The Slytherin table was all smiles, and everyone seemed to want to shake Leandra's hand. Goyle and Vincent sat her on their middle after a while, and shooed everyone who tried to approach. Draco, on his feet in front of her, and with a view to the commotion, was telling her what was happening:
-I think some Gryffindor climbed the table!- he tried making himself heard over the noise - I can see a red head over the others!
Leandra didn't need him to tell her what they were saying, she could hear them well enough. Someone had said the hat was wrong, another one had said she must be from another Potter family (the person was quickly corrected by who she assumed was the Weasley boy). The Gryffindors were making the most noise, or at least that's what Draco was reporting.
-TRAITOR - someone yelled behind her.
-Now, that's just being plain rude - a girl to Draco's right said.
Leandra looked her way.
-Don't listen to them - she went on - Give it a week for the rumours to die down, it shouldn't take longer than that. I'm Greengrass, by the way. Daphne Greengrass.
She extended her hand over the table. Leandra took it.
-Leandra Potter, pleased to meet you.
The commotion around them didn't seem to be stopping.
-Most of the professors seem too shocked- Draco went on - I think uncle Severus is smirking, though.
Leandra smiled. Of course her godfather was taking some amusement out of all this.
-SILENCE!
The hall went deadly quiet. The Headmaster had stood up, his wand touching his neck lightly. As soon as everyone went quiet, he took off whatever charm was making his voice way louder.
-Thank you, shall we proceed with the sorting, professor McGonnagal?
The woman seemed to just now gather her wits, and called out the next name:
-River, Olivers!
The boy stumbled up to the stool and was rapidly sorted into Ravenclaw. After that, the sorting proceeded normally. The Weasley was sorted into Gryffindor (Leandra had to supress an eye roll at the obvious sigh of relief he gave) and then it was time for the boat boy.
-SLYTHERIN! - the hat called out after a minute.
The boy all but strode to the table, sitting himself down right next to Leandra.
-Hello there, Malfoy! - the boy clearly stiffened - Potter! Quite the commotion you caused. I have to admit, I was surprised with your housing as well. Congratulations on making Slytherin!
-Thank you, Zabini- she answered - You too.
The Headmaster delivered his speech then, warning everyone off the Forbidden Forest and off the third floor's corridor if they didn't want to die a horrible death. Then, he said some last words that left the first years thinking he was a bit not so good in the head:
-Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you.
-Hes's a bit mad, isn't he? - Greengrass asked.
-Father says he is - Draco answered.
Before they could dally on it much longer, food appeared magically in front of them. A chorus of 'wow's could be heard all around, and soon everyone was serving themselves a plate and chatting happily with one another. The tension in their group caused by Zabini's appearance disolved itself as they talked and even Malfoy seemed somewhat relaxed in the presence of the boy by the time a girl from Ravenclaw tapped her shoulder.
-Hey, you're the Potter girl, right? - she asked.
-Yes - Leandra turned around to look at the girl.
-I'm Padma Patil - she handed Leandra a piece of paper - This was handed down from some other table, don't know who sent it, sorry.
Leandra took the piece of paper and opened it. Inside, one word was spelled out: TRAITOR. Leandra blinked at the piece of paper once. Then twice. Then she smiled. Despite her best efforts at reigning her emotions in, she let out a barking laugh. The whole hall stopped to look at her. Had she really laughed that loud? She quickly thanked the girl and turned back around to her classmates. Passing the note around for everyone to read, she smirked and shook her head.
-What did they expect? To have me whimpering in the middle of the Great Hall like some emotional mess? Did they expect me to take this seriously?
-Well, they did pass the note all the way from Gryffindor table, so they clearly meant for it to have some impact on you - Greengrass pointed out.
-How do you know it was from Gryffindor? - Draco asked.
-The Ravenclaws are way too smart for such an insult, the Hufflepuffs way too nice, and the Gryffindors feel they've just lost a Potter to Slytherin.
Leandra chuckled and pretended to clean a tear off her eyes. Draco, Greengrass and Zabini couldn't help the chuckles that escaped their throats.
On the other side of the Hall, a very different exchange was happening.
-I'm glad she laughed at it - Granger openly glared at the red head seated next to her- Goes to prove you're a... a...
-Bloody idiot - Harry offered on the other side of said red head.
-Whatever - Weasley rolled his eyes - She's a traitor to her family. She's a Potter, for Merlin's sake! She should be seating here with you and me and... this... girl... What's your name again?
Granger rolled her eyes at him.
-Hermione Granger - she offered before turning her back to him and emerging herself in the conversation happening to her right.
-She's my sister, Ron - Harry sighed - I don't like how she spoke to you earlier either, and I'm still mad at her, but she's not a traitor just because the Sorting Hat placed her in Slytherin. She's my family and I wanna give her a chance, can you please give her a chance too?
Weasley rolled his eyes but nodded anyways.
-Alright, I can do that. But don't ask me to be on nice terms with Malfoy because she's his friend. It is not going to happen.
Harry nodded, grinning at his new friend.
When dinner was over, older students came to get the first years, escorting them to their respective common rooms and dorms. Leandra saw her brother hurrying up the steps with the other Gryffindors before having to hurry down the steps to the dungeons.
-Name's Fayler - the older student said - I'm one of the seventh year Slytherin prefects. Spinks, the other one, went ahead to inform the other years of the password. In these next few days you will be getting used to travelling through Hogwarts. I strongly recommend not taking the stairs when they're moving. You'll be given maps of Hogwarts at the common room, but just keep track of which floor you are and you should be fine enough to find your classroom in time. If you have any trouble, try finding an older Slytherin student and ask for directions.
He stopped in front of a wall and eyed the first years.
-Even though you're young and new, you represent the house. Any mishap of yours will make the house look badly. Do your best in class to earn us points, and do stray from bullying, it will do you no good to torture those who do not understand you or you think are inferior to you. Breakfast starts at seven o'clock in the morning and is available until ten on week days, eleven on weekends. Lunch is served during your lunchbreak on week days, from midday to two on weekends. Dinner starts everyday at seven and you have until ten to finish eating, do whatever you want and come back to the common room. Any student found out of the common room past ten is risking house points and will definitely get a detention. Please play by the rules, but if you don't, be smart enough to not get caught. The password is Polyjuice.
As soon as he said it, the wall he was standing in front of opened up brick by brick, forming a door way into the Slytherin common room. The prefect grinned at the new students.
-And lastly, welcome to the family.
They entered one by one, Fayler counting them to make sure no one was left behind. Leandra was the last to go through. Fayler dropped a hand on her shoulder as she passed and squeezed it just the tiniest bit before letting go. The inside of the common room was marvellous. There were big windows looking into the lake, black leather couches spread all around with cozy-looking green pillows, a lowed living room, with a fireplace in the middle surrounded by more couches, and one wall was covered by shelves filled with ancient books. There were three corridors leading from the room.
-Hello - a female voice said - I'm Spinks, the other seventh year Slytherin prefect. Will you please pass this around? One for each.
Little books with maps of the grounds and notes on the castle were passed around.
-There's space in the back to write your own notes on the grounds. That's all professor Snape is allowed to share, I'm afraid, but if you want any tips, ask around, every Slytherin has one of these. The corridor on your left are the girls' dorms, and the one on your right are the boys' dorms. Slytherin trusted each of his students' decency, so there are no gender based wards, but if I find a boy peeking at the girls' dormitories I will be sure to have him spend the rest of the year scrubbing cauldrons with professor Snape. And that's my detention, let's not forget professor Snape would also give out one. Same goes for the girls of course.
Even as she said it applied for the girls as well, she kept pointedly looking at each and every first year boy.
-Just walk until you find a door with 1991 written on it, it will be your dorm for the rest of your life here. That third corridor behind me is where the prefects' private rooms are and that one has a lot of wards put up against intruders. You can linger for some more time, but I advise you go to bed and rest from the journey. Good night and welcome to Slytherin.
She turned on her heel and walked off into the prefects' corridor, leaving the first years on their own for now. They stood awkwardly at the entrance for a moment until someone decided to break it.
-Well - Jackson said - I'm off to bed now. The trip was tiring.
Leandra froze for a second. She had almost forgotten the boy was at Hogwarts and had been sorted into Slytherin. If it wasn't for Greengrass dragging her off to bed with a yawn, she would have stood there for longer.
- Good night, Draco! - she waved at the boy.
-'Night, Lea!
The bedrooms consisted of five canopy beds in greens and silver, a bedside table for each bed, and their trunks in front of the beds. The girls found their trunks and silently changed into their pijamas, all too exhausted to make any conversation. Every single one of them fell asleep the moment their heads touched the pillow, except for Leandra, who stayed awake for another hour, looking at the ceiling unable to fall asleep.
When she finally did, she dreamed of the flash of green.