Dolasitas

Remus sat at his desk, his head in his hands. It seemed he had failed in his duty to protect Lexy. Yes, he thought bitterly, that was about right. Failure and Remus Lupin seemed to go hand in hand these days. In fact, not just these days. Things hadn’t gone right for him since the early years of Hogwarts. He reflected on all the things that had in fact gone wrong for him, and it was not a pleasant way to pass the time. All three of his closest friends were dead and gone, and he had been unable to do anything to stop it. Not only that, but everybody thought he was working for Voldemort, so those of his friends who weren’t in the Order despised him; and the Order was a very small group these days. Lastly, of course, was the fact that Harry Potter, his last link to the past, had died in the war, and he hadn’t been able to lift a finger to protect him – the Final Battle fell on the night of the full moon.

Sighing, Remus suppressed those memories. Depressing himself even more would help no-one, least of all Lexy. He didn’t know why - hell, he barely knew her outside of lessons – but he felt an irrepressible urge to protect her and rescue her from Malfoy’s clutches. Maybe it was because he had known her parents, he thought, ignoring the nagging thought in the back of his mind that maybe, just maybe, it was something else. He couldn’t see how he could do anything until Lexy was back at Hogwarts, though; gone were the days when the Order could operate openly, otherwise he would have just swept in there and taken her, damn the consequences.

The only positive he could see was that it seemed that Lucius was treating her well. A shopkeeper in Hogsmeade had told him that Lucius and Lexy had visited Infinitas whilst they were there, and he seemed to be showing her the respect she deserved. If he didn’t… well, Merlin help him, Remus would kill the man with his own bare hands if necessary. If he did; Lexy would have a comfortable life, that could not be argued. Lucius could offer her everything that Remus could not.

Remus shook his head to clear it. Where the hell had that thought come from? Clearly he was tired – those illogical kinds of thoughts would not have occurred to him otherwise. Perhaps he should go and find Ginny and let her know what had happened, the walk would do him good.

He reached the Slytherin common room and waited for a student to approach. “Miss Wright,” he greeted the first student, “could you ask Miss Weasley to come out and see me?”

“I’ll try, sir, but she’s locked herself in the dormitory for the last couple of hours. Won’t talk to anyone.” The student disappeared into the common room and Remus furrowed his brow. That was most unlike Ginny. Normally, she was one of the most sociable and talkative young women he knew, a trait she had inherited from her mother.

His trail of thought was interrupted by Ginny emerging, her eyes red and swollen. “Can we go to your office to talk, Remus?” she asked, her face downcast.

“Of course, Ginny. What happened?” he asked worriedly.

“In the office, Remus,” she replied, looking around her fearfully.

They maintained their silence until they were safely back in the office where Ginny sunk down into the armchair and curled up in the foetal position, rocking back and forth. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and looked at Remus. “Did you find Lexy?” she asked quietly.

He regarded her silently trying to discern the problem before replying. “I found her, yes. But she was already at Malfoy Manor. Malfoy has decided he is going to marry her.”

Ginny looked horrified. “What are we going to do?”

“What can we do? I managed to persuade to let her return to Hogwarts in September, although she will be returning to him every night. There is no way that anyone will get private access to her before then, I can guarantee that. Lucius Malfoy is most definitely the possessive type,” he replied, grimacing.

“So we have to let him do what he will with her until September?” Ginny asked frustratedly. “She’ll be going through hell, and we’ll be sat here doing nothing.”

Remus clenched his fists. “Ginny, what do you suggest then? I know I can think of only one worse fate for Lexy than being Lucius Malfoy’s wife and that is being Lucius Malfoy’s whore. THAT is the alternative should we cause problems,” he retorted angrily.

To his horror, Ginny began to sob in earnest. “I’m sorry, Ginny, I didn’t mean to put it so harshly, I’m just worried about her,” he said desperately.

“I would not wish that fate upon anyone,” Ginny forced out between her sobs.

Remus furrowed his brow as he put two and two together. Suddenly, the pieces clicked into place. “Snape,” he growled. “Ginny, what did he do to you?”

“I couldn’t stop him, Remus, he knows,” she cried.

“Knows what?” he asked, bemused.

“If I didn’t let him do what he wanted to me, he would tell Malfoy that Lexy is in the Order. Then she wouldn’t stand a chance.” Ginny began to sob again and Remus held his head in his hands. He was torn; it seemed that it was impossible to protect both of the young women in his care, and he simply didn’t know what to do.

“Ginny, I don’t know what to say,” he said brokenly. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Please, Remus, don’t blame yourself,” Ginny said softly. “You did all you could; I was aware of the risk, thanks to you, but there was nothing I could do to defend myself once he had seen the information in my mind. I was perfectly aware of the necessity to keep my Occlumency shield up at all times; Harry drummed that into me even more than you have. I blame no-one but myself.” As she spoke, Remus could see the change in her demeanour, and he shivered at the tone of her voice.

“Ginny, don’t be ridiculous. The only person at fault is Snape, and he is the one to focus your anger on here.”

“Oh, I do, trust me,” she said coldly. “I have been thinking these past few hours, actually, and I think we can turn the situation to our advantage.”

“In what way?” Remus asked, bemused. “Do not put yourself at risk simply because you want revenge, Ginny.”

“Isn’t that what we’re all here for, Remus, those of us in the Order? Neville for his parents, me for my family and Harry, you for your friends, Her –“

Remus cut her off. “Perhaps so, but we cannot let our emotions overrule our better judgement. You have a responsibility to those who died to keep yourself safe,” he said harshly.

“And what’s the point in continuing to live if we ignore our emotions?” Ginny demanded, her voice breaking. “Remus, you may have chosen to shut down your heart after Tonks died, but I know that she and Harry would have wanted us to do our damnedest to bring down Voldemort. If that means putting ourselves in positions where the risk is greater, perhaps where we’re being driven by our hearts instead of our heads, then so be it. I will do as I see best, and you do what you think is best, Remus.” With that, Ginny left the office without looking back.

Remus sank into his chair, head in his hands. Today was indeed a day for failing.


Ginny rashly ran to Snape’s office and began hammering on the door. “Professor Snape!” she shouted. “It’s Ginny Weasley, I want to talk to you now.”

Snape did not hesitate and threw the door open, his eyebrows raised. “Back for more of the same so soon, Ginevra?” he asked, a small smirk playing across his lips.

“Perhaps,” she said boldly. “I am here to see if we can come to some kind of arrangement.”

Snape was intrigued. “What did you have in mind?” he said, ushering her in and closing the door. “Presumably something that will be beneficial to the both of us.”

“Obviously,” she replied, her heart pounding in her chest at the thought of what she was about to do.

“I must confess, I do not see what you can be thinking of, but I am more than open to suggestions,” he said, leering.

Gritting her teeth, she forced out her reply. “We all know what Voldemort –“

“Don’t speak his name!” Snape spat, horrified.

“Voldemort,” she said insistently as Snape flinched, “wants from the Death Eaters; namely, those who are unmarried to find a partner and start a family. Presumably, you are included in that.” Snape nodded, and she continued. “You have shown that you find me attractive,” she said with a shudder, “so I offer myself up to you as that partner.”

Snape stepped back, his eyes widening with barely concealed shock. “What in Circe’s name would possess you to do such a thing? You made your dislike of me perfectly clear, Ginevra,” he replied, his lip curling.

“After seeing what is happening to Lexy, I am not naïve enough to believe that I will be able to choose what happens to me when I am outside of Hogwarts. Fred and George will be able to protect me for a while, but I would not be able to put them at such risk.

"Anyway, the outside world holds no charm for me now. If I marry you, I will be able to stay at Hogwarts,” she said sadly. “Better the devil you know, after all.”

“Quite. The Dark Lord will be pleased with my choice, I am sure. After all, your dear mother had seven children, and I will be relying upon you to repeat her success,” he said warningly. “If you deliberately prevent yourself from conceiving my child…”

“I will fulfil all marital duties required of me,” she said dully.

Snape looked at her piercingly, clearly trying to discern any hint of a lie. Finally satisfied, he nodded briskly. “Very well. I will make arrangements for you to move into my rooms at the end of term, and we will have the ceremony shortly after. I feel duty bound to point out to you, however, that you need not expect me to behave towards you as a husband should. I consider this to be no more than a mutually beneficial arrangement. We will have marital relations when I desire it, and of course with the aim of producing children, but I will not treat you as a lover or a friend. You will not be mistreated by me whilst you respect me, and that is all I can guarantee you. All I ask of you in return is your fidelity, your silence regarding my personal affairs and, of course, that you bear my children.”

“I accept your terms,” said Ginny, feeling the magic of the verbal contract swirl around them.


When Remus entered the Great Hall the next morning, having barely slept all night, he was perturbed to see Severus Snape with a slight smile on his face. This rare occurrence was one that he could not ignore, especially considering the events of yesterday, and he took his seat next to him. “Good morning, Severus,” he said mildly. “How are you today?”

“Oh, I have some good news to report to the Dark Lord,” Snape replied, stroking his chin and gazing over at the Slytherin table. “Lucius will not be the only one carrying news of his betrothal to the next meeting.”

“Really?” said Remus, his surprise genuine. “My congratulations, Severus. Do I know your future wife?”

“That you do, Lupin,” he replied with a sardonic smile, “she is none other than Miss Weasley. She came to me yesterday evening proposing our union.”

“Miss… Ah,” Remus said, his mind spinning. “Well, I am certain you will have no problems fulfilling the Dark Lord’s requirements with her.” Remus stared disbelievingly over at the Slytherin table as he rose again. “If you will excuse me, Severus, I have something I must urgently attend to in my rooms.”

Remus slowly walked out of the hall, feeling at a loss to understand how everything had gone so terribly wrong in the last twenty-four hours. If Ginny had chosen to align herself with Snape, then so be it. She had gone against his advice and that of the Order, and Remus knew the Weasleys to be stubborn to the last. She would not listen to him now; all he could do was to be there for her should it go wrong. As for Lexy, he would just do his damnedest to rescue her from Malfoy. Yes, he thought grimly to himself, he would take her from Malfoy’s clutches or die in the attempt.

A/N Wow, this chapter was difficult. I always struggle to write Ginny and keep her in character, and I'm still not entirely happy with it. However, I wanted to move the story onwards - the scene is fully set for the action to begin. I may come back to this chapter at some point, perhaps adding in a lemon... we'll see.