Hope

Author's note: It was pointed out to me that most Slytherins are portrayed in an obscenely negative context. Therefore, I decided to make the main character of this story (which had already been plotted out basically) a Slytherin, and then had to make her a believable Slyth, etc. Let me know what you think.

~Hope~

A small figure sat there, alone, at the table. She was small, to say the least, almost to the point of being pathetically thin and gangly. Even at the age of eighteen she still hadn't managed to fill out. Meg Garrett was not anyone's idea of a perfect girl. Certainly not. She had limp, reddish brown hair that fell to her shoulders, curling under slightly. That was the only beauty about her, really, though. Her eyes were much too large, almost bulging, and her lips were cast with a constant sour look, as though someone had just suggested she kiss a Dementor.

She'd never had the perfect family either. Over the years it had become well known that Meg had been ignored as a child. Her parents constantly off at elite soirees and never really caring what she got up to. She was slightly spoiled, although quite intelligent. The sort of girl who was used to being waited on hand and foot.

However, just a year before going to Hogwarts her parents had been killed in an accident, and she'd been shuttled off to live with her uncle and his son Aidan. That had only made things worse. Her uncle doted on Aidan, constantly glowing about the boy's not-unimpressive achievements. Aidan had been a Gryffindor, the light of his father's life, and nothing Meg could do would bring any sort of acknowledgement to her own talents.

She'd get him for that some day. She'd show them all. She'd be the best of everyone...she had to. But for now...

"Voldemort has been defeated," the announcement still rang in her ears even though it had been made almost an hour ago, right here in the dining hall at breakfast.

"Last night James and Lily Potter were killed, and, just as he went to kill their son, little Harry Potter, he found himself unable to, and disappeared, leaving only a scar on the boy."

There was an emptiness, a hollowness inside of her stomach. Lily was -dead-? Dead. Gone forever. She couldn't believe the words. They echoed insistently in her mind. Lily had been one of the few who'd looked beyond the fact that she was a Slytherin. Had not seen her as a member of the House from which Voldemort came, but instead as a girl who needed a friend.

She'd been in her third year when Meg started at Hogwarts, and had made friends with the girl quite easily, her caring and somewhat nurturing nature bringing out a side to the girl that no one knew she'd had. Lily had tutored her when she had difficulties in Arithmancy her own third year, had introduced her to Lily's own friends and her boyfriend James.

She'd treated her better than just about anyone in the world ever had. And now she was gone. Just like that. The girl's eyes were dry, of course. She'd never cried, not even when her parents had died. What reason would she have to cry? They'd never cared about her anyways. No one ever had. But Lily...Lily had been different.

No one could have been more proud when the older girl was declared Head Girl. No one happier than when she found out about James proposing to Lily, and then found out about the child on the way. She was glad to see that at least some things in life worked out correctly. Maybe if Lily could have a happy ending, so could Meg.

But then there was this.

She stood up from the table, pushing her chair out behind her. She'd been sitting there ever since the announcement. Had managed to evade all her fellow Slytherins suggesting she leave with them with silence. They knew what Lily had been to her. The older sister she'd never had. She walked through the halls, her own footsteps thudding dully, echoing through her mind, the emptiness. Such emptiness.

The girl exited the building. She could see the fireworks going off. Owls everywhere. People were cheering because Voldemort was gone. But at what price? None of them seemed to care that Lily and James were gone. None of them seemed to notice that the defeat of Voldemort had come at a terrible, terrible price.

She could see the Forest not far from where she was standing, and took off at a run. The forest. There was somewhere she could count on to lack the signs of cheerfulness, the celebration. The forest was always dark and sad. She ran deeper and deeper into the forest, knowing that soon she'd be lost, but not caring in the slightest. What did it matter?

Meg tripped over a tree root and fell to the ground, branches of dead plants scratching her face, ripping at her clothing. She lie there, face down in the dirt for quite some time, sobbing tearlessly. Why did this have to happen? Why Lily? Why James? James had been nice to her too. Why couldn't it have been somebody who deserved to die? But it hadn't been. It had been her friends. Of course it had.

Rotten luck as always.

The girl scrambled up off the ground, bringing her knees to her chest and sitting there, watching as the birds flitted from one branch to the other. Thinking about everything. Remembering.

As her mind wandered, so did the time, and soon it was dark out. She'd heard a few random shoutings. People looking for her, most likely. Probably only the Slytherins too. Nobody else cared at all if she were to disappear. They did, though. She was one of them. A silvery white flash of colour caught her eye, and Meg quickly scrambled to her feet, brushing off leaves. She ignored the stinging pain in her face and arms from the branches earlier, ignored it all and chased after the colour she had seen.

There, off to the right, behind that tree. She ran towards it, only to see it off a few more feet in the distance. After several minutes passed she gave up, sitting back on the ground with her legs crossed, Indian style. Now she was most definitely lost. Probably die out here in the forest. In fact, she couldn't even hear the others shouting for her anymore. Either they'd given up or she was too deep to hear them. Neither of those options sounded very good. And she'd left her wand back up in her room too.

Suddenly, there was rustling behind her, and she scampered once again to her feet, assuming the most defensive posture she could while still knowing she could never hope to defeat anything that might want to attack her. She was doomed out here, and she knew it.

A flash of silver greeted her eyes, and then the whole of the creature she had been chasing appeared in front of her. Her eyes grew wide, and a gasp escaped her lips.

"A...a unicorn?" she managed to sputter out, tentatively reaching towards the creature. It looked at her, those eyes so deep, so understanding that Meg felt something stir deep inside of her. Her hand missed as she reached out to touch it, and the creature fled, but she didn't care. She had seen it, beautiful as it was, and it had inspired her. She could do this! She could find a way out of this mess...and she could accept her friend's death. She had to move on.

She reached to wipe away the dirt smudges on her cheeks, and pulled her hand away abruptly. Her fingers were wet. There, on her hands, was the evidence of the new leaf she'd turned over. Salty tears. And so she cried. She let the tears forth. Tears for herself, tears for her parents. Tears for Lily, and tears because she knew that nothing would be changed except for herself. She'd still be looked down on by the Gryffindors, still taunted by all, but deep down she knew that she would show them all. She would be a better person from this day on. She had learned how to cry. There was hope.