integrity ━━ george weasley

-01 || Daughter, Darling

     The Sorting Hat's song came to an end far too late, and there seemed to be an element of relief that filled the air when its fabric lips finally shut. McGonagall moved forwards to pick it up, and called out the first name on her list. Silence followed. The entire Hall held its breath as the first student took his seat on the stool quickly, fidgeting a little, as he was clearly uncomfortable.

     Much to her dismay, Gryffindor had started off the year of 1995, by claiming Euan Abercrombie as its own. Melora did not clap as the boy happily bounded over to the house decorated with red. It just so happened that Slytherins did not applaud until they had received a student themselves. And they especially did not praise those who had earned themselves a place in Gryffindor.

     The ceremony continued, with the huddle in the center of the room slowly dispersing as students were sorted into different houses. Eventually, McGonagall came to the redhead who had been standing at the front of the group. And it was her, Autumn Sergeant, who also then ventured over to the Gryffindor table. It came as no surprise for Melora to see Fred and George Weasley whooping and cheering the loudest. The beginning of their final year, and she had only just managed to differentiate between the two. And still, most times, she would be wrong.

     "Good evening, children!" Dumbledore called, again casting silence about the room as he spoke. Melora's gaze detached itself from the Gryffindors are brought itself to fall on the headmaster, who stood at the front of the Hall. "Now, there are two changes to staff this year. Firstly, I would like to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures while Professor Hagrid is on temporary leave."

     There was a mutter from the other tables - Melora noticed that it was mostly the Gryffindors who were upset by this news - before the room fell silent again.

     "I would also like to welcome the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher: Professor Dolores Umbridge," Dumbledore continued, gesturing to the woman who was sat at the very end of the staff table. Melora had to blink a few times before she could probably look at her; there was so much pink being thrown at her eyes that it just became too bright. However, the woman's appearance didn't seem to bother the headmaster too much, as he then went on to say, "As usual, the caretaker, Mr Filch, has asked me to remind you all that-"

     "Hem, hem."

     Complete silence was not often welcome. There would always be one person who would manage to sneak in a whisper. And when that failed to happen, the seriousness of the situation was made obvious. After clearing her throat in such a hideous way, the woman was on her feet and speaking to the students, completing interrupting Dumbledore's speech. Melora glanced at Ilia, who looked equally as horrified.

     "Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome. And how lovely to see all of your bright, happy faces smiling up at me," Professor Umbridge grinned, her joyful tone so evidently forced. Melora felt Ilia shuffle about uncomfortably beside her. Nonetheless, the woman continued, "I'm sure we're all going to be very good friends."

     Being on the other side of the room did not come as a benefit to her, as the Gryffindor table then burst into light laughter, with the Weasley twins both looking very proud of what they had - presumably - said. But she was left, unamused, wondering what they could possibly be finding so funny.

     "You know, I never used to understand why my parents despised Gryffindors so much, but now I couldn't agree with them more," Ilia tutted, shaking her head at them as they then presented another interruption to the feast.

     But it became clear that the Gryffindor's interruption was perhaps more intriguing than what came next. A rather exaggerated and overly boring speech about the Ministry of Magic and how they were prodding their noses into just about everything that Hogwarts did. Beside her, the dark-haired girl whom she had met on the train - Ilia Nyxeris - began flicking at her empty plate in desperation to find something to do that provided more entertainment than the ongoing speech. Melora smiled at her, watching the girl repeat the same action over and over. Rather surprisingly, it worked. The speech was over, and Dumbledore looked baffled as the woman calmly took her seat beside Professor Snape again (who looked furious that she had been seated beside him).

     Dumbledore paused for a moment, unsure of what to do or say, before he clasped his hands together and smiled. Ilia groaned and allowed her head to collapse into her hands.

     "Oh, here we go," she muttered. "A random hundred points to Gryffindor, for existing."

     Melora laughed at this, patting her friend on the back as comfort, "Well, in case you didn't know, Umbridge is rather fond of Slytherin. Perhaps with all this supposed power she has from the Ministry, we'll earn some points of our own."

     "Yeah, and whatever points we're given will be deducted within a week," Ilia grumbled, and although what she had said was negative and harsh, she only spoke the truth.

     But both of the Slytherins were quite relieved to find that no ridiculous amounts of house points had been awarded during the first feast after the break. And as Dumbledore's speech came to a close, Melora looked up, staring straight ahead, to the other end of the hall. It was at the moment, that her eyes locked onto his. And she wanted desperately to pull away, to look anywhere but there, but her eyes would not move. She felt them burn as she tried to tear them away from the barricade, or simply narrow them into a glare.

     George Weasley gave the first smile, and Melora Lestrange broke the first gaze.