"Gryffindor?" Draco repeated, dumbfounded.
Daphne still sat there, openmouthed in shock.
Alex sat quietly for a moment, an uncomfortable look on her face. The seconds seemed to drag on and on. Finally she stood, hesitating awkwardly next to the Slytherin table.
"I'm sorry."
She left the Great Hall; well aware of the stares she was receiving yet again.
Severus Snape watched carefully as his niece left the Hall. He snuck a casual sideways glance at the Headmaster and then sighed heavily. Dumbledore had been prepared for just this instance.
Snape stood quickly and exited the Hall by way of the teachers' entrance.
By the time his niece reached the entrance hall, he was already there, waiting for her.
The girl made no effort to hide her surprise at seeing him.
"Professor?" she spoke quietly, exhaustion evident in her voice.
"Come," he said impassively. "I'll take you up to Gryffindor."
Still surprised by the uncharacteristic kindness that her uncle was showing her, Alex followed him numbly.
She had no idea how far they walked or what passages they took— she just blindly trailed Professor Snape as he navigated the moving staircases and many corridors expertly.
It's a good thing I've got that map in Hogwarts: A History… otherwise I'll be completely lost tomorrow. Trying to get to classes will be a nightmare, she thought at random.
All of the sudden, Professor Snape had stopped, said a password, and a portrait was swinging open.
Alex nodded at him and then climbed into her new common room.
Coming in, she saw a figure bent over the table near a cozy looking red couch.
The figure, obviously male, had mousey brown hair that stuck up on end like he had just taken a nap. He looked about half an inch shorter than herself...if she had been sitting down, that is. He wasn't exactly broad shoulder or strong looking, (a little like Draco, she mused), but he seemed to look physically fit and even cute.
He was bending over pictures in different piles. On the table sat a camera, an empty tissue box, a crumpled hanky, and to the side was a small overflowing trash bin.
A stack of books ranging from three to five inches thick, each of them labeled "First Year", "Second Year", and so forth, were resting on the side of the table. Alex saw that several books were marked "First Year, Scenery", or "First Year, People", and such, resulting in several books representing one specific year. In each of the books, there were sticky labels poking out, and Alex took note of a thick area in the "First Year, People" book marked under the name of "Harry Potter".
"Why aren't you at the Feast?" Alex said curiously, before realizing that this probably wasn't the best thing to say to someone you haven't been properly introduced to. She held her breath for the rude reply only the Gryffindors of Daphne's tales could give.
"I've a cold," the boy replied in a hoarse voice without even looking up.
"Isn't there a, um… hôpital here?" Alex asked, slipping back into her French momentarily.
"Well, yes, but there are a bunch of kids there faking sick so they can finish up their last bits of summer homework. I'd most likely be sent back here anyways for 'disturbing the sacred union between nurse and patient'," the boy glanced up, then down. After registering what (or rather who) he had seen, he looked up again fixing an unsettling gaze on Alex.
Alex sat down, aware he was still watching her, and raised her eyes after hearing a mutter of "Scourgify" and seeing a hand appear in her cast down view.
"Colin Creevey, Fourth year."
Alex hesitantly took his hand and shook it.
"Alex Peltier, transferred Fifth year," she gave Colin a tentative smile.
"French, eh? Nice to meet you."
"Thanks, you too."
"So you're into..?" Alex gestured toward the photos, filling the awkward silence that had settled
"Photography," Colin finished for her, "I'm sorting out pictures now while I'm sick."
Colin handed Alex a photograph of a redheaded girl building a snowman. Her face was flushed from the cold, and her smile wide with laughter. She was in such a normal pose that it looked like the camera wasn't even there, but as if they were glimpsing into a memory.
"Wow. It's so professional," Alex admired.
"That's Ginny Weasley. I took that in our third year," said Colin, filing it accordingly.
"Weasley?"
"She's the only girl and the youngest in her family of six brothers. First girl in a number of generations, I believe."
"Oh."
"She's really spirited, although not unless you know her or you piss her off. She casts a mean bat-bogey hex. Wouldn't want to be caught under one of those."
A long silence occurred, not ending until Alex began to ask the boy about classes.
"Do you have a favorite subject?" Colin inquired after discussing certain students blowing up classrooms.
"Well, I only had a few academic subjects at my old school, although it was mostly household magic I learned a lot more from other people, but I've always been partial to Potions."
Colin groaned. "You're in for it, then. We have the worst Potions teacher! His name's Snape, and he loves torturing Gryffindors."
"Oh. Yeah, I've heard of him," Alex said uncomfortably.
-
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"Daphne, come on," Draco pleaded. "People are beginning to stare."
"She's in Gryffindor!" Daphne screeched, causing Draco to wince.
"I heard, Daph," Draco replied, rubbing his ear.
"No, she's in Gryffindor!"
"Daphne, I know."
Daphne let out a string of curses. "She isn't Gryffindor material. She shouldn't be in Gryffindor!"
"Maybe she's Gryffin--"
"Don't say that!! I know that bloody hat made a mistake. I should wring that blasted thing and feed it to--" She made a rather violent gesture.
"Daphne..."
"Don't say anything to Alex. She's still our friend. She doesn't need your negative attitude."
"What? You're the one who--"
"Be quiet," Daphne interrupted, continuing her rant. "We can't let her know our disappointment. From what we've told her, she's probably dying on the inside. I'm going to petition on her being switched."
"Daphne, no one has ever traded houses."
"There's a first time for everything," Daphne replied staunchly before setting off determinedly toward the Slytherin dungeons.
-
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"I don't understand. Why can't I go into Slytherin? I have friends there."
"I will put you where I think is best."
"Cela suce!!"
"It certainly does not suck, as you so vulgarly put it, young lady. I am designed simply for this purpose."
"Well why can't I go in Slytherin?"
"Some people are better left to be secret to others, or rather, you should be secret to some people."
"What on earth is that supposed to mean?"
"What are these professors teaching these children? I'll try and say something else that would be wise. Certain figures in an individual's life can imprint a certain path on oneself."
"But--"
"That's it! Gryffindor!!"
Alex tried taking the hat off, but it held on fast, sinking fangs into her skull and smothering her face, preventing her from breathing.
-
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Alex shot up in bed, sweat dripping from her forehead. She couldn't breathe through her nose, and her head felt heavier the ever. As she tried to keep her dizzy mind from making her fall unceremoniously off the bed, she winced at the thought of her dream. All of it was true, save for the hat trying to murder her.
Why do normal dreams always have to end up with inanimate objects attacking innocent bystanders? She thought dryly as she rubbed her aching head.
Alex stood to find her clothes to shower, willing herself to go faster so she could stand under the hot water to relax her tight muscles. She had a head cold. She had gotten a bloody head cold from talking with Colin all night. As she grabbed her robes, she glanced at the clock.
She groaned loudly. Breakfast had already ended! She had seven minutes to get to her first class of the day. Potions!
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Two chapters in under two days! That's got to be a record for us. Next chapter coming soon! (And in case you're wondering, YES I am working on All's Fair.)