Never have I written a whole Harry Potter story, but I thought I'd have a crack at it. I hope I do this story justice. It's an amazing series, and I recommended both the stories and the movies. Srsly. JK Rowling is the epitome of badassery, and I bow to her writing skills. That is all.
This story takes place after the war.
Evie POV
Arriving at the Hogwarts castle was a sight to behold.
First off, it was humongous. Like.. Crazy enormous, and it gave me a head ache wondering how many nooks, crannies and wonders were held there in secret.
There had to be around a hundred carriages carrying existential numbers of students, some in as little as three, and others having easily around 7 pupils inside. I could hear the chortling, rambunctious laughter of the students as they trucked closer and closer to the aforementioned castle.
And it was a beautiful one at that.
There were three very high towers, surpassing all others, high and large in size. Bright, amber lights echoed throughout the castle, shining behind each of the high, thick glass windows, giving it a very medieval, rustic atmosphere, and I felt my skin prickle in excitement.
Once the carriages arrived at the lower gate, we were all told to step out, and walk through said gate, which was there for protection purposes, the impregnable barrier was thrown up, invisible to the human eye, and would defer any enemies of the castle itself. The gate itself was high, higher than a few of the trees surrounding us, and wide enough to fit forty people standing side-by-side.
Of course, the school's administrative system would need to find some way of defending itself against any and all potential enemies, and this was the best way to do it, without using unnecessary stress on the students.
Draco said that Hogwarts as a whole was fortunate that the Ministry didn't shut it down, on pure principle alone, however the upheaval that it would cause, along with the maniacal shit-storm that the parents of the pupils would give, wasn't worth the trouble, so they just let the school open up again.
"Come on, mio amore," Blaise said, his hand squeezing my side, devotedly, "We've got to get a move on."
So we did, and we passed the gate with little to no fuss, and swiftly moved towards the castle, up the many, many, many stairs, towards the front entrance, which was already open, and were ushered through the ochre lit hallway. The first-years were creating a hubbub and a ruckus, of course, out of sheer nervousness, and I guess, because they didn't have a House, they had to be 'sorted', like me.
Hagrid placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, and he said, kindly, "A'right, kiddo, time to get sort'd. Come w'th me, please."
Nodding once at a reluctant Blaise, and a fuming Draco, I followed behind the kindly half-giant, towards the group of short, loud group of first years, and found that they were all slightly shorter than I was, so I stuck out like a sore thumb.
Goddamn it.
I growled, to myself, before being led around the castle, being given a tour of the complex, while the rest of the years were assembling in the main hall. I already missed my mates; I didn't like being apart from them, especially in such a frighteningly large place.
It was beautiful, though.
The staircases move, rapidly changing the layout of the castle itself, so there was a sense of urgency while we trailed the flight of stairs, and Hagrid informed us that this little feature was integrated into the castle structure by Rowena Ravenclaw, the head of the Ravenclaw House. He also told us that there were four heads: Rowena, Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin and Helga Hufflepuff - each representing a different form of magic, and I wondered which one I would be accepted into.
Along the walls were hundreds upon hundreds of Portraits covering the walls of the towers, some of them moving, some sleeping, some shouting, and some conversing with a few of the students who walked past them. Hagrid led us up the Grand Staircase, all the way to the seventh floor, telling us which classrooms were on each floor, and how to get to them. He told us of the rules of the castle; no running in the corridors, no tomfoolery with the ghosts and the Portraits, no spell casting against other students outside of the DADA classroom, no jinxing other pupils foodstuffs, damage to property will be charged to the perpetrators family, and there on-wards.
It took about an hour to make our way, briefly, through the castle, but we eventually made our way back to the Entrance Hall, where an elderly witch awaited us. She was tall, and rather frightening-looking, if I were being honest. Her dark hair was combed back into a tight bun, and she wore spindly circular glasses perched on the end of her nose. She was wearing emerald robes, and emitted an aura of pure sternness and demanded respect.
"First years! Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I am your Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall," she said, loudly, hushing the huddles of rambunctious first years, as her green eyes slid across all of us, laying momentarily on me for a beat, before returning to the rest of the group, "You will follow me, to the Great Hall, and when you are called up, you will be sorted into an appropriate House. Come," and she swept towards the Main Hall without even a sliver of hesitation.
She threw open the door, the echo drawing the interests of all the students inside of the hall itself, and they turned to us all, my cheeks rushing with embarrassment, and I blinked, vacantly, and stared at the floor, hoping that they wouldn't pay too much attention to me. We gathered beneath the High Table, and a low level of chatter resounded through the other students, which unnerved me to no end.
The Great Hall housed all of the students and teachers that called Hogwarts home during the school year, with four long tabled with the four House symbols imprinted on flags floating above each of them. Draco, Pansy, Blaise and Theo all were sitting on the Slytherin table, and I found my heart clench at the distressed faces of my mates, who looked relieved at my presence. My stomach settled, and I smiled, weakly, at them, to which they responded with their own, and turned back towards the Headmistress, Professor McGonagall. Levitating above us all were a sea of candles, and the ceiling was charmed to appear like the night's sky, starts winking, cheerily, at me from their place, floating over me.
"Welcome students, both old and new. We as an establishment, and a family are glad to welcome you all back, with open arms. We wish you a content, fruitful year, and, of course, a fresh, new start. Everyone here in welcome, and all the tragedy that occurred last year is not forgotten, but we use it as a mould for our future. Thank you for returning, and I, personally, hope you have a brilliant year."
Everyone clapped, and I, weakly, joined in, nearing the end, and felt entirely out of place. I knew I was receiving incredulous stares from everyone, because clearly, I was older than the rest of these children, and, understandably, they were wondering why I was being sorted along with them. McGonagall finished, strongly, "We shall call out the names of each of the First Years, and they will be sorted into a House. Let us commence with the ceremony."
Another teacher stood then, and waved his wand, a chair with a hat propped in the centre appeared, and began, "Sarah Adcocks."
A little blonde girl waltzed up the stairs, and sat in the chair, without hesitation, with her hands in her lap, and her legs swinging, nervously, in front of her. Her eyes were open, but a rushing sense of fear flitted through her orbs as the hat was pressed against her head.
And it started speaking.
"RAVENCLAW!"
Well.. Shouting, I guess.
Either way, I jumped clean out of my skin, and clenched my hands over my rapidly beating heart at the sudden applause that she received from the long table with.. You guessed it, the raven flag above it. My eyes were wide with awe, my pulse racing, but.. In a good way, I guess.
Was there anything that this school couldn't do?
The teacher went through the register, calling out each name into the cavernous silence that was shimmying through the Great Hall, until he reached my name, and I felt my cheeks flush in embarrassment. Shakily, I made my way up the stairs, my chest tight, and my breathing shallow and quick. Lowing myself into the unstable seat, I felt the heat of all of the collective stairs burn and blister my skin, my toes curling nervously in my shoes, and I hoped, pleaded, begged, bartered with any deity that could hear me, and prayed that I didn't make an absolute fool of myself.
"Mmm.. You're an interesting one, to say the least," an elderly, kind voice echoed through my mind, and I gasped, shocked, "Don't be alarmed, dear, I'm only here to help."
Sucking my lip into my mouth, nibbling on it, and biting it to the point of it being outright painful, and I closed my eyes, hoping to ignore the stares and concentrate on slowing my heart rate down, if only by half a beat. Anything would be better than this uncomfortable silence. It was like hands were tracing over my body, making my stomach turn and clench, unpleasantly, and I wanted nothing more than to be comforted by my mates.
"Your mind is.. Different to the others.. You aren't used to being around magic, are you? It's new for you.. But you're doing well. You're powerful, far more so than you, yourself believe.. Where do you think you belong?"
I didn't know what to say, so I simply thought of my mates faces, and I heard a resigned sigh resound through my psyche.
"You are mated, correct?"
Nodding, covertly, I locked eyes with the subjects of my affections, and felt the love that I held in my heart for them expand and multiply. They looked so frightened for my safety, and I wanted to kiss away their fears.
"You love them?"
I didn't even grace that question with an answer, and I heard its chuckle reverberate across the walls of my mind.
"Then I've made my decision.."
Waiting with bated breath, it took a tense, awkward moment of silence before I heard it shout, equally as loudly, "SLYTHERIN!," making my ears ring, slightly, and loud, proud applause met my numbing ears. Draco's eyes were bright with excitement, and Blaise simply stared at me with nothing but pride and love shining in his orbs.
I grinned, feeling like I finally did something to be proud of, and slid the hat off of my head, and hooked it on the side of the chair. With a diminutive bow of my head, I nudged past Professor McGonagall, and made my way over to my mates, who enveloped me in their arms as soon as I was within reaching distance.
Draco whispered in my ear, lovingly, yet quietly enough so that we weren't overheard, "You did great, love," and I blushed, brightly, at his appreciative stare.
Blaise grabbed my hand, once I was seated in between both him and Draco, opposite Pansy and Theodore who wore equally proud grins, and said, directly into my ear, "I'm so proud of you, mio amore."
His heavy Italian accent making my stomach turn, but not in fear this time.. It was in desire. He didn't know what he did to me when he spoke in such a way, and it was like he was playing a game with my chest. The Sorting Ceremony went on pretty quickly after that, and before long the significantly more relaxed and friendlier Headmistress commented, loudly, "It is time to eat," and raised her hands, causing my eyebrows to furrow, before clicking her fingers, and food popped in front of us, out of fucking nowhere.
Steaming roasted whole chickens, surrounded with pallets of mash potato, gravy, steamed vegetables, other condiments and sauces. Sauteed cod and salmon fillets, coated with spices and herbs, steam spiraling off of the pieces of fish and through the air, attacking my nostrils with its enticing scent. Pitchers of cool water, lemonade, warm and chilled pumpkin and tomato juice; perspiration trickling down the side of the transparent containers. Draco nudged me, slightly, before stating, "Eat up, because we've got to leave earlier than everyone else. We have our own quarters because of what we are."
Heeding his word with a minute, curt nod, I went about picking and chipping away at the foodstuffs in front of me, until my plate was full of a myriad of provisions, and I dug in, quickly, but with some kind of finesse about myself; Cissy's work didn't all go to waste, you know. It took me a while, but eventually I found myself sated enough to finish my dinner, especially considering I had been surviving on nothing but confectionery for the last few hours, so real food did me great, plus it was fucking delicious, to say the least.
"You enjoying yourself, love?," Draco asked, with a smirk on his face, and I couldn't help but smile back, with a careless half-shrug.
"I was hungry."
Blaise chuckled, and went back to sipping his tea, his brow quirked, but said nothing else. Of course he didn't, he didn't need to, I already wanted to jump his bones.
How was I going to survive?
The answer was.. I wasn't.
I was the reason we had put off the more.. Intimate part of the relationship until now. I guess I wasn't.. Ready, and they accepted that. It's well-known that men have a harder time with with-holding from sex that women did, so I was worried that they might find someone else if I waited too long, but every time I felt that I was ready to take that step.. I just wasn't, and I chickened out. It was embarrassing to say aloud, but I was scared of them.
They were bigger than me, they could find better. They were more experienced, and they were brilliant wizards. They each had an unspoken charm about themselves that demanded respect, without even having the need to ask for it. The other Slytherin kids looked up to them both - that was clear enough, and I wondered why they were held in such high regard. I loved them, I really did, they knew that, and I hoped that I could show them soon.
Maybe even tonight.. Who knows.
*Raises hand*
I do.