Every time Percy had opened his mouth to argue, it was shut again by the continuing stream of words. He listened with incredulity at her accusations, and... felt his heart ache as he knew she was right. Somehow, she could see right through to him in a way his own loved ones never had.
But then she struck the greatest chord of all, seeing right into his greatest desire and turning it in her favour.
It was as if she'd found the weakest point of his personal wall, and with a tiny jewelry hammer, had struck it repeatedly until she managed a hole large enough to reach into. It left him bare in a way he was not accustomed to. Yet it also left him nothing to lose, for she could already see into that inner self, and she hadn't walked away.
He met her eyes with Gryffindor courage, despite his fear that every ounce of terror he had felt at the nightmare would come showing through.
"I'm someone else. I know this because I'm standing, facing a woman I've never seen, but whom I love beyond life itself. She's sitting, tied to a chair, and my body is moving without my wishing it. I can feel myself fighting, wanting to stop it, but I can't. I watch myself walk forward, and with some sort of instrument, I cut off her fingers one by one. This woman I supposedly love more than anything, and I'm being forced to torture her to death. I can't help her, I can't save her, I can't even save myself. I fail to stop it, and she dies..."
With every word he spoke, his tense body began trembling until the only thing that was keeping him together were the arms tightly wrapped around his body.