One (h.p fanfic)

four

Waiting was the worst part. The anticipation. Lilith knew that with the last name 'Diggory', she was going to be pretty high on the list. "Crabbe, Vincent!" McGonagall called out and a large boy stepped out of the line, sat down on the stool and was immediately placed in Slytherin. The Slytherin table broke into an applause as he went and sat down with them.

"Dunbar, Fay!" Lilith's body went stone still, ice slicing through her heart. "Entwhistle, Kevin!" She couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. Couldn't feel her body anymore.

They had skipped her. She wasn't going to be sorted. They had rejected her.

"Granger, Tamsyn-Raye," McGonagall called, and despite her glazed over eyes, Lilith managed to watch as she was sorted into Ravenclaw.

Tamsyn looked at her as she went and sat down at the Ravenclaw table, a confused expression on her face. Lilith looked back down at her toes.

"Holloway, Nyla," she was placed in Slytherin.

"Malfoy, Draco," Lilith watched him go to the Slytherin table after he was placed, high-fiving a couple of guys.

"Malfoy, Evren," McGonagall called. Evren was shaking as she walked down the line, looking at Lilith as she passed her.

Evren took a seat on the stool and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her blonde head.

"A family of Slytherins. Unheard of that a Malfoy be placed in another house, but you do not possess the qualities. Loyal, like a Hufflepuff, smart, but in the end - GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled.

No one applauded. Every single person in the room was stunned, including Evren.

Slowly, she made her way down the stairs after taking off the hat and took a seat next to Hermione at the Gryffindor table. One by one, people began to clap, even a few Ravenclaws joined in. All the while, Draco scowled at his sister.

A few more people's names were called out before a familiar name brought everyone to attention.

"Potter, Harry!" Lilith stared at the boy. His messy black hair hung over his round glasses that looked too big for his face. Everyone stared at the boy.

The hat began mumbling something but it's words were drowned out by a sudden ringing in Lilith's ears. She couldn't figure out why her name hadn't been called. She had received a letter, she had been welcomed into Hogwarts under the name of Lilith Diggory, but now... now she had no idea what they wanted.

The Potter boy made his way to the Gryffindor table, but Lilith barely noticed the applause, lost in her own head.

Silence hung in the air for a while, bringing Lilith out of her thoughts. She looked over at the professor, only to find her staring directly at her with wide eyes.

"Is everything alright Minerva?" an elderly man spoke from the table, standing up slightly.

"N-no Professor, my apologies," McGonagall looked back down at the parchment. Lilith watched her take in a breath before speaking again. "Riddle, Lilith!" the professor yelled, her hands tightly clutched the parchment.

Lilith blinked, her breaths coming out shakily. Were they addressing her? Lilith looked out at the crowd who were scanning the line for someone to move. No one seemed to recognise the name.

She stepped out of the line and slowly walked to the four-legged seat, swallowing hard as she sat down and felt the hat being placed on her head.

"A Riddle," it spoke from atop her head and Lilith tried to control her unsteady breathing. "Your father was very much like you. Quiet, but you have quite the dark side. You know where that got him, do you not?" It spoke very quietly.

Lilith couldn't respond. She didn't understand. How did the school know her birth name, when even she did not? How did this hat know her supposed father?

"You mustn't make the same mistakes," Lilith wanted to ask, but she feared what the answer would be. "SLYTHERIN!" It yelled and the Slytherin table cheered. Lilith felt a shiver go through her that made her body go cold, ice slithering through her veins.

She sat down next to Nyla shakily, who glared at her as though she wanted to say something. Lilith raised her eyes up to the elderly man who had spoken to McGonagall earlier. The mans eyes slid to her, curiosity sparking in the depths of them.

Lilith looked back at Nyla, to find her still glaring at her.

"Do you have something to say?" Lilith asked rudely.

"You lied to us. Why didn't you tell us your last name is Riddle? What are you hiding?" Nyla demanded.

"Listen to me, Nyla. I barely know you, let alone like you, so I'm not going to go around telling all of you my secrets and spitting out the truth," Lilith stood up and walked down the table, looking for somewhere to sit. She could have voiced her own confusion, but her defences had shot to as soon as she had been questioned.

She passed Valentina who stared at her as she walked past.

Lilith finally found a spare spot at the very edge of the end of the seat, next to a dark-skinned boy who was tapping his fingers along the table in a rapid motion.

He glanced sideways as Lilith sat down beside him but didn't look away.

"What?" Lilith spat at him.

"Your last name, Riddle, it's not a common one," he said and turned his body toward her. "But I do know it," Lilith drew in a silent breath at his words. "There was a boy who attended Hogwarts many years ago."

"A-and?" Lilith stuttered. Her heart pounded in her chest.

"I don't know anything else, it's just an unusual last name is all," he said and turned back around to go back to tapping his fingers on the table.

Lilith was sitting on the edge of her seat, her hands clenched together to stop them from shaking.

Her body felt as though it was on fire, a need to understand who her family was igniting under her skin.

This couldn't be a coincidence. The conversation she had overheard in the kitchen last month had to be related to this somehow. And the Slytherin beside her had said that a boy with that last name had appeared at this school, had attended this school.

She had to know.

***

Woohoo! Haha this was fun to write.

What are your thoughts?