Characters: Emma Vanity, Bellatrix Lestrange

Prompt: Emma has to choose where her loyalties lie.

Screams echoed through the air, mingling with the maniacal laughs of her peers. The Mugg- Mudblood, the Mudblood, Emma mentally corrected herself, was crying, begging pathetically for his - no, its - life on the floor as Bellatrix toyed with it like a cat does a mouse.

Behind her haughty and self-satisfied exterior, Emma felt sick to the core and incredibly torn. This was the life her parents and all those around her expected her to lead. To become a Death Eater, and eradicate the filth from this world in the name of Voldemort, one by filthy one.

However, as Emma watched the poor man writhe in agony on the floor she couldn't help but think how human he looked. She found herself wondering if he had a family, a wife maybe, and children. What would become of them, if they existed, when this man inevitably died? How many families would Emma have to destroy in the name of tradition and purity?

Abruptly Emma was drawn out of her thoughts as he heard Bella's catty voice speak to her.

"Your turn."

How was it that two words, two oh-so-simple words, could have such a profound effect on Emma? They sent chills down her spine, and Emma could feel the blood drain from her face. Bellatrix was watching her with knowing eyes, as if she was daring Emma to refuse. With a jolt she realised the implication of Bellatrix's words. It was a test. Bellatrix was calling her bluff, to see if, for all the things Emma had ever said about being fully committed to the cause, she was willing to prove it.

Could she do it? Bellatrix was expecting her to make an excuse, to show once and for all that she was a coward and a blood traitor. She could see the hunger in the elder girl's eyes, waiting for Emma to slip up so she could tear her claws into her and rip her purist facade to shreds. Could Emma live with that? She'd be lucky to survive, and if she did she would be branded a blood traitor and cast out. She wasn't like Sirius; she didn't have the Potters to fall back on. If she didn't curse the man on the floor, then everyone she cared about, her family, her Slytherin friends, they would all turn their backs on her and for what? She would be leaving one family, becoming an outcast for nothing. For a few silly doubts she had about her beliefs?

Emma knew, deep down, that her doubts about her beliefs weren't as petty as she tried to make herself believe they were, but her loyalty to her family, her need to make her parents proud of her was far too strong. It was hard to turn your back on the only life you'd ever known when you had nothing to turn to.

With that in mind, Emma shot Bella a smirk before raising her wand and pointing it at the filth that lay on the floor in front of her. All doubts were pushed so deep she could almost pretend they didn't exist. With a look so cold it could've frozen the melting ice caps, Emma met Bellatrix's eyes before uttering the single word that would decide her fate forever.

"Crucio."