Oswald meet up with Alexandra shortly after they arrived at the castle and began hissing about how he had scared a group of students. Alexandra tuned him out, which in itself was quite hard, he was, after all, laying across her shoulder and was therefore very close to her ears.
It had been entertaining to watch the others reaction to Oswald, Draco had seen him before so he wasn't surprised. The other pureblood-children though now looked at her as if she was some kind of demigod. How would they react if they knew she could speak to them too? The thought, while captivating, was quickly brushed away. She couldn't risk them telling their deatheater parents.
Yet the most enjoyable reaction came from the redhead, Ronald, she had met briefly before boarding the train. He had practically squealed in fear, making Draco and his friends grin.
"… is awarded the house cup. Now follow me."
She had totally forgotten to listen to McGonagall so she just followed the deputy mistress inside what she assumed was the great hall. Here Alex's eyes quickly searched the tables were she found the two redheads and Lee. George give her a playful wink while Fred made a funny face and Lee just waved. She replied with a blank stare that earned her three frowning Gryffindors.
McGonagall placed an old battered hat on a chair, and then the hat cracked open into something that was probably supposed to be an imitation of a mouth. With a wailing voice it began singing:
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
Alexandra politely clapped together with the rest of the school, and then the sorting began. It was fairly boring: A person sat down on the chair, the hat was placed on his, or her, head and then it would spit out a house. She zoned out… Maybe she could send an owl to the bookshop later on… she had run out of reading material already…
"Greengrass, Daphne"
She looked up and saw Greengrass's emotionless face just before it was covered by the hat.
"Slytherin"
Then Draco, Theo and the pug faced girl, Pansy Parkinson, were sorted into Slytherin too.
"Potter, Alexandra"
The sound of whispers spread like wildfire across the room. She caught the eyes of a gaping Draco and a bewildered Theo, she erased all emotion from her face and sashayed up to the chair. Just before the hat went on, she plastered on a regal smile. Then everything went dark.
"Miss Potter, a complex mind I see. Yes, I see a great deal of potential in you. You wouldn't fit into Hufflepuff," she scowled, no loyal army then, "you're simply to ambitious to really fit in, you're not especially nice either, or loyal… You would fit well into Ravenclaw: You're very intelligent and you wish to learn everything there is to know. You are brave too, but not overtly so, Gryffindor is out then. Slytherin would fit you too: You're very ambitious and certainly cunning, yes, I see greatness if you chose that path. Now which one should I chose?"
Is the hat giving me a choice?
"Well, yeah, I don't see why not…"
Then I want the path that'll bring me the most power.
"Are you sure my dear, it wont necessarily be the correct path."
I'm sure. The only thing that matters is power and I wish to be in control.
"Then you will do great in SLYTHERIN."
.
.
Draco was surprised to find out Alexandra was the girl-who-lived, he was not surprised when she was sorted into Slytherin. The girl had a snake draped around her neck for Merlin's sake, of course she was a Slytherin.
The others, however, seemed shocked: The entire hall was quiet, no one clapped.
Nott gave him a glance, and he nodded. They both began clapping, soon they were followed by Zabini from across the hall, Greengrass and, surprisingly, professor McGonagall & five Gryffindor students: Two of them he recognised, it was the timid boy and the bushy haired girl they had met on the train, the other three he didn't recognise, it was two redheads and a boy with dreadlocks.
If the lack of clapping had any effect on Alexandra she hid it well, not even the slightest trace of emotion could be seen on her face as she walked towards the Slytherin table. Draco made a space between him and Parkinson: It seemed beneficial for both of them, she got a place to sit and he got away from Parkinson.
"Low blow Draco," she murmured. He couldn't help laughing.
Nott looked at him as if he was going mad. Well maybe he was, letting Potter sit beside him, being, did he dare call it friends, with Potter.
"One day Potter you'll have to tell me how you do that, I have known Malfoy since we were six and I've never gotten the little bugger to laugh." Nott's commentary on his behaviour got him to stop laughing: He was right Draco Malfoy never laughed, how come this girl could crack him up in seconds when no one else came even close?
"Please, call me Alexandra, Theo. And I must admit I find it quite easy, you mustn't have tried very hard. I, think the hard thing is to get him to stop laughing." Alexandra accompanied the sentence with a slight smirk. Then she stopped talking and instead clapped at Blaise Zabini who had just been sorted into Slytherin too.
"Make space Parkinson," Alexandra instructed. It was a command for sure, and Draco couldn't help but think that she was rather good at giving commands. Pansy Parkinson tumbled but did as she was told and, thereby, making a space for Zabini to sit.
Blaise had been the last person to be sorted, so as soon as he was sat at the table the headmaster, Dumbledore, rose from his seat to tell the students that the third floor was of limits, and then invited the students to pick a tune and sing the Hogwarts song.
Nothing could've prepared Alexandra Potter for the cacophony of mismatched voices that came next.
"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."
The last words were sung by Fred and George who, for some incomprehensible reason, had chosen to sing at a very slow pace in a solemn tone. Then the food appeared.
Alex scrunched her nose, she already missed Caroline's homemade food, but she guessed this would have to do.
After the meal they were led to the Slytherin common room by a fifth year prefect.
.
As it turned out Slytherins did not have separate dorms for the boys and girls, something Alexandra found quite stupid… In a few years they would all be hormone driven teenagers, what had Salazar Slytherin thought making shared dormitories?
"Wan't to share a dorm with me and Zabini?" Draco's glanced at her then nodded at Parkinson. He leaned in close to her.
"Please Alexandra, She's scary, I'm begging you here." His whisper was barely audible.
"What will I get out of this Draco?"
"Come on, Alexandra," his voice turned whiny, "I carried your trunk and I didn't take any payment for that."
Alex just shook her shoulders, "your loss, now decide, I can call Parkinson over at any moment."
"What do you want?" At this Alexandra smiled, a sadistic smile.
"I want you Draco, all of you. Your love, your adoration, your loyalty," he visibly shivered, "but that would be a bit of an overkill, now wouldn't it?" She willed herself to reach out and trace his jawline with her fingertips.
"Now back to the issue at hand," she moved away from him, "I want you to carry my backpack around for me, do we have a deal?"
For a long time they just stood there, staring at each other. Draco's eyebrows furrowed, then he slowly nodded his head.
"I'm glad we've reached a mutual understanding Draco."