"Language," she chastises, in a sing-song way that indicates more amusement than disapproval. She is not herself offended, but she has her own memories of Aunt Walburga as a woman bereft of patience or forgiveness. Sirius's mistakes will be counted and punished.
It's good he closed interpretation on that insult, she could have easily taken the first half for a compliment. As it stands, she is not particularly insulted. She's proud, thoroughly proud, but vanity was never her fault. Some things she takes utterly for granted. Her self-image is unassailable. He's missed the obvious mark then, but struck a glancing blow on a very different one. It doesn't show.
"I've seen men do a better job of masquerading as loyal. You are a pampered creature, Sirius. You show a childlike faithfulness to those who make it easy for you, to anyone willing to condone your behavior, but when loyalty becomes difficult, a source of pain? How quickly you run. It's only a matter of time before you betray James Potter, just as you betrayed your family, your birthright, and your truest self."
His truest self; this part she adds merely for the thought that it might wound him. He never was the Black heir he should have been, but an inadequate likeness is still a likeness. In rebellion, he may have grown to hate those parts of himself, as surely as he hates the rest of them.
"You'd rather not? Oh, pity." Her tone is too patient, altogether too forgiving to bode well. He may sense the curse coming. It's a promise crackling in the air between them, even before she casts.
no subject
It's good he closed interpretation on that insult, she could have easily taken the first half for a compliment. As it stands, she is not particularly insulted. She's proud, thoroughly proud, but vanity was never her fault. Some things she takes utterly for granted. Her self-image is unassailable. He's missed the obvious mark then, but struck a glancing blow on a very different one. It doesn't show.
"I've seen men do a better job of masquerading as loyal. You are a pampered creature, Sirius. You show a childlike faithfulness to those who make it easy for you, to anyone willing to condone your behavior, but when loyalty becomes difficult, a source of pain? How quickly you run. It's only a matter of time before you betray James Potter, just as you betrayed your family, your birthright, and your truest self."
His truest self; this part she adds merely for the thought that it might wound him. He never was the Black heir he should have been, but an inadequate likeness is still a likeness. In rebellion, he may have grown to hate those parts of himself, as surely as he hates the rest of them.
"You'd rather not? Oh, pity." Her tone is too patient, altogether too forgiving to bode well. He may sense the curse coming. It's a promise crackling in the air between them, even before she casts.
"Crucio."