"Delany, Reyna."
A little girl, eleven years old, straightens up. She shakes as she walks up the to the platform where Headmaster McGonagall stood. A old hat, wrinkled from years of use was held in the professor's hand.
She sluggishly sat down on the little brown stool in front of the school. Several other first years were smiling at her. Many were from Gryffindor, others from Ravenclaw and a few that had yet to be sorted. She shivered as the sorting hat was placed on her head.
A few moments of silence and Reyna briefly wondered whether she broke the hat.
Hmmm tricky. Very tricky. Reyna jumped when she heard a voice.
You my dear have a complex mind. Very intelligent, I see. Plenty of courage. A superb bloodline. Extreme loyalty. You have traits that appeal to all of the houses.
"Gryffindor." She whispered. "Gryffindor or Ravenclaw."
The hat was silent for a moment. No. I see lots of ambition and a need to prove yourself. Very sneaky I see. And resourceful. And talent. Loads of talent. I believe you would do best in Slytherin.
"No!" She whispered fiercely. "Not Slytherin. Anything but that."
Not Slytherin? I have to disagree. You would find many friends there…. Ah I see but you have many friends in the other houses too.
"I'm not evil. I love muggle- borns." She muttered. "Slytherins are evil. I'm not evil."
Evil? No my dear you are most certainly not evil. I'm afraid that Slytherins do have a bad reputation. But the house is certainly not evil. Ambitious and have a certain knack for getting out of bad situations. But they are not evil.
Slytherin would help you on your way to greatness. And not all Slytherins have prejudice against muggle-borns.
Reyna looked up at all of her grinning new friends. Many looking confused at why the sorting was taking so long. Professor McGonagall also looked concerned for a moment.
Slytherins are not evil, little one. The actions are what makes a person. Not the house.
Reyna gulped. And almost inaudibly whispered. "Okay."
"SLYTHERIN!"
Some of her friends smiles faltered for a moment, and Reyna feared that they would refuse to be friends with her. But as the booming response from the Slytherin table, Reyna let a small smile grace her lips and she daintily got up and made her way to her house table. She looked back at her Gryffindor friends as the looked confused to one another.
But a little red haired girl with pretty green eyes, a girl who was famous for being the granddaughter of one of the most famous Gryffindor and who's family was famous for the feuds between an equally notorious Slytherin family stood up and clapped with the Slytherins, despite being seated with their rivals.
One by one her other friends, both at Gryffindor and Ravenclaw stood up and clapped for her too.
Reyna beamed with pride as she sat down next to other Slytherin first years, getting weird looks from the older years as they watched their rival houses applaud with them.
The sound was what drew her. A muffled sob of a little girl.
"What is that?" Daisy Potter muttered. She looked to the right and left. She bumped the confused shoulders of Reyna Delany.
They both had been walking together to Advanced Potions. Reyna stopped. She followed the voice a couple of steps further to the little girl, huddled against a statue in a ball of green and silver robes. She was shaking and sniffling, desperately trying to hide her cries.
"Hey Day, go on ahead." Reyna whispered to red haired sixth year. Daisy nodded and with one last concerned look she walked away.
Reyna briefly hesitated, before sliding down the wall next to the crying girl. The little girl squeaked and tried to pull herself further into the statue.
"Your Mirabelle, right?" Reyna asked the little girl. "You're a first year?"
She nodded, hiccupping. Reyna nodded. "Why are you crying."
The little girl let out a sob. "I'm evil!"
Reyna let out a laugh. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
The girl continued to cry. "I'm a Slytherin! A Death Eater! They told me I'm evil!"
Reyna's fists tightened at the little girl's cries. She took a deep breath. "Who told you that?"
"Two second year Gryffindors." She sniffed.
Reyna was appalled. "They told you that your evil for being a Slytherin?"
Mirabelle nodded. "They said that there wasn't a witch or wizard that went bad that wasn't in Slytherin."
Reyna rolled her eyes at the obvious stereotype against her house. "Listen to me, Mirabelle. You are not evil. Slytherins are not evil. Anyone who tells you different is just prejudice."
"But it's true!" She cried. "I know the stories. Sytherin was the Death Eater House!"
Reyna sighed and rolled up the sleeves of her robes. She then did the same to Mirabelle. She held out her pale forearms and pointed.
"There are no Dark Marks on my or your arms." She rolled her sleeve back down. "Do you want to be a Death Eater?" Mirabelle shook her head.
"Do you want to hurt anybody?" Another shake of the head. "You are not evil. Do you understand?"
She nodded. Reyna smiled good. "The action are what makes a person, not the house."
Hmm.. Well I wrote this about… maybe 3 months or so ago… not sure why I didn't post it… not sure why I'm posting it now…
Not your usual HP story but hey, it works!
Read, Review, Ignore… I love writing so it doesn't really matter to me. :)