Dilys had told Ginny of a secret exit out of Hogwarts that was only known and passed down from Headmaster to Headmaster. She checked the Marauders Map and sure enough it wasn't marked. Thanks to Fred and George she was able to fake a nose bleed the moment she got to the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall insisted she go directly to the hospital wing. It was almost too easy. If the uncommon luck she was having today held, she could get to Gingotts and back before lunch. None would be the wiser and with enough gold that Dumbledore couldn't hold her scholarship over her head. One more step closer to her true independence.

She had no intention of being greedy with what was in Dilys's Vault. She planned to give her brothers the startup capital to start their Joke Shop. They had always been there for her and it was the least that she could do. She had no intention of letting her mother know about her new found wealth. Well, not until she was of age and there was nothing the woman could do about it. She was expecting her mum to blow her top, when the woman hears that she was ditching Neville. Her dream of Ginny being the next Lady Longbottom wasn't going to happen. Never! Never! Never! Never...ever!

She slipped behind an old tapestry on the third floor and quickly raced down the long hallway. After a few minutes she came to an old dusty door. She guessed that it hadn't been used in years, maybe even centuries. She raised her wand and cast an Alohomora.

No sooner than her spell left her wand, than the hallway filled with a blinding light. She covered her eyes with her hands on instinct. Even with the added cover the light was way too intense to open her eyes. Her ankles then snapped together and she was hoisted upside down in the air. Her skirt and robes started to wrap around her body tightly. Somewhere along the way she lost her grip on her wand and it was lost somewhere in the folds of her clothes. Panic set in and she started too struggled desperately against her binding garments. The more she struggled, the tighter it got. The hood of her robes engulfed her head. She felt as if it was trying to swallow her. She shook her head wildly back and forth to free herself from it. Like the rest of her body, her head was bound tightly. Only her mouth and lower jaw was left exposed. I'm dead...I'm so dead.

If it wasn't for the fact that she was now tightly wrapped up like a mummy, she would have been impressed by the clever trap. Now, she was just good and pissed. Mostly she was scared, it was only a matter of time until she was found and she was dead. Well, not dead, but just as good as. Dumbledore would go and change her into whatever it was that Neville wanted. The hell with that!

She could feel her wand against the small of her back. If she could get to it and then use the counter-curse. Who was she kidding, she had no idea what curse she was trapped in. Like that, had ever stopped her before. If it was one thing that the twins had taught her, it was that nothing is impossible with enough nerve. That she had in spades. The alternative was...unacceptable.

She tried small movements and found that there was no reaction from her cloths. Inch by bloody inch, her hand moved closer to her wand. She was almost there. Just a little farther, she could feel it with the tip of her finger. She pushed harder and got it between the tips of two fingers. She tried to pull it in, but it was stuck tight. It was then that she heard foot falls. They were distant at first, but were getting closer by the second. She wasn't going down like this without a fight. A steady flow of swear words escaped from her mouth as she tried desperately to get a grip on her wand.

Harry was leaning up against a wall and watching the show with some amusement. In his panther form he was able to quickly and quietly sneak up on her. The castle was so full of shadows that he was able to get here without even coming close to being seen. He knew he had a few minutes before Padfoot and the others would get here. Whoever was trying to get out of the school had got caught in his trap. He and his godfather had developed wards the not only repelled, but attacked as well. And in the case of today...capture.

It was quite a view, the girl was upside down. Her clothing was wrapped tightly around her body. So tightly, that there was little room for movement. The mummification jinx had worked perfectly. The old dog was the only one he had ever seen tries to get out of this jinx. Thank Merlin his mum had the good sense to never let them practice these traps on her. That would have been a little awkward. For every curve of the girl's body seemed to be emphasized. So much that he was finding it hard to focus on anything else. He shook his head to clear it.

His eyes were drawn back to her shapely body. She had a really very attractive butt. He really liked the way it wiggled every time she struggled to get free. She was persistent if nothing else. He felt slightly disgusted with himself, because he was perving big time and he knew it.

Just as he knew who she was now. The dust that had been kicked up from her passage through the unused hallway had made it difficult to ID her. She didn't have the foul stench of one of his followers. On the contrary, her sent was very appealing, almost additively so. He had locked in and filed away her scent last night. Though, last night he was certain that her scent seemed familiar somehow.

She had almost gotten to her wand. He was impressed that she was keeping a level head. He decided it was time to add some presser and cast a spell to make the sound of feet walking towards her. Her head jerked when she heard the sound echoing down the long hallway. Then he heard the impressive flow of mumbled swearing. She was a lot more fun to watch get out of this than the old dog, that was for sure. You just might make a Marauder yet.

Noting the time, he decided that enough was enough. Harry started to cast the counter-curse when Ginny yelled "Got ya!" She cast a Liberacorbus and dropped on the floor with an unceremonious thud.

"Ouch! Maybe I should have waited to do that. Think Weasley think! There has to be a way out of this?" She thought about it and knew that she would have to find a way around the curse. It had accrued to her that the curse was affecting her cloths not her. All she had to do was eliminate the problem. That brought around problem number two." Oh screw it! It's not like anyone is there right now."

"I swear if I ever get my wand on the sick son of a bitch who thought this up." Ginny cast a banishing spell and her cloths disappeared completely. It wasn't the first time that Harry had seen a naked girl. But they were usually in a much friendlier moon when it had accrued. He was fairly sure he was going to be hexed before this was over. In truth, he couldn't blame her. Maybe in a few years they would laugh about this. Oh, who was he kidding, he was a dead man and he knew it.

"Whatcha doin?" Did I actually just say that? Harry hopped a little levity would lessen the awkward moment. Stupid yes, but it was worth a shot. Ginny's head shot up and her eyes looked as if they would pop out of her head at any second. On instinct she jumped to her feet. Then it accrued to her that she should have stayed crouched down on the floor. She stood there in shock for a second, before she had the good sense to cover up what she was able to cover up. In Harry's defense, he did manage to keep eye contact with her, well mostly. He was a guy after all.

"What's it look like I'm doing you bloody git! You want to turn around?"

"And turn my back on a naked, pissed off witch...not freekin likely."

"What do you think you're doing?" Ginny yelled as Harry took of his robe. He looked confused for a second and then handed it to her. "Oh so now you're going to be a gentleman?"

"Well if you don't want it?" Harry asked as he pulled back his robe.

"Don't be an arse!" Ginny quickly snatched it out of his hand, with a look that could kill. She used it to cover herself more effectively, as she waited for him to turn around. When he showed no signs that he intended to. She turned her back to him in a huff.

"You know, I had a dream about this very thing last night. And here you were all wrapped up in a bow for me. This really is a magical school." Her eyes grew huge and then narrowed to a thin slit. She mumbled something out that wasn't very friendly.

"You know, you have nothing to be embarrassed about." I should really stop now.

"I am annoyed...not embarrassed!" Git thinks he knows everything.

"Your cheeks have a rosy tint to them...very cute." Ginny spun around and got toe to toe with Harry. Her hands were on her hips with a primal look in her eyes.

"No...they...don't." She growled through clenched teeth. Harry leaned down and got nose to nose with her.

"Those weren't the one I was talking about." He teased her in hopes that she would find the humor in the situation.

"Oh the shite I have to put up with!" She started to pace back and forth as she mumbled something to herself. She was doing it so fast, that he couldn't follow her. He decided it was probably for the best.

Ginny took a long breath and decided to calm down. Harry wasn't the one that made her cloths disappear. That was her doing, and he did offer his robe to her. Okay, he may was taking the Mickey out of her, but wouldn't she have done the same if the situation was reversed. "Can we just get out of here?"

"First tell me why you were trying to sneak off grounds?"

"It's none of your damn business Potter!" Her Weasley temper was back and in full swing, as she turned to face him again. He glared back at her for a few seconds and she felt what her brothers did when the roles were reversed.

"Well Weasley, you can explain it to the professors when they get here. By the sound of it, you got about a minute." Harry's words had coldness in them that sent a chill down her spine. He turned to leave. There wasn't anywhere else to go. This way was locked and she could hear that they were no longer alone in the hall.

"Please don't go! I'm sorry...I just can't tell you." Ginny pleaded with him and was surprised how needy she sounded. She was sounding like a victim again. She would never be one of those again. More importantly, she didn't want him to see her as one. Harry stopped, but didn't turn back around.

"Can't or won't?"

"Please...they'll be coming soon. I have to get out of here." Harry turned around and they stared into each other's eyes. Harry saw her silently pleading desperately at him to help her. Ginny saw the internal struggle waging in his mind. She was asking him to blindly trust her. The same trust she didn't give him last night.

The moment was broken when they heard the sound of running feet getting closer. They both looked down the dark hall. By the sound there were more than one person coming too. Harry turned his head back at her and said. "We need to work on our trust." With that he cast his spell.

Sirius was the first to get there, followed closely by Lily, then Snape and bringing up the rear was Dumbledore. The old dog sniffed and narrowed his eyes at Harry. Well, this should be interesting.

"Sorry for all the trouble. It looks like this little pussy set off the wards." In Harry's hand was the transfigured form of Ginny, as a red cat. She hissed at him for the comment and scratched at his hand in an attempt to break free. Harry held her tight.

"Perhaps it's an Animagus in disguise." Snape sneered as he leveled his wand to Ginny. Harry instinctively put himself between her and his wand. Ginny stopped struggling. She knew that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. He might be a git, but he wasn't a prat.

"I would smell it if she wasn't a cat." Sirius said as he grabbed Snape's wrist and directed his wand away from Harry. Lily then got in Snape's face. He felt the tip of a wand in his nether region.

"Never point a wand at my son." Her words were low and layered with venom. For a brief second there was a look of hurt in his eyes, before his usual mask of disinterest was back. He took a step back and bowed his head to her.

"My apologies Lil...Mrs. Potter. The boy was not the intended target." The distaste of calling her Mrs. Potter was oblivious to everyone. Dumbledore decided it was time to play peacemaker, before things escalated. .

"Well, no harm done. I must say that you have some very interesting wards Professor Black."

"Not mine. This one was the pups."

"Really? That's very interesting." Harry saw the wheels in the old man's mind turning and didn't like it one little bit. That didn't mean that he wouldn't use it to advantage if the opportunity presented itself.

"Yeah, you pick up a few tricks when you grow up living on the run." Harry's voice was laced with sarcasm and a high level of contempt. Ginny's head snapped up at that. The more time she spent around him the more questions came to mind.

"Oh...I see." Whether his comment was directed at Snape or himself Dumbledore wasn't sure.

"Don't worry, I'll adjust it so that no one else pets get caught in it."

"See that you do pup." Sirius answered with a look that told him that he would follow his lead. His mum gave a look that told him to tread carefully, but that she would back him up if it came to that.

"It will only take a few minutes to reset the wards. Then I'll make sure this little one gets back to her Master." Again, Ginny hissed at him for the cheek.

"That's a fiery one pup. She just might get the best of you."

"Oh please." Harry boasted and winced when he got nipped by Ginny. He sent a warning look at her and she stuck out her tongue at him. Try as he might, he couldn't help but smile a little. Fiery little thing indeed

"Perhaps you should try compassion and understanding, with a little respect son." Lily added. Harry got the message and nodded.

"What are you two rambling on about? It's just a stupid cat."

"That's not the point you wanker. It's not one of your precious potions...it's a living thing."

"This is a pointless conversation. If I'm not needed Headmaster? I have a class to teach." Snape stormed off before Dumbledore could even answer him. Lily rolled her eyes and Sirius snickered. Pissy little bugger, ain't he?

"Ah, well...I say we leave young Harry to it. Shall we?" Albus gestured for the other to follow him.

"Oh Headmaster, It seems that I forgot some much needed supply's for some of my classes. I'm going to need to go the Diagon Alley."

"I don't perceive a problem with that. It is the first day of class after all." He had read the Daily Prophet and knew the boy could take care of himself. As a Noble Lord, he really couldn't refuse him. After what happened the night before, he thought it would be wise to try and befriend him. This was simply the first play of the game. He could afford to be generous. Especially, if he was going to get him to join the Order.

"I'm not all that familiar with the place. Would you mind if I borrowed one of your Prefects to guide me. It would speed things along." Harry kept his voice casual, as if it was an afterthought. Showing no signs that he was manipulating the master. Ginny purred and licked his hand in appreciation. Lily sniffed and then cocked her brow. So we meet again? She looked hard at the cat in her son's hand. Ginny recoiled under the scrutiny. Oh shite! His mum knows. Lily softened her eyes and she relaxed a little. Lily then smiled and winked at her. Ginny winked back grateful for the woman's trust. Why does she seem so familiar to me?

"Good idea pup. You tend to get distracted when you're left to your devices." Sirius chuckled out, that earned him an evil look by Harry.

"Don't look at Padfoot like that young man. He has a very good point. We wouldn't want you getting sidetracked and end up in a Succubus Colony." Lily finished with a cold stare. Ginny snapped her head at Sirius. Did she just call him Padfoot? Wait, what was that about a Succubus Colony?

"Never going to let me live that down are you?"

"Nope and don't you roll your eyes at me."

"This is the kind of shit I have to put up with." Harry mumbled so that only Ginny could hear him. She purred happily, she was really starting to like his mum.

"What was that dear?" Lily asked in an amused but warning manner.

"Nothing...just clearing my throat mum." How does she freekin do that?

"Yes, that is a good idea. I will allow it and notify the other Professors." Dumbledore answered, doing his best to get the conversation back on track. The three of them had a way of talking around things that he found very vexing.

As they walked off Sirius whispered to Lily. "That was her, wasn't it?"

"Yes, I believe she is."

"Boy doesn't have a clue does he?"

"Her blood wouldn't come out of his fur. That's the scent he identified as hers."

"Rookie mistake."

"Do you have a hybrid form?"

"Touché', a galleon say's she figures it out before he does."

"You would bet against you own godson?"

"In a heartbeat."

"You're on."

Harry waited until they were back in the Marauders Den, before he turned Ginny back. She just stared at him with a mixture of shock, amazement and admiration. Then she took in her surroundings and her amazement grew tenfold. The place was amazing. To think, it all fit inside a ratty old trunk. But she bet it was disillusioned to look that way. Harry was just full of surprises.

"Smooth Potter...very smooth. For a second there I thought you were going to rat me out." You're still going to pay for that pussy comment.

"Not my style, besides I hate rats." Harry walked into the kitchen. Ginny followed him in. There was something in the way he said rats that sent off an alarm in her head.

"You played him well." Ginny commented as she looked at all the muggle appliances in the room. Her dad would have had kittens if he saw this place.

"Yeah, the old fart never saw it coming. I'll have to thank Sirius and my Mum for the assist." Harry said as he reached inside the fridge.

"You're calling her Mum now. You were calling her Mom last night." She wanted to keep the conversation light for as long as possible. She knew he was going to ask her all sorts of questions, she wasn't sure she was ready to answer. She knew she owed his some though. He really saved her bum back there. But how did he know she needed to go to Diagon Alley?

"Yeah...well, it's seems to mean a lot to her." Harry played it off like it was a bother, but Ginny didn't buy it for a second. She chose to let it slide for now. There was no real rush after all. She was going to enjoy unraveling the mystery that was Harry Potter.

"Cool, the way they backed you up though. You usually don't get that from parents." Harry pulled two bottles out of the fridge and tossed one to her. She winced, it was ice cold. It was made of plastic and the label said. Dr Pepper She looked at it cautiously. It was cold, but the name suggested it was hot. It would probably burn when it went down her throat like fire whiskey.

"They trust my judgment...well, most the time anyway."

Ginny knew what he was referring to and found that she didn't like the idea that he had been with a Succubus. She wanted to ask him about it, but figured it wasn't really any of her business. Not yet anyway. Harry could tell she was struggling not to ask him and was grateful for that. Why did his mum have to go and bring that up? A change of subject was needed.

"Try it, it's really good."

"You first." She asked at him wearyingly, but she had a playful smile on her face, when she said it.

"Chicken?" Harry challenged. Ginny cocked her head to the side and raised her eye brows. Does he really thing that is going to work?

"Do I look stupid to you? Don't answer that!" She warned him, with a pointed finger. Harry clucked at her and then opened his bottle and chugged it. He looked at her with that cocky grin of his for about a full two seconds, before his upper body shivered.

"Not so tough are you Potter?" Ginny laughed at him.

"Think you could do better Darlin'?" Harry egged her on and she smiled at the challenge.

"Oh please, you wouldn't last two minutes in my house. The twins would eat you for breakfast." Ginny said as she rolled her eyes and then took a large gulp. She expected it to burn on the way down. It did the complete opposite. It was cold and sweet and had a bubbling sensation as it went down her throat. "See, that wasn't so- WHOA!" Ginny yelled as her whole body shivered.

"Told ya." He shot at her with a grin that was ear to ear.

"Git" She fired back at him and then took another drink. The sensation wasn't as intense, but still bloody good.

"I'm glad I was able to give you your first Pep-gasm."

"My first Pep-what?"

"You know, pepper...orgasm...pep-gasm. Oh, screw it. It's not as funny if I have to explain it."

"Well, I've never had one of those, so I wouldn't know." Oh Shite! Did that just come out my mouth? Ginny's eyes bugged out as she felt heat spread across her cheeks. Harry cocked a brow. Oh great, he going to be like a dog with a bone now.

"Really? We'll have to remedy that." I am so getting my bits hexed.

"Is that why you brought me here Mr. Potter?" Two can play this game. Ginny leaned back against the counter in a come-hither fashion. Harry's robe fell open enough so that one of her shoulders was left bare. It became painfully aware to Harry that she was still naked under his robe. The panther in him woke up and took notice. Ginny gulped when she saw the predatory gleam in his eyes. She thought she had taken it too far. But as quickly as it came, it was gone and his usual playful eyes were back. She then realized that it wasn't fear that made her swallow hard...it was excitement. Neville never made her feel this way. She never wanted to be snogged so badly in her life.

"Tease" Harry said as he lifted her up onto the counter. He breathed her in and it was like panther nip. He couldn't help, but let out a small growl.

"Git" Ginny whispered into his ear as she ran her fingers through his unkempt hair.

"You were amazing by the way. Sirius never was able to escape that before." Why am I still talking?

"Yeah...well, desperate times call for desperate measures. I figured it was my cloths that were cursed and not me." Just shut up and snog me! Harry's robe slid down over her other shoulder and her pulse point called out to him.

"Sometimes it's the simple spells that work the best." Does she even know what she's doing to me? Ginny unbuttoned his shirt and ran her hand across his chest.

"By the way git, just how long were you watching me." Did he just purr? Merlin! He gets me hot!

"Long enough to see that you have a very nice wiggle tease." Ginny buried her face into Harry's chest and laughed. The way he was running his hands through her hair felt like heaven. She looked up at him and saw the predator in his eyes again.

"You all done talking now?"

"Oh, hell yeah!" He claiming her lips in a hungry kiss. She met his hunger with one of her own, as they lost themselves in each other.