"Bella," a high, cold voice said, "you must choose." His voice was like a
snake slithering across satin. I could almost hear her thinking.
"But what about Narcissa?" she stammered.
"Narcissa will be very valuable to me, once she marries Lucius," he all but hissed.
"And Andromeda?" she asked, her voice uncertain. I could hear him move, presumably closer to her.
"That one-" from his mouth, it was like a curse- "will spend her life listening at keyholes to things she does not understand." In my mind's eye, I can see her mouth open and close wordlessly. She's deciding in that moment whether to sell me out.
"You're right, of course," she said finally. "She just isn't one of us."
Maybe he was right. They locked me out of their world when I was very young, all because I didn't care about their stupid prejudices or their arcane bloodlines. I just wanted to be me. But for all they tried, they couldn't expunge me completely. They cannot take what I have seen; I cannot make myself forget how I knew them. I will always be tied to them, no matter how much all of us hate it.
"But what about Narcissa?" she stammered.
"Narcissa will be very valuable to me, once she marries Lucius," he all but hissed.
"And Andromeda?" she asked, her voice uncertain. I could hear him move, presumably closer to her.
"That one-" from his mouth, it was like a curse- "will spend her life listening at keyholes to things she does not understand." In my mind's eye, I can see her mouth open and close wordlessly. She's deciding in that moment whether to sell me out.
"You're right, of course," she said finally. "She just isn't one of us."
Maybe he was right. They locked me out of their world when I was very young, all because I didn't care about their stupid prejudices or their arcane bloodlines. I just wanted to be me. But for all they tried, they couldn't expunge me completely. They cannot take what I have seen; I cannot make myself forget how I knew them. I will always be tied to them, no matter how much all of us hate it.