Crossing Lines

It was the first day of Ginevra Weasley's sixth year at school, and she was going to kill Severus Snape. Right now, in fact, she was crouched outside his office door, waiting for her time to strike.

"We need it."

She froze. There was someone in there with him! Ohshit. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"It's too dangerous."

The second voice was lower than Snape's, and vaguely familiar. Ginny frowned as she tried to remember where she'd heard it before.

"We need it!"

"It's too dangerous!"

"Fuck it, Albus, I need it! I. Can't. Go. On. Like. This."

"You can't endanger students like this, Severus!"

"Watch me!" Snape snarled. Then several things happened at once.

Ginny shifted her balance, tripped on her shoelace and crashed through the door.

Snape whirled around, wand out. "Avada ke-"

"Severus, no!" the other voice yelled.

And Ginny rolled behind the headmaster's desk and shouted, "Petrificus totalus!"

Snape toppled like he'd been hit over the head, arms and legs snapping together in temporary paralysis. Ginny glanced around wildly for the other person she'd heard speaking, but the office was empty but for her and Snape. She leapt to her feet and kicked his wand out of his hand before he could try anything else. She was shaking all over with fright. He tried to kill her. He just tried to kill her.

If she weren't so good at dodging bludgers, she'd be dead.

"You bastard," she gasped, standing over him with her wand at his neck. "You tried to kill me." Her hand was trembling like a leaf in the wind. She couldn't believe it. It wasn't supposed to be this easy, surely? He was disarmed and defenceless, lying on the floor in front of her. All she had to do was...She slowly raised her wand.

Harry wouldn't do it. Harry wouldn't think it honourable. That thought stopped her for a fraction of a second, then she shook it off. She wasn't Harry. She took a breath, preparing to say the words of the killing curse.

"Miss Weasley, no!"

She screamed. She didn't mean to, but it was all too much. She recognised that voice now. "P-professor Dumbledore?"

"Indeed. In the paint, as it were. Now, Miss Weasley, remove your wand from the headmaster's throat."

Ginny thought she might throw up. She'd finally seen where Dumbledore's voice was coming from: a portrait hanging on the wall beside her. "You - he -" she stuttered. Then anger overcame her shock. "He's not the headmaster!" she spat. "He's nothing but a goddamned murderer, and you're defending him!"

"Please refrain from that language, Ginevra," Dumbledore said firmly. "There are things going on at present that you have no understanding of, and this is one of them. Now, unfreeze the headmaster."

"What? He'll kill me! You saw what he tried to do to me!"

"And I saw what you were going to do to him, too. This isn't a discussion, Ginevra. I'm telling you to unfreeze him."

Ginny's eyes burned. This was Dumbledore talking to her; the Dumbledore she'd been mourning all summer. And he was defending his murderer. What the hell was going on?

"Unfreeze him now,' he said warningly.

"Fine," she muttered sullenly. "But I'm keeping his wand." It was going against every instinct that she had, but this was Dumbledore. Maybe he was right, and she just didn't understand. She doubted it, but maybe...

Sighing, she moved out of reach of Snape and muttered the counter curse.

"Miss Weasley, you foolish, foolish girl," Snape drawled as he picked himself off the floor. "Hand me my wand."

"No." Ginny backed up as he stepped towards her, her back to the portrait of some long dead headmaster.

"Hand me my wand, and your punishment will be less severe."

"No." Her back hit the painting and the man in it gave an indignant squeak. "Tell me what's going on."

"Miss Weasley, I am fast losing patience with your histrionics. You will give me back my wand now."

Her eyes darted around the room, looking for an escape. Snape was standing between her and the door; she'd never be able to make it. All the windows were either too high or too small, or both, even aside from the fact they were five storeys off the ground. There was no way to get out. She bit back a whimper. "Fine."

She threw it jerkily, and it landed at his feet. He smiled and bent to pick it up. "Good. Now come and sit down." She obeyed, half hypnotised by his dark eyes.

"Severus," the portrait of Dumbledore said softly.

"I know what I'm doing, Albus," Snape replied shortly. "I have no choice, and I think this actually might work." He turned back to face Ginny. "Now," he said to her," I will tell you what I should have told somebody several months ago."

Ginny blinked. This wasn't what she was expecting.

"There is a hideously long story accompanying this," he said, calmly taking the seat across the desk from her, "but because of time restrictions, I will skip it. All you need to know is that I am not a traitor to your side of the war and that both Albus and I knew and accepted I would have to kill him that night."

"Oh, sure," she said sarcastically. "And he didn't mind at all that you opened the castle to Death Eaters and killed our side's greatest hope for winning the war?"

"No," the portrait of Dumbledore said, surprising her. "I didn't mind. And in fact, it was Draco Malfoy that gave the Death Eaters run of the castle, and Harry Potter who is our greatest hope, not me."

"But - everyone knows you're the only one Vol- You-Know-Who's ever been afraid of." Much as she hated not to call Voldemort his name, only a fool called the Taboo down on herself.

Snape cut in again. "He was dying anyway, and we reached an agreement, one that only a few others knew of. I have continued to supply trusted Ministry contacts with the Dark Lord's plans." Dumbledore nodded serenely from his perch.

"Why are you telling me this?" Ginny asked. Her brain was refusing to accept this was true. It was as if the whole world had turned upside down. "You can't tell me this! What's to stop me from-" she broke off as she realised what she had just said. Oh shit. "Oh my God. You're going to kill me."

Snape looked vaguely insulted. "Don't be ridiculous. And quiet, I haven't finished explaining. As I was saying, I have been supplying Alastor Moody with details of the Dark Lord's plans."

"But he's dead!" she burst out.

"I know." He looked down his nose at her. "And he will have told a successor that he receives tip-offs from a Death Eater. The problem is, the successor doesn't know of my innocence, and would arrest or kill me if I tried to communicate."

"You need someone to relay information," she said, finally understanding.

"Not as slow as you look, then," Snape mused. "But more than that, I need backup."

"Backup?"

"Yes. In case the Dark Lord develops suspicions about my loyalty, I need to be sure that there is someone else to spy for our side."

"You want me to become a Death Eater?"

His nostrils flared irritably. "Is that not what I've just said?"

"Me?"

"Well, you're certainly not my first choice, but I think you'll do. It takes either uncommon luck or uncommon skill to get the better of me - something Harry Potter has never managed to do, and you did not ten minutes ago - and both of those qualities are necessary in the Dark Lord's service."

"This is, of course, your own decision," Dumbledore added. Ginny glanced up at him.

"Is this what you were arguing about, before I, er, interrupted you?"

"Yes."

She nodded, thinking. "What will happen to me if I say no?" she asked.

"I will put the strongest memory charm on you that I know how, and pray the Dark Lord never wishes to see inside your head," Snape replied promptly. "It is risky, though. Even the best memory charms can be broken."

Ginny nodded again. "And if I do it, I'll - what? Become a Death Eater?"

"Yes. I will have to train you beforehand, in cruelty and in magic, so your thoughts and skills don't betray you, but within a few months, you will become a Death Eater. You can change your mind any time, however."

She looked down at her hands folded neatly in her lap. Become a Death Eater? Could she do it?

Her nails were uneven, and bitten to the quick. Bitten with worry. She'd spent the last month in agony, not knowing what was happening to Harry, Ron and Hermione, and wanting to with an anxiety that hurt. This would take her mind off it, and she would be able to help the cause in a way they never could.

"Yes," she said. "I'll do it."

"I'll not pretend this isn't dangerous, Miss Weasley," he said, ignoring her. "It is. If you choose to do this, you'll be lucky to live the year out."

"I'll do it."

"You will be facing - indeed, doing - monstrous things, the like of which you've never imagined."

"I said, I'll do it!" she yelled over him.

"Of course you did. Hard headed Gryffindor stupidity at its worst. All heart, no brain is an attitude that will get you killed, Miss Weasley."

"It won't be if you train me," she replied steadily. "And that's Ms Weasley. Not Miss."

Snape smiled bitterly. "Get used to Miss. Feminism isn't a concept familiar to the Dark Lord."

She ignored that, determined not to let her irritation show. "When does my training start?"

"You'll know. Now, report to your dormitory before it's noticed you've gone. Rules aren't as soft as they once were. Go."

She went.

"Well, Severus?" Dumbledore asked after several minutes. Snape was slumped at his desk, his head in his hands. "Are you happy now?"

"Happy? Happy that I've condemned an innocent, stupid and gullible girl into a game that is far too big for her? Happy that I've just ruined her life?" He raised his head. His face was twisted with pain and self-loathing. "No. But I have little choice."

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Ginny cast a Disillusionment on herself - a skill she'd practised for months to achieve - as she left Snape's office, and made her way up to the common room without thinking. Her mind had no room for mundane thought. It was still reeling with what she'd just agreed to do. How did I just buy his story? She asked herself. All it takes is a sharp talking to and a speaking picture, and suddenly I'm siding with the enemy. Or what I thought was the enemy.

She slumped against a wall, her head in her hands. She was going to have a killer headache tomorrow morning.

"All clear, Alecto?" She froze as footsteps rounded the corner, her body taking on the colour and texture of the stone behind her.

"Yep. All the little shits are too scared of their own shadows to set a foot outta line," a raspy female voice sniggered.

"Heh," the man agreed. "They ain't seen nothing yet."

The two speakers walked in front of her. They weren't more than two feet away. She could have reached out and touched them - if she had a death wish. She knew who these two were. New 'Professors'. Snape had introduced them at the feast a few hours ago. Alecto Carrow was the woman, Amycus her brother. They looked similar, with stringy blonde hair and foreheads that reminded Ginny distinctly of pictures of Neanderthals in some long-forgotten textbook. Ginny wasn't sure what they were teaching; she'd had her mind on other things at dinner.

"Can't see us recruiting anyone good here," Alecto grunted. "Not in Ravenclaw, anyway. Half blood pipsqueaks, the lot of them. Not a pint of magical blood between 'em."

They'd passed her, and were a good few yards down the corridor. Ginny slowly exhaled the breath she'd been holding before she passed out. The feast had only ended at nine, and it couldn't have been much past ten now. Normally, the halls would still have the odd student meandering along to meet a friend from another house, or off to the Owlery to write a letter to their parents. Now, they were totally deserted. Snape hadn't been joking about the added security.

Ginny eased herself off the wall she'd been flattened against and started creeping silently down the hall.

"Oi! You!" The rough voice of Amycus Carrow broke the silence, and Ginny froze. Not now. She could not face this now. "You two! Stop tryin' to hide."

Two people? Maybe Ginny wouldn't have to face this. There certainly weren't two of her. She looked around, trying to see if there was anyone else in sight.

Two younger students, maybe fourth or fifth year, were frozen like rabbits in front of the headlights of an oncoming car. From how they were standing, Ginny guessed that they'd been saying a very...enthusiastic hello to each other.

"Do you know how much trouble you're in?" Carrow spat at them. Ginny was behind the three of them, so she could watch the proceedings without being at too much risk.

The sight of Carrow, looking not dissimilar from a blonde rhinoceros, bearing down on them was too much for the pair. As one, they broke and ran in opposite directions.

"OI!" Carrow yelled in dismay. He pointed his wand at the boy's retreating back. "Crucio!"

The boy fell to the ground, his limbs spasming helplessly. The girl turned at his first scream and screamed as well. "Patrick!"

"Oh, don't like that, do yeh?" Carrow asked her, grinning evilly. "Not so quick to run away now I've got yer boyfriend with me? This is your fault, y'know." The boy's cries were echoing off the walls. Ginny thought her head might explode. How could this happen? How could he possibly do this? "If you hadn't run off," he said conversationally, "this never would've happened. How's that make you feel, eh?"

The girl swayed on her feet, her face gone the colour of old milk. "No! Please, please! Don't hurt him," she begged. "Stop! Stop!"

Carrow looked over the boy lying at his feet and shrugged. "Look's like you's 'ave learned your lesson," he said in satisfaction, and broke the curse. The boy's screams didn't stop, but gradually grew quieter until he was sobbing rather than shrieking, sobs his girlfriend echoed. "Now get back to yer houses, both of yiz. And let that be a lesson," he added. "Never cross a Carrow."

The girl edged over to her boyfriend and tried to haul him upwards without hurting him further. "Oh yeah," Carrow added as an afterthought. "What houses are you in?"

"R-ravenclaw," the girl stuttered. "But Patrick's in Hufflepuff."

"Twenty points off for each of yiz. And if yer in different houses, why're you takin' him with you?"

"He - um - I-"

"He's a big boy, he can handle himself. Now go." And the girl, obviously too frightened to talk back, fled, leaving her only half-conscious boyfriend to make his own way to his house. Satisfied, Carrow strolled onwards, whistling tunelessly to himself.

Ginny stared at his retreating back with horror. She didn't understand how Snape could let him teach here; how anyone could let him teach here. She took two steps forward to help, then stopped again, hating herself. Oh bugger it, she told herself, and crossed over to where Patrick was leaning against a wall.

"Are you alright?" she whispered.

"What?" He looked around wildly, and Ginny sighed. She'd forgotten she was Disillusioned.

"I'm right here. Look hard and you can see me. Do you need help getting back to your tower?"

He shook his head determinedly. "Thanks, but I'll manage. I don't want anyone else caught on my behalf."

"I saw what he did to you," she said. "He's a psychopath."

"Yeah, but at least he did it to me, not Cass," the boy agreed. "Go back to your own common room, please. Before you get caught too."

Ginny was reluctant, but she saw sense in what he was saying. Typical Hufflepuff, she thought as she headed back to Gryffindor. She made the rest of the trip to Gryffindor tower with twice the caution of before. She was fine until she stood in front of the Fat Lady.

"Password?" she asked grouchily. "And you shouldn't be out after hours now anyway."

Ginny stared in disbelief. "Bloody buggering - fuck," she swore passionately. How could she have been so stupid? She'd gone straight from the feast to Dumbledore's - no, Snape's, now - office. Of course she didn't know the password. "Oh, this is all I need."

The Fat Lady frowned in worry. "You don't know it, do you?"

Ginny mutely shook her head.

"Do you have any idea what the Carrows will do if they find you out here?" the Fat Lady hissed angrily.

"Yes," said Ginny flatly. "I just saw one of them use the Cruciatus curse on some boy who was meeting up with his girlfriend."

"Then why on earth are you still out here, you little idiot?" The Fat Lady was beside herself with rage. "Things are different now. What with Dumbledore gone-" She sighed in resignation.

"I'm going to tell you the password, but only because your entire family has been in my house and I will not betray a Gryffindor in need. But if I ever see you in this position again..."

"You won't," Ginny said earnestly. "Never again."

"Pureblood. And remember it, because it's on my head as well, if you get caught."

Without waiting for Ginny to say anything, she swung open and Ginny dived through the hole into the welcoming red and gold of the Gryffindor commons.