Two Vials of Poison: One Red, One Silver

RECAP OF PROLOGUE - Punching Analysis: Harry and the Weasleys are at Godric's Hollow in the year 1998, and they are attacked by Death Eaters suddenly. Crabbe and Goyle Sr. kill Bill Weasley, and Ginny, in a mad rage, kills them violently. She attempts to kill Harry as well, without knowing it was him. Two months later, she is in St. Mungo's, and taking her anger out on a punching bag in the training room; Harry (her fiance) visits her, and their relationship ends. Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy is taking his anger out on a punching bag Transfigured in the shape of his father, who killed his mother; Pansy visits him, and invites him to live with her instead, but Draco refuses, because he knows his father will think he is trying to escape.

Chapter One - The Mission

Year: 2005 (Ginny is 24)

Ginny Weasley looked down at the wristwatch on her hand and let out a small, impatient sigh. Mundungus Fletcher was late--again. Wasn't this the location they were supposed to meet? It did seem like the type of place Dung would choose; it was a little, shack like building that seemed to be made out of stripped wood. There was a dinky sign hanging over the door, covered in dust and cobwebs that read, 'The Robin'. The shack was like Mundungus himself, dirty and odd looking, but very sturdy.

The sky overhead was a dusty blue-grey color, and gave off an aura of omnipotence; a strong breeze would surface every few seconds, causing the trees to sway in a syncopated rhythm.

Ginny pulled her purse strap over her shoulder out of habit and looked down at the beige, curve clinging dress that she had picked out to wear. Sighing, she hugged her ankle length denim jacket closer to herself and hoped Mundungus would get here soon so they could go inside and she could stop freezing to death.

"Boy is you a sight fer sore eyes," whistled a voice, and Ginny turned to see Mundugus approaching, his large feet crinkling the leaves. He was smiling a twisted smile, chuckling, and looking Ginny up and down.

Ginny rolled her eyes, and said, "Thanks for showing up, Dung. I've only been standing here for about a half an hour. It's not like I have anything else better to do...and could you please stop staring at me? I'm your partner, and I am spoken for." She jutted her chin out and huffed when Dung began to laugh.

"Is jus' you look so different, Ginny! I ain't ever seen ya' lookin' like a lady."

"What am I, a dog?" Ginny muttered bitterly, as Mundungus went to open the door to the shack. It swung open with a loud creaking noise, and dust filtered into her nostrils and mouth when she stepped in. Coughing, she opened her eyes a bit. Boxes were everywhere, as well as glass bottles shattered on the floor, and the smell of old whiskey lit the air. There was another door in the far back, but it was sealed shut, and rocks were pushed in the front of it. There was only one window, on the opposite side of the room, shaped like a bottle; the glass was cracked and it was covered in dust. "I should have known you'd bring me to a broken down pub; and a Muggle one at that."

"Best damn pub there is," he said, turning on the light switch, and the room lightened only enough so that Ginny could see that the coat Dung was wearing was green and clearly moth eaten.

"Did you hear from Grigsby?" she asked at once. Jack Grigsby was the Head of the Department of Mysteries, where both Dung and Ginny worked. He was a very strict man, with a skinny neck and a dry sense of humor, who had been married six times. Nevertheless, he was serious when it came to work, and always sent her and Dung on quality assignments.

Mundungus ignored the question, humming an off key tune under his breath, and then looked up at her (for she was a great deal taller than the short man) and said, "Yer spoken for?" with an incredulous look on his face.

"Yes!" Ginny said irritably. "Now, can we please talk business? What's the assignment?"

"Oh, that..." his voice trailed off.

"That's what we're here to talk about, isn't it?"

"Jack said he's send someone to brief us on all the details," Mundungus said, just as a knock sounded on the door. "See?" he said smiling as he went to answer it.

Ginny pulled off her denim jacket and dusted cobwebs off of an old bar stool, and then climbed onto it, crossing one leg over the other. She focused her attention to the door of the shack, and after what was a very short conversation; Dung opened the door wider so Ginny could see who was standing there.

...Her ex-fiancé.

Ginny gasped slightly, for she had not seen him in three years, at least. What with all the undercover assignments she had been on and such, and all the trips he had had to take after the downfall of Voldemort, they hadn't had time to see each other at all. He hadn't even come to the Burrow for Christmas. Even after all this time apart, however, Ginny was not prepared to see him; she didn't want to see him. He made her vulnerable, something she had promised herself she would never be again. Her chest tightened, and, though she tried to stop herself, she stared directly at him.

His eyes had bags underneath them, and his hair was even more rumpled than usual. He seemed to have become more muscular and he smiled faintly when he saw her. "Hey, Ginny, how are you?" he asked in a tired tone. He looked at her curiously and raised an eyebrow. "New look?"

"Honestly, Harry, do you really think I'd wear something like this?" said Ginny dryly, hopping off the stool and embracing him awkwardly. They pulled away rather quickly for people who had been once madly in love. "I only dd it because someone," and here she gave Mundungus a piercing look, "said this was how Muggle women dress."

"That's true," said Harry. "It's so good to see you, Gin; we have to get together for lunch or something."

"Will do," said Ginny in what she thought was an offhand voice, though she knew that lunch would be filled with tense silences and painful memories.

"Potter, the assignment," Mundungus reminded him, giving him a warning look. "I gotta go...er downtown later on, so we gotta hurry this up." Ginny rolled her eyes. Mundungus was still associating with crooks, and making deals with them, even though his job was to put them behind bars.

Harry cleared his throat. "Oh, right," he said, and his face took on a darker expression. "I suggest you sit down, this might be hard to handle."

"What do you mean, hard to handle?" Ginny laughed, sitting on the barstool again, and pushing back her long hair. She seriously doubted any assignment she and Dung would be assigned to would be harder than the previous ones. Ginny had seen many undercover disguises, had actually been to Death Eater meetings, and had seen torture that would give anyone else nightmares. She told Harry this, even though he already knew.

"Then you know of the curse the Death Eaters are trying to generate?" he said, pacing and rubbing his chin, not looking her in the eye.

Ginny and Mundungus exchanged puzzled glances. "I know that in seventh year they created the Bleeding Curse," she said shivering. The Bleeding Curse was much worse than the Cruciatus. It was a simple wrist movement that caused your body to feel as though knives were stabbing you, and wherever the wand was pointed on your body, you began to bleed. She had never actually experienced the curse, but she knew Harry had. "What's worse than that?"

"Maybe I used the wrong terminology," Harry said. "It's not a spell. It's a procedure... a procedure to bring Voldemort back to life."

Mundungus flinched at the name, but Ginny raised an eyebrow. "That's impossible!" she said. "You can't reverse death!"

Harry leveled her gaze with a burning look. "A lot of things were thought to be impossible, but they happened." There was a brief pause as the irony of his words sank in. "This can too. Albus said that there are ways he can return."

"Well, then Albus is contradicting himself! He told me after B-him, that you can't bring the dead back to life!"

Harry frowned, and Ginny was reminded that the whole reason they had broken up in the first place was because Ginny hadn't been able to handle Bill's death. She had gone a little crazy, which had been more than they could take. Both could remember how painful the unspoken break up had been, even though they had never once talked about it. She lowered her eyes.

"He doesn't know everything, Ginny, contrary to what everyone else thinks," Harry said, his tone remaining exactly the same.

"So we're supposed to stop this procedure from being developed, is that it?" said Mundungus.

Harry nodded. Ginny folded her arms across her chest, her eyes stubborn. "The dead cannot be brought back to life," she said determinedly.

"And if this procedure is stopped, then they won't be," Harry said softly, leaning closer to her. She could feel his warm breath on her neck, and she closed her eyes slightly, remembering how they used to be. She pulled back from him and faced in another direction as he spoke. "Now, I'm going to ask you something, and you must promise to not get offended."

"I won't," she said stiffly, already offended that he would tell her not to get offended. She wasn't three years old.

"If Bill's death is going to get in the way of your senses and judgment during this assignment, then I'll be sure to pull you off of it," he said.

"Yer in charge are you, Harry?"

"Yes I am," he said, his eyes not leaving Ginny's. "Can you take this assignment?"

"Of course I can!"

Harry pulled away and began to pace again, frowning to himself. "Ginny, don't agree straight away. Your life is going to be put in jeopardy, more so than usual," he added hastily, before she could respond.

Ginny rolled her eyes and jumped off the barstool. "Just tell me what it is."

Harry knew that ever since Bill had died, Ginny had become extremely defensive, demanding, and at times, just plain scary. The only reason she had become an Auror anyway, was because she had threatened the Minister of Magic within an inch of his life. He winced, remembering how he had walked in to see Ginny holding a knife to the Minister's throat, eyes blazing wildly. But that had been four years ago, right after she had been released from St. Mungo's. She had calmed down quite a bit.

"You have to be absolutely sure, Ginny. Once you're put on this, you can't get out of it."

Ginny just stared at him. Why was he acting like this? Did he think she couldn't take on even the most difficult of assignments? And then it clicked in her head--the big brother act. The thought made her furious inside, and she had the sudden desire to punch something, preferably Harry, but knew it wouldn't do much good. The man had the thickest head of anyone she knew. "Look here, Harry," she started, in the most sensible voice she could muster, "I am not a silly little girl. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and Dung is my partner! We take care of each other, don't we Dung?"

"Right-o," said Dung, giving Harry the thumbs up. Dung had been Ginny's partner ever since she had ever taken the job as an Auror, because the Ministry didn't trust her with individual assignments because of her "history." The two had bonded over time, and worked quite well, despite outward appearances to the contrary.

"We've done everything from desk work to becoming allies with murderers and convicted Death Eaters! Do you remember when we had to go down to Azkaban for interrogations, Dung?" Her eyes were wild, as they always were when she was hyper and/or irritated.

Mundungus nodded, as though it was a memory he'd rather forget. "One of the Death Eaters tried to steal her wand," he shuddered, "Ginny was lethal. Lethal, I tell you." Indeed, she had been lethal. Ginny tried not to smirk as she remembered that particular Death Eater sprawled across the floor, nearly unconscious, after she had finished with him.

Harry seemed to ignore this information. "Ginny, I just don't want you getting hurt. I don't know what your family would do if anything happened to you and it was because of me..."

"Harry, you practically are my family. Just tell me what the damn assignment is."

Harry nodded, but he still looked troubled. Surely it couldn't be that bad? "You're going to have to go under cover," he started.

"No surprises there," Ginny murmured under her breath.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Can you not interrupt me when I'm trying to speak please?" he said, and Ginny closed her mouth at once.

"Do you know who Laura Stuewer is?" Harry continued.

"Yes, who doesn't? She's only the daughter of the richest people in Germany, and her parents were rumored to be ancestors of Grindelwald, which is a load of dung, excuse the pun, and they were said to be spies for Voldemort. And she was recently married to Lucius Malfoy, because Narcissa dropped dead of her own accord." She said all of this in the same monotone, with no feeling whatsoever. "Why?"

"That's who you're going to be. No fake identities this time, you're going to be a real person."

"Okay, so it's a little polyjuice potion. Where's the real Laura going to be held?"

"Oh, she'll be perfectly safe... after we kidnap her, of course."

Ginny raised her eyebrows a little and Harry got the message. "She's on holiday in Germany, visiting her parents. While she's at a dinner party for her father's promotion, you'll be there as well. You'll need to lure her out of the building and stun her. Charlie will be there with a car. Yes, he knows about this mission," Harry added hastily at Ginny's look of disbelief and anger. "He's the only one in your family who knows. Now, after you do that, you're to glamour yourself into her, go back inside, and excuse yourself from the party because Lucius has sent an owl with the message that he needs you back home immediately. That should get you away from Laura's folks. You'll leave Germany, and go to Romania, where Laura is going to be with Charlie. Learn her habits, learn everything about her, including how she eats and drinks. Cause if you screw up on this one, you're dead."

"A lovely pep talk you've got going there, Harry," said Ginny with a wry smile.

"Anyway, then you'll go to Malfoy Manor and live there for a year. Find any evidence of foul activity, and...well, you know the drill. Am I understood?"

"Yes," Ginny said, looking to Mundungus, who was looking slightly green.

"Yer gonna' sleep with Lucius Malfoy, Ginny," he said in a strangled voice.

Ginny paused. She hadn't thought of that at all; clearly, neither had Harry. His green eyes seemed to darken a shade and he frowned, the little bit of wrinkles he had becoming sharper and more defined. He was clutching one of the barstools so tightly that his knuckles were white.

"Yer boyfriend ain't gonna be too pleased," said Dung, rubbing his forehead.

"Boyfriend?" said Harry before the rest of the sentence had even left Dung's mouth. "Ron never mentioned you had a boyfriend. Who is he, do I know him?" His voice was tense.

Well, thought Ginny, he wouldn't tell you because he doesn't know. She hadn't even told Dung! A very flustered Ginny said, "Yes, I have a boyfriend, no I won't tell you who he is, yes you know him." She swallowed the bile that was rising in her throat. In none of her assignments had she been forced to sleep with Death Eaters. "I-I'll do it."

Harry looked surprised. "You're going to go through with this? Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Ginny said loudly. "I've never failed an assignment and this one will be no different. Nice seeing you, Harry." She nodded curtly, grabbed her denim jacket from the chair and put it on, flinging out her red, curly hair, and some of it brushed Harry's face. "Guten Tag!" And she walked out of the shack to her Muggle car.

"What's my part in this whole assignment?" said Mundungus indignantly to Harry. "What am I gonna be, a maid?"

Harry took awhile to answer, watching Ginny climb into her beat down car and start the engine through one of the murky windows. He could see her getting frustrated and banging on the steering wheel with much force, and cursing loudly. Eventually, though, the car started and she sped off. Harry looked away from the window, sighing deeply, and turned to Dung. "Yes, actually, Laura is very rich after all."

Mundungus something that sounded oddly like, "Here we go again."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ginny woke up with a splitting headache the next morning. Grunting, she kicked off her sheets which were clinging to her body, and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing her temples.

There was a loud knock on the door of her bedroom and she said, "Come in," in a dull, weak sort of voice.

Ginny lived in a flat right behind the Burrow. In fact, you could walk to it if you took the woods. It was normal for any one of her family members to just show up at the apartment at any time, without any warning. Charlie never came over because he was always so busy in Romania, and Fred and George were normally at their joke shop. But Ron didn't seem to realize that Ginny liked her privacy and neither did her mum. The woman came over almost every day, just to do Ginny's laundry, which, Ginny suspected, was from lack of nothing else better to do.

But it wasn't any of her family this time. It was Nymphadora Tonks. "Hey, Tonks," Ginny said, looking up at the leather clad witch. "What are you doing here?"

"Your family wants to say good bye to you before you leave on your assignment. Whatever it is, it must be pretty big, if you're going to be gone for a year. You told me last night. But you were pretty wasted, so..." She cut off as Ginny blinked, remembering.

Yes, she did remember drinking last night. The mere sight of Harry had pushed her over the edge; she was glad she had only been drinking, though, because a couple of times after being released from the loony bin, she had contemplated suicide. But Ginny was beyond that particular point now, even though she was still bitter, a fact that she'd never admit to herself or anyone, even though it was obvious.

Tonks' eyebrows narrowed as she stared at Ginny, and Ginny knew she was going to comment on Ginny's drinking. She gave the older woman a powerful glare, challenging her with her eyes to make a comment about her "problem." Tonks chose to speak about something else.

"So!" she said after the pause. "Get up and get dressed! Molly's made the biggest breakfast I've had in a long time!"

It must be a pretty big breakfast, Ginny was thinking, because Tonks ate nearly everything in sight. She was one of those women who could eat like a pig and not gain a pound.

Ginny cursed to herself, but not loud enough for Tonks to hear. "Why must she insist on celebrating whenever I leave?" she muttered, standing up and walking to her closet, where Tonks was admiring (more like flinging) through her clothes.

"I really don't see how you can wear all these clothes!" Tonks exclaimed, throwing Ginny a pair of grey robes. Ginny didn't protest, she looked better in grey than she did in most colors. She dressed quickly and then she and Tonks went downstairs. Ginny began to walk in the direction of the coffee pot, but Tonks pulled her away and through the screen door, leading her to the woods.

Ginny struggled along, way too tired. She had stayed up all night, reading up on Laura Stuewer so that she'd know how to act like her. Of course, she would be traveling to Germany for training in that sort of thing, but she wanted a head start.

When they arrived at the Burrow, Ginny paused before walking in and gave a huge yawn, just as Tonks yelled, "She's here!"

Before she could finish yawning properly, Fleur Delacour had embraced her and said, "I haff not seen you in so long!" Fleur had been His longtime girlfriend, but she had refused to so much as look at another man after He had died. The family had told her it was unhealthy, but she had never listened. Ginny had always felt a special bond with Fleur, and she knew it was her duty to protect any harm from coming to her.

"It's been awhile," said Ginny, as she was escorted into the living room. She kissed her father quickly on the cheek, and he looked up from the Daily Prophet to give her a brief smile, then went back to reading.

"Ginny, you were supposed to come baby shopping with me!" said Hermione, whom was sitting on the couch next to Ron, rubbing her stomach and smiling half-heartedly. Hermione was six months pregnant now; she and Ron had been married for a little over a year. Ginny hadn't been to the wedding because Harry had been there.

Hermione raised her arms upward toward Ginny, and Ginny bent down to hug the woman who was her sister-in-law. The last time she had seen Hermione was two weeks ago, but since Hermione had been sleeping, that didn't really count. "I don't believe this; you leaving me."

Ginny rolled her eyes and pulled away from her. "Hermione, you know I love my work," she said. They had been over this countless times.

"But it's so dangerous," Hermione whispered.

"Hermione, I can take care of myself!" said Ginny. Honestly, why did everyone insist on treating her like she was five years old? They knew it made her angry!

Hermione looked ashamed. "Oh, I know that. I'm just a little emotional, is all," she said with a frown.

"Breakfast is ready!" called Mrs. Weasley, and Ginny watched as Ron stood up immediately and tried to help Hermione from the sofa. Her face turned red as she gripped Ron's hands and when she was finally on her feet, she let out the deep breath and managed a weak smile. Ron smoothed Hermione's bushy hair from her face and placed a hand on her back, guiding her into the kitchen with a wink at Ginny.

Ginny followed them into the kitchen, which was now wafting the delicious smells of eggs and kippers into her nostrils and she let out a contented sigh at the feeling of being home. She yawned again as she stepped into the kitchen and blinked as the sunlight streaming through the windows hit her directly in the eyes. She was still not quite awake.

"Ginny!" her mother exclaimed, setting down a plate of toast on the table and embracing her daughter.

But Ginny was not paying attention to her mother. She was staring bewildered at the dark haired woman seated at the table next to Charlie. She had never seen her before. "Who are you?" she asked, a little too bluntly probably.

"I am Erika Muller, you must be Ginny!" she said brightly. Her smile lit up her entire face.

"Erika is my girlfriend," Charlie explained.

Ginny just stood there, a little shocked. Charlie had never had a girlfriend before in his life, well, not one that Ginny had ever met.

"Oh," she said, "it's nice meeting you, Erika."

"Oh, the pleasure is all mine," she answered sweetly, and Ginny resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Instead she sat down at the table next to Hermione and Tonks, and reached for a piece of toast as well, and ate it slowly.

While everyone chatted, Ginny stared around at the familiar kitchen. It was still small, so whenever everyone sat down for a meal, the space was cramped. But the family, plus guests, still managed to maneuver around it. The table was rectangular and made of a light colored wood, with dark wooden chairs of all different sizes surrounding it. There were many large windows, permeable to the sounds of birds singing and crickets chirping.

Ginny mused silently at all the fond memories she had of this kitchen. When she was younger, her job was to pick wildflowers from the woods and arrange them colorfully in a vase to set in the center of the table. As she grew older, she remembered tracking mud all over the floors that her mum waxed almost every three days. She remembered hiding in the slender space between the wall and the stove when playing hiding seek with her brothers. She could still feel her misery when she had tried to cook Harry dinner one time all by herself (when they had been dating) and spilling it all over the floor.

She closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, glad that she was home.

Halfway through the meal, a knock sounded on the door. "Oh, I'll get it," said Ron, and he stood up, looking thankful to be away from Hermione, who was eating syrup from a spoon as though it was soup, and bounded from the kitchen.

A moment later, he returned with Harry and Parvati Patil, whom Ginny knew was his secretary, both in the Auror Department and out; Parvati lived with Harry at his home in London. Ginny always thought that with all the longing glances Parvati snuck at Harry, if she was actually more than a secretary. The thought caused a painful feeling in her stomach.

"Hi everyone," Parvati said brightly, taking her usual seat next to Fred, pushing her dark brown hair behind her ears. She paused as she reached for a kipper and stared at Ginny. "Ginny! How long has it been?"

Ginny smiled feebly. "Three years, I believe," she said, "because that was the last time I saw Harry."

Harry looked at her in mock surprise. "Ginny?" he said, as though he hadn't seen her just the day before. Ginny had to admit, he was a good actor. But, acting often came with the job description and everyone already knew that Harry had no problem with keeping secrets. "How have you been?"

"Brilliant," said Ginny, flashing a smile.

"You know," Mrs. Weasley said, as Harry sat down, "Harry's going away for an assignment as well."

"Is he?" Ginny raised an eyebrow in Harry's direction.

Harry nodded, not missing a beat. "I'm to help an Auror train for a month. It should be fun."

Ginny knew the instant he looked at her the way he did, that she was that Auror. Damn him for not telling her before. "Fun," Ginny muttered, staring down at her plate, having lost her appetite. She was so tired of everyone protecting her, trying to make sure she never was hurt. It was nauseating.

Ginny stood up from the table, as if she was in a trance just as everyone had sat down. "I...err...forgot to do something...unavoidable...see you later..." She walked out of the room as quickly as she could, and had put on her cloak and was at the door when someone grabbed her wrist.

"Ginny," he said, and Ginny knew who he was before she locked her eyes with his. The intensity in his green orbs irked her to no end.

She spoke sharply. "See you in Germany," was all she said, before she wrenched her wrist away from him and walked home.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A week later, Ginny, Harry, Charlie, and Mundungus found themselves aboard a Muggle airplane flying to Berlin, Germany. When Dung had asked why they had to use Muggle transportation when they could just simply Apparate, Harry had said that Apparating would attract too much attention and that if Death Eaters were trying to track any one of them, Apparating would immediately alert the Death Eaters to their whereabouts.

Ginny and Dung were sitting in two little seats, Ginny next to the window, and Charlie and Harry occupied the seats in front of them. Ginny, whom had taken Muggle Studies in her third year, and had grown up with a father obsessed with anything Muggle, watched Dung with amusement as he picked up the airplane phone over and over, his eyes widening every time. When a movie played over the tellies overhead, Ginny showed him how to use the headphones. He placed them on his head, and as sound traveled to his ears, he jumped and stared at Ginny in surprise. "How the ruddy hell do they manage to do that?" he asked.

Ginny pretended to scratch her nose, while trying to hide her sniggers. Dung really was hilarious at times. She lifted her head to crane over the blue chair to see what Harry and Charlie were doing. Charlie was reading the safety precautions for flying, and making sure every belt was buckled and tightened and every vest secure. He had been especially nervous about flying and Ginny had made sure to give him a doggy bag.

Harry, the ever so perfect Muggle (cough, cough) was reading a book Ginny had never heard of before: A Tale of Two Cities. With her ever so perfect deductive reasoning, Ginny figured Hermione had given it to him in exchange for a back massage or two-inch thick books with titles like, 'Knowing Your Infant Like Your Nimbus 2001'.Come to think of it, Hermione probably did have that book.

"Miss, would you like something to drink?" asked a stewardess in a white uniform. Ginny shook her head politely. "What about," the stewardess looked at Mundungus strangely because he was staring at the telly with his jaw hanging open, "him?"

"Peanuts," Ginny whispered, leaning closer to the woman, "definitely peanuts."

"Yes miss," she said, and she was gone in a flash.

Ginny sighed a little and looked out her window. They were flying high over the world, skyscrapers now as small as dots. She was doing something she had always wanted to do--fly above the world. Smiling, she didn't even notice that the stewardess had returned with the peanuts or that Mundungus was repeating the lines of the actors in the video, "D-Dude, where's my car?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When Harry woke up the next morning, it took him awhile to realize that he was in a hotel room, in a stiff bed. Groaning, he rolled over and buried his face in the pillow. He didn't even remember anything after the uneventful flight to Berlin. He knew that Ginny had managed to find the hotel and get around easily with her German speaking ability. Then, after she and Dung had gone to sleep in their hotel room, he and Charlie had gone to the lobby and had some drinks.

Rubbing his head, he muttered, "Damn foreign drinks." He turned over and saw that, in the bed next to him, Charlie was snoring loudly and had his arm draped over his face, his mouth slightly open. Harry was reminded of how Ron used to sleep.

After ten minutes of rousing Charlie awake, and another ten minutes of waiting patiently for Charlie to get dressed, the two of them walked out of the room and to the room across the hall. Harry knocked on the door twice and waited.

Mundungus opened the door, looking more scraggly and ragged than ever, dressed in an ugly plaid robe and slippers, and allowed them to come in. "Ginny's in the shower," he said scratching his head. "An' she takes awhile. So, we'll have to wait fer her."

Needless to say, Ginny looked a little surprised to step out of the bathroom, with a rose colored towel wrapped around her body, and another towel patting her dripping hair dry, only to see her coworker, her older brother, and her ex fiancé playing a game of cards on her bed. The clearing of her throat caught their attention.

Mundungus appeared unaffected by her state, while Charlie told her to get dressed at once, and Harry just stared. Ginny was no ugly duckling. The way the beads of water rolled from her fiery hair and down her neck to her shoulder was tantalizing to him. He looked away quickly.

Ginny pivoted on her right foot and walked back to the bathroom. A few minutes later, she was fully clothed, wearing a grey skirt similar to that of the Hogwarts uniform, stockings, and a long sleeved buttoned down white shirt. Her outfit was complete with leather boots that stopped just below the knees and had about a three inch heel.

Once again, the uys stared. "What?" she snapped as she ran a brush through her hair, looking self consciously to the mirror. "Dung said this was how Muggles dress!"

"They do," said Harry, "but not all the time. They wear jeans and stuff too."

Ginny rounded on Mundungus. "You said that Muggle women didn't wear jeans!"

"They don'... or at least they didn' when I was a kid!" Mundungus said indignantly, turning back to his cards. "He he he, I win! Where's my money?"

"We didn't play for money, Dung," Charlie said, getting off the bed. "Are you guys ready to go shopping? Ginny, where are the Euros?"

Grinning, Ginny lifted up her mattress to reveal a plastic bag full of German money. "I'm ready to shop."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ginny stepped out from the dressing room for the tenth time that day. Charlie, Mundungus, and Harry were lounging around in plush red armchairs, similar to the ones that she remembered from the Gryffindor common room.

They stopped talking to look her up and down. Out of the three of them, Charlie knew the most about fashion. He was the one fetching Ginny all the dresses to try on for the party. Mundungus and Harry just told her she looked great in anything; even the bright pink dress that clashed against her bright red hair, making her look like a flamingo. Or the dress that had been a disgusting brown color, with olive flowers and made her ten times her usual size, at least in appearance.

Charlie leaped up from his chair and inspected her critically. "Now what?" she said, placing her hands to her sides.

Charlie seemed to be taking in her appearance, rubbing the bottom of his chin absentmindedly, as one might when solving a particularly difficult math problem. His forehead was wrinkled in concentration, and he walked around his sister, muttering things to himself.

The black dress clung to her torso, lying comfortably in a v-neck. The waist down moved freely around her as she walked, like a gentle breeze through curtains. The dress stopped just above her ankles, and when she walked it made a soft swishing sound that made her feel like she was going to another Yule Ball. The material was one that Ginny was not familiar with, but it was smooth against her freckled skin.

Charlie suddenly stopped walking around her and let out a satisfied sigh. "This is the one, Gin. This is the dress."

Ginny felt a smile touch her lips. "Excellent," she said in a professional tone, heading back into the dressing room to change back into her normal clothes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Five hours later, Ginny found herself standing outside of a particularly fancy hotel, buzzing with excitement. The hotel was polished to perfection, and Ginny found herself fighting down a wave of bitterness. Why was it that a supposedly dark family could afford to throw parties in the richest of places when her family couldn't even afford a new set of dress robes each year? Ginny felt the familiar sense of wanting to punch something, but she just smoothed out the black dress, and walked inside.

The lobby was dim lighted with satin curtains and chairs, and in the middle of the room was a long desk that curved at the ends and had a thin strip of gold circling the center. A dark haired man dressed in a fine white suit stood behind the desk, talking gently to a rather old woman who seemed to have lost her purse. Ginny took this as an opportunity to look around the room. Besides the two at the white desk, there were two people waiting by the lift, and a grumpy looking man smoking by the door.

As Ginny walked in, he puffed a wave of smoke in her face, then immediately began to apologize as she wrinkled her nose in disgust. He seemed to take in her appearance, and Ginny walked away from him as quickly as possible, his eyes boring into her as she made her way up to the table.

The old lady had soon found her purse, and the dark haired (and rather handsome) desk clerk turned his attention to Ginny. "Guten Abend, sehr geehrtes Fräulein. Kann ich Ihnen irgendwie behilflich sein?"

("Good evening, miss. Is there anything I can help you with?")

Ginny smiled and looked him directly in the eye. "Könnten Sie mir vielleicht sagen wo die Party für die Stuewers abgehalten wird?" she said, punctuating her German accent with simple hand gestures.

("I was wondering where the party for the Stuewer's was being held," she said, punctuating her German accent with simple hand gestures.)

The man frowned. "Es tut mir Leid, aber ich kann Ihnen darüber keine Auskunft erteilen."

("I am sorry, but I cannot give you that information.")

Ginny leaned against the cool desk, and tilted her head toward the man's, holding his gaze. His eyes flickered down to the center of her chest, but he looked up at her when she began to speak. "Oh, entschuldigen Sie," Ginny said, twirling a bit of her fiery hair with her index finger. "Ich... gehe dann einfach, ja?"

("Oh, I'm sorry," Ginny said, twirling a bit of her fiery hair with her index finger. "I'll just...go.")

She sighed a little, then straightened and turned, but the man called her back. In a slightly strangled voice, he said, "Raum 127. Es ist der Ballsaal. Sie müssten hier kurz unterschreiben."

("Room 127... It's the ballroom. You'll have to sign here.")

He pushed a clipboard toward her, and she signed the name, 'Virginia Weizel' in a loopy sort of writing that wasn't her own. She waited patiently as the desk clerk gave her detailed directions to the ballroom, where five hundred people were currently in attendance.

Ginny smiled sweetly, and she could tell that he was melting inside. "Danken Sie vielmals. Ich werde das nicht vergessen, haben Sie keine Angst," she purred, walking around the desk and out of sight.

("Thanks so much. I won't forget this, don't you worry," she purred, walking around the desk and out of sight.)

Once in the hallway (which was decorated with silk carpeting and lavish paintings), she quickened her pace to the ballroom, thinking about how easy her acting had been, then, turning left, entered the ballroom.

A man came to her side at once, presenting her with several treats. She picked up a tart and chewed it almost meticulously, scanning the room carefully. The lights were dimmed so low that Ginny almost had to squint, but she could make out a refreshment table in the corner of the room, and on the right side, about twenty tables, dined with sparkling silver and linen cloths. From the little she could see of the wooden floor, it was as perfect as the rest of the hotel had been so far. Men and women were dancing happily across the floor, some dressed in Muggle clothing, some not, but all looking pleased to be having a good time. Her eyes spotted the exit and, with a deep breath, she walked into the crowd, searching for Laura Stuewer.

In a minute, she had found her, chatting animatedly in German with the person next to her, smiling. Her hair was bright blonde, stopping in wave of curls at her waist, her nose was tiny and delicate, and she had high cheekbones. However, her most beautiful feature was her eyes, wide with flecks of green, blue and light gold. At first glance, she did not seem like a dark wizard at all, but Ginny knew first appearances could be deceiving.

Ginny monitored her movements for an hour and decided she did not like this woman. She knew from research that Laura had attended a private Muggle school with a glorious reputation for ten years, since the age of three, and then had attended Beauxbatons for four years. It was beyond Ginny why someone from Germany would go to Beauxbatons, when they could go to Durmstrang. Ginny knew she liked horse back riding and fencing, as well as inventing new spells and enchantments. Ginny knew her favorite foods were ravioli and spinach, and that she despised dragons and spiders. Laura Stuewer seemed normal, but the simple movements she made, like the look of concentration that she focused on you as you spoke to her or the way she clapped her hands appreciatively when she agreed with what you said, just made Ginny wanted to hurl.

I have to be this woman? She thought, as Laura's angelic laugh split the silence that had settled; her father was standing in the front of the room, ready to deliver a speech. Ginny shook herself, readying herself for what she was about to do. As Laura's father began talking, she made her way gracefully across the floor, and stood next to Laura, then focused her attention on his speech.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Laura staring at her with a puzzled and somewhat suspicious expression. "I'm afraid I don't know you," she said slowly in English, and Ginny turned to face her, and stuck out her hand.

The person standing next to Laura was glancing between them eagerly, hanging onto every word. Ginny placed this person immediately--she was Laura's maid, the one that Dung was going to be. She had cropped hair and a heart shaped face, and her eyes were beady and small.

"But," she started, shaking Laura's hand, "I know you." She struggled to keep from smirking at the look on the other woman's face. "I mean to say, who doesn't? Laura Stuewer, daughter of the richest folks in Germany."

"And you are?"

"Virginia Weizel," Ginny lied, guiding Laura to the back of the room, near the exit. Laura's maid followed. "I went to Beauxbatons with you, don't you remember?" She feigned a hurt expression.

"I do not," Laura said matter-of-factly. Ginny snapped her fingers and a man carrying a small tray with several glasses of wine on it came to her. She took a glass and held it out for Laura to take. She stared at it with a withering look.

Ginny grinned and took a long drink of the wine, licking her lips. "You aren't very trusting, are you?"

Laura lifted her head, her eyes looking greener than before. "Who are you, really?" she demanded in a whisper. Laura's maid had her mouth wide open, listening intently still.

"A friend," Ginny said her eyes finding Laura's father once more. He was stepping down from the podium, making his way toward them. Ginny began to rap against the wine glass with her fingernails as way of clapping as he approached. He kissed his daughter swiftly on the cheek and Laura offered her congratulations, and then turned to Ginny.

"A friend?" she repeated.

"I have some...information about your stepson," said Ginny, the face of Draco Malfoy's ugly smirk playing in her mind. She took another long drink, and then stared somewhat dejectedly at the empty glass.

"Draco?" said Laura worriedly, her eyes flashing. "What about him?"

The maid was now biting her fingernails. Ginny flicked her expression to the skinny woman, and smirked. The maid flinched.

Ginny leveled her gaze with Laura and said, "Let's step outside, shall we?"

"Tell me what's wrong with him," Laura said, her face having lost the perfect angel demeanor.

Ginny stepped past her, and opened the exit door calmly. "After you," she said, with the same smile she had used on the desk clerk before. Laura raised an eyebrow, scowling, and walked outside. Her maid looked unsure of what to do, but Ginny nodded and motioned for her to stop outside as well.

Ginny followed, tracing the rim of the wineglass with a finger. The sky was a hazy blue and a harsh breeze pierced her skin, the trees swayed warily in the background. The alleyway was silent. "Draco?" Laura prompted, as the exit door slammed shut.

Before Laura had the chance to register a thing, Ginny had whipped out her wand with her wineglass free hand and pointed it between her eyes. "Stupefy," she said quietly, and Laura's profile stiffened, and fell; Ginny caught her slender body in her arms. When Ginny looked up, a black battered car was in front of her, and Charlie was climbing out of the backseat, his cheeks red from the cold.

The maid let out a small gasp of surprise and looked at Ginny in horror, then to Charlie, and then to Harry and Dung, who were also in the car. She made to get away, but before she could do a thing, Dung had come to her side, and grabbed her shoulders. She seemed frightened, and was trembling. "Please don't hurt me," she said in a quiet voice, eyes searching for an escape.

Ginny cocked her head to the side and grinned wryly at her. "Oh not at all," she said. "We're not going to hurt you, dear, just stun you and pretend to be you for a whole year. Stupefy," she added lazily. The maid stiffened as Laura had done, and Dung grasped her shoulders more tightly and began to drag her into the backseat of the car.

"She's a beauty," Charlie muttered as he and Ginny heaved Laura into the back of the car in one movement. Ginny supposed he was definitely not talking about the maid.

"Laura's a bitch," Ginny corrected and she threw down the wineglass. It shattered and Ginny smirked appreciatively. Harry, who was in the front seat of the car, leant back to take Laura's measurements so they could perform the glamour; he handed Charlie his wand through the window and Charlie faced Ginny, a protective gleam in his eye.

"Verwandeln," Charlie said hurriedly, pointing the wand at his sister. Ginny took a breath as she felt herself transform. Her hair became longer, she stretched taller, and her dress became softer as it was replaced by the white, floor length, frilly dress that Laura had been wearing.

When it was done, she blinked and took a mirror from the front seat of the car, leaning over Harry as she did so. She could feel his body stiffen under hers, but she preoccupied herself by looking amazedly in the compact mirror, and then to the real Laura in the backseat, unconscious.

After running her hands up and down her new face, she tossed the mirror back to Harry, who caught it with a stunned look on his face. He cleared his throat. "You know what to do?"

Ginny crossed her arms across her chest. "Go in, tell 'mum and dad' that Lucius has sent for me, and then we fly to Romania. Right,"

Harry's stunned expression faded slowly, and for a split second Ginny saw the seventeen-year-old boy she roamed the Hogwarts halls with at night. His glasses looked ready to fall off his nose and his hair was messier than ever, and when he made that grin that used to make her knees go week, she felt a little like her younger self. Free of worries, free of anger and hate, free of everything. She could feel only him and the way he looked at her, the way he was looking at her now, as though she was the only person on the earth.

She grinned back.