We Are

A/N: Hello, everyone! Thank you to Arnisse, anafly358 and Chacha M A for reviewing! Here is Chapter 2.

Chapter 2: Where We Belong

“A thousand years ago, or more

Our founders four decided

To form a school, which then into

Four houses was divided.

The founders each a house did lead

And hand-pick every student

Whose character, these founders knew,

Would prove their choices prudent.

Brave Gryffindor chose those in whom

Bravery was manifest.

Sweet Hufflepuff loved those whose

Discipline was nurtured best.

Wise Ravenclaw chose those whose

Wit and learning were abundant.

Shrewd Slytherin chose those in whom

Ambition did run rampant.

The task to sort they left to me

So now I sit before you

I’ll end my song and sort you now

With haste, lest I should bore you.”

~~~~~~

“Allan, Emma.”

As the tall, slim, blonde girl made her way up to the stool, Sirius Black was lost in thought. He was rather likely to be sorted into Slytherin, he thought gloomily. It really was too bad. He highly doubted that any of his friends from the train would be in Slytherin. James would probably be in Gryffindor like he hoped, and Matthew and Peter…well, he wasn’t sure about them, but they didn’t seem like Slytherins.

“Black, Sirius.”

Sirius glanced up and saw Emma give a satisfied smile and settle herself at the Ravenclaw table. The stern-looking Professor McGonagall was looking at the first-years expectantly.

Sirius trudged to the stool and plopped the hat on his head. A little voice muttered in his ear. “Well, well, where shall we put you, Mr. Black?”

I’m guessing Slytherin, thought Sirius with a scowl.

“Now wait just a minute,” said the hat. “I wouldn’t be so sure. Slytherins usually possess more cunning and ambition. No, you belong in…” Sirius waited with bated breath.

“…GRYFFINDOR!”

Sirius slid off the stool in a daze. He couldn’t believe his luck. Grinning, he gave the hat to the professor. He hurried down to the table at the far end of the Great Hall to thunderous applause.

Sirius caught the eye of his cousin Bellatrix from across the hall. Bella was a fourth-year Slytherin. She gave him a shrewd, calculating look and turned back to the Sorting as “Brady, Joshua” joined her house.

~~~~~~

“Donohue, Matthew.”

As the burly, brown-haired boy sat down, Lily recognized him vaguely as one of the “troublemakers” from the train, but she was too nervous to care much. The sorting hat had sung its song a few minutes earlier about the different houses, and Lily wondered where she would be. Maybe Ravenclaw? That sounded like a nice house, and Lily had always been the smart girl in her class at school. Severus wanted her to be in Slytherin, she knew. Of course Lily wanted to be with him, but something in her was reluctant to join that house…“You might get a bit of grief from some of the Slytherins”…“Slytherins get a bad reputation for pure-blood mania”…

Lily jumped as she heard her name called. Matthew Donohue was taking his seat with the Hufflepuffs. He waved at his friend at the Gryffindor table with a shrug and a half-smile.

The hat slid all the way past Lily’s ears, blocking her vision. She barely had time to wonder why it was so large if it was meant to be worn by first-years before the hat shouted,

“GRYFFINDOR!”

Lily jumped again and nearly fell off the stool. She handed the hat to the emerald-robed witch, Professor McGonagall, she remembered, and walked quickly to the Gryffindor table as her new house cheered. Lily glanced back over her shoulder at Severus and saw him watching her with a pained expression. She smiled sadly and perched on the end of the bench where there was an open space. Lily looked around at the boy who had scooted down to make room for her and recognized him at once. With a scowl she crossed her arms and turned back to the Sorting.

~~~~~~

“Lupin, Remus.”

Remus Lupin shook his dirty-blonde hair out of his eyes as he sat down. He was a bit nervous about that hat. Would it know his secret? What if it didn’t think he belonged at Hogwarts at all? He slid the hat on his head and waited.

“Remus Lupin, the werewolf,” said a voice in his ear. Remus gulped. “Not to worry,” continued the hat. “But you’ll need a lot of bravery, for you and for your friends. It’s a good thing you belong in GRYFFINDOR!”

Remus sighed in relief and sat down across from a pretty red-head with a glum expression. He gave her a friendly smile and she smiled back half-heartedly. Both of them turned their attention back to the front as “MacDonald, Mary” was called.

~~~~~~

“Pettigrew, Peter.”

Peter Pettigrew had never been the sort of boy who thought more highly of himself than he ought. As he passed Asha Patil on her way to the Gryffindor table, he hoped, naturally, to be placed with Sirius or with Matthew, but he knew he wasn’t unusually brave or loyal, or smart or cunning for that matter. He supposed the hat would have to be a bit arbitrary on this one. Peter was surprised, therefore, when the hat began to speak to him.

“Peter Pettigrew. You’ve a fair bit of courage here, boy. You’re going to need it.”

Courage? I haven’t got any courage, Peter answered. He decided to ignore the third voice which insisted that it required a lot of courage, or else foolishness, to be sitting on a stool in front of over two hundred people, and talking to a hat.

“Oh, yes you have,” replied the hat. “Now see that you use it. Serve your house well, and you shall reap the consequences. You shall reap the consequences either way, actually, but it is up to you what those consequences shall be.”

And on that rather ambiguous note, the hat called out, “GRYFFINDOR!” and Peter trotted to the table at the far end of the Hall. He felt very confused and at the same time obligated, in a way, as if the hat had faced him with a very important decision…as indeed it had.

~~~~~~

“Potter, James.”

James Potter swaggered up to the stool. His obvious self-assurance was envied by a few of the students still waiting to be sorted, although a certain red-head at the Gryffindor table narrowed her eyes with disdain. Oblivious, James seated himself and grinned at the hall as the stern witch placed the hat on his head.

“James Potter; from a long line of Gryffindors, if I do recall.” Not at all surprised that this hat knew his family history, James smiled smugly. “Full of the Potter arrogance, just like your father, I see,” the hat chuckled. James deflated slightly. “Oh, well, you’ll grow out of it in time. Now, where shall I put you?”

Gryffindor, of course, answered James.

“And why is that, Mr. Potter?” inquired the hat.

All my family have been there, you said so yourself. Besides, my new friend Sirius is in Gryffindor. So you have to put me in Gryffindor, insisted James. Please? he added as an afterthought.

“Very well, Mr. Potter.” James could have sworn the hat was laughing at him. “As you wish.

“GRYFFINDOR!”

James smirked and sauntered down to the table at the far end, where his fellow Gryffindors were joyously celebrating his arrival. He squeezed onto the end of the bench next to the red-headed girl he recognized from the train, grinning at her. She, too, recognized him, and all but recoiled in disgust. In attempting to scoot away from him she brushed against Sirius on her other side. Finding herself surrounded, she scowled and crossed her arms and legs, blinking back tears of frustration. James raised his eyebrows and grinned at Sirius behind the girl’s back.

“What’s the matter, princess? We won’t bite –much.” She huffed and made no answer. A sandy-haired first-year across from them next to Peter was watching them with concern. James grinned and stuck out his hand.

“James Potter.” The boy looked at him, startled.

“Remus Lupin,” he said uncertainly, shaking James’ hand. James grinned wider and opened his mouth to say more, but an older student shushed them and he realized that there were still a few students to be sorted, including—he smirked—dear old Snivellus.

~~~~~~

“Smalls, Alice.”

At the Gryffindor table, Mary MacDonald crossed all her fingers in her lap. She tried to cross her toes, too, but her shoes were too tight, so she settled for crossing her arms and legs. All her effort paid off when the hat shouted,

“GRYFFINDOR!”

Mary grinned at Alice and scooted over to make room as “Smith, Alexander” went to Hufflepuff.

“Snape, Severus,” called Professor McGonagall. Mary hurriedly checked herself to make sure everything was uncrossed. Sure she felt sorry for Lily, being separated from her friend and all, but there was no way she wanted that creepy Snape kid sharing a house with her.

~~~~~~

Severus hopped onto the stool and gazed longingly at Lily. The pampered-looking, bespectacled boy from the train smirked at him mockingly from beside her. Severus glared before the hat came down over his eyes and he was plunged into darkness.

“Severus Snape. You’ve quite a thirst to prove yourself, certainly.”

Lily does, too. Why’d you have to put her in Gryffindor? Snape thought contemptuously.

“It’s where she belongs,” said the hat wisely. “And as you’ve guessed, Mr. Snape, you belong in…

“SLYTHERIN!”

Snape sighed and made his way away from Lily to the Slytherin table, where a prefect with white-blond hair indicated the seat beside him. Snape took one more backwards glance and sat.

~~~~~~

The Sorting soon ended and the hat and stool were carried out of the room. At the staff table Albus Dumbledore stood up. The hall fell silent. “Welcome back, students new and old alike; welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I know you must all be starving after your long ride here, so I’ll save all the announcements for after you have eaten and are feeling conveniently sleepy.” There was an appreciative murmur of laughter. Without further ado, Dumbledore took his seat.

Gasps were heard from many of the first years as the golden dishes in front of them suddenly were piled high with every delicious food they had ever tasted, and a few they hadn’t. Even James couldn’t help but be a bit awed. He got over that quickly, however, and along with his neighbors he began helping himself to everything in reach and calling for the rest to be passed. After a few minutes of steady shoveling, he overheard one of his fellow first-years asking an older student about the classes and other goings-on at Hogwarts. Never one to pass up a chance to seem knowledgeable, James quickly jumped into the conversation, proudly retelling every bit of Hogwarts lore he had ever heard from his older cousins.

Sirius, too, had information to contribute, as did Alice, a round-faced, friendly-looking blonde. Next to her sat her friend Mary, who listened eagerly to everything said. Peter, too, listened with wide eyes, his jaw dropping at the more incredible statements (which was rather disgusting, since his mouth was usually full of potatoes).

Between Sirius and James, Lily was picking at her food. Hungry as she had to be after the trip, her plate was still half-full. She tried not to look like she cared about what James and Sirius were saying, but she couldn’t help but listen, eager as she was to learn about this strange and amazing new world. James smirked when he saw her suppress a smile at a particularly amusing anecdote involving James’ cousin Richard, the Hogwarts dungeons and a large amount of luminous paint.

“How about it, princess?” he asked teasingly. “Maybe you and I should go out and paint the dungeons red.”

Lily glanced up sharply, stiffening when she saw him smirking at her. She narrowed her eyes. “I think not, thank you.”

James raised his eyebrows in mock astonishment. “The princess speaks!” he exclaimed. Sirius snorted. Lily scowled and went back to her food.

~~~~~~

After each of the first-years had eaten more than he or she had thought possible, the leftovers (what little there were) disappeared and Dumbledore stood once more. “Now that we are all fed and watered, I do have a few start-of-term announcements,” he said. “Firstly, we have a new caretaker this year. Mr. Ogden has retired to spend more time with his wife and dogs, so please give a warm welcome to his successor Mr. Filch.” There was a small smattering of applause. “In order to make his new job a bit easier, I would ask you all to review the list of forbidden items which can be found posted on the door to his office. Also we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Miss Vance.” Dumbledore gestured toward an elegant-looking young woman who smiled nodded. More applause.

“Finally,” said Dumbledore as the hall grew silent once more. “You first-years have all been sorted into your four separate and equal houses, but I would like to remind you that they need not be completely separate. Which is to say that there is no reason why a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw or a Hufflepuff or a Slytherin cannot be friends; you may be four houses, but we are one school. With that thought in mind, it’s off to bed with you.”

~~~~~~

Alice stumbled sleepily up one more flight of stairs before the prefect ahead of her finally stopped in front of a large portrait of a very fat lady in a very pink dress. “Behind this portrait is the entrance to Gryffindor Tower,” said the female Prefect. “The password will be changed every few weeks, so be sure you remember it. The current password is ‘polyhedron.’” As she finished, the portrait swung forward, almost knocking into Peter and Remus, who jumped back quickly.

Alice followed her dorm mates through the common room and up yet more stairs before they finally came to a door marked “First Years.” Mary pushed the door open to reveal a circular bedroom containing five elegant-looking four-posters decked out in red and gold. Alice looked around and located her trunk at the foot of one of the beds. She opened it and took out her pajamas.

“So, what do you think?” Mary asked the room at large. She was kneeling and rummaging through her trunk.

“About what?” Alice replied, yawning.

“Everything,” said Mary. “The school, the food, our housemates.”

“The school is big,” answered Mimi, sitting cross-legged on her bed, taking out her pigtails. “The food is good. Sirius Black is hot.”

“Agreed,” said Mary. “But Potter is hotter. Hey, Potter, hotter….How did you get changed so fast? I can’t find my pajama trousers.”

Alice headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She rolled her eyes. “Girls, please, we’re eleven. We’ve barely been here, I don’t know, three hours and you’re already concerned with boys? We’ve got seven years for that.”

“Might as well get a head start,” said Mimi jokingly. “What, are you my mother? She packed my suitcase,” she said in response to Mary’s comment. “My mum, I mean. She put the pajamas on top. I’m hopeless at packing.”

There was silence for a moment. Alice came out of the bathroom just in time to hear Mary shout, “Found them!” and wave a pair of flowered pajama bottoms in the air. Mary stood and entered the bathroom. Alice sat down on her bed.

Mimi noticed Lily, in her nightgown, sitting on the windowsill and gazing out over the lake with a glum expression. “What’s with you, Lily? You’re as bad as Snivellus. Antisocial, the both of you.”

Lily stiffened and turned to glare at Mimi. “His name is Severus,” she said coldly.

Mimi gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry! I meant Severus, really. Severus. Severus Severus Severus.” She put her hand to her head in concentration. “Seriously, though, come and talk to us. You too, um…Sorry, what’s your name again?”

“I’m Asha Patil,” answered the dark-haired girl from her bed.

“Asha, got it.”

Alice nodded. “I know your brother Damin. He’s in my sister Lizzie’s class.” Asha smiled and nodded.

“So,” said Mimi. “What’s up, Lily?”

Lily shrugged. “What’s the matter?” Alice asked, concerned. “Are you upset because Severus is in Slytherin?”

Lily nodded.

“So?” Mimi said, as Mary returned and took a flying leap onto her bed, making the springs creak. “Emma is in Ravenclaw.”

“But you and Severus seemed like you knew each other from before the train,” Alice said.

Lily nodded again. “He lived nearby. We’ve been friends for a while.”

Mary nodded in understanding. “But you heard what Dumbledore said. Students from different houses can still be friends.” Lily perked up slightly.

Alice grimaced. “In theory that’s true,” she said. “But Gryffindor and Slytherin are a special case. They’ve been rivals for centuries.” Asha nodded in agreement.

“But it’s possible,” Mary insisted, as Lily wilted. “You’ll see each other at meals and breaks, and we’ll probably have some classes together, right, Alice? Asha?”

“Oh, we will,” Alice answered. “But you might end up wishing we didn’t.”

A/N: Please read and review! Concrit is especially appreciated.