The whole of the Great Hall falls completely silent once they hear that Artemis Crock has been sorted into Gryffindor.
Artemis herself looks like she is going break into tears. From happiness or fear, she's not so sure. One the one hand, it feels great to finally break away from the perfect, pureblooded Slytherin mold that her parents had set for her. And on the other hand, she is scared. She knows what happens to people who don't follow the rules, to the people who show weakness.
At least I'm not in Hufflepuff, Artemis thinks as she runs quickly to the Gryffindor table, sighing in relief when she sits.
The relief is short lived. Across the Hall, she meets her sister's eyes. For a moment, they're filled with the same type of fear that has been bubbling in Artemis' stomach since she stepped onto the platform at Kings Cross. Then suddenly, Jade's eyes turn cold and she turns away from Artemis.
She's not surprised. What does surprise her is look that she sees when she finally manages to catch Cam's eyes.
He's a year older than her, a whole year of Hogwarts and the Slytherin common room, a whole year of weekly letters to Artemis. The several years of friendship behind them makes her confident that he will stand behind her.
Except, she can tell that he's disappointed. She can tell how angry he is by the clench in his jaw and she can tell how she just how unforgiving he will be by the coldness that is now apparent in his eyes.
As used to abandonment as she is by now, the sting of rejection from those dearest to her hurts worse than anything.
At least, Artemis thinks again, I have a chance to make new friends. But as she looks around at her new housemates she slowly begins to realize how wrong she is. They all have similar looks of disgust on their faces, a mixture of disbelief and distrust. There's whispering and glaring and it makes her feel like running away and crying. And it makes her angry.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
This time, instead of silence, there is cheering, lots of it. A red-headed boy that Artemis has never seen before is brimming with nervous energy and excitement. He trips on the way over to his seat, but gets right back up with a bright smile and red face.
His smile doesn't diminish as he sits, nor as he extends his hand to greet the person now next to him.
"Hey, my name's Wally. What's yours?"
Artemis is shocked that someone as actually spoken to her with seemingly no trace of dislike. What doesn't shock her are the words that immediately come out of her mouth next.
"What kind of name is Wally?" She immediately regrets it. Here is a boy, obviously a muggleborn, who doesn't know who she is, doesn't know her family's reputation. He is a chance at friendship and a clean slate.
She internally curses at herself thinking that she probably just ruined everything.
She is proved to be correct merely moments later as Wally's face turn a shade of red that is closer to purple and he angrily turns to talk to the person on his other side.
Artemis almost tries speaking to him again but as soon as she's close to working up the proper amount of courage, Headmaster Queen begins speaking, as the sorting has just ended, and her courage dissipates.
It's okay, Artemis tells herself as she tries to fall asleep later that night, I'm a survivor. I'll survive.
Unfortunately for Artemis, her survival skills are tested in the weeks that follow.
Her clothes and books go missing in the first week. She finds them easily, relieved to see that there is no damage, and begins to guard her things more carefully.
Her reaction, or lack of, must not have been particularly entertaining because it only happens once.
What happens after, and what continues to happen through entire month of September and into October, is the blatant bullying. Cutting remarks, jump scares, the pushing and shoving.
The Slytherins are cruel about it. Openly taunting her for everyone to see. Mocking her failure to her family, to her bloodline.
Her own house is still somehow crueler about it. There's no public humiliation, no digging remarks about how weak she must be. Instead, they're quiet about it. Their silence as she's being tormented on a daily basis speaks volumes.
She doesn't belong with them.
She hears as much when they think she isn't listening. She hears their mistrust. She hears how pathetic they think she is.
It doesn't take long for her to start feeling pathetic, especially when Tommy Terror is towering over her calling her names, terrible names. She feels pathetic when he pulls at her hair and pushes her against the wall. She feels pathetic as he hits her in the face and calls her a blood traitor.
And she feels pathetic when Wally, of all people, comes out of nowhere, pushes Tommy away from her and tells him to leave her alone.
She can tell that Tommy wants to fight back but she knows he won't. It's one thing to attack Artemis. Nobody cares about her. It's a completely different thing to attack Wally. Wally West, the boy everyone loves. There's no comparison and the look that Tommy gives her before he runs tells her how lucky she is.
"Why did you do that, West?"
Artemis doesn't feel pathetic anymore as she glares at her savior. No, she's angry. She's angry that she didn't have the chance to save herself.
"I'm sorry", Wally sighs and for a moment Artemis thinks that he's apologizing for rescuing her.
"I'm sorry for not doing anything before. I see how they treat you, Artemis. I see how we treat you. It's not right. I should have done something about. And I didn't, I could have, and I didn't. I'm so sorry."
It seems genuine, his apology. She can tell he's beating himself up for it all and she can tell that he wants to say more.
Before he can start again, though, Artemis places a hand on his shoulder and hesitates before saying, "It's okay, Wally. I'm fine."
Obviously, she's not. Her lip is cracked and bleeding and she thinks she might have a broken rib. But she'll survive.
"So, um, my name is Artemis. What's yours?"
Just like that, he looks like the boy she met on September first, bright eyes and a brighter smile. And when he takes her extended hand, her smile is as bright as his.