Lily Snape [3]

Chapter Six:

Chapter Six: 

I bit my lip as Mr and Mrs. Weasley saw me off onto the train.  Fred was with them and it was so hard not to hug him or kiss him goodbye.. it'd be a long while before I'd be able to see him again, most probably not until Christmas holidays.  

We couldn't write much, at least nothing that would give away who I truly was, but I knew I'd write to him every day I was able to.  This entire thing was terrifying, and it had taken weeks talking the Weasley's into it, though Fred had been the most stubborn.  There were so many things that could go wrong, so many things that could happen between now and the holidays.  

I was wracked with nerves, and I was sure the others were too.  Ginny was feeling just as awkward about all of this as I was.  It was odd being in another body, I'd had to get used to the different proportions, different, -better- eyesight, longer hair, hearing that wasn't as good as my own, and I had to get used to the taste of polyjuice potion.  I had the ingredients to last me until the holidays, I had enough premade to last me until I could make more, I knew to do it in the girls bathroom that Moaning Myrtle lives in.. 

I had everything I needed to be Ginny Weasley.  

I knew her friends, her bullies, her enemies, her favourite colors, type of clothing and I knew her favorite foods.  I'd learned as much about her as I could, I watched her day after to day to learn her mannerisms.  

This wias going to be one of the most complicated things I'd ever done.  

"Ginny!  C'mere a minute," I heard Fred call out for me.  Turning back to him, I slowly walked his way until he knelt down a bit to look into my eyes.  

"If someone sees you as yourself, if you even think that your cover is blown... leave Hogwarts.  Don't wait to be caught, don't wait to see if they one-hundred percent know, just leave, go to Hogsmeade then apparate back to the Burrow, do you understand that?"

I nodded, feeling an indescribable need to cry, though I wasn't sure for what reason.  

"I will, I promise.." The Hogwarts Express bell whistled, signifying that it was about to leave.  "I love you, Fred," I muttered, knowing he'd hear me.  It was the first time I'd ever said that to him since we'd gotten together, but I couldn't wait for his reply.  I turned around and ran onto the train about ten seconds before the door closed behind me and we were off.  

I moved down the isle, looking for a place to sit, but I couldn't seem to find one, there were no empty (or even nearly empty) compartments.  

"Ginny!  Over here!"  For a second, I looked around for Ginny Weasley, the girl who wasn't supposed to be coming to Hogwarts, before I did a mental facepalm and turned to the girl who was calling my name.  "We saved you a seat, Gin!"  

I looked at the girl who was calling me and thanked Merlin that the real Ginny had pictures of her friends, so that I recognized Christine Halper, sixth year Ravenclaw and one of Ginny's best friends.  As I moved into the compartment with her, I saw Neville Longbottom, a seventh year and good friend of the Golden Trios and Luna Lovegood, an odd girl who I had met formally just the year before last.. 

I shook those memories out of my mind as they reminded me a bit too much about Sirius and what had happened that night that Luna and I met.

"Hi," I smiled brightly, just as Ginny always had, though I felt stupid doing it.  It was hard, with how nervous, how depressed I felt, just to smile was a chore most days, especially since Fred wasn't with me making jokes about stupid things that don't even matter.

"Hey Ginny," Neville greeted as Luna looked up from some magazine she was reading -upside down, I might add- and smiled, welcoming me into the compartment as well. 

The others went back to what they were doing, Neville writing inside a pad of paper, Luna reading her magazine and Christine reading a rather large book titled New Theory of Numerology.  I got dressed in my robes much earlier than most, since I had no book to read, nobody to talk to and in general, nothing to do. As I'd done that, I'd made sure to take a long gulp of the mud-like liquid that was in a long, thin bottle, concealed up the sleeve of my clothes.  

Sighing as I sat back down, I watched other students move back and forth in front of our compartment before the trolley lady came.  I watched her as she left, nobody having ordered anything, too busy with what they were doing to both with it.  

"Ginny, are you all right? You seem.. odd.  Is something bothering you?" Christine asked, her eyes finally turning away from her book.  I grinned a Ginny grin and nodded as if everything was okay.

"My brother's a bit sick, so I'm just worried is all."

Christine nodded in sympathy as she muttered something about hoping he felt better soon before reading once more.  I sighed, turning my eyes out the window as we finally came within view of Hogwarts.

-It's about time- my mind muttered, already sick of being cooped up in the train with people I barely knew. 

*_*_*

There weren't nearly as many new students sorted as there had been the last two years, I noticed.  I kept my head down, facing the table as one by one they were called up, more put into Slytherin than any other house, and only three put in Gryffindor.  I didn't look at anyone, I hadn't since I left the safety of the train, afraid to see familiar faces, afraid to be recognized even though I looked like Ginny perfectly well. 

Afraid to catch even a glimpse of my father. 

I could hear his voice as he gave the 'Headmaster Speech', and it sent a bolt of nostalgia through me, making me wish I wasn't so afraid to see him or him see me, making me wish that last year had never happened, that Dumbledore hadn't been killed, that I would still be able to see Harry, Hermione and Ron, Fred and George, all here, under one roof, where I could talk to them all and feel happy and comfortable.

Where I could be myself.  

I wanted to come to Hogwarts, mostly so I could see my father, but so I could keep an eye on my friends who were still here, surrounded by Death Eaters, so I could have that small chance to protect people, and also so nobody would get into trouble for Ginny not coming to Hogwarts, so no one would be suspicious of the Weasley family.

It would be hard, to last this year as Ginny Weasley, hard to act like her constantly and remember to take the Polyjuice potion every hour or so, but it had to be done, and I was glad I'd been able to talk Fred and Mrs. Weasley into letting me pretend to be their sister and daughter.  

As supper was over, we were escorted to our dormitories.  Once I was inside, I moved up the staircase leading to the girl's dorms, looking for my name.  I came across the name Lillith Deacon, paired with Ginny Weasley.  

-Well.. that was lucky- my mind whispered, pushing my way inside.  I thought about it, never noticing a sixth and seventh year being paired up in my last two years here at Hogwarts, but didn't care to push it further.  I shouldn't take this lightly, this meant I wouldn't have to wake up earlier than everyone else so I could drink Polyjuice before they noticed that I'd changed back to my regular self during the night. 

This meant that in the comfort of my own dorm, I didn't even have to be Ginny constantly. But how would this happen? How would a sixth year and a seventh year be paired together?

I wasn't going to question it.. 

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, as my mom once said.