Katie awoke with a start, expecting to be in her Gryffindor four-poster bed, in the Gryffindor dorm. However, looking up, she saw the green and silver curtains hanging from her bed and sighed. Lying back, she placed her hand over her eyes. She still couldn't believe that she was placed in Slytherin house. The house of... You-Know-Who...

Katie shared her dorm room with four other girls, whom she didn't yet know the names of. She had only been at Hogwarts for a single night, and as soon as the feast ended, she went straight to her common room and up to bed. She didn't want to face her brother. She couldn't bare the look of disgust that she knew would be on his face when he talked to her.

Katie thought thoroughly about just skipping classes that day and staying in her bed, but then she thought about how it was her first day of school, so, sighing, she dragged herself out of bed.

After Katie pulled on her Slytherin robes (sighing in disgust as she did so), she started fixing her bed. A girl with short brown hair and deep eyes woke up and yawned loudly while stretching.

"Good morning." she said through a yawn. Katie gave her a small smile and a wave, then went back to fixing her bed.

"I don't think we've met," the girl said, who was now standing beside Katie. "I'm Pansy Parkinson."

"Katerina Blair. But you can call me Katie." Katie replied and began brushing out her hair.

"Want to walk to breakfast with me?" Pansy asked after she had finished getting ready. Katie shrugged.

"Sure."

The two young Slytherins made their way up from the dungeons and to the Great Hall. The four tables were littered with golden goblets and plates, and Katie couldn't help but smile at the scenery.

As Katie walked by the Gryffindor table, she noticed Harry and Ron sitting together, deep in conversation.

"Harry! Ron!" Katie yelled. Harry and Ron's heads snapped in the direction of the voice. Katie was waving vigorously at them with a huge smile on her face. However, Harry just twisted his eyebrows together in response, and Ron gave a look that was almost a sneer.

"Blair, come on!" Pansy called, urging Katie to follow her. Confused and upset, Katie followed Pansy and plopped down next to her at the Slytherin table.

Katie helped herself to some scrambled eggs and ate in silence. Pansy was talking to someone across the table, but Katie wasn't paying attention. She was too busy thinking about the looks that Harry and Ron gave her, and she was wondering what she had done wrong. She had only known them for a very short while, so she wondered what she had done in one night to upset them so much.

"Katie, are you alright?" Pansy's voice pulled Katie from her thoughts. Blinking, she looked at Pansy with wide eyes.

"What? Errr—yes, I'm fine. What were you saying?"

Pansy narrowed her eyes, but shrugged off Katie's weird behavior.

"I was just wondering why the hat took so long to sort you." Pansy said. Katie thought back to what the Sorting Hat had told her the night before.

"But there's something else... Determination, it's there. It is most definitely there. But there is something that I can't quite place my finger on... Hm, so you better be... SLYTHERIN!"

Katie shuddered at the memory of the Sorting Hat yelling Slytherin in her ear.

"It just didn't know where to put me." Katie said, shrugging. "My whole family were Gryffindors, so I think the hat knew that I'm supposed to be a Gryffindor, but he just wanted to switch things up."

Someone across the table let out a cold, blunt laugh. Looking up, Katie was met with the familiar swirling eyes of Draco Malfoy.

"Switch things up? Ha! The Sorting Hat doesn't just place you wherever he wants for the fun of it, Blair. He places you where you belong. You, Katerina Blair, are a Slytherin." Draco said, smirking ever so slightly. Katie felt her stomach drop.

"No," Katie said, standing up. "I am nothing like you lot."

And then Katie stormed out of the hall.