Written For:
- Day 5 of 366 Days of Writing challenge: The Great Hall
- The 2016 Monthly Prompt List Challenge (January): The Sorting Hat
- Gringotts Prompt Bank/HP Locations: The Great Hall
- Gringotts Prompt Bank/Emotions & Feelings: Anxious, Nervous, Awkward
- Gringotts Prompt Bank/Proverbs: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
Pairing/Characters: Regulus
Word Count: 326
Little Brother
And in the spring I shed my skin, and it blows away with the changing wind.
"Regulus Black!"
Regulus ambled up to the front of the Great Hall anxiously, feeling the eyes of every one of his peers burning into his back. As he sat down on the stool, he met familiar dark eyes of several members of his family—the majority of which were sat at the Slytherin table, and one of whom was at the other side of the Great Hall.
It wasn't Sirius that was making Regulus nervous, though. It was the judgemental perceptions of his cousins. Whilst Regulus wished he could have Sirius's daring and outgoing personality, it just wasn't the way he was. He wanted to keep people happy; to have a quiet life. He didn't want people looking down at him—especially not the way that they did to Sirius.
Professor McGonagall placed the dusty old hat on his head, and it slipped down over his eyes, filling his nostrils with it's musty smell. He was glad the hat covered his vision, as he no longer had to make awkward eye contact with everyone else in the Great Hall.
Another Black, hmm? You folks breed like rabbits.
Regulus let the Sorting Hat's voice penetrate his mind, and he bit into his bottom lip nervously.
I would say I know just where to put you, but recent developments in your family render me...a little unsure.
"Not Gryffindor," Regulus mouthed, quiet enough for only the Sorting Hat to hear.
Are you sure? Your older brother makes a fantastic Gryffindor. Don't you want to be like him? They do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
"Not for me."
Well, I suppose you've made up my mind. "SLYTHERIN!" the hat bellowed, and McGonagall whipped the hat off his head.
As he hurried over to the Slytherin table, he was filled with relief—but he did his best to avoid Sirius's disappointed expression.
