• 1-Unexpected
• 2-They Are What They Are
• 3-The Eye of the Storm
• 4-Different Days Are Dawning
• 5-Twisted Roads and New Beginnings
• 6-Reverie
• 7-Dark Stars Shining
• 8-Grains of Peace and Rising Tides
• 9-Blood, Bone and Betrayal
• 10-L'veille de Guerre
• 11-Crepuscule
• 12-Serpentine Glory
• 13-Descent Pt. 1
• 14-Descent Pt. 2
• 15-Black Salt and Blacker Souls
• 16-Revenge, Rage, Rejection
• 17-The Arrival
• 18-Frustra Esse
• 19-Seine Surprises
• 20-Questions and Preparations
• 21-Yuletide Cheer
• 22-Are You Satisfied?
• 23-Revelations and Veiled Visions
• 24-Laurus per Silentium
• 25-Broken
• 26-Crystalline Tears
• 27-Vengeance
• 28-Cogitation et Sanatio
• 29-The Endtimes - Pt. 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Author's Note: Once again, I do not speak French. I am using a
dictionary/translator on my computer, so I'm aware it won't be perfect. If you
do speak French, I would like to apologize now for any slaughtering of the
language I may have inadvertently caused. Otherwise, what do you care, right?

French translations: ((example))

Responses to my
wonderful reviewers: tkmoore, once again, my
goddess, you have gone above and beyond and reviewed like a queen! I LOVE YOU! cloaked, I
just adore you and your reviews! (Draco kisses for you!) seri-chan, once
again, we think way too much alike! lol
a-sam, you
have no idea how I wish the exact same thing! AnitaBlake/BuffyFan, thank you a bagillion times over! I think I might cry! That was a beautiful
review! Paranoid Raven, thanks, I
will! lielabell,
thanks! KingFabuckwad,
love you, keep reviewing! Nehima22, thanks, didn't mean to make you cry! jenn,
thank so much! san-lee, that's awesome, thanks!
Midnight's Rainstorm, yes, yes it
did. sillysun,
thanks, aren't they just beyond hot? power of the stars,
thanks, and sorry 'bout your friend! lol
little-munchkin-poo,
thankyouthankyouthankyou! me, I will try to give you what
you wish! lol angelfire33,
please, no! (posting chapter and running away) musiclover86, I
loved that part too! SamiJo06,
that was like one of the best complements ever! I think I'm gonna cry…jen s, thank you!
xxbabysparklesxx,
he did get the crap beat out of him, didn't he? hehehe Iced
Faerie, me too! aoi-yuki-yume, hope you dig this one! Psi, thanks! Chaney, thank you bunches! Tytianne, I hope
this chap clears up some of your questions! beautiful-exterior, hope this is
soon enough! lol babykelyse, I
think everyone wants to punch his teeth straight! I do! short arse, I have no idea how they came to realize that, nor do I care!
lol Pyro89, thanks, devil chicken! gin rose raposo1,
thank you!

IMPORTANT: I WON! I
WON! I WON! I totally won at the ShatteredSanity.net fanfiction
awards! First
Place for
Best Draco Characterization! You can see the award here:
http://img68.exs.cx/img68/7541/draco.png

Thanks to all of those
who voted for me!

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Marcus had worked out his plan to a 'T'. When the Dark Lord had
offered him this mission, he had accepted eagerly. He'd seen the pictures of
the youngest Weasley that had been gracing the pages of the papers for weeks,
and he had developed somewhat of an obsession with her. He had never seen a
female more beautiful in his entire life, and cursed the fact she was being
wasted on his third cousins. Those two didn't know what was good for them.
Refusing his Lord! It was preposterous. Marcus hadn't ever liked them, even
when they were children. There had always been something odd about them, something that made his
spine shiver with fear.

And he hated them for that. And now, now, they had the object of his desire. He had never wanted anything as much as he wanted the little
fox, and he dreamed of breaking her at night. They were sweet, satisfying
dreams, full of her screams and pleas and terror. She would make a perfect pet
for him, a more than fitting reward for his services to his Lord. He didn't
believe the tales all over the news, didn't believe that the three of them were
really all that special. His cousins were just fucked
up in the head, and she was just some poor, Gryffindor slut who needed to learn
her place. And he knew just how to make her, even if he had to go against his
Lord.

It's not as if the Dark Lord had specifically thim him not to, he'd just said not to tarry. And
Marcus didn't plan to stay too long,
just long enough to get his share of the flame bitch's…treats. Because, after all, what if the Dark Lord wouldn't let him
have a taste later? There was no way he was going to miss the chance to fulfill
his fantasies and fuck his cousins over at the same time. They'd always had
everything; nobility, nearly endless power, intelligence, fear, respect. Not to
mention looks. He'd gotten stuck with his father's figure and face, while they
had all of the aristocratic elegance and beauty that their bloodlines were
infamous for.

He wasn't afraid of them anymore, or so he told himself. But he had no intention of being caught by them. Even if they walked in while he was having
his way with their little whore, he had a special portkey
in his pocket, given to him by his Lord. He knew it would work through
Dumbledore's wards, as he'd tried it out earlier, so there were no worries
there. He prepared the rest of his supplies, also given to him by the Dark
Lord, activated the charm that would hide his scent and pulse until it was too
late, and waited. The Dark Lord had expressly forbidden him to try anything if
his cousins were with her, so he had a four-day wait hiding in the woods with a
tracking charm before he got his chance.

He felt her storm out of the Great Hall, felt the girl that
followed, and tracked them stealthily. He hadn't been a Slytherin for nothing. She
finally turned into a corridor he knew came to a dead end, and he ghosted ahead
using another charm from his Lord, and set up his trap quickly. The davascian
net went up first, and then the wards around the classroom he intended to use
for his own purposes. His Lord had said he didn't care if she was roughed up a bit, but he had also said for Marcus to
get in, get her, and get out, with no delays. But how could he? All he could
think of was forcing his length inside her, her horrified screams urging him
on.

He had always found that to be the best way to fuck, and many
muggle males and females alike had discovered that the hard way. But he'd never
had the chance to break a wizard or a witch, not even one of those stupid
mudbloods. So he made sure there were no gaps in his plan, forming his Lord's
orders and his own wishes into one. And, to his delight, it worked perfectly. Beautiful, he thought again as his fist
slammed into her face repeatedly, before his knife slid through her tight
abdominal muscles. Then he began exploring all of that creamy skin, ripping and
tearing as he went, his nails, teeth and daggers doing
their jobs well.

Then, to his surprise, she somehow found the strength to fight
him, kneeing him hard in the groin when he started to penetrate her with his
thick, meaty fingers. Yelling, his temper coming unleashed, he spat something
at her before knocking her in the temple with the hilt of his dagger. She
slumped in her chains, her eyes glazing and falling shut,
and the last bit of her robe slid off her shoulder, falling to the floor and
revealing a swirling, dark rainbow of colored light that was blazing on the
skin of her forearm. He stumbled back a step, instinctual fear seizing him and
causing him to sweat profusely, his limbs shaking and quaking.

Ripping his eyes away, he hurriedly covered the rune of the god
back up, his mind refusing to accept the obvious. It's just a trick, he thought to himself, just some scam by Dumbledore and those bastards to fool everyone. Before
he could lose his nerve, he resumed his attack even more zealously than before.
So absorbed was he that he didn't notice the darkness in the corners
thickening, didn't notice the tingle of divine fury growing steadily. With a
cruel smile, his lust clouding and fogging his mind, he stabbed her again and
again, forgetting his Lord's anger as his fantasy unraveled before him. Then,
leaning back and letting his straining member free, he guided it to her
entrance, intent to have his revenge and his prize.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Pansy woke slowly, awareness rushing back and scent telling her
she was laying with Anton and Melody curled up on either side of her. Her body
was still trembling and sated, and a quick time spell let her know that dinner
was over. Then something caught her attention. If dinner was over, where was
everyone? The common room was empty but for them, when it should have been
teeming with her Housemates. An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach, and she
slid from between her friends, getting to her feet. Looking around and
straining her ears, she saw and heard nothing. Her stomach tightening even farther,
she shook Melody and Anton awake.

"Get up!"

"Wha-" Melody started, but she
drug them to their feet before the other girl could
finish.

"Pans? What's wrong?" Anton asked groggily, and she
started pulling them toward the exit.

"I don't know. No one's here. Come on." She said, and
they became instantly alert. No more words were spoken as they bolted out of
the portrait and up to the entrance hall. They'd just come out of the stairway
when two blurs shot past them, nearly knocking them off their feet. A second
later, a horde of students poured in from outside, looking around wildly.
Gregory, Vincent and the other Slytherins spotted them and came rushing over.

"Where'd they go?" Gregory asked, out of breath.
"We have to hurry. Something's happened to Virginia."

Pansy's blood ran cold, and without so much as a murmur of
acknowledgement, she spun on a heel and tore off after Draco and Blaise. The
others followed her, while she followed her nose. They twisted through what
seemed like endless passageways and corridors, winding farther and farther into
the castle until the dust choking the halls was almost suffocating. She finally
slid to a stop as she saw Daphne getting shakily to her feet, blood pouring
down the side of her face but otherwise okay, and Draco and Blaise standing
before a lightly shimmering door. A split second later, they had thrown shields
around the room at the same time they blasted the door into splinters, along
with the wards that shouldn't have been there, but were.

She followed closely behind them as they entered in a whirlwind of
primal fury, and almost fainted at what she saw. Virginia was chained, mostly
naked and unconscious, to a wall, bleeding from numerous wounds, and her face
was a shattered mess, while her abdomen looked as if it had been pulverized.
Marcus Flint was standing before her, just about to shove his cock inside of
her, when his head snapped around in shock. He paled as he saw his cousins at
full power and utterly enraged. Draco and Blaise threw their heads back and
howled, and their voices rang through the silence, tinted with a divine hatred
that traveled through the stone walls and reverberated
in their very bones.

"Time to go, little fox." Pansy heard Marcus mutter
before he yanked a battered quill from his pocket. He twisted the end, a smirk
on his face, obviously waiting for something. When nothing happened, though, his
triumphant look faded rapidly. "But-But it w-worked earlier…" Then
his eyes went back to his cousins, only to find that they weren't there.

A second later, he was screaming as two sets of claws impaled him
from behind, at the same time black salt rained over him, making whatever they
planned to do incontestably legal under the circumstances. Pansy ran to Virginia, undoing the cursed
chains and catching her before she fell. She felt two familiar shields wrap
around them at the same time the circle snapped up, and they were full of
healing energy laid out for her disposal. She put the offered power to good
use, healing what she could of her friend's ravaged body. Looking back up, she
saw that Draco and Blaisee jue just toying with the foolish bastard so far,
inflicting wound after wound and keeping him conscious with magick.

But then…then Virginia screamed.

It was long and loud, bloodcurdling and hair-raising, full of
fear, anger, terror, despair…And underneath it all was an unspoken cry for
help, for vengeance. The sound seemed to slice straight through her boyfriends,
cutting them to the core and breaking their control, and they snapped. Humanity
and sanity fled from their ebony eyes, and what took its place scared even
Pansy. She had never seen them look
like that, and she had seen them pretty fucking pissed off before. Marcus was
already nothing more than a whimpering pile of flesh at their feet, but he soon
became much less then even that.

They ripped him apart piece by bloody piece. Literally. They
descended on him at once, ripping huge chunks of meat away furiously, his
screams echoing wildly as skin and muscle flew in every direction, bouncing off
the invisible boundary walls of the circle. The first to go was his dick, then
a handful of his thigh, then a few fingers…And through it all, they kept him
alive and aware as their claws tore through him, as their rage drove them to
new depths of savagery. A mostly-fleshless hand hit the boundary right in front
of Pansy, and a strange sense of satisfaction filled her from head to toe. The
bastard deserved what he was getting. He'd very nearly raped her best friend,
and that was unforgivable.

A foot followed the hand, hitting the boundary on the opposite
side and causing quite a few people to shriek. She hadn't even noticed that
there was anyone else in the room
until then, and didn't have time to pay attention beyond throwing her outer robe
over Virginia to cover her. No,
Pansy's eyes were locked onto her friends and Marcus, unable to turn away from
the grisly, yet appeasing, scene. of of a leg bounced across the floor, soon
joined by a single, brown eye that was perfectly whole, and she could hear
people gagging and throwing up behind her. But Pansy, for some reason, didn't
feel in the least bit ill. Just…vindictive. And pleased. And Marcus was still
screaming and screaming.

She felt a laugh bubbling up in her throat, and it soon escaped her
in rolling peals, twining with Marcus's agony-filled wails. Had she had eyes in
the back of her head, she would have seen even her own Housemates looking at
her in shocked silence before another limb went flying. The only parts of
Marcus that were still even vaguely intact were his torso and head. Both legs
had been torn off in sections, as had his arms, and
the rest barely even resembled something human. Except for the screams. Those
were very human, yet somehow animalistic, as if Marcus's mind had shattered and
all that was left was feelings anar. 

Then it got nasty. The vitals were next, organ after organ being
removed and flung with startling precision, and she realized that they weren't
keeping him alive alive.
There was no way he could survive that, even pumped full of their magick. No,
they were somehow keeping his spirit trapped with his mutilated body, somehow
making him still feel everything that they were doing. Pansy idly watched a large
piece of what she fancied to bs lis liver hit the boundary, when without that
invisible wall, it would have gotten her square in the
face. She wondered if she would even care. Looking down at her twitching
friend, she decided that, no, she probably wouldn't.

Once again, her gaze was almost forced back to the carnage before
her. It was so strange how it was all contained within the circle, while the
rest of the room was unaffected. It's
like a deranged snow globe massacre. Except even though it looks like a
multitude of people have been killed, it's really only one. Just Draco and
Blaise style, she thought wryly, clutching Virginia close to her and
whispering to her even as her eyes followed two ribs in their flight through
the air. And still Marcus was screaming, even though his mouth was closed and
his lungs were…oh. Well, not collapsed. Gone, now, and hitting the blood-soaked
floor with a 'splat'.

Then it got scary. Draco and Blaise, both of whom were once again
covered from head to foot in blood and much thicker things, tore off the right sleeves
of their robes simultaneously. Their Marks were shining like small, dark suns,
iridescent and prismatic. They flashed, and a wavering, ghostly shape began
forming over what little was left of Marcus. It swirled into a human form
before it filled out with his features, and that
mouth was open, terror-stricken shrieks
still pouring from its translucent throat. Then their Marks went utterly dark,
as if black holes had just opened up on their arms, and tendrils of that
darkness began leaking out of them.

They wrapped around the spirit hovering above the demolished,
shredded corpse, and Marcus's screams grew even louder, though if asked, Pansy
would have said that that was impossible. The circle crashed down, the blood
dripping down it splattering those closest, and they felt what they hadn't been
able to feel with the circle still up. None of them had ever experienced
anything like it before, but somehow, they just knew what it was. Cold and searing hot, primal and ferocious,
protective and destructive, death manifested. The God's Rage. What happened next was quick compared to the rest.
The darkness simply devoured the spirit in a rush before sinking back into
Draco and Blaise's skin.

Nothing moved for a long moment, and then the two of them were at
Pansy's side, the shields of their making coming down as they kneeled next to
her. Each ran darkly glowing hands over Virginia's wounds, pushing
power into her skin and closing their eyes in concentration. The smaller cuts
and bruises had disappeared earlier under Pansy's ministrations, but the other
girl calmed down at their touch, her shaking subsiding and her face healing.
The larger, serious stab wounds had stopped bleeding, but they weren't closing.
Draco and Blaise's eyes snapped open, though Pansy didn't meet them yet, and
bandages appeared out of nowhere. They worked quickly, wrapping the mess of
flesh up neatly and then securing Pansy's robe around her, the buttons done in
heartbeat.

"Merci, Pansy." The two young meid iid in unison, their
voices mystical and ethereal, but still choked with fury. ((Thank you))

Divinity was still cloaking everything in the room, and she
noticed something with a start as she looked up and did meet r gar gazes. Draco and Blaise's pupils were split, which
wasn't that unusual, but the irises…The irises were blood red. The eyes of Cocidius, she thought
wildly, her brain trying to process what she was seeing. But it couldn't be…No
one but the First Born had been able to actually channel
a god's essence, the body and the mind simply couldn't handle it, but there
they were, with eyes of crimson shadows, flickering with Hell's fires. Another
twinge of ancient, long-buried memory, another instinct tweaked, and she named
them for what they were. Godridden.

"Bien entendu,
mon seigneurs." She found herself replying,
subconsciously knowing that they were still enraged, and therefore following
etiquette to its finest. "Il être ma plaisir." They ed aed at her intently for a moment,
before small, identical smiles curved their lips. ((Of course, my lords. It was
my pleasure.))

"There is no need for formalities." They told her
softly. "Not from you. Cocidius is keeping us clearheaded, for we have
much to do. You have our gratitude, Lady, for being there for her while we spilt our fury with our god. The shields would have
healed her, but not as efficiently as you did. And your presence in itself
surely helped. We are in your debt."

She sucked in a surprised breath, for she hadn't even thought of
it like that, she didn't mean for
them to owe her anything, and their
smiles grew a bit, as if they knew that. They leaned in, and each kissed her on
one cheek before pulling back and scooping Virginia out of her arms. They
stood, blood dripping off of them and hitting the floor in heavy drops, and
Draco moved for the door first, Virginia in his arms, while Blaise helped Pansy
to her feet and walked slightly behind them in what she was sure was a
rearguard position, whether it was subconscious or not. Knowing Blaise, it was
quite conscious. Lethally so.

"How is she?" Severus appeared from the huddle of
Professors, his face white and his brow furrowed even more than usual. He
didn't look the least bit disturbed by what had just happened, nor by his
godsons' appearance, and Pansy lifted a hand to hide her smirk. She felt quite
giddy now that Virginia was in their capable
hands, and as they weren't exactly panicking, she figured that her friend was
going to be fine.

"She'll be alright after a quick trip to Reverie."
Blaise said, and their forward progress never slowed.

Severus fell into step with them, as did Dumbledore, and both
nodded. Now that she had a chance to look around, she saw that there actually
weren't that many people in the room. Most were her Housemates, who trailed
after them with wide eyes but otherwise blank faces, two other Professors, and
a handful of other students who bolted from the room as soon as they saw them approaching. She felt a little better at the lack of an
audience, until they got outside and into the hallway. It was filled with green-faced,
gaping students, who practically slammed themselves against the corridor's
walls at their approach, opening up a walkway down the middle.

They flinched away as Draco and Blaise passedm wim with the other
Slytherins, eyes huge in disbelief and fear. Pansy spied quite a few of her
Housemates licking the blood that had sprayed on them off of their lips and
each other's, sneering viciously at the frightened, gawking onlookers. She
allowed herself a small smile once they rounded a corner, and shot an amused
look at Anton and Melody, who were behind her with Dapbetwbetween them. They
smirked, as they'd been two who just hadn't been able to help themselves, but
none of them said anything as they made their way quickly back through the maze
of passageways to their dormitories.

"Yes." He said evenly. "Come with us." At her
nod, he took her hand and led her to their room.

"But  

They could talk to each other about anything, and had. They were
both close to Melody and Daphne as well, but not quite as much. Pansy had
always been a little apart from the other two girls, most of her real secrets and confessions being told
only to Draco and Blaise, who had listened and comforted her with all of the
protective indignation and love of older brothers. And then Virginia had come. Their
connection had been almost instantaneous, and neither could really explain it. They'd just been drawn to each other, and had made fast friends.
And a night spent in Pansy's room with a couple of bottles of brandy-laced wine
had solidified it.

They'd gotten utterly smashed, much to Draco and Blaise's
amusement, and when they'd fallen asleep, the other two had covered them up and
let them sleep in Pansy's bed, as Virginia usually did when they had one of
their 'girl nights'. She and Virginia had woken up an hour or two later, still
drunk as shit, and had spilled, well, just about everything. Pansy had no idea
what had prompted her to do such a thing, as no amount of alcohol could have
loosened her tongue like that for anyone else, but afterwards, they had been closer than ever. A movement caught her eyes,
and she nearly, nearly, mind you,
shrieked in utter glee.

"Oh, thank the gods." She muttered as their eyes cleared
and Virginia sucked in a huge
breath.

Then the other girl's eyes flew open and she started to panic, her
hands going to her wrists, then her ankles, before her boyfriends grabbed her
hands gently and their Marks pulsed, while Pansy noticed something she hadn't
before. There were wide, dark red welts on her friend's skin where the davascian
cuffs had been, and Pansy knew that they wouldn't heal except on their own,
over time. She'd taken care of Blaise and Draco's own skin too many times,
soothing it with salves and ointments after their…lessons with their fathers, not to know how davasca affected their
flesh. Muttering a swift summoning spell, she moved forward slowly.

"Virginia?" She called
softly. "How are you?" Slightly dazed, slightly shocked charcoal eyes
met hers, and Pansy gritted her teeth when she realized how taxing it had all been
on her friend. Because those eyes should still have been black. But she looked
okay otherwise, and Pansy let herself relax a bit.

"P-Pansy?" Virginia started slowly, her
nose scrunching as she tried to remember. Her eyes widened, then narrowed, and
Pansy started slightly when those eyes did
bleed to solid black once more, the Mark on her arm flickering brightly enough
to cast shadows under her sleeve, which is what drew Pansy's gaze to it in the
first place. Maybe she wasn't as worn out as she'd seemed, after all.
"Where is he?" Virginia demanded, and Pansy
met hyes yes again.

"Dead." She supplied neutrally, but wasn't able to keep
a small, satisfied smirk from ghosting over her lips.

"And damned." Blaise chimed in, his head tilted to the side, blood encrusted raven locks falling over his equally
bloody shoulders. Virginia's eyes widened again
as she fully registered his appearance, and then shot to Draco. Suddenly, she
moved forward, sitting up and leaning closer to him, her hand moving towards
his collar before stopping. Then she laughed. Low, husky and slightlyicalical,
it surprised all three of them. She kept laughing, until tears were running
down her cheeks and she could barely draw a breath.

"Umm…" Pansy hesitated, glancing at Blaise, who shrugged,
looking slightly amused as he watched his girlfriend. "Are you alright, Virginia?"

"O-oh gods." Virginia managed to say
between bursts of hilarity. "It's…It's…oh gods."

Then she couldn't say anything, giggling quite hysterically again,
and pointed vaguely at Draco's neck. Blaise moved forward, leaning over Virginia and looking from
where she had, but it was on the opposite side from where Pansy was, and she
was starting to wonder if she even wanted to know. Blaise froze mid-blink and
didn't seem to breathe for a moment, before he, too,
started laughing. Draco sighed, as if he didn't really want to know either, and
a weird, morbid sort of curiosity lit within her. She crawled over Blaise's
legs and craned her neck, but she couldn't see anything except dried blood and
little pieces of pink…something. Then she moved his hair, saw it, and fell
backwards onto Virginia's lap.

"Is that an ear!?"

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Four days later, Virginia closed her eyes as
the stiff, cold wind whipped past her face, blowing her loose hair out behind
her like a banner. Metal slammed against metal in the courtyard seven stories
below her, and she idly wondered how much longer they planned to stay out. It
wasn't quite curfew yet, and they'd already been at it for over two hours, ever
since the sun had fully set. The moon shone bright and almost full above them,
and from her perch on one of the ancient, diorite gargoyles that lined the
upper levels of the castle, it looked huge. The sky was clear, a glassy black
speckled with thousands of stars, and it reminded her of the Lady, which had
her smiling.

Glancing back down, she saw her boyfriends starting yet another
round of sparring with each other, and smiled. They were beautiful when they fought, especially with blades, but when they fought one
another…It was quite breathtaking. They were matched in skill, so they could
let loose and give their all without either hurting their sparring partner or
meaning to kill. A group of Slytherins was spread out in a loose circle around
them on the lawn, talking to each other lazily as they watched their leaders
fight. It was a common occurrence, and others had been fighting on and off as
well, honing skills they didn't plan on losing just because they were at
school.

Virginia had already gone a
few rounds with Pansy and Blaise earlier, before scaling the wall to watch the
sky. She'd found this place right above the clearing they fought in a month
ago, and usually retreated up to it at some point during these excursions. She'd
made a point to that night, since they were leaving for winter break the next
morning. She rubbed one of her still-aching wrists distractedly, wondering,
once again, what the Manor would be like. Gregory and Vincent would be coming
with them, as were Pansy, Anton, Melody and Daphne. They'd all been there
before, but Virginia was practically dying
of anticipation.

She knew the grounds were full of different magical creatures, and
she was looking forward to exploring. And, wonder of wonders, she had talked
Draco and Blaise into visiting a muggle town with her. They'd been in them
before, of course, but usually stayed in the wizarding sections that were
hidden away by spells and glamours. They'd never
actually gone into any of the shops, and she knew that it would prove to be an
entertaining day. Sinking down onto the gargoyle's massive head, she fell back
with a sigh, a pillow of fire saving her head from
cracking against the stone. Half a breath later, she back was on her feet,
knife in hand and ready to throw, as she felt something moving for her from the
left.

"Peace, ma âme." A low, smooth voice intoned, and her
boyfriend slid out of the shadows in a fall of silver silk and black, rustling
velvet.

"Are you insane?"
She hissed, returning her dagger to her boot sheathe. "I was less then a
second from sending this at your head! Why did you cloak yourself from
me?"

"Because if you had
impaled me with that wicked little blade of yours, you'd feel horrible. And then, of course, you'd
wait on me hand and foot, telling me how sorry you are and how much you love
me, and you'd do that delightful thing with your tongue, and-"

"Okay, okay!" Virginia cut him off, sneering
at his smirk.

He moved toward her slowly, his mercury eyes glinting, and she
melted against him when he wrapped strong arms around her waist. He smelt of
jasmine and snow, and he hadn't even broken a sweat after hours of fighting,
which almost everyone else had despite the chilly air. His hair twined with
hers as the wind swirled and howled around them, and she didn't have the first
clue to how long they stood there, nor did she care. Something was missing,
though, and they eventually broke apart to go to him. She turned to climb back
down the steep wall, but Draco stopped her, a mischievous smirk on his face.

"Not that way." He said, his voice nearly due to the
swift, whistling air, and he stepped backwards…onto nothing. She started to
lunge for him when two discs of ice appeared beneath his feet, supporting him
in midair. Sucking in a breath, she looked at him wonderingly.

"How…"

"I don't know." He replied sincerely, holding out a hand
to her. "Call it an epiphany. Go ahead. It's a bit like your convenient
little pillow."

Cautiously sticking out a foot, her hand clasping his, she
concentrated, and a disc much like his but made of the
same flames her pillow had been hovered in the air when she opened her eyes.
She tested it gingerly with a toe, and found it quite sturdy. Still a bit
dubious, she steeled herself and stepped out onto it, instantly creating
another for her other foot. Looking down, she wished she hadn't. The ground was
really far away, and there was no comforting presence
of a broomstick underneath her. Her stomach momentarily
flipped, but his hand tightened around hers and her Mark tingled, and she
calmed enough to find her center of balance.

"Holy shit." She murmured, and Draco laughed.

"It is quite exhilarating, is it not?"

"Yes." She agreed, and took a few steps forward.

After a moment, she didn't even really have to think
about creating the small platforms of fire, it just sort of…happened. They
headed for the ground as if they were descending a spiraling staircase. It
wasn't until they were halfway down that they made a game of it, secure enough
in their prowess to start running. And it wasn't until the end, about ten feet
off the ground, that she caught Draco and they tumbled to the ground, landing
on soft snow that rose up to catch and cradle them. Laughing, her legs
entangled with his, she looked up to see Blaise standing over them, an ebentine
sword in each hand and a smirk on his dark, sensuous lips. o:p>

"And just what was
that all about?"

"He started it!" Virginia said accusingly,
waving vaguely in Draco's direction.

"No, I didn't!" Draco argued, absently flinging a
handful of snow at her. "You got all cocksure-"

"I got cocksure!?"

"Yes, and you-"

"Children, children." Blaise tsked
from above them. "Do stop bickering. We still have to finish packing, you
know."

"Children?"
Draco asked incredulously. "I'll have you recall that I'm four and a half
days older then you, thank you very much."

"Then act like it." Blaise said haughtily, sheathing his
swords and vanishing them.

"Ooooh, I am going to kill
you." Draco growled, and Blaise's eyes widened.

"Moi?" He asked innocently,
placing a hand over his heart dramatically. Draco didn't get a chance to answer
when a voice rang out over the lawn. ((Me?))

"Ginny!" Ron called, and Virginia turned her face to him
slowly. He was stomping through the snow with Hermione and Harry, and Virginia tried her damnedest not
to smile as she spied the slight limp Harry was still sporting from his run-in
with her lover. "What are you doing laying in the
snow?" Ron questioned as he came to stand over her as well, his voice
rough.

She'd forgiven him, once again, for his habit of saying stupid
things, and he had broken down when he'd come to see her after the…thing with
Marcus. He'd been one of the students that had run after her boyfriends, as had
McGonagall, while Hermione and some other upper year Gryffindors had taken
Harry to the Hospital Wing. McGonagall had stopped him from going after her
immediately, but see seen what had been done to her, knew what had almost been done, and had actually
managed a stumbling, reluctant thanks to Draco and
Blaise the next day, as had her other brothers. Her parents' gratitude had been
a bit more genuine, though.

As for her boyfriends…What had happened
had spooked them. Badly. They didn't like the fact that the confusion spell
Marcus had cast on her had been strong enough to cause her to forget how to
open the Marks. They didn't like the fact that it had been able to happen
inside the castle with none the wiser. They didn't like the fact that it had
been so close, too close. They didn't
like the fact that the Dark Lord seemed to want something with her. They didn't
like the fact that she woke up screaming no matter what they did, dreaming of
Marcus's disgusting attentions. And, because of that last bit, they had been
wary of touching her for over two days, almost as if they had been afraid to. At
least that insanity had finally come to a stop.

"Ginny!" Her brother's voice cut through her thoughts,
and she pushed them away for later inspection. Apparently, Ron had been trying
to get her attention for a while, judging by his annoyed expression.

"Sorry." She said, shrugging. "So, what do you
need?"

"You still going with them?" He
asked, jerking his head at her boyfriends.

"Look, I was just checking,
alright?" He huffed. "You might have returned to the ranks of the
sane, or something."

"That's hilarious, Ron. Really."

"So…Are you okay?" He asked, and she stopped herself
from screaming in frustration. There was that damn question again.

"Yes." Virginia said shortly,
suddenly feeling tired.

She was so sick of this.
She hadn't been raped, for the love
of Gaea. So why in the hell was everyone but the Slytherins acting as if she
had been? She could understand why Draco and Blaise had acted differently, but
she was in a physical relationship with them, and that had been the only thing
that had changed. It sure as hell didn't
last long, either, she thought with a flash of triumph. She'd explained to
them, quite simply, that yes, it had been disturbing and disgusting, but
nothing so traumatizing as how it probably would have been had they been five
minutes later, and could they please shut up and fuck?
Could they ever. Her calves were still sore.

"Are you sure?" Ron persisted, and Virginia clamped her hands in
tight fists, determined not to snap at him. He was just concerned, she knew
that, but everyone treating her like glass was far past chafing. She looked
forward to the next two weeks more than she could say.

"There's no reason to be."

"Thes!&qs!" He exclaimed in a soft, yet harsh, whisper.
"Ginny, it's bad enough about what happened, but going to that wretched
place with them as well? Are you determined to get yourself killed?"

"Nothing's going to happen to me while I'm there, Ron! You
know the Manor's better protected then Hogwarts and the Ministry
combined!"

"It's not 'better protected'! It's got a bloody bunch of dark
creatures prowling around, waiting for some little thing like you to come
along, alawarawares-"

"Who, exactly, are you talking to?" Blaise snapped
acidly before Virginia could retort, and Ron spun to face him. "Because it
surely can't be her. I know that even you
couldn't have the audacity to imply that someone who could break you in half
like a twig is helpless."

"Look, Zabini, just because you got a couple of lucky shots
in on Harry the other day-"

"Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit." Virginia muttered darkly,
moving closer to Blaise incase Ron somehow became even stupider within the next
few seconds. Which was highly likely.

"-and just because you got lucky,
again, and barely got to my sister in time-"

"This is bad. Shut
up, shut up, shut up> up." She begged quietly. He was
pushing buttons best left alone. Very, very
alone.

&nb/o:p/o:p>

"-doesn't mean that you can just talk to me that way. I'm her
brother, damn it, and that comes before whatever momentary, rebellious thrill
she gets being with you two for the time being-"

Was it getting colder?

"-and when she sees just how fucked up you both really are,
when this girlish fantasy that's blinding her falls away-"

And darker. It was definitely getter darker.

"-it'll be me there
that has to watch her pick up her broken heart, if she's even alive at that point. And with the danger
just being with you two has put her in-"

Okay. She was pretty sure she was about
to strangle her brother.

"-I doubt she will be! It shouldn't be any wonder that I'm
worried about her safety! Look what a shoddy job you two did keeping her safe
on Monday!"

Silence. Stillness. Not a single thing moved or spoke. Except for
her goddamned brother.

"Who do you think she'll blame for that when she comes to her
senses? When she sees that pain and death and torment are the only things that
sl evl ever gain from being with you!?" He
shouted the last, and Blaise and Draco stepped back as if they'd been struck. They
said nothing, their faces blank, and it wasn't until they glanced at her that
she saw just how deep those last jibes had cut. And that hesitance, that guilt,
neither of which should have been in their beloved eyes, made her control over
her temper crumble, along with years of silence and restraint.

"You wanna start laying fucking blame at people's feet?"
She hissed furiously, shoving him hard and making him stumble backwards.
"Let's start with you, then.
Where were you, dear brother, in my
t yet year? Hmm? Let's see—you were traipsing around with the Boy You Wish You
Were and a girl you've been angsting away over for years, looking for the big,
bad Chamber of Secrets. Sneaking into Slytherin after the girl wonder whipped
you up some Polyjuice, looking for their Founder's
Heir. What's the face for, Ron? Surely you didn't
think I didn't know about that? Tom was anything but careless."

"Ginny, don't say that name-"

"Why the fuck not!?" Oh, just screw it all. "al'>I'm the one
who had him in my fucking head! You try so hard to rule my life, saying that
you only do it because you care, but where the fuck were
you then? A year, Ron. I was being
possessed by the bloody Dark Lord for almost an entire year, and you never noticed. In fact, I think you spoke to me a total of four times. You searched and searched, when I
would have told you everything if you'd even so much as asked me if something
was wrong."

"Ginny, I-"

"Shut up. Just shut up. You started this, you usually do, and
I'm fucking tired of it. You wanted to throw stones, and I've got dozens. You rarely even acknowledged me
after that incident. You think n't n't know why you got those Sneak-a-Scopes in
Egypt? You think I didn't
hear the family whispering at night when you thought I was sleeping?
'Poor thing', you said, 'Not the same', you said, 'Tainted', you mumbled, as if saying it
softly and only when the lights were out made it less real. I know you all
think that's why I'm with them now, with the exception of maybe mum; I know you
think something went wrong in me after that."

"Ginny, we don't-"

"Leave it. I've had years to accept it. But what you didn't,
and still don't, understand, is that I was different
from the rest of you long before that. It's just that none of you noticed until
you started looking for the
differences. I could spend hours detailing the incidents in which you could
have been there for me and weren't, but why keep us here for so long? And as for Monday, if you hadn't had to be such an interfering,
nosy bastard who couldn't keep his mouth shut, I never would have told Draco
and Blaise to stay behind so I could be alone for a bit to wonder why my big
brother, whom I love, doesn't seem to return that love even enough to support
me and my decisions."

"You told them-"

"Of course I did. Did you see them come with me?"
Sarcasm is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

"Oh gods-"

"Exactly. I see
you're starting to understand. If you hadn't started some shit simply to start
some, I would have been with them the rest of the night. Safe. You tell them they didn't do a good job protecting me, when
you're the reason I wasn't under their protection at the time. You tell them
I'll blame them one day, that I'll only experience pain if I stay with them. Do
you want to know who I would really blame, if I were to blame anyone at all?"
A lengthy, heavy pause. "No, you probably don't. So I would drop it if I were
you."

"But-"

"We're completely different people, Ron, even if we are
family. Ier fer fit in at home, not really, and I've always made a horrid
Gryffindor. But I've found people that I do fit in with, that I'm comfortable
around, and you can't stand it because they're Slytherins. You say that you
hate them so much; you say that you absolutely loathe them, when all you've ever really been is jealous. You say
that you love me, you say that you only want what's best for me, but all you
really want is me away from them. But
I never will be, and do you want to know why? Do you want to know a
secret?"

not cry, she watched the emotions flicker in his familiar eyes. She
saw the denial, she saw the disgust, she saw the horror, she
saw the rejection. A dry sob caught in her throat, and she cursed herself. It
was just…she hadn't known it would hurt so much. Maybe she had still held some delusions. Maybe she had still hoped against hope that he would say it was okay, say
that he loved her anyway, and wrap her up in a hug.

"Ron-"

"No." He said raggedly, falling and barely noticing as
he scrambled back to his feet, shoving Harry and Hermione's hands away from
him. "No. You…you…a-a Slytherin!
How…no Weasley has ever…you really are one of them! Oh fuck, oh s oh oh
fuck. No way, no bloody way, no sister of mine…"

"Ron? Ron!" Hermione yelled, shaking him. "What in
Merlin's name are you jabbering about?"

"Didn't you hear
her?" Ron demanded. "Didn't
you? A Slytherin, 'Mione! She was
supposed to be a goddamned Slytherin!"
Harry and Hermione looked shocked as well, their jaws dropping open, before
Hermionelectlected herself after a moment.

"Okay. Okay. That's…different. And?"

"And?" Ron
repeated incredulously. "What do you mean 'and'? That speaks for itself! Weasleys are not supposed to be thertherins!"

"Well…" Hermione started slowly, looking anxious.
"She is."

"No, she's not."

"But you just said that she said-"

"I know what was said!"
Ron shouted. "And I meant what I
said! Weasleys are not supposed to be
Slytherins!"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Virginia asked quietly.
"Do you not consider me a Weasley because of this now?" He locked
angry, hurt eyes on her, looking classically betrayed.

"How can I?" He questioned just as softly, and turned
his back to her, storming away through the snow. She didnegisegister much after
that, as the words seemed to scorch her very soul, and she wasn't aware of
crumpling to the cold ground.

She'd always know that she wasn't like them, true, but she'd still
believed that they loved her, even after the Percy mess. But there went another
brother, gone from her grasp, and the last of her ideals about the bonds
between family shattered around her. A fundamental
part of her world seemed to crash and burn with them, along with her inner
defenses. The full weight of Percy's treachery finally hit her as she watched a
second brother abandon her, and time seemed to stop, leaving her numb and cold.
So it came as quite a shock when she finally became aware of her surroundings again
and found herself curled between Draco and Blaise on their bed.

"I'm sorry." She intoned in a low voice that was barely
audible even to them, and she felt them shift around her.

"What on earth could you possibly have to be sorry about, cher un?" Draco asked,
running his fingers down her side.

"For being so stupid about this." She clarified
morosely. "I knew betteen ten to tell him that, I knew how he would react,
but I was so angry…"

"And there is still nothing to be sorry for." Blaise
pointed out, plaiting her hair almost unconsciously. "He has no right to
judge you for something like that, but sadly, that's just the way it is."

"I know. That's why
I feel so stupid for letting it get to me." She sighed, cursing the tear
that leaked from her eye against her will.

"It would get to anyone, love. It's not pretty when your own
kin turns against you." Draco said, and there was a hard edge under his
smooth words. Something clicked inside her mind.

"Oh, shit. Wasn't Marcus your cousin or something?" She
asked, raising up on one elbow and racking her brain for the pureblooded family
trees she'd been forced to memorize as a child.

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be thrilling."
Draco said sourly. "Tons of excitement."

"What could muggles possibly have that would make the time
we're going to be wasting worth it?" Blaise asked, shaking his head.
"Sounds pointless to me. But we'll go like we said would."

"You'll see. My dad's taken me a few times. And I thought you
knew a bit about muggles."

"Their  <
<

"But their knick-knacks and culture?" Draco questioned
doubtfully. "I think I'd rather spend a day with Aunt Bella, and that's
saying something." Virginia snickered.