Ambition (Draco Malfoy x OC)

Chapter 2: New Beginnings

Alex's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and she leaned towards Elaine's ear as discreetly as she could to whisper, "What's a mudblood? A derogatory term?"

Elaine nodded lightly in response, seeing that she wanted to keep the conversation a secret. Probably to prevent more mocking for not even knowing the term, which was a smart move on her part. While covering her mouth with her hand as if she were resting her chin in it and leaning her elbow against the table, she whispered back, "It's essentially a slur for muggle-borns. He's just saying your blood's 'filthy.' Don't let it get to you. It's stupid. He's just narrow-minded."

Alex grunted in response, showing she was listening.

Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster, had suddenly gotten to his feet. He was beaming at all of them, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there. His gaze didn't linger in the direction of the Slytherin table. If Elaine didn't know any better she would've called it skittish.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

"Thank you!" He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Their headmaster was certainly a character.

Fiona also giggled beside her while Alex just mumbled 'lame...'

As the feast appeared in front of them, the girls refrained from talking to focus on eating their own food. Elaine drifted off into her thoughts while eating. She stole a glance at the Gryffindor table. Cassidy was no longer looking at her, but she could tell she would want to talk about her sorting later.

She sighed. She really hoped this wouldn't throw a wrench in their relationship. She thought back to the sorting hat's words.

'You hold no loyalties towards anyone currently...' She had always thought that she was loyal considering she didn't think she'd take betrayal kindly herself. But the more she thought about it, did she really have anyone in her life whom she was loyal to? The question made her insides squirm. The answer was no, an inevitable simple no.

She had a loving family and grew up close to some of the sweetest people out there, the Weasleys, yet she still had no one she held any loyalties to? She always felt out of place, but a feeling of deep loneliness suddenly pierced her. It hadn't felt like much of an issue before. Keeping people at arm's length didn't necessarily mean she wasn't loyal to them, but perhaps she wasn't as attached to them as she first thought. Maybe the sorting hat was just being stupid.

Maybe not though. Cassidy already had people who'd stick out their neck for her. She was practically one of the Weasley's children herself. Molly often called both of them that, but Elaine never felt like she was one of them. She was accepted by them, that much was clear. Maybe it was on her for not wanting to be one of them.

Elaine allowed her eyes to linger on Cassidy, whom was laughing next to Ron, Harry, and Hermione. They were all bonding fast. Elaine wasn't surprised that Cassidy was able to make friends so easily. Maybe she'd be able to do the same with the two girls by her side though.

Elaine's gaze travelled up to the twinkling star-filled ceiling was she took a sip of water.

Dumbedore began speaking again. "Ahem— just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you."

"Watered? Are we plants now?" Alex deadpanned from next to Elaine, clearly baffled with Dumbledore's character. Elaine huffed in amusement at her comment.

Dumbledore gave a warning not to enter the forbidden forest since it was dangerous, which only served to puzzle Elaine as to why it was even a part of the grounds. After a couple more warnings and a heads up on quidditch trial dates, Dumbledore mentioned a warning that seemed much odder than the others.