Chapter Sixteen: Planning, Planning, too Much Planning
Hermione, who had stayed at the Burrow for the wedding, left a few weeks before the school year was to start up again. This left Ginny with only Ron to go with to buy her school supplies. While they got on better since the wedding, Ginny was still reluctant to spend a lot of time with him—mostly because he was still uptight about Draco.
Their parents all but kicked them out of the house after the Ministry break-in. Mrs. Weasley had found the ear, so the next time the Order held a meeting, she sent Ginny and Ron to Diagon Alley to pick up their school supplies. They got everything that was on their lists, and then Ginny dragged Ron into the joke shop.
Ron sulked near the front while Ginny went to find Harish or the twins (but mostly the twins). She was sad, of course, that she would be the only person in their group returning to Hogwarts. She was pretty sure that the only thing that would protect her from the mercy of the die-hard blood obsessed Slytherins was the fact that she was friends with the Dark Lord's son and was dating Draco Malfoy—this obviously eradicated her of her blood-traitor status to the other Slytherins.
Still, Ginny was very sad and suspected that she would be rather lonely the upcoming year. Luckily, she had made up with Ron and Neville, Luna, and Dean would still be there.
The red-head squeezed through the crowd and managed to get up to the counter. There, she only saw a blonde haired witch in forest green robes.
"Where are my brothers?" she asked the woman.
"They said they'd be busy this morn'n'," the girl replied obnoxiously, chewing on a large piece of gum.
"Do you know when they'll be back?" Ginny questioned.
The blonde shrugged and Ginny growled in annoyance.
"The twins aren't here," she said to Ron.
The two of them made their way out of the shop.
"They're probably hanging out with their Death Eater pals," Ron muttered.
Ginny didn't say a word because she knew it was most likely true.
LINE-BREAK
The twins were, in fact, with Harish at Slytherin Manor. All of the Death Eaters were gathered in Voldemort's large meeting room. As usual, Voldemort sat in his high backed chair with Lucius on his right and Bellatrix on his right. The Death Eaters closest to them were the ones that were most trusted or needed—Barty Crouch Jr., Harish, the twins, Draco, and Snape would have been there had the Order not been holding a meeting at that time.
The rest of the Death Eaters were behind them. Of course, the twins didn't really consider themselves, Draco, or Harish true Death Eaters. For one, none of them had the Dark Mark. For another, Harish, being Voldemort's heir, was too important to be a simple follower. On top of that, the twins and Draco were more followers of Harish than they followed Voldemort. Within the Death Eaters, the twins were treated as Harish's body guards and Draco was treated as their water boy—the one that went and did the small jobs anyone needed doing.
At that moment, Voldemort was going over their plan to invade Hogwarts, which would be happening the next month. No one knew exactly why Voldemort picked the date he did. Some thought it was because the day was a mark of dark happenings, therefore the murder of Albus Dumbledore would go well on that date. Others thought that it was because it was the day Voldemort had disappeared all those years ago, and he wanted to use this to signify his complete return to power.
But the true reason that Voldemort chose to invade Hogwarts on Halloween was one known only by himself—it was the day that he had adopted Harish. Therefore, it was only fitting that he attack Dumbledore on the anniversary of Harry Potter's death and Harish Blake's birth.
"—we will come in through Hogsmeade," Voldemort was saying. If the students of Hogwarts saw them coming, panic would ensue. On some occasions, they would want the element of surprise (such as the Ministry take-over) but in this instance, Voldemort wanted to instil as much fear as possible before killing Dumbledore. It was for this reason that the Death Eaters would be wearing their old skull masks (all of them except the three newest recruits, of course).
"I have been given a list of the wards around Hogwarts, so we know which spells we will be using," he continued on, listing the number of spells they would be casting to break down Hogwarts's wards. "Once we are inside, you will not do any fighting unless I have said you can. I plan to face Dumbledore one-on-one in a duel. The only reason you will fight is if the Order of the Phoenix attack. In that case, I want you all to stay clear of Dumbledore. He is mine. Everyone else, you can do what you want."
"We will need people inside the castle, of course," the Dark Lord continued, "in order to help us get in—no doubt the Order will try to stop us from entering the grounds."
"I will have my Dark Army inside the castle, ready for instructions," Harish replied.
"Good," Voldemort appraised.
"What if Dumbledore refuses to fight?" Harish asked.
"Then we will tear apart the castle until we have caught him," Voldemort replied vindictively.
LINE-BREAK
The last week of summer passed by entirely too fast in Ginny's opinion. It was spent packing, unpacking, and repacking her trunk. Finally, September the first came and Ron and Ginny Apparated directly to Platform 9 ¾ . Their father had to work and since Ron had passed his Apparition test, he agreed to side-along-apparate her there.
Once on the platform, Ginny went to the back of the train and sat in the compartment that usually belonged to Harish. Ron helped her get her trunk in the rack and left, promising to send Dean down there if he saw him. Ginny laughed, knowing that Ron was only being so thoughtful because he was trying to make it up to Ginny.
She pulled out a book and began reading absentmindedly, and was joined by Neville, Dean, and Luna in no time.
"Where are Hermione, Draco, and Daphne?" Dean asked in concern as the train took off and began chugging lazily down the tracks.
"They aren't returning to Hogwarts this year," Ginny replied simply.
"Is it because it's rumoured that You-Know-Who will be attacking Hogwarts?" Dean asked. "Seamus's mum almost didn't let him return because of that."
Ginny nodded.
"You have no idea how true that is," she muttered, going back to her book.
This year would certainly be an odd one. As soon as she had gotten somewhat used to not having Harish or the twins around, the trio of would-be-seventh years had not returned. She sighed and closed her book, looking out the window as she finally accepted that she would not be able to focus enough to read.
They talked a bit during the ride and changed as soon as it started getting dark. They arrived at Hogwarts not long afterward and stepped out of the train into the cool night air. The four of them got into a carriage together and rode up to the castle.
They got out and went into the Great Hall, separating as they went to their own respective tables. Dean and Neville went to the far left to the Gryffindor table, and Ginny and Luna went to the right. Ginny found that her usual seat was gone, taken up by Zabini and his buddies. Ginny sighed in resignation, left Luna, who chose a seat at the Ravenclaw table, and sat by a group of other Slytherin girls that were in her year and the year above.
"Where's Draco?" Pansy Parkinson asked her.
"He isn't coming to Hogwarts this year," Ginny sighed.
They finished up their dinners in time for dessert to be served. Then, all of the students of Hogwarts went to their beds. Now that her OWL's were over and done with, Ginny found herself with harder classes and work, but less homework and more free periods (which were spent studying). Ginny spent a lot of time outside the Slytherin Common Room, mostly in the library or the courtyard with Luna. Occasionally she would have a conversation or two with Ron, Neville, or Dean. The month of September passed by quickly, and unsuspecting students found themselves looking forward to the feast on Halloween.
No one had even told Ginny the date of the attack yet