A/N: First in a series of drabbles concerning the next generation. Belonging to 'with the monsters' and JK Rowling.
red in a sea of mist and shadows
wade in the water
wade in the water, children
wade in the water
god's going to trouble the water
- Wade in the Water, John Wesley Work II
Because she was Lily, and she could never be the same as the rest of them.
"Gryffindor," they said.
Because she was Lily Potter and her father was Harry Potter and her mother was Ginny Potter and her brothers were Al and James Potter and they were all Gryffindor and so she must be Gryffindor.
"Gryffindor," they said.
She stands here, on the dais, all loose plain black robes and redredred hair, a little bit nervous and a little bit excited and a little bit determined. Because that's what Lily Potter is – a little bit determined, with a little bit of everything else thrown in.
Hugo is beside her, his hands clenching and unclenching and clenching and unclenching inside the pockets of his robes. She puts her hand on his, squeezing lightly in reassurance even though she knows that nothing will calm Hugo down except being sorted into Gryffindor. And he will be, she thinks, because Hugo is brave and noble and all those traits Gryffindors possess.
That she is not so sure she possesses.
Her name is called, and there is silence and anticipation and a murmur that runs through the hall like a ripple in a clear flat lake, because it's not every day that the only daughter of Harry Potter is sorted. People listen. People watch.
"Gryffindor," they said.
She sits down carefully on the stool, suddenly a lot more nervous and a lot more excited.
Her family is watching and listening with everyone else, and she can see red hair everywhere, but it's not her red, and Lily holds onto this insignificant fact as though it is the most important piece of knowledge she owns. It isn't, but it doesn't matter to her.
Not when she is staring holes into her shoes (black t-bars, shinyshinyshiny in the light) and feels the Hat settle on her hair as the stares of her family drill into her forehead.
"Gryffindor," they said.
Suddenly she is a lot more determined.
Another Potter, the voice whispers into her ear, sounding a little weary and tired. Potter and Weasley? Brave and heroic, proud like a lioness? Another Gryffindor...
Lily briefly glances up to the Gryffindor table, where the majority of her family is watching her, waiting for her, expecting her. Her brothers give her encouraging smiles. Her cousins too.
She is sick of their encouragement.
Ah, but I sense reluctance. Could it be that the daughter of the Saviour does not wish to join her family?
It could be, she thinks.
I can see intelligence, Miss Potter, intelligence and cunning. A dangerous combination, in some circumstances. And you're certainly no Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw, maybe, but I still think Gryffindor would be more appropriate...
"Gryffindor," they said.
Different, she thinks. I just want to be different.
That cunning, the Hat muses, is something I have only seen rarely. And I can say with conviction that you would do well in Slytherin.
This is her chance, Lily thinks. Her chance to show the world that she is not just the little daughter of a legion of war heroes. Her chance to make something of herself.
"Gryffindor," they said.
"SLYTHERIN," the Hat says.
After this, there is a silence that weighs down on the Hall like lead and liquid stone, because this isn't right – a Potter in Slytherin? And Lily takes the Hat off her head and feels like a huge weight has been lifted from her shoulders, one that she didn't even know was there.
Family expectations, she thinks. That is what it was.
James is astonished; that is the only way she can describe his face. Albus, too. DominiqueLouisMollyLucyFredR oxanneRoseHugo. They stare at her like they've never seen her before.
The silence embarrasses her a little bit. A pink flush begins to edge its way down her neck a little bit. She is a little bit scared and a little bit excited and a lot more determined as she walks off the dais and tries to keep the grin that's been edging onto her face from showing.
The silence presses harder –
– But it is broken by a wild excited yell from the Slytherin table, and then the entire table is shouting, laughing, screaming in victory or something similar. An older boy that Lily doesn't know, looking around fifth-year age, is on the table, his arms flailing everywhere, eyes crazed.
"Lily Potter!" he is yelling as the cheers surround her. "WE GOT LILY POTTER!"
And there is a loud commotion from the other side of the Hall as the Gryffindor table erupts in outrage, and Lily can see Albus swearing profusely and glaring darkly at nothing in particular, and James is yelling obscenities while being restrained by two other boys, and Molly looks like she's about to cry.
"ENOUGH." The Headmistress' shout commands silence once more, and Lily takes her seat between two other first-year Slytherins and watches with a peculiar delight to see how the scene plays out.
"Slytherin," they said.
A/N: If you like this enough to favourite, review pretty please?
Request pairings taken also.