Taking Over Me

Chapter Four- Mala Amaryllis

A week slowly slipped by, and Melly's condition didn't get any better. She hardly went to visit Ron and Harry, but when she did, Draco, Narcissa, Lucius, or Voldemort himself always accompanied her. She sent house-elves to give the two prisoners their meals, but made sure their meals were of the best quality.

Ron and Harry kept each other company, talking about how they planned on escaping. All to no avail, however, they knew none of their plans would work.

It wasn't until seven days later, after their capture, did their thoughts change.

Melly came to them as usual, only without anyone with her. She stopped in front of Harry's cell doors, and looked at him, no expression on her face; Harry looked at her the same.

There was a loud sound that sounded like someone opened a steel door. Melly turned her head towards the sound, and Harry flinched. Melly gave Harry one last expressionless look, and walked to where the sound came from.

Harry clutched the bars with his hands, and tried to look out of the cell as best as he could. He saw Melly stand in front of a lump on the ground and Draco, who sneered at the lump.

Melly sighed. "Where did you find her?" she asked.

Draco bent down and picked the lump up, throwing it over his shoulder. "Sneaking around the gardens," he answered her.

Melly nodded and turned around, leading Draco to an empty cell on the other side of Ron's. Harry sighed in irritation once Melly, Draco, and the lump disappeared, but was glad that he could still hear them.

"Who is she?" Melly asked.

"Don't you recognize her?" Draco asked. "This was the same girl that you tortured and let free a couple years back."

"Ah, yes, she is. She looks different. Being on the street with no family or friends or anyone to care for her has certainly put a damper in her life, wouldn't you say?"

"I agree completely."

Harry saw Melly and Draco emerge from the cell, and Draco slammed the door shut, causing Harry to jump, and no doubt to wake Ron. Draco turned around and left, but Melly stayed standing, looking down at the person in the cell. Draco stopped as soon as he was just about out the door.

"You coming?" he asked Melly.

Melly shook her head. "I'm going to stay here until she wakes up. Obviously, my little lesson hasn't taught her not to go snooping around the grounds. I guess she'll get a harder class."

Draco nodded and left, but not without glaring at Harry first.

Harry heard a sigh, coming from Melly most likely. After the sigh, he stepped back until he hit the wall, and he slid down so he was now sitting, and closed his eyes.

He opened his eyes with a start as a scream pierced the dungeon walls. He cried out and covered his ears, the noise being too unbearable for him to handle.

Suddenly, the screaming stopped. "What was that?" Melly said. "Did you hear something, muggle?"

A struggled gasped, and a noise at what sounded like "No, ma'am."

"What?" Melly shrieked. "Do you deny me? You insufferable little muggle fool! You do not deny what I ask. If I ask you if you heard something, you say yes!"

Harry gasped when he heard a cry when Melly emphasized, "yes".

"Now, what did we learn?" Melly continued.

"N-not to deny you, milady." This statement sounded like a small girl, although Harry couldn't tell by the crying and staggered breathing.

"That's right," Melly said. "Now, you're done for today. Tomorrow, I will be back."

There were footsteps, and a steel door opening and then closing. But, instead of the footsteps retreating to where the secret entrance that leaves the dungeons, the footsteps walked towards Harry's cell.

Harry scrambled up on his feet as Melly came into view and looked at him. She stood, staring at him.

Harry was surprised. Melly hadn't stared at him this long without shaking, heavy breathing, or sighing in guilt. She just stood and looked at him, expressionless. Harry matched her look, only he couldn't hold in his glare and sneer.

Melly smirked, and turned around, walking back from where she came, but stopped. No doubt in front of Ron's cell. A cell door was opened, and then closed. Harry then heard soft whispering. Harry shook his head as he heard Ron whispering back, obviously just having awoken. Melly hadn't spoken to him in a long time either.

Harry sat back down against the wall and fell asleep to the sound of the whispers in the cell next to his.

---

"Ron? Are you awake?"

"I am now," Ron answered. "Melly? What are you doing in here?"

Melly swallowed and sat down next to him on her knees. She looked at her clasped hands in her lap.

"I wanted to apologize," she whispered.

Ron took a chance and placed his hand on her cheek. He was relived not to find Draco or anyone trying to curse him. Usually when he tried to touch her, someone would hit him with something horrible, and she would just watch with guilt in her eyes.

Melly looked up at him.

"For what?" he asked.

"For everything." She looked back down. "For being sorted into your house. For having you kept here. For not showing how much I care for you. For not telling you the truth from the beginning. For not letting you see that Harry was right, that Harry was always right from the beginning. For having to stand there and watch as Draco tortured you. For having allowed Lucius and Voldemort decide on my marriage." She paused as a tear ran down her cheek. "For coming into your life."

She stood up and turned to the door, opening it.

"No, Melly," Ron said, stopping her from leaving. He stood up, but not as easily as Melly did. "Don't say that."

Melly sighed and looked down at the ground. Why did he always have to make things more complicated than they should be?

"We were meant to be together, don't be sorry for it."

Melly rounded on him. "It's my fault your still in here. This is not the way things are meant to be."

"But this is how they are." Ron stepped closer to her. "That's the way life works. Things just are. Fate-"

"Fate isn't the decider of life. I would know. I have a hell of a time with Faith as it is. And what's worse, I have to live with a middle name being Fate. Do you know how long I have had to put up with people asking me for advice? Fate and Faith don't mix."

"Listen to me, Melly." Ron said, grabbing her shoulder before she could walk out of the cell. "Just stay and listen to me. It isn't your fault about the way life is. Maybe you don't believe in fate, but I do. I believe it was fate that brought us together. I believe it was fate that brought us back together after so many years. I believe that it was fate that Voldemort found Harry and I out."

"These things were fate, they were either coincidence, or convenience." Melly gave him one last guilty look before walking out of his cell and out of the dungeons. Was it necessarily important that he make things harder than they deserved to be?

Ron sighed in frustration and walked to the back wall of the cell. Why couldn't she understand what he was trying to do for them? It was all relevantly easy. All she had to do was free him and Harry, and then flee with them, earning her a lifetime of happiness and love away from Voldemort and this life she now leads.

"You know she loves you," a little girl voice said, interrupting his thoughts, causing Ron to jump and look around him. "She doesn't show it very well."

"I agree," Ron said, still looking around, gulping nervously. "Who are you?"

"I'm just a little girl who's in the cell next to you," she said, amusement in her voice. "You're in Weasley's cell, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Arthur Weasley. You're in his cell, aren't you?"

"No, I'm in my cell." Ron closed his eyes and looked down. He missed his father. Arthur Weasley disappeared four years ago. He was first reported missing when Ron was taking his N.E.W.T.s. The news of his father's disappearance gave Ron the main reason to become an Auror. For four years he was determined to go looking for Arthur. Although, he never found him, and Ron was out of luck now. "Do you know him?" Ron asked. "Do you know where I can find him?" He stood up and looked at the wall that was between him and the little girl in the cell next to his. He knew it was a bad time, but she knew his father's name, so maybe she knew his whereabouts?

"I knew him," she said in a low voice. "Yes, I know where you can find him."

That rose Ron's spirits. Even the fact that she said it in a sad voice was oblivious to him.

"Where?"

"If you want to die, go ahead, be my guest. I won't miss you," she said, beginning with a "huh" in an amusing tone.

"What do you mean?" Ron stepped closer to the wall.

"When I was here last, he used to tell me stories. Stories about a little girl, her name Ginny." If Ron could see the little girl, he would see a pleasant smile on her lips. "You know, before I met Miss Malfoy, I used to think witches and wizards were kind beings. Not of the evil sort."

"What do you mean by that?" Ron asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"I get a lesson learned at least thrice a day. Is it my fault that I have no family or friends or any place to go?"

"I don't understand."

"Miss Malfoy used to be kind to me. But then, when she brought that scary man to me, she changed immediately. Listen to me. Do not look upon that horrible man's face. It may be pretty by the look, but he isn't pretty at all. And then, there's another, who looks almost exactly like him, only his hair is longer, and he's older. He's even worse then the first man. And then, the scariest being to ever walk the earth. I get shivers even thinking about him."

Ron stepped closer to the wall, placing a hand on the wall.

"He's tall, he's all white, he's got evil looking red eyes, and he has no nose or lips. He looks like a walking dead man."

"Lord Voldemort," Ron whispered.

"Yes," the little girl whispered back. "She brings him to me all the time. To torture me no doubt. But still, I can see the care in her eyes."

"Who?"

"Miss Malfoy," she answered in tone that made it sound as if Ron asked a stupid question that the answer was obvious. "She may be mean, but I can still see the good in her eyes. She isn't evil like the other three men."

At this, Ron knew whom she was talking about...Melly. By the information this little girl has told him, he knew she had been around here for a long time. She knew his father, and she knew where to find him.

"Miss?" he whispered. "Tell me more about Arthur Weasley. Where can I find him?"

"Like I said: if you want to die, go ahead and be my guest. You want to know more about Mr. Arthur? Okay, let's see. He told me he had a daughter, whom he felt sorry for. He says that she is the youngest, and the only girl. He told me she had the most beautiful red hair, next to his wife, Miss Molly. He says she was something else. He told me he had six sons, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George, and Ron. He told me Bill was a worker at a bank called Gringotts. I have never heard of the place, and I've been all around London, and then some. Charlie, he said, lived in Romania and worked with dragons. I listened with admiration to him. Imagine! I was young enough to believe dragons were real! Percy, he told me, was the minister of magic's assistant. Said he wasn't really fond of the family anymore than he used to be when he attended school. The twins, Fred and George, were menaces. He told me that they based their lives on making pranks, and that they had a joke shop opened called 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes'. The he told me about his youngest son, Ronald, Ron."

Ron picked up his head at this part, his eyes tear stained about a brief reminder about his family that he left behind once he got thrown in this dungeon. What did his father have to say about him?

"He said Ron went to school with Ginny, and that they looked almost exactly alike. He said Ron was covered from head to foot with freckles, and that Ron didn't like them very much."

Ron smiled and nodded. That was true, but when he met Melly, he didn't mind them so much.

"He told me that before he was sent here, Ron sent him a letter."

"W-what did the letter say?" Ron asked, trying to hide his tears.

"I think he said that the letter said Ron finally found the girl of his dreams. Her name was Melly Avalon. He said Ron described her as an angel sent to him from heaven seven years before, only he hadn't noticed her till now. I know this will sound silly but, when Mr. Arthur told me that Ron said he found himself a girlfriend, I got jealous. I guess I started to have a crush on Ron. Although, I didn't get to hear anymore on Mr. Arthur and his family after then because he was caught talking to me, and he-"

The little girl stopped talking and sniffed, giving Ron the chance to softly sniff and wipe his face with his sleeve.

"The meanest man ever to be alive in the world came, accompanied by Miss Malfoy just as he was explaining Melly. Miss Malfoy was enraged. Although, I still don't know why, I think it was because he was talking to me. She pointed her wand at him and silenced him. I don't know what happened to him after then, I was then knocked out. When I awoke, I asked a house-elf where Me. Arthur was. He said that Mr. Arthur was-"

She sniffed again, and Ron could hear her sobs. Ron shook his head. He knew what happened, he didn't need to have her tell him anymore.

"Please," he whispered, "no more."

"But, don't you want to know what happened to him?"

"I think I already do." Ron sniffed and wiped his tears on his sleeve again. His father was dead. Killed, by Miss Malfoy, whomever the hell that was; it couldn't have been Melly. She wouldn't kill anyone, right? He continued staring at the wall, as if it held the answers to life, the universe, and everything, all except one. "What's your name?"

"My name is Mala Amaryllis. Although, I don't know why I was named Mala."

"Why?"

"Well, mala is old English, meaning bad one. I'm not really that bad. What's your name?"

Ron sighed and looked down. "I don't think you want to know my name," he whispered.

"Of course I do."

He could hear her standing up. "Believe me, you don't."

"Come on, how bad can it be?"

"How old are you?"

"I'm fifteen, sir," she said proudly.

Fifteen? That took Ron by surprise. She didn't sound fifteen. He would've guessed eight, nine? But not fifteen.

"Now, what's your name? I promise I won't laugh."

Ron shook his head and sighed. He obviously wasn't going to win this. "My name is Ron." She gasped. "Ron Weasley."

"Ron?" she said breathlessly. She was glad he couldn't see her, she was blushing furiously. "Son of Mr. Arthur!"

"That's right," a cool voice said, causing them both to jump. Draco was standing in front of Mala's cell, Melly standing next to him, Melly's face flushed.