Arguing with an old fashion accessory was not how Evanna had imagined her first night of Hogwarts going.
"NO!" she said. "I'm at Hogwarts-I'm away from my family for the first time-you can't just send me back to them!"
The Sorting Hat chuckled. "You truly know nothing," it said amusedly.
"I know enough to blast you off the face of the earth," she growled.
"Should I not place you in Slytherin, where would I put you? You are no Hufflepuff," it reasoned.
"Anywhere. I don't care. I just want out from my father's thumb," she replied.
"My dear, you have never been under your father's thumb," it told her. "And in Slytherin you will rise so far that Lucius Malfoy would never be able to touch you."
Evanna pictured it in her mind's eye. Making her own allies in the House of Snakes, giving and taking favors, gaining respect and power, starting out of Hogwarts with an internship and connections, climbing her way up and shedding the Malfoy name until she was standing taller than all of them.
"So, léitheoir aigne, what do you say?" the Sorting Hat rumbled. Those words again, she would have to focus on that later.
"Are you sure you can't just send me to Gryffindor?" she all but whined. The Sorting Hat chuckled.
"The only one that would be more upset about that than my maker would be SLYTHERIN!"
The last word was said aloud, to the applause of the Great Hall. Evanna smoothed her skirt primly as she stood, making her way slowly to the table at the far left side of the hall, though not without a dirty look to the Sorting Hat. Her brother clapped her on the shoulder, but leaned over to her to mutter disapprovingly.
"You were almost a hatstall. What took so long?"
Evanna looked at him coolly. "I told you-I won't be Lucius Malfoy's prisoner any longer. The Sorting Hat just had to convince that I could do that without going to Gryffindor."
Her brother choked. "Gryff-"
"Shh, Draco," she said haughtily. "There is a Sorting ceremony going on."
Like they had predicted in the compartment, Bridget was Sorted into Hufflepuff and Ginny into Gryffindor, though Evanna noted that the girl looked a little disheartened as she went to sit with the lions. The feast was delicious, though Evanna did almost find herself wishing for the long oak table at the Manor, on the nights it had just been her and her mother as her father was out of town. She wrinkled her nose as her brother's friends, Crabbe and Goyle, overstuffed their plates and mouths.
"That's really who you choose to spend your time with?" she said derisively.
"Oi, Malfoy!" someone called from down the table. Evanna turned to see a dark-skinned boy with closely shaved hair and sparkling eyes. "You never told us you had a sister."
The boy winked at her. Evanna felt her cheeks burn.
"Shove off, Zabini," Draco glowered, halfway blocking Evanna with his body. "I didn't mention her to you for good reason."
Evanna shoved her way around him, holding out a hand as though she were some great lady. Which I will be. "You may call me Evanna."
"Then you may call me Blaise, fair lady," the boy said, giving her hand a dapper kiss. Evanna all but giggled. Draco looked between the two with obvious distaste.
"You're about to make me lose my supper, Zabini," he drawled.
"Anyone hear anything about Potter and the Weasel yet?" a whiny voice said from down the table. Draco's face crumpled in disgust for a moment before smoothing to the usual aristocrat in a way that Evanna knew the voice could belong to only one person: Pansy Parkinson.
"No, but I assume that they must be with Snape-he's been gone all night," someone else said down the table.
Draco looked almost gleeful. "Then surely that means that they'll be expelled!"
Evanna felt her heart pound uncomfortably at the thought. She had been wanting to see the boy with the broken glasses again, ever since she had met him earlier that summer. But for him to be expelled before she ever even got the chance…?
"Don't be so sure, Malfoy," Blaise replied. "Dumbledore and McGonagall have left now."
Draco said something that Evanna knew their mother would have never stood for. Before their conversation was able to go any further, however, the dishes disappeared from in front of them, eliciting groans from the hulking beasts that Draco called friends. Evanna wrinkled her nose.
"First years! First years this way!" a girl with a Prefect pin on her chest was calling, waving the Slytherins her way.
"Oi, midgets, get moving or get lost in the dungeons for three days!" her male counterpart followed up.
"Classy, Warrington," the girl sneered.
"Always, Padgett."
"You better get on," Draco said. "We'll see you in the dungeons."
Evanna nodded, clambering out from the table as gracefully as possible and joining the small group of Slytherin first years-and it was small. There were only four boys in her year and three girls. Evanna knew that Purebloods generally had very few children but it was more than that-the year she had been born was when the Dark Lord was at the height of his power. As she looked across the hall, she noted that her House did not have the only small incoming class. Growing up when she did, she knew that the war had been devastating to the Wizarding World in an intellectual sense; now she truly saw it for the first time.
"Is that all of you?" Padgett said with a sort of resigned look on her face. "Let's move."
The two Prefects began leading the first years through the corridors, the atmosphere growing darker and cooler as they drew closer to the dungeons.
"How far down do you think we'll go?" a blonde girl with glasses that made her look rather owlish asked nervously.
"Why? You scared of the dark?" one of the boys snickered, a nasty look on his face. Evanna decided that she did not like him.
"Any sane person should be," she informed him coolly. "Don't you know what lives in the dark?"
The boy must have seen something in Evanna's face that made him nervous because he quickly shut up and hustled to the front of the group. She smirked at him.
"Alright, little Snakelings," Padgett said, stopping in front of a nondescript door. "Welcome to your new home."
"Mind you don't forget the password-it changes every fortnight and if you forget to check it, you're just outta luck," Warrington said nastily. The first years clustered closer to him to make sure they did not miss the password. "Avalon."
The door sprang open and the students all filed in. If looking at Hogwarts had felt like coming home, the Common Room felt like a look inside of Evanna's soul. Directly across the room was a long window that seemed to have been carved from the rock itself. As she watched, a merwoman swam past, waving at an older student and making several hand gestures in quick succession, that the student seemed to respond to. There was a low fire burning in the stone fireplace, making what could have been damp and cold inviting. The room was decorated in rich greens and burnished silver, with low, plush couches that would not have looked out of place in the home of a Roman aristocrat. Without truly meaning to, a soft smile came to Evanna's face.
"Welcome to Slytherin House, firsties," Padgett said with a grin. "You all have a lot to live up to-Merlin was one of ours after all-but the Sorting Hat must've seen something in you lo-"
"I can take it from here, Ms. Padgett," a low voice said. From the shadows emerged a man who seemed to be draped in shadows himself. His lank hair was as dark as hers, and his skin just as pale, though he seemed a little more on the sickly side. All in all, he had the appearance of an overgrown bat. "You all will refer to me as Professor Snape or sir. I shall have the overrated privilege of trying to make you each into competent potion brewers in addition to being your Head of House."
Severus Snape. Evanna had heard the name before, and knew that he ran the same soial and political circles as her father, as well as being her brother's favorite professor. However, like so many names she knew, she had never met the man in person. He was intriguing, to say the least.
"In your seven years here, you will learn to comport yourself with the utmost of dignity and uphold the Slytherin ethos of tradition, fraternity, and excellence," he said pacing the line of new students, eyes landing on each one. "This means that no disagreement with a House mate will leave this Common Room and that any just punishment you receive from another teacher I will give you double."
The same nasty boy from earlier opened his mouth and Professor Snape held up a finger, giving half a smirk.
"That also means that I will always fight for you when that punishment is unearned," he said slowly. "You shall always do your very best in your classes and seek assistance from your Prefects or myself when your efforts are insufficient. And finally, your appearance shall always reflect the long tradition of excellence that our House has held. With that in mind-Eva Blishwick."
The blonde girl jumped forward as Professor Snape read her name from a scroll. He handed her a silver and green tie, and a patch with a swirling snake on it.
"The House-elves shall see to it that all of your uniform robes have your crest and are properly lined with green," he told the room at large before speaking to her directly. "Wear it well."
Blishwick nodded and darted back to the line.
"Elias Gamp!" A boy with a smattering of freckles darted forward. "Wear it well. Elin Gamp." The girl who was obviously his twin stepped forward, almost at his hip. "Wear it well. Jaime Hughes." The nasty boy who had made fun of Eva Blishwick. "Wear it well. Teagan Leroy." A lanky brunette. "Wear it well. Evanna Malfoy."
Professor Snape had paused before he read off her name and his eyes snapped up to her own immediately.
She looks nothing like Lucius.
Evanna blinked in confusion and took a few measured steps to her new Head of House, his fathomless eyes burrowing into her very being as she took her tie and crest from his tapered fingers. She wondered absently if he had ever played piano, like her mother had taught her to do when she was young.
"Wear it well," he said slowly, seeming unable to tear his eyes from her. The longer he stared, the more uncomfortable she felt.
"Thank you, sir," she said, just to break the tension. "Is something wrong, sir?"
The professor seemed to shake himself. "Off to bed, all of you. Boys to the left, girls to the right. First years' curfew is 9:30 and all of you are to be in beds, curtains drawn at that time. My prefects will report to me if you are not."
The first years all hustled to do as they were told. Evanna felt so exhausted-and her belly so full-that she knew she would immediately fall asleep. The letter to her mother would have to wait until morning.
A/N: Sorry if I've disappointed anyone, but Evanna has far too much ambition to be anything but a Slytherin. Fun fact: I was 12 when I first imagined this character, and though I was a Draco fan, I despised Slytherin. So did Evanna, who in that version was rather Mary Sue-ish (all-knowing, all-powerful, etc) and when she was Sorted into Slytherin, she basically made herself so annoying to Snape that he would agree to reSort her into Gryffindor.
Now I am 23 and am not only a proud Slytherin, but I also realize how silly of a plot point that was. Luckily, I have grown from that Warriors/Suite Life of Zack and Cody/Wicked/Harry Potter mash up crack fic that my equally crazy best friend used to act out with me, typically with liberal use of her Polly Pockets and Breyer horse collection. I really wish I was kidding.
To my guest reviewer: I do have the pairings planned out, though it will take a bit to get there-it is only Evanna's first year and there are still secrets and hidden powers and a war to be dealt with. Not to mention, the thing that happens the least at Hogwarts-education. ;)
Any way, let me know if you enjoyed and thank you to my reviewers!