Some Other You (give me another happy one pls)
Gryffindor!Nadia (OMG I KNOW I SAID I WOULDN’T DO IT BUT I COULDNT RESIST)
For a long time, September 1, 2016 would go down in Nadia Zabini's personal history as the worst day of her life. Because on that day, Nadia, the picture-perfect daughter of two Slytherins, who had been more than prepared to uphold her family's honor by being sorted into that house just like her parents and grandparents before her, was sorted into Gryffindor.
The sorting had been normal up until that point, her sitting on the stool, she thought of it as more a formality, because where else would she go but Slytherin? But then the sorting hat had seen something in her, had said Gryffindor would bring out the best in her--that she didn't need to learn ambition and cunning but that the bravery inside her could use a little help. She'd thought it was a joke, at first. She'd sat, frozen on the stool, until the Deputy Headmaster had gently nudged her, gesturing to a table clad in red and gold that was staring back at her with as much confusion as she felt. Her legs moved like lead, but still they moved towards the house--her house--and she was never more grateful than when one of the first years who had been sorted before her (well, everyone had been sorted before her) began to clap, and slowly the other Gryffindors joined in. When that same boy made another move down on the bench, making room for her, she scurried over to the seat with as much dignity as she could muster, not planning to overlook any kindness after such a shock to her system. And that was how she met James Potter.
He too, knew the burden of expectations and feeling as though you weren't living up to them. His father cast a long shadow, and even the best of boys--and James was the best of boys, Nadia quickly found--would feel inadequate. So when she got a Howler from her father for shaming the family, her back ramrod straight and young eyes trying to hold back tears (she was only 11, after all), it was James' handing squeezing hers under the table that made her heart calm and the ache in her chest lessen slightly, and Nadia decided that being in Gryffindor would be horrible, but maybe less so with someone like James around.
Of course, there were some things she'd never understand about him--his weird mischievous moods, his penchant for always taking the good road instead of the easy road, and Merlin knew that his taste in friends could definitely improve, her being an obvious exception (because Ahn, really?) But he was still hers, her dearest friend and Merlin help the person who tried to hurt him. Nadia would learn to be a Gryffindor in many ways, but her ruthless loyalty to her loved ones was pure Slytherin, and an eleven year old James Potter had somehow managed to add himself to that list.
So when seventh year came and she sat next to him at the welcoming feast, it was her who took his hand under the table, because even if he refused to show it, it was him that needed her this time. “There is no way we were that gangly and awkward looking when we were first years, right?” She glanced over at him, “Well, let me rephrase that: there’s no way I was. You definitely were.”
