SNEAK • Marietta Edgecombe

CHAPTER ONE

Marietta wasn't sure why she had agreed. It would have been easier to just stay in the shadows with Cho, not risking everything. Maybe she had wanted a little adventure. Maybe she had felt the urge to spite everyone. Maybe Ashden had a way of convincing people to do things, with her warm brown eyes and gentle yet determined voice.

It didn't matter, anyway. Marietta had made her choice, and she wasn't going back on it now. It was bad enough that she was considered a traitor to one organization. She wasn't about to betray a group she actually believed in.

If Cho knew what she was thinking, she would wipe away her own tears and tell Marietta that she was a warrior, and that way of poisoned thinking just made things worse. Cho knew that the DA didn't know all sides of the story. Not even Cho knew everything.

Marietta couldn't have borne Cho knowing everything that had happened. Some things you couldn't even tell your best friend.

Marietta wondered if anyone would try to get her to betray this group. She hoped not. Because even if they couldn't do everything Umbridge had done, even though Marietta actually wanted to be there, she was still Marietta Edgecombe, not Ashden or Cho or Luna and in the end she would give in. She always did.

But Marietta remembered when she was not a sneak, when she had a big group of friends that stuck with her. When she had kept her friends'
secrets loyally without any thought. In the end they all left, taking Marietta's own secrets with them. All except one.

Perhaps she had not always been so easily broken. Perhaps she could keep secrets again. But not now. She knew she couldn't just yet. Soon, though, she thought to herself, cradling the memories and her new hope. Soon.

Her hope was shattered when Hermione Granger walked past her, pausing to take a long look at her balaclava. Hermione looked pleased her hex had gone so well. Of course. Hermione was a bright student, and ruthless. She would be more concerned about the quality of her spell than the person under it.

Marietta didn't know what possessed her to do it, but she regarded Hermione right in the eye and took off her balaclava. Hermione stiffened in surprise. Then she looked away quickly before striding away.

Marietta heaved a sigh. Maybe Hermione regretted it. Maybe she was just afraid of Marietta's scars. Probably the latter. It seemed everyone was afraid of her scars.

Including her.

Marietta wanted to be the kind of girl that didn't care about appearance. She wanted to be like Hermione, like Ginny, like all those girls hat weren't girly and were loved because of it. But Marietta could never be one of those girls. She had always been meant to be the kind of girl that giggled over boys and exchanged make-up tips. She was great at being that kind of girl. Too bad no one seemed to like that kind of girl.

Marietta had seen Harry Potter ask Cho out to the Yule Ball. She had giggled at him. Perhaps that was mean. But then again, perhaps it was the thing she was supposed to do. She was supposed to be shallow.

Marietta had seen Cho cry about Cedric more times than she could count. She had seen their friends desert them. She had cradled Cho when the sobs overtook her.

Marietta had listened to Cho when she talked about Harry. She knew about the kiss in the Room of Requirement, about the horrible date, about how Harry needed to forget Cedric. Cho couldn't.

Remember Cedric Diggory.

That was what Dumbledore said. Surely Harry would listen to his mentor?

A lump grew in Marietta's throat. She could never be like Hermione. And perhaps that meant she would never be loved. But maybe it was worth it, to be who she was instead of who someone else was.

But it was easier said than done. Marietta couldn't help but care about what people thought. It was just built into her, the fact that she cared about other people's opinions about her. She couldn't just not care.

It would be so much easier if she didn't care.

Drowning in her thoughts, Marietta didn't notice Ashden until she sat down next to Marietta, setting her bag down with a thump. "You look like you're contemplating the secrets of life," the girl said lightly. "What's going on?"

Marietta swallowed. "Oh, just reflecting on stuff."

Ashden nodded, her chestnut eyes wide. "Don't let the haters get you down. They don't know anything about you. Besides, they should have enough to worry about without picking on us."

"Yeah," Marietta acknowledged. "I just wish..." She let out a breath. "I just wish I didn't care what they thought."

Ashden's gaze was sympathetic. "I get that. Just keep doing you. Don't apologize for who you are." Then she shook her head. "What am I doing? I sound sappy and cliche. Basically, try not to let it get to you." She gave Marietta a wry smile, like they were part of an inside joke.

Marietta gave her a wry smile back. "Easier said than done. Especially with Hermione... she just seems kind of in my face about it all. And maybe she feels bad about it, but she can be so ruthless sometimes."

"She's not that bad," Cho argued, joining the conversation. "She's actually really nice. Still, what she did to you was out of line."

Marietta blinked. Cho had always been kind, yes, but never quick to forgive. Perhaps Cho knew something about Hermione that Marietta didn't. "Even the nicest people can do bad things during times like this," she said sadly. She knew that from personal experience.

Cho bit her lip. "I think the war has gotten to us all."

Marietta knew what she meant. Even though they weren't really at war yet, with the ministry trying to pretend Voldemort was dead, they were at war. The divide between pure-bloods and muggle-borns had become bigger and bigger, and now they were at war with each other.

Cho sighed. "I can't believe the ministry won't admit Voldemort's back."

Marietta and Padma both flinched at the name. Before Cedric's death, Cho had never addressed Voldemort by his name. Now she did so defiantly.

"Well, they're just idiots," Ashden said dismissively. At Marietta's shocked stare, she added, "What? It's true!"

Marietta shifted uncomfortably. Her mother worked for the ministry, and was the entire reason she had betrayed the DA in the first place.

"Marietta, tensions are rising at the ministry. If I take one step out of line, I'm done for. You need to be careful, too. The new professor at Hogwarts... well, she's sent by the ministry. If you get in trouble, if you even sympathize with Dumbledore or Harry Potter... I'll be fired." Marietta's mother said. But her words had a deeper meaning.

"I won't get in trouble," Marietta promised. "You know me. I've never gotten detention."

"I need more." The words were a common utterance in the Edgecombe household. "You have to be completely loyal to the ministry. You have to be at the top of your classes. I know you've been struggling with Arithmancy. You have to be better. Or my job will be taken away and we'll all suffer for it." There was a hidden or else in her words.

"I won't disappoint you."

Marietta blinked away the memories. Ashden was going off about some of the stupid things the ministry had done. Swallowing, Marietta realized that just by associating with Ashden, her mother could lose her job. Then Marietta took a deep breath. She was done being afraid of what her parents thought. She was done tiptoeing around Umbridge.

Marietta wasn't going to let other people dictate her life.