AN: Okay, I'm back, and I am SOOO sorry for not updating fast! I really am! Now, I hope that there are 42 NEW people reading this, or at least those that are new to the review feature. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry it doesn't concern you. It just concerns the 42 people that I sent a certain EMAIL to earlier today.) Now, enough of all this meaningless chit chat and on with the chapter! (I'm sorry, but I've been working on the computer ALL DAY today, and I want to spend the least amount of time possible on it at the moment, so no reviewer list. However, for pIPPINpIRATE, Cherokee Outlaw, MissBlueAngel, and kura52, apology accepted )
Disclaimer: la la la
-o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o-
Emily was paying rapt attention to her beautiful surroundings around the small boat moving quietly through the water, from the crystal clear lake reflecting the silver moon, to the town of Hogsmeade shrinking in the distance, to the surrounding forest of all kinds of magical trees. Orlando, however, was too busy shaking with nerves to notice any of this. Emily took a moment to look at him.
"Orlando, what's wrong? You're shaking like it's the dead of winter!" she asked.
"Oh, it's – it's nothing, Emily, don't worry about it," he said, avoiding eye contact.
"No it most certainly is not 'nothing!' Could you at least pay attention to what is around you? According to my sister, the first view of the castle is the best you'll ever get!" she said.
"Really? When do we see it?" he asked, not realizing this was a stupid question.
"I dunno, in a minute or two I suppose," said Emily off-handedly, looking back forward again. A few moments later, they heard Hagrid's shout from the front of the small fleet of boats.
"All righ', you'll be getting' yer first view o' the castle up here in a minute!" he said, and when they rounded the corner, Hogwarts castle came into view. Emily immediately thought that she had never, ever seen anything more beautiful. It had turrets and towers everywhere, and from every window there seemed to be coming a golden glow, that Emily only assumed were from thousands upon thousands of torches and candles. And, especially in the dark night, it looked so majestic just sitting out over the lake, like it was the boss over everything. She heard Orlando audibly gasp next to her, and she turned to him again.
"It's stunning, isn't it?" she asked him.
"Yeah, wow . . ." he said faintly. He appeared to have forgotten his nerves, at least for the moment. All around them were gasps of surprise, awe, and wonder.
Except from the two girls behind them, sharing their boat.
"Bloody Merlin, it's not that great . . ." said the first. Her voice had a rather unpleasant sound to it.
"Yeah, these people are acting like total dolts," said the second. Her voice didn't sound any better that the first girl's, and Emily could tell immediately that they were both total snobs. Orlando had overheard them as well, but he simply shrunk down in his seat and shut his mouth tightly. Emily couldn't stand them, so she decided to do something about it. She turned around abruptly, rocking the boat a little too much.
"Look here you two, maybe you don't like what your school looks like, but the rest of us do. Now, since this is going to be your school for the next seven years, I would suggest that you shut your ugly trap and let the rest of us enjoy the view without you spoiling it," she said fiercely, her eyes seemingly ablaze with fire. This, if anything, made Orlando even more frightened, but the two girls were simply taken aback for a few seconds before seeming unphased.
"Well, little miss priss," said the first girl, narrowing her eyes, "I would suggest that you mind your own business before that nasty little mouth of your gets you into trouble, or before I shut it for you."
Emily was at a loss for words for once in her life. Even if she did have something to say, the girl's sharp retort seemed to have closed her throat.
"Who do even think you are to be talking to us, anyway?" said the second girl snobbishly. Emily unstuck her throat.
"My name is Emily Casey Malfoy, but I'd hate to ask yours, since it's probably something so sickening I wouldn't want to hear it," she said, smirking the same smirk that she had picked up from her sister. This time, the two girls behind Emily seemed to be the ones that couldn't speak. Orlando sunk, if possible, even lower.
"Now, maybe if you two shut up, I won't be forced to hex you into oblivion once we're inside the castle," finished Emily, turning back around. What she didn't see were the two girls behind her share a knowing glance.
"By the way, Emily," started the first girl, pausing. Emily turned back around, a look of extreme dislike in her eyes. "My name is Adriana Bethany Cormire, and my friend here is Darriane Elizabeth Furline," she continued.
"Aw, how cute, ABC and DEF, I suppose that's how you remember the alphabet," said Emily, in a mock-awe voice. "I'm not pleased to make your acquaintance," she finished, and turned back around again. By now, they were nearing the place to exit the boats. Several at the front were stopping already and unloading their passengers. When the boat Emily and Orlando were in finally stopped, they hurriedly got out of it, eager to get away from the two new girls and into the crowd of first years scrambling inside the building. They were being led shuffled in by Hagrid, who didn't seem to want to go inside. Once every last first year was in the building (Emily had kept hoping that Alexandria and Darriane would be locked out), a stern faced witch met them, and Emily guessed her to be a teacher. She seemed to be fairly elderly, with graying hair knotted in a tight bun just below her pointed hat.
"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, First Years! You will be able to join your peers in the Great Hall in a moment, but first, you must be sorted into one of the four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. I will be with you in a minute to lead you into the Great Hall," said the witch, and she walked away. Emily thought that her little speech sounded as if she said it quite a lot. She supposed that all the new first years every year were greeted with that same speech. As she was wondering if she ever got tired of saying it over and over again, she sensed more than saw Orlando's shaking nerves surface again. When she looked over at him, she realized just how good-looking he was. Shaking this thought from her mind, she prodded him in the side.
"Orlando, what is wrong with you?" she asked him concernedly.
"I'm just nervous, is all," he replied.
"What on earth about? The mad-axe murderer on the other side of those doors?" she said jokingly. He however, looked at her fearfully.
"I'm joking, Orlando! I'm just saying that there is nothing to be nervous about!" she clarified, noticing his expression.
"What do you mean nothing? I heard her say something about a Sorting! Does that mean we have to take a test or something to see which house we belong in?" he asked. Emily just sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Goodness, Orlando, if that's all you're worried about than I could have eased your nerves ages ago! The Sorting is very simple, you just sit on a stool and a hat decides where you belong. You don't have to do anything!"
"How do you know?"
"My sister told me. Of course, I'm not sure if her word can be trusted, but my parents were in the room at the time, and if she was wrong they would have corrected her," said Emily.
"Oh, that makes me feel a lot better, then," he said, smiling. "But I'm still a bit scared that I won't be in the same house as you," he said, then blushed.
"Oh well, if you're not then you're not, if you are then you are. But why would you want to be in the same house as me anyway? I mean, what does it matter?" asked Emily, feeling a faint blush creep into her cheeks as well.
"It's just that – that you're the only friend I've got here," replied Orlando quickly. Emily wasn't sure where this disappointed feeling was coming from, but she ignored it.
"Well then, I hope we're in the same house, too," she said, smiling. The stern-faced teacher reappeared just then, so Orlando couldn't reply.
"We're ready for you now, follow me," she said, and opened the giant doors in front of them with a wave of her wand. She walked in first, followed by the rest of the timid-looking first years. Emily looked around the Hall until she saw her sister, sitting at what must be the Slytherin table.
'I know my sister is there, but I have a bad feeling about Slytherin. I'm not sure if I want to be in that house. According to Mum, I think I'd rather be in Gryffindor . . .' Emily found herself thinking. The walk up to the front of the Hall seemed to take forever, but once they finally got there, the teacher, took out a roll of parchment and said, "When I call your name, some up and sit on the stool, I will place the sorting hat on your head, and then wait for your house name to be called out," she then glanced at her list. "Arlington, Brooke!" She called out. A few seconds after the girl had the hat on her head, the hat called out, "RAVENCLAW!" Orlando jumped at the fact of a hat actually shouting. Then, after "Beldine, Laura" had been sorted into Hufflepuff, Emily heard the phrase she knew Orlando was dreading.
"Byres, Orlando!" came the teacher's voice. Orlando, looking very scared, walked slowly up to the stool and sat on it. Emily found herself praying that he wouldn't be in Slytherin once the hat had dropped onto his head. He was sitting there for a full minute before the hat finally shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" Orlando, not sure whether to look relieved or not, stumbled over to the table with all the clapping people.
"Carlington, Melody!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Then, Emily heard the name that she despised already: "Cormire, Adriana!" Emily watched the prissy blonde saunter up to the stool. The hat had barely touched her head before it shouted out, "SLYTHERIN!"
'Okay, now I know that I don't want to be in Slytherin . . .' thought Emily. She became preoccupied at the thought of which of her parents that hat would favor, her Slytherin step-father or her Gryffindor mother. She was hoping that it favored her mother's side, since, after all, she was the one Emily was related to by blood. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice when "Furline, Darriane" was sorted into Slytherin, or when "Lythia, Janice" was sorted into Ravenclaw. She was only struck out of her thoughts by the next name on the list.
"Malfoy, Emily!"
Startled by the sounds of her name, she looked up and noticed that it was her turn to be sorted. As she confidently made her way to the stool, whispers broke out in the Great Hall. She caught a few of them.
"There's another Malfoy heir?"
"Where did she come from?"
"Since when are there two Malfoy children?"
Emily felt slightly hurt at these whispers. She had a feeling that her sister wouldn't be paying much attention to her this year. Apparently, she had kept it to herself that she even had a sister. Blinking back tears, she sat on the stool and felt the hat on her head. Almost immediately, a warm, deep voice was speaking to her, through her mind.
"Ah, Miss Malfoy, are you distressed? Why?" asked the hat.
'My sister doesn't love me anymore. . . she doesn't even like me . . . but what does that have to do with my placement?'
"More than you may think. Why doesn't she like you anymore?"
'I dunno, but apparently she's kept it from the entire school that there is another Malfoy child, also known as me.'
"But you are not a true Malfoy, correct?"
'Well, no, but I'm still counted as a Malfoy Heir, my step-dad said so.'
"Your mother, Hermione Granger, birthed you from another husband, didn't she?"
'Yes. He's a muggle.'
"What do you plan to do about this situation with your sister?"
'I'm not sure. I guess ask her why she's kept me a secret and than apologize for whatever I did.'
"Good answer. I can plainly see that you don't belong in Slytherin. Therefore, the only other option is . . . GRYFFINDOR!" Emily heard the hat stop speaking through her mind and shout to the whole Hall what house she was in, and she was overjoyed. As she skipped over to the Gryffindor table, she caught a glimpse of her sister. She didn't look anything like herself . . .
In fact, she looked almost . . . sinister.
-o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o- -o-
AN: Whew! Finally done! Lemme know what you think by reviewing! Please note that flames are welcome but all of them will be used to cook sweet Lebanon bologna! And if you wanna know what that is, (if you don't already) I'll tell you in the next chapter! Ta!