𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑

the merry-faced thief

“if you live for people's acceptance,
you will die from their rejection.”

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

strive to be accepted.

•

THE HALL HAD SEEMINGLY moved on. Meredith had staggered wildly as the hat was removed from her head, the blackness of the inside of the hat gone and the staring faces of the hundreds of students looking up at her had come to her view. For a second she couldn't move. For a second she didn't know what to do. For a second she wondered if she should've just made a run for it while she had the chance. The next name was called as she stumbled out of the dias, her eyes unfocused. James.

She looked around, her hair slapping against her face, at her brother who was looking down at his empty plate, not at her. No one from Gryffindor looked at her as the Slytherin table slowly brought themselves together, clapping, welcoming their new student. She watched James with pain and agony as her robes magically transformed to emerald. I cannot lose you too, she thought as she walked towards the Slytherin table. She was worried she'd be sorted to Ravenclaw, James had been worried he'd be sorted to Hufflepuff. But neither of them had thought for a split second about Slytherin. That just wasn't an option. There was no way either of them could've been Slytherin.

She walked down the Slytherin tables, occasionally bumping into some, until she saw Alakay Firegold scooting towards Narcissa,leaving a small space between himself and Lucius, for her to slide into. She caught Alakay's gaze who looked at her with pity, and Lucius Malfoy's, who looked like Slytherin was the best thing that happened to Meredith. She sat down, her chest tight, not even registering how close she was to Lucius Malfoy, and took one fearful look behind, over the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables,and saw saw James was looking at her with a cold, furious gaze, the same kind that he had when they fought over things at home, the kind he got when things didn't go in his favor. She shivered under the gaze, but looked at him, waiting for him to do something, anything, to ease her. Then he looked away, and started talking to Peter Pettigrew, a small lumpy boy, and she felt tears prickle her eyes. She turned back and looked at the table.

It was mahogany, rich and smooth, and had beautiful plates and goblets all over. The banner over the table was green, with a silver serpent etched on it. The people were all proud, haughty and aware of themselves. They all came from distinguished families, purebloods and half-bloods, not a single muggleborn in sight. Some of them wore expensive jewelry, others spoke of their vacations in far off lands. Meredith sunk into the bench, wide-eyed, staring angrily at the goblet in front of her, that showed her own reflection— disheveled black hair, golden eyes and Slytherin robes. She blinked furiously until her eyes turned back to hazel, and plastered a look of indifference on her face as the black haired boy who stood with Lily Evans before, got sorted into Slytherin.

After Sorting was over, and Dumbledore spoke a few strange words— nitwit, oddment, blubber and tweak— the food appeared before them. Meredith's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of her were now piled with food. She had never seen  so many things she liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs. The Potters always cooked calming food, nothing out of the ordinary,casual and compliant. Meredith enjoyed them. But this was a whole lot different. She didn't have an appetite after what had just happened but she took a little of everything in the plate anyway. She took one look back and saw James already shoving food in his mouth. It was a tradition. He was always to start eating before Meredith, and she let him. By his logic, "I'm older than you,so I do everything before you!", and she never minded that arrangement. So she turned around and gingerly placed some carrots and peas with gravy in her mouth.