Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
━━━ THREEseer of the sky
Rayarested her chin against her palm. Her muscles felt taut and stiff.
The sorting ceremony took longer than it normally did━with indecisive students putting on the hat. Raya had made an effort to watch the first few students getting sorted, their faces bright with their new sense of purpose. Only a few looked unsure of their results.
She unconsciously thought back to how it had felt when it was her on the stool. It had been almost six years ago. There were assumptions about where she would belong from her family. Her grandmother presumed that she belonged in Ravenclaw━given her mother's history. Or she might be a Gryffindor like her father. Raya had already known that she was neither as clever nor brave as her family. When she had written to her family to tell them that she had been sorted to Slytherin, nobody replied. Her father still managed to come up with a feeble reply: "Proud of you, Raya" She still kept that faded parchment inside her journal.
She wondered if it was fatherly instinct━to protect her and her sister from the bitterness. Or it was the fulfillment of some obligation. He was still her father. Something was expected of him━ some embers of affection. He rarely rose up to those expectations. Raya wondered if the things he did for his two daughters were born out of affection or obligation. But she saw him drowning in his problems. It almost felt selfish to think of it.
But then again, it must be instinct. She felt the same instinct to protect Aylin from bitterness.
She was brought out of her thoughts when someone from the far end of the table sneezed. She had taken a seat between Vic and Carlo, the Slytherin Quidditch captain. He often let out prolonged sighs to make his displeasure evident. In the field, he was much more vigorous. Here, he just flexed his fingers and waited for this to end.
From across the room, she caught Aylin's eye. She was sitting with the Ravenclaws, offering her an almost hyperbolical eye-roll.
Almost ten minutes later, the last of the first-years stood up from the stool with a jittery smile, striding towards their table. Raya felt as though she'd almost laugh out of relief. Faintly, she remembered that this was the last sorting ceremony she'd attended. The thought had crossed her mind abruptly. Next year, she would be somewhere else━god knew where━and everything here would be just as this━except that she wouldn't be here. The wistfulness washed in almost as quickly as the relief had.
