Chapter Text
At the table on the opposite side to Gryffindor in the Great Hall and beneath the silver and green banners magically hanging high above it, a bored group of second year students sat watching the Sorting Ceremony. All wore the standard black Slytherin house robe with the Hogwarts crest on the left hand side, the snake slightly enlarged, and the exposed inside of their robes a shade of green to highlight their house pride.
Draco Malfoy’s mind strayed from the ongoing ceremony and to when the food would be serviced. He realized how dull the ceremony was now that he wasn’t the one being sorted.
On one side of him, Crabb and Goyle whispered and sniggered, absolutely poking fun of anyone who found themselves the new members of Hufflepuff.
To the other, closer to where the first year students sat, Blaise Zabini practiced the ancient pureblood art of looking engaged while mentally elsewhere.
Theodore Nott, the quiet son of a Death Eater the Malfoy’s family knew well, claimed the seat across from him, openly defying convention with a book about the history of the influential American wizard Benjamin Franklin in his hand.
Draco somewhat admired that Theodore shrugged off the pressures most felt to fit in, especially in the ruthless and unforgiving social world of Slytherin. Being that his father was matched evenly well with Draco’s in terms of wealth and prestige, Nott Sr undoubtedly expected nothing less of perfection academically. Theodore probably didn’t care about his peers much because of it.
It could serve well perhaps to befriend Nott a bit more, Draco mused as the line to be sorted started to thin out. Lucius always encouraged - lectured really - the importance of networking.
“Vanderwood, Briar,” Professor McGonagall called out, glancing up from the scroll in her hand.
A curly haired brunette stepped up confidently to the stool, hopping on gracefully.
“Isn’t that William’s little sister?” Daphne Greengrass whispered to Pansy Parkinson, both directly across from Draco’s place at the table. The two had gossiped about anyone who’s last name they did or didn’t recognize as they got called to be sorted. The boys had somewhat ignored them for the most part. So far no one had been sorted with any real significant ties to Slytherin.
A connection to William Vanderwood though made interesting gossip, as he was the new Head Boy this year, and a Slytherin highly respected for irritating Percy Weasley by just existing. Draco chanced a look over towards the older student at the other end of the table. He seemed to be interested enough in this Briar girl, watching her carefully as the Sorting Hat was placed securely on.
“I think it could be his cousin. He has older siblings who’ve graduated except for Lillian, the fifth year in Ravenclaw.” Pansy often sat close to the older girls in the common room, pretending to do her homework while listening in to the gossip and drama. That trait came from her mother, a woman Draco’s mother politely invited over for tea occasionally and who often left Narcissa with a headache after the short hour ended.
“RAVENCLAW!” The hat bellowed out. Professor Sprout took the hat off the new member of the bronze and blue house.
She beamed, glancing over towards William (her brother?) and sending him a cheerful wave before finding a seat beside Lillian, the only sister Draco definitely knew of.
“A shame, Slytherin has only gained a couple students this year.” Daphne sniffed, fluffing her blonde hair.
“There’s still the Weasley girl and a handful of others,” Blaise interjected, his expression blank.
“Another Weasley?” Pansy wrinkled her nose, a rather unattractive look. “Hogwarts is already infected with several of them. That family is like gnomes in a garden.”
“Vu, Priscilla.”
McGonagall called out another name, and a taller girl, a bit less confidently, went up to take her place at the stool.
“Oh, that’s that Hufflepuff’s sister, you know the chaser? Matthew Vu.” Daphne informed the group, most of whom were thinking of the meal awaiting them after the ceremony wrapped up.
“2 galleons she’s a Hufflepuff,” Pansy bet, leaning across the table and shaking hands with Blaise.
“I say Gryffindor. It’s always the nervous types who get deemed brave and noble. Remember Longbottom?” He rolled his eyes, the disdain for their rival house seeping into his tone of voice.
“GRYFFINDOR!”
“For Merlin’s sake,” Pansy muttered, ignoring Blaise’s smirk.
“Want to bet the next one? Earn that money back?” Blaise teased her, as Ginny Weasley’s name was called next.
“Easy enough, she’s a Weasley. Naturally that’s Gryffindor.” Daphne nudged her friend; Pansy nodded.
“Fine, two galleons on Weasley being sorted in Gryffindor.”
“I say Ravenclaw.” They shook hands again.
“I want in on this bet,” Draco suddenly said, surprising himself. His parents wouldn’t be happy if they knew he was betting, but 2 galleons would hardly be noticed missing from the family vault.
“I’ll say Slytherin, for bants. It’s as unlikely as a black rainbow but it’s not like I’ll be missing the galleons,” Draco boasted, shaking Blaise’s hand, then Pansy’s. He discreetly wiped his hand against his trouser leg and settled in to lose.
“Mate that’s a lost bet but I’ll happily take your gold.” Not that he needed anymore of it. Blaise’s mother ensured their family vault overflowed with her multiple marriages.
“Like mother, like son,” Pansy snarked, rolling her eyes and turning back to the sorting.
They anticipated hearing Gryffindor shouted out by the hat at any second. It surprised Draco that it wasn’t an automatic sorting. Weren’t all Weasley’s quick to defend muggle borns and turn their nose up at the sacred Pureblood traditions?
Traitors, the lot of them, his father preached whenever the subject of that family got brought up.
It was only last week when Draco and his father saw them in the bookshop, embarrassingly covered in Floo soot and well worn, second hand books in Ginny Weasley’s used cauldron.
She had fiercely defended Potter, annoying Draco. A strong sign of yet another impulsive, emotional Gryffindor.
After another enduringly long moment when Draco’s stomach began to protest at the lack of food, the Sorting Hat made its decision finally.
//
“You have so much to prove,” the Sorting Hat whispered all around her. Ginny couldn’t see any of the faces in front of her spot on the stool before the entire Great Hall. Just blackness from the old hat engulfing her head, blocking off the light of the candles.
The darkness did not bother the youngest Weasley. So often on moonless nights she had broken into the lopsided shed in the backyard of the Burrow in order to practice flying. The dark sky proved to be a solid companion, hiding her silhouette as she dared to soar higher and higher on the unreliable SkyForce ‘85 that her oldest brother Bill had once played Chaser with, and then Charlie, before their dad deemed it retired from real games. Perfect for self learning on, though.
Her other brothers still attending Hogwarts were surely wondering what was taking this sorting so long. Her fate in their minds was Gryffindor of course. Every Weasley going back a few generations belonged to the noble house.
“Mm yes, intelligent and quick witted, but Ravenclaw would not serve your ambition well... but Slytherin, oh yes I can see it now....”
I can’t be Slytherin, they’ll never understand... she half heartily protested, the allure of being free of her brothers and their overbearing personalities appealing. How often had they shut their little sister out of fun activities, like Quidditch? Even Ron got to participate and he was only a year older. Where was the fairness in that?
“Your ambitions could be fully realized in Slytherin, away from the watchful eyes of your brothers,” the hat said, “Those skills you have already been utilizing will sharpen. Are you sure you want to be in Gryffindor instead? A Weasley in Slytherin isn’t rare, I would know, I’ve sorted about several dozen or so of them in my time...”
She pictured herself flying around the pitch in a couple years, smirking at bringing her house glory and enjoying the look of surprise on Fred and George’s faces when they were beaten by their little sister.
She could taste the victory. It could be mine. Perhaps the bravest thing she could do would be accepting the Sorting Hat’s placement into....
“SLYTHERIN!”
//
The Great Hall didn’t burst into flames at the shock announcement, but the Weasley brothers faces certainly looked like they would. The Gryffindor table sat shell shocked in stormy silence.
Draco, a split second upon realizing he had won the bet, leapt to his feet and began the Slytherin cheer. Quickly the others joined in, some out of spite for Gryffindor- in particular the entire Quidditch team; a few in surprise at having a Weasley being sorted in Slytherin, and others still for genuine happiness that their house had gained another student.
Draco’s eyes followed the petite red head as she leaped off the stage and walked towards her new table - his table - with a simple glance back to her brothers before breathing in deep and exhaling. She sat down with the other first years, just a handful or so of them this year.
If she noticed him looking in her direction, it was ignored in favor of focusing back on the sorting and discreetly - she thought - looking at her brothers again.
Draco zeroed in on the Weasley brothers. Percy looked the least unaffected by the sorting, smiling at his little sister’s direction. Was that pride showing on his face?
Fred and George, or George and Fred, Draco never knew who was who and couldn’t be bothered to learn the difference, seemed very surprised. One of them, perhaps Fred, or George, wrote hastily on a scratch of parchment and magically sent it over to Ginny. The note zoomed ungracefully and quickly, landing in front of her with a bounce.
She opened it warily, only for a smokey snake to fly at her face before fading away to reveal a message Draco couldn’t read from his spot.
Ginny frowned slightly, but gave nothing more away before ripping the paper to shreds.
Draco glanced back at the Gryffindor table, searching for Potter and his Weasley sidekick, but didn’t see them. Hermione Granger sat near one of the twins, a deep frown on her face. She wasn’t aiming it at Ginny though.
Draco thought maybe she was wondering where the annoying duo was, not that he cared. His hunger was beginning to really irritate him. He needed food or else.
As if the house elves of Hogwarts had heard his silent agony, the ceremony ended and Dumbledore spoke briefly, mercifully, and finally, finally the feast began.
//
The magical appearance of the food in front of the first years lifted Ginny’s mood after George’s little note.
Snake was all it had read. Whether or not the twins intended to be mean spirited about her house placement, Ginny had other worries. She’d noticed Ron and Harry missing from their spot at Gryffindor table, for one thing.
The other was writing to her parents to tell them the news. She hoped they would take it better than her brothers.
Lastly, Ginny realized that in Slytherin, she was utterly on her own with absolutely no safety net. No built in relationships to ease into as so and so’s little sister. She took a deep breath.
I can do this. Slytherin is my house. I belong here too.
As Ginny slowly exhaled, using the breathing technique Bill once taught her to calm down, she tuned in to the other first years. They were classmates and it was important to establish a friendly connection. Otherwise it would be a long seven years in the dungeons.
One of the students, a boy with beautiful dark almond eyes and a cheerful smile noticed Ginny listening in.
“Hayden Park,” he introduced himself, “of the Park Scholars Group.” The name rang familiar somewhere in the back of Ginny’s mind. She was pretty sure that was the same wealthy family who donated different magical research grants to recent graduates of Hogwarts. Charlie was able to pursue his work with dragons thanks to it.
“Ginny Weasley, one of many, and the only Slytherin in generations.” She replied, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.
“Merlin, I thought your brothers would react a lot worse,” a pretty girl with wavy blonde hair leaned over. “I’m Cecily Merryweather,” she continued, pausing for a reaction.
“Nice to meet you,” Ginny politely said, taking a bite of the cheesy mash in front of her. She loved anything with cheese or potatoes. Together? Divine.
“My older sister Cornelia is a Ravenclaw and she’s told me all about your twin brothers. I reckon she’s got a bit of crush on one of them. She’s always gushing about how cute Fred is, but I can’t really tell the difference.”
Ginny giggled. “He’s slightly taller than George but just barely. It’s a sore spot because he was born first too and reminds George whenever he can.”
Cecily smiled in return and asked the other first years their names.
There were three more boys, Thomas Matthews, a shy boy who didn’t speak much but did say he was a Muggleborn; Josiah Hernandes, who spoke with an Irish lilt when he said his father was a wizard but his mam wasn’t; and Barnaby Foster, from London who didn’t say anything about his background.
Ginny politely listened to each of them and offered general bland statements about herself in return.
Other than the boys, and Cecily, there was another first year girl with brown eyes and shoulder length raven colored hair, who merely introduced herself as Drisella Tremaine and ignored the rest of the group for the remainder of dinner.
Merlin, what’s with her? Ginny thought, hiding her distaste for the rude girl. She would maybe ask Cecily her opinion, but it was a bit too soon to make a potential frenemy asking the wrong questions. They could know each other, after all.
The feast ended, and the female Slytherin prefect, a girl named Emily, came over to escort them back down to the dungeons. Ginny tried to keep up with the fast pace as Emily chatted about what an honor it was to be in Slytherin, and telling them about some famous past students that were notably not known for evil.
They were leaded down a stone staircase cast in soft light from torches mounted on the wall as they went deep beneath the castle.
“This hallway doesn’t see much traffic from other houses. The dungeon classrooms are accessed on the opposite side of the entrance hall. This is Slytherin only.” Emily said, stopping in front a painting with a mysterious and self important wizard holding on to a sword.
Emily turned briefly to face Ginny and the first years. “That corridor,” she nodded to a hidden entry way partially covered in shadows, “leads to the dungeon classrooms and Professor Snape’s office. There is a false wall that only members of our house are aware of that lead back here.”
She turned away again to face the painting. “Oh, and there’s another secret passage way that leads to the Hufflepuffs area of the castle. We only go there for the kitchen.”
“Password,” the mystery wizard intoned, staring at the first years critically.
“Lilium,” Emily confidently replied. The portrait swung open to reveal an ornate set of double doors that opened at the same time.
“The password changes every fortnight. Snape has a thing for flowers. Check that board over there for updates and other house or school news.” She pointed out an elegant marble inlaid board magically attached to the stone wall immediately to the left of the entrance.
Ginny’s eyes however were too busy taking in the common room. It was ethereal. The furthest wall had a strange glow, an eerily soft green that dominated from floor to ceiling.
Fish swam by, oblivious to the students gaping.
“That’s the viewing window to the lake. It’s rather peaceful isn’t it?” Emily smirked. First year reactions never got old to the common room. “There’s plenty of time to see the room tomorrow, quickly now, to your dorm rooms.”
Ginny tried to take it all in; the stone floor covered in thick, Persian style woven rugs that took the coldness away. The low hanging green lamps, the torches on the wall between medieval tapestries and paintings; the elegant antiques strewn about everywhere. The boys left them and went through a door with a snake carved into it which led to the Slytherin boys dormitory.
“This way,” Emily said to Ginny, Cecily, and the unimpressed looking Drisella. They went through a similar looking door, which surprising had a wooden and stone stair case leading up and branching off to two separate sides behind it.
They went to the left, and found at the top both sides led to the same long corridor overlooking the little female dorm foyer, and a gorgeous window that showcased the inner depths of the lake up until where it leveled with the upper floor they were on. The night sky was clear and Ginny could see stars hanging over the lake.
“All the windows are lapped gently against with the waves of the water. It’s nice to fall asleep to.” Emily walked on down the hallway, similarly styled as the common room below. Famous female Slytherins watched them pass quietly. The carpet runner beneath their feet looked just as new as the day it had been installed. The emerald green hadn’t lost a touch of color in any of the passing centuries.
“This is it,” Emily paused in front of a mahogany door three down from the left hand side of the stairs. “Each dorm room has a personal ensuite, unlike the rest of the house dorms.” She wrinkled her nose. “We in Slytherin appreciate our privacy. Rest up, and you’ll find your class schedules on top of trunks. Goodnight, first years. Welcome.”
With those parting words the prefect left them to go back down to the common room, undoubtedly to enjoy upper year privileges with her friends.
Cecily went into the room first, with Ginny following closing behind.
There were three antique beds evenly spread out around the room, offering plenty of space. Emerald green and silver curtains hanged around each double bed for the option of extra privacy. The carpet was magically charmed to glimmer like the stars in the sky, and the hanging light reflected the brightness of the moon. The ceiling was painted with green vines, similar to snakes, with white flowers dotting it.
Ginny quickly found her bed, placed opposite from Drisella’s and close to Cecily. A window was on either side, with fish swimming on the bottom half and the night sky peeking in from the upper half.
She was relieved she wouldn’t be totally stuck beneath the castle. Ginny couldn’t wait to describe the common room and dorm to her mum.
The en-suite was a bit more modern, the only area that seemed to have changed in the centuries. A long marble countertop with multiple sinks ran along one side, a silver framed mirror behind it. The taps were silver too, and not a stain could be found.
Separate showers were on the opposite side, with a little area to change in privacy before entering the shower stall area. The toilets were the furthers away, each in their own little room for the ultimate privacy.
“I think since there’s only three of us we can have our own designated shower and toilet,” Drisella said, her lips pinched as if it pained her to even utter a word.
It was a sensible suggestion at least, and agreed to. Ginny picked a random shower to the right side and placed her toiletries on the bench inside, ready to go.
The girls quietly did their nightly routine, and got into bed. The only noise came from the soft waves against the window.
Ginny took a deep breath beneath the luxurious covers, exhaling. She fell promptly asleep.