Belinda

After my completely and utterly embarrassing crying fit, Harry and I head down to the Great Hall for something to eat. I think it's a bad idea, but we're both famished.

"Are you okay?" he asks for the hundredth time.

"Yes Harry, thank you," I reply for the hundredth time. Its sweet he cares. It really is. But the last thing I can do is fall for Harry Potter. And he's making it very hard.

"Okay good. Because I can't deal with an upset woman," he jokes. It makes me laugh.

"I'm sorry for dumping it on you."

"Don't be sorry, Belle. We all need someone, right?" he asks, looking at me with his sparkling green eyes. My heart skips a beat. Mr. Potter, you are making this unbearably hard.

"Right," I breathe, our faces inching closer.

"BELINDA!" I hear someone snap. I quickly turn from Harry to see Lucius and Narcissa standing by the Great Hall with Draco, who looks crushed.

"Oh shit," Harry says. "Yeah I'm gonna go."

"You do that," I reply. "And quick."

Harry quickly walks past my family, only glancing at them for a second until he disappears into the Hall. Lucius glares at him with such evil and hatred that I'm scared. Lucius whispers something to Narcissa and Draco, who leave, Narcissa looking worried. Then, he stalks towards me.

"I NEVER want to see that again!" he yells angrily.

"Wh-what?" I play dumb. He slaps me across the face. That I didn't expect. My hand moves to my stinging cheek.

"DON'T PLAY STUPID WITH ME BELINDA! YOU AND POTTER ARE OVER. I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE IN GRYFFINDOR OR NOT, YOU ARE FORBIDDEN TO SPEAK TO HIM OR ANY OF HIS FREINDS, IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!"

"No. You don't have that kind of control over me."

"Think again, Belinda. I do."

"You're not my father."

"I'm more of your father than Sirius ever was! He left you when you were two, Belinda. No matter what you tell yourself, he left you with your mother and never looked back. He abandoned the Purebloods and shamed us all. You, Belinda, are a Pureblood. You have been promised to a Pureblood male who you will marry when you leave school."

"But that's not what I want!"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU WANT! It doesn't matter at all! YOU were raised a Pureblood woman and THAT is what you will become. That necklace you're wearing," he says, violently yanking the chain of my silver neclace. It has a star made of diamonds hanging from it. I've had it for as long as I can remember.

"This necklace was given to you by your father and it holds the loyalty you have to the Purebloods and Death Eaters. You have no choice in the rest of your life Belinda. Its best you know this now instead of later. You don't own your life."

"He wouldn't do that," I reply defiantly.

"Do what?" Lucius asks, obviously taken aback.

"Swear my loyalty to anyone. He left the Death Eaters because he didn't feel loyal to them anymore. He wouldn't do that to me, promise me to a life where I don't matter."

"You know nothing about your father."

"He wouldn't do it. He couldn't."

"I suggest you shut up. The more you say, the more I or anyone else can use against you."

"Don't tell me to shut up!" I exclaim. I get another slap.

"I can tell you to do anything I please. You're a Pureblood woman now, Belinda. You are loyal to your family and their side. No one else. Your friend Kyla, she's promised to Theodore Nott. Her family and our family do not cross. You're not the only girl making sacrifices. Get over it fast, Belinda. You have no say in your own life. And that's how it's going to be."

Lucius Malfoy is an inconsiderate, bloody selfish, ARSE! How DARE he tell me those things!

Okay, breathe Belinda. Breathe.

There's no way in Merlin's name that I am going to listen to any of the things he said.

I will NOT marry whoever they set me up with. Never.

Kyla and Draco will NOT break up. Theodore can go screw himself.

So can Lucius for all I care.

Kyla and Draco love each other too much for this to happen to them. I don't care if 'her family and the Malfoys don't cross.' I don't give one damn. If Lucius Malfoy thinks he can boss every damn person around then he has another thing coming.

Harry is not under his control whatsoever. And neither am I. If I choose to be with Harry then it is MY CHOICE. I don't care what anyone says. I am my own person. I don't know if I love Harry. I don't know. But I know I'll find out.

I will tell you this, though. I will not become a pureblood woman. I will not have my life taken away from me because that's what my mother wants. I will marry who I choose to marry. I will find out who my father really was.

And I will choose my own side of the war. My loyalty belongs to myself and myself only. Right now, it's too dangerous to be loyal to anybody else.