It's no comfort to you now
But you're not alone
It's human nature to devour
Getting drunk on all the power of the throne
--How The Mighty Have Fallen
"I am, to say the least, disappointed, Draco."
I felt you stiffen at my side and had a fleeting, insane urge to draw out my wand and attack him for those words that lashed out at you like a whip. But instead, I stood, poised and collected as you had taught me, returning his gaze with foolish defiance.
"My Lord," you said, "she is yours, completely, and ready to be accepted into your service."
"You have conveniently forgot to mention that she is a Weasley," he replied, coldly. "Born of the family that struggles, even at this moment, to defeat me. Her very blood makes her untrustworthy."
"Blood that boiled under your touch when I was just a child!" I burst out, striding towards him and unable to contain myself. "Do you not remember my cries? 'Let me go!' 'Make it stop!' 'This will kill me!'"
We were face to face now and he was staring at me with wry amusement. "It did kill me," I continued, softer now. "I'm dead inside because of you."
Vaguely, behind me I heard you whisper "Ginny, don't." But you didn't dare move.
"And so the girl my memory claimed comes forth and challenges me. Out of hatred, perhaps?"
"No. Out of need."
"Ah, I see. That is why you would join me? Why you would choose evil over all that is good in the world?" His tone was mocking, almost condescending.
"Evil can be both black and white," I replied, trying to contain my fury at his remarks, "and it stretches across the ages of men. It is our past, our present, and our future."
"Aptly spoken, my dear."
I thought back to my years at Hogwarts and its rivalries between the students, my years eavesdropping on the Order and all the arguments that had taken place between its members. "The Light is tainted and highly overrated. No one can be divinely pure. And no one can fight the darkness forever."
"I withdraw my earlier statement, Draco. You have done exceptionally well, but do you love her?"
"I do, my Lord, with all my black little heart."
He smiled then, a joyless smile that seemed an irony of what a real smile should be. "I have seen the power a couple in my service can wield. You two shall be my next Lestranges. Come closer to me, Virginia Weasley."
As he drew out his wand, I saw you flinch with apprehension out of the corner of my eye. And when he spoke, it was frighteningly low and eerily seductive. "Now you will truly belong to me."
And, in fear of illegitimate pleasure or heart-wrenching pain, I closed my eyes as the Dark Mark was burned onto my skin.
He has my mind.
Author's Note: Well, that's it, a three-part corruption. I've surprised myself at how quickly I completed it, so now I'm off to increase my obsession and write something else . . .