((A/N: Whoo-hoo! I finally finished wrestling with ch 6 and got it off to my beta, so I've had time to polish this and get it to you a day early. There have been some good guess about what's coming in this chapter. It's nice to see readers review and show that they're thinking about what's in the story as it makes reading the reviews more fun. :-) The short reviews are nice too, but I do appreciate the longer ones as they do help me as a writer.))

Minister for Magic (pro tem) Amelia Bones sat in her old office for the second day of her new position. She saw no need to switch offices, as there was a chance she would have to move back in a couple of months. Besides, she was comfortable here and preferred the security of being surrounded by friends and colleagues who were Aurors.

For the second time in the last few days, her secretary opened the door mid-morning and handed her a nondescript envelope. There was nothing to indicate this letter was any different than many of the other letters she received, but she wondered about it considering the timing of the delivery. Considering what the first one had meant, to the Wizarding World and to her, she ignored her other work and opened it. She was pleased with her decision when she quickly glanced down at the last line.

Dear Minister Bones,

I thank you for taking my other letter seriously, and I appreciate all the work you and your department went through to bring justice to many of us who have been negatively affected by those you apprehended. It gives me hope. There is another situation I feel I must tell you about.

Amelia almost started to worry. The last letter had really shaken things up. What would this one bring?

Some years ago, a young Death Eater was captured and sent to Azkaban. The circumstances surrounding the story were big news. However, unbeknownst to anyone, the Death Eater’s mother became sick and wanted to visit her son one last time. The father, although he helped to send his son to prison, still loved his son. Therefore, during the prison visit, they took a supply of Polyjuice Potion and the mother and son switched places. The harsh environment of Azkaban hastened the mother’s decline and she soon died and was buried on the island. The switch was never discovered as Dementors only counted souls, not identities.

A shiver went down Amelia’s spine. The idea was so simple. While most people would be checked for bringing in potions, Aurors and very senior officials could avoid it. She had corruption in her own department and she did not even know it. That incensed her. She returned to the letter.

The father kept his son safe, but he could not let him loose, as he is still a committed Death Eater. If you visit Barty Crouch Sr in his home, be sure you search for people under Invisibility Cloaks. Also, be wary of his house-elf, Winky. She is very protective of both of them.

I’m sure you want to know how I know all of this, but I’m sorry, I can’t tell you. I’m also not sure you’d believe me even if I did. I can promise you that I am not a Death Eater. I’m just…

A concerned citizen who wants to see justice

Amelia put the letter down and thought about it. While she hoped it was not true, she could see the possibility for it. Barty was a broken man when he had to put his son into prison. She could easily see a man ignoring the law when forced to choose between his job and his family. But like the writer of this letter, she also felt that justice must be served, even when it hurt.

Based on the truthfulness of the first letter, she sent a request for Moody again. While she waited, she asked herself the question if she could do the right thing if it had been her sister Clarisse or her niece Susan. It was a very uncomfortable ten minute wait.

“You asked to see me, Minister?” Moody asked as he walked in.

“Alastor, for this meeting I am the Director and I have a job for you.”

“Of course, Director,” he replied with a grin.

Amelia let a small smile out. She liked the Sr Auror. He was like her and hated the politics of the office. The camaraderie and standing up for what was right was more important than stupid games. “I’m about to go see Dumbledore for another search request…”

“You got another letter?” He suddenly looked very interested.

“Yes I did,” she confirmed. “I’m sad to admit it, but I believe this one to be true as well.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Take your best squad and visit the Crouch residence.” One of his bushy eyebrows went up. “You are to search for Crouch Jr.”

His reaction was immediate. “What?! He’s supposed to be dead,” he said incredulously.

Deciding it might be easier if he had the full background story, she handed him the letter and watched him read it. When he handed the letter back, she told him, “Take the warning seriously, Alaster. You don’t need anymore artificial body parts.”

His cackling laughter filled the office. “Yes, Director. Is thirty minutes enough time for you to get a signature?”

“It will be sufficient. Report back to me personally when you return.”

“Do you think there will be any more letters, Director?” Moody looked at her only with his good eye. His magical one was looking behind him.

“I don’t know, Alastor. It’s amazing how knowledgeable this person is. I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, as the saying goes, but I do wonder about this person’s motivations. Anyway, enough of my musings, you have job. Be on your way.” She grabbed a search form and filled it out while her secretary tracked down Albus Dumbledore. It was signed and legal twenty-two minutes later.

---

The next morning, everyone read in the Daily Prophet about Barty Crouch Sr hiding his escaped son in his home, using his house-elf to care for him. The most amazing part was that he had kept his son under control with the Imperius Curse. Crouch Sr was sent to Azkaban for life imprisonment. Crouch Jr was given to the Dementors. Minister Bones had insisted on the letter of the law, and escaped convicts were not supposed to have a second chance to escape.

Hermione put the newspaper down after reading that to them. With a thoughtful look on her face, she asked, “Where do you suppose this information is coming from?”

“Hu’” Ron asked in the middle of a mouthful of eggs.

“That’s disgusting, Ron. Are you ever going to learn to not speak with your mouth full of food?”

Ginny almost giggled. Apparently, Hermione had started to follow her lead of trying to reform Ron.

To his credit, Ron swallowed before he spoke this time. “Sorry, Hermione, but I got to eat quickly if I’m to finish breakfast before it’s over.” He dished some more eggs onto his plate as he talked. “But I still want to know what you mean.”

“What I said,” Hermione replied, obviously restraining herself from rolling her eyes. “It’s interesting that all of this information is just now coming to light when most of it is really from the last war. So why is it coming out now and who do you suppose is supplying it?”

Ginny did not answer the question, but she redirected their focus. “Look at Malfoy. He’s in a real snit.” The other three looked at the Slytherin table.

Ron laughed but managed to keep his mouth shut while he did it.

Harry just smiled. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person,” he said in a fake congratulatory tone.

“Harry!” Several people around them looked their way at her admonishment, and Hermione looked down in embarrassment for calling attention to herself.

He just smiled at her. “Hermione, you know how he acts like he owns the place, especially when pointing out his father is on the school’s Board of Governors and how his father will fix everything. Now we see how it’s all been fixed and this shows that Malfoy does not own everything. He’s a bully, just like my Muggle cousin.” With that, Harry grabbed a piece of toast and left the table for his first class. His friends followed him.

As Harry reached the doorway, Malfoy came around the table and almost bumped into him. “Watch it, Potty! You’re in my way.”

Harry turned to him and laughed. “What’s wrong, Malformed? You’re dear daddy land himself in a spot of trouble and now he won’t be able to bail you out?” Malfoy’s sneer increased. “Maybe you won’t have any parents now, just like me. Hey, I got some Muggle relatives that act just like you. Maybe you’re related to them and can stay with them now.”

Malfoy went for his wand as Harry’s friends chuckled, but the Slytherin was stopped by an older voice. “Mr Malfoy, it would not be wise for you to pull your wand.”

The blond boy looked up and paled slightly to see that he had been caught by the Headmaster. “But, but Professor. You should have heard what he said to me.”

“Actually, I did, Mr Malfoy.” He turned to look down upon the other student. “Mr Potter, I believe you owe Mr Malfoy an apology.”

To Ginny’s surprise, Harry did not immediately do as the Headmaster asked. Instead he looked up at the Headmaster and asked, “Sir, to apologize would mean that I did something or said something untrue. What exactly was untrue?”

“Your teasing him about not having any parents, would be untrue and unkind. I know you don’t like people teasing you about that.” The wizard’s tone was grandfatherly, but it still held rebuke.

“I did say ‘maybe’, Headmaster. As for it being unkind, that might be true, but until Malfoy gives me about two dozen sincere apologies for doing the same thing to me, I don’t see the need to apologize to him.”

Ginny was impressed with that logic, and that Harry had the guts to say it now. This was more like sixth year Harry.

“Nevertheless, I insist on an apology, Mr Potter.” The Headmaster did not back down.

Harry finally buckled, Ginny could see it happen. He was still twelve after all.

“Very well, since you insist … I apologize.” With that simple vague statement that was emotionally flat, Harry turned and walked away. The Headmaster stared after him with a very disappointed look on his face.

Ginny followed her friend. When they were away from the Headmaster, she quietly said, “Good show, Harry. The Headmaster is being stupid. You gave him a hollow victory.”

An angry Harry looked at her. It was the sort of look she had only every seen in the other timeline and on a much older face. “Thanks, Ginny. It’s good to know who your friends really are.” She nodded and they split paths. It also occurred to her that the event they had just left had been a defining moment. She wondered if Harry could call Fawkes to him again, as he had done in the Chamber of Secrets. Somehow, she doubted it, and she was not sure how she felt about that.

---

As it happened, Ginny berated herself. She should have seen this coming and been better prepared for it. She had just been knocked to the ground on their way out of the Great Hall after dinner. Crabbe and Goyle were holding their wands on Ron and Hermione, while Malfoy had shoved Harry up against the wall. Harry appeared slightly dazed. He must have hit his head hard on the stone wall, she realized.

While Malfoy stupidily ignored her and casually pulled his wand out as he laughed, Ginny sprang to her feet. Trusting Ron and Hermione to take care of Crabbe and Goyle, she yanked the wand out of Malfoy’s hand before he could train it on Harry. Reaching up with her other hand, she grabbed Malfoy’s ear and twisted it, pulling him away from Harry and to the wall beside her friend. Hearing sounds behind her after a yelp from Malfoy, she hoped her friend and brother were protecting her back.

She shoved only the tip of Malfoy’s wand into the end of his nose and watched him go cross-eyed as he tried to focus on his wand invading his own body. Leaning near his ear, she hissed, “You can guess what will happen if I continue to shove this wand another six inches, can’t you, Malfoy?”

He did not say anything or move, but that was OK as it was a rhetorical question.

“This is your last warning, Malfoy. If you’ll either treat us civilly or ignore us, you’ll live. But if you do anything to me and my friends and someone gets hurt, I’ll personally make sure that your father is the last Malfoy on this planet. If you try something and no one gets hurt, you can consider yourself lucky as I’ll only use a castration spell on you.”

The boy’s eyes widened.

“But if anyone gets hurt, there won’t be enough pieces of you left to bury.” With her threat delivered, Ginny hurled the wand down the corridor and backed up slightly. As Malfoy relaxed, she quickly lunged forward and kneed him hard in the groin, causing him to collapse to the ground into a fetal position and groan.

A quick look showed Hermione and Ron each with a wand held on a big Slytherin. Looking at Harry, she could see that he was still a bit dazed looking, although he was looking at her. “Come on, Harry. I think Madam Pomfrey needs to take a look at you.”

That seemed to bring him around. “Uh, no, that’s OK, I’m fine.”

Ginny smirked at him. He started to stumble as she pulled him away from the wall, as she had mentally predicted. “Yeah, sure you are, Harry. Come along, let me lead you to the Tower.” Ginny put his arm around her shoulder to steady him and started walking off. She heard two other wands get thrown and running feet to catch up.

“Wow! That was amazing, Ginny!”

“Thanks, Ron. I didn’t do anything special, just what had to be done.” Harry’s normal line seemed like the right one for the moment.

“What did you tell, Malfoy, Ginny? I saw you whispering to him,” Hermione asked.

“I was inviting him to tea,” she replied sarcastically. “What did you think I was saying to him? I told him he better not do it again or he’d be really sorry.”

“But Ginny, you can’t go around beating up people,” Hermione objected. “You can’t stoop to their level. You’ll end up just like them.”

Ginny could not help herself, she snorted. “Really, Hermione. That may sound like good logic, but I can tell you it’s not. People like that only understand one language, their own. So you have to talk in their language to get them to understand. If you want to think of that as fighting fire with fire, be my guest. But if you want to know the real difference between us, it’s that we do those things only as a last resort and regret having to do it. Those people enjoy doing those sorts of things.”

“But…”

“Hermione, please don’t argue with me right now. Instead, think about it for a few days, honestly debating both sides. Then if you still disagree with me, I’ll discuss it, but now is really not the time.”

“Er, Ginny? I don’t think you’re going the right way,” her brother timidly told her.

Her first reaction would have been to bite his head off for that, but then again, she was back in “war Ginny mode” and probably did not look or act like a sweet little girl right now. She took a deep breath to calm herself down a little more and act like the little girl she supposedly was. “Harry? Are we on the right path to the Tower?” she softly asked.

He pulled his head up, having lowered it and trusting her shortly after they had started walking. “Yeah, this looks right.”

“There’s your answer, Ron. I think Mr Concussion needs to talk to someone.” Her brother did not reply to that, and Hermione was — thankfully — staying quiet.

A few minutes later, they were at the hospital wing. Ron opened the door so Ginny could lead Harry in. The nurse was right there and saw them come in.

“Put him in this bed. What happened?” she asked briskly.

“He was thrown against a wall and hit his head on the stone. I’m reasonably sure he’s got a concussion,” Ginny told the woman.

Pomfrey did diagnostic spells on the boy. “And how did he get thrown against a wall?” She stopped her work and looked at the three of them.

Ginny was the only one who could find her voice. “The usual for Harry … trouble finds him even while he’s just walking down the corridor minding his own business. I separated them and brought Harry here.”

The nurse looked at her carefully before she coolly asked, “Will I be seeing anyone else here in a few minutes?”

“No, I wouldn’t expect it. Boys with big heads don’t like to acknowledge that little girls can tell them to go away and that they obeyed,” Ginny said with a straight face.

For the tiniest of moments, a smile graced the usually taciturn nurse. “Mr Potter does indeed have a concussion, therefore he will be spending the night here. However, it is slight, so he should be joining you in the morning for breakfast. Please give him your good-byes and return to your common room. I need to get a potion for him.” She turned and quickly walked into her office.

“’Night, Harry,” they all told him.

“Ginny?” Harry weakly called out. She walked over to his bedside. “Thanks for the help. You’re a friend.”

She could not help herself, she leaned over and placed a light kiss on his forehead. “Anything for you, Harry, because you were a friend first.” Her voice thick with emotion as she thought back to his rescue of her from the basilisk in the other timeline. “We’ll see you in the morning. Sleep well, Harry.” Doing her best to stay composed and not let the emotion of the moment overcome her, she turned and strode out of the hospital wing, leading her friends back to the Tower, not saying a word. Ginny went straight to bed, not trusting herself around anyone at that moment.

That reminded her that there was still a very large snake under the castle. She was going to have to deal with that soon.

Harry did join them for breakfast the next morning, looking no worse for his “little accident”. The four of them noticed that while Malfoy glared at them, he did leave them alone. Ginny hoped that would continue. If not, she might have to break her promise to “the old Hermione”. Of course, if Malfoy was dangerous enough on his own now, it would not be breaking her promise to make him “disappear”; it would be protecting her friends.

The Daily Prophet reported that Narcissa Malfoy had been cleared of all charges against her and released. Ginny was not sure whether to believe that was true or not, as Mrs Malfoy had committed some heinous crimes of her own during the war in the old timeline; but it was possible that at this time, she truly was innocent and the war had caused her to go bad. Ginny would have to trust Minister Bones, although that did not stop Ginny from watching to see what Mrs Malfoy did in the future.

Potions went well that day. Snape mostly left her alone and treated her like the rest of the Gryffindors, that is to say uncivilly. Actually, all her classes were going well and she hardly even had to try to make Outstanding grades. In fact, she had to purposefully make a few mistakes and not be the first person to do a spell in class so she did not stand out too much. Still, it was not hard to notice the occasional thoughtful glance given to her by her teachers.

She thought she was able to redirect some of those suspicions by spending a lot of time in the library. She did not spend quite as much time there as Hermione did, but she made sure it was noticed that she spent as much time there as most of the Ravenclaws. Usually, she just did general reading, trying to round out her education with things she did not know yet. She also worked on her plan.

Regarding school, she felt like enough time had past, since it was nearing the end of October, for the next step towards world domination. She mentally laughed at how her mind had changed her thought to the Muggle movie phrase. She wished she were older, and she and Harry could go to movies together again. She had liked those little escapes from the war in the other timeline.

Gathering her thoughts, she made her way to see her head-of-house. Her knock was answered seconds later by a very prim looking woman. She mused that this version of McGonagall had yet to learn to relax. But then, this version of McGonagall had yet to get to the point of relax or go insane from the war.

“Professor, may I have a few moments of your time?”

“Certainly, Miss Weasley. Come in.” Ginny was directed to a leather chair. “Now, what can I help you with?”

“Professor, I’d like to discuss the possibility of jumping a year. I’ve already seen all the first year material, multiple times from my brothers.”

Her teacher only raised one eyebrow. “I suppose that’s not uncommon with younger siblings. It would be more true for you with the number of brothers you have.” Ginny blushed slightly at that. “Are you bored in class?”

“Very.”

She nodded. “I had wondered. Class does seem to be very easy for you. I’ve already discussed that with some of the other Professors and they all agree that you are doing Outstanding work. The one exception can be ignored.” She gave a small smirk with the last part, which Ginny could not help but return. “Why did you want to do this now?”

“I thought that the sooner I did it, the better it would be, as the material is easier at the lower level. I thought that changing at the start of the new term in January would work well.”

“It is true that the sooner the jump is made, the easier it is.” McGonagall thought about it for a moment. “Miss Weasley, please do some transformations for me.”

Ginny followed her directions. They were all from her first year final exams, if she remembered correctly.

The professor nodded. “Very well done. I shall discuss this with the Headmaster. He will have the final say, besides your parents, of course.”

“Of course, Professor. I’ll write home and tell them so they won’t be surprised. Thank you for your time, Professor.” Ginny left and went back to the Tower. She felt she could talk her parents into this, but one never really knew sometimes.

Walking in, she saw Harry playing chess with Ron. That scene brought back a lot of happy memories. She walked over and watched them for a minute.

Ron made a move and then finally looked up at her. “Need something, Ginny?”

“Actually, yes. Harry, when you finish there, can I please talk to you for a few minutes?”

Her brother huffed. “Why is it always Harry you have to talk to or hang with?”

“Is your jealousy coming back, Ron?” she asked innocently, while noticing that Harry was staring intently at the chess board. Ron went red in the face, but he managed to hold his tongue. When she was sure he was not going to explode, she answered, “Because I need help with something only Harry can do. If I needed help with something only you could do, Ron, I’d ask you. And before you ask, it’s none of your business what I want to discuss with my friend. I’ll tell you later, but it will be when I want to tell you.”

That might have been a bit bossy of her, but she did not care at the moment. Ron irked her sometimes. She went upstairs and got parchment, her quill, and ink. After a quick letter to her parents explaining about her classes, she felt like drawing or doodling. That carefree activity would probably take her mind off of her brother.

She made herself comfortable in a chair by the fire. Her fingers and the sub-conscious parts of her brain seemed to work on their own. Mostly it was just shapes, but after awhile, she noticed that she had drawn a small snake on the page. Stopping to look at it carefully, she finally recognized where that image had came from: Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. Her mind was obviously thinking about things to come.

“Nice picture,” came a voice from above. It was a voice she had not expected. She looked up into the dark eyes of Dean Thomas and smiled. A part of her was not really sure why she had dated him in the other timeline, and yet, she also knew he was a kind soul with lots of emotion and feeling within him.

“Thanks. I was just doodling. I’m not even sure where it came from.”

“I like the shading. It looks very realistic. Have you done any other pictures?” he asked.

“Not really. I tend to doodle more than draw.”

“Too bad,” he told her. “I see some real talent there.”

“Thanks.” She looked at him and almost laughed. This was much like the conversation that had started their relationship in her fifth year, except that Dean had continued it on with asking about them spending time together alone. Since he was twelve, she would have been very surprised had he done that this time. “It’s something I do when I’m bored, otherwise I don’t care about drawing.”

He nodded, as if understanding, but from what she knew about him from last time, she doubted he really did. She suspected he was just being friendly over a common interest.

“If you do any more, I’d like to see them.” He stood and walked off to join Seamus.

Looking over, she saw that Harry had finished his game and was walking over. She stood too so she could search the room. Finding a couple of empty chairs in the corner, she waved at him to follow her. When he joined her, she pulled out her wand and whispered an Imperturbable charm.

Harry cocked his head and raised an eyebrow at her. “That’s a fourth year spell.”

She smiled at him, as if he was a clueless child. “I come from a Pureblood family with lots of older brothers. I was bound to pick up some very useful things before I came to school.” When he frowned at her, she quickly realized what the problem was — probably. “Harry, I’m not one of those who believe in the purity of magical blood. I’m very equal opportunity and believe in the skill of the magic user. It would have been more correct for me to say that I came from a Wizarding home where I had lots of opportunity to see and pick up magic skills before I started school. Is that better?”

One of his shy smiles, that almost melted her heart, graced his face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I really should have known you wouldn’t be that way.”

Ginny smiled back. “I know, Harry, and you didn’t make me feel bad.”

“Thanks.” He looked at her hesitantly for some reason. “So, uh, what did you want to talk about?”

A devilish grin came over her. “I have a proposition for you.” As she had hoped, he blushed very red, which made her laugh. “Sorry, Harry, but you’re just too easy to tease.” He lightly backhanded her shoulder, as she’d seen him do with Ron. “Anyway, I have a business proposal for you, for someone with your unique skills. It will also allow me to repay your loan to me.”

He gave her a confused look. “Like what?”

She pulled out her drawing and showed him the picture. “Harry, concentrate on the drawing of the snake and tell him to open up.” He looked at her like she was crazy. “Just humor me, Harry.”

Harry shrugged and did so. Out came hissing instead of English. “And?” he asked her.

“That is your unique skill, Harry. You can speak Parseltongue.”

“I thought you said I shouldn’t do that.”

“I said,” looking as if it should have been obvious, “that you should not let that become publically known. But I think I’ve found a treasure that is accessible only to someone who knows Parseltongue. So with my knowledge to get there, your ability to open the door, and the Headmaster’s ability to sell the treasure off, then we’ll all be rich.” She flashed him a big smile, which he mimicked.

“Seriously?”

“Yes. I have yet to ask the Headmaster, but I was thinking about splitting it forty-forty-twenty with the school, me, and you. How he uses the forty percent to help the school, is up to him and the Board of Governors. Twenty percent is for you and your unique ability, and remaining forty percent is for me and my family for finding the thing in the first place as well as knowing what we’ll be facing.”

His look changed to one of concern. “What do you mean, facing? What is guarding the treasure?”

“Actually, the guard is the treasure. We’ll carve him up to his components and sell it all off for potion ingredients.” When he still looked at her expectantly, she calmly said, “It’s a thousand year-old basilisk.”

Harry almost fell out of his chair. “You’re joking, right?”

“No, Harry. Well, at least I don’t think so.” She acted a bit unsure, as that was required. From his point of view, how could she really ‘know’? “I mean, one can never be completely sure what’s hidden until one finds it; but all the clues point to that.”

“And you think the Headmaster will agree to that?” he asked.

“He won’t have a choice, as he searched for this place once before and didn’t find it. Besides, even forty percent of several hundred thousand Galleons is a lot of money, especially when it’s for doing almost nothing.”

Harry shook his head as if he still could not believe it. “Well, if you can talk him into it, I’m in.”

“Good!” Just because the situation allowed for it, she threw herself at him and gave him a hug. It felt so nice, she had to force herself to let go. “Sorry,” she muttered and looked down with false embarrassment. “The Headmaster should call me into his office in a day or two for something else. I’ll bring you along and we can talk about it with him then.”

She got a meek “OK”. Ginny told him good-night and took her spell down. Her plans were going well and she was cementing her relationship with Harry. She really hoped nothing went wrong.

((A/N: A number of people have commented on the fact that some of Ginny's actions have caused bigger ripples than she's presently aware of, or thinking about. Don't worry, they will catch up to her. :-))