((It’s fine, I understand. <3 I just realised Hermione has to be sorted before Olive, so I couldn’t put her or Draco’s Sorting in yet. xD))

Draco felt kind of bad when he saw that Olive had walked back to Potter and Weasley. She seemed not to be as happy as before, but being the gits they were, Harry and Ron didn’t seem to have noticed.

“Draco, what do you think of my new robes?” he heard someone say, and when he turned his head, the face of Pansy Parkinson met him. She was looking at him with overly big and bright eyes and a simpering smile, and he cringed, not only at her ex
pression, but also because of the question.

“I, uh, I think they look very…nice,” Draco said. Her smile dropped, and her hurried to fix it. “They’re very…stylish.”

The smile was up again. “Thank you!” Pansy squealed. Draco smiled back at her, but not so genuinely, and then slowly edged away from her to Blaise’s side.

“How do you put up with her?” he hissed.

“You get used to it,” Blaise replied. “You wouldn’t know, because the only girl you hang around with is Olive, and sometimes she doesn’t even act like a girl.”

“She does too!” Draco hotly defended his cousin. “I’ve seen her curling her hair for those balls, and-”

“I didn’t mean to insult her, mate,” Blaise said chuckling. The two walked together through the halls of Hogwarts. Growing up in lavishly decorate houses, they didn’t think the castle was quite so stunning as others thought.

The large, uncharacteristically silent group stopped outside two large doors. Draco’s hands suddenly grew clammy. What if…what if he turned out to be a Squib? Or what if he got sorted into Gryffindor? The horror!

“You won’t mate,” Blaise said, and Draco looked at him bewildered. “You were talking out loud,” Blaise explained. “You won’t be sorted into Gryffindor. You’ve got a cunning mind if ever I saw one.”

Draco looked at him doubtfully. “Maybe.”

On the other side of the group, Olive was talking with Ron and Harry.

“This is it,” she said softly.

“If you get sorted into Slytherin,” Ron said jokingly, “we’ll never talk to you again.”

Harry only looked worried.

“What’s up with you, Harry?” Olive asked.

“My mum and dad think Slytherin is the lowest of the low,” Harry said lowly. “But I read about the house, and I’ve got some of those qualities. If I…if I get sorted into Slytherin, you’ll still be my friend, won’t you?”

“I will,” Olive said instantly. “Don’t know about that prat over there though.”

“’Course I will!” Ron said, his mouth full. In his nervousness, he had hastily stuffed a chocolate frog in his mouth.

All three students jumped when they heard McGonagall begin to talk. "We are going to walk into that Grand Hall, then be sorted," McGonagall said in a clipped tone. "Walk to your house seats, and they will explain many things. Don't ask me unless it's serious." McGonagall looked them over, her eyes resting on many familiar faces, and internally she smiled. This might be the best Hogwarts First Years yet. Certainly the most entertaining, considering the parents of many of the children here. She turned sharply on her heel and marched into the Great Hall. 

The group of First Years walked into the hall, and every single one of them could feel the many eyes on them. Olive hadn’t noticed that she had drifted away from Ron and Harry to the group that Draco was in.

“Nervous, Olive?” Pansy asked from her side, and she started. Where had she come from?

“Not really,” Olive said curtly. She knew the girl only wanted to be close to her to get to Draco.

“Me neither,” the girl replied, not noticing her tone. Her eyes lifted to the ceiling, and she gave a sigh. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Finally something they agreed on. “Yes, it is.”

Olive heard Hermione talking somewhere in front of them. “…the ceiling is actually charmed, to display the weather, and sunlight, or lack of, outside. It's not actually open like that.” She smiled and heard a giggle from Pansy.

“What a know-it-all,” she whispered. Olive gave her a disgusted look.

“At least she’s got a brain,” she replied.

The entire Hall was silent now, as McGonagall stood on a raised platform. She took out a scroll, and began calling names.

Draco watched in fascination as an old, tattered hat was taken out and placed on the nervous girl’s head. It was quiet, and it seemed she was having a conversation with the hat in her head. Suddenly, it shouted, “Gryffindor!”

A table clad in scarlet roared, and laughter echoed through the hall. “We got the first one!” shouts came, and the girl blushed scarlet, but smiled happily.

Draco turned back to the front, and watched as the next name was called. It would soon be Olive’s turn, and then his. He hoped to Merlin that he would be in Slytherin.

((Ugly faces of Slytherin? :O I think Draco is hawwwt. But then I guess he isn’t in Slytherin yet, so. xD))

“Granger, Hermione,” McGonagall called.

Draco felt Olive tense up next to her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her from the corner of his mouth.

“I…I’m hoping she won’t be in Gryffindor,” she said hesitantly. “It wouldn’t look so bad if I was in Slytherin and was friends with a Ravenclaw. I mean,” she said hurriedly, seeing Draco’s ex
pression, “I know Harry and Ron will probably be in Gryffindor, but two Gryffindor friends is better than three, isn’t it?”

“No Gryffindor friends is better than two,” Draco pointed out.

“Oh, be quiet,” she muttered. She watched in trepidation as Hermione sat on the stool. She looked very nervous, and she saw her bite her lip. A few seconds, and then…

“RAVENCLAW!”

The Ravenclaw table burst into applause, and Olive hadn’t noticed she had as well until Draco sent her a pointed look. She sheepishly put her hands away, grinning. The smile was wiped off her face when she realised that after G was H.

And that meant she was next.

“Hester, Olive!”

She hadn’t even had time to prep talk herself! She clenched her fists, and sent Draco a terrified look. He returned it with something that might have been reassuring, but then he gave her a nudge towards the seat.

Taking a deep breath, she took one step, then two, towards the platform. Her eyes met the piercingly blue eyes of the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, and suddenly, she felt she could do this. Straightening up, she hurriedly made her way to the stool, and sat on it, jamming the Sorting Hat on her head.

“Ah,” the Sorting Hat said. “You have many…interesting qualities. Ambitious and manipulative, eh? Slytherin qualities. But you do not seem to house the same prejudices as the other Slytherins. No matter, I know you will be able to handle it. You’ll have to be in SLYTHERIN!” The Sorting Hat shouted the last word, and there were cheers from the green house. She met Draco’s eyes and smiled triumphantly.

“No!” she heard a shout from the First Years, and saw Ron groaning and shaking his head. She shrugged at him, and saw Harry. She gave him an encouraging smile and left for the Slytherin House.

She had done it! She had made it to Slytherin!

“Welcome to Slytherin!” said a deep voice. She looked up, and saw a rather ugly older boy who seemed to be in his Sixth Year. ((Sorry, I don’t know what year Marcus Flint is in D:))

“Marcus Flint,” he said, sticking out his hand. She took it and shook it.

“Olive Hester.”

She greeted the rest of the Slytherins who came to make their names known (although she already knew Gregory Goyle), and sighed in contentment. She had passed the first milestone. She hoped she’d make it through the rest of the year.

((-bashes Ron on the head with a broomstick-))

Draco watched as Lyle was sorted into Ravenclaw. Perfect, he thought with a sneer. Mudblood and the Mudblood-lover in the same House.

He watched as more students were Sorted. They seemed to be less nervous than the people before them. It didn’t seem too difficult to sit on a stool and wait to be put in a House.

None of them had fathers like Lucius though. Draco went cold just thinking about it. Suddenly, he heard McGonagall’s clear voice. “Macmillan, Ernie.”

Mac…that meant he’d be next!

Ernie was sorted into Hufflepuff, and Draco scoffed. A leftover of the Wizarding world. He didn’t expect to hear much of Ernie at all for the rest of his life.

“Malfoy, Draco.”

Please let me be in Slytherin, he thought. He walked to the stool and took a seat. All the eyes in the Hall seemed to be staring at him intensely. Olive gave him an encouraging smile.

He needn’t have worried, though, because the Hat hadn’t touched his head when it cried, “SLYTHERIN!”

“Whoo!” Olive screamed, and she laughed and applauded. Draco grinned and made his way to sit next to her. “You made it, Draco! I don’t think you could have been put anywhere else!”

“Well, Malfoys always get what they want,” Draco replied arrogantly. He smirked at all the people clambering to talk to him. “If I hadn’t been made a Slytherin, Father would have come and put it right,” he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “He’s on the Board, you know.”

Olive rolled her eyes, and when she heard McGonagall call ‘Potter, Harry’, she turned them eagerly to the front.

It was a long, long ten minutes. The Sorting Hat seemed to deliberate for a long time. Harry’s face grew more miserable with every passing second, and there was no doubt he hated what the Hat was saying. Finally, it yelled, “Gryffindor!”

Olive was disappointed, but it was not unexpected. After all, he had told her he didn’t want to be in Slytherin. The rest of the ceremony was rather boring, until they got to Ron. He was, of course, in Gryffindor, with the rest of the Weasley clan. She smiled at him as he jumped off the platform.

“Finally!” she heard Gregory Goyle moan. “We can eat!” She shook her head at his appetite, so like Ron’s, and began to eat. 

((Yeah, sure. :3))

“Slytherin House will be your home for the next seven years,” Snape said in a cold voice, addressing the small group of First Years in front of him. The other years had all gone up to their dormitories, after Snape had glared at all of them. “You will be expected to make House Points for Slytherin, but not to lose them. Every year, the school holds a House Cup. Whichever House holds the most points at the end of the year will have the last feast of the year dedicated to them.” His lip curled unpleasantly. “Because the imbeciles in this House have been very obvious in their dislike for the rest of the school, we have lost more House Points than we have made. The last time we won was twenty years ago, when I was a student. ((I’m not sure if this is canon o.O)) I’m hoping that some of you-” his eyes rested on Draco, “-will be able to hold your tongue. I do not wish to be the Head of House of the losing one for another year.”  

“Don’t worry, sir!” Olive chirped happily next to Draco. “We’ll win this year!”

Snape turned his dark eyes on her. “Your name?”

“Olive Hester, Professor!”

“Ah,” Snape said, a flicker of recognition in his eyes. “Miss Hester. Very interesting. I hope your – uh - enthusiastic prediction will come true.”

His eyes swept over them once more, making them feel cold, before he left the Common Room, his robes sweeping behind him and making him look remarkably like a bat.

“Better get your beauty sleep, Draco, ‘cause I just promised the Greasy Bat that we’d win the House Cup this year,” Olive laughed.

“I noticed,” Draco said dryly. He turned and made his way to the stairs.

“Hey, Draco!” Olive followed him. “You aren’t still angry at me are you?”

“It depends. Will you be loyal to Slytherin and stay away from that Blood Traitor filth you were around earlier?”

Olive’s eyes clouded. “I’ll be loyal to Slytherin, but I won’t stay away from my friends.”

“Well then,” Draco said, his foot on the first step. “There’s your answer.” And he went up the stairs, leaving Olive behind.

((Oh, sorry about that. xD I was hoping it’d be unnoticed though, seeing as we’re not doing canon))

Breakfast in the Great Hall was torture for Draco. Not because of his housemates…no, they were fine. It was Olive. Stupid Olive, going off and being friends with Harry and Ron. And leaving him. What had happened to being best friends?

He sighed and pushed his scrambled eggs around his plate with his fork.

“What’s wrong?” he heard a voice say, and he turned to see Pansy.

“Morning, Pansy,” he said glumly. “Nothing.”

“Good morning to you too.” She took a seat beside him. “Obviously there is something wrong. So tell me, what is it?”

Draco didn’t reply. He just sent another glare Olive’s way. She was sitting at the Gryffindor table with Harry and Ron. This caused lots of unhappiness with the Slytherins, and especially Snape, who was watching her murderously, but the Gryffindors seemed to have welcome her with open, if not hesitant, arms.

“Oh, Olive,” Pansy said. She didn’t sound angry. “Don’t worry about her, Draco. She’s just curious about people. Her parents never let her in the real world, remember? She hasn’t met Blood Traitors, Mudbloods or the like. She just wants to see what they’re like. They’re different to what she’s grown up with, us Pureblood children.”

Draco nodded. “Maybe.” The thought brightened him up. “Yeah, maybe.” The rest of his breakfast didn’t taste so bland. He’d let her have her fun, and then she’d see the Mudbloods for what they really were. And then they’d be friends again.

The First Year timetables were handed down the table, and he took his from the top. He groaned.

“First period is Potions with the Ravenclaws,” Pansy read. “Well, they aren’t so bad. And Snape is our teacher. What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s that Mudblood Granger,” Draco replied, disdain clearly showing on his face. “She’s in Ravenclaw.”

“Oh, well, that’s too bad,” Pansy said. She looked around the hall. “Where is she, anyway? I’d recognise those buck teeth and bush of hair anywhere. It’ll be fun to tease her.”

“How should I know?” Draco hissed. Pansy shrugged and finished the rest of her breakfast, before standing up.

“Want to help me find the dungeons?”

 “Do you hear that?” Pansy asked sharply. She cocked her head to the side, but didn’t break step. “It sounds like…” She turned around and grinned maliciously at Hermione and Lyle. “…A Mudblood!”

Draco turned too, and he grinned. “Whatcha doing, following us, Granger?”

((I’m sorry, I’m getting used to shorter posts. D: ))

((OMG. ♥))

"Oh really?" Pansy said with interest. She tossed her hair a bit, making her look (to the others) quite stupid. "I don't even know you. What's your name?"

Draco looked with confusion between Lyle and Pansy. "Uh, Pansy-"

"Shush, Draco," Pansy whispered. "No need to be jealous. You know I'll always prefer you."

Draco reddened. "No, Pansy-"

"Shush." 

((I'm giggling like a schoolgirl with a crush. Just thought you should know.))

"Oh," Pansy giggled, blushing beet-red. "Uhm, Pansy Parkinson, Pureblood, Slytherin and my parents work for the Ministry." She flashed Lyle a shy smile.

Draco rolled his eyes at the girl, and felt like he was going to be sick. He glared at Lyle. "Come on, Pansy." He tugged her robe sleeve, and this time she didn't resist. She allowed herself to be pulled along the corridor, away from Lyle and Hermione. 

"He's so dreamy, Draco," Pansy sighed.

"You have girlfriends for this kind of talk," Draco said with disgust. "I thought you wanted to tease Granger."

"Oh, well, there are other times for that," Pansy replied, glancing back at Lyle. "And, well, I wouldn't want to look bad in front of Lyle. She's his friend, I might just leave her alone. There are other Mudbloods to pick on."