*Daisy's POV* 

I writhed on the ground, screaming and yelling, feeling the pain rocket through my body. Professor Carrow pointed his wand at me with a nasty grin as the two sixth year Slytherin boys that had readily volunteered to practice the Cruciatus Curse on me stood to the side, having finished their turns. Ginny, Louis, and Colin were hammering on Professor Carrow's Shield Charm, yelling and shrieking, while the rest of the sixth years looked nauseated. 

The curse was suddenly lifted, and I fell to the floor, shivering and twitching. The reason for the halting was apparent; Tom was standing in the doorway, his face the picture of fury. The class had frozen and fallen deathly silent; Colin let out a noise like a whimper. 

"Amycus. A word?" Tom said, his voice slow and cold. 

Professor Carrow was staring at Tom with a paper-white face. He sent a glare around the room before stepping forward. 

"Yes, My L-" 

"Bring Miss Potter." Tom interrupted. 

Professor Carrow winced slightly, turning back around and bending down to grab one of my arms. He yanked me up roughly, and I yelped as I stumbled onto my feet. I glanced around at Tom helplessly, and saw to my delight that he was glaring at Professor Carrow. 

"Be more gentle with her." Tom said coolly, with the 'or else' left unsaid but heavily implied. Professor Carrow's grip on me loosened immediately, and I tugged myself out of his grip, hurrying towards Tom. An after-shock from the curse went through me again unexpectedly, and I tripped - but Tom caught me, hoisting me back up onto my feet. His hands lingered on my body, his red eyes on my face, before he lifted his gaze back towards Professor Carrow. 

"Out." Tom said. 

The Dark Arts professor shuffled out of the classroom, and the last thing I saw in there before the door shut was the mixed curiosity and horror that was on the faces of every student inside. 

"Amycus," Tom turned to him, Tom's hand drifting down and finding mine; I let him thread his fingers through mine, feeling the pink clouds whirl around in my brain, "is it really necessary to punish Miss Potter? What has she done to earn this?" 

"She earned a detention from Alecto, My Lord." Professor Carrow muttered. "She was disobedient in class. You allowed us to -" 

"Not any more." Tom said with a hint of a growl. "You will not issue any more detentions to Miss Potter. If she is really misbehaving, send her to me. And as for you, Miss Potter, I'd like you not to act up in class any more." 

Tom's eyes were narrowed at me. I beamed at him. 

"Of course, Tom!" 

Professor Carrow's eyes widened in surprise; Tom spared half a glance at me before raising his wand in his free hand, pointing it directly at my professor. I watched as he dropped to the ground, yelling and writhing, and then moved my eyes to Tom. I studied his face; his handsome features were hardened with hatred. 

Eventually, Professor Carrow sat up, panting. Tom eyed him for a moment more, before deciding that his punishment was finished; turning, he tightened his grip on my hand and led me away down the corridor. 

~~~ 

"My Daisy... my sweet Daisy..." Tom murmured as he stroked my hair. "Why won't you just behave? It would be so much better for you..." 

I snuggled into him. Tom had me in his lap and was cradling me like a baby. "I dunno! I think I'm just naturally inclined to rebel, it's just a thing I have. Sorry, Tommy, I'll try not to in the future." 

Tom smirked down at me, twirling a lock of my hair around his forefinger. "I would rather you not tone down your rebellious streak, Daisy. It is rather attractive and it makes bedtime much more fun..." 

A knock came at the front door as I giggled, and Tom moved me off of him, sliding off the bed. He disappeared out of the bedroom, leaving me in my underwear lounging underneath the covers. I heard the door open then close, and a small group of voices moving into the drawing room beyond. 

I sat up, my ears perked. When was Tom coming back? He had been gone for too long already. I missed him. It's been ten seconds, but ten seconds too long. 

"I wanted an update on the situation at the Ministry." I heard Tom's voice say. "How is the coordination? Is everything going to plan?" 

I zoned out the voices as they started talking about boring Ministry stuff, like taking over the offices and infiltrating the political system. Pfft. I wasn't concerned with stuff like that; I was concerned with looking sexy for my hot fiancé. 

I slid off the bed, tossing off my underwear, and started rifling through the drawers of the dresser where I know Tom kept my clothes. I sorted through my underwear, most of which was sexy lacy lingerie, and picked out a set of deep purple lingerie, complete with bra, panties, suspender belt, and stockings, and started clipping them all into place, humming happily. I strode over to the mirror on the back of the door, checking myself out. 

"I think it's beneficial." Tom's voice drifted out to me again, and I paused in my twisting and turning. I looked hot, I knew it (because I always do), so I don't need to focus on that anymore. "I want to start weaning her off the Amortentia. It has been a month of dosing her three times a day, she has not broken out of it even once. It has been my brew as well, none of it has been any of your mediocre attempts. No, she has had prolonged use of Amortentia every day for a month, I think it will have lasting effects on her by now." 

"But, My Lord, surely it would be easier to just keep dosing her?" A Death Eater's voice said. "Just in case she turns against you?" 

"No, no, she will not turn against me." Tom said. "It is my aim to wean her off slowly, all the while influencing her to my ways. She'll use Dark magic such as I have, she will succumb to our ideology... when she's weaned off altogether, she'll be rather used to Dark magic and will have adopted my views on the world. That is my goal." 

"But why not just keep her under, My Lord, it is far less risky -" 

"I want her to be fully aware and consenting to our marital union!" Tom's voice cut across the Death Eater's angrily. "I want this more than anything at this moment in time. It is my main goal!" 

"Yes, My Lord..." 

There was a pause. "And by any rate, it will heavily demoralise the opposition. Having their heroine willingly marry the enemy..." Tom chuckled, and my heart melted. "It will destroy a great many of them." 

And it was this vision that came to the front of my mind a day later when Terry coaxed me into the Room of Requirement and sat in front of me, holding my hands and staring deep into my eyes. 

Terry jerked back, his eyes wide in fear. "Guys... holy shit. He's taking her off the Amortentia and by doing this, seriously thinks he can turn Softpaw evil." 

"What?" Draco said. "Why? How?" 

"Because she's been under the love potion for so long and so frequently dosed with it, also with how strong it is seeing as how Riddle brews it himself..." Terry trailed off, looking sick. "Actually... he may have a point." 

"What?" Kylie said this time, alarmed. 

"Not by turning Softpaw evil, I mean. By having really adverse side effects." Terry clarified. "I mean, for all we know, he could change her mind about it. Prolonged use of mind-altering potions such as Amortentia can have bad effects on the brain, leaving it vulnerable to moulding; basically, anyone can shape and mould her brain how they want it to if they have her under the love potion long enough." 

"Has she?" Draco asked. "Has she been under it long enough?" 

I gazed from friend to friend, the pink clouds fogging my head. 

"I don't know." Terry blanched. "I honestly don't know." 

"But he's planning on taking her off the love potion." Kylie pointed out. "That's good news for us, right?" 

"Yeah." Terry said. "I mean, I'm just not a fan of the reason why he's doing it. Surely he knows more than us about how Amortentia works. He must know if he's close to being able to reshape her or not." 

Draco shuddered, reaching out for me and squeezing my hand. 

"But Stockholm Syndrome isn't real love." Terry continued. "It's a mental condition, it's not love. It can be cured. And if we have to cure Softpaw of genuinely actually believing that she's in love with Riddle, and consenting to be with him, then so be it." 

"I still can't believe you got all that just by looking into her eyes." Draco said, eyeing Terry up. "You're amazing, you know that?" 

"Hold on," Kylie said as Terry blushed, "won't you need to Obliviate her now? We've just talked about all this in front of her, and now Riddle will know that we know everything, and he'll know where this place is, too." 

Terry shook his head. "Nah, it'll be fine. Riddle only goes through her head to look for important stuff that he knows is suspicious, like when she miscarried. He definitely had a good search in there when that happened, but clearly didn't find anything or we'd all be dead by now." 

There was a pause. Terry moved his thumb over my other hand absentmindedly as he thought; Draco looked down into his lap and bit his lip; Kylie leaned against the arm of the sofa opposite us, eyes moving from person to person. I sat there and basked in the glow of the pink clouds in my head, smiling. 

"You know, I'm glad to see that you eavesdropped on Riddle." Terry told me with a hint of a grin. "It's good to know that you're still in there. The old Daisy lives on." 

"I - I didn't eavesdrop -" I protested. 

"Right. Sure." Terry's lips unfurled into the grin he had been trying to hold back. "We'll go with that, then. Didn't eavesdrop. You're just like Red, you know - I can't believe he actually tried to break in yesterday -" 

The mention of Fred's nickname made my heart beat faster, though I didn't know why. 

"What?" I said. "Freddie tried to get in here?" 

The moment the word 'Freddie' left my mouth, Terry, Draco, and Kylie all exchanged a meaningful glance, one that contained a degree of excitement. 

"Yeah, he did." Terry said. "He'd heard the news about your engagement and tried to fly his way in here on a broomstick. When that didn't work, he tried to get through all the curses and wards around the castle, and it was only by the miracle of not one, not two, but three Order members wrenching him away from the gates was he able to escape, like, ten Killing Curses from the grounds just in time." 

"Wow." I breathed. "Why did he do that?" 

"Why do you think, idiot?" Terry said. "He was trying to rescue the damsel in distress. He's in love with you." 

I sat back. My heart was fluttering weirdly in my chest. I didn't know what to make of it. 

"We have some stuff here for you, Daisy-flower." Draco said suddenly, leaning forward. He took a bag and held it out towards me, eyes hopeful. "C'mon, take a few and look at them and see what you think." 

I hesitantly reached into the bag and pulled out a tiny trophy. It looked just like me as an eleven-year-old; my long, bouncy hair flowed out behind me as my golden self posed mid-run. I turned it over in my hands: 1st Ultimate Tag - Winner, Daisy Potter.

"Remember, Daze?" Draco said softly. "It was so much fun. You and I found each other in the Slytherin dorms, and we Floo'd to your dorm and hid out together. And we - uh - we nearly... well..." 

Draco went bright red, and I sniggered. Yeah, I remembered. Quite well, actually. 

Terry shot him a look. "What? What happened?" 

"We nearly kissed." Draco said, pointedly staring at a mark on the ceiling. 

Terry laughed. "Aw. That's adorable. Little eleven-year-old you didn't know you'd grow up to fall in love with the other part of the love triangle, huh?" 

"And Red interrupted us and tried to blackmail us." I giggled. "It was so funny. Better not let Tom hear about it, though, he wouldn't think too kindly of Dragon!" 

Terry's grin fell slightly, and he made a sort of involuntary twitch. 

"Let's keep looking." Kylie said hurriedly. "Go on, Daze, pick out something else." 

I reached in and felt something soft; I pulled it out to see that it was the latest Weasley jumper Mrs Weasley had knitted for me last Christmas. Something moved in my chest; I stared at the soft wool, my eyes prickling. 

"Remember being at the Weasleys', Softpaw?" Terry said gently. "George, Molly, Ron, Ginny... Fred?" 

Entirely against my will, a thought floated through my head at what Mrs Weasley would say about my relationship with Tom. I felt... slightly ashamed. 

I shook my head to rid myself of the tears welling up in my eyes and reached in again. I felt something prickly and tugged out a bunch of shimmering, gorgeously scented roses. 

"Oh." Kylie said in surprise. 

"The Evermore Roses." I said. "Guys, how deep is this bag of yours?" 

"Undetectable Extension Charm." Terry said promptly. 

"Remember when I sent you those roses, Daisy?" Kylie said, a small smirk on her face. 

"Yeah, I do." I nodded. "You sent a note with them and told me that you seeing me at the Yule Ball was love at first sight." 

And another unwilling thought crossed my mind; this was normal courting, this is what someone does if they're trying to woo a girl - not giving her a love potion and proposing to her then telling her it was never her choice to make in the first place... 

"Go on." Draco encouraged, and I put my hand in again. This time I withdrew a small hair clip with a china daisy on the end. I turned it over in my fingers. 

"I'm - I'm not sure what significance this particular one has." Terry said. "Harry said it would be good to include -" 

"Dudley sent me this for Christmas years ago." I said quietly. 

"Your cousin, right?" Kylie asked, and I nodded. 

My cousin... my Muggle cousin Dudley... Tom hated Muggles. 

"Come on, just one more, Softpaw." Terry said, pushing the bag forward. "Just one more, and we'll leave it at that for today. C'mon, we have to make you remember the things you love... so that you don't get corrupted by him..." 

I looked up into Terry's anxious face, and took a deep breath. I plunged my hand in, and enclosed it over a small, cold ornament. Drawing it out, I recognised it as the bronze eagle that Amy had given me right before the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, and which had been turned into the Portkey that led to her demise. 

My eyes immediately welled up again. Amy. One of my friends, beautiful, mischievous, smart. I had thought that I'd gotten a hold of the grief, but seeing this eagle again brought it all back. I missed her, I missed her so much that it ached. 

"Remember Amy, Softpaw." Terry said softly. "Remember her." 

And a memory of Dumbledore's voice swept across my mind. "Remember Amy. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right, and what is easy, remember what happened to a girl who was good, and kind, and brave, because she strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Amy Rolfing." 

Make a choice between what is right and what is easy... 

I returned to Tom's quarters later that night to see him lounging in his favourite armchair by the fireplace. He looked up from the fire, his eyes narrowing as I shut the door behind me. 

"What has happened to you?" Tom asked, his tone suspicious. "You are different."

"N-nothing." I muttered, crossing the room. I was making for the bedroom, but Tom got up, striding towards me; he grabbed my upper arm, dragging me around to face him. 

Luckily for Terry, Draco, and Kylie, my head was full of Amy. Tom searched my eyes for a minute, a sly smirk slowly unfolding on his lips. 

"You are upset about your friend that I killed years ago?" Tom purred, his grip on me not loosening. "Oh, Daisy, do not be so pitiful. She was defying me; I had to act." 

There was a pause. The pink clouds had mysteriously vanished. 

"Maybe I'll defy you." I said suddenly. My heart was pounding. "Then you'll have to act on ME. Take me out of this depraved situation once and for all." 

Tom frowned, and his grip on me tightened. "Why, what makes you say this? My love... depraved? Is that really what you think of me?" 

I stayed silent, watching him with a feeling similar to fury bubbling in my chest. 

"We'll just have to fix that, won't we?" Tom said, still frowning, and tugged me forcefully over to a cabinet in the corner. At the last moment, I realised too late what he was doing; I struggled against him as he raised his wand, making a goblet and a bottle zoom out of the cabinet and rest on top of it, the cork stopping the bottle popping out and the bottle tipping into the goblet. Tom then turned to me, yanking me down onto my knees; I yelped as my knees scraped against the harsh stone floor, and spluttered as he tipped the contents of the goblet into my mouth. 

"Drink it." Tom said, his eyes boring into mine. "DRINK. IT." 

His eyes were mesmerising; without thinking about anything at all, I swallowed. The pink clouds came whizzing back into my head, floating around pleasantly, and I batted my eyelashes up at him, sighing. 

"I was hoping very much that I would not have to do this, Daisy." Tom sighed too, tugging me up again. "I was hoping we would be able to take you off the potion and that you would behave. Now I am going to have to resort to very unpleasant methods to encourage you to see... ah... MY side of the matter." 

"Whatever you want, Tommy..." I breathed, gazing at him in adoration. I thought I saw a flicker of something in his eyes that I'd never seen before, before he pulled me over to the rug in front of the fireplace. He pushed me down gently onto it, training his wand on me. 

Suddenly, all I could see in front of my face was an image of Terry and Fred. I blinked in surprise. 

"What -" I started, before I heard Tom's cruel whisper of, "Crucio." 

~~~ 

The weeks passed, and they were spent planning the wedding, attending classes, and helping Tom in torturing inadequately performing Death Eaters in his drawing room. I was weaned off the potion that Tom used to give me every day, only taking it once a week in the run up to the thirty-first of October. 

Alongside the weaning, Tom had been torturing me to the image of my previous best friend and previous boyfriend, and now I hated to even think about them. I avoided Terry like the plague, and sat far away from him in every class and at every meal. Tom sometimes sat in the Headmaster's seat in the Great Hall, and I happily sat on his lap when he did so, letting him feed me as he watched over the students coolly. In turn, every student watched us, whispering and looking distressed. 

I was falling more in love with Tom every day. Without the love potion and the pink clouds, it felt more real than ever. It felt great to perform the Cruciatus Curse alongside him on those puny, pathetic Death Eaters - and hearing him describe how they'd failed in their tasks to me only solidified my opinion that they were useless and worthless, and deserved to feel pain. 

But still, I refused to torture my friends in Dark Arts. I usually kept to myself, keeping my head down and focusing on my studies, not acting up much in class; but when I did, or when I refused to perform the Cruciatus Curse, I was sent to Tom, who 'punished' me by tying me up and fucking me hard. 

And every night he'd teach me personally; he'd show me his textbooks of ancient Dark magic, he'd tell me about the things he discovered in his youth, he'd show me how to perform certain Dark spells and rituals, most of which involved my blood or another human being. 

And on the morning of our wedding, I woke and looked into the mirror, discovering that my eyes were now the same exact colour as Tom's - crimson red, as red as the blood that had spilled from my chest the night before. 

"Perfect." Tom smiled charmingly at me. "Now, Bellatrix and Narcissa will be in to help you get ready. I will see you soon, my love." 

He swooped down on me and kissed me. I kissed him back, revelling in the feeling of his cool lips against mine. Tom rested his forehead against mine briefly, before swiftly exiting the room. 

And an hour later, I was before the doors to the Great Hall. My hair was straight, glossy, and flowing down my back, a floaty white veil attached to the heavy silver tiara atop my head; Tom had called it a 'diadem,' telling me that it meant a lot to him as he had presented it to me. He had handled it with such care that I was flattered when he gave it to me; he was clearly very attached to it. He had even said that it felt as if it was a part of him. 

My white dress billowed out around me, and the train fell from the bottom of my dress down to the doors to the dungeons. It was the most dramatic and long dress I'd ever worn, the silk clinging to my skin and shaping my curves around my bosom. The heart-shaped scars were visible around my chest, but I thought they added a personal touch as a nod to mine and Tom's relationship. 

I took a deep breath as the doors opened and the sweeping music started. I stepped forward, the only other sound being my heels clacking on the floor as I swept up the aisle, the crowd of students silent in shock as they watched me. I kept my gaze ahead of me, but I could see that the Great Hall had been split into two sides of chairs, a red carpet leading up the middle towards where the teacher's table usually was; instead, there was a great arch, adorned with white lilies and eucalyptus leaves. Tom was standing in a tuxedo, a sleek black cloak draped over his shoulders but pinned just enough back for me to admire his fitted dress trousers and black waistcoat, a single lily clipped into his pocket. His dark hair was carefully brushed back and hung just enough over his face to give off the aura of effortlessly handsome. 

I caught sight of Terry's pale face as I passed him, and kept my gaze straight ahead, my jaw clenched. I beamed up at Tom as I approached, and climbed the five steps up to the platform in front of him. The music stopped, and Tom reached out for my hand. I let him take it, my heart fluttering as his thumb moved over the back of my hand. 

"We are gathered here today to witness the union of the Dark Lord -" 

"Say my name." Tom said quietly to Peter Pettigrew, who seemed to be the one marrying us. Pettigrew blinked, surprised. 

"- The - the union of Tom Riddle, the Dark Lord, and Daisy Potter, the Chosen One." 

Pettigrew placed the tip of his wand in between mine and Tom's joined hands. There was a deathly silence in the Hall. Pettigrew fumbled with a sheet of parchment, and I could see Tom's handwriting on it, with some sentences underlined heavily. 

"Tom Riddle, My Lord, do you agree to feel and exercise your affection for Daisy Potter every day until death do you part?" 

"I do." Tom said smoothly, and a thin tongue of brilliant flame issued from Pettigrew's wand, winding its way around our hands like a red-hot wire. 

"Tom Riddle, My Lord, do you agree to wear this wedding ring as a symbol of your betrothal to Daisy Potter until death do you part?" 

"I do." Tom said, and another flame wound around our hands. I was handed a silver ring by Pettigrew, and, beaming with tears in my eyes, I slipped it onto Tom's ring finger. 

"Daisy Potter, do you agree to wear this wedding ring as a symbol of your betrothal to Tom Riddle, the Dark Lord, until death do you part?" 

"I do." I said eagerly, and as another flame issued from the wand, Tom slipped my ring onto my finger. It was cold to the touch, but fit perfectly. 

"And finally, Daisy Potter, do you agree to love Tom Riddle, the Dark Lord, every day until death do you part?" 

I opened my mouth, but a yell of "NO!" from the crowd halted me. I looked around; Terry was standing up, eyes wide and teary, his hair messy from him grabbing it. "No, I didn't think the vows would be that bad, no! This is impossible to ever get out of, no, no, NO! Softpaw, PLEASE don't do this!" 

"Terry - Terry, sit down -" Draco's terrified whisper drifted across to me as the two Carrows moved through the seats towards them. 

My heart twisting in a very strange way, I turned back to Tom. His scarlet eyes, gazing into mine, so mesmerising and handsome... 

"I do." I said, and the last flame issued from Pettigrew's wand, winding around our hands, and he withdrew his wand. The flames sank into our hands and wrists, and disappeared. The Unbreakable Vow was complete. 

And as I looked up into Tom's eyes, I could see a triumphant glint and a hint of the same unfamiliar emotion I'd seen weeks ago. Not love... but something close to it.