Velamentum

When Ginny felt the first stirrings of consciousness, she was aware of an angry voice speaking near her. "... was way too much, too soon! I mean, she was just kidnapped, Lucius! I thought we agreed I wouldn't reveal myself 'till later."

With a bit of a struggle, Ginny placed the voice as being Tonks's. Deciding it would be educational to eavesdrop on the rest of the conversation; Ginny did not move and kept her eyes firmly shut.

"Well the plan had to be changed," replied the harsh voice of Lucius Malfoy. "She was obviously unstable."

"Unstable?" Tonks asked incredulously. "She has been taught from an early age that the Malfoys are enemies and that they are irrevocably tied to Voldemort! And then suddenly she's supposed to believe you're the good guys?"

"We are not the 'good guys'," Lucius snapped, sounding disgruntled. "We are just not in league with Voldemort."

Tonks snorted. "Oh face it, Lucius. You are no longer on the dark side."

"I was under the impression that you were supposed to helping me, not antagonizing me," Lucius said acidly.

Tonks snorted again. "Since when is calling you a good guy antagonizing you?" she asked with some amusement.

"Trust me," Lucius answered in a flat voice, "it is."

Ginny cracked one eye open. She was obviously in a different room, because she felt herself lying on a soft couch of some sort. Lucius was sitting on a long ottoman while Tonks paced around a small table. Neither of them noticed her.

"Is this going to work?" Lucius asked quietly.

Tonks didn't reply for a long time. "I don't know," she finally replied, matching Lucius's tone.

Lucius sighed heavily. "Is there any chance that she'll agree to it?"

"Agree to what?" Ginny asked, unable to remain quiet any longer. Lucius started, eyes widening slightly. Tonks jumped a foot in the air and knocked over a vase that was on the table. It fell on the ground and shattered.

"Whoops," she muttered, running a hand through her hair.

"Nicely done," Lucius commented dryly. "The intensity of your clumsiness never ceases to amaze me."

"Shut up," Tonks scowled. Muttering a spell under her breath, she returned the vase to the table in one piece.

Lucius's mouth twitched, almost forming a smile. Apparently bored with Tonks, he turned to Ginny. "So, eavesdropping, were you? I didn't think Gryffindors did things as sneaky as that."

"They do when they've been kidnapped," Ginny retorted.

Lucius nodded once. "Fair point."

"How are you feeling, Ginny?" Tonks asked her, sounding concerned. "You were unconscious for a few minutes."

Ginny was surprised to hear that only a few minutes had passed. It seemed like much longer.

"I'm fine. Physically, that is. Tonks... what is going on?" Ginny asked in a pleading voice.

Sighing, Tonks pulled out a chair and sat down. "Alright, I'm going to explain everything to you, Ginny. But it may seem too incredible to be true. Just promise me that you'll hear me out completely before you make any judgments."

Reluctantly, Ginny nodded. "Okay. So, as Lucius told you, we are part of an order called the Velamentum."

"But you're a member of the Order of the Phoenix! Are you acting as a spy for these Velamentum people?" Ginny asked furiously.

Tonks looked uncomfortable. "Well, I have been keeping my superiors informed about the doings of the Order. But it doesn't matter Ginny, because we really are on the same side."

"If you're on the same side, then why don't you just join the Order of the Phoenix?" Ginny questioned shrewdly.

Lucius gave a short bark of laughter. "Oh, yes. I'm sure your precious Order would love to have someone like me at their side."

Tonks nodded in agreement. "Lots of members of the Velamentum have... shady pasts. There is a high possibility that the Order wouldn't let them join."

Ginny shook her head vehemently. "I don't believe that. The Order would accept anyone who had proved their innocence."

Lucius rolled his eyes dramatically. Tonks smiled at her a bit sadly, but did not contradict her. "Ginny, that's not the only thing keeping us from becoming one with the Order. Ever since Dumbledore was killed, the Order has been unorganized. They've been having... difficulties."

"What Nymphadora is attempting, and failing miserably, to tell you, is that for the last two years, the idiotic Order has done far more damage than good," Lucius explained coolly.

Ginny stood up from the couch, ignoring the slight dizziness that accompanied her. "You're lying!" she exclaimed furiously. "The Order is the only thing keeping Voldemort from taking over."

Lucius gave a dark chuckle. Tonks shook her head firmly. "No, Ginny. It isn't that the Order hasn't been trying, but without Dumbledore to lead them, they haven't been able to accomplish anything. You must have realized that they weren't making much progress."

Now Ginny felt uncomfortable, caught between defending the Order and being completely honest. "Well... yeah, they've been having a hard time. But that's just because Voldemort has been getting so much stronger."

"That," Lucius stated, "is just a pathetic excuse. The Order of the Phoenix has failed. Not everyone realizes it yet, but they will soon. Of course, anyone with half a mind has already jumped ship. It didn't take Potter and his two minions long to come to our side."

Ginny felt the air being knocked out of her. There was a low buzzing in her ears. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were part of the Velamentum? They had abandoned the Order? And they had never even mentioned it to her?

"Lucius, that was completely tactless!" Tonks was saying angrily. "You can't just drop a bomb on her like that!" Lucius just shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.

Tonks turned to Ginny. "Ginny?" she asked softly. "Are you alright?"

Ginny shook her head, softly at first, then fervently. "It can't be true," she croaked out. "Harry told me that he, Ron, and Hermione were off on a mission that Dumbledore sent them on. He said they were doing important work concerning Voldemort and that's why they couldn't help the Order."

"They are doing important work concerning Voldemort," Tonks explained, "but they're doing it with the aid of the Velamentum."

"But why would they leave the Order?" Ginny asked quietly, more to herself than anyone else.

Lucius chose to explain it to her anyway. "Because they understood that the Velamentum could be much more helpful to them than the Order of the Phoenix could."

"They didn't mean to betray your trust, Ginny," Tonks added. "They were just doing what was necessary to win this war."

Ginny nodded mutely, lost in thought. But then something struck her as odd. "Hold on," she said slowly. "Harry was there tonight. He said that Ron and Hermione couldn't make it because they were in the middle of some important work, but that he was available to help. If Harry's part of the Velamentum, then why wasn't he with you guys tonight?"

Tonks looked severely uncomfortable. "Well, that's because... he didn't know we were coming tonight."

"Why?" Ginny asked suspiciously. "And anyway," she added, thinking of something else, "even if he didn't know you were coming, wouldn't he have recognized someone?"

"No," Lucius answered, "because we were dressed as Death Eaters. Potter and everyone else in the Order believe you have been captured by Voldemort."

Ginny swallowed hard. "Why? Why do they have to think that? And how authentic were you in your role as Death Eaters?" she added fearfully.

"No one was killed," Tonks said soothingly. "A few people were hit with spells, but there was no permanent damage done. We wanted them to think of us as Death Eaters, but we wouldn't compromise innocent lives for the sake of authenticity."

Ginny nodded, slightly relieved. "But that still doesn't answer my question. Why did you pretend to be Death Eaters? What was the purpose of kidnapping me?"

"Do you know exactly what was going to happen tonight?" Tonks asked, avoiding the question. "Did you understand your role?"

Ginny nodded slowly, unsure of where the conversation was headed. "I was told that we were going to release a spirit, and that the spirit would help us fight against Voldemort."

"Yes," Tonks urged, "and do you know why you were chosen?"

"They needed-" Ginny started, then hesitated, embarrassed to say the words out loud.

Lucius continued for her. "They needed a girl that was pure of body and mind but had been tainted by evil. After the incident with Tom Riddle's diary-"

"The diary that you gave to me," Ginny added angrily.

"After the incident," Lucius continued, ignoring her accusation, "you were a perfect candidate for the job."

"So?" Ginny challenged. "All I had to do was recite a spell. What's so bad about that?"

"The spell was just the beginning. You, Miss Weasley, were to be presented to the spirit as a sacrifice."

Ginny's stomach clenched in fright at his words. "But, no, that's not possible. Harry-"

"Mr. Potter was in the middle of an important task when he heard about what was going to happen. He rushed to the Headquarters of the Phoenix, but it was too late to convince the heads of the Order that the upcoming task was far too dangerous," Lucius explained. "So, like a fool, he decided that he would stay to help you."

Ginny shook her head wordlessly, too horrified to speak.

Lucius Malfoy gazed straight into her eyes. "Once you evoked the spirit, it would have devoured your soul. You would have been killed, or worse. And when Potter tried to save you, there's a great chance that he would have been killed himself."

Ginny felt a lump in her throat and tears pricking her eyes. How was this possible? "So... you..."

"Essentially, Miss Weasley, we saved your life."

"But I don't understand!" she exclaimed, voice full of grief. "The Order couldn't have known-"

"They knew perfectly well," Tonks said, sounding disgusted. "They were willing to sacrifice you in order to gain control of the spirit."

"My parents?" Ginny asked hoarsely. "My family?"

"They had no idea," Tonks assured her.

Ginny sighed. That, at least, was something.

"Thank god we were able to stop them," Lucius said fervently.

Ginny looked at him curiously. "I didn't think you cared so much about my life," she said sardonically.

Lucius smirked. "I wasn't referring to you. If the Order had succeeded in awakening that creature, we would all be doomed. The spirit they were calling forth is one of the darkest things ever known. The spell they were going to use was the darkest of the Dark Arts. Even the Dark Lord feared it too much to use it."

"If it was so evil, then why did the Order decide to use it?" Ginny asked, bewildered.

"Bravery," Lucius spat out. "You foolish Gryffindors believe you can conquer anything. But that arrogance almost cost us all our lives. If the spirit had been freed, there is a good chance that it would have killed the Dark Lord. But once Voldemort was gone, we would have been faced with something that was far worse."

Ginny shuddered. It was impossible to imagine something worse than Voldemort, but the slight tremor in Malfoy's voice convinced her that he was telling the truth.

"You are here, Miss Weasley," Lucius spoke, "because we have a proposition for you."

"And what is that?" Ginny asked warily.

"We want you to join the Velamentum," Tonks said.

Ginny was silent for a long time. She had suspected that this was her real purpose in being here, but she was nowhere near close to making a decision. Despite strong suspicions, she believed what Tonks and Lucius had told her. But did she really want to be part of this manipulative, not quite good, order?

"You do want to fight Voldemort, don't you?" Lucius asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Of course I do!" Ginny answered angrily.

"Well then it is only logical for you to join us. You will do much more good here than with the Order of the Phoenix."

After a silent moment, Ginny answered. "Alright. I think... I want to do it."

"Before you agree," Tonks said hastily, "there's a condition."

"What?" Ginny asked suspiciously.

Tonks tried to speak, but her mouth seemed incapable of forming the words. So Lucius spoke for her. "If you join the Velamentum, false evidence will be made to show your death. If you become one of us, everyone on the outside will believe you have been killed by Death Eaters."

Ginny felt her lip trembling, but bit on it to keep from crying. "No," she whispered. "I can't. How on earth can I do that? What about my family? Could I tell them?"

Tonks shook her head sadly. "No. They have to think you're dead. Only members of the Velamentum, and at that, only some members of the Velamentum, will know that you're alive."

Ginny took a trembling breath. "What about Harry?" she asked. "And Ron, and Hermione? They could know, right?"

Tonks bit her lip. "No," she said finally. "They can't know either."

"But why not?" Ginny burst out. "They're part of the Velamentum, aren't they?"

"It is implicit that they do not know," Lucius answered evasively.

"But why?" Ginny asked once more, frustrated by the lack of answers.

"We can't tell you," Tonks told Ginny.

"Yeah?" Ginny asked angrily. "Says who?"

"Our superior," Tonks answered.

"And who is that?" Ginny questioned.

"The head of the Velamentum," Lucius stated.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Oh, Merlin! I'd like a name, please!"

Lucius and Tonks exchanged glances. Ginny snorted. "Oh, let me guess. You can't tell me that either?"

"Well," Tonks said slowly, "Yes. But not for the reason you think. We can't tell you because we don't know who the head of the Velamentum is either."

Ginny gaped at them. "Are you kidding? How can you put all your trust in someone you don't even know? For all you know, it could be Voldemort!"

Lucius chuckled. "Oh, yes, I'm positive that The Dark Lord is leading a rebellion against himself." He rolled his eyes.

"Ginny, we have plenty of reason to trust this person," Tonks assured her. "We just can't tell you the specifics of it. You just have to trust us."

Ginny was silent for a long time. "I would really be helping if I joined?" she asked.

"Yes," Tonks said fervently. "You would."

After another interminable silence, Ginny spoke. "Fine," she said, looking at the floor. "I'll do it."

Tonks grinned, and Lucius gave a soft sigh of relief.

Obviously, it was important to them that Ginny be on their side. Ginny swore to herself that eventually, she'd find out why. "So what's my first job going to be?" she asked curiously.

"You are going to be sent on an undercover mission abroad," Lucius answered.

"Alone?"

"No, no. You'll have a partner. Ah, and there he is."

Ginny watched in horrified shock as he walked in, as smug and arrogant as ever. "You wanted to see me, Father?" Draco Malfoy asked.

Lucius smiled wickedly. "Oh, yes. Draco," he said, gesturing to Ginny, "meet your new partner."

Looking at Ginny, Draco's eyes widened in horror. Ginny stared back at him in disgust. Draco turned to his father. "You must be joking."