A/N: Hey! Here's the next chapter.
Destiny's Games
-The Sorcerer's Stone
Chapter Four:
The Feast
The reality of what had just taken place hit her just as she pulled the hat off of her head. She had actually been sorted into Gryffindor. She let a small smile grace her features.
Then what had happened really sunk in. All of the consequences of being sorted into Gryffindor house started forming in her mind. Amjad would not be pleased. She had always thought that getting into Gryffindor would be the best way for her to befriend Potter, but she had never actually believed that she would be sorted into it. Gryffindor was no place for a Sheikh. She would be considered a disgrace.
She shivered at the though of when she had to go home over breaks. She hated fighting with Amjad, and this time he would be really mad. She felt her legs wobble unsteadily and her face drain of color.
She couldn't work up the courage to look at the Slytherin table and semiconsciously began moving towards the Gryffindor table. Potter was there clapping, along with some of the others, but the Hall was eerily silent except for them. She quickly glanced at the Slytherins. A myriad of emotions were on their faces, the foremost being anger, shock, and revulsion. She quickly glanced away.
The few who were clapping at the Gryffindor table slowly stopped and frowned at their house mates. The murmurs started from the back of the table, somewhere in the vicinity of a group of older students.
"Sheikhs… dark family…he who must not be named…"
Soon the murmurs filled the hall.
Sevti continued making her shaky way to the Gryffindor table. Potter moved over so that she could sit beside him. He was frowning worriedly.
"Are you all right, Sev? You're awfully pale."
She noticed his subconscious shortening of her name. She would have smiled if her head weren't whirling. She looked at him and made herself forget her worries and face what would come. Her only mission was to keep this boy safe, and she would do it against all odds.
"Fine…I'm fine." She forced out, her voice a bit unsteady. The murmurs continued, growing louder in their denouncement of her.
Then, Granger suddenly stood up. "Wait, aren't you the Vice President of the United States? I saw you picture just yesterday in the news." She said loudly enough so that her voice carried to all corners of the hall.
Sevti calmed a bit, this was her element now. She knew what to do as Vice President. She smiled her politician's smile, inwardly she was smiling shakily, still not over the shock of getting into Gryffindor. So the girl had finally noticed. Being a muggle born, it had just been a matter of time before Hermione made the connection.
"Yes. I am."
Granger smiled brightly and eagerly held out her hand.
"My God, I saw you on the train! I was so stupid. I didn't recognize you at all. It's ever so nice to meet you Ms. Vice President."
Sevti smiled. "Just Sevti, if you please. Or, if I may go as far as to ask you to call me Sev?"
Granger blushed. Sevti pretended to hold back a laugh and just smiled the more.
"Oh, of course Ms… Sev." The brunette said haltingly.
Sevti then looked around with slightly widened eyes, and let a slight blush cross her cheeks.
"Um…I believe we're interrupting the Sorting." She looked to the Head Table. "Sorry." She said meekly. Dumbledore smiled at her and Sevti found herself looking into twinkling blue eyes. She forced herself to look away. The man controlled much power. She could barely help but be blinded by the magical aura she perceived. She would meet this legendary man later, in the confines of the Headmaster's office.
"Quite all right Ms. Sheikh. Not of your doing. And we haven't had this much excitement in a Sorting Ceremony in years. I must, however, ask you to take you seats. We should get on with the ceremony or some here may famish with hunger," he said with eyes twinkling all the more and a ready smile.
"Professor McGonagall, if you would continue with the Sorting." He said benignly.
Professor McGonagall smiled thinly. Obviously, she didn't take too kindly to having the ceremony interrupted, even though the Headmaster didn't mind.
Sevti smiled and made sure to keep her face impassive until she felt the many eyes staring at her turn their attention back to the Sorting. All of the eyes, that was, except for those of the Slytherins. She turned to meet the eyes of those on the table, and tried to catch Draco's eye.
Draco was looking at her with an expression of shock. Obviously it wasn't about the debacle that had just occurred, but about the house that she was in. He, like her, honestly hadn't believed that she would be able to get into Gryffindor. She hoped that he would let her explain. But the look of betrayal in his eyes told her otherwise. She sighed inwardly and wondered if she had failed one of her missions already. Had she pushed him too far away and broken his trust? She left that line of though for another time.
Potter caught her attention and she pulled her eyes away from the Slytherin Table.
"Are you sure you're all right? What was that all about? The Slytherins are glaring are all glaring at you. Surely they can't be mad at you for interrupting the ceremony." Potter asked again.
Sevti smiled slightly. "You know that I am part of an upstanding pureblood family. Purebloods usually go to Slytherin or Ravenclaw at the worst. Mind you, families like the Weasleys aren't considered purebloods by my kind because they mingle with half-bloods and muggle-borns. They are considered blood-traitors. I have just been sorted into Gryffindor. The rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin is infamous. I am as good as an outcast now. Not that I got along with any of them in the first place."
She felt her heart wrench when she though of Draco. He was like a little brother to her, though she would never admit it.
Potter frowned. "Does it really make that much of a difference?"
Sevti smiled wryly, "I wish it didn't, Harry."
Then Potter blushed. "I didn't know you were famous." He said.
Sevti smiled. "I am, but I wish for the world that I wasn't. And don't forget, you're famous too. I just like to act like a normal kid. There's nothing special about being famous unless you make it that way."
The raven haired boy looked at her with wide eyes.
"So I don't have to act different?"
Sevti sent the boy a mock glare.
"If you get an oversized ego, Mr. Potter, you will have me to answer to. But really, Harry, you just have to be yourself, whoever that is. People like you for who you are, not who you pretend to be."
Potter smiled at her warmly and she couldn't help but smile back. The kid was so… cute, adorable, just… she guessed the word was teddy bear-ish."
Just then The Gryffindors around them started clapping and Potter and Sevti started clapping along with them, turning to see who had just been sorted. Weasley was coming towards them with a relieved smile on his face. He seemed more relaxed now that he had been sorted. He sat down on Harry's other side.
Blaise Zabini was made a Slytherin. Sev had expected no less, the boy couldn't stand muggles, muggle-borns, half-bloods, or blood-traitors. The only house absent of most of those was Slytherin.
Dumbledore got to his feet in a swift motion. He was the picture of a doting Grandfather as he surveyed the Hogwarts population. He caught Sevti's eye and gave her a smile. She smiled back.
The Headmaster opened his arms wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to have seen them all there in the Great Hall that night.
"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!
"Thank you!"
Sevti couldn't help the soft snort of laughter that escaped her. The students slowly looked away from the Headmaster, some of their lips twitching in the effort not to laugh. When she glanced down at the table, she saw that the plates that lined it were now full the brim with food of all kinds.
She noticed Potter talking to a redhead that looked like another one of Ron's brothers. She figured she should get introduced. She smiled at the boy with the prefects' badge. He smiled back.
"Hello, my name is Percy Weasley." He said pompously. He stuck his hand out for her to shake.
She shook his hand with a straight face.
"Nice to meet you Percy. I met your brother Ron on the Hogwarts Express," Sevti said.
"Really, I hope he was civil," the older Weasley said, sending a disapproving look towards his younger brother, who immediately went red.
"He was perfectly civil." Sevti said with a laugh. "What would give you the impression that he wasn't. You have an awesome brother, Percy."
The older Weasley seemed to bluster and then mumbled something about how Ron really was a good kid and that he, Percy, had had no doubts and was only joking.
Sevti smiled and assured him that it was quite all right.
The two twins that Sevti had seen earlier seemed to grow impatient with their brother, because they butted in at that second.
"Now now Perce, lets let everyone meet our new celebrity…" said one.
"No wait, there's two of hem. We've really got a good crowd this year… "said the other.
"Do you play Quidditch..."
"But of course they're not allowed on the house teams…"
"Well, there's always next year…."
"Anyway, we'd better introduce ourselves to the kind lady…"
"As Mr. Potter has already made our acquaintance…"
"Fred…"
"And George…"
"Weasley…"
"At your service."
Sevti smile at the two. No doubt that display had been designed to make her confused as to who was who, but there were slight differences between the two that Sev had noticed.
"Hello George," she said, holding her hand out to him.
He smiled charmingly, and took her hand.
She them turned to Fred and offered him her hand, which he shook as well.
"Well, if you'll excuse us…"
"We have to eat."
Sevti smiled and started piling food on her plate herself.
She took some steak and roast potatoes. She paused and then added some peas. She started chewing and listened to the conversations going on around her. Most of the students were involved in discussions about their parents and ancestry.
Finally, the conversation came to her and she found that almost the entirety of Gryffindor table was looking at her expectantly.
"Well, I'm a pureblood…" she said evasively. She didn't want to discuss her family. Not now, when she was no doubt going to receive a howler from Amjad in the morning. Amjad had done so much for her. She had been a bastard child. Her mother had died in childbirth. Amjad could have left her on the streets to die. Instead, he had raised her as his own. She couldn't hate the man, but nor could she love him. He was a Dark Wizard.
They kept on looking at her expectantly.
"Well, what else do you want to know? I'm a Sheikh. I became the Vice President of the United States. Surely you could just look all this up?" Sevti said, she cursed under her breath when her voice wavered.
They thought she was dark. She had heard he whispers. Would she be an outcast in her own house? The Slytherins were already glaring at her.
It seemed that someone had noticed her discomfort, because before she knew it, a tall, curly brown haired boy came up to stand beside her and shoed off the gazes of the other Gryffindors.
She turned around in her seat to look up at the boy, taking in his Ravenclaw badge and another badge that was pinned to his robes that she couldn't read.
"I'm sorry, I don't know who you are," she said politely, not knowing what the boy wanted with her. He had a roundish face and dark eyes that were filled with warmth.
"Oh, sorry," he said, he straightened his robes so that she could read the badge while simultaneously introducing himself. "My name is Iason Xander, I'm the Head Boy of Hogwarts."
"Nice to meet you, Iason," Sevti replied. "I guess you already know who I am."
"Oh yes. My parents are muggles, so I got to know about the whole debacle in America when they put you in office."
Sevti smiled. "Well, I was better than the other guy, which is why most of the people agreed to put me in office."
Iason laughed. "Well, I think you were the right choice as well, judging by what I've heard on the news. But let's return to why I came here, shall we. It wasn't only to save you from a mob of Gryffindors."
Sevti smiled. Iason was one of those people who naturally put you at ease.
"And why was it then. I have to admit it was nice having a knight in shining armor come to the rescue," Sevti said, nodding towards his Head Boy badge.
Iason laughed. "Well, Professor Dumbledore asked me to escort you to his office after the feast. He said that you knew why." He raised an eyebrow comically. "Don't tell me that you're in trouble already. Classes haven't even started yet!"
Sevti smiled, and then said playfully. "No. I'm not in trouble… yet."
Iason smiled. "Well, I'll be waiting by the staff table after the feast, and we'll make our way to the Headmaster's office from there."
Sevti smiled, "All right. Thanks Iason, I'll do that."
The tall boy smiled and excused himself to go back to the Ravenclaw table.
Sevti rejoined the conversation that the Gryffindors were having, but thankfully, no one asked her about her family again.
Finally, as the deserts faded and disappeared, Dumbledore once again rose from his seat at the Staff table. The hall fell silent.
"Ahem – just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.
"First years should not that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."
Dumbledore's eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins and Sevti smirked. The two looked like trouble makers. All doubts were removed by the mischievous grins that they sent to the Headmaster.
"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.
"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house team should contact Madame Hooch.
"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
Sevti frowned. What was going on? She would have to ask him when she went to his office after the feast.
"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!"
Dumbledore conjured a golden ribbon and shaped it to form words. Sevti watched, bemused, as all of the teacher's smiles became rather plastered-on looking. A dark-haired professor was downright glaring.
"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"
And the school bellowed:
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot."
Sevti immediately got a headache as the students started bellowing various tunes at the same time. The cacophony was endless, and she found that she wished that she had glared just as much as the dark-haired Professor had in the beginning.
However, she quickly said the words at a fast pace and waited for the rest of the school to finish.
Finally, only the Weasley twins were left. They were chanting in unison to a slow funeral march. Sevti could have killed them for going on for so long.
Dumbledore was the only one to clap hard at the staff table, though the teachers made short clap-like motions. Then most returned to rubbing their heads, no doubt in an effort to alleviate their headaches.
Ah, nice, sane, adults. Sevti thought. The Headmaster was either barmy, or was a very skilled actor. She suspected the later.
"Ah, music," he wiped his eyes theatrically. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"
She quickly turned to Potter and co., and said that she would catch up with them later, and that she had to take care of something.
Potter frowned slightly, glancing at the Slytherins, who had by now turned back to their own conversations, leaving Sevti free of malicious glares. He reluctantly nodded and bid her goodnight. The rest of the Gryffindors that she had met had overheard her conversation with Potter and bade her goodnight as well.
She smiled at them all and then made her way towards the Head table. Most of the teachers had already left, with the exception of Hagrid, who was making sure the prefects knew what they were doing. Soon, the tall man left as well.
Sevti made her way to Iason as the Hall cleared. She smiled brightly at him.
He smiled back. "Ah, so you survived the lions for an entire meal?" He asked.
"Just barley, Iason, just barely." She responded.
She then moved to stand beside him and was startled by just how tall he really was. She hadn't noticed as much at the table because she had been sitting down, but he had to be a good foot taller than her, maybe a bit more.
He smiled as he looked down at her. "Ah, such a little midget." He sighed dramatically.
"I'm actually taller than all of the other first years. Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley, and Dean Thomas are the only ones who come close." Sevti retorted playfully.
"Ah, well, you're all midgets to me." He said.
"Well, shall we go to the Headmaster's Office? I have to admit that the earlier I go to bed, the better. It's been a long day." Sevti said, breaking off their banter.
"Sure." Iason replied. "I'll lead the way."
"But, I can't help but wonder," Iason said as he started making his way to the office. "Why are you here, aren't you needed in the United States?"
Sevti smiled. "Well, there are some things I need to get done in England and its better if my enemies can't find me while I do them. I talked to Professor Dumbledore and he agreed to let me come here for as long as I would. I… I needed a break."
Iason smiled, though this time softly and with kindness. "It's got to be hard, being Vice President of America. You probably don't get a lot of breaks. Not to mention the rumors going around that your Grandfather is about ready to disown you."
Sevti smiled wryly. "It is hard, but it's worth all of the sacrifices if I keep my country safe."
"I guess so." Iason said.
The rest of their walk through the winding halls was quiet, with Iason occasionally explaining where certain classes and such were. Sevti paid close attention. It would not do to get lost. Hogwarts was a very large place. Sevti memorized what Iason said about certain staircases and doors that operated on timetables or only on certain days. It really was quite interesting.
Finally they reached a stone Gargoyle set in an enclave. Sevti looked at Iason questioningly, but the Head Boy just smiled.
He turned to the statue and muttered "Sugar Quills" The Gargoyle jumped aside to allow them access to the staircase hidden behind it.
She waited for Iason to precede her, but he shook his head. "I'll be going to my rooms now. The Head Boy and Head Girl get their own rooms with an adjacent sitting room, one of the perks of being perfect prefects."
Sevti smiled at his play on words.
"No doubt the Headmaster will tell you how to get to your dorms. You know, I like you, we'll talk later."
Sevti smiled at the tall teen. "What if I don't want to talk to you, eh?"
"Well, I shall just have to throw myself off of the Astronomy tower, milady. I won't be denied your presence and clever banter."
Sevti smiled. "Please don't, kind sir, I would be left bereft without your presence"
"Ah, no. Never that." Iason said with mock horror. "Well, the Headmaster must be waiting. I shall see you tomorrow in the Great Hall for breakfast. Don't oversleep!"
Sevti smiled again. She watched as he made his way down the corridor and out of sight, whistling all the while. She couldn't really remember when she had last smiled this much.
She turned to the spiraling staircase that led to the Headmaster's office, and prepared herself for the discussion to come.
A/N: Wow. I didn't expect the entire feast scene to be so long. I guess that I'll have to move Sevti's conversation with the teachers back a chapter. Sorry, this might be a bit of a cliffe.