chapter 4

Ginny was left alone for the whole night. Even though she expected Snape to burst into the room again, there was no sign of him. And surprisingly, she was not pleased by that. She wanted to see him, she wanted to yell at him, to demand he let her go.

The night went by, but Ginny did not sleep. She was preoccupied with thinking, planning, hating. The situation she was in was indeed horrible, but she would find a way to escape. She was sure of it. Or at least that was what she kept telling herself.

Looking down at the mark on the inside of her wrist, she could not help but grimace in disgust and rage. She was decided to find a way to get rid of it. But not now.

At the moment she had more important things to worry about. She needed to find out what happened to her family. And the only way to do that was to play a good little girl. Somehow she knew that yelling and acting crazy would not get her anywhere. Not with Severus Snape. She had to push her feelings aside and act smart.

Her family was alive and safe. She just needed to find a way to get back to them.

Soon the morning came. And there was a knock on the door.

Ginny tensed up, not saying anything.

A moment later Severus Snape entered the room.

"You knocked," Ginny commented calmly, even though there was hate in her eyes. She could not help it.

"I did," came his reply, "As I said, you are not a slave here. You deserve privacy."

Her mouth opened to fire back a snarky remark, but she stopped herself in time. She reminded herself she needed to be smart.

She could see Snape was a bit surprised by her behavior and she could not blame him. Just yesterday she was acting crazy, yelling and stabbing him with a letter opener and now she was sitting on the bed, her face calm, her tone even.

"I would like for you to join me downstairs for breakfast," he informed her.

Ginny's face turned pale and her breath caught in her throat, "Y-You said we will see each other as little as possible."

"It is only a breakfast, Miss Weasley," he drawled, "Besides, I thought we could talk. We did not have a chance to do so yesterday."

Slowly Ginny nodded, "Fine."

Snape looked at her, "Perhaps you should clean up a bit. New clothes will be waiting for you on the bed."

"Alright."

She hated that she had to listen to him, that she had to agree with him. It was killing her that she had to be cold on the outside when she was dying on the inside.

"The elf will be here in twenty minutes to take you downstairs," Snape said, then simply left the room.

Ginny sat there for a while, not moving.

She will have to have breakfast with Severus Snape.

And he actually thought she was alright with it? How foolish was he?

Then she forced herself to move and somehow she dragged herself in the bathroom.

Her clothes were dirty.

Mud.

Blood.

Sweat.

Ginny filled the bathtub with hot water. As she waited, she closed the doors and noticed that there was no lock on it. What if he entered the bathroom?

With those dark thoughts in her mind, she quickly took her clothes off and
slipped in the tub, her eyes on the door.

The hot water felt so good. So relaxing.

But she did not deserve it. How could she relax when all these horrible things were happening?

With that thought in her mind she quickly cleaned herself and within five minutes she was already wrapped in a towel, walking out of the bathroom.

She approached the bed, noticing a beautiful dress waiting for her.

As she took a closer look she noticed it was a spaghetti strap white long summer dress.

Was he serious? He expected her to wear that?

Gritting her teeth together, she decided to play along. Snape was a Death Eater after all. She could never know what he was capable of if she annoyed him about such things.

But...why would he want her to wear that kind of a dress?

Pushing those thoughts aside, she quickly slipped the dress on, then looked down at herself. It was too revealing. Not that it would have bothered her if the circumstances were different, but she did not want to reveal anything while having breakfast with her Professor, Headmaster and a Death Eater.

Suddenly she heard a soft knock on the door and then a small elf entered.

"I is to take Miss downstairs," it said emotionless. Just like it's Master.

Ginny nodded, then followed the elf. Somehow she knew it would be useless to try and ask the elf for help.

It lead her down the stairs then through a long hallway before they stopped in front of large doors. The elf knocked softly and suddenly the doors opened, revealing a magnificent and large dining room. Well, it was not that large, but it was much bigger that what the Weasleys had.

Ginny just stood there, her eyes moving as she observed the big room in front of her.

So elegant. She never imagined Professor Snape having enough money to have such a Manor.

Her gaze fell upon the table in the middle of the room.

A table with six chair.

Snape was sitting at the end of it.

And he was looking at her.

Ginny quickly made her way towards the table, then stopped, not knowing where to sit. Then without waiting for Snape to speak, she sat on the chair furthest away from him. She quickly rearranged her dress, then looked up at him.

He was silent for a long moment and Ginny thought he did not approve of her chair selection.

"Why is your hair wet?" he suddenly asked.

That caught her unprepared, "B-Because I took a bath?"

"The elf should have dried it for you," he said, pulling his wand out from his robes and waving it at her.

Ginny tensed at first, seeing the wand pointed at her, but then relaxed as she felt her hair dry within seconds.

Snape put his wand away and then looked at her again.

Why was he looking at her like that? Did he expect her to thank him? Just the thought of it made her blood boil.

"I apologize for the dress," he spoke, "It was the only thing that would fit you. After breakfast you will talk to the elf. Make a list of things you need, including clothes, personal hygiene items and such."

Ginny almost snorted. He actually thought she would stay in his Manor?

"Sir," she started, "The fact that you chose this dress is thought provoking. It makes me wonder if your intentions are really as noble as you said yesterday."

Snape met her eyes, raising his eyebrows, "You need not worry about my intentions. If I had wanted something with you, you would not be wearing anything."

Ginny's face blushed and she could feel the heat in her head. How dare he talk to her like that?

"Eat," he said again.

Wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible, Ginny looked at the food in front of her.

It all smelled so good.

And she was so hungry.

As if he was reading her thoughts, he said, "Eat."

Ginny did not move immediately, but then she reached for the glass of orange juice and a large muffin.

"In the future you decide if you want to have breakfasts here with me or you can eat in your room. It is up to you," Snape explained, looking at her.

When she said nothing to that, Snape continued, "As for your education, I will see to it that you continue with your school obligations, but you cannot return to Hogwarts."

"Why not?" the words escaped her, "I'm sixteen, I have every right to education."

Her little outburst had no effect on Snape.

His face was a cold mask when he spoke, "You will be provided with books. My library is quite extensive. You will have access to better books than you did at Hogwarts."

"I don't care about that," Ginny whispered, but he heard her.

"Miss Weasley - "

"Why did you choose me?" she asked, looking up at him.

He did not answer.

"Why did you choose me?" Ginny repeated the question, "There were others. Why me?"

"There is no reason," he stated calmly, "I simply chose you. That is it."

"No, y-you can't just...there has to be a reason. Why?"

Snape took a deep breath, ignoring her question, "There is something I have to tell you. About your family."

Ginny's eyes widened as she waited for him to speak.

"Your brother, Ronald Weasley."

"W-What about him?" her voice was shaking.

"He died in the Battle."

What?

Ginny's hands started trembling, "W-What? How?"

"He was killed by Lucius Malfoy."

She was not hungry anymore.

"That's not true," she whispered.

"Why would I lie to you?" Snape asked, "I do not have any information about the other members of your family," then he paused for a slight moment, "Corpses are being identified. You will know in the next two days if your family is between the fallen ones."

Ginny could feel her throat close up. She wanted to cry, but couldn't. What was happening to her?

"My condolences," Snape added.

Ginny looked up and met his eyes, "Don't say that."

Her voice was filled with anger.

"Miss Weasley, we should talk about the future."

"No! Y-You can't just tell me my brother is d-dead and then just continue as if nothing happened."

He sighed, "I would give you time, but I cannot. A few of my colleagues are coming here tomorrow for dinner."

"So what?"

"You will have to be present."

"No."

His voice got a bit colder, "Yes, you will be present. And you will not cause trouble if you know what is good for you."

Ginny leaned back in her chair, "Are you threatening me?"

His dark eyes were staring deep into her eyes, but no words escaped his lips.

"What are you going to do to me if I disobey?" Ginny asked.

"Are you sure you want to find out? I am a Death Eater, after all," he replied, emotionless.

Ginny crossed her arms over her chest, "I-I'm not hungry anymore."

"That matters not. We have to talk."

"Then talk," she snapped.

"That is exactly the attitude I do not wish to see tomorrow," he spoke, staring at her, making her feel like a little girl, "You will do exactly as I say. You will be polite."

Ginny remained silent, even though she was burning on the inside.

Snape continued, "You do as I say, and I will try to find out what happened to the rest of your family."

Her face lit up with hope.

But Snape's next words caused all hope to disappear, "Lucius Malfoy will be here as well. I do not want any scenes."

"You can't be serious."

"Does it look like I am joking?"

"He k-kiled my brother!"

"And your boyfriend killed his son," Snape replied darkly, "There are loses on both sides."

"D-Draco's dead?"

Ginny felt sick. It was all too much. She did not like Draco, but he was young, they went to school together and now he was gone. Dead. Like so many of them.

She closed her eyes for a second, "What about...Hermione? Is she still alive? Is she still with...Malfoy?"

"She is alive," was his only answer.

"Will I see her tomorrow?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Snape looked at her, "She is not a Pureblood. She is merely a slave to Malfoy. Slaves will not be present tomorrow."

Ginny was silent for a long moment, looking at all the food in front of her.

She felt sick.

"May I be excused, Master?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "I am not feeling so well."

He nodded, "Follow the elf back to your room."

Ginny immediately stood up and hurried out of the dining room, not even looking back at man that was now her Master.

She could not stand to be in his presence any longer.

A/N: I know it's been too long, but I was just busy with other stories and decided to put this one on side track for a while. Sorry. But now I've actually started to think about this story and might actually write a few more chapters. Hope you are interested, thank you for your support! :)