They slept in what had once been the Ancient Runes classroom. The floor was still cobblestoned and the ceiling was too high, volumising every sound made in what is now an exclusive all girls dorm.
18 year old Ginny Weasley sat on top of her bed, staring absentmindedly at the glazed window as Astoria Greengrass carefully styled her hair.
If anyone had told her that she would be in this predicament two years ago she would have scoffed and sent them off with a hex or two. Whilst, the two girls weren't unfriendly to each other during their time at Hogwarts, they were like chalk and cheese. One was a blood traitor who was popular on the Quidditch pitch, the other was a proud pureblood who carried the best designer bags and trends. Despite the two girls' differences in personalities and priorities, they had one particular thing in common that made them sought out for each other's company.
In fact, there was a single stupid commonality between all ten girls who were trapped in this old classroom.
They were students of Madame Sewlyn's Finishing School for Purebloods; an exclusive program set forth by the ministry to preserve the great magical lineages in Britain. But names were deceiving. And the girls who attended were very much aware of what they were being prepared for.
"Are you afraid?"
The former Slytherin girl's soft voice startled Ginny out of her daydream. It was a stupid question, really, in Ginny's opinion, but she understood where Astoria was coming from. The girl was skilled at masking her emotions, but her sullen attitude and pursed lips indicated to Ginny just exactly how shaken she was. Of just how petrified she was of what was planned for her.
When the ministry first came for Ginny, she believed it was because of her family's allegiance to the Order and her relationship with Harry Potter. That this disturbing plan of "reintegration and repopulation" was just a ruse to punish blood traitors like her in the most depraved form of captivity.
But no.
Pure blooded daughters from even the most noble Slytherin families weren't exempt from the Dark Lords' plans. Daughters were taken from their families as soon as they completed their education at Hogwarts and whisked away to Madam Sewlyn's Finishing School, where they were primped and preened to be the perfect Pureblood baby vessel.
Even Pug-nosed Parkinson wasn't above the law and Ginny vividly remembered seeing her in passing, looking equally miserable and frail.
The only person who wasn't miserable and sullen as the majority was Anastasia Greengrass. The blonde haired beauty was sneering down at her dress robes and ranted, as her sister Araminta pleaded with her. Coming from an illustrious pureblood heritage, one would've expected Anastasia to have taken her fate with retreated grace just as her cousin Daphne had. But as the months went by, she was becoming more and more of a blood traitor and a Gryffindor in Ginny's eyes.
In some sense, Ginny resented her for that.
Averting her eyes from Anastasia, Ginny smoothed down her skirt and let her eyes focus on the beautiful green material. It wouldn't do to have the feisty blonde cause a riff with her. Merlin knows they had a daunting day ahead of them and the last thing Ginny needed was more drama to haywire her already twisting anxiety.
With a deep breath, she turned around and smiled at Astoria. "It could be a lot worse."
Both girls knew it was going to get a lot worse, but for sanity's sake they just smiled at each other.
Thanking her for doing her hair, Astoria went back to her bed where Hannah Abbott strategically mended Astoria's ripped robes.
War created strange situations. And from those situations, the strangest friendships were made.
By the time Ginny had graduated, there were about 30 girls who were descended from the Sacred 28.
In Ginny's faction, there were ten.
Lavender Brown. Araminta, Astoria, and Anastasia; the Greengrass cousins. Hannah Abbott. Flora and Hestia Carrow. And Ginny Weasley.
Two Gryffindors, two Ravenclaws, one Hufflepuff, and three Slytherins.
One would've expected the girls to be segregated by their houses and their family loyalties. But they weren't in school anymore. Such issues like house rivalries that once ruled their life were so trivial they were nothing but a faded memory in their distant past. In fact, in another past life when she was just a naive schoolgirl she would've never even considered pureblood baby-making farms to be part of Voldemort's grand master plan.
"This is fucking disgusting!"
Ginny's head whipped at the sound of furniture cracking, her eyes landing on the blonde Slytherin breathing heavily down at splinters of a chair. Her sister, Araminta, cowered as Anastasia Greengrass glared at every girl in the room challengingly.
"Anna, please-"
"It's bloody pedophelia! How can you all sit there and be okay with this?!"
Anastasia Greengrass, whilst being the oldest in their faction, had only been summoned back to the United Kingdom a couple of months ago.
She had immigrated to the United States after graduating from Hogwarts as a foreign correspondent for the Daily Prophet. Ginny didn't know too much as to how she was brought back, but the older girl's fight and refusal to conform gave away that it was never her decision to come back willingly.
The silent response from her roommates seemed to fuel her ire until it was Flora Carrow who stood up to her. "None of us are, Anna. But if you haven't noticed, it's not exactly like any of us have a fucking choice.
Both girls duelling hands were clenched in fists by their sides, the sure fire sign that hexes would've been thrown if not for their predicament.
Wands were taken away from them as soon as they were registered.
"This is reality!" Flora snapped. "It sucks but if we want to survive we just have to bite our tongues and play the part!"
An ugly hysterical cackle echoed through the classroom as Anastasia struggled to compose herself. "So this is it. You're really going to just spread your fucking legs for some perverted old wizard, just so you can survive?"
"I'm doing what I have to do for my family," Flora clarified stonily. Then, as if remembering herself, she took a deep breath in before saying, "it's an honour to serve the Dark Lord and play an integral part for the creation of our stronger future."
"It's for the magical good," Hestia chimed in, her voice timid and obedient, refusing to look at any of the girls.
"Magic is might."
Whilst Hannah's response was sarcastic, the Hufflepuff girl looked resigned.
That's when Ginny decided to put in her two sickles. "We have a lot more to lose than you do."
"The fuck did you say, Weasley?"
Ginny looked down at her hands and prayed Anna would leave her alone.
Back at Hogwarts, back when they were younger, Ginny had never been one to back from a fight. She'd like to say she was as determined and rational as Bill and Charlie, but in reality she was just as hot tempered as Ron. Being a poor insecure girl with flaming hair doomed her from taunts and snides from a young age, so she had years of practice defending herself and to make a name. This ranged from quick wits to Bat Bogey Hexes, that by the time she had reached adolescence, Ginny Weasley was a force to be reckoned with.
She remembered a time where she had no problem putting snobs like Romilda Vane in their place or cursing pureblood supremacists like Parkinson without a care.
Eventually, the Greengrass girl snidely commented at her pathetic nature and moved on.
Ginny quietly sighed in relief, letting go of the stress she didn't realise she had.
When she was first brought in, Ginny had been exactly like Anastasia. She bucked and reared as a true Gryffindor did in the hands of her captives. She had screamed and cried, wreaking havoc as she tried to fight against what the Ministry had in plan for her. But two years of crucios and tortures, extortion of her friends' lives, and failed escape attempts, eventually beat out the flames of even the strongest rebels.
Two years was cruelly more than enough time for her to realise that fighting was pointless. The New Ministry was too powerful for one tiny witch like her to take down, especially now that so many wizards and witches backed the New Ministry due to their newfound privilege. So many lives had been lost and she didn't even know who else was out there for her. But the idea that her brothers were out there, still alive, just in captivity forced her to think reasonably. If there was any chance at all that any of her brothers were still alive, she had to ensure their safety.
She couldn't make the same mistakes as Angelina Johnson and have someone that she loved pay for disobedience.
Merlin, she was lucky to have been cast off with her current fate than to be in Azkaban, or worse, be a female muggleborn. Though the girls were prohibited from reading the Daily Prophet or any other news sources, whispers of rumours often drifted through. At first, Ginny had scoffed, believing they were exaggerations or just horror stories to create compliance. But as Lavender had pointed out, rumours were always based on some merit of truth. And what kind of motive did frightened young girls who entered the factions of Lady Sewelyn's Finishing School have in spreading such disturbing and sickening rumours?
Ginny wondered many times what would've happened if she were a boy. Would she be better off dead? Or was her current predicament a blessing in disguise?
She was, after all, alive, well fed, and protected from the ravages of Wizarding War. She was heavily and intrusively monitored by Umbridge and the Ministry Officials, but she wasn't hunted down like Muggleborns that she knew.
Hearing the bell chime, Ginny's gut dropped and she had the urge to spew right there and now. The girls all looked at each other, and picked up their pace. Punctuality was a trait valued at Sewlyn's Finishing School, and as the future pureblooded wives of the most devoted followers of the Dark Lord it was a necessity.
This was it.
Their time of safe haven at Hogwarts was over in another ten minutes and now it was time for them to reenter society. In the next ten minutes, they would no longer be out of bounds from the travesties of war and wizardkind and every action they made would be the make or break of their lives. In the next ten minutes, Ginny Weasley would no longer be her own self but a submissive wife to a Death Eater; nothing more than property to him. She would bear his name, bear his children, and obey him as a husband and master.
Nothing terrified her more and she wanted to scream, cry, and hurt herself at the same time. She wanted out from this nightmare, unaware that this was just the beginning of the very dark journey which was now her life.
She wanted to find that Gryffindor courage she lost so very long ago and fight for herself and her friends.
But she didn't know how.
So Ginny Weasley did what she was expected to do as a pureblooded wife of a Death Eater.
She waited.