A/N: For the Sensitive/Controversial Topic Challenge. Borderline Personality Disorder: Seeing in shades of Black and White.
No one ever said that Gryffindors could be prone to bouts of weakness. (Because they can't.)
A Gryffindor has to be strong, and bold. And maybe that's why you can't help but think that the Sorting Hat has made a mistake.
But maybe it's because of a little doubt in your head that you can't seem to let go of; because your family imposed it upon you so long ago. (It's what they do.) For they've told you again (and again) that you can't scrub away they red. That you're tied to a family so dark and so terrible, that everywhere you go you'll be labeled as such.
And maybe you didn't believe them. But as the years wore on, and you had time to consider, it became more and more clear. (That they were right.)
All your life you've only wanted to get away from your family. You thought you were so much more noble than them. (But you aren't.)
And you had no idea that it would be like this.
As a Gryffindor, you have so much to live up to. And just as the Ravenclaw must be obedient, and the Hufflepuff must be caring, you have discovered that you have no qualities tying you to your house. (There's not a single one there.) And that's why you should be in Slytherin - and you should be closer to the cousins that you despise, and to the mother that hates her oldest son, and to the brother that's sick of making up for the disgrace in the family.
Because as each year wears on, all you can see is your slyness. And your cunning. And your sleek, slippery manner of getting out of things, and breaking rules, and in the end, despite what any of the Marauders say, you know that you were never meant to be a part of this crowd.
A Gryffindor must be chivalrous and daring. Can you even say that much for yourself? When you let so many emotions pull you down, it's impossible to make out the good deep down. You're only as "Gryffindor" as you've let yourself believe. (And it's a sore belief in itself.)
You feel empty with that knowledge, but it's ever so clear that that's how it was, and always should be.
(You're not good.)
(And if you're not good, that means you're bad.)
And you don't want to hurt yourself, but you're helpless against it. You were never built to be strong and courageous, you've told yourself that again. (And again.)
They call you borderline, because they say that you're stuck on a border. You only see things one way or another, and you've never had the ability to see "gray." Your life exists only in colours of black and white, and you can only be black. (And you can only be white.)
They say you're not normal. That you can't see things the way they do.
(But you can.)
They say that you're not normal, and that you can't feel things the way they do.
(But you still hurt.)