"Rachel Greengrass!" The woman with the sharp voice seemed to hurry me to the stool with her words. Smirking, I took my sweet time, looking around at my fellow first years. I wanted to blurt out, "There's no reason for looking so awkward. We're going to get pushed around anyway, so we might as well enjoy ourselves," but now wasn't the time for speeches. No one actually cared about my sorting. It was all down to the precious Harry Potter's selection. That's when the applause would actually occur.
I could feel the much-too-large hat sifting through my memories, and I suddenly felt incredibly uncomfortable. I'd always laughed at those who were worried about sitting in front of the school to be sorted; it's not like they're deciding your life or anything. But it did feel like everything I'd ever felt was about to be exposed to the world, and I found myself squirming uncomfortably. As if to make for maximum awkwardness, the thing inside my head started a conversation.
Hmm...you are a tricky one. Strong mind, strong drive. I could easily put you in Ravenclaw you know.
"Ravenclaw?" I thought, almost out loud. "Seriously, that's the best you've got, old hat? I can read and I don't make stupid choices, if that's why you think I fit there."
Strong attitude too. Can't say I approve. But that kind of strength is common in those under Gryffindor and Slytherin. Your ambition would disappear without your shocking courage.
"No duh. That's true of anyone, stupid hat. Just choose already, no one wants to see me up here all night." The hat paused for awhile. I think I may have made it speechless. Or more accurately, PO. It decided to yell "Slytherin!" more angrily than I thought appropriate. I guess cockiness equates to ambition or resourcefulness? It all made no sense to me. But oh well, I'd gotten where I was supposed to be. No worries about my cousins beating me up now. Or, more accurately, no worries about them beating me up for good reason.
"Welcome to Slytherin," a tall, dark boy say as he punched me on the arm. It was rather hard in my opinion, and I made a mental note to build muscle strength as I smiled and sat down. I had a feeling that they were gaping at me for sitting near the upperclassmen, but my confidence and silence had put them off. Another mental note: these boys won't stand in my way if I can surprise them enough. Upperclassmen can be stepping stones too, apparently.
"Hey," some dark-skinned girl my age mumbled. "There's no room down by the first years. Can I sit by you?"
"Scoot shrimp," the tall boy who had addressed me snapped. "We don't take Hufflepuffs at this table." The girl gasped a little. She looked really pathetic, and honestly, I wasn't sure how she got into Slytherin either. That didn't stop me from being pissed at the hypocrisy.
"Oi," I replied, "did you miss the sorting ceremony because you were too busy dreaming of your food? First years can be sorted into all four houses, you dumbo. If you want to kick her out of this spot, you'll have to kick me out too. Or are you too scared to fight in front of the teachers?" I could see the blood rising in his face, and I wasn't even trying to make him mad. It was glorious. One of his friends who had watched the commotion was sniggering, and I knew that I wasn't in any danger. I had just owned an upperclassman who couldn't come up with a good comeback to save his life in front of his friends. And at least one of them was on my side.
The girl smiled and sat by me. "Thanks. I'm Brie, by the way. Short for Bridgette."
"Rachel," I replied much louder, smiling broadly. I was completely boggled by her quiet voice. She looked warily at the boys around us. I laughed a little and muttered to her, "Don't mind them. Between you and me, they don't have the balls to do anything to us. Not out in the open. And even if they did, I could take 'em." Brie seemed suddenly more wary of me. I must have said something weird.
"Hey, Rachel. Nice to meet you," she said, too slowly for me to fully believe her second statement. Oh no, I musta really messed things up. And I don't even know how!
"Yeah, it's cool to finally make friends. My cousins made me sit with them the whole train ride." I indicated with a twitch of my head two red-headed female versions of Popeye. Brie seemed even more disturbed by them, and that cheered me up. "Yup, they're kinda more scary than anyone on this planet. I always knew there was a monster in my room when we had sleepovers." Brie giggled at this, and I heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe I could get her to like me after all. "You've got to learn how to defend yourself when they're your closest relatives, you know? It's why I don't take crap from anyone anymore. So don't worry, when I said I could take 'em," I indicated back to the boys from before, "I wasn't just being cocky." Once again Brie seemed a tad put off. I felt I had earned her trust, though, so I decided to ask her about it. "I said something crude, didn't I? Haha, my parents always tell me I don't really understand what I'm saying half the time. So don't worry, I'm not going to take offense to you telling me that too."
"Oh...it's just...I'm not used to hearing that kind of language." Now I was really confused.
"But...I didn't swear. Did I?" I thought back through everything I said. "Nope. No curse words."
"What about..."—her voice turned into a whisper—"balls?" I had to stop myself from bursting out laughing. She saw how I was smiling a bit too much, and her face got stony. "What? Decency is funny to you?"
"No, no, I'm not trying to be so mean, I promise. I'm sorry. It's just...I have honestly never met a single person who would take offense to me saying "balls" or anything of the like. It's so weird to me."
Before she could respond, we heard a familiar drawl. Sure enough, the upperclassmen girls were just as keen to drool on the young, blonde, rich Malfoy as the first-years. He was pretty hot, I'll give him that. I suppose I wouldn't mind being pressed up as close to him as his clique tried to be. But I wouldn't be caught dead that close to anyone drooling. No one else is so awesome that I could even imagine making myself that easy for them to control.
Brie, on the other hand, seemed very eager to join the clique, and was doing an awful job of concealing it. I rolled my eyes. My new friend reminded me a lot of my pathetic sister. Hopefully there'll be at least one other girl in my year who realizes there are better things out there than rich white boys. As if to confirm my annoyance, Brie whispered in my ear, "Look out, you might be blinded by sexiness if you stare at Draco for too long."
"Draco?" Brie turned back to me, disconcerted by my unhid disgust. "Doesn't that just sound like his parents were raising him to be creepy? I mean, I suppose it's better than 'Scorpius' or something like that, but still. I am Draaaaco," I said in a mock dramatic voice. "I will eaaaat your children."
"Stop it," Brie said, but with a small smile on her voice. I could tell she was enjoying it. Another girl with dark hair and makeup certainly wasn't though.
"Will you shut up?" she yelled from across the table. "Some of us have better things to do than mock people we don't even know. Like eat."
"And some of us have better things to do than be annoying fangirls," I muttered in a voice just loud enough for Brie to hear. To my delight she giggled with me. The gothic-looking girl pursed her lips and continued with her meal. She acted extremely serious now, but I'd seen her fawning over the Malfoy boy like the rest of them, and she'd looked like a clown. I turned to Brie and gave her a look that said "What's her deal?"
"That's Pansy Parkinson. I heard her boasting on the train. She told the dullest stories. I'd feel bad for Draco if he fell for her..."
"If he goes for an idiot like her, I will personally punch him in the nose. For you, of course. I have no real interest in him myself." She looked a tad hurt at this, perhaps remembering my comment from earlier. "He's totally hot, don't get me wrong. But not worth fighting through those banshees." She snorted at this, and I grinned wide. She blushed at herself, but I was excited. "Girls who snort are the coolest, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, Brie. We're going to be awesome friends. But by Merlin, I'm starving. Let's eat before they herd us away. Like pigs." I snorted back to her, and she started grinning as well.
It was a pretty good meal. My muggle dad did most of the cooking for me at home, so I wasn't entirely sure what to choose. Brie helped me out. She seemed happy that I was a halfblood, which seemed weird to me. I didn't know her last name, but weren't Slytherins supposed to be proud of pureblood origins only? I assumed she was at least a halfblood, because she knew so much about the cuisine and magic itself. I was fascinated by her stories, and I made sure to let her know so she wouldn't get all quiet on me like before. They weren't "Pansy tales" as we deemed them, snorting together, and clearly bothering the upperclassman around us.
Obviously it had to be while we were snorting that Draco Malfoy decided to prance over and introduce himself. "I'm sure you know me, but I'd like to get to know you girls a little better." Brie stopped and blushed mid-snort. I decided to be kind and spare her the awkwardness of answering right after that embarrassing scene.
"I'm Rachel. Is it...Drago, right?"
"Draco," he replied, a bit put off. "But that's alright. Who's your pretty little friend?" I didn't realize it was possible for her to blush any harder until then. Still, she needed to speak for herself.
After a few seconds, she mumbled, "Oh...you mean me? Pretty?...I mean Brie! Brie, yeah. Hi Draco. I'm really happy to be in Slytherin with you." She looked away quickly and started playing with her fork after saying this, clearly worried she'd said too much.
Draco didn't seem to notice the implications of her statement, smirking as he replied, "You should be. Slytherin is the only real house here. Free of Mudblood scum. And we're going to prove that it's awesome even outside of that this year. Hope you guys share those goals."
Brie suddenly looked sickly, and I laughed to myself about how odd puppy love was. I considered the best response to get Draco to leave us alone before responding, "Of course. We'll work for the sake of the noble house. Just...after we finish eating." I said this with a smile that made Draco smirk.
"I think I'm gonna like you, Rachel." With that, he walked off (though it seemed like more of a strut) to meet and greet all the other Slytherin people who happened to realize there were more interesting things to do than crowd around a rich boy. Sadly, there weren't many. With a sigh, I finished my dinner. It wasn't long before Brie and I were led to the Slytherin Dormitory. It took all of my willpower not to actually curse when I realized we'd be rooming with Parkinson. I sincerely hoped the other Slytherin girls were friendly, or at least witty. Otherwise I might just beg to change houses. Remember how you said I fit in anywhere, Mr. Hat? Well, I'd like to take you up on that offer. Anywhere but Hufflepuff, please. And not here. I can't bear the stupidity of these people. I realized how ridiculous that would sound, and laughed at myself out loud. So many people looked back at me that I actually blushed. Brie barely stifled a laugh.