Neither of them knew how long they had been locked inside the room for. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. Pansy had stopped crying, and the two sat next to each other, which was mostly out of necessity since they were handcuffed together.
Suddenly, they heard the lock turn. Two muscular men entered the room, carrying chains which ended in handcuffs. One of them connected one of the chains to a metal hook at the far end of the room. He grabbed Pansy from behind and lifted her up, and handcuffed the other end to her free hand. The other man prepared to do the same to Dudley, but Dudley tried to fight back, grabbing the man, who effortlessly threw him to the ground. This was painful for Pansy, since she was pulled by Dudley against the chain holding her to the wall.
''You're no fun,'' the thug sneered at Dudley.
''Let us out of these chains,''' Dudley snapped back as his free hand was chained, ''You'll see exactly how much fun I am.''
The two of them were now forced to stand up by the chains at the end of the room, which pulled at their arms enough to stretch the handcuffs holding them together. This holding system was designed to torture them. The thugs smirked before leaving the room.
''What are we going to do?'' Pansy whimpered. Dudley sighed. They couldn't even move, let alone escape.
As more time passed, the lock turned again. A very pretty young woman who was immaculately dressed pranced into the room. She had a stethoscope around her neck.
''It's Daddy's new pets!'' she giggled in a way that made both of them shudder.
''What do you want?'' Pansy spat at her.
''Daddy wants me to do a quick health check. See how easy you two are to kill,'' she smirked, ''I'm a medical student. Top of my class. You're in good hands.''
''You're Glenn's daughter?'' Dudley questioned.
''You're Glenn's daughter?'' she repeated in a mocking impression of his voice, ''Glad to see you aren't as stupid as you look. Though that's not difficult since you look like a gorilla.'' She lifted up his shirt and listened to his heart. ''All seems in order, which is surprising, since someone as fat as you should have died of a heart attack by now.''
Pansy regarded the disgusting woman in front of her. In a way, she was reminded of herself not long ago, but she liked to think she hadn't ever been this vicious.
Glenn's daughter looked at Pansy like a wolf noticing pray and started to lift her blouse.
''Don't touch me, you filthy-'' Pansy started instinctively.
''Oooh, this one's got a bite!'' Glenn's daughter laughed, ''We can't have that now, can we?'' She brought up her hand and flicked Pansy in the eye with her pink, fake fingernail.
''Leave her alone!'' Dudley shouted.
''I don't think I will,'' the woman sneered, continuing to flick Pansy in the eye. Pansy could only whimper. She tried to lunge at her tormenter, but the chains holding her prevented that.
''You're a coward,'' Dudley sneered at the woman, ''You're picking on someone who can't fight back.''
''Yep,'' Glenn's daughter replied, ''And there's absolutely nothing either of you can do about it.''
''You evil little...'' Pansy started.
''That's not very nice, is it?'' Glenn's daughter giggled, flicking her even harder. Eventually, she stopped, and put her hand in her pocket, taking out a set of keys. ''Guess what these are?''
Dudley and Pansy continued to glare at her.
''The keys to your chains.'' She threw them across the room. ''You're never gonna be able to get them. Right in front of you and you can't even touch them! Ciao!'' She smirked at them and left the room, locking her door on the way out.
Pansy started to sob.
''Are you OK?'' Dudley questioned.
''No,'' Pansy whimpered.
''She was vile,'' Dudley said, ''Almost as bad as her dad.''
''Sad thing is, I was just like her once,'' Pansy revealed, ''I bullied people.''
''So did I,'' admitted Dudley, ''All the kids in my neighbourhood were scared of me.''
''I used to walk around school like I owned the place,'' Pansy told him, ''Laugh at anyone who looked out of place and say things that I knew would hurt. Just like she did.''
''I had a gang,'' Dudley said, ''We used to march around, beating people up when we knew they couldn't fight back.''
''Maybe we're both monsters,'' Pansy sighed, tears leaking down her face.
''No, we're not,'' Dudley replied, ''The people that put us here. They're the monsters.''
Pansy smiled. For all that her parents had taught her about Muggles, she was genuinely starting to like Dudley.
Jennifer stood watching the television. News coverage of the murder of Melvin Johnson was starting, with police officers being interviewed and promising to do everything in their power to bring those responsible to justice.
Her husband strode into the room. ''What are you watching this for?''
''Glenn, we have to be careful,'' Jennifer implored, ''This has gone national. If the police trace this back to us-''
''They won't!'' Glenn insisted, ''Ryan knows what he's doing. He'll be able to throw them off the scent.''
''I hope you're right,'' Jennifer murmured, as the couple's daughter, Elly, entered the room.
''You have fun, Princess?'' Glenn asked her.
''Yeah, of course!'' Elly giggled, ''I don't think they did, though!''
Jennifer couldn't help but be proud of her daughter. At 20, she had grown into a beautiful young woman. And her brains and talents had taken her far. She was studying to become a doctor, and Jennifer couldn't be prouder of the person her child had grown into.
''So what do you want to do with your new friends, Princess?'' Glenn asked Elly.
''We get rid of them,'' Jennifer interrupted, ''Ryan might be able to fool the police, but if anyone turns up here asking questions, we don't want them finding two people locked inside a room.''
Glenn seemed to consider. At last, he turned to his wife and nodded. ''Get rid of them.'' he agreed. He pulled open a drawer and withdrew a small pistol.
''But Daddy!'' Elly whined, standing in front of her father and giving him a cute face, being sure to make her eyes look teary, ''I haven't finished with them yet. There's so much more I can do with them!''
''Alright, sweetheart,'' Glenn sighed, ''Anything to make you smile!'' Elly threw herself at her father in a hug, before jumping off and prancing down the hallway.
''I hope we don't live to regret this,'' Jennifer said to her husband.
Do I detect a spark between our protagonists? Also, I decided to do a chapter from the villains POV in order to establish a dynamic with them.
I also brought in a little mention of Dudley/Pansy's pasts in this. Both of them have more than their fair share of regrets. I'm still contemplating how each of them is going to reveal their history with Harry.
Finally, as unpleasant as Dudley and Pansy both were, I think you'll agree that they pale in comparison to Elly.
Please leave a review and say what you think!