Heartchains

Chapter 3

The carriage stops at the castle and everyone gets off.

Pansy runs off through the crowd, tears stinging her eyes once more. 

'What's wrong with me? Why am I so touchy? It's not like what Blaise said was anything hard. I know that already, I was mean. So what? I've made the promise to be nice already? What more does he want from me?' She trips over a rock, sending her straight to the ground.  

"Lovely." She says, seeing the deep gash that the rock left in her ankle. "Hey, now I have a reason to cry." She says darkly. 

"Ohmygosh, are you alright?" 

Pansy asks, seeing a small girl running over to her. 

"I'm fine, nothing a quick spell can't fix."

"That looks deep. Are you sure? You might need stitches."

"Stitches?" Isn't that a-" She stops. This girl must be muggle-born.

"Episkey." Pansy says and the gash disappears. "See, all done. No skitches needed." 

"Woah." She said quietly, staring at her ankle. "How'd you do that?" 

"Magic." She said, standing up. "All better." She bends down to grab her stuff and starts walking to the castle. 

"Wait!" Pansy stops and tuns around. The little girl runs up to her. 

"I, um, I don't..."

"Know where you're supposed to go?" Pansy says, smile playing at her lip. 

The girl nods. 

'I should take her to the whomping willow...No, that's not nice. I have to be nice.'

"Here, I'll take you." She reaches out her hand for the girl, who takes it.

They walked in comfortable silence for a while before Pansy started to talk.

"So, what's your name?"

"Dorothy Attwood. My friend's here too her name's Zoe. I met her on the train."

"My name's Pansy."

"Oooh, that's pretty!"

Pansy was glad that Dorothy was muggle-born. She couldn't have any prejudices on her because of her house. Speaking of houses.

"Do you know what house you'll be in?"

"House?" 

"Oh, right, everyone gets sorted into a house on their first year. What house you're sorted into basically determines where your common room is." She didn't feel like telling her it was personality-wise.

"What houses are there?" She asked, getting excited.

"Oh, there's Slytherin, that's my house. It's about being cunning and ambitiousness."

"What's that mean?"

"Looking after yourself and dreaming big."

"Oh, I like that one."

Pansy smiled. "So do I. Then there's Ravenclaw. That's the house of intelligence and creativity."

"Oh, I like that one too."

"Then there' s Hufflepuff."

Dorothy giggled at the name.

"Hufflepuff's about being loyal, and hardworking."

"Oooh."

"And last is Gryffindor. That's the house of bravery and chivalry."

"What's chivalry?"

"Being nice to people."

"Oooh. But you're nice, why aren't you in Gryffindor?"

"Gryffindor's not the only house that can be nice." She said, slightly snappy.

"Sorry."

"Hey, it's just that the other houses sort of don't like my house."

"You're a Slythin right?"

"Slytherin, and yeah."

"Don't they just want to go for there dreams?"

"Yeah."

"Why don't they like you?"

"They think we're evil."

"Why?"

"Because this evil dude came from our house and he was really mean. He killed a bunch of people and everyone was scared of him." She didn't tell her about the huge number of followers that came from her house.

"What happened to him?"

"Harry Potter killed him."

"Who's that?'

"A gryffindor. He's the same age as me."

"How old are you?"

"Turning 18 in winter."

"Woah. I'm 11."

"Can I tell you something about Harry Potter?"

"What?"

"You have to promise not to tell anyone."

"I won't."

"My best friend's in love with him."

"What's her name?"

"Him. And I can't tell you that."

"I won't tell anyone!"

"Nope. So, what house do you think you'll be in?" She asked, changing the subject.

"I like Slytherin. And Ravenclaw. And Hufflepuff."

"Well, luckily, you'll be sorted soon." She pointed at the entrance to the castle which was in front of them. 

"I'm nervous."

"Don't be." Pansy opened the door and led her up the stair to where all the first years were waiting.

"Good afternoon first years." Mcgonagall said, eyes scanning the group of first years. "Miss Parkinson?" She asked, genuinely surprised to see the familiar face. "Miss Parkinson," She said, regaining her composer, "I must ask you to enter the great hall, for you are not a first year." 

Pansy nodded and walked up the steps to the great hall. As she passed Professor Mcgonagall, she felt a hand placed comfortably on her back. She smiled to herself. 

'Maybe there is a chance for me.' She thought as she walked into the great hall.