As soon at the sorting hat started to form the sound of an 'S' the mood in the room changed considerably, the faces of the students in the other houses, that had originally worn expressions of anticipation and excitement, now held disappointed glares, and the formerly subdued and solemn Slytherin table was alive with applause and chatter. As she walked the intolerable distance from the head of the hall to her new table she could feel all the stares like daggers, and she fought the images of Harry, Ron and Hermione's shocked and displeased faces. As she reached her table she pulled the bench out and sat down, hanging her head in disgust, how she hated her family and there pureblood ideals, for they were the reason she sat at the Slytherin table, it had nothing to do with her beliefs and morals.
The rest of the feast, was mainly a blur, The old wizard, who she had come to know as Dumbledore, made another short speech including announcements for the year and staff changes. She would have normally been more than happy to listen to this 'welcome back' speech, but Jac was too concentrated on how she was to explain her family and her lifestyle to Harry Potter and his friends, and how she was to make them like her again. As she picked at the food on her plate she contemplated what to do in her current situation... she should have been prepared for this, she knew it was going to happen after all. She hadn't know all the details of Slytherin house, but she didn't need to, from what she had heard at Salem and from the Gryffindors she knew that Slytherin had a reputation for being Muggleborn haters, and therefore, supporters of the dark lord.
She heard the now familiar sound of wooden benches moving across the stone floor, and realized that everyone was exiting the hall. She stood up quickly, trying to avoid Harry Potter and his friends, as well as her new housemates. As she quickly advanced to the front of the pack she realized she had no idea where her common room was and sighed. 'why can't i be back at Salem, where none of this sorting bullshit was an issue...and i actually had friends...' she thought grimly to herself. She slowed down, beginning to fall towards the back of the crowd, right behind a group of giggling slytherin girls.
"Did you see granger? you would have thought she would have at least started looking better, but she is still an absolute cow." A girl with medium length black hair and brilliant green eyes whispered to a pale redhead.
"Oh i know!" the redhead whispered back viciously. "But its not even like she tries at all, its like she doesn't even care that she is absolutely hideous."
"Or maybe she just realizes she is beyond repair." the dark haired girl replied back wittily. "But after all, the only one she has to impress is Weasley and Potter" the girl snickered evilly. "And everyone knows Potter likes the Weasley girl, and, well, Weasley? Does he even like girls?!?" She cackled. The other girl laughed hysterically.
"Good point." The redhead exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "but Granger isn't exactly a girl!" She said, and both girls broke out in laughter.
Jac continued watching the girls, despising the way they were talking about her new friends, but she chose not to act, she did not need to make her life anymore complicated by making enemies. She followed the girls, hoping to be led to her dorm and listened to there juvenile gossip as her feet carried her behind them. Finally, the girls descended several flights of stairs and as they did so the crowd thinned, into only those wearing slytherin robes. 'At least i have done one thing right today.' Jac thought sarcastically. As she continued to walk, the air got considerably denser, and the light considerably duller. When they had finally reached what Jac believed to be the common room, one of the girls noticed her.
"Your the new girl right?" the redhead asked, slowing down to walk beside Jac, her friend followed suit and came to walk beside her.
"Yes." Jac said, nodding solemnly, her head still hanging low, and her eyes glued to her feet.
"Oh, cool! Well your in the best house." the dark haired girl. "So your off to a good start, and now your making good friends... I'm Pansy Parkinson." she said arrogantly, smiling in Jac's direction.
"Oh and I'm Daphne." the other girl said. "Daphne Greengrass... and you are?" she asked when Jac had not immediately responded. Jac was just about to give in and explain who she was when someone did it for her.
"She's Jacqueline Gregory." said a eerily familiar, cold, male voice, as an equally cold arm slid across her waist. She cringed and swallowed hard at the familiarity of the voice, and the touch. The other girls watched as the boy snaked around to stand between them and Jac. "And she is..." he said, pausing and tossing his head from side to side. "well, lets call her an old friend." Jac snapped her head to the side to see the blonde boy and rolled her eyes.
"You!" She said, annoyed at his presence. "Leave me the fuck alone." she snapped, and quickly slid out of his reach. The other girls stared at her in a mix of disbelief and jealousy that she did not understand. "I almost had forgotten that i would have to put up with you here." Jac muttered in the boys direction.
"Oh, don't lie babe." He said into her ear. "Jackie...you could never forget me." He added cockily.
"One." she growled again. "Don't ever call me babe again, or 'Jackie' for that matter. And second, you haven't crossed my mind in years." she muttered fiercely. "And i would like to keep it that way, so leave me alone. And just get it through your head, I'm not going to forgive you overnight, our past isn't pleasant, and thats not my fault." She said with gritted teeth.
"Not your fault?." he asked simply, an arrogant smirk playing on his face. "Just because you don't want to believe that it wasn't your fault doesn't mean its true." he added. Jac snarled at him and moved to stand in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.
"I have not reason to be civil to you." Jac said, jabbing a black fingernail into his chest. "So it would make this whole year a lot easier if you just left me alone... got it?" she said, looking around to notice a couple other girls had come to see what was going on. He was looking down at her and shrugged.
"You know i can't do that." he grinned. "After all your father wants me to look after you." he said raising his eyebrows. "I wouldn't want to let him down." With another look from him, Jac strode up to her dorms and hopped onto her bed. As she lie there all her thoughts of her new house and her Gryffindor friends had faded and become insignificant, and all she could wonder is what she had done to end up back in school with Draco Malfoy.
