"Slytherin."
Two emotions filled my body at that moment. Excited relief ran through my veins as I made my way down to the Slytherin table, their cold eyes burning into my skin. I was about to sit at the end, with all the other first years, but before I could a heard someone whisper my name. A slim girl with straight, long, black hair was gesturing me towards her, a rather fake looking smile plastered on her face. I slowly sat down next to her and then the second emotion started to kick in.
Here I was, a muggle-loving Gryffindor, sitting amongst Gryffindor-hating Slytherins. My stomach began to church again, and my appetite was lost. The only thing I wanted was to go back up to the Sorting Hat and just ask to be put in a different house, any house but here.
"Hey, can I call you Nev or something?" the black-haired girl whispered as the sorting went on. I looked to her a little shocked. Nev? I had been called Ginny my whole life…but something, right then took over me. I didn't want to be Ginny Weasley anymore, nor could I. Ginny was the Gryffindor. I was now a Slytherin.
"Yeah, Nev is good. Umm, what's your name?" I asked, nervous as anything, almost ready to puke.
"Gibson, Charlotte Gibson. But everyone calls me Lottie. You're from Gryffindor right?" she said, with not much interest. I was rather confused by this girl. She was being friendly, but it seemed as though she was being made to do it. I answered her quickly, and I guess by my tone she knew what I was thinking.
"I can tell you're nervous, and trust me, if I was in your shoes, I'd be too. But don't worry. Not all Slytherins hate Gryffindors. I mean, I'm not gonna lie, some do. But I don't. And we don't all hate muggles and worship You-Know-Who. I mean, yes there are the select few who do…but well I don't really hang out with them, or anyone for that matter. I'm kinda a loner…my old friends ditched me last year for the more popular crowd…" and she kept going and going. Not that I minded much. I already had a friend which was nice. But my mind was a little distracted as my eyes met the one reason I wanted to be sitting where I was. Draco was looking sulky and depressed, his gray eyes looking down at the cherry word table, Pansy's chubby arm hooked in his. I all of a sudden got the urge to kick her. Draco lifted his head an at once we made eye contact. He gave me a small, sweet smile and I returned it.
Very abruptly, food materialized in front of my eyes. Every now and then when I looked up from my dinner, I'd catch Draco's eyes and start blushing. Being in the same house with him was going to be harder than I thought. And maybe it was my imagination, but the food I was eating did not taste as good as Gryffindor's.
After I finished my dinner, my eyes began to feel drowsy and all I wanted to do was sleep. Dumbeldore quickly dismissed us and although I was as tired as anything my legs carried my body so slowly. As Lottie and I walked silently to the dungeons, I heard my name being called out.
"Miss Weasley," came the voice of Severus Snape, "I'd like to have a word you with you and Mr. Malfoy in my office."
To be in the same room with her was killing me. She sat there looking at her feet, twirling her hair in her soft fingers. As I sat there, I remember wishing Snape would come soon. But then when he did arrive, I remember thinking it would be better to leave us alone.
"First off, Miss Weasley, welcome to Slytherin." Snape started, and Ginny gave a slight nod, then slowly licked her lips. She had the smallest smile on her mouth, but it was the most gorgeous I think I have ever seen. Her wavy hair hung lightly in front of her face, and I couldn't help but stare. Before Snape started again, she turned to me and caught my eye. My heart began to race and I had to look away before I just took her in my arms.
"Now, because I don't have much time with my classes and all, I have assigned Draco to be your guide around the Slytherin common room and to help you with anything you need." At that moment, my head popped up and I gave Snape a very worried look. My heart started to beat very fast and sweat slowly started to well up on my forehead. How was I supposed to be with her so much? Weasley and Potter would never allow it…but at the same time, this way I could get closer to her. Not because of what Voldemort wanted me to do. I had already decided to forget what he asked of me, and if he killed me for it, so be it. I couldn't do that to her. This plan of Snape's was starting to sound very appealing, and a tiny smile move across my mouth. Ginny, at first, looked as scared as I, but then her mood seem to lighten and she looked fit to burst with happiness. After she agreed, Snape let us go to the dungeons, so I could show her the common room.
Nervousness swept over my body as we walked noiselessly along the deserted corridors. She had her arms folded below her chest and looked at the floor as she walked beside me. The urge to strike up a conversation was no doubt there, but my mind was completely blank. She helped me out with the subject, but what she brought up was the last thing I wanted to talk about.
"Why did your dad beat you, that one day in Diagon Alley?" I have no idea why that sentence escaped my lips, but once it had, regret sunk in. If possible, the hall became even more silent than it already had been, and for a brief second, I looked at him. His pale face was looking around the room, as though the walls could give him an answer. His soft hands were dug deep into his pockets, and as he was looking for the explanation his dark eyes fell upon mine.
"I-I'm not really wanting to talk about that now." He said, in barely a whisper, and I pushed the matter no more.
The rest of the way to the Slytherin house was full of awkward silence. Neither of us spoke, nor made the notion that speaking was needed. About 15 minutes of walking side by side, never inching away from one another, we stopped in front of a very large portrait. Inside the gold frame was placed a painting I had never had my eyes upon before. A mid-teenage girl was sitting in a very old, worn out wooden chair alongside another girl, who looked a little older. Both had fair skin and piercing gray eyes. The younger girl had short auburn hair, almost like mine, that clung tightly to her small rounded face. The other, however, had raven black hair that hung long and loose on her rather large shoulders. Each had long, delicate-looking ball gowns that fit closely around their small, almost perfect bodies. The older girl's dress was a soft pink, while the younger's was a dark, olive green.
"Ahem…" Draco coughed and the girls looked to us, and immediately stopped their talking (or rather gossiping) and their faces both situated into delighted smirks.
"Why hello Draco. What a pleasant surprise!" the older said eyeing him slyly. The younger giggled, but when she saw me standing beside him, she instantly stopped, and gave me an evil look. I looked away from her and to Draco, whose face was still pale, but happy.
"Hello Rose, Chelsea. Long time, no see, eh?" he said smoothly, nodding to both, "I'd like you to meet my friend, Ginevra Weasley." I smiled a little, and Rose smiled back, but the younger girl, Chelsea, still gave me her evil look, then looked back to Draco and plastered an extremely fake smile onto her face. Draco caught this and laughed a cold laugh. He said the password and both girls winked at him before we walked into the common room.
As soon as my eyes met the room, I realized I was walking in a sea of green. I don't think I had ever seen so much green in my life before. Then I realized that every single eye was on me, and none of the faces looked too happy. I looked away from each person and tried to notice every detail of the room.
The shape of it was a large rectangle and the walls looked like hard stone. The floor was carpeted with a soft green color. Directly ahead of us were stairs and then at least seven or eight black leather couches. Far off at the end of the room was a large fireplace decorated with a glowing red and orange fire. We were the main important event for a few seconds, but almost instantaneously everyone got back to their conversations. Lottie came up to me smiling a white smile and said,
"Hey Nev," then turned to Draco and continued, "Draco, do you want me to show her the girls' dormitory?" I looked at his face and it all of a sudden became rather sad. I could tell he didn't want to leave me, and being truthful, I didn't want to leave him. But we both knew that boys couldn't go in the girls' dorm, so he painfully said,
"Yeah, alright. But bring her down afterwards. I have to talk to her about some…stuff." Lottie gave him a cunning smile, took my wrist and headed me up a staircase of dark wood steps.
I waited on a black leather couch by myself for a couple minutes and was perfectly fine with the fact that I was alone. Then, to my dismay, Pansy came wiggling up to me and sat on my lap. She kissed me on the cheek and then her face contorted to anger.
"Why were you with that little scum!" she said her face scrunched up, so that she looked even more like a pug. Right then and there I just wanted to dump her, we never actually officially got together. But I thought it would be rather cruel to do so, so I just smiled and kissed her hand.
"My love, that oaf Dumbeldore asked me to show her around, it's not like I wanted to be with her." Lie. "I would have so wished to be with you and not that dirty old muggle-lover." Another lie. But hey, she was satisfied and so was I. She giggled a little, pressed her lips against mine and left swiftly up to the girls' dormitories. Slowly, yet surely, everyone made their way up to sleep, but I stayed and planned out how exactly to say what I wanted to tell Ginny.
As I planned out my speech, however, there was something that was holding me back. In my heart, I didn't want things to be this way, but at the same time, I knew it had to be. But as I laid there, my head propped up by an enormous feather pillow, my mind drifted off to a place where things didn't have to be this way. Where Ginny and I could be seen together, without half the school going berserk. I knew it was just a dream, but a wonderful thought it was. I don't remember how long I laid there, but after awhile my eyes began to drop and I fell into a deep sleep…
Dream
"I have to go. You need to understand that." I quietly whispered into her ear. Her soft sobs echoed throughout the entrance hall and she was fingering some sort of locket.
"Draco, I don't want you to go. Once you give your life to him…you can't just go back. He'll-"
"Love, you know I am not on his side, don't you? I would do anything to stay here. But you remember what I talked to you about before? Well…he wants to hear updates. And…if I don't show, suspicions will fly. Please, don't worry about me. I'll be back in a week." I wiped away a tear from her pale freckled face and lifted her head so we staring into each other's eyes. We kissed and then I hugged her one last time.
"I will always love you, Ginny." I said before I walked away out into the cold winter air. I looked back once and saw her standing alone, the wind blowing her hair across her crying face. As I made my way across the grounds, tears of my own slid down my cheeks and fell onto the chilly, December snow…
