Another Chosen One-A Harry Potter Fanfiction

5

"Are you serious?"

Konjit was beside herself with rage. I nodded, sighing. "Like I said, they're doing renovations. We were randomly chosen to go stay in the Hufflepuff common room, Kon. It's not like we can say no to McGonagall..."

Konjit groaned angrily as I flicked my wand, making quick work of pakcing up the last of my belongings. "It's okay, Kon. We'll be back before you know it. You know, it's thanks to us that the third year dormitories are getting a gorgeous makeover."

"Can't they just do it with magic?"

"McGonagall wants it done the Muggle way-something about spells going wrong."

"Makes sense, I guess. But it's going to take forever  to completely redo the space! Not to mention, McGonagall's probably going to shunt us in with the first years..."

"Don't worry, Konjit. I'll be back before you know it." Dusting off my bed one last time, I gave Konjit a big hug before turning toward my trunk.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

I watched as the trunk rose into the air, floating effortlessly as I left the dormitory. Keeping my wand on the suitcase, I joined the boys in the common room. Matteo was hugging James goodbye while Patrick pulled a face, looking at the fire wistfully.

"We're not leaving forever, Pat," I remarked upon seeing him in all his gloom and doom. "We'll be back before you know it."

Pat groaned, rolling his eyes. "Oh, yeah as if this whole Ba-"

I clasped a hand over Pat's mouth, turning toward Konjit and Matteo. "Pat's just upset about having to share a common room with that Bailey girl in Hufflepuff."

"Oh, Bailey Ramos? Didn't she nearly beat you out for the top spot in Transfiguration, Pat?"

Patrick rolled his eyes as I took my hand off his mouth. "Well, she didn't. And she's not gonna beat me this time, either."

Madeline gave Pat a big hug, throwing him off his balance, as James and I prepared to leave the common room. I shakily raised my wand, shuddering as I took my possessions from the Gryffindor common room. James put an arm around me. He now towered above me by about a foot - he'd grown a lot over the summer. James smiled, and for that split second, it felt like things could maybe get better. 

And then Albus came around the corner.

"Where are you going?" he asked James, who simply turned away, looking down his nose at Albus. Ever since Albus had been placed in Slytherin, James had stopped talking to him, refusing to acknowledge his little brother's existence. I did wonder how James would react if I told him why I was being targeted. Would he still want to hang out with me if he knew I was actually a hatstall between Gryffindor and Slytherin?

I felt sorry for Albus. I really did. While being sorted into Slytherin had come very close to being my reality at one point, it had never happened. But for Albus, it was what it was. Slytherin wasn't a house for bad people - it was just the house from where the worst person to ever exist had come. 

What a hypocrite I was. Two years ago, I had begged the Sorting Hat, pleaded with all my being, to place me in any house save for Slytherin. Maybe, if I had been sorted into Slytherin, I would've been able to support Albus. He was so, so alone. His own brother had turned away from him and his year avoided him like the plague. I gave Albus an apologetic smile which he returned, seeming grateful for any normalcy in his life. 

"They're doing some renovations in our dormitory. Problem with the pipes or something. Pat, James and I are being moved to the Hufflepuff dorms for a while."

Albus nodded. "Well, I'll see you around, Anika. James."

James didn't even acknowledge his brother's presence, simply walking onward. "He'll come around," I told Albus, hurrying after James. "Hey, James, I know Albus is in Slytherin, but he's still your brother. You can't just ignore him." James raised his eyebrows, his trunk thudding as it hit the floor. He was angry. Outraged, even. I did have to admit, it was kind of frightening, seeing James without that trademark smirk on his face. Instead, his lips were pursed as he looked down at me. 

"You didn't just say that. Please tell me you didn't just say that." 

"I did."

I was going to stand my ground-for myself and for Albus. He didn't deserve any of it. None of the Slytherins-even that Scorpius boy-deserved any of the hate they got from bigoted Gryffindors like James. 

"You don't get it. A Slytherin made my dad's life hell. A Slytherin killed my grandparents. A Slytherin killed thousand of Muggle-borns, thousands of humans, and he killed Uncle Fred. The Slytherin crest is a snake for a reason." 

"Don't you remember Peter Pettigrew, James? He wronged your dad. He wronged Sirius Black. He helped Voldemort murder a 17-year-old boy. He helped kill your grandparents. And guess what? Pettigrew was a Gryffindor. He still turned out bad, didn't he?"

"ALBUS IS A SNAKE! HE'S A SNAKE, JUST LIKE THEM ALL! HE'S A BLOODY MONSTER!"

"James, please, he's not a monster-"

"HE'S A MONSTER! MY BROTHER-MY BROTHER'S A MONSTER!"

This was not the James I knew. The James I knew wouldn't have cared if his brother was a Slytherin. He wouldn't have called him a monster. The James I knew was kind, compassionate, understanding. This? This wasn't him. This James was rude, forceful, pushy and conceited. This James was someone I would never have become friends with.

Others would've kept their thoughts to themselves in such a situation, but I wasn't like others. I was Anika Evans, and I didn't shy away from confrontation. "You're a git, James. You are a git. Your brother is hurting, and your head is too far up your arse to see that. Sort yourself out, James, before everyone notices that our friend's been replaced by some conceited dirtbag."

And with that, I walked away, the hurt in James' eyes being the last I saw of him that day.

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