Taking Over Me

Chapter Three - Are You Loyal?

Ron groaned as he slowly came back to consciousness. He had the worst headache ever! What did he do last night? He opened his eyes, hoping that he was lying next to a beautiful girl; the only beautiful girl in his life; the only beautiful girl that he'd been dreaming about for so many years now...Mel-

What was he doing in a cell? A cold, dark, stoned cell?

He sat up quickly, the visions of the night before dancing in his mind. Melly walking in with Draco; Lucius announcing Draco and Melly's marriage; Voldemort; trailing Melly; talking to her; kissing her; being pushed into a parlor with Melly, Lucius, and the Dark Lord waiting for him and Harry; Melly's angry face; "Stupefy"...oh yeah, he remembered now. He groaned and lay back down, closing his eyes in frustration.

Ron opened his eyes, only to be welcomed by a splitting headache and blurriness. He quickly closed his eyes again and groaned, turning so he was now lying on his stomach.

He heard something...muttering...in a soft, sweet, yet venomous voice. The next thing he knew, he was up against the wall, and his hands, feet, and waist were stuck to the wall. He forced his eyes open, and was nervous once he didn't see anything.

He strained his ears, and heard a quiet sigh. Then, footsteps, stepping closer. He could sense the wand pointing right at him. He groaned once more.

"Who are you?" he heard. He gasped. Melly! Her hand was soon grasping his neck. "Who are you?" she shouted.

Ron couldn't speak.

"Do you think you'll live through this?" she asked, loosening her grip on his neck, but not letting go.

He breathed for a few seconds, and finally nodded slowly. He heard her laugh; only this time, it wasn't a pleasurable laugh. It seemed more of a cackle. It stopped immediately.

"Who are you?" she asked again. "How do you know I won't kill you when I'm finally bored with you?"

Ron tried to speak, but his throat was dry; he decided to give it all he got. "I know you won't kill me. Would you kill Ron Weasley? I was there when you met him. When you lied to him. When you first discovered you loved him..."

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"I am Ron Weasley," Ron croaked.

"No," she hissed. "Who are you?"

"Ron Weasley."

"NO! Who are you? And don't lie to me!"

"I am Ron Weasley!" he croaked. He understood why she didn't believe him: he wouldn't believe that he was himself either, with his voice so dry.

"NO!" she screamed. "Crucio!"

---

What was he doing here? Why had Hermione told him to meet her in her bedroom?

A door opened on his left, and he saw Hermione walk in. She smiled at him as he stood up. She was beautiful! Her hair, bushy just the way he loved it. Her red and gold dress so tight it showed every curve of her body. He wanted to kiss her all over.

"Who are you?" she asked him.

Harry gave her a quizzical look. "I am Ron Weasley," he said, wincing at his dry voice. Ron Weasley? What? He wasn't Ron Weasley!

"No," she hissed at him, back up all the way against the door, her left hand behind her back. "Who are you?"

Harry smiled and laughed. "Ron Weasley."

"NO! Who are you? And don't lie to me." She seemed to be stiffening.

"I am Ron Weasley." He laughed at her. Why didn't she know who he was? Wait, he wasn't Ron! "No! I'm Harry. Harry Potter? We're engaged. Ring a bell?"

"NO!" she screamed at him. She withdrew her left hand from behind her, holding out her wand. "Crucio!"

Harry gasped when he realized that it wasn't he that she was pointing the wand at, it was herself! Her piercing scream caused him to hold his hands over his ears and closed his eyes.

She screamed again, only this time it sounded like a man. He opened his eyes and found her standing right next to him. Harry looked at her, fear playing on his face. She drew her hand back, and slapped him with all her might.

As her hand came in contact with his face, he jumped awake to the sound of a painful scream that deafened his...where was he? He couldn't see a thing!

The screaming stopped.

---

Melly walked up to Ron. "Now, we'll try this again. Who are you?"

"I told you," Ron said, tears of pain (more pain from heartbreak than from the Crucio) streaming down his face. "Why won't you believe me?" he asked.

"Ron Weasley wouldn't lower himself to come here," she said. "Now, who are you, or do I have to end your life very shortly?"

"Kill me if you will," Ron said. "You will never be able to live with yourself again knowing you killed the one you love."

Melly was silent. Ron didn't know if she was still there, or if she was thinking, or what. He finally heard her mutter "Lumos".

A red light emitted from her wand, causing Ron to shut his eyes tight; the light was so bright, he was so used to the darkness. He groaned as he heard Melly gasp and her wand fell to the ground and the light was quickly out.

Ron felt his body slowly move away from the wall. He began to fall forward, but was once again slammed against the wall. Only this time, Melly did it with her own body.

She cried onto his shirt. Ron groaned, and began to fall to the floor. Melly gasped again, and held him up, but she knew she wouldn't be able to hold him forever. She slowly set him on the ground. Ron couldn't feel anything; he was still in pain from Crucio.

Melly cupped his face in her hands. "Oh, Ron," she said in between sobs. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know." She laid her head down on his chest. "I didn't know!"

Ron wanted to hold her in his arms, but he couldn't move. "I'd love to hold you right now," he said, his voice still dry.

Melly chuckled. She looked up at him, and placed her lips on his softly. She pulled away slightly, and looked into his eyes, since she was close enough to see them in the dark. "You're here. Why did you come here? You should have known that he would find out who you were."

Ron nodded, barely. Then, something came to him. He gasped. "Harry! Where is he? Where's Harry?"

"Harry's not here," she said.

"He's dead?" Ron whispered.

Melly shook her head. "I think not. He's probably back at his home. I don't know." She smiled. "Oh, Ron! I have so many questions about you!"

"And I you, but right now, I want to know where Harry is."

"Harry isn't here."

"He came with me last night. Where is he?"

"Was he the man that was with you?"

Ron nodded, feeling the pain subsiding, probably because of Melly being there with her hands on his chest, practically suffocating his breathing space with her breath.

"Oh! Well then, you should have said something. He's in the next-door cell, sleeping. Now, my turn. How's Hermione?"

Ron nodded again. "Harry and she are engaged," he said happily. He saw that Melly looked sadly into his eyes and felt her retreat from him. He heard the cell door open, close. He heard her mutter something under her breath. He looked around as torches along the wall of the cell were lit suddenly; his cell was now full of light. He looked towards the barred cell door, and his heart sank when he didn't see her standing there.

"Ron?" he heard.

Ron gasped. "Harry?"

---

Melly paced around her room just five minutes later. Why did he have to come? What was the point? He should have known he would've gotten captured! Why did he have to come to her the night prior? Why did he have to walk up to her? Why couldn't he just keep his distance? She knew that she wasn't the reason he and Harry were there. Why did Voldemort have to capture them? Why did she Crucio him? Why did she suddenly feel guilty as of now when she thought about when Ron told her about Harry and Hermione getting married?

She sighed, and sat down on her bed. Well, at least they were happy with each other, and at least their leader...Dumbledore? Well, at least he was happy for them. If only Ron would understand that she couldn't love him...shouldn't love him. His only options for being with her were just giving up trying to be with her and stay on the light side, or just give up trying to please Harry Potter and go to the dark side. Yeah, like that would ever happen...

What's this? Faith spoke up. Are you actually thinking about a boy? That's a new thing. Who is it? Draco?

Melly sighed. No, not Draco.

Then, who is it? Out with it, girl!

Why do you care anyways?

There was a knock on her door, but Melly chose to ignore it. "Melly?" Draco could be heard after another knock.

Your fiancée is calling you dear, Faith squealed. I'm going to have to get used to not going into your mind once you two are married...if you could see me you'd see me winking.

Melly sighed irritably. Why don't you start practicing now?

Oh! Good idea! I love it when you show my brilliance.

Melly shook her head. "What do you want?" she called to Draco who, amazingly, was still behind the door.

"May I come in?" Draco said. "I don't feel like a civilized fiancée talking to you through the door."

"And, since when did you start talking like you're madly in love with me and that you're trying to be a good wizard about it?" Melly asked, getting up from the bed. She went to the door, and opened it to find him smirking at her. "What?"

Draco grabbed her waist and pushed her forward, kicking her door closed with his foot. He sighed and let go of her. He smiled at her. "Don't want father to suspect anything, right?" he asked. He walked to he bed, and lay down.

"What do you want?" Melly asked again.

"Don't want father to suspect anything, right?" he repeated.

"What do you mean?" Melly asked, sitting on the bed next to him. Draco propped himself up on his elbow and looked at her, concern written on his face.

"He saw you," Draco said. "He saw you rush out of the dungeons, nearly in tears. He wanted me to come and see what the matter was."

Melly shook her head, looking down at her hands. "Nothing's wrong," she mumbled.

Draco sat up fully. He placed his hand under her chin, and made her look at him. "Pish-posh," he said. "I know something's the matter. We've been living together since we were ten. I know when something is wrong."

Melly pushed his hand away and stood up. "What would you know?" she snapped. "You've always been trailing me, teasing me, in your own way hurting me. Maybe what's wrong is you!" She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from him. "You're always butting in my business!"

Draco stood up and wrapped his arms around her in a brotherly way. "I know I wouldn't cause you to dash out of the dungeons in that state, especially if I wasn't even there. I also know that you wouldn't let any obscene thing said about me get to your nerves. You'd probably laugh and join in making fun. That's what I know."

Melly pushed him away. Draco growled in frustration, sneering at her. "What's the matter with you?" he yelled. "If Weasley or Potter hurt you in any way, I swear I'll-"

"No! It was something Ron said." Melly gasped, realizing her mistake.

"Ron?" Draco said in a death threatening tone. "I know you wouldn't let anything he said get to you like that. So, it only points to one thing."

Melly turned and looked at him, afraid of what he was going to say.

"I see it in your eyes!" he bellowed. "You still have feelings for him! What would your father say? What would my father say?" His face flushed.

"Actually," Melly said, wanting to get him to cool down, "I'm afraid what you're going to say." She smirked at him. "You're quite frightening when you can be, you know."

Draco's face paled in a matter of seconds back to his usual pale. He smirked. "I know I can be. It's hereditary - don't change the subject from him to me! I know you want to talk about my perfect ness, but that's no reason you should drop him."

Melly shook her head. "Why do you want to talk about it anyways? I thought you hated him."

"I did, and still do. Know why?" He walked up to her, and walked behind her.

"I would like an eligible explanation if you will?" Melly said, not looking his way.

"Because," he said, sneering at her straight blue hair. He gently grabbed it. Her hair was silky soft.

"That's no reason."

"Because," Draco repeated. "I'm a Death Eater, and I'm entitled to hate whom ever I will!" He pulled her hair back, causing her to shriek, her head falling onto his shoulder. "And you are too. If anyone ever found out that you're still in love with a Weasley, then you'll face the consequences."

"He can't do anything to me," she said, he meaning Voldemort. "I have my protection."

"Where is it now?" he asked coolly. He looked at her eyes that were now filling with unwanted tears, though she showed no sign of crying. "Your tears'll do you no good. I'm still here."

Melly nodded. "Yes, I'm quite aware of that."

Draco let go of her hair, and smoothed it under his hands. He ran his fingers through. "You will end this stupid thing that you have for him, or you will face the consequences."

Melly turned to him. "I told you-"

"Not painful consequences, just consequences." Draco turned around to leave. "You will be questioned your faithfulness to our master."

"Are you threatening me, Draco Malfoy?" Melly asked.

Draco stopped, and turned around. He held out his hand and motioned for her to go to him. Melly did, and he wrapped his arms around her and opened the door.

"I have no need to," he whispered before kissing her neck. Melly was struck dumb. Draco pulled away, and walked down to his room.

Melly looked around, hoping that no one saw what just happened. She was met by the slightly blue eyes of Narcissa Malfoy. Melly smiled and nodded at the smirking face which was directed to her. She turned around, and shut the door, now understanding why Draco kissed her.

The Malfoys were convinced that Melly and Draco were in love, and Melly and Draco thought it a fun game to play being in love for the older Malfoys. They all got a kick out of it.

She sighed and leaned her back on the now closed door. What was she going to do now? She groaned and slid down to the ground. He could tell anyone now. What consequences would she have? Voldemort couldn't touch her, and Draco full well knew that. How would her faithfulness to Voldemort be questioned if everyone knew she was in love with Ron? It actually wasn't her faithfulness to Voldemort that the Death Eaters should be questioning, it was her loyalties.

Melly groaned once more. Loyalties? She didn't have to be loyal to the Dark Lord to get his praise: she was his daughter!