Ethereal |Draco Malfoy| 1

(2) The Sorting

"Are you sure you wouldn't like a sweet?" Eva asked, with an open hand of Berts and Botts Every Flavour Beans. I look up to her, nodding my head as I fix the finishing touches to my school robes, making sure I looked presentable for when the sorting happens. Mother always said that the sorting would be a time that defined the rest of your Hogwarts life. 

I was surprised Eva stayed in the cabin with me the entire ride. Earlier, a few kids passed by, and she greeted them much to my dismay, I kept silent, not attempting to speak to the children as she socialized at the door frame of the cabin. She could've easily gone over to where they were sitting, but stayed in the sullen silence with me. The entire ride contained of me reading, and her, drawing messily in a book. I kept thinking to myself through the long impatient hours of the ride, whether if mother would miss me at all while I was gone? It was always just her and me, with the exception of my Nanny Clara and the few House Elves that worked for us. 

"Don't like sweets either?" I adored sweets, but my stomach was filled with butterflies I thought I would puke if I did eat one.

"Not right now." I let out shortly, and she nodded her head understandingly before placing her sweets away in a bag. 

"I wonder what house I would be sorted in. My mother was a Ravenclaw, so I hope I get that house. My dad's a Muggle, so he didn't go to-"

"You're a Half-Blood?" She paused before nodding happily and I observe her a bit. I didn't know exactly what to say or do, mother always did speak horribly about non-PureBloods; but never specified what to do when approached by one. I hear they're no good, and traitors, so I know instantly to not trust this girl. I scoot farther away from her proximity, continuing to stare out the window as she painfully rambled on and on whilst I tuned her out. My mind floating off into a distant memory of my mother's painful practices of writing spells over and over again in hopes of preparing my time in Hogwarts. I pray they were kind there, that they weren't harsh.

~

"Again!" I felt my face grow hot as she rips the parchment for what felt like the hundredth time as she shoved the quill back into my hand. I stare down at the blankness of it, not wanting to fail again. I however needed to prove to her I was capable of this and slowly let the sharp quill make contact with the empty canvas. The ink slowly splotched onto the paper, and then my shaking hand let it sharply turn as a line scratched across it. I can hear my mother in the background yelling at me once more for making a mess with the ink. I let out a frustrated sigh, sniffing back tears that threatened to fall. I felt her hands grasp my shoulders, and she turned me, looking at me with a sigh before crouching down to my level. 

"I only want what's best for you. I don't mean to be so hard. I want you to be ready. At your age, I was so prominent in spells I aced through my first years of Hogwarts perfectly. I want the same for you my little Dove." I nod. She gives me a tight smile, the foreign image of her lips curled up soon diminished when she stood up and stared down at me.

"Now...back to work."

~

"Hey. We're beginning to pull in!" The girl began to enter my personal space, shoving past me to look through the window. My face frowns before I impulsively shoved her back towards her seat. I found my action a little shocking, and she stared at me, blinking before her face grew hot.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"Just don't get so close to me alright." I state shortly. She blinks, a blank expression was on her face as I stood up and began to grab my stuff, getting ready to leave this confining cabin and enter my new school. 

"It truly was an accident." She mutters as I walk past her towards the door.

"Just don't let it happen again." I respond in a low voice. Her scented lilac perfume hitting me in the face as I trailed out into the hall and began to walk down passing many excited first years. The anticipation and nerves filled the air in a odd comfort, and even my foot tapped against the floor repeatedly as I clutched my bag to my chest waiting for the crowd neat the train door to exit when we pulled into the station. I caught a glimpse of green landscape out the window, but wanted to see the huge castle everyone kept muttering about.