Welll welcome to my story! I've been writing this for a while, but I'm still not necessarily sure that I like the way the first chapter turned out. I'd be very happy if you reviewed, even if you don't like it. Constructive criticism is always good.
I actually started it when I was six years old. Of course, it was written on printer paper, set during Chamber of Secrets, with marker illustrations and no quotation marks, but the workings and basic plot were all there. So here it is, completely rewritten. :D
My parents never had the pushy 'you must be a Slytherin!' attitude, but the idea of me not being in Slytherin never came up. I mean, my parents had been in Slytherin, as well as my sister and brother. All my aunts and uncles were Slytherins, too, except for Lida the Hufflepuff but she was always a bit odd anyways. So as soon as I got to being Sorted I expected the Hat to put in me in Slytherin like that.
There I was, sitting in the Great Hall with the Sorting Hat covering half my face. It obstructed everything from sight, but I could practically hear the expectant gazes of my brother and sister, Madden and Abbey. They were smiling, sure that I was about to join them at their table.
But the hat told me I wasn't fit for Slytherin.
That was a shock worse than the Giant Squid greeting us at the lake. Not… fit… for Slytherin? That couldn't be right, but there was the Hat was prattling on about all my un-Slytheriny traits. Of course, I freaked. I told it straight out that I was supposed to be there, that I was a Slytherin through and through.
After arguing with it for a minute it relented, and off to the land of silver and emerald I went.
Being Slytherin was great- I felt like I was part of some elite part of the school. Except we were completely segregated from everyone else; it was like, "we're pureblood, we're proud, get out of our sight or we'll hex you."
Putting it bluntly: I hated it.
But what was I gonna do? Speak my mind and get hexed by Bellatrix Black and her friends? No way. I kept my mouth shut and faked it. That way, I made friends. That way I fit in. I was apparently always making "odd comments", but at least I wasn't being gossiped about as a deranged blood traitor, like Bellatrix and Cissy did about their cousin Sirius or their sister Andromeda.
I was one of the cool Slytherin girls, which was good enough for me to look past everything I didn't like.
My best friend was Cissy Black, along with our year mates Zurie, Maia and Jessica. But during my first year I hung out with people from other Houses, mostly Lily Evans and sometimes her friends.
"You're just like Severus." Cissy would tell me, all disapproving. "Why do you hang out with Lily and her lot? You're better then them, Emma!"
Eventually, I gave in to the pressure and became a total Slytherin. As I said before, I hated it, but what was I supposed to do? When there's Blacks and Malfoys and Carrows breathing down you back every time you act a little un-Slytherin (which started translating to un-Death Eaterly) it's hard to stand up for what you believe in.
Predictably, I started to snap.
It began in our fifth year; Cissy and I were walking back to the castle from the Greenhouses after Herbology. There had been a blizzard the weekend before, and the grounds were covered in a soft blanket of snow. A few Hufflepuff girls were laughing as threw snowballs at each other.
"You know every single Hufflepuff in our year is a Mudblood, 'cept for one?" Cissy sniffed. "Uh-huh. It's so depressing. Where is this school going?"
I shifted uncomfortably. "You don't have to call them that, Cissy."
She looked confused.
"Mudblood." I explained. "Why do you have to say that all the time? You can't judge people just because they're born."
She looked really put-off for a moment. "Well, they all think they're sooo smart and cool just because she gets to join the ranks of us magical ones. Well, they're like, flukes! Muggles shouldn't have magic kids! They're like, lesser beings."
"But why?" I asked. "So maybe muggles are inferior, I don't know, but why does that make muggle-born witches and wizards so bad?"
She threw her hands up. "I don't know, Emma, it just does!"
I stopped walking. "So you're just going to go along with it?"
She stopped too. "Yes! Because that's the way it's meant to be! You know that, right?".
My stomach dropped. I nodded, my throat closed up, and managed an "mmhm."
Even a while after that conversation, I couldn't forget what she had said. "That's the way it's meant to be". It didn't seem right at all. I started hanging out with my Housemates less and started spending more time to myself. I told them I was just focusing on my studies more, as OWLS were coming up, which was a sufficient answer to them. I thought that Madden, my brother, might have picked up on something, but he was more interested in his girlfriend Georgina than anything else.
As I became more removed from the other Slytherins, I learned to listen to their conversations as an outsider. I became completely disgusted with myself for ever taking part in them. Like when a few guys cursed this girl Mary, and they thought it was the funniest thing in the world; I thought it was plain mean.
Then Cissy was slipping away as she began dating Lucius, who was two years ahead of us. She got completely besotted, and snuck out with him on a regular basis. I didn't like it- he was once of those kids who talked about joining up with the Dark Lord after school and sounded serious about it.
Of course when I told Cissy that she went on about how I didn't know anything about it and had better shut up before someone heard me.
Then came the Defense Against the Dark Arts OWLS.
The actual exams went alright, and I was sure I did well. I probably would have done better if I had been able to keep my eyes off of Sirius Black, but he was just so good to look at, you know? Anyways, me, Cissy, Zurie and Maia and Jessica went out to the lake to get some sun and relax. Severus was sitting alone under a tree, and I almost went over to say hi but didn't. The five of us girls started chatting, and it was just like old times. Our happy relaxation was broken, however, by a shout of anger.
I glanced over towards the castle, and groaned as I saw Severus hanging in the air. James Potter was pointing his wand at him and Lily Evans looking completely livid.
"Wondrous." Zurie muttered. "Here we go again."
"Should we go help him?" Maia looked nervous.
"He needs to learn to defend himself." Cissy snapped. Maia, who had a bit of a crush on Severus, gave her a reproachful look. Cissy turned faintly pink. "What? Lucius says it all the time,"
"Oh, well if dear Lucius says so…" I said angrily. Cissy sharply turned her head towards me.
"You have a problem with Lucius all of a sudden?"
"I have a problem with you shagging a seventh year who's got a future that looks about as good as on the run for practicing Dark Magic, if not in Azkaban!"
Cissy turned a very odd shade of purple I never would have expected from a girl with such a delicate complexion. She opened and closed her mouth several times as if searching desperately for something to say.
Suddenly, Maia let out a squeal. "Blood! Sev made Potter bleed!"
Our spat was forgotten as we all moved to watch the transpiring events. Mostly Black and Potter had the upper hand, which made the whole thing rather depressing moreover entertaining. Quite the opposite were the non-Slytherins' feelings, judging by the laughter and cheering. After Severus called Lily a mudblood, and she called him Snivellus, things quickly cooled down. Potter almost removed Sev's undies, which would have been pretty disgusting. He just left Snape on the ground, shaking with rage.
My friends and I rushed over. The other went off on the usual verbal abuse against the Gryffindors, then congratulated Severus for finally getting rid of Lily.
"You were a bit… harsh." I told him disapprovingly. "I mean, you're like… friends."
"Not anymore!" Zurie slapped him on the back. "Good job!"
"Wait- no." I laughed. "Let's be serious. Sev- you have to go apologize, now! Do you want to ruin your friendship?"
"Why wouldn't he?" Maia narrowed her eyes.
"My God. You can't be serious!" I cried. "There's nothing wrong with Lily, she's perfectly nice, who cares if her parents haven't got any magic?"
"We do." Cissy stood up, and my other friends followed suit. "Emma, hon, she's a muggle-born. Mud. Blood."
I stood up too. "Well that's your problem. It's not right, discriminating 'cause her parents don't have magic."
Cissy's face fell a little, almost like she was considering it, but Zurie stepped up. "It is to us. C'mon girls, we're going inside. Bye, Emma."
Without a backwards glance, they walked away.
Ha. Pretty great best fiends, right?
I was fuming, and almost forgot about Severus until I heard him snickering, "Looks like someone's out of the group…"
"Oh, shut up Snivellus," I snapped and walked off to go think about what had just happened.
It was the end of the year and the end of the façade- I wasn't a real Slytherin. Now how the hell was I supposed to survive the next two years?