Chapter 2
"So I guess that means the three of us are still in Slytherin then." Blaise mused as he stared at Draco and Pansy's robes, noting that like him, the other two were still wearing their old Slytherin colors. "To be honest, I don't know if I should feel relieved or disappointed that I didn't get a new house." He drawled.
"Are you kidding?" Pansy snorted as she crossed her arms over her chest and gestured with a nod to where Theodore Nott was still throwing a screaming, hissy fit at McGonagall. "Would you rather be like Nott is right now? I mean, who knew that he was secretly a Puff under that cocky big head of his? His father's going to disown him." She snickered under her breath.
Draco couldn't answer, his attention drawn to the bulky Gryffindor-robed student who was trudging his way through the crowd towards them. When he reached their group, Pansy and Blaise began to mirror Draco's gaping expression and stared in stunned horror at one miserable looking Gregory Goyle.
"Goyle, you're a Gryffindor?!" Draco croaked out, staring at his friend in stunned disbelief.
"The sorting hat did tell me in first year that I was brave and reckless." Greg mumbled, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "But I had no idea that it meant I was qualified to be a Gryffindor."
"Well this changes everything." Blaise's lips twitched upwards into an amused smirk. "Now I understand why you always had a soft spot for Potter and her friends." He teased, earning a glare from Greg.
"It's not funny, Zabini." He snapped.
"Oh but it kind of is." Blaise countered, still smirking. "You being sorted into Gryffindor is almost as bad as Nott being sorted into Hufflepuff." He added, snickering.
"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff." Greg pointed out in such a strange tone of voice that both Blaise and Draco arched an eyebrow at him, causing him to redden slightly. "I—it's just that, Astoria told me that she just got resorted into Hufflepuff too." He added, sounding a little defensive.
"Astoria's in Hufflepuff?" Draco croaked out again, shaking his head in dismay.
"Not surprising." Blaise shrugged at them. "She was always a bit on the shy and timid side."
Greg continued to frown at the two boys in warning. "There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff or being shy and timid—"
He was cut off when Pansy suddenly spoke under her breath in a curt voice.
"The Chosen One and her dedicated horde of followers are staring at us."'
Draco looked up from the new house list that was handed to them by McGonagall and cast a questioning look at Pansy beside him.
When he followed her gaze and saw Aria Potter and the rest of her friends trying – and failing – to stare discreetly at them, his eyes narrowed and a slightly irritated scowl darkened his face.
In spite of himself, Draco took that opportunity to figure out what changed in Potter's appearance.
At first he thought it was her height, since it did seem like Potter had gotten taller. Back in their 6th year, Draco remembered that she had been shorter than Granger and Weasley. Now she was taller than Granger, and almost as tall as Weasley was. Her hair had grown longer too, but instead of keeping it loose and messy like she used to when they were younger, it was pulled back and styled into one very tight braid that ended just above her waist.
Curiously, he noticed that her hands were covered with a pair of sleek black gloves that went all the way up, almost reaching her elbows. At the beginning of summer, Draco had already noticed that Potter had taken to wearing a pair of huge, thick-framed glasses - even more hideous than the pair she used to wear back in their third year. She still wore those hideous glasses now, with the ridiculously large frames practically covering half of her face.
She looked exactly like Draco remembered when he saw her before school started, but even then he couldn't help but agree with Blaise's strange observations back on the train.
There was definitely something magnetic about her presence, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
Even now, while she was preoccupied with her conversation with Granger, Weasley and Longbottom, there were students, particularly male students (including Blaise and Greg), who were subconsciously glancing at her every few minutes. They would blink, stare at Potter with a dazed, faraway expression for several seconds, before shaking their head and turning away as though snapping out of a semi-trance.
It was weird.
He was just about to comment to Blaise about it when he noticed that Potter was staring at him again. Frowning, Draco's attention was finally drawn to her robes – which, he noticed for the first time, were now accentuated with the same green and silver colors as his own.
You've got to be kidding me.
"Harriah Potter and Neville Longbottom are in Slytherin?!" Blaise suddenly blurted out, his eyes growing as wide as saucers as he gaped unashamedly at Potter's new uniform. Then, grinning, he turned to give Greg a mischievous look. "This is wicked, first you're in Gryffindor and now, we have the likes of Potter and Longbottom as Slytherins. Oh this is going to be one hell of an interesting year." He exclaimed, earning himself another set of irritated looks from his friends.
"This is horrible!" Pansy looked a little panicked as she turned to Draco and tugged frantically on the sleeve of his robe. She waited until Potter and her friends had looked away from them before she eyed their robes again in dismay. "I don't want to share a dormitory with Potter! She'll curse me in my sleep!"
"Potter would sooner jump into the lake than do something like that, Pansy. You're fine. Now let go of me!" Draco scoffed as he yanked his sleeve away from her in irritation.
"Have you forgotten that I was the one who shouted for us to hand her over to the Dark Lord during the siege on Hogwarts?!" Pansy retorted, her cheeks burning at the memory. "I doubt she's forgiven me about that little incident, Draco!"
"Have you forgotten that you weren't the Death Eater specifically ordered to kill her precious Dumbledore,Pansy?!" Draco fired back, gritting his teeth at her antics. "I'm the one she'd be most likely to hold a grudge against and yet, she bloody pardoned me and my family. So I think you can relax about her cursing you in your sleep." He snapped in a low hiss.
The venom with which Draco had spoken silenced Pansy immediately.
Meanwhile, Blaise and Greg shared uncomfortable glances with one another and scuffed their shoes quietly on the floor.
When the awkward silence stretched on for a few more agonizing minutes, Draco sighed and, to avoid apologizing to his friends for his outburst, he turned his attention back to McGonagall again just as the Headmistress was beginning to explain to the crowd of 8th years the newly implemented rules and guidelines for the school year.
He listened intently as she explained to them how, because of the ongoing reconstruction efforts of Hogwart's west wing – which had been badly damaged during the war – there was currently a shortage of available house elves to keep up the school's regular maintenance chores that year.
To aid with that, especially given that there was an unusually high number of students in Hogwarts that year because of the return of the 8th years, McGonagall would be assigning students to assist with some chores from time to time. She went on to explain how the chores would mostly be simple but varied, ranging from cleaning a few classrooms, maintaining the grounds, or even helping the house elves clean up the kitchens.
Ignoring the muffled groans she received from the 8th years, McGonagall continued.
"As an added effort to build more camaraderie with your new housemates, you'll be assigned in pairs for these chores. I'll be posting the pairs and the chore assignments within the week. Now, don't worry—" She rolled her eyes and raised a hand to silence the incoming barrage of protests. "—the chores will be quite easy and simple, I assure you. You can even use magic to finish them, it won't be like what you're forced to do during detentions. We really do just need an extra pair of hands right now to help with running the school while the castle is being rebuilt." She admitted ruefully.
"Great." Draco heard Zacharias Smith, who was standing a few feet to his right, mutter to Ernie Macmillan beside him. "I should have listened to my mum when she said I shouldn't go back to Hogwarts this year." He complained loudly.
Draco couldn't exactly blame him.
All he really wanted this year was to graduate with as little interaction with anyone else as possible, preferably none at all. At the very least, he just wanted to get through the year without anyone noticing his existence.
"—that's it for the special announcements. I wish you all good luck for the upcoming school year." McGonagall finished as she looked up from her clipboard and gave them all an encouraging nod. "The new first years will have been sorted by now so you may proceed to the Great Hall for dinner. Afterwards, I'll have your respective house prefects escort you to your new dormitories."
"Are we required to eat at our new house table already?"
Aria couldn't help wincing at Neville's question as she followed him, Luna, Ron and Hermione into the Great Hall later that evening. As they pushed through the doors, she let out a sigh of exasperation and subconsciously pushed her long braid impatiently over her shoulder.
"I think so? Otherwise, why else would McGonagall have accosted us before dinner to have us resorted already?" She mused, her words causing both Ron and Neville to look slightly put out.
"But I don't want to sit at the Gryffindor table without you two there. I'm all alone now, you two left me!" Ron whined pathetically to Hermione beside him, causing his brown-haired girlfriend to roll her eyes and give him an admonishing glare.
"Oh for Merlin's sake, Ronald. Don't be such a child, we did no such thing! Just because Aria and I are in different houses now, it doesn't mean we left you!" She huffed, shaking her head in annoyance.
"B—but—"
"I'm a Gryffindor now, Ron. I can sit with you." Luna offered softly, giving Ron another one of her dreamy smiles. "I'm quite excited about the whole resorting, actually. I've always wanted to be a Gryffindor."
"B—but—" Ron continued to look desolate as he cast another pleading look at Hermione, grabbing her hand and pulling her against him. "—what if you start spending time with one of those Ravenclaw boys, realize they're smarter and better than I am? Please Hermione, don't leave me!" He wailed, this time causing both Aria and Hermione to roll their eyes and give him irritated glares.
"Oh grow up, Weasley!" Aria growled at him, giving him a hard shove.
"See?! See?! You're acting all Slytherin already! And it's barely been ten minutes!" Ron pointed out, scowling as he shoved her back in retaliation and rubbed his sore shoulder.
"How am I acting like a Slytherin?!" Aria retorted, her left eye twitching in annoyance.
"You called me 'Weasley'!"
"Seriously, Ronald!" Hermione sighed again, pointedly choosing to ignore the fact that Neville and Luna looked as though they were trying to stifle a smile at their antics. "If it matters that much to you, then fine, we'll still sit with you at the Gryffindor table tonight—" She noticed the way Ron's face lit up at her words but before he could react, she went on in a firm voice. "—but starting tomorrow, we all have to sit with our new houses, okay? I don't want the Headmistress to think we're disrespecting her efforts."
"You're an angel, Hermione, thank you!" Ron grinned widely, instantly cheering up, and he gave Hermione a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.
"Ugh. I don't know why you put up with him, 'Mione." Aria quipped, hiding a grin of amusement as she began following them to the Gryffindor table. "But then again, you've always been patient with children."
"There you go again, Aria." Ron warned as he looked at her over his shoulder and gave her a quelling glare. "Keep that up and I'll throw you over to the Slytherin table." He growled.
"Wait a minute." Neville suddenly spoke as he latched onto Aria's arm. "If you're not sitting with the Slytherins yet, then I'm going with you. I don't want to sit there all by myself." He complained.
"It's fine, Neville. We can sit with them starting breakfast tomorrow." Aria assured him just as they reached the Gryffindor table, patting the hand he had wrapped around her elbow before she ushered him over to the seat beside hers. Luna took the other seat beside him while Ron and Hermione sat opposite them.
"Your hair grew quite long, Aria. I remember it being only shoulder-length last year." Luna commented as she turned her big blue eyes to Aria's braid and reached out to push it gently over the other girl's shoulder. "Did you use magic or a potion to grow it this long over the summer?" She asked.
"No it grew out on its own." Aria answered with a nervous laugh, pointedly avoiding Luna's gaze. "But that's fine, I've always wanted to have long hair, and I figured since the weather was getting cold anyway, now would be the perfect time to do it." She noticed that both Ron and Hermione had looked up and met her eyes but thankfully, neither of her two best friends said anything.
"Oh I see." Luna was still staring intently at her with her thoughtful blue eyes, a strange expression lingering on her face. "Is that why you're also wearing gloves? Because it's cold?" She asked.
"I—I uh…yes, exactly. Because it's cold." Aria agreed, glancing pleadingly over Luna's shoulder at Ron and Hermione, trying to get them to change the subject.
"I'm starving! Let's eat!" Ron suddenly blurted out, causing everyone else to jump slightly at his outburst.
Trying not let the relief on her face show, Aria was just about to reach across the table to help herself to some dinner rolls when another student – a brown-haired, slightly lanky boy in Gryffindor robes – suddenly plopped down onto the seat directly across hers. When she looked up at him in question, the boy gave her a wide, starstruck smile and thrust his hand out across the table, waving it frantically in front of her face.
"Wow! I can't believe it, it's—you're—it's really you! Harriah Potter!" He exclaimed ecstatically, ignoring the way Ron and Hermione were glaring at him as he leaned across the table towards her.
When Aria seemed too stunned to do anything but gape at him, he seized her gloved hand tightly in his, nearly yanking the glove off her hand in his exuberance.
"Hey, don't just manhandle her like that—" Ron growled but the boy cut him off again as he practically leaped across the table and squeezed himself into the seat beside Aria, causing Neville to protest as he was forced to scoot further away.
Whether or not the boy noticed Ron or Neville there, however, was irrelevant because he continued to stare dazedly at Aria with a creepy, lovestruck smile on his face.
"I know you probably don't know me but I am your biggest and most loyal fan, Aria." The boy declared loudly as he squeezed her hand again and leaned in closer, forcing Aria to frown and back away at the intrusion. "My name is Bentley Fisher. I'm a Gryffindor too and I'm a year below you. Though I did sit next to you a few times in study hall a couple of years back, but you probably wouldn't have noticed." He breathed out.
"Um, okay. Uh-huh." Aria forced out a small, awkward smile at that and discreetly tried to edge away from him. "It's nice to meet you, Bentley." She added reluctantly when an expectant look seemed to linger on his face.
"It's okay. I know you don't know who I am but that doesn't matter because I know everything about you. I dream about you all the time." He smiled at her again but this time, the maniacal, hero-worship in his eyes was enough to make Aria frown and tug her hand roughly away from his grasp.
"That's nice to know, Bentley. Excuse me—"
"You saved me, you know." He cut her off as he leaned in close to whisper into her ear, invading her personal space. "During the battle here at Hogwarts, you saved me. One of the Death Eaters, the one with teeth like a wolf, he was about to kill me when you happened to pass by." He explained, causing her eyebrows to arch up in surprise. "You shoved me out of the way of his killing curse right before you stunned him. I would have died if it wasn't for you." He finished, giving her another reverent smile.
It took Aria a couple of minutes before she was able to find her voice.
"Oh." She replied lamely, glancing over the boy's shoulder and meeting Hermione's questioning look with a helpless shrug. She didn't exactly know what to say in response to something like that. "That's uh…Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're okay—"
"By the way, I think it's absolutely appalling that they're forcing you to be in Slytherin this year." Bentley went on, scowling in distaste as his gaze dropped down to stare resentfully at Aria's uniform. "Personally, I feel affronted for you. I mean, how dare they tarnish the savior of the wizarding world by making her associate with those Slytherin lowlifes?" He raged, slamming his fist against the table and causing Aria to jump slightly.
"Um—"
"You deserve so much more than that, Aria. But don't worry, I'll protect you from those Slytherins—"
"Alright, alright. That's enough of that." Ron finally couldn't take it anymore and spoke up, forcing Bentley to look up at him and earning a grateful look from Aria for his timely interruption. "Look here, mate. I think Aria wants to finish up with her dinner so she can get some rest. So why don't you—"
"Of course! Of course, I'm so sorry for disturbing you! I'll let you get back to your meal and go sit with my friends." Bentley suddenly rushed out, looking deeply embarrassed as he shot up from his seat and bowed apologetically at Aria. She gave him another forced smile, which quickly turned into a grimace when Bentley leaned in one last time and, ignoring Ron's warning glare at him, whispered into her ear.
"But don't worry, Aria. I'll spend the entirety of this year protecting you and making sure those Slytherins know their place. I won't let any of them touch you." He declared wholeheartedly, his unnervingly blue eyes gleaming with something Aria didn't quite understand.
"That's…nice, Bentley." Aria pushed him away herself this time and pointedly moved back from him a few inches to prevent him from leaning into her again. "But as Ron said, I'd like to finish my dinner now so if you don't mind." She didn't bother trying to be polite this time as she gestured impatiently for him to leave, completely fed up with the fact that he had been fawning over her for the last ten minutes.
"Of course. I'll go now. Have a good night." He gave her another wide, lovesick smile before he finally took off and reclaimed his seat with a few other Gryffindors at the very end of the table.
As soon as he was gone, Aria finally let out the breath of relief that she had been holding and shook her head, failing to suppress the shudder that suddenly wracked her frame.
"Finally!" Hermione exclaimed as she reached out and patted Aria comfortingly on the shoulder. "I thought that guy would never leave. The way he looked at Aria, it was like he wanted to eat her alive or something." She mused with a slight giggle.
"It wasn't funny, Hermione." Aria snapped at them as she shuddered again, trying to shake off the feeling of Bentley hovering so close to her. "That was almost as scary as facing Voldemort again." She muttered under her breath, causing Hermione to give her a reproachful glare.
"Don't joke about things like that, Aria—"
"She's right, though. That wasn't funny." Ron mumbled in agreement as he shoved a spoonful of mash potatoes into his mouth, accidentally spraying Aria with bits of food as he spoke.
"That was one hell of a creepy bloke."
"So…"
Both Neville and Aria glanced cautiously around the Slytherin Common Room, oblivious to the throng of other Slytherins who were entering the common room behind them and heading up to their dormitories.
"…this all seems…" Neville paused for a few seconds as he struggled to find the right words to say.
"…not horrible?" Aria offered with a slight grin.
"I was going for cozy but yeah, that sounds about right." Neville kidded weakly as he turned around and watched as Blaise Zabini, their new House Prefect, smirked at their expressions and gestured wordlessly for Neville and Zacharias Smith to follow him and Draco Malfoy down the stairs to where the 8th year dormitories were.
He stopped and made sure that both Zabini and Malfoy were out of earshot before he quickly turned to Aria and whispered something under his breath.
"Wish me luck." He winced and managed a weak laugh."If I'm not there to meet you during breakfast, it's because Malfoy and Zabini probably murdered me in my sleep." He joked nervously.
"Yeah right." Aria scoffed at that, trying not to mimic the expression on Neville's face when she glanced over her shoulder and watched Pansy Parkinson, their other House Prefect, calling impatiently for Aria, Morag Macdougal and Hannah Abbott to follow her to the 8th year girl's dormitories.
"You're not the one sharing a dorm with Pansy Parkinson, remember?" She pointed out.
Neville gave her a sympathetic smile at that before they parted, him following Zabini and the rest of the new Slytherin 8th years boys while Aria sighed and grudgingly trailed after Parkinson and the other girls. After a short flight of stairs, Parkinson swung open a large, wooden door and gestured for the rest of them to follow her inside.
"This is our new dorm room. Feel free to take any bed you like except the one at the very end. That one's mine." Parkinson waited until everyone had entered before she allowed the door to slam shut, causing Hannah Abbott to squeak in fear and practically jump a mile into the air.
"Relax, Abbott. I didn't bring you down here to murder you." Pansy looked as though she was trying to stifle a smirk as she eyed the former Hufflepuff girl's absolutely terrified expression. "You look like you're about to burst out crying. Are you sure they sorted you right?" She mused, snickering.
"I—I wasn't crying!" Hannah managed to retort weakly.
For once, Aria couldn't really blame Pansy for her comment.
Hannah was trembling horribly and the petite girl did look as though she was likely to burst into tears any minute.
Even Aria had been fairly surprised when she learned that Hannah Abbott, a girl that had a reputation of being the friendliest and most amiable girl in Hufflepuff, of all houses, had been sorted into Slytherin. A part of Aria was almost convinced that the sorting hat was just a crazy old piece of junk pulling all their legs and sorting everyone into the most random houses just for a good laugh.
Shaking her head at the thought, Aria took that moment to glance curiously around the dormitory, noting with mild surprise that, unlike the dorm rooms in Gryffindor tower, the rooms down in the dungeons were much bigger than she expected.
There were four large, curtained beds positioned at each of the room's four corners, and each one was beside a small study table and desk lamp. A nice, cozy-looking circular rug lay in the very center of the room, along with several pillows and two large chairs that somewhat resembled beanbags.
If she had to be completely honest, Aria actually liked the look of this new room better than her old dormitory back in Gryffindor, though her new housemates were an entirely different matter altogether.
The only downside that Aria noticed was the fact that, since their rooms were down in the dungeons, there were no windows along the walls. Regardless, there was a small, brick fireplace situated in the back of the room and it gave the dungeon walls a nice, warm glow.
"Whatever. I've done my part. I'm going to bed." Pansy broke Aria's train of thought as she rolled her eyes at their staring and sauntered pointedly over to her four poster bed at the very end of the room. "The bathroom is that door beside the fireplace at the back. The small closet by the door is for cloaks and boots only. Oh, and be sure to leave your dirty shoes outside." She cast a cursory glare at them and waited until they all walked back to the entrance and removed their shoes.
"So we can just choose whichever bed we like?" Morag Macdougal, a lanky, brown-haired former Ravenclaw who Aria always used to see walking the halls with her nose buried in a book, asked as she reluctantly walked over to the bed beside Pansy's.
"Do what you want. Sleep on the floor for all I care." Pansy retorted irritably as she pulled back the comforters on her bed and began fluffing the pillows.
It didn't escape Aria's attention that since the moment they had met Pansy in the Great Hall for her to tour them around the dungeons, the girl had never once addressed her nor glanced in Aria's direction.
"I suppose I'll take this bed then if no one wants it." Aria said uncertainly as she walked over to the bed that was the furthest away from Pansy's, way on the opposite corner of the room. Hannah, whom Aria noticed still looked as though she was on the verge of tears, immediately plopped down onto the bed closest to hers and turned to give Aria a pleading look.
"Um…Harriah? Can I take the bed beside yours, please?" She asked meekly, blushing when Aria's initial reaction was to pause in mid-stride and give her a blank stare.
"Of course." She recovered after a few seconds and shook the confused expression away, rewarding the other girl with a comforting smile. "You can call me Aria, by the way. It's nice to finally meet you, Hannah."
"Nice to meet you too, um…Aria." Hannah was still blushing as she pulled her trunk over to her new bed, flipped it open and began rifling through her clothes. "I still can't believe this is all happening. When I came to Hogwarts this year, the last thing I expected was to be sorted into Slytherin." She admitted in a broken voice.
"Oh come on, it's not that bad." Aria cajoled her with a slight grin as she took a cue from the other girl and began emptying out the contents of her own trunk. "I'm sure McGonagall knew what she was doing when she did the resorting. You must have been sorted into Slytherin for a reason."
"Well, I for one know exactly why I was sorted into Slytherin." Morag declared knowingly from across the room, apparently having listened in on their conversation. "Back in first year, the sorting hat warned me that I was too ambitious for my own good. It would have put me into Slytherin already had I not said that I valued knowledge more because it was more versatile than power." She told them.
"Oh was that your question? Mine was something about whether I valued loyalty or doing the right thing." Hannah mentioned curiously, looking up from her trunk. "I think I was placed in Hufflepuff because I said loyal friends wouldn't make you do the wrong thing."
"What a Hufflepuff answer." Pansy snorted derisively to herself but fortunately, only Aria seemed to have heard it.
"What question did the sorting hat ask you, Potter?" Morag asked, turning questioningly to the dark haired girl.
"Nothing." Aria admitted, a little annoyed at the realization that the sorting hat back in first year had apparently judged her without asking her anything at all. "The sorting hat didn't actually ask me any question."
"What do you mean?" Hannah asked as she looked up and stared at her in shock.
This time, even Pansy seemed interested in the conversation because the Slytherin had looked up from whatever it was she was arranging on her desk and cast a hooded gaze at Aria.
"It didn't ask me anything, to be honest." Aria admitted, trying not to react when she saw the surprise on their faces. "It just told me that I'd do well in Slytherin. But by then, I was already decided on Gryffindor so I told the hat to put me there instead." She finished.
"You told the sorting hat which house to put you in?" Hannah stared incredulously at her, one of her eyes visibly bigger than the other. "That's…wow. I guess the sorting hat took into account that you would be the future savior of the wizarding world, huh? You really are quite a witch, Aria. I can't believe you're actually my housemate now." She breathed out, now staring at Aria with unconcealed awe and admiration.
"That wasn't—I mean, it's not like that—" Aria instantly stiffened, her jaw clenching with irritation as she shook her head and tried to change the topic of conversation. "Anyway, we should finish unpacking so we can turn in for the night—"
"Yes, aren't we all so lucky now that we get to sleep in the same dorm room as our beloved savior?" Pansy's harsh, sarcastic voice suddenly cut her off, the sharpness of her voice piercing through Aria like a knife. "In fact, while we're at it, wouldn't you say that we're all so bloody lucky to even be breathing the same air as the magnificent Harriah Potter? It's so much more than we lowlife mortals deserve." She drawled.
Aria's hands involuntarily tightened, the leather of her gloves squeaking as her fingers clenched into fists. She whipped around and narrowed her eyes at where Pansy was now sneering at her from the other side of the room.
"I'm sorry, is there a problem, Parkinson?" She asked in a curt voice.
Ironically, Pansy looked a little taken back by her hostile reaction to Aria's statement because she had gone completely still, her eyes a little wide in belated realization. When she saw both Hannah and Morag staring at her, as well as the way Aria was glaring at her in challenge, the sneer on her face quickly vanished and she shrugged before pointedly turning her attention back to her trunk.
"Don't mind me. My mouth tends to run off without getting clearance from my brain." She looked up at them again and gave them all another sweet, innocent smile before hastily looking away.
Aria gritted her teeth and silently counted to ten in her head, fighting the ridiculous urge to take out her wand and cast a particularly nasty bat bogey hex at Pansy across the room.
Fortunately, they spent the remainder of the evening in relative silence after Pansy's little outburst, broken only by the occasional loud 'thuds' from the impressive stack of thick books that Morag was currently lifting from her trunk and arranging on the desk beside her bed.
Every now and then, Hannah would look up and glance warily around her, almost as though she was expecting that at least one of her new housemates was going to attack her while she wasn't paying attention. Aria would have found it funny, if not for the fact that the former Hufflepuff really did look helplessly unsettled being around her three new housemates.
Meanwhile, Pansy continued to keep mostly to herself, and it wasn't until she had finished unpacking her belongings and was sliding under the covers in her pajamas that she addressed them all again.
"Welcome to Slytherin."
She gave them all one last smirk before she reached up and yanked the curtains around her bed shut.
Notes: I was originally planning to post this chapter a bit later but I just realized that today (July 31) is Harry's birthday. So to celebrate, I'm posting this chapter a week early. The next one will be uploaded perhaps this coming Thursday or Friday.
As always, your reviews and/or comments are more than welcome and very much appreciated. Cheers! ;)