First Preparations

First Preparations

They had crumbly bread with strawberry jam for breakfast and either tea made with tea bags or an instant coffee. The men made a face that reminded Ginny of Ron's frustration at an empty shelf at Headquarters when their mother had been too busy working with the Order. Ginny accompanied the men to the kitchen and surreptitiously had a look at all cupboards. Her overall impression was best described with the word 'empty'. No surprise here, she thought.

Their professor demanded that he and Ginny start immediately with the preparation for Tuesday. Draco was to go shopping. He looked incredibly Muggle-like in his jeans, trainers and loose white shirt. He always wore long sleeves, Ginny noticed with a shudder. Avoiding touching his left arm...or actually any part of him...Ginny slipped a folded piece of parchment into his hand as he was about to leave. Opening the door, he looked up into the sky. He shook his head in disappointment, returning briefly to fetch a windproof jacket from upstairs.

:*:*:*:

Severus beckoned his involuntary guest back to the battered table where they had had their spartan breakfast. He asked her what she assumed he was doing in this war. He leaned back and considered her, giving her time to develop an answer.

Ginny reconsidered her situation. She had three options at her disposal:

1. She could refuse each and every chance to cooperate the two men would offer her and try all on her own. It would be a disaster for herself and highly risky for the war. Furthermore, she did not truly believe Professor Snape would not invade her memory before she had made up her mind, although she was sure he had not done so yet. Mad Eye had been pushing her, and she wasn't too bad... but who knew how strong a Legilimens Snape was...or Voldemort?

2. She could pretend to accept help from the men but leave the decisions to herself of what to show and what not to reveal. It would allow her some freedom, certainly. How could she use it? From her limited knowledge about the Death Eaters, what could she base her decisions on? Her faked training would reveal some information to the professor anyway.

Clearly, neither of these two was realistic, leaving her with option three:

3. She would heed Severus Snape, trust his judgement. He was a quick thinker, had miles of a head start of information, and if he was on their side, only he could avoid a disaster, if not for herself (she gulped), then at least for the war. And if he was after all a traitor, as most in the Order believed, catching her was already so terrible that... No, she was sure he was not on the side of the Dark Lord. She almost had proof, although the circumstances that convinced her otherwise she would not reveal.

Her well-formulated and short answer surprised him. "You were a spy all the time, working for the Order, for Albus Dumbledore and for the good. You still thwart Voldemort's plans."

This last sentence, however, brought him to his feet. "Do not use his name. Never again. It could be the last thing you say in your life. Yet," he conceded, sitting down and letting his voice turn back to what could be called normal, or even amiable, for him, "your description is correct. The three of us are all working on the same side. And we all agree on that."

"With all due respect, sir, you would say so in either case." She held her breath but all she received was a raised eyebrow, and it looked almost more appraising than threatening. "Also, I don't trust Malfoy, sir," Ginny ended evenly.

"I do. This has to be enough for you." It sounded very much like Dumbledore's repeated affirmation that he trusted Professor Snape. "You noticed it yesterday," he added. This was true, and maybe more proof than the old Headmaster had ever provided.

Her former professor went on. "He is not as good an Occlumens as I would like him to be. He has to be extremely careful, and I am careful not to tell him anything that would endanger his life, my life and now also yours." Again, Ginny had nothing to add to this. She depended on his judgement, and this all sounded reasonable enough.

"Our short term plans are to keep you alive and out of harm's way. If you want my assistance, you will have to heed me."

Ginny nodded. He could not give her wide explanations. It would be a waste of time to go through every relevant aspect in the precious three days they had. He would also have to Obliviate the information away before she was taken to Vo... the Dark Lord. Still, it irked her to have nothing to contribute but the occasional nod.

Severus, on the other hand, knew he had to collect any information the girl had on the Order or the Horcruxes. It was safest to do so while Draco was not there. Legilimency would be needed, but not right away. With questions and encouragement to tell him freely, he could much better determine her state of mind, maybe even make her comfortable, if such a state was possible for her at all. He was grateful that she wasn't on the verge of a collapse, as it was.

So she reported. The Order ran short of potions because the lab at Headquarters was not well equipped and too many shops had closed. But the main reason was the lack of Severus' skilled hands. The last batch of Skele-Gro had been scourgified when it had glimmered orange.

He reacted predictably, snarling, "Pathetic. Pray tell me, isn't there anybody who can cut tiger whiskers into quarter inch lengths?"

Shacklebolt was in charge, but he didn't have much time, especially not very regularly. His Auror job kept him occupied even on weekends, and sometimes he returned with a cold or caught one right after, so they assumed he was travelling a lot through climate zones. Time zones, too. He was almost always in a bad mood. He did not inform the quartet of his work, although some Order members seemed to know very well what he was doing, and they didn't envy him.

Severus considered the approach wise and did not tell her that Kingsley Shacklebolt had been living a Muggle life for more than a year now. Inconvenient as his current accommodation was, he did not envy the Prime Minister's secretary either.

Ginny then told him how the quartet was training and working. The Order members were more of a hindrance at times, especially her own parents, Headmistress McGonagall and Bill. Some were supportive at times.

Severus heard how they had found the locket and the assumptions they had made as to the other Horcruxes. Hermione Granger had searched through Hogwarts: A History and thoroughly marked how often each family name was mentioned. Severus gave a sharp huff at this remark. "Why am I not surprised? Hogwarts: A History! Doesn't she know it by heart now? How very Muggle to tick off the names like that."

"She does, and it grates on my nerves at times. But, sir, this is important. Dumbledore...Professor Dumbledore believed that the Dark Lord does not have any object from Godric Gryffindor himself. Only the sword is left, and it has been kept safe in the Headmaster's office. There wasn't a chance that it could have been transformed into a Horcrux." He took that in with tilt of his head. She did know a lot!

Leading the tick list after the four founders was the name Crockford. Over the past thousand years this family had produced several Headmasters, including a very early one, two Heads of Gryffindor House and four other teachers. Most of the Crockford family had been Gryffindors. Thus the very honourable family of Crockford had seemed a natural second choice. Tracking the Crockfords down further had indeed revealed they owned precious items from the time the school and the castle had been founded.

Harry had noticed that he got a slight prickling in his scar when he was close to the Horcrux-locket. They assumed that it would lead them to the other Horcruxes once they were physically close enough. The scar had tickled also in Hogwarts when Harry had thought of the locket. Revisiting the same place the next day, his scar had shown no sign. Thus the link could also be called forth by a mental or magical proximity.

Yet, one Horcrux seemed to be in Hogwarts. When Severus now learnt of the secret passage from the one-eyed witch to Honeydukes, he fumed internally. This had to have been the way Black had entered the castle at Hallowe'en four years back. Since Pettigrew knew of the passage as well, the quartet assumed, the Dark Lord had used it to deposit a Horcrux inside Hogwarts. Now it was safely buried under layers of rubble and debris.

Severus was utterly surprised at the damage done to the ancient walls. There was a group of volunteers cleansing Hogwarts grounds and castle. Hagrid was very helpful for his physical powers as well as for his giant blood. Even Grawp was put into service, and the respect and the company was doing him good, although many of the helping hands refused to work when he was close.

Severus was concerned that some of the cleaners could be working for his master, possibly attempting to secure the Horcrux. "So are we, sir. The Headmistress ordered that she, Moody or at least Remus must be on the watch whenever this particular area is being cleaned. Her reasoning was naturally lacking substance. If they want to reopen the school after not more than one year of interruption, the enthusiasm of the helpers shall not be broken with irrational commands. She is walking a fine line there." Severus took this in but didn't give any comment. He could not reveal how every thought of the castle, of teaching and of his colleagues hurt.

The quartet had followed a track to an old hut that might have been in the possession of Helga Hufflepuff's heirs. They had not found anything in or around it. Harry's scar had tickled, although he wasn't sure if it was only that his concentration had fooled him.

Visiting Godric's Hollow had not been overly important. Not even a distant relative to Harry lived there. They had not found any hint of a Horcrux close to the remains of the house of James and Lily Potter. This was no surprise. If the Dark Lord had intended to use the deaths of the Potters to make a Horcrux, he could not have completed the task. The question was if he was a Horcrux short because of this failure. The house of Harry's grandparents had been cleansed of all magic, and a Muggle family lived there now. Ginny tried her best to keep Harry's depression at this revelation out of her report.

Besides locating them, there was the question of what to do with a Horcrux: how to destroy it. Moody had volunteered to destroy the locket, but so far it remained intact and unharmed. They feared he may be injured as the Headmaster had been. They needed the old Auror who was working fulltime with the Order now. So they had decided to only gather the Horcruxes and replace them with harmless copies as R.A.B. had done. No, they didn't know for sure who that was, but did it matter?

Ginny also told her former professor that her brother Bill had been bitten by Fenrir Greyback and now resembled a werewolf. "He is not entirely like Remus. He has adopted disgusting eating habits, and he doesn't seem so wild at the full moon. Well, of course we don't see his behaviour. We only know what Remus tells us." A sharp look made her add, "They go out to the Forbidden Forest together."

"Don't they use Wolfsbane?" Severus asked in a rage.

The girl's eyes flashed up, and her voice mirrored his own as she retorted, "The Order lost their Potions master, didn't they?" She blushed for an instant and raised her hand to cover her mouth, expecting to be reprimanded.

Severus decided not to react at all. She was right, of course. When nothing more came forward, he prompted her with a minute tilt of his head.

Swallowing hard, she elaborated, "Hardly anyone is up to brewing it. Fred and George scan the apothecaries regularly, but the ingredients are hard to come by now that Diagon Alley is a mess." She dropped her head and continued in a beaten tone. "We save the first batches for the child and two men Remus freed from Greyback." Tears ran down her cheeks, and she struggled with the last sentence. "Remus and Bill normally can't get any."

Severus remembered the rage of his master at the intelligence that two men, two teenage sisters and a ten-year-old boy had been lured away from Greyback's pack. At least the boy seemed safe. He enquired about the young girls and heard that they lived abroad with their family, who provided them with the potion. Very wise. Greyback had been insufferable after the loss, and Severus had the distinct feeling he had minded losing the girls more than the fighters.

With the Dark Lord's dubious contacts, Severus had a much better chance of getting Potions ingredients of premium quality than the Order with its limited financial support and the restriction on legal trade. His own restriction was that he had to be very careful that nobody suspected what he was brewing. With luck, Severus' recent research would turn out well, and with even more luck, he could provide the Order with the new product...or with ingredients. Yet he could not tell the girl that; he had to let her suffer.

:*:*:*:

Draco returned with two bulging plastic bags, shaking himself. He ruffled his wet hair, spraying them with water. His muddy shoes soon stood in a murky puddle. With a slight glance at Ginny, he left for the kitchen. Severus flicked his wand in the direction of the kitchen, and the door closed.

Severus sorted Ginny's knowledge. She could not follow the scheme, and he made it clear that this was desirable. He defined which information she should give quickly and which she should hesitate to reveal. What to do with the information she was not to give at all? Or relate in a twisted, misleading way? They had a whole list of those.

"I will now break into your mind. Try to lead me away as soon as I get too close to an image you must not show him."

And so they began.

At times Ginny managed to avoid the most dangerous topics while her instructor did not press matters.

She had serious trouble twisting the semi-dangerous images. He could easily force her into a direction she was to avoid. She had to make the Dark Lord believe that Harry was still her love and that Harry loved her absolutely. An outdated picture of Harry's affection would, they hoped, make the Dark Lord believe that the young man would eventually come for her rescue, and thus it would be worthwhile to keep her alive. Maybe he would even allow her to give a sign she was still alive to her family.

Ginny managed well to present scenes of warm looks between the two. But as soon as Severus probed deeper, he saw the final discussion of their break up. Ginny also noticed that Severus did not probe deeper than to a shy kiss. Probably Voldemort would not stop there. From the non-personal point of view, she didn't have trouble with letting him see the more passionate snogging scenes. Ginny didn't like the idea, obviously, but that could not be helped. Merlin's beard, this was a minor concern right now!

"Miss Weasley, if I manage to reach into this heartbreaking debate tomorrow and still on Tuesday morning, we must have it removed from your memory."

Ginny swallowed hard at this prospect. "Would that mean I would consider Harry and me a pair again?"

She got nothing but a short sneer. "Was he that pathetic? Legilimens!"

It had come without a warning. He went deep into a scene with Ginny alone in a dark room. Fear gripped Severus. Utter loneliness. They would not come. He...who now was she...knew it. Something had addled the brains he now shared. Not too much but enough to weaken his or her judgement. The room seemed endless, and time was passing in leaps. How long had it been? What was that place? There wasn't a door, he was sure, although her mind didn't provide Severus with a reason for that. Anyway, she could not move. It was a given, not the result of experience. The agony lasted for hours, interrupted only by the occasional stomping steps somewhere far away. Dangerous people, who would not care, people in silvery masks and dark cloaks.

This thought drove Severus out of her mind. She was trembling, and so was he...for a short moment at least. These masks had not been genuine Death Eater equipment, and from all he knew she had never been caught before. "Where or what was that?"

She looked away...ashamed, possibly. "I brewed myself a mind soother and... botched it. I let the thorn apple steep in undiluted essence of belladonna." Fury passed through him. "Haven't I made it clear to you to use a vinegar extract of belladonna? The brew you drank must cause states of fright, where each calamity is believed without critical reflection, as we have seen in its purest."

"I did it deliberately, sir. I took it in the early evenings of my two days of contemplation before we made our vows, sir. I... " She looked up again, hoping he would understand. "I needed to know... The brew was safe otherwise, I understood."

The last, while not really a question, he answered anyway. "It was lucky for you that it was. What made you think you could get away with it?"

"You made Colin take a spoonful, sir. A mate of Fred and George's, too."

Yes, he recalled the instances vividly. Minerva had been harping at him for longer than these boys had suffered. About his inadequate forms of teaching, which he had taken in stride. However, then she had accused him of carelessness. Him, who had never had a fatal accident in his classroom, or ever had more than three students go to the hospital wing in any one week. As if he would deliberately poison the dunderheads!

"So you thought it couldn't damage you?" he spat. She nodded sincerely. She had looked through him, and he didn't like being assessed by a pupil. He recalled what he had seen. "This... did not look like a spoonful, Miss Weasley?"

"I took half a beaker..."

"You wasted away about six hours like that?"

"I needed some sort of reference, a clue. What point is a vow if you don't even know what you're talking about?" Severus was at the verge of admitting that this was what he had thought the night before. So she had seen that point...impressive.

Not that he had ever done that. He had learnt it the hard way, and yes, he had suffered similarly as a newly inaugurated Death Eater. Today he knew full well what was at stake, but the merry quartet...at least three of them...had nothing but hear-say. Reality could be worse than this experience. However, she had created herself a benchmark. That was more than he had expected. Voluntarily putting herself under that condition?

Not quite voluntarily, though, since she had had little idea what would happen. "And in the second night?"

"A full beaker," she said, pointed chin up.

As she gave her reply, which he had not expected at all, he swiftly struck again. "Legilimens!" This time the room was brightly lit, and loud scratching noises stimulated his ears to agony. His head felt twice as large as normal: each noise resonated and caused him to shudder. She...he was brushing an incredibly sticky cauldron with a brush of brass. He felt convinced that the softer he scratched, the less noise he would make, even if the clinking of the bristle-wires told him the opposite. He pressed only lightly, trying his very best to ease the pain in his ears. The troubled mind of which Severus was now a part did not provide him with the simple solution of just dropping the task. His eyes were attacked by flashes of light. Again, there wasn't an end to his agony, no helping hand to be expected. His fate was clear; when the cauldrons were clean he would die. So he brushed on. In its hopelessness, his agony resembled the first memory, but now pain was added.

Severus withdrew slightly and probed in again, certain that she could not have any resistance up. His mind was, however, hurled around and skidded into an idyllic scene of her childhood, riding her father's shoulders and catching a little Snitch that Arthur Weasley steered with his wand. She squeaked in happiness when he let her catch it.

Severus didn't want to look for happiness. He searched for more recent memories, such he had to evaluate. There, a dim lit room; Potter, Granger and both Weasleys. Weasley promising to Granger that he'd not expect to be rescued. Ron Weasley standing before him...that is, before Ginevra Weasley...solemnly swearing he would not want her to risk the cause by rescuing him.

The scene repeated itself with other pairings but Severus felt (even without his own judgement) that it had not sufficed. "This is not right," he heard himself speak in a Weasley-voice.

"Why ever not?" That was the brother, looking dumbstruck. "We agreed to do this."

"I can see it in your eyes; you don't feel obliged to follow my request. We need the opposite." He...she was shaking when she continued. "Ron, you must declare to us that... you would not... drop the cause to rescue us. That you would let us be tortured and let us die to save the cause." She went silent, imagining in horror what she was now supposed to do herself as well.

Wide-eyed, Ron stared at her. His hair stood on end and even the freckles could not keep colour in his blanching face. "No!"

"See! This is what I meant." No triumph was in his...her...voice. It revealed nothing but defeat. "We cannot seem to do that. And when I say the next thing that needs to be done, Harry will freak out." Fearfully, Severus looked up at the boy. For once, he found his face smart, his eyes and the messy hair attractive, "Because we must make an exception with you."

"NO! I don't want to be the exception. I'm nothing special."

By now Hermione finally cottoned on. With their combined effort, they convinced the boys.

Placing an expression of ice and disgust on his face...the feeling was oddly familiar...Severus made Hermione kneel down and swear she would not come for him. "Even if I know that you will be tortured, if I know it means your death. I shall sacrifice you, Ginny Weasley, to reach our final goal: to free the Wizarding World from Voldemort."

When a sobered Potter knelt down, a hard pounding at the kitchen door interrupted them. Severus left the memory and looked up, ignoring the boy.

In a voice void of all emotions, the real Ginevra Weasley said, "It was terrible. We all did it, although Ron was furious at the thought alone...and Harry was angry that we refused to swear the same to him."

Severus tilted his head and let Draco out.

:*:*:*:

Bored as he had been, Draco had started to prepare lunch but now asked Ginny to join him in the kitchen.

They soon emerged with a rather fancy meal of two salads...one with spicy curry chicken...two kinds of bread with a variety of cheeses, ham, eggs and bacon. To drink, Draco served orange juice and apple juice as well as water and tea.

Ginny decided to risk a hint of a smile at him and helped to lay the small table nicely. She found it slightly easier to relax with him today as long as she knew Snape close. It certainly helped to see him insecure for a change.

Much to their amusement, the professor inhaled deeply and took in the variety of food placed before him. He easily managed second and third helpings of everything. Although their meal was a silent one, the sheer fact that they were all three sitting there concordantly soothed her nerves like a Phoenix song. "Could you hand me the tomato salad, please?"

"Here you are."

"Thank you."

:*:*:*:

After lunch, Ginny had a shower (the door a little ajar) and emerged with the new t-shirt she had asked Draco to buy. She was secretly impressed that he had accepted even this point on her additional shopping list, but she had seen no other way to get to own clothes and a toothbrush again. Now she became restless. "Sir, would it be possible to get a bit of fresh air? Just in the street, or in the garden?"

"Not before I have seen the Dark Lord and know his plans for you. I cannot risk a stray Death Eater attempting to... ingratiate himself to the Dark Lord at your...our costs." Seeing her expression of defeat he added, "It also thwarts our training plans."

He drew the curtains and opened the window shortly but closed it when Draco coughed. Ginny's hope to catch a glimpse of sun was quickly dampened with a glance at the grey sky. A yellowish stripe of smoke drifted rapidly towards the west where it faded into menacing clouds hanging low. The grey garden lay deserted.

Draco enquired about their progress. "You might find it stimulating to hear that Miss Weasley's performance in Occlumency exceeds yours," Severus noted with clear disapproval for Draco's own abilities.

The elder boy cringed and wondered how Ginny could have become such an adept Occlumens. With a huff, she remarked that it had hardly been a project of itself. "With the lot of brothers I have to cope with, I grasped every straw I could reach. It is immensely helpful to know the twins' plans or Charlie's beforehand. I had my hands up if they tried to plant some slimy goo on my hair, but held them to my stomach or eyes before they even aimed there.

"Once they transfigured Ron's teddy bear. It had eight extra long spider legs grabbing his arms and face. Ron was horrified, screaming like a madman. Don't laugh, he was barely five years old and the spider's arms were twice as long as his own ones. After this accidental success Fred and George applied their magic more and more purposefully. Do you think I wanted the same? I quickly learnt to interpret the special glimmer in their eyes after mischief, and I bored into them to find out what was not safe to touch. When they planned to put an engorged spider in my bed, I kept my door closed. You get the idea. It worked on Ron as well, but he isn't that much of a threat. In fact, he became the key target of their experiments when I proved too hard to trick. And it's convenient with parents at times." The thought alone made her eyes tear up.

"I unconsciously learnt Legilimency before I even went to Hogwarts. People get a certain special glimmer in their eyes when they intend to trick you."

She hesitated a while but then summoned up her courage. "It took me the best of three years to find it in your eyes, sir. And only when you are absolutely not aware of it, but... well... it has worked on rare occasions," she added with a smirk. "I recall that I noticed in third year how you had set us a trap with the frog brains for the muscle twitching potion."

Severus was caught by surprise, which he covered with a hasty reply. His voice became harsher than he had wanted. "I certainly don't have a need to set up traps to catch anyone unprepared."

"I'm sorry, sir. Of course, sir." She would swallow a lot in the coming days just to keep him in an agreeable mood.

"I should revise your credit for this task. You were to know the ingredients."

Draco had moved to the window and opened it again. Ginny realised that the sound of the stiff, cold wind blowing around the house had changed and saw that the yellowish smoke was not passing over them anymore.

Returning to their places Draco tried to mediate, "At least she proved to be attentive enough to get the information out of you! "

"This is hardly an achievement in Potions, which was the subject of the class," the professor growled.

Inwardly, Severus was impressed at her bold speech. She had matured. Yes, she had better not repeat this behaviour in front of the Dark Lord...or himself. He wasn't used to being read. Not even once! Neither was he accustomed to praise Gryffindor students, even if he had decided that the hostilities between Hogwarts houses did not apply in Spinner's End.

"Anyway," Ginny finished, "Moody thinks that understanding the concepts of Legilimency helps also warding against them: Occluding one's mind."

Severus confirmed this in his usual lecturing voice: "A Legilimens aims at breaking the conscious mind, provoking it to deliver what it wants to keep secret, luring it into a direction it does not want to go. Forcing a foreign mind to do so normally demands more willpower from the witch or wizard than forcing their own mind not to stray. Your training of maybe seven years, unstructured as it was, clearly shows. We will systematically work on your Occlumency today and tomorrow. But don't have delusions; the Dark Lord is hardly as forgiving as I was today."

When Draco left for his room and later the potions lab they continued. In the evening, Ginny was reliably able to replace the emotion-loaded breaking-up scene with an innocent scene of her early crush: Harry entering the kitchen, and her bowl of porridge flying off the table with a clatter. Harry talking to her dad, and her own look being transfixed on his face until her brothers began teasing her; the embarrassment that the honey for her roll had decorated her plate and the table around it while she had stared. An underlying emotion in both of these issues was similar enough to replace one with the other; an odd embarrassment about her feelings, although she could not quite pinpoint them in the recent case.

Their research for the Horcruxes was more difficult to cover up. For their investigations on the Crockford family, Ginny found a few pictures where she had been interested in her own genealogy: her father coddling her on their old, battered couch, showing her a family tree of the Weasleys. Then he had tickled her slightly and placed a kiss on her forehead. The sensation let loose an elementary joy unknown to Severus. From her body features and the ease with which she fitted into her father's embrace, Severus assumed she had been no older than seven-years-old. Her view then swayed over to the dinner table, which had been set for nine persons. Together with the pictures, a feel of affection and pride flooded to Severus at this scene of happy family life. Next he saw Ron and Ginny sitting at either side of their mother, turning pages of a book of the Prewett family. They laughed at the fashions and hairstyles that their ancestors wore and happily compared their noses and eyes with the features of today's family members. Ron was then seen showing the same book to Harry and Hermione.

Ginny added two scenes of Harry first facing the Black family tree and then with what looked like the Potter family. He looked desperate in the latter. There was also a scene featuring Hermione checking the Crouches or the Crockfords and them all admiring family trees of teachers and frowning at the long but thin tree of the Malfoys. In the end, it appeared as if they had just been generally interested in wizard families, maybe emphasising the Potters. The focus was drawn away from the Crockfords.

"This should prove a good distraction from your actual research. You can pretend that you have spent much time on general wizard genealogy."

"Should I avoid showing number twelve, Grimmauld Place, sir? Regulus Black was a Death Eater and maybe even Lucius Malfoy or his wife might have given Voldemort a glim--"

In no time, Severus stood and looked fiercely down upon her. "Do not use his name. Never again." The sudden mood change of the man made Ginny shrink back into her chair, shaking. She preferred to wait quietly, and indeed he eventually sat and continued. "To answer your question, try to avoid clear views of the house, but do not push him away too strongly or else he will know that he should recognise the place. But before anything else, get yourself used to the expression 'the Dark Lord'. When you need to address him, call him 'Master' or even 'my master'."

"The fear of the name increases the fear of the bearer." She knew she was reciting, but could not help it. How often had Harry...

"You are not Albus Dumbledore," her teacher spat. Softly he continued, "Death Eaters fear their master, Miss Weasley, and for very good reason."

After three more tiring hours, they stopped for the day.

:*:*:*:

Severus went down to Draco in the lab. Ginny's wish to join them was rejected harshly. "It is none of your business what we are doing." He gave her one of the Potions books suggested for further reading for fifth years preparing for their O.W.L.s. "I take it they didn't hold these exams. Use the time to catch up." Lacking any other occupation, Ginny took parchment and quill and settled into the armchair. Trust Snape to check your knowledge, she thought and worked in concentration for over an hour. If she wanted his help she had to work up to his standards.

She checked the kitchen and was delighted how much of her shopping list Draco had found. They would have decent breakfasts from now on, as well as tasty lunches and dinners. Professor Snape could dearly use them.

Her mind replayed the day's events. They had worked well together. Of course the professor had used her abysmal performance as an excuse to terminate the day, but Ginny was just so glad he had invested time into her at all that she knew better than to complain.

With Moody they had trained in wandless magic with a heating charm, because it came in handy when one was lost outside. She was thus able to prepare tea and put together a tray of biscuits and crackers as well as fresh fruit.

"We can have tea whenever it suits you," she shouted down the stairs. The men came up several minutes later, approving of the refreshment.

:*:*:*:

They had each returned to their own work, which in Ginny's case was setting up a list of questions and proposals she needed to discuss with her teacher...ex-teacher. The men occupied the table again, silently preparing some schemes of which Ginny was not aware.

The house was quiet except for the occasional sound from outside: a car or a rickety bike clattering along the cobbled street or a group of children kicking a ball. Hardly any birds had sung that summer or autumn. Many of their nests had drowned in the permanent rain and mist. They had not succeeded in keeping their eggs warm or their young dry.

Suddenly, Severus drew in his breath with a sharp hiss and clasped his left forearm with his right hand. He was unexpectedly being summoned. Reluctantly, he went to his bedroom and returned with the thick dark Death Eater robe over his arm. "I have no indication of what this is about. Don't wait for me tonight."

Draco nodded and made no move to accompany him. Ginny went white as the wall. Her book hit the floor. "Sir... " She didn't know how to continue. This just could not be happening. She didn't breathe for a while and then gasped helplessly for air. When Severus had put on the robe, he saw her pacing agitatedly and ruffling her hair uttering nonsense. Then she seemed to gather her thoughts without reaching a conclusion.

Her unexpectedly strong reaction to his departure made Severus hesitate. Something was up here. "Miss Weasley, stop tearing out your hair!"

"But Sir! Do not leave me here with..."

Draco almost sank into his hard chair. Flushing slightly, he slowly said, "Miss Weasley, I assure you..."

It didn't have the desired effect, although the effect it had was rather impressive. The girl approached him in sheer fury. "Stop it, Malfoy. Since when did I become Miss Weasley to you?! Last time I met you alone, except for your cronies, that is, I was the Weasel-slut that needed a bit of... entertainment!" Draco's face and ears went beet red.

Severus blanched. In a voice as soft as it was menacing, he asked, "Is there something I was not aware of? You had better hurry up with an explanation, Mr Malfoy!"

It had been weeks since Draco had been addressed that harshly. Not that he didn't deserve it. Starting in a low tone, his voice became even quieter with each word when he explained, "Yes, sir. It happened a year ago, sir. I... I... made an... an inappropriate advance towards Miss Weasley, sir." He sighed when it was out, too frightened to look up.

Ginny huffed.

"I do not have time for this now," Severus spat, clutching his arm in pain. With a flick he sent a powerful Leg Locker Curse towards the boy. Then he grabbed Draco's wand and placed it out of the boy's reach. "You will sit there until I return. Miss Weasley can hand you your wand in case of an emergency. I assume this is agreeable to you, Miss Weasley." She nodded, and he hurriedly left the house.

:*:*:*:

The silence lay heavily between them. Ginny saw no point in starting a discussion. She took up her Potions text again, making sure she arranged herself comfortably in the armchair for the sole reason that Malfoy noticed it.

Eventually, Draco who had been sitting awkwardly on the chair at the table when the curse had hit him asked quietly, "I cannot sit any more, I'll fall soon. Could I aim for the settee instead? Please."

Ginny nodded and observed Draco reaching down to control and dampen his fall. He crawled with closed legs and bent knees towards the sofa. Thanks to his training, his arms were strong enough to heave him up after a few futile attempts. He worked around for a while more until he sat there, his legs reaching over half the length of the furniture. As far as his hand reached, he rubbed the inside of his knees and ankles. His legs were locked so tightly that his laborious move had left the joints hurting.

"I'd look for a skin ointment, but I don't see how we could apply it." Ginny offered.

"Thanks for the thought then," Draco answered in true relief that they were on speaking terms again. "I'm really sorry for harassing you, Miss Weasley. It should not have happened. I was under enormous pressure and in a foul mood."

Ginny looked up from her book but didn't show any signs how she took in his words. He would have to provide more to her! And he did. "We are in a totally different situation now. There are no rivalling houses in this place, and we must cooperate." When she still didn't react, Draco added, "Please, could you accept my apology?"

"We could start building up grounds for trust," she finally offered. "Tell me how you ended up in this place."

Letting out his breath in relief, Draco provided her with a short report on receiving his assignment and then on the months after the attack on Hogwarts. When he told her about his tasks concerning Order members and his attack on Headmistress McGonagall, her eyes flickered dangerously. He did not go into the details of the tasks for himself or his mentor about killing young Muggle-born magical children. He just told her that the demands had been hard for him and that Severus had helped him.

Draco summarised. "First, he was always close, although I didn't know it or want him. Then he ensured I was patched up again, and we came to live here together. Finally, we discussed very personal matters, and I understood more about his work. He wanted it to happen, of course. I accepted his conditions." Draco didn't elaborate the terms, but Ginny nodded.

"Now I am under probation for our master as something like Severus' apprentice," Draco concluded. "I cannot operate independently, and I cannot betray him or the... the cause."

It was time for dinner, but neither of them were very hungry. Ginny went to the kitchen to see what she could make. She returned to Draco with cutting board, knife, bowl and four onions and reached for the dust-bin. With a grin, she ordered: "peel and cut into quarter inch cubes." He took up his work with a smirk.

On a hunch, Ginny brought the meat she was cutting over as well so that they could see each other and talk. She also brought them water and apple juice. Side by side, they worked on dinner.

With the Leg-Locker Curse, Ginny didn't have to fear him at all, but he truly wished this had not been necessary. "Living up to Slytherin standards isn't easy," he started. "Do you have any idea how many families even in my own house I was almost forbidden to look at or talk to?"

Ginny was taken aback. "There is no such thing in Gryffindor. I don't even know from what family background the younger years are."

"I noticed that right away. Your brother with Potter and Granger or Longbottom with Granger – even weirder to Slytherin eyes."

"Huh, how's that?"

"The Longbottoms are a rich, respected family. Your family is pure-blood, but... you realise what I was taught to think of you. Not that I was allowed to converse freely with Longbottom, but had his parents been healthy, they would have held some respect, and he along with them." He set down his knife and looked at her. "You know, I came to think that much of the taunting Slytherins put on other houses, especially on Gryffindor, was actually due to the pressure that we experience in our own walls. We see that you don't seem to have the same boundaries and enjoy a freedom we cannot have."

"We don't have any restrictions. People are respected for their performance in class and Quidditch. But that should be true for Slytherin as well."

"Yes, of course. I think this kept Severus alive, if only barely."

Ginny pondered over this. "Oh, yes, he is a half-blood, only a half-blood, then. Is this his childhood home?"

"Yes. He related to me how he used to have to scrub the floor. His father often set him to menial tasks in his holidays. He had to creep out at night to get to his school stuff and do his homework."

"Same as Harry; his uncle locked away his whole trunk first thing when they came home. They made him prepare meals, do the gardening and other chores. His cousin taunted him and bullied him all the time."

Draco raised an eye at that. "I had to work several hours every day on father's assignments. The only goal father set was to beat Granger. Miss Granger," he corrected himself. "It might have been all right if I had been lazy or if there had been a more objective goal, but for father the only point was that I had finished lower than a Mud...you know, a Muggle-born. I also had lectures in other subjects father considered valuable."

"My parents were still ambitious with Percy, checking on his achievements and so on. He and Bill are also very much the academic type, although, Bill is fun, too. With Fred and George they lost the battle early and so Ron and I had a rather peaceful life. So says Charlie, at least. You know, he is the second of us, between Bill and Percy, and more of an outdoor type."

"Quidditch and Magical Creatures?"

"Oh, any animal would do. You can't imagine what he kept bringing home before he started school. He had a Muggle friend in the village, Ralph." Draco's eyes went wide. "They were out all the time. Mum says she felt sorry for how often she had to Obliviate him because he had been in our house again. Probably Charlie is the only Weasley who really knows about Muggles. Ugh, don't tell my father..."

"Not much chance of that," Draco provided, but noticed his mistake immediately. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to bring that up now."

Ginny left for the kitchen. Draco had no way to reach her, and he didn't want to call for her.

:*:*:*:

She returned with swollen, red eyes. "Let's not talk about it."

She took all their ingredients to the kitchen and resumed cooking. "Hmm, smells good. Where did you learn that?" she heard from the sitting room.

Returning with the cutlery and plates, she asked, "How many guesses do you need?"

"So it is true, you don't have an elf at all?"

"No, and not only because we can't afford one, Dad would never... although I believe Mum would not have minded, with all the clothes and the meals. But she never complained. Never...she employed us, though."

"Especially you, as the girl?"

"Not really. My luck was maybe that I was the youngest. She needed help when I was still too small. Anyway, do we wait or start?"

"Severus won't mind eating after us. And if he returns injured, we can help him." At Ginny's shocked face, Draco continued. "What do you think they look like if the Dark Lord has a bout of wrath? I've patched up my father a few times. Severus must have suffered a lot while he was a teacher. He didn't really bring enough information, did he?"

"Hope not."

They started eating in an awkward silence. Draco observed her carefully. She was deep in her thoughts, although they didn't seem to circulate around her own destiny. Eventually, Draco broke the silence again: "Have you been at Hogwarts since... you know?"

The castle had almost replaced Headquarters, but she would not tell him that. "A month ago. Hmm, we slept in Slytherin quarters, actually...including Hermione."

"Merlin's beard, the poor old man will be sick in his grave. Why was that?"

"As it happened, someone quite thoroughly destroyed the upper floors. Your place, on the contrary, is hardly touched."

They continued their amiable talk for a long time. At some points, Ginny found Draco's insistent questioning disturbing. At other points she would have liked to make him ask more. But she felt too glad to have heard a bit of his life, to have some clues as to why he had been that mean and wasn't anymore that she didn't mind. Living up to Slytherin requirements wasn't easy. Add the requirements set by Lucius Malfoy...a sheer impossibility.

:*:*:*:

The door opened and a tired, exhausted Severus Snape returned home. He made for the bedroom.

Draco asked Ginny and she gave him his wand to free himself. He stretched to get into motion and then went over to Severus, who sat pensively on the edge of his bed, eyes unfocussed. They observed him silently for a while.

"Severus?" he prompted carefully.

"It is alright. Let me wash and change."

:*:*:*:

The young people left him and prepared his dinner.

He reappeared quickly, physically unharmed, but hungry. Feeling ravenous, he helped himself and began to eat without a word. For the second helpings, he slowed down and relished the food. Still no word.

Desperately waiting for information, Ginny had to calm herself down several times. Her mind provided her with increasingly disturbing scenarios.

When he loaded his plate for the third time, Draco looked over to Ginny meaningfully. "Feel like filling us in now, Severus?"

"Shortly. You might update Miss Weasley about the group weddings."

"Weddings? We thought you knew the outcome of..."

"...of Friday's skirmish? Nothing much happened after we left. Miss Granger left unharmed, as did the other key actors."

Ginny relaxed. Remembering the professor's first sentence she looked at Draco apprehensively, and he explained. "There have been several huge weddings arranged all over summer. The last one was two months ago. Six pairs were wed on the same day. Some of them were children of the members of the Inner Circle, all of the grooms and some brides were promising Death Eaters, pure-bloods and half-bloods. These weddings come with the additional obligation of regular consummation and having children." Ginny shuddered and Draco went silent.

Curious now, Ginny asked about re-housing. Draco raised his eyes in question and she huffed. "I am a pure-blood, remember? Not exercising a tradition doesn't mean one would not know about it."

"I see. In these cases, re-housing was hardly necessary. All men were Slytherins and so were three of the young women. The other brides, two Ravenclaws and one Hufflepuff, have been accepted without. It would have been difficult to control anyway, since the Death Eaters cannot reach the Sorting Hat."

She nodded in relief. The re-housing was a painful and often disastrous pure-blood tradition for couples of mixed temperament. Typically, but not always, it was the young bride who was submitted to a series of mind altering potions and spells to render her character more compatible with the house of her pure-blood husband, a dangerous enterprise with strong-willed persons. Their minds were hard to submit. Increased doses of the potions broke them completely so that the woman was merely a shell without a will of steering her own life, which, after all, was convenient for some men. Depending on the family tradition, re-housing was demanded at marriage, after the heir was born, or even repetitively every three to five years.

For some years, Arthur Weasley had worked hard to have this procedure forbidden, to no avail. He had been shunned for refusing to fetch the Sorting Hat or supervise the procedure. According to him, the name was already misleading. The victim was not re-housed but only de-housed: the admission was terminated when the Sorting Hat was unable to assign a house or provided several, including the one of the spouse.

The tradition was centuries old. Many families who didn't dare to break it avoided trouble by not binding themselves out of their houses. It was an additional reason for the incest that led to stillbirths and Squibs and left many couples childless.

Death Eater or not, Ginny was relieved to hear that the disgusting mind changing had been avoided.

Finally, their teacher finished his plate and sat back, cradling his drink. Ginny moved to bring the dishes to the kitchen, but Severus sent them over with a flick of his wand.

"Thank you. I have to go anyway to get our desserts. Would you prefer it right now or in a little while?" she wondered, thinking of how full his stomach must be.

"I will first tell you what happened." With mixed feelings she sat back down, and Severus began. "These new couples have been the Dark Lord's pride, his investment into the future. He is most anxious to recruit more promising material." While it was easy to fill the lower ranks of his army, the strategists, the planners and commanders were missing. Or else they were imprisoned in Azkaban, like Lucius Malfoy.

Severus asked for the dessert then. Ginny provided a bowl of chocolate mousse with fresh pears. They all served themselves. Slowly, Severus emptied the first bowl, letting his tongue take in the taste and smooth texture of each spoonful. Taking his second helping, he continued.

The couples submitted themselves to produce three promising new Death Eaters within seven years. Since not all (Draco snorted) marriages had been love-based, they would be released from the marriage when their last child entered Hogwarts. Or whatever school young Slytherins would attend in the coming years, Severus mused. It was mainly for these couples that Severus and Draco provided lust potions. Ginny looked up in disgust.

To boost the morale, the Dark Lord had further ordered monthly festivities for the newly-weds. Seven couples from the last two ceremonies and two promising candidates for the next one had met for a Sunday brunch, three with the proud announcement of pregnancy.

Then there had been a disruption. The servants and guards had been incapacitated by so far unknown means, and the attendants of the party had not fared much better. Eight men and five women were arrested by Ministry Aurors or killed at their attempt to flee.

In the aftermath, one of the young widows had committed suicide. She had been pregnant and probably hadn't managed the shock together with her hormone turmoil.

They finished their dessert in silence. Even for Death Eaters, a wedding and the first years should be a glad affair, full of happiness, joy and laughter, thought Ginny. If not their whole lives, then at least the start should be merry. She was pulled into the present when her professor continued.

This night, the Dark Lord had personally submitted each and every member of the Inner Circle to questioning under Legilimency. He had demanded Severus to question the key ranks of the normal Death Eaters while at the same time pry open their minds to evaluate how trustworthy their statements were.

"When we were through, he has, of course, thoroughly gone through my results and my brains. I truly wonder where he takes his energy from in these mammoth sessions." Severus sat back, rubbing his face.

"He does not have to Occlude his mind in parallel," Draco offered. "Do you need a potion?"

"No, a shower and a square meal were just fine. Now all I require is a good night's rest." After a pause, he informed them, "With the mess of tracking down what has happened and who might have betrayed the party, we are to meet the Dark Lord on Wednesday night. He will search for an even more protected environment, I suppose."

Silently, Ginny and Draco made for the kitchen, and with Draco's magical help, they quickly cleaned the place.

With the determination to sleep soundly and be refreshed the next morning, Ginny went to the bed into which the men had once again transfigured the sofa. We have made good progress today and, unexpectedly, I have a day more to prepare myself, she thought and felt her body relax. She cleared her mind, Occluding it as best as she could before she found sleep.

:*:*:*:

For the whole night, Draco's mind would circle around pieces of information Ginny had delivered involuntarily and innocently. Valuable as the news was, he could not possibly inform his mentor about the issue. He scanned through the exact wording of the Unbreakable Vow to which he was liable. He was not to inform others about Severus, but the opposite...informing Severus about himself, or others...was not included. However, Draco would have to work on this later.

:*:*:*: