Rose Weasley was terrified as she waited in the ever-dwindling line of first years. Sure, all they had to do was try on a hat (her cousin James had tried his hardest to convince her that they were going to wrestle a troll or some such rubbish), but what if that hat put her in Slytherin?

"Potter, Albus!"

Rose looked to her left and saw the blood drain out of her cousin's face. He stepped forward shakily and sat on the stool, jamming the hat on his head as he went.

Albus sat there for almost two minutes before the rip opened wide and the hat yelled for the whole hall to hear, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Albus almost collapsed with relief, and ran over to join the Gryffindor table where his brother James was standing and cheering loudest of all.

Rose watched him go wistfully. She would have to wait until the very end to be sorted.

"Quince, Adam!" "RAVENCLAW!"

"Ramsey, Ellen!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Rushford, Kristine!" "SLYTHERIN!"

"Samson, Henry!" "HUFLEPUFF!"

"Stratford, Peter!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Tess, Zachary!" "SLYTHERIN!"

"Thomas, Victor!" "GRYFFINDOR!" and "Thomas, Amelia!" "RAVENCLAW!" were twins.

Finally, after what seemed like several hours, Professor Flitwick called out "Weasley, Rose!"

Suddenly Rose's legs felt like jelly. She stumbled up to the stool and crammed the hat on her head. It fell past her eyes and all of a sudden she was looking at the inside of an old, extremely dirty hat.

"Well, well, another Weasley," said a small voice in her ear. "Your entire family has been in Gryffindor for centuries, haven't they? Stubborn yet courageous, the whole lot of them. But you're different, aren't you? You have a more gentle, timid nature, not nearly as brave as your cousins. Of course, that is a good quality. Less likely to jump headlong into something deadly or stupid. You are very clever, no doubt about that. But infinite patience and loyalty to you're friends, now that's interesting. You have all of the potential in the world to be a Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, but I'm afraid that you are just not suited for Gryffindor or Slytherin, my dear."

Rose had been sitting quietly this whole time, listening to the hat. But at that last bit, she thought, "What do you mean I'm not a Gryffindor? Don't you understand that my dad will disown me?"

"Hush, Rose," soothed the hat. "It is good that you are different from your family. Now let me see. I think you fit best in HUFFLEPUFF!"

Rose got up, placed the hat back on the stool, and went to take her seat at the Hufflepuff table, while the entire Great Hall sat in shocked silence, unable to process that a Weasley was not in Gryffindor.

Throughout dinner, Rose talked books with Ellen Ramsey and Julia Finnegan, two other girls sorted into her house. Across the table, Haley Macmillan and Kendra Carter, the other girls in First year, discussed Quidditch while the five Hufflepuff boys in Rose's year, Henry Samson, Geoffrey Mitchell, Matthew O'Connor, Drew Douglas, and Ren Lewis debated about a rumor they had heard from a Fourth year about a Manticore that lived in the Forbidden Forest.

Later, when the first year were led in the cheery Hufflepuff common room, which was covered in yellow tapestries and had a huge fireplace surrounded by armchairs, couches, and beanbags, Rose finally felt home.