"Miss Weasley? Miss Weasley, are you alright?" Ginny opened her eyes to see McGonagall standing over her, looking concerned.
"Uh, what happened, Professor?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
"You passed out after the Hat sorted you into Slytherin" Ginny gulped when she noticed that she was still in the Great Hall and almost everyone had their eyes on her.
"I'll just-go to the Slytherin table then" she said weakly as she stood up and made her way to, what she felt was, her worst nightmare. All the Slytherins sitting in front of her were all Death Eaters! How could she learn to become friends with them? She nervously sat down next to a girl with blonde hair and a snooty expression on her face. She looked down as she felt tears threaten to fall.
Suddenly, a girl with black hair and blue eyes sat down opposite her; she had a strange look on her face.
"You're Weasley, aren't you?" she questioned. Ginny blinked a few times, then nodded.
"Do you fancy him?" she asked as she jabbed her finger over to Sirius. Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"Sirius Black?" she snorted "Not in the lifetime" The girl grinned and stuck out her hand.
"Pleased to meet you, I'm Bellatrix Black" Ginny stared. Sirius had a relative?
"I'm Narcissa Black" the girl sitting next to her said as she turned and smiled slightly. Ginny felt her lips tug into a smile.
"Ginny Weasley" she said as she apprehensively shook their hands.
"Hey, we're not going to bite, ya know" Bellatrix told her. Ginny laughed nervously.
"Sorry" she apologized. Bellatrix shook her head as she smirked.
"See that guy down there?" she questioned, jabbing her thumb down the Slytherin table to a guy with black hair and an evil aura about him. Ginny blinked.
"Uh, yeah. What about him?"
"I think he's cute" she said as she grinned evilly "D'you think I'll ever get a chance with him?" Ginny stared at Bellatrix in disbelief. These girls acted just like the girls in her year, in her house even; then again, didn't all girls go through that stage?
"Yeah, I think you and him would make a cute couple" Bellatrix gushed.
"You really think so? His name's Rudolphus Lestrange" Ginny bit her lip, they were married in the future.
"And that guy over there is so hot!" Narcissa squealed "His name's Lucius Malfoy; isn't he adorable?" Ginny's eyes widened. Malfoy?
"Uh, yeah, he's adorable" Ginny said, although not very convincingly.
"Who do you like?" Bellatrix demanded. Ginny jumped on being addressed so suddenly.
"Who do I like? No one!" but feeling the heat on her cheeks, she knew she was blushing.
"Come on, tell us, who is he?"
"Well, he's um, not in this house" Ginny stuttered. Narcissa raised an eyebrow.
"Who?"
"Well … no, I don't wanna say"
"Aw, c'mon!" Bellatrix said with a smirk "You wanna tell us"
"Alright … I like Remus Lupin" she said and bit her lip, waiting for outraged comments from the two female Black's, but none came.
"Remus Lupin? Oh no! He's one of my cousin's friends!" Bellatrix said, looking horrified. Narcissa looked disgusted.
"He isn't even cute!" she spat.
"Well, to me, he is!" Ginny said defiantly "I mean, I don't think Malfoy's cute, but you do, it's all about our taste in men" Bellatrix let out a high-pitched laugh at this statement.
"That's a good one Ginny"
The Marauders and Lily looked over to them with shocked expressions on their faces. Sirius had gone very red in the face. Ginny felt like laughing, but she knew that they would all think she'd gone to the dark side if they saw her having a good time.
"I've got a boyfriend, unfortunately, I really don't like him anymore" Narcissa muttered. Ginny stared at her.
"Who is he?"
"Jonathon Nott, he makes me shudder" Narcissa complained. Ginny stared at the two girls in amazement.
"Can you believe that we've only known each other for about five minutes and we're already confiding in each other?" she questioned with a giggle.
"It's a bit crazy, innit?"
"Oh, who's that guy over there?" Ginny asked, pointing to a guy sitting on his own. He had greasy hair and a hooked nose.
"Oh, that's Snape, Severus Snape. He's a bit of a loser if you ask me" Narcissa informed her. Ginny tutted and felt sympathy towards her future potions master.
"That's not a very nice thing to say!" Ginny retorted.
"But it's true!" Bellatrix exclaimed.
"Careful or I might say I fancy your cousin" Ginny said with an evil grin. Bellatrix and Narcissa both paled.
"Please no, not another one" Bellatrix moaned.
"I'm joking!"
All three of them sat in silence as Ginny found herself humming to "Lullaby", a song that Sirius and Professor Lupin had made up. She loved that song.
"This is my prayer; I've no shame to declare that I'm praying for her. Laid down the love song, made up this melody, oh, let this lullaby, cry out and catch her Ooooh"
What she didn't realize was, while she was singing, most of the Slytherins had stopped to stare at her. Ginny snapped out of her day-dream and glared at them all.
"What are you all looking at?" she snapped "Never heard a girl sing before?" Snape was staring at her strangely and Ginny quickly looked away.
"I think Snape likes you" Bellatrix whispered in her ear. Ginny's head snapped up.
"Don't even joke about it!"
"I'm not" Ginny snorted.
"Whatever"
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"I really need to dump Nott, he's driving me insane" Narcissa moaned as they started walking back to the Slytherin common room. Bellatrix sighed in exasperation at her cousin as she rolled her eyes.
"Look, there's an easy way to deal with it. You see, I am the dumping Queen" Ginny knew she was telling a great BIG lie at this point, seeing as she'd never gone out with a boy in her lifetime "It takes two words: You're dropped" Ginny told her as she put one hand over the other to emphasize it. Narcissa raised an eyebrow.
"You're dropped?" Ginny nodded.
"Easy peasy. You're dropped, you're dropped" By this time, both Black's joined in "you're really, really dropped, you're dropped, you're dropped, you're really, really dropped" All of them burst into fits of giggles as they entered the Slytherin common room. Ginny was absolutely amazed at the two Black's. She expected them to be like Draco Malfoy or maybe even worse, yet they seemed rather normal. Maybe they changed when they got married? Ginny didn't know and she couldn't be bothered to worry about it right at this particular moment. She sighed happily as she plopped herself down on her bed.
"You're gonna dump Nott tomorrow morning, right?" Bellatrix questioned her cousin. Narcissa nodded.
"Yep"
"Okay, then I can get you guys and your dream guys together tomorrow" Ginny said happily "I love playing match-maker"
Narcissa and Bellatrix looked at Ginny as if she'd grown three heads.
"Do you know how hard it is to get them to talk to you on their own? All the guys are always together, in a big gang"
"Well, we'll figure it out tomorrow morning, okay girls? I'm knackered" and with that said, Ginny fell into a deep sleep.
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"I can't believe she's a Slytherin!" Lily exclaimed for the twentieth time that evening "I mean she's such a nice person"
"No, she's not! She mixed with Bellatrix and Narcissa straight away!" Sirius spat.
"So? Maybe they aren't all bad" Lily told him. Sirius stared at her in disbelief.
"These are my cousins we're talking about Lils, I think I know if they're nice or not, anyways, I knew she was bad news from the start"
"That's only because she didn't fall for your charms, Padfoot" Remus informed him.
"Shut up! Prongs, you agree with me, right?" Sirius questioned his best friend. James looked thoughtful.
"Could it be possible that the Sorting Hat made a mistake?" he asked "I mean you heard Ginny, didn't you? "If I'm put in any other house other than Gryffindor, I'll kill myself"
"I don't think she meant it" Peter spoke up. The others nodded.
"But, you saw the look on her face when the Hat yelled out Slytherin, it was one of pure shock and horror and she passed out!" Lily pointed out. The Marauders nodded.
"I think we should try to give her a chance and if she turns out to be one of them, then she's our enemy" James said. The others nodded in agreement, while Lily looked doubtful.
"I saw her walking to the Slytherin common room with Bellatrix and Narcissa earlier. They looked like they were having fun" The Marauders stared at her in shock.
"What were they talking about?" Sirius demanded. Lily giggled.
"Well, your cousin Narcissa wants to dump her boyfriend, but she doesn't know how to and-and Ginny … she said that-that she was the d-dumping Queen" she said as she started giggling madly "I'm sorry, but it was funny" Remus raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"She said that there are only two words that you have to say: You're dropped" she said as she put one hand over the other "Oh man, I wish she was in our house, I watched her walk all the way to the Slytherin common room, she's nothing like them!" Lily told them. James looked worried.
"If she's nothing like them, then they'll no doubt change her before you can say "Quidditch"" he informed her.
"I don't think so. She doesn't look like one of those girls who can be messed around with. Did you see her yell at the rest of the Slytherin table earlier? I dunno what it was about, but it was hilarious" Remus grinned.
"I think we should give Ginny a chance" James told the rest of the group "Okay, gang?" Sirius nodded reluctantly.
"I can't believe we're giving a Slytherin a chance to be friends with us" he muttered under his breath, so no one else could hear him.
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Ginny nervously approached Snape.
"Um, hello? Are you Snape?" she questioned. Snape looked up and stared at the girl with narrowed eyes.
"What do you want? I'm trying to write a potions essay. It has to be in tomorrow" he replied coldly.
"I'm sorry; I just … wouldn't mind getting to know you, that's all" Snape stared at her in disbelief.
"You want to get to know me?" he asked incredulously. Ginny nodded and put on a small smile.
"Is that alright?" she asked. Snape nodded and made room for her to sit down next to him. Ginny took the seat and studied her potions professor in amazement. He didn't look that bad, apart from the greasy hair. They were both sitting in the library and Snape was writing his essay by candlelight.
"So, do you like it here so far?" Snape asked. Ginny smiled.
"It's okay, I guess, but remember; I've only been here for a few hours. So tell me, what's it like here?" she questioned, pretending to look interested.
"Well, the lessons are alright, Quidditch is brilliant and stay away from Gryffindors, especially Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew" he spat out the names as if they were dirty swear words. Ginny stared at him in shock. She knew that Snape and Sirius hated each other, but she didn't realize he hated the others with as much hate as he gave Sirius.
"Oh, right" she muttered weakly "So, what's your first name or do I have to keep calling you by your first name? I heard someone call you Snivellus, is that it?" Snape flushed bright red as he slammed the book shut. Ginny, realizing what she'd just said stood up and looked alarmed.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend-"
"Leave me alone Weasley!" Snape spat.
"Wait, Snape, please, I swear, I didn't mean to-"
"I said LEAVE ME ALONE!" He shouted as he stormed off. Ginny tried to run after him, but he was faster. Stopping by a wall and leaning on it to catch her breath back, she cursed.
"Oh, Ginny, you're so stupid! Oh, so what's your first name? Is it Snivellus?" she said in a high pitched voice "Well done! He could've helped you in potions! He might've been a help to get good grades, but no, I had to go and offend him by calling him the bloody nickname that the Gryffindors, or should I say, the Marauders call him!" Ginny smacked herself around the face as she made her way back to the Slytherin common room, cursing under her breath all the while. Meanwhile The Marauders had heard the whole conversation between Snape and Ginny and they were greatly amused at how Ginny insulted Snape. She acted more like a Gryffindor, than a Slytherin.
