The room went quiet. No one spoke. The Slytherin table didn't even cheer for their new house member. The witch holding the hat over my head didn't remove it, almost as if she expected it to be a mistake. I hoped it was a mistake. I couldn't be in Slytherin. I was a good person. I wasn't a bad guy...was I?
"SLYTHERIN!" the hat proclaimed again, as if reading my thoughts. "You may leave now."
The hat was lifted from my head and I seen the whole room staring at me. I felt paralyzed in my seat. I almost didn't want to move.
"Miss. Potter," the witch spoke. "Please take your tie and make your way to the Slytherin table."
"I can't," I whispered, turning to look at the witch. "Professor, it must be a mistake. I can't be a Slytherin."
"The hat does not make mistakes, Miss. Potter," she replied, holding out a green and silver tie to me. "Please take a seat at the Slytherin table."
I reached out a shaky hand and took the tie before standing from the chair and moving slowly towards the Slytherin table. I looked at the Gryffindor table and met Harry's eyes. They were wide with shock. I hoped he didn't think this made me a bad person. Harry knew me. He knew I was a good person. I wasn't evil. The hat had to have made a mistake.
I sat at an empty seat around the end of the table. The other Slytherins were staring at me in surprise. The sorting continued, but it wasn't the same. The applause wasn't as loud, the excitement wasn't there, the First Years being sorted didn't even look excited anymore. They'd simply get sorted and rush to their table without a single expression on their faces.
Finally, the feast began. Everyone dug in and the room was filled with chatter from the students again. I didn't speak to anyone and no one spoke to me. I didn't eat either; my appetite was gone.
After the feast, the First Years were led to the Slytherin tower. I tried to take in more of the beautiful castle, but I couldn't. I was too in shock. Ron's words kept ringing in my ears, echoed by the hat calling "SLYTHERIN" repeatedly.
Once we were in "the Common Room", the Slytherins spread out. Many sat around a fire on couches, some sat at tables with chess boards. Others stood around talking and giggling. When I entered last, the room hushed and they all turned and looked at me. I wondered if the Gryffindors were staring at Harry like this.
"So, Potter," hissed the girl who was with Draco earlier. "You've been sorted into Slytherin, eh? Well, I bet your parents won't like that. Oh wait!"
A group of girls behind her began to snigger evilly. I looked at the floor, feeling a lump growing from my throat.
"What's wrong? Is poor baby Potter going to cry? Oh, boo hoo."
"Piss off, Pansy!" snapped a familiar voice. I looked up to see Draco standing from his place on the couch with Crabbe and Goyle. He glared at the girl, Pansy, before stomping over to me. "Will you just bugger off? You're so annoying!"
Pansy huffed before turning back to whom I could only assume were her friends. Draco put an arm around my shoulder before bringing me over with his friends.
"Crabbe, Goyle, remember Chanel? From the train?" Draco asked, sitting back down on the couch and shuffling so I could sit next to him.
"You're the girl Draco was sitting with when we went to get sweets," the boy I believe Draco introduced as Goyle spoke.
"Yes," I replied. "That-that was me."
"You never told me you were a Potter," Draco whispered to me.
"I didn't know being a Potter was a big deal," I replied, shrugging. "Why is everyone else so shocked that I got sorted into Slytherin? I wasn't aware it was a big deal."
"Don't you know?" Crabbe asked beside me.
"Of course she doesn't," Pansy's annoying voice rang through the Common Room. "She was raised by Muggles! I bet they didn't tell her anything about the Wizarding world. She might as well be a filthy Mudblood!"
Draco shot Pansy another look, which shut her up very quickly, before standing from the couch again and offering me his hand. "Come, we'll talk somewhere more private."
I took Draco's hand and he helped me up from the couch. We wandered out of the Common Room together and through the halls of Slytherins tower. I was still a bit hurt from Pansy's remarks. I didn't understand what her problem was with me. We had literally just met. All she knew about me was that I managed to defeat some Dark Lord when I was a baby with my twin brother.
"Pansy is so annoying," Draco grumbled. "I don't understand why she's like that. She sat with my on the train and it's almost as if she's stalking me now."
"Why is it a big deal that I was sorted into Slytherin?" I blurted. "The whole Great Hall went silent when I was sorted and everyone has been staring at me ever since."
"Both your parents were Gryffindors. When your brother was sorted there, I guess everyone just assumed you'd be there, too." Draco looked down at his feet. "And there's those nasty stories about Slytherin."
"That if you're sorted there you'r pretty well evil? Yeah, Ron told me."
Draco's face flushed with anger. "The Weasley? He wouldn't know anything about any of us. His blood line is Gryffindors as long as I know. He shouldn't be spreading rubbish like that."
I stepped away from Draco in fear. I remembered how rude he was to Ron earlier. There must be something about the Weasleys that Draco didn't like. Maybe it had something to do with their Gryffindor past. Although I had just been sorted there, it seemed as if Gryffindor and Slytherin had real issues with one another.
Draco looked at me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap like that. I'm glad you're in Slytherin, though. If you were in Gryffindor, people would probably find it a bit weird."
"Why?"
"Gryffindors and Slytherins tend not to make the best of friends. The Gryffindor legacy is one of courage and bravery. Those in that house tend to be stuck up and try too hard to be heroic because of this. I'm not saying your brother will be or anything, although by the looks of it he's already been contaminated by the blood traitor."
I didn't ask.
Just as Draco was about to speak again, an older wizard came up the hallway and scolded us for wandering away from the Common Room so late and rushed us to our rooms. Unfortunately for me, I was sharing a room with Pansy. But the other girls I was sharing with seemed nice. One girl even told Pansy to go...well...I'm not exactly allowed to say those words.
Maybe being a Slytherin wasn't going to be so bad.