Ok, so just to remind all of you, this is in Ginny's view, before the others went to search for her. At least, the first half is. Thanks to Riality, who's been an awesome reviewer thus far, and makes my day bunches brighter!
Disclaimer: Don't own it.
"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII love-a love-a love you!"
"Gods above, woman, do you WANT my eardrums to burst?" Sebastian clutched at his head and keeled over. Katherine swatted at him, but kept up her singing. The white things in her ears, Ginny later learned, were headphones, used for a Muggle contraption called in I-Pod.
"Nothing magical works here, unless it's Desdemona doing it." Katherine had explained. "Dezzie is quite paranoid, you know. Seems to think that some wizard or witch will sneak in and try to kill her…"
Ginny had snorted, and Sebastian had continued. "She spends most of her time sulking downstairs, where we can't go. She wants to go outside and rend, rend, rend! But that binding curse Malfoy put on her seems to be working. Anyways, we have to go into the village to get supplies for ourselves, and seeing as it's a Muggle one, we get Muggle things, too."
"We have to entertain ourselves!" Katherine crowed.
"Why not try to escape?" Ginny asked. Sebastian frowned.
"You know how you told us you were wounded?" She nodded. "Well, Kat and I were too. Both of us, bitten by a basilisk. Hurt like hell…but Desdemona has it so that if we ever wander more than ten feet past the boundaries of this town or try to tell anyone of where we are, the poison starts to work again."
Ginny had shuddered. "So it works the same way with my wound…creepy."
Ginny had since learned that Katherine loved music greatly, and had an assortment of what she called CD's and several I-Pods, CD players, and walkmans.
"She's a freak, I tell you, and an awful singer." Sebastian grinned up at them from the floor, but Ginny knew she was singing. Kat had a beautiful voice, one that made shivers run down her spine.
"I want to run through the halls of my high school, I want to scream at the top of my lungs!"
The only problem was that she was always singing, and she never listened to a whole song for long. She was always skipping around.
"Can we go into the village today?" Ginny said. The twins cast each other a glance before breaking out in grins.
"Of course!" Kat cried. "Let's just change, first."
Ginny had since been informed that the dress she was wearing had been Desdemona's, as her suit had melted away as soon as the Dark magic in the atmosphere touched it. She and Kat now shared a wardrobe.
The two rushed upstairs and pulled on long, knee length coats and knee high boots.
"For what's supposed to be the worst place in the world, this is sure a nice place to say." Ginny had commented.
Kat's eyes darkened. "No, it isn't. Desdemona isn't a nearby hostess. She tends to get herself into mad stupors, and she leaves us alone during most of this time. She does awful things down there. Awful, awful things. But when she comes up from wherever she is, it's even worse. Desdemona has so qualms about beating you up, healing you, then doing it over again."
"She's that bad?"
"And worse." Katherine smiled. "But let's forget about her for a moment. We should go!"
They hurried downstairs where Sebastian was waiting, and stepped outside. It was very foggy, and she had to rely on the two ahead of her to find her way. When she next lifted her head, it was to see the roofs of a few thatched cottages, and a few tall buildings.
"What's that?" Ginny pointed to a low building squeezed in between two taller ones. It had no sign, and she could see an old man watching her curiously from the window.
"Tavern." Katherine said, steering her away from it. "Man inside is crazy. He claims that we're witches and there's great evil in the house we live in." She winked. "He's totally insane, of course."
They entered a small, two-story structure, and Ginny immediately felt at home. A round woman with wisps of gray hair and wearing a red housedress was muttering to herself as she swept the floor, pausing every now and then to wipe some hair from her face.
"Halloo, Mrs. McDougle!" Sebastian said. The lady's eyes brightened as she straightened and looked up at them.
"Aye, greetings to ye, lad and…lassies? Look at that, ye've got a new frind for auld Mrs. McDougle to content 'erself with? 'Ow kind of ye!"
She spoke with a heavy Scottish accent, and Ginny smiled shyly at her. "Hello. My name is—," But Sebastian cut her off.
"This is Mary. She's our cousin, come to stay with us."
"Aye, she's a fair one too." Mrs. McDougle boomed. "Well now, what is it ye be wantin'? I s'pose more sweets, eh? Or some music for thy pretty brain to die from, lass?" She winked at them, and the trio grinned broadly.
Ginny noticed for the first time her surroundings. There were counters filled with food on one side of the store, and on the other there was an assortment of records and CD's and other electronics.
"It's heaven!" Ginny practically drooled.
"Kill the drama." Katherine rolled her eyes.
"Kill the dramatic." Sebastian raised his eyebrows at her and she stuck out her tongue.
"How old are you too?" Ginny asked, trying not to laugh.
"We'll be seventeen in the winter." They replied together. Ginny shivered.
"Damn twin thing. Hey, I'm sixteen too!" she hopped about excitedly. "This is so cool!"
"She isn't doing very well for a person who's just been kidnapped and is supposed to be missing their family…" Sebastian whispered in his sister's ear. She slapped him upside the head.
"Shut up, Toad." Then she grabbed Ginny's hand and dragged her to the glass display case. "D'you see that, Gin? I need that CD!"
Sebastian sighed and wandered over to a PlayStation, once more wishing that the bloody house had electricity.
As they walked back to the house, arms loaded with food and a few extras, Ginny glanced up at Sebastian.
"Why did you tell Mrs. McDougle that my name was Mary?" Sebastian didn't look at her, keeping his eyes trained ahead.
"She knows our names, but we changed our last name to Hart. If anyone were to come by and hear her talking about us, it would count as trying to escape. Desdemona made that clear the first time we went to the village." He shivered slightly.
"But your name is unique. I'm sure someone will remember that. So as long as you're here, your name will be Mary Hart." Katherine finished.
Ginny nodded. She suspected it was going to be a long, long stay at the Malfoy Vacation Villa.
The first time Ginny met Desdemona, it was about two months after her arrival. She'd been sitting on the couch, pestering Sebastian for the love of it, as Katherine giggled silently from across the room.
"I would like a hug, Sebby."
"Sod off." The boy grumbled, trying to read a magazine.
"I would like a hug, please, Sebby!"
He turned away from her and she pouted. "If you won't give me a hug, I'll be forced to take desperate measures, Seb!"
"Blah, blah, blah, all you women do is nag, nag, nag…"
In a moment Ginny had launched herself at him, tackling him to the floor. Katherine collapsed in laughter as she saw her brother's surprised face staring up at her.
"What is the meaning of this noise!"
Ginny cringed as the hard, metallic voice reached her ears. She rolled of Sebastian, who had stiffened, and glared upwards. The look died immediately as she saw Desdemona for the first time.
The woman in front of her was wearing the same dress Ginny when she had arrived. Her hair was flowing loosely down her back and to her ankles, a deep black in color. Her eyes were, remarkably, purple, and her skin was pale, even paler then Ginny's.
"We were just playing…" Ginny's protests died on her lips as Desdemona leaned down and picked her up, almost as easily as if she were a puppet of some sort. Desdemona easily outstripped her by a foot or two, and Ginny gulped.
"You will not speak to me! You are inferior, do you understand?" Ginny nodded, and at the same time strained to catch her breath.
"Good. Now I want to play a game, and I've just managed to conjure up a chimera. Do you want to play, little one?" Ginny found that she couldn't say no; something was holding her neck back, and she felt herself slipping away from consciousness. Desdemona's grip was tight…
"Stop!" Sebastian placed a hand up, and Desdemona shot him a look laced with venom. "It will kill her!"
"I'll bring her back!" Desdemona hissed, but then Katherine stood as well.
"She's insensible, can't you see that? Leave her alone!"
Desdemona took a moment to consider this, before scoffing. "She is not worth my time. I will come for her later, maybe, but she will stay here for now." Her eyes narrowed. "But you have gone against me. For that, you shall pay!"
She threw Ginny into Sebastian, who caught her but flew back into Katherine. The three crashed into an armoire behind them, and the wood broke as well as the glass inside.
Desdemona let out an eerie laugh, before there was a sound like thunder and she disappeared.
The dusty air cleared after a moment, and yet not one of the three moved. It was probably hours after Desdemona left that Katherine stirred. She sat up and let out a low groan as she rubbed at her back.
Her lip was bleeding, but she wiped it away and turned to her brother. "Oi…Seb…wake up, we have to heal ourselves and—oh, Seb!"
Her brother woke up then, rubbing at his head. His hand came away with a bit of dried blood, but he ignored it and lifted Ginny from his chest. Immediately she squirmed and her hand shot out, just missing him. Her eyes opened.
"Oh, Gods, Sebastian, I'm so sorry! I was just—it was—oh, that evil woman!" A tear dripped down from her eye as she regarded her scratched body, and more fell as she saw Kat and Sebby.
The twins hugged her. "It's ok," said Katherine.
"Dezzie has anger management problems, you know?"
"She needs man…"
Ginny laughed at that, and wiped her eyes. "Thanks so much for sticking up for me, you guys."
They stood up, Katherine taking Ginny by the hand and leading her to the bathroom. "You see why this place isn't all that great? She used to visit more, you know, but all she does now is whine and sulk in the dungeons downstairs…"
"How can you stand it?" Ginny winced as Kat spread some slave on her scars. Kat shrugged.
"It's not like you get used to the pain—it's more like getting used to the idea."
"What idea?"
"That she'll always be there, and she'll always be awful." Sebastian had appeared in the doorway, and now he sat on the edge of the bathtub, his head in his hands. "Let's hope your friends get here soon, Ginny. We need to get out of here."
There was a silence, punctuated only by a sight groan as they rid themselves of their scars and bruises.
Tell me if you want me to go back to Draco and the others, or if you would rather hear more about Ginny. Review, please!