AN at the end. Enjoy.
The dining hall was abuzz as friends caught up after the summer holiday. Students flitted between the different house tables, though less were drawn to Slytherin than the other three. That fact didn't seem to matter to most of the people seated around her though; they were too absorbed talking amongst themselves to care. Mary was dimly aware of the conversation the people around her were having, something about trips and shopping and relationship gossip. Mabel Lane Fox was holding court with the fifth year girls and they were all attempting to impress her. Mabel was relishing in that fact if the smile on her face was anything to go by.
The war may have ended decades ago, but some families still clung to their pure blood beliefs. Mabel's family was one of them. Technically, Mary's was too, though they additionally held muggle titles which muddied the waters somewhat. It gave people like Mabel a way to scorn Mary, as partaking in the Muggle world, though technically, Mary's family was more pure blood than most, including the Lane Fox family.
Like most pureblood families, the Crawleys had been sorted into Slytherin for centuries and were proud of it. Mary suspected that was going to change this year though.
Sybil was about to be sorted and Mary very much doubted that she'd choose Slytherin if given the choice. That is, if the hat gave her a choice of Slytherin at all.
The headmaster signaled for silence as the first years began to file down the center isle. Most of them were looking around with awe, some with fear, less with confidence. The last was by far the smallest group and of course Sybil fell into that category. She walked with her eyes straight ahead, focused on the sorting hat and Professor Flitwick beside it.
As the first years stood waiting before the hat, Mary met Edith's eye. They both suspected what was about to happen and the reaction it would garner from the rest of their house. Two Crawley sisters in Slytherin and it was expected the third would follow suit. Mary had already prepared herself for Mabel's comments once it was made clear it wouldn't.
The hall remained quiet as the first year students began to shuffle up to the hat and were sorted. There was a seemingly equal amount sorted into each of the four houses which was met with cheers from each table as student after student sat at their house table.
When Sybil's name was called, the Slytherin table broke out into whispers and Mary resisted the attempts of her fellow sixth years to engage in speculation about her sorting. Instead, she stared at Sybil as she climbed the steps towards the hat and sat down on the stool. Sybil met her eye in the moments just before the hat was placed on her head and Mary just smiled in encouragement.
It was a longer sort than most, as the hat seemed to war with itself over where to place her. Mary suspected it was going to end up being Gryffindor, as much as she dreaded that. It had been more than 30 years since the war and yet Gryffindor and Slytherin still hated each other.
Some things never changed.
"Gryffindor!" The hat finally declared and Sybil bounced up from the stool to make her way to the table cheering for her. The Slytherin table broke out into even more hushed whispers, many of which included her name as an attempt to get her attention. She ignored all of them. Instead, her eyes scanned the Gryffindor table until she met his eyes. He just nodded and winked as he clapped along with his housemates.
Mary stared out the window, arms crossed over her chest. She couldn't see anything, the blackness of the night making details hard to pick out beyond the glass but it was better than pacing and watching the door, waiting for him to arrive.
"We need to stop meeting like this, Lady Mary." He greeted her and she could hear his footsteps as he came to stand by her side.
"When will that joke grow old, Matthew?" She sighed, turning to face him and accepting the kiss that he leaned in to press to her lips.
"Never, my darling." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him. Her arms were still crossed over her chest, but she consciously tried to ease the tensions that had settled into her frame since the sorting ceremony. "How was your common room? Did they give you a hard time?"
His questions caused the tension to return instantly. She tried to pull out of his arms, but he stood fast, holding her closer. "There were girls crowded together and I heard some whispers. Three guesses as to who was center of the group." She looked up to meet his eye. Matthew just pressed a kiss to the crown of her head instead of responding. "How is Sybil faring? Anyone giving her trouble?"
"No. When I left the hall she was chatting with the other Gryffindor first years." Mary turned, burying her head against his neck and Matthew wrapped his arms around her. "The rest of the House sees it as some sort of coup that the youngest Crawley didn't go into Slytherin. They won't bother her." She wasn't sure exactly what she was feeling at his observation. It went unsaid that some of the upper years would use this as a way to taunt Slytherin.
"You will watch out for her, won't you?" Mary murmured. "For me?"
"Of course I will. Not that I think she'll need it. Sybil is more than able to stick up for herself. She's got more courage in her little finger than most do in their whole body." He said the last bit with a laugh and the vibration of his chest against hers caused her to look up at him.
"Yes, but it's that same courage that tends to get her into trouble." Mary's observation caused Matthew to laugh again, this time Mary joined him. After all, they both knew it to be true. They had both seen the scrapes the youngest Crawley had gotten herself into over the years. It usually ended up with slamming doors and silent dinners as Sybil squared off against Robert and Cora. "Just, don't let her get into a fight with someone who says something about me. Or Edith."
"No one –". Matthew tried to insist before Mary cut him off.
"Matthew, don't play dumb. I am more than aware of my reputation amongst the other houses. Even in my own house for that matter." She stepped away from him, taking a seat on the ledge in front of the window so she could face him. For the first time she got a glimpse of him, his scarlet and gold tie loose around the collar and the tails of his shirt untucked and sticking out beneath the jumper. Normally she didn't like how disheveled some of the boys looked during class, but on him, she found it endearing. Mostly because he rarely ever looked that way. Part of what she liked about him was how fastidious he was about doing the proper thing. It was refreshing after being surrounded by others who'd do anything to advance their own cause. Not that she'd ever admit that to him. "Same goes for you too, by the way. Don't fight because someone says something about me."
"I'm going to defend my girlfriend from slander." Matthew crossed his arms over his chest, frowning. "Don't ask me not to."
"They don't know I'm your girlfriend. They just think I am your distant cousin that the family acknowledges because you are the first to not be a squib in five generations." Matthew bristled at that assessment, staring down at his feet and dropping his arms. Mary felt shame wash over her at his reaction, her cheeks burning in embarrassment from even acknowledging the whispers in front of him.
"You know that's not how my family feels." She stood again, draping her arms across his shoulders. "Not how I feel." She spoke in a whisper and his hands gripped her sides as she stepped even closer into his personal space. "Just three more years and then we are out of school and can just be. Without all the gossip that comes with living with teenagers year round."
"I know." He dropped his forehead to rest against hers. "Are we still on to meet in the library tomorrow? After all, its never too early to start studying for our OWLs."
"It's a date." Mary teased, causing Matthew to smile. "But we better be getting back. Curfew is in a few minutes."
"I'm willing to risk it." Matthew pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "After all, if we get detention, that's just more time we can spend together without raising any suspicions."
"Incorrigible." Mary murmured, but hardly put up a fight when Matthew leaned in for another kiss.
AN: I hope you liked this Hogwarts!AU. I've been thinking about this for quite some time, but its only been now that I seemed to put word to thought. I know that some people have very strong opinions on which house characters go into, but I have my reasons. If you like this, I could be persuaded to write more. (And yes, this is the same eternallyromantic over on tumblr. I seem to have confused some of you over this. Sorry about that!)