Black and whatever other members of the Order might be present would not have heard any of the goings-on within the room, nor been able to enter while Ginny had her security measure active.
Unlike many of the others, Ginny hadn't switched out her armour for something less obvious, preferring to simply conceal its bulk beneath a robe with a chin-high collar. Given that it had taken months for her to adjust to carrying the extra weight, far longer than Ginny would ever let on, she wasn't about to risk losing one iota of the strength, the muscle she had gained - not even if it meant peace and quiet from nosey adults because when they weren't asking her to clean house they were bombarding her with questions. Just last summer Ginny probably would have loudly given them a piece of her mind before going to sulk in her room, but Commander Tank of the Defence Space Force turned it into an opportunity to keep her combat training fresh as well as a test of her equipment, the most of any crew member, against a range of magical creatures. The Doxys never stood a chance against alien technology - and sometimes, like today, neither did the furniture.
Immediately proceeding the incident with Umbridge, and the discovery of at least one spell which could interfere with the magnetics which held her armour on, Ginny had set about putting together a considerable upgrade, even before the pain had faded from the words torn into her skin by the dreaded Black Quill. Ginny had been all too happy to see the armour which Umbridge had publicly striped off of her demolecularised. While Ginny’s replacement heavy armour was mostly made out of the same metal alloy as the previous, she'd used some of the gold allocated to her to add an outer layer to make this new, stronger version more spell-resistant which she wore over a honeycomb patterned environmental suit, its pearlescent white colour the same as the ships outer-hull as both were made from a the alloy, from elements neither Wizard nor Muggle had yet discovered. Both added to the weight as did her tech-laden vambraces and utility belt. Not easy to conceal, even under robes.
As Ginny brought the loaded buckets downstairs for disposal she found sunset bringing the Order together. Tonight she understood there was to be a major meeting. From the intelligence she had gathered so far, last school year You-Know-Who had tried to manipulate Harry into doing something. Specifically trying to tempt the Captain to break into the Ministry’s Department of Mysteries to recover a glass orb which contained a prophecy - the prophecy which lead to Harry and his parents being targeted all those years ago.
You-Know-Who apparently only knew part of it. He’d been banking on the Captain’s youth and curiosity in order to have it retrieved only it hadn’t worked because of reasons You-Know-Who could not fathom. He-who-must-not-be-named had no context to even begin to develop the concept that he had not been able to torment and manipulate the Captain through dreams because until recently, Harry Potter had been sleeping on a spaceship millions and billions of kilometres away. Such a vast distance had made it impossible for You-Know-Who to torment Harry while he slept. There was something so comforting about knowing, most assuredly that You-Know Who’s reach only went so far, and in their newly acquired concept of distance, it did not even compare with a hairs-breath upon the surface of the Earth.
There was serious talk around returning him to the Requirement before the summer was out, whether the Order wanted it or not. Their Captain had not had a good night’s sleep since leaving the ship. You-Know-Who had not given up on his plan to acquire the prophecy orb just yet. Unfortunately the twins hadn’t been able the Vanishing Cabinets working until some days after the Harry had visited and Ginny had her doubts that anything but another letter from Gringotts was going to get the Order to let him out of his Aunt and Uncle’s house again. And only because they were hoping to find out what the D.A. was up to. The crew would have to work out an alternative that did not involve the Order. Ginny for one was sick of them dictating what they could and could not do, as well as their pigheadedness when it came to her or her brothers expressing their opinions under the Order’s roof.
Speaking of visitors, Lucius Malfoy had stuck his pale, pureblood nose into their business about a week ago. Ginny wished she had been there. Her thumb brushed over a particular something holstered beneath her robe. Ginny had only ever used it on the orange setting to stun the Doxys and other pests, magical and otherwise, but it wouldn’t stay on orange for the likes of Malfoy; he’d get the red setting, or even better she’d knock it all the way up to green.
“Ginny, you can’t be in here right now?” Remus chased her through the crowd trying to stop her while others rush to hide parchments and papers they had lying about on the table for fear of Molly Weasley finding out her daughter might have seen them. A few Order members tried to help him, to get in her way so she let them feel just how heavy the buckets were when she bumped into them, knocking the wind out of two of them, then followed up by none-too-gently placing her heavy load on the far end of the dining table, barely keeping the smile off her face when they made a very satisfying thud and the table groaned, loudly.
“I retook the first floor drawing room from the Doxys - again,” she responded before sweeping across the room headed for the food pantry which was getting a bare look to it once more. Not the least bit because Ginny found herself eating a lot more to keep up with the amount of energy she was using, as well as what she needed to continue to grow. “There’s a rather large rat down the bottom of one of them too.” At the table somebody retched. Ginny muffled her laughter in her sleeve.
“You still can’t be in here,” Remus continued to chase her. “Your mother doesn’t want you involved in Order business.” For someone desperate to get her out of the dining room Remus didn’t go about it smartly by bodily blocking Ginny inside the pantry.
“Remus, I’m not in here to involve myself in the Order’s business. I have been up since 3 this morning, cooking and cleaning for this Order I have no business in,” Ginny responded, her voice echoing a little in the small space. “These meetings take hours. I’m hungry. I’m tired. I am getting myself something to eat. I’m going to my room to eat it and then I’m going to bed. To sleep.” Then she lent around him to speak to the many listening in, “I’ll thank you all to keep the noise to a minimum. There’s plenty of fresh loaves in here as well as cold roast lamb, beef and ham. Also the cauldron has been stewing on a low heat all day so it’ll be tender as all hell.” Ginny grabbed the basket she’d already made up for herself along with a glass and pitcher and pushed past Remus. “Oh, there’s a shopping list to the right of the door, third shelf. Having all these meetings at dinner time keeps emptying the pantry. If one of you would like to volunteer you can talk to Mum, Auror Shacklebolt or Professor Dumbledore about funds.” Her pitcher of water filled from the giant cauldron devoted to holding their supply of fresh drinking water, Ginny walked out leaving the present Order members to return to their typical habit of pre-meeting gossip in her wake.
Ginny was only a little surprised to find herself the subject of their gossip, once upstairs and settled down to watch and listen. Ginny had the room thoroughly ‘bugged’ with miniatures of the command stones so not a word spoken within that space went unheard, nor was any action missed either.
The idea had come to Ginny after last Christmas when she’d used her Command and Communication stone to overhear any talk about how her father had been injured. Upon returning to the ship she had set about finding any technology she could use to effectively spy on the Order. The work of Angelina and her team had been a great help guiding Ginny as to where to start her search. Hermione, Lee and the Research and Development teams had been very helpful too, without knowing it. The miniaturised stones were great and all but they were still in their testing phase and Ginny found they only allowed her to listen in. She had found no way of storing what was being said so it could be played back away from the ship. It had taken a lot of research before she had found what she really needed. In finding it, Ginny had stumbled upon proof of not one but multiple spacefaring species, some of them pretty damned frightening. But that wasn’t going to stop them and anyway, it was a future concern. Here and now they had more Earth-bound worries.
The Orbs, or Audio-Visual Observers were not of the same technology as the ship. The grapefruit-size spheres floated just like the hoverboard Hermione had invented while they observed and recorded what they saw into a device not unlike the Portable Auxiliary Data Display, or PADD, Hermione and Lee had talked about as a future project. Ginny had dubbed the one which accompanied her Orbs PADD+, the + meaning plus remote controller as it had the additional function to control how the Orbs moved alongside it’s recording and playback abilities. All they needed was a single addition to make them perfectly fit Ginny’s requirements. Thanks to Terry’s work creating the Cloak, all Ginny had to do was to miniaturise the Cloak to the Orbs specs. She created a dozen of them; two recorded the length and breadth of the dining room. A third covered the front door and fourth the small hallway. Ginny had considered putting some elsewhere but as they were either bedrooms or unused spaces it seemed like a waste of what was currently a limited resource until she could return to the ship.
Every meeting since their instillation Ginny had recorded and could call them up at any time for review. She wrote reports after every meeting which she handed off to one of the twins who then give it to Hermione to post through the Muggle mail to Harry. And the whole time the Order had no idea. Not even Moody’s magical eye could see them. Just like it could no longer see through Ginny’s robe. Dirty old man.
“…ven year ago Ginny would have been in a fury under the circumstances and we wouldn’t have dinner prepared for us. She’s taken to shouldering responsibility selflessly,” Kingsley Shacklebolt had arrived in the meantime and seemed to be responding to someone as Ginny watched him from two different angles using the split screen function of the PADD+.
“Molly isn’t even here to see it. It’s not healthy her spending all her time by Arthur’s bedside. She missing her children growing up. It’s more than just Ginny growing into a responsible young woman she’s missing.” Ginny felt a pain in her chest. “Molly barely knows anything about the business the twins are running with their school frien...”
THUNK!
“Bloody hell, that’s heavy!” At the other end of the table Sirius had tried to lift one of the buckets. Ginny almost choked on her sandwiches. “Who removed the weightless charm?” Sirius looked around and Ginny had no doubt he was trying to set his sights on Severus Snape so he could assign the blame his old childhood nemesis.
There never was one, Ginny had half-a-mind to go down and tell him.
Others had little more success at physically moving them. The audio receivers on several devices picked up on the table groaning again. What could she say, Doxys were heavy little creatures and those buckets weren’t small. In the end someone was forced to use a levitating charm to move them.
“Ginny can’t have carried them both downstairs with no weightless charms - could she?” Sirius asked a few bewildered faces.
The arrival of Hogwarts Headmaster and Potions Master cut any chance of that conversation continuing. One is dark purple and slightly shimmering robes, the other in his usual black.
“Thank you all for coming on short notice.” Dumbledore gave the signal for everyone to take a seat. “No more word on Arthur?” Ginny couldn’t help but feel pleased that her father’s wellbeing was the first thing the Headmaster enquired about but still she hadn’t forgiven Dumbledore for putting her father in a position where his life hung in the balance in the first place.
Remus answered. “None, Headmaster. Molly was gone before sunrise and I doubt she’ll be back before midnight. We were just talking about how young Ginny’s been stepping up in her mother’s place...”
“Ah, yes. Tell me, has she been talking to her brothers much? Have you heard any more about what they are up to?”
Ginny put aside her meal momentarily. Was this meeting about the D.A? They’d been nothing more than a subject for gossip outside of meetings before. Was that about to change?
“Ron left with Molly’s permission about a week ago.” The day after they got the Vanishing Cabinets working, Ginny recalled. “The twins came by to collect him but they didn’t hang about. He’s helping them with the shop for the next few days. Molly almost didn’t let him go but they said he’d be earning some of his own money...” Remus replied again.
“Still a joke shop, yes?” Dumbledore asked raising an inquisitive brow behind his half-moon glasses.
“Well, last I heard anything about it, yes -“ said Sirius. ”Why are you asking about the shop?” Ginny swore internally.
What did they know? What could they suspect?
“The Dark Lord called a meeting today. It appears Lucius Malfoy decided to poke his nose in some days ago,” Severus answered. “He reported back to the Dark Lord that it’s an Astronomy shop.”
“Astronomy? How does a joke shop become an Astronomy shop?” asked Tonks, all astonishment. “Something like that doesn’t just happen overnight...”
Ginny tapped on the main Command stone embedded on top of her left vambrace, “Commander Tank to the Captain.”
“Captain here.” Damn, Harry sounded so tired.
“Meeting in progress, Captain. They’re talking about the shop.” Ginny patched the audio through so he could listen in as well.
“...paintings, china, robes and a mobile of the Solar System...” They heard their Potions Professor recounting.
“Sounds like they’ve been busy since we were there escorting Potter,” Moody commented.
“I went to look at it myself after Malfoy’s report. I didn’t go any further than the front door but I found the sign rather interesting...”
“What’s so interesting about it? The fonts a little strange, so is the name and the use of the othila rune is rather a strange choice…” said Remus.
“The name and the font are obvious if you understand what you are looking at, and that’s not actually the othila rune...” said Severus.
Ginny heard an intake of breath from Harry’s end.
“...they’re all a reference to something of Muggle origin, specifically a television show which began in the 1960’s...” Professor Snape had a tone in his voice Ginny never thought the man capable of voicing.
Sirius sneered. “What the hell would you know about that?”
“I’m half-blood, Black, in case you’ve forgotten. I spent the first eleven years of my life in the Muggle world. I was very young but I can remember watching it. It was called Star Trek and it was very popular. Still is to this day.”
“Bloody hell,” whispered Harry sounding very much like he was channelling Ron.
“I know that television is sort of like radio except you can see things as well. It is like a radio play, right?” asked Tonks. Ginny was surprised Tonks had to ask. Her father, Ted Tonks, was muggleborn so shouldn’t she have a better idea of these things? Then again, like every other muggleborn, he’d been taken out of the Muggle world at eleven so maybe he didn’t think it was important, given Tonks had been raised in the magical world.
“A little,” Severus answered.
“What about it?” asked Moody, giving Snape a cold, hard look.
“Severus’ theory is the shop is a continuation of their rebellion against the Ministry. A sort of light in the darkness for muggleborns and half-bloods in these troubling times. Speaking of which, that was only a small part of what took place today...” Dumbledore skilfully changed the subject. They listened a little longer, learning that the Order had lost one of their own in Emmeline Vance before Harry gave Ginny the order to cut the live feed.
“Emmeline Vance was one of the people who bought me to Grimmauld Place last summer. She seemed like a nice lady,” said Harry, now sounding tired and sad. “But that’s interesting - about Snape. That’s very interesting.”
“Professor Snape’s a half-blood. I had no idea,” Ginny said animatedly.
“Me neither. He had to be very young when the original series was first aired. It must have made an impact on him for him to remember it after all this time.” Harry sounded rather thoughtful.
The Captain wasn’t wrong. “You heard it too. I’ve never heard that tone from him before...”
“- he sounded nostalgic almost,” finished Harry.
“I was going to say wistful but that works better,” Ginny mused.
Harry laughed. “I wonder if he might drop in for a closer look.”
Ginny snorted. “He’s a spy so I wouldn’t put it past him. I wonder when he came by. And what stopped him from taking a closer look.”
The Captain was only half-listening. His thoughts moving along a different path. “He’s a fully-trained Wizard with years of experience in teaching. He’s spent time in the Muggle world and has what sounds like a lingering fondness for sci-fi,” he murmured.
“What are you thinking, Captain?” Was Harry thinking about involving their Potions Professor like they had Ms Edgecombe? Actually, now that Ginny was thinking it too...
“Well, first I’m wondering how deeply Snape’s loyalty to Dumbledore runs...”
Plans were already coming together in Ginny’s head before she asked the question, “Are you thinking we should recruit Professor Snape?”
“Think about it -“
Oh, she was. Ginny understood exactly what Harry was considering. “It’s as crazy as it is brilliant - if it’s at all possible. Like you said, how deep does his loyalty to Dumbledore run?”
“- will he report to Dumbledore about us approaching him?” added Harry.
Dumbledore. He worried Ginny with the amount of power he naturally seemed to have over those who chose to give him their loyalty. Sometimes it felt like Dumbledore asked for and expected too much and overplayed on peoples trust to have things done his way. While Professor Snape actively worked with Dumbledore he wasn’t afraid to consider what he was being asked to do and say no where others, Ginny had watched happen with her own eyes, would immediately answer with an unquestioning yes. Dumbledore was a very different kind of leader when compared to Harry.
“That’s another thing: do we want Dumbledore to know just yet? We haven’t really discussed that but it seems pretty much a-given we don’t want Dumbledore, or any of the Order involved in this right now,” she said pointedly. “Recruiting a Hogwarts Professor who is also a member of the Order of the Phoenix may be a risky step in a direction we don’t want to be going in right now,” Ginny laid out her concern. “Not to mention that Professor Snape by your own admission is the Order’s inside man within the Death Eater’s...” Ginny shuddered a little. The thought of having You-know-who’s focus on them...it was going to happen, but still - having the man who was connected to all of these things on their side...
“I know, but think about it -“ the Captain began.
“Believe me, Harry, I am. Look, I think it’s a good idea but will you trust me with this? I mean, it’s pretty much a given that I’ll be the one working closest with him, with the roles we’re taking on. If he joins, he won’t be able to keep up his other roles, just like we sacrificed classes...” It was a tenuous endeavour if approached the wrong way. Harry and Professor Snape had a volatile history. Someone else was needed to approach him and hopefully recruit him. Ginny felt like it should be her.
“Agreed. And you know I do, Ginny. That’s why I picked you to be my First Officer on top of asking you to take on those other roles.”
“Then can you trust me on something else?” asked Ginny.
“What is it?” asked Harry.
“I know we have these plans to have a nice normal summer as much as we can,” she began. “Sure, for others it works, but not for you and really not for me. Not anymore. You’re certainly better off on board the Requirement and frankly I’m tired of playing housewife to the Order. I’ve got the Order meetings covered here. There’s nothing more I can do but spend my days cooking and cleaning and writing up reports while people try to stick their noses in where they’re not wanted. If I was on the ship, from there I could access so many more locations...”
“I understand and agree. But how to go about it?”
Ginny already had a plan forming. If all went well, she and Harry could be on the ship with Professor Snape’s help within the next few hours. That was, if Ginny could convince her Potions Professor it was a good idea. But how to go about it? Perhaps tempting the Potion Master’s curiosity? “Leave that to me. Two birds, one stone. I’ll approach Professor Snape tonight after the meeting. I’m going to try and get him to help me move you too. You need to be prepared and I’ll warn the others. If all goes well, we shouldn’t let his joining us go unexplained.”
“If it does work out I doubt the Order or the Death Eaters will think of us as having something to do with his disappearance. At least not at first. They’ll think the other has done something to him...”
“Even if you and me disappear at the same time?” Ginny pointed out.
“Maybe stall it. Keep him hidden for a bit?”
That didn’t sit right with Ginny. “Is that an order or just a passing thought?”
“You don’t agree?”
“If we make a move, Captain, any moves at all, they need to be complete moves...no hesitation,” said Ginny. “We need to stop letting them dictate to us. No matter which way we turn, we’re in for a bad time, Professor or no Professor. Emmeline Vance is dead. She was a member of the Order - then and now. You-Know-Who is making moves. The Order’s making moves. Hell, the Ministry probably attempting to make a few of their own too despite their heads up their respective rear-ends.”
“We were never really going to get a summer break were we?” She could hear a small smile in his tone. “It was just wishful thinking.”
“I’m afraid so, Captain.”
“Alright, you’ve got the go-ahead, Commander. Do what you feel you need to,” Harry said finally.
“Yes, sir,” replied Ginny curtly. Gently she added, “Pack your trunk, Harry. One way or another, I’ll see you soon.”
“See you soon. Keep in touch. I’ll be ready. Potter out.”
Just before the door to the dining room opened Ginny took several deep breaths to calm herself as she pocketed her PADD+. Informing the crew, or at least those who answered their comms that their Captain and First Officer had made the executive decision to recruit none-other than the Head of Slytherin House had gone over just about as well as Ginny thought it would. Immediately there had been a great deal of noise coming from through the Comm stones as each crew member present voiced their opinions on the idea. Many had little faith in the effort coming off as being successful. It seemed to take forever for Ginny to make herself heard. They did hear her out eventually. Though they could understand the reasoning behind it, it didn’t mean they had accepted it. It seemed to be a unanimous line of thought that he’d never agree blindly to let Ginny, or anyone, lead him anywhere. But in the end Ginny had won them over with a compromise, should she by some miracle be successful in her endeavour. Professor Snape, should he accept the invitation, would start off as an Ensign and be directly in Ginny’s line of Command.
As ever, everyone kept a respectable distance and allowed Dumbledore to depart first. Professor Snape, in his usual manner was close behind. Today he looked very eager to leave.
“Good evening, Professor,” she said only quietly enough not to disturb Mrs Black’s portrait while she held her hand up in a gesture Lee had told her was how one of the fictional aliens from Star Trek greeted each other. Ginny was one of the few who was able to do it with little trouble. For a moment it looked like Professor Snape hadn’t noticed, like his eyes had barely taken a moment to glance at her and the Potions Master wouldn’t deign to respond when he stopped dead in his tracks. Ginny seized the moment. “I caught some Doxys earlier this evening. I don’t know if anyone told you. I left them in the dining room. I thought perhaps you might have a use for them,” she said carefully, conversationally, as she directed his attention back towards the kitchen. No one else seemed to be interested in their exchange. She was just a student talking to a Professor as far as they were concerned.
There was a silent moment while he considered it, then Professor Snape answered, “I admit I didn’t see them nor were they mentioned to me, Miss Weasley. Would you show them to me?” He gestured for her to take the lead.
As they moved through the narrow and crowded hallway, Ginny couldn’t miss that many of the Order’s faces were sombre. Sirius had been right. Ginny’s mother had been a no-show, it had become the norm. Ginny had hardly any purpose for the basket she was using like it could be her excuse, her reason for being there. As long as she didn’t try to enter the room while a meeting was taking place they seemed to make up their own excuses her presence.
“- now see here, little cousin.” Something had Sirius riled. Ginny moved carefully to avoid them as Tonks shoved him down the hall and past them with Remus following close behind, catching Tonks when she finally did her usual trick and tripped over her own two feet. With those three otherwise occupied the dining room was blessedly empty when Ginny and the Professor made it back through the door.
“What do you really want, Miss Weasley?” Professor Snape hardly gave Ginny a moment to close the door behind them.
Ginny braced herself a moment before turning sharply to face him, all business. “Small steps before giant leaps, Professor.” Ginny held out a scroll to him as he raised an eyebrow at her, clearly catching on to what she was referencing. The contract was the same as Hermione had Lieutenant Edgecombe’s mother sign. Hermione had it delivered by Owl Post in what had to be record time. It had been her one stipulation when Ginny and Harry’s had informed the crew of their decision to include Snape. Of all the demands they had heard when negotiating Snape’s inclusion, the contract was the final compromise which had satisfied all parties that Snape could not betray them if Ginny and Harry were wrong about him.
“This has something to do with the shop I take it? The one your brothers are working at.” Snape looked almost amused.
Gesturing to the scroll of parchment Ginny responded, “Read it. If you sign it you get to know more. If you don’t you walk out now with the buckets of Doxys - oh - and a dead rat. That is if you actually want them.”
“Why don’t you tell me, Miss Weasley, and then I’ll decide if I want to sign or not.” The Potions Master challenged her. Ginny had figured he would.
“Hermione made up the contract. Break it and well, you’ll be wearing the consequences,” Ginny countered.
Snape set the contract down the table, unopened and crossed his arms. Behind the closed door the noise of the crowd leaving died away. Above them two, maybe three people stomped about, utterly inconsiderate. What if she had been trying to sleep?
“The question is, Professor, how badly do you want to know? I am giving you the opportunity to find out but I’m afraid I can’t be too forthcoming until I have that guarantee,” Ginny reinforced. The Potions Professor was unmoved so Ginny attempted another angle. “Are you content with waiting to find out with everyone else or do you sign the contract and I tell you everything before the next dawn? I’m offering you an opportunity here and now to sate your curiosity.”
“What could be so interesting about this joke, nay, Astronomy shop that you think I could be swayed to sign a contract agreeing to my silence, which given your expression I’ve guessed correctly, is what is written on this scroll.”
Ginny nodded.
So the Professor was willing to show a card in his hand. Ginny could do the same. “Because you already suspect there’s more going on than you’ve been lead to believe? You want to know what’s behind the sign.” Ginny said confidently. “The name, the font, the symbology - hell - even the colour scheme all referencing something you remember fondly from your childhood, given that you are half-blood and spent the first eleven years in the Muggle world...” she went on, baiting the hook with something a little juicer.
“How do you know that?” Severus Snape said dangerously.
Ginny played it off with another shrug. “Read it. Sign it and you’ll find out.”
“This isn’t a game, Miss Weasley!” snapped Snape.
“You need to get it out of your head right now that I am playing a game, Professor,” Ginny snapped back. “I am deadly serious. You sign, you give us that guarantee of your silence until which time we chose to break it - you get to know.” Ginny paused and took a deep breath before continuing in a cooler tone, “If you don’t want to know, take your consolation prize and go.” She waved a dismissive hand then walked over to the water cauldron and took a long drink keeping her back to him. Carefully, she took the PADD+ out through her pocket and watched him through the Orbs. For a very long time he stood there, his eyes boring into her back. After several minutes, and the ceasing of what was most certainly Sirius Black’s storming around above, Snape took up the scroll and read it.
“As clever as Miss Granger thinks she is, I doubt I’ll have much trouble breaking this contract when I undoubtedly decide to.” Severus threw it onto the table after signing.
Ginny laughed, half in good humour, half in relief as she slipped the PADD+ back into her very magical and bottomless holstered hip-pouch through the robe’s faux-pocket before she turned around and walked over to collect the scroll and check he hadn’t just pretended to put his signature on it. Once it was safely stored beside the PADD+ she pulled one long sleeve back to expose her left vambrace putting her main Command stone and several miniatures on display. “You won’t want to. And if it makes you feel better, I suspect it won’t be too long before it’s all out in the open anyway the way things are going. But for now we need to move.”
“We’re going to Diagon Alley, I presume?”
“Eventually. We need to get Harry first...” started Ginny.
“Mr Potter is not be removed from the house of his Aunt and Uncle without the express permission of the Headmaster, Miss Weasley. Surely you know that?” Snape argued looming over her. Where once that might have frightened Ginny now stood almost as tall and virtually as wide with some help from her heavy armour.
“I do know, however given the circumstances, I also no longer care,” Ginny said with some bravado. “If we wanted the Headmaster involved it would have been him I approached tonight and not you, Professor. I have my reasons. They will be made clear in time. Just as we will involve Albus Dumbledore at a time of our choosing.” Ginny tapped the Command stone and opened a channel. “Commander Tank to the Captain.”
If Harry had sounded tired before he was plain exhausted now. “Is it done?”
“He’s signed, Captain.” Ginny’s voice carried not a small tone of relief.
“Is that Potter?”
“Yes. Are you coming to get me..?”
Snape interrupted. “And why would I do that, Mr Potter?”
“Because this was my idea. I want you involved in what we’re doing. Despite everything - I do trust you," Harry said slowly.
That response was clearly the last thing Professor Snape was expecting. It surprised Ginny a little too. Harry had chosen his words wisely.
Once Severus recovered his voice he asked, "And what am I supposed to tell Albus Dumbledore when he inevitably asks me..."
"It won't be easy, but it will inevitably be worth it," Ginny interjected.
Still the Professor was not convinced. "Potter shouldn't be moved without a security team..."
"I am his security team -” Ginny threw back coolly. “- at least until we get to Diagon Alley. There will be others waiting for us there." Adrenaline pumping as her anxiety rose she began pacing. "It's simple. We Apparate to his location, he's ready to go, then we continue on to Diagon Alley..."
"Presuming I can Apparate more than just myself..." Severus disputed.
Merlin, why did he have to be so stubborn? Yes, it was an assumption but who was he trying to kid. Of course he had learnt to and could Side-Along Apparate, simply as a matter of House proud if nothing else. "We have several individuals prepared to back us up if needs be," said Ginny waving her hand dismissively.
"To make me cooperate?" the Professor speculated.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "To make sure you, me and Harry get to our destination safe and well," she corrected him. “There are other contingencies but they’re nowhere near as quick...”
"Come and get me after, when he understands. I can survive here a little longer..." Harry's voice faltered several times.
"Absolutely not. You shouldn’t feel like you just have to survive a little longer, Harry,” Ginny protested passionately. “You haven't slept since we left. The minute you close your eyes You-Know-Who will attack again. We have the opportunity now and we need to take it,” she stubbornly declared. “Anything could happen if we wait. We need to get you back there now so you can sleep or your body's going to start shutting down..."
"And here I understood it the Dark Lord was attempting to use gentle persuasion..." Severus stated, looking between her and the Command stone with what might genuinely be concern.
Ginny laughed humourlessly. "At the beginning you might have called it that if heart-racing nightmares could be called gentle but now the moment Harry even falls into a half-doze he's under attack. It started almost as soon as we left Hogwarts. As soon as You-Know-Who realised he was able to reach Harry," she elaborated. “He wants Harry to go get the prophecy orb and he wants it now but his - offensive - will sooner kill Harry than force his compliance.” Just like he had done to Ginny, Tom showed he was willing to drain the life out of Harry in order to gain power. With Ginny it had been the power that came hand-in-hand with life and magic, with Harry Tom sort to gain the advantage over his enemies - the prophecy, complete. It made Ginny sick to her stomach.
"I wonder if that's what he meant when he claimed he would soon have news of a major victory against those who would oppose him..." the Professor said quietly.
“Breaking Harry? Killing him even? Yeah, I wouldn’t put it past him,” quipped Ginny. “You-Know-Who’s likely convinced himself he’ll be announcing his great victory soon. Probably has a speech ready and everything,” she added sarcastically.
“You’re still banking, Miss Weasley, on my knowing Mr Potter’s location...” Severus maintained.
“Already have it,” Ginny proclaimed. “Ron and the twins collected him from the house years ago. 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.”
The Potions Master rolled his eyes. “And apparently the address of one of the most secure safe-houses in England is an easy thing to share with just about anyone.”
“Not just anyone, Professor. I - We picked you,” she reminded him. “Time’s a-wasting. Don’t you know what we want you to be a part of?” Ginny offered her free hand.
“I. We. Do make up your mind, Miss Weasley.”
Ginny wiggled her fingers.
“I’m not holding your hand, Miss Weasley.”
Harry snorted.
Ginny looked Severus Snape square in the eyes with a smile. “We’re on our way, Captain. Commander Tank, out.” She closed the comm. “It’s we. We, Harry and I heard you speaking about going to the shop and recognising the sign. We heard the way you spoke about it...”
“You promised to explain that...” Severus challenged her.
Whatever he wanted to say could damn-well wait. They needed to move now. “...and I will. I will explain everything. I will answer all your questions, I’ll even tell you why we’re calling each other by ranks, which you are obviously dying to ask about, once we’re at our safe house.”
Severus sputtered in surprise at her revelation, “Your little group has their own safe house?”
“It’s - out of this world,” Ginny chuckled at her little joke while offering her hand again. This time, to her surprise, he humoured her and took it. She started them towards the front door immediately not willing to risk his changing his mind or stalling them at Grimmauld Place any longer.
“Does its science fiction theme magically make it safer?” the Professor mused as the front door went through the motions of noisily unlocking and opening.
Keeping her eyes peeled for Sirius and Remus, Ginny satisfied Severus Snape’s curiosity with a little good humour, “Not just safer, it’s cleaner too. No screaming portrait, plenty of clean water, no infestations...” Upstairs a very squeaky floorboard echoed. Ginny’s unoccupied hand flew to the robe pocket which was open to her holstered weapon.
“Why me, Miss Weasley? Why not Remus Lupin?” Severus gestured towards the stairs.
“Lupin went there. He saw the sign and he didn’t get it. We don’t have time for that right now. We need someone who understands. You understand.”
“No, I don’t...” the Professor countered.
“Yes, you do. You just don’t have the context yet.” To Ginny’s relief the door finished making its racket and let them out before whomever was moving around upstairs made an appearance. “I promise you will very soon. Do you need the address again?”
“No, Miss Weasley. I know where we need to go.” Of course he did, Ginny glared at him.
Professor Snape took the lead once they stepped outside taking them across the road and into the park out of reach of the Anti-Apparition wards surrounding 12 Grimmauld Place. One moment they stood amount tired looking trees and long dry grass and the next they reappeared in view of two street signs - Wisteria Walk and Privet Drive. Without communicating they both immediately ducked behind a hedge and checked all lines of sight. The identical houses with their rainbow of cars in driveways and picture-perfect gardens where blessedly free of Muggles so far as they could see in the streetlight.
“Who’s on duty tonight?” asked Ginny.
Severus looked at her for a moment like he was surprised she knew to ask. “Fletcher.”
She hadn’t seen him at meetings, so it came as a surprise. “That useless, smelly lump of rags? After last summer?” Ginny recoiled, screwing up her nose just remembering the smell that consistently emanated from the mangy man. “What is Dumbledore thinking keeping that sneak-thief around?” she added. It was appalling.
“Desperate times, Miss Weasley,” the Professor said evenly.
Not good enough. “Bloody hell.” Now she found herself channelling Ron. “I’ll deal with him.”
“And how do you plan to do that? It’s the summer break therefore you can’t use magic,” he reminded Ginny unnecessarily.
“I have my ways.” Ginny drew her side arm. Its size was the length of her hand and forearm combined and it was a pleasant weight in her hand.
The Professor’s eyes went wide. Ginny got a hand over his mouth in time to muffle what surely would have echoed down to number four.
“Quiet like, Professor. Let’s not wake up the whole Muggle neighbourhood just now,” Ginny quipped.
“Where did you get a pistol?!” Severus asked in a loud whisper after pushing her hand away.
“Don’t worry, it’s on stun,” remarked Ginny.
“Pistols don’t stun!” he argued.
“It’s called a particle magnum. It discharges varying amounts of electricity. Orange -“ she showed Severus the indicator lights one the side “- is stun, red is kill and green is incinerate. Last one leaves a pretty decent sized hole in whatever it’s fired at. But that’s not what I plan to do. I’m just going to knock him out.”
“That’s not from Star Trek...” breathed the Professor.
“No, this is real,” Ginny gave him her best reassuring smile. The look in Severus’ eyes - it was a child-like expression of someone who’d laid eyes on another’s toy and he desperately wanted to get his hands on it to see what it could do. “Stay out of sight while I deal with Fletcher. I don’t want to be seen together by anyone who’ll report it back to the Order just yet.”
Severus nodded slowly, his eyes not leaving the magnum until she turned the corner onto Privet Drive where Ginny activated her Cloak and helmet. The invisibility cloak the sneak-thief was using was useless against a myriad of visual settings her helmet provided. His heat signature stood out as plain as day. With a flash of orange light and a thud, Mundungus Fletcher was temporarily no longer an issue.
Side-arm holstered, helmet shrunk back into her collar and de-Cloaked Ginny signalled for Severus, who had most definitely peeked, to join her before she rang the doorbell. The hall light came on a lit up a figure distorted by textured glass.
“Who the blazes is calling at this time of night?” A gruff male voice could be heard very clearly through an open window.
“Vernon Dursley. Harry’s Uncle,” muttered Ginny hand lingering in her pocket.
“I’m aware, Miss Weasley,” replied Severus.
The door was answered by a thin, blonde, long-necked woman who had the expression of someone who had just sucked on a particularly sour lemon. This must be Harry’s Aunt Petunia. She saw Ginny first and didn’t at all look impressed. Scandalised really, given Ginny was unmistakably dressed in a Wizarding robe.
Then she saw Severus Snape.
“S-s-Sev! S-Sev! Oh my god!” Mrs Dursley stumbled back from the door, her already pale indoors-y complexion going grey.
Ginny couldn’t help that her jaw hit the ground. Their Potions Professor and Harry’s Aunt Petunia knew each other?
“Hello Tuney,” Severus said in a low voice subtly pushing Ginny through the doorway ahead of him getting them out of view of anyone on the street. Ginny nearly tripped on the threshold.
But that was a yes...Sev and Tuney, how interesting.
A middle-aged man, or perhaps a human-shaped walrus from the looks of his moustache, came barrelling noisily out of a room off the hall. “What’s going on, Petunia?” Upon seeing them walrus’ face started going purple and a great big vein in his forehead grew in prominence and appeared to be throbbing. “What - are - you - doing - in - my - house?”
For a moment, Ginny thought Harry’s Uncle might know Snape as well.
“Vernon - Vernon, that’s him! That’s Sev! He’s the boy, the one I told you about. The boy from all those years ago,” Mrs Dursley stuttered in a rush. The walrus man looked horrified. Severus smirked at him. “He’s the one who told her and then they disappeared off to that place -“
“That place is a castle called Hogwarts, Tuney. And once, not all that long ago, you wanted to go there yourself,” Severus sneered. “You wrote to Dumbledore begging -“
“I grew up!” Mrs Dursley shrieked in protest stomping her foot down not unlike a toddler preparing to have a tantrum.
“What’s going on?” a gruff voice not unlike Mr Dursley’s spoke. Someone appeared at the top of the stairs. Someone vast in size and very much not Harry. Dudley, Ginny assumed. Harry had mentioned something about him being a heavy weight and he certainly fit the description. Dudley was the perfect mix of his mother’s height and his father’s size. But there was no way he’d be any match for her. Dudley Dursley might know how to use his fists, but Ginny knew how to use her fists and more.
Where was Harry? He knew they were coming.
Ginny shuddered when Dudley noticed her. His whole attitude changed. “Why - hello.” His smile was broad - predatory, yellowed teeth on show.
Yuck! “No thanks. Where’s Harry?” Ginny stalked up the stairs.
Dudley Dursley didn’t seem to get it. “Forget him,” he said dismissively. “I -“
“Oh Dudley, I’m too much of a Witch for you,” sneered Ginny. She wasn’t sure but Ginny thought she heard an amused sound behind her over top of Mrs Dursley fearful whimpering.
“Diddy-kins, get away from her! She’s one of them! One of those - those - freaks!” Mrs Dursley shrieked.
“Listen to your mother, Diddy-kins.” Ginny gave Dudley her best smile as he like his mother before him, stumbled fearfully backwards and out of her way. Ginny couldn’t help enjoy their fear a little. It made her feel powerful. “Which room is -“ Ginny noticed the door with all the locks. And they were all locked. The door barely budged when she tried the main handle. “Harry, can you hear me? Harry? Captain!” Ginny rattled the door with all her might and it made one hell of a noisy protest but it did the job of getting Harry’s attention.
“Ginny?” Harry sounded confused. Ginny’s heart skipped a beat. “Sorry. I fell asleep. He didn’t want me to wake up,” he said weakly.
Ginny had to wonder if perhaps You-Know-Who suspected what they were doing and that Harry would soon be out of his reach again. “It’s okay,” she answered reassuringly. “Are you near the door? I need to take out these locks,” said Ginny drawing her sidearm again. Two clicks and the glowing half sphere on the back of the cartridge glowed green.
“I’m clear. Go ahead, Commander.”
Four shots and what remained of the door fell inwards, hinges and locks incinerated. Throughout the house Muggles were either shrieking, swearing or both. Dudley had completely disappeared from sight and Severus Snape appeared in his place.
Severus looked from the magnum to the door and back again, genuinely awed.
‘Snape’s so going to want one,’ thought Ginny.
“Uncle Vernon has the keys.” The comment was clearly made in jest, glancing at the magnum as she holstered it. Ginny was glad Harry’s sense of humour was intact because he looked awful. Under Harry’s eyes was black. For a moment Ginny thought perhaps someone had hit him but he was just wearing his sleeplessness on his face.
“I rather not waste my breath on that man,” said Ginny. She didn’t let Harry shake her off when she pulled one of his arms over her shoulder. “Professor, could you get Harry’s trunk please?”
The Potions Master was surprisingly quiet as he complied. None of the Dursley’s were seen again as they left the house and walked back up to the street corner.
Ginny helped Harry get his hood up before fixing her own. Snape followed suit. “Apparation Point C, Diagon Alley please, Professor.” Severus silently complied again. Ginny supposed she’d given him a lot to think about or perhaps it had something it do with seeing Harry’s Aunt Petunia again after what had to have been decades. Mrs Dursley had certainly made it clear she knew him before he’d gone to Hogwarts.