Warnings: I'm a teenage fangirl with a fondness for boy x boy pairings and swearwords. Therefore, this fanfiction won't be for the faint hearted. Or even the not-so-faint-hearted. Also, I'll probably sneak in some references to amazingly awesome things that nobody else knows of. Keep an eye out.
Disclaimer: I think we all know who owns the concept, and the characters. In any case, IT AIN'T ME.
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What... what's going on?
I'm updating... relatively soon after the last chapter?
What is this madness?
I just need to keep myself busy is all. I'll tell you a secret that all my fans who only read the KH fics won't know: I have problems with myself. You know, self-esteem and disordered eating mindsets and all that fun stuff. Lol jk; it isn't fun. Don't do it. And if you ever wanna talk about it, feel free to PM me.
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The dark little tale of Ellie McGonagall
Chapter Two – The stuff I should have already known
It took a while, but Christian and Minnie filled me in on most of the basics: the four houses, the subjects you were taught, everything they had heard about the teachers, you know. And then Christian brought up the subject of Harry Potter.
"He's in fifth year now, isn't he?" Minnie asked while trying to plait her gorgeous brown hair.
"So he'll be taking his... OWLs?" Please let that be right. I'm sick of Minnie thinking I'm thick.
Maybe now would be a good time to explain that since I was about eight, I've been able to listen to other people's thoughts. Not all of them, not all the time, but the surface layer of what they were thinking – like "Ew, look at her thighs" or "I wish I were at home" or "Why hasn't he texted back yet?". I could sense their emotions when I wanted to. I soon realised, however, that this was not normal even by the standards of untrained witches and wizards. As such, I kept quiet about it.
"Yeah." Aw, she's really trying, I heard Christian thinking. Clearly he liked me more than Minnie did. "They all think he's mental, but I reckon he's telling the truth. And I admire him for it."
"Is he in Gryffindor?" Having heard stories about my no-bullshit maybe-relative, Professor McGonagall, I was desperate to end up in Gryffindor. Bravery was not something I lacked, I knew that. I could face up to anyone.
Except sometimes myself.
"Yeah, he is. But stop obsessing over it." Minnie gave me a genuine smile. "The Sorting Hat puts you where you belong. No matter which house it sorts you into, you'll be happy there."
"My friend's sister is a Hufflepuff. They get a lot of abuse from the others, but they're loyal and hard-working." Christian took out a Chocolate Frog. I had refused to try one on the grounds that I didn't like eating things that moved, but he crammed it down like it was a Redvine or something.
"Don't believe any of the stereotypes, that's what my mum told me." Minnie gave up on plaiting her hair and fell to brushing it instead. "Not all Ravenclaws are nerdy, not all Hufflepuffs are boring, not all Slytherins are evil and not all Gryffindors are badass."
I nodded. I hope I'm in the same house as both of these two, though, Minnie thought as she struggled with a slight knot. Ellie seems so sweet, and Christian's pretty cute.
I wasn't used to having people think nice things about me. It was a bit disconcerting.
The compartment door slid open. Framed by it were three boys, already in their robes and one wearing what I had been told was a Prefect badge. (Even in schools of magic, I couldn't escape the hierarchy. Of course at that point I didn't know what a hierarchy was, but I knew I didn't like the whole system of some people holding authority over others.) The Prefect was blonde and miniscule compared to his two sidekicks, who looked like the lovechildren of trolls and gargoyles.
"Ooh, first years," said the blonde one. It was harder to read his thoughts than it was to read most. His mind was clouded with thoughts of Harry Potter, stirred in with envy and a craving for his father's approval. The thinnest, topmost layer was a desire to hurt Christian, Minnie and I, but it wasn't strong, and it was more a consequence of the way he was raised than anything else. We were just meat to him; emotional punching bags. "Got any food?"
"No, sorry," I said. Minnie and Christian looked at me like I was nuts. Well, I didn't have any food. I didn't really want any.
"Tsk, tsk. What's that I see on your lap?" He scooped up the purple leather-bound notebook and opened it. "Oh, I see, it's a diary! How lovely." He put on a high-pitched voice to read out an entry. I tried not to look phased. "Today I want to think about the first time I ever hurt myself. I was all alone in my bedroom –"
"Not that one!" I snatched the book from him, flicked the pages desperately, and then thrust it back into his hands. "You can read that one though."
That one was just an entry about Keith coming home. Hopefully he would get bored of the sentimental preteen bullshit and leave.
"My brother is finally coming home. After months of pacing the house, worried sick about him and the fate he must be facing, after refusing meal after meal simply because I was too afraid for my brother to force down food, all of that will be gone soon. Keith is arriving really soon, and then I'll be whole again." The blonde Prefect sounded like he had his wand up his arse. But I could see into his head, and he actually wanted to keep reading. To learn about my brother. "I was so close to leaving... but now he's coming back and he's going to save me."
"That's Ellie's and it's private!" objected Minnie, staring Prefect boy straight in the blue-grey eyes. He crossed over to her side of the carriage and bent down so as to talk to her properly.
"I'm a Prefect here. I can make your life very easy or very difficult, depending on which house you're in and how much respect you show me." He straightened up and turned to face me again. I noticed how he completely blanked Christian. "You seem decent, kid. Unlike the people you chose to hang out with. What's your name?"
"I'm Ellie. Ellie McGonagall." I held out a hand for him to shake, not really expecting him to take him. But he did.
"I'm Draco. Draco Malfoy. Hope to see you in Slytherin." I wouldn't mind Slytherin, actually. The Slytherin Prefects were cute, at least. "My friends and I are going to extort food out of more fortunate first-years. See you around."
And then he and his two ugly friends were gone, leaving Christian to think about how horrible the three of them were and Minnie to hope, both inwardly and out loud, that she wouldn't be put into Slytherin.
Me, I was keeping an open mind about it. Sure, I may or may not have been related to the leader of Gryffindor house. But if she was a decent person, she would accept me no matter which house I landed in, because apart from anything else it wasn't really my fault.
Hey, I just accepted that something wasn't my own fault.
That's what Keith would call progress.
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Just a quick one for you guys today. Hope you liked it.
Please review. Like I said, it keeps me out of trouble, writing fanfiction and reading positive (or even negative) reviews of it. I'd really love to know what y'all think, especially since my style is normally more comedy than this dark stuff.
Keep calm and eat gingerbread.
