I'm updating again, which means I am a wonderful person and you should adore me. Well, enjoy your chapter! It's another one from Ginny's perspective. I think I might switch between them regularly! Whatever I decide, you'll see... Bunny out.
Damn it, but she really didn't need this. It was scandalous enough that she even came back, a fact which showed itself very clearly on the journey to the castle. But being sorted into Slytherin? That was news of a completely different calibre.
What was she going to do? The snakes' nest didn't exactly rate first when it came to her preferred living conditions. It worried her what the Slytherins might do to her. She was an ex-Gryffindor, for Merlin's sake! And being the nasty pricks they were, she would have to sleep with one eye open.
Immersed in such thoughts, Ginny was slowly making her way to the Great Hall. After the initial shock had worn off, McGonagall rather coldly notified her that she would pass the information on to professor Snape and then instructed her to go get to the hall where everyone else was assembling.
She was just walking through the entrance hall when she heard her name being called. Spinning around, her eyes met Hermione's. The girl looked shocked and a little hurt, and maybe that was due to Malfoy standing right next to her. That was, until Ginny noticed his Head Boy badge and the fact that he was staring at her as well. Oh, of course. My tie.
They just stood there, shell-shocked, and Ginny was getting more uncomfortable by the minute. "What, is there something in my hair?" she sneered, sick of being scrutinized like that, then turned on her heel and continued on the path she had been taking before. They had no right to judge her like that! It's not like she could have influenced the Hat's decision, for crying out loud! What was done was done and she refused to get all worked up because of it.
The chatter from the tables could already be heard and she was just walking through the door when a hand rested on her shoulder. "Well, well, what do we have here...? A Weasley in Slytherin? Care to explain how that came to be, Freckles?" Malfoy's voice was mocking as usual, but it didn't quite hold that malice it used to as he slowly steered them towards the house table. "It's none of your damn business, Ferret-face." She knew she was being slightly childish, but if he was calling her Freckles, she had all the right in the word to call him names too. "Oh, but I think it is," he brushed off her dismissal. "See, I like to be informed about the things that go on in my House... And right now, Weasley, you are one big mystery that I'd love to solve".
Ginny made a disgusted sound and was about to take a seat at the very end of the table, but the ferret's hand pulled her back up to her feet. "Let me give you a helpful tip, Freckles. In Slytherin, where you sit at the table is extremely important; it shows your social status. Were you to sit at the end, you would immediately establish yourself as the ultimate outsider. I'd rather you don't do that; those spots are reserved for first years. No, you..." He finally let her go and in a seemingly gentlemanly manner gestured for her to take her seat first. "You, Weasley, are sitting right in the middle, next to me."
The redhead didn't know what to think as she sat down. Why the hell was Malfoy, of all people, trying to better her position as an alleged blood traitor in a house that was in a millennia old feud with the one she previously belonged to? It just didn't sit right with her. Giggling at the completely unintended pun she had just made in her mind, the girl nervously righted her skirt. She was too busy with Malfoy to notice the people before, but now she was fully aware that the whole Slytherin table was watching her.
The most unnerving thing was that they weren't even right out staring. Except for the few younger ones with their eyes bulged out, all the older students pretended like her sitting there was old news and now they were simply checking that she behaved like she should. It just wasn't right! If an ex-Slytherin had sat themselves down at the other end of the hall with the lions, wearing their uniform no less, there would be an absolute uproar.
"See? That wasn't so hard," came Malfoy's voice from her right. He too was now sitting and started to chat with a dark-skinned boy opposite of him. Ginny tentatively looked to the left to come eye to eye with Pansy Parkinson. The older girl was watching her with an expression that gave out nothing, before she sighed and let herself smile a little. "Ginny, am I right?" She held out her hand and the redhead took it, flabbergasted. "Yes, and you're Pansy, if I'm not mistaken." She let go and blurted out the thing on her mind. "Not to jinx my first day or anything, but why the hell is everyone treating me nicely? Aren't you supposed to hate me or something?"
The black bob her conversation partner was sporting fell into her eyes as she sighed and muttered something that sounded very much like 'Stupid, stupid Gryffindors'. "Why would I hate you? I know absolutely nothing about you. Despite the popular opinion of our house, we are not all judgemental, conniving pricks, you know." And then Pansy winked and laughed. Probably at the face Ginny must have been making at the moment.
"B-but... How?! You all are always so mean to everyone!" This just couldn't be! Pansy Parkinson most definitely was not a decent person! It would defy all the truths of the world! Well, okay, maybe not that, drastic, but it sure seemed to Ginny. She must be pretending to be nice to me because it's a part of a greater scheme. That explains everything! The rational part of her was telling her this wasn't possible because she didn't know she would be freshly made Slytherin, but Ginny needed to ignore it for her own sanity's sake.
Pansy only sighed again. "Look, you're one of us now; you'll learn how things work around here sooner or later... If Malfoy thought you could sit in the centre, you can't be that bad, and that's all I needed to know." She winked again, a thing she was apparently fond of doing, and despite her will, the redhead felt a twinge in her stomach. What the hell? "Did someone call my name?" the blonde on her right cut in in the next moment and smiled at the pair. "Well, I see you two hit it off well enough. Oh, by the way, Blaise – Ginny, Ginny – Blaise." The darker boy she saw before held out his hand with a dazzling smile and when she took it, he pressed a kiss to the back of her palm. "Dude! What the hell?" He only chuckled and tilted his head as he watched her. "What, a man can't properly greet a beautiful woman like yourself? Chivalry is not entirely dead, you know?"
She couldn't believe this. Not only were all the members of the 'Silver Trio' as some jokingly called them nice to her, but they were making jokes and flirting like this was a completely normal situation. Shouldn't they be insulting the living hell out of her? It went against their identities as Slytherins! It had to...
Apparently, the three weren't disturbed by her lack of responsiveness as they chatted away merrily, Ginny catching a few words about their summers. Thank god that the doors opened in that moment and McGonagall led the first years inside. The girl desperately needed a distraction or her head would seriously explode from all the information. It felt calming to just focus on the names being called, but the redhead couldn't help twitching slightly every time a student was sorted into her new house. Man, this was going to be long year...