Pearl couldn't focus on the rest of the ceremony. She quietly sat down and endured the jeering and rude gestures and glares the other Slytherins shot in her direction. She sat as far away from the older students as she could and ate her meal in silence. Even the younger students wouldn't even look at her; all they did was whisper among themselves about a disgusting house-elf being allowed into their school, much less their house. Pearl; however, was too ashamed to care. She just felt numb. How could this have happened? She wasn't destined for evil, was she? Pearl wanted to look to Rose for comfort, but she was afraid that Rose wouldn't see her the same way anymore. To make matters worse, she was stuck with all these nasty kids who would probably use her like a chew toy for the next seven years. She tearfully glanced down the table and saw Jasper again, who still had an iron grip on the younger girl's arm. Pearl noticed several bruises around the girl's jaw and if anyone at that table looked more miserable than Pearl, it was her. Pearl jumped as she felt a tap on her shoulder and was relieved to see that it was Amethyst that stood behind her.

"Hey wanna come sit with me?" Amethyst said with concern in her voice. She was the only one standing up and not at her own table, and several people were staring. Pearl felt a bit embarrassed for her, but just nodded, and followed her to where the ravenclaws were sitting. Pearl felt gratitude swell in her chest toward Amethyst. She had really misjudged the girl at first.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" one of the older slytherins glared at Amethyst.

"Wherever I bloody want." Amethyst challenged as she lifted Pearl onto her shoulder. As they walked back to the table the Smart-Alek shot a rude gesture over her shoulder and snickered derisively. Nope, Amethyst was definitely crazy.

Pearl expected an icy reception from the ravenclaws, as slytherins seemed to be almost universally hated, but they actually seemed a bit overly interested in her. Pearl felt more than a little uncomfortable about being interrogated about her past and how she ended up being admitted to Hogwarts. All the same, they were friendly enough and Pearl was thankful that they more or less accepted her. She just hoped they didn't only see her as a novelty. At least this lot didn't frighten her.

Before long the great feast ended and everyone had to head off toward their own dormitories. Pearl was a bit nervous about going off with the other slytherins, but she kept her head down and followed the crowd, trying her best to sink through the floor. As it turned out, the girl she had seen earlier was a slytherin prefect named Lapis Lazuli, and led the girls to the dungeons. Most of the others stayed up in the common room, but Pearl scurried to her room as quickly as possible to avoid any trouble.

She shivered under her bedsheets in the drafty dungeon. She wished she could be somewhere, anywhere else, but she was still too afraid to go to Rose. Hadn't even she said slytherins were a nasty lot? What would she think of her now? Before long another girl entered the room and Pearl sat up and hoped she would just leave her alone. Luckily, the girl had little interest at all in Pearl and just laid down and started reading a book. Pearl laid back down and her thoughts wandered back to her friends. Amethyst didn't seem to give a rat's backside about where Pearl had been sorted, but would Garnet reject her entirely, just after they had only begun to get to know each other? The thought made her miserable. If Rose did the same she didn't think she could take it. Pearl couldn't sleep at all that night, and was still wide awake when another girl came into the room. It was Lapis Lazuli. The poor girl was limping and wiping something from her lips. Lazuli collapsed onto her bed and Pearl heard quiet, muffled sobs. Pearl looked over to the girl with pity and suddenly felt quite guilty for feeling sorry for herself.

Hope you enjoyed. As always, reviews and writing advice are welcome; I know my grammar's not the best.