Blood Traitors (Draco Malfoy x Reader)

Chapter Six

Chapter Six: The Sorting

 "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.

"C'mon, follow me -- any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" Slipping and stumbling, they follow Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Y/N thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffs once or twice.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid says over his shoulder, "Jus' round this bend here." There was a loud "Oooooh!" The narrow path opens suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

 "No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid says, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione, which led to poor Y/N getting into a boat with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Ron looks over his shoulder and gives her a sympathetic look. 

 "Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then -- FORWARD!" And the fleet of little boats move off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead, at least they were until Draco Malfoy nudges Y/N's knee with his. 

"Y/N", he whispers. Y/N ignores him with her arms crossed as she stares straight ahead with a straight face. He nudges her knee again. 

"Y/N." 

"What, Malfoy?!", she whisper yells. Draco looks slightly taken aback by her quiet yell but quickly hides it with an apologetic smile. 

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier", says Draco, " I just wanted to take a jab at your brother for laughing at my name, I didn't mean for it to hurt you." Y/N's glare softens slightly as Draco stares back at her with genuine eyes. She sighs, hardening her glare once more. 

"Sometimes sorry isn't good enough-", she begins. Draco looks down, crestfallen. Why? Neither of them knew, but it was enough for Y/N to change her mind.

"But in this case, it's enough", Y/N finishes, "I forgive you, Draco." Draco sighs in relief and beams at Y/N, who returns the smile. The castle towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. 

"Heads down!", yells Hagrid as the first boats reach the cliff; they all bend their heads and the little boats carry them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle until they reach a kind of underground harbor, where they clamber out onto rocks and pebbles.

 "Oy, you there! Is this your toad?", asks Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climb out of them.

 "Trevor!", cries Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clamber up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walk up a flight of stone steps and crowd around the huge oak front door. 

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"Hagrid raises a gigantic fist and knocks three times on the castle door. The door swings open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stands there before them. She had a very stern face and Y/N's first thought was that this was not someone to cross. 

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall", says Hagrid. 

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She pulls the door wide. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. They follow Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Y/N could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right the rest of the school must already be here -- but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowd in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously. Y/N starts looking for Harry and Ron.