America Savvy Josephson looked around at the other first-years, wide eyed and curious. The four tables in the Great Hall were full of older students, the younger ones watching the first-years with more curiosity than the older ones, who had seen it all too many times. Professor McGonagall stood at the front, holding a scroll of parchment. There was a raggedy old hat sitting on a stool at the front of the Hall. America stared at it, wondering what it had to do with anything. Then suddenly, a slit at the base of the hat opened and it began to sing.

I'm the Sorting Hat, you see,

And there is no better sorter than me.

Four founders there were,

Wise, brave, loyal, pure.

The first founder was Rowena Ravenclaw,

A wise, clever woman who did abide by law.

The second was Godric Gryffindor,

A brave man no one abhored.

Third: Helga Hufflepuff, loyal and kind,

Always a helper of friends in a bind.

Last, but not least: Salazar Slytherin.

He preferred pure bloods, didn't let muggles in.

No I will sort you, look into your thoughts.

We'll see which houses you're meant for... or not.

The hat was silent, and everyone clapped and cheered. Professor McGonagall unrolled the scroll and called out, "Aarons, Gemma!"

A tiny girl crept up to the stool, and sat. The hat was placed on her head, and after about thirty seconds, It screamed, "RAVENCLAW!"

She ran to the table with the blue table cloth, and sat next to a cheering prefect.

"Adamson, Mickey!" was sorted into Gryffindor, and "Abbot, Robert!" was the first Hufflepuff. America's mind began to wander away, but she perked up again when it came to the J's.

"Jacobs-McCarlson, Samuel!" became a Ravenclaw, and "Jackson, Jackson!" was Slytherin.

"Josephson, America!"

America's heart dropped down to her stomach, and she moved her leaden legs towards the stool. She sat down and the hat was dropped on her head, big enough to cover her eyes. Immediately, a small, slippery voice began to speak to her, prod her mind.

I see a wonderful potential for greatness, young one. A substantial amount of wisdom, as well... You would do well in Slytherin... how do you feel about that?

I thought Slytherin didn't admit muggle-borns?

Not... usually. There have been instanced where half-bloods and muggle-borns have been sorted to Slytherin... I will decide now. "SLYTHERIN!"

America hopped up, placed the hat on the stool, and waltzed over to the Slytherin table, where there were polite claps from a few, but they didn't seem overjoyed at the prospect of having a muggle-born girl in their house. She was greeted by a boy with long blonde hair, who had a prefect badge pinned on his robes, "My name is Lucius Malfoy," he drawled, "I hope you enjoy your stay here... mudblood." He turned away from a slightly befuddled America.

The rest of the sorting passed quickly, with much whispering at the Slytherin table: "Did you hear? A mudblood in our house!" or, "I wonder what Salazar Slytherin would say." and, "Perhaps she'll fail and have to be re-sorted." America frowned and scootched over to the edge of the table, away from Malfoy and his cronies.

The best part of the Sorting was when 'Snape, Severus' sat next to her and didn't shun her bloodline. In fact, he gave her a small smile, but then went back to staring sadly at a red-head at the Gryffindor table.

/\/\/\/\/

As soon as America got to the dormitory, she realized the extent of the Slytherins' dislike fore muggles and muggle-borns. A chubby girl in her dormitory poked her in the ribs, asking if she liked the arrangements they had made for her: everyone's trunks had been unpacked by the house elves ('charming creatures,' as she had been told by Albus Dumbledore when he came to explain about the wizarding world)... everyone except her. Her bed had been pushed against the far wall, and all five dressers had been put up as a wall between her bed and the other girls' beds. She noticed that someone had been thoughtful enough to at least turn one dresser to face her bed, so she would have somewhere to put her things, but the insides of the drawers were full of graffiti, saying very rude and vulgar things about muggles and muggle-borns.

America decided not to make a fight of it and began to unpack and set out her things. First, she put all the clothes she had brought in the dresser, ignoring the graffiti. Next, she put up her new poster of the Ramones her sister had given her as a going-away present. The Ramones were her favourite punk-rock band ever. She put her stack of textbooks on the nightstand, and then sat down, wondering if she should go up to the common room or not.

Eventually, she fell asleep. She had taken too long deciding whether or not to go.

/\/\/\/\/

In the morning, she woke up to one of the other girls' alarm clocks, had a shower, and headed upstairs to the Great Hall for breakfast. She sat down and ate a piece of toast and had a glass of milk. Then she went to her first class. Transfiguration with the first-year Gryffindors. There were no seats open next to Slytherins, but she didn't want to sit with them anyways. She sat at an empty table near the back corner.

"Now class! Transfiguration is a subject that is taken very seriously by the staff of Hogwarts. I expect you all to listen and stay attentive. If you find that you are good at Transfiguration, there is a particularly difficult transformation you may be able to complete: transfiguring yourself!" Then McGonagall folded down to about an eighth of her size, and in her place stood an orange tabby cat. She hopped up on the desk and sat, looking out at everyone with large, amber eyes.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and three people rushed in. Three Gryffindors; a girl and two boys. The girl was the same one that Snape had been staring at during the sorting, and one of the boys had long dark hair and grey eyes, the other had messy dark hair and glasses.

The girl was yelling at the boys, her face red with anger, "—Making me late for my first class! Thank goodness there's no teacher here yet, Potter, Black. I'd have detention! And so would you!" She walked away and sat next to America, muttering something about stupidity and disrespect. The boys, 'Black' and 'Potter' as the girl had called them, sat at the only other empty table.

"Er... the teacher is here... she's the cat." whispered America to the fuming red haired girl beside her.

Lily turned to America, "What!" She whispered back, "Professor McGonagall heard all that? Oh, no..."

"Don't worry. She seems fair. I'm America Josephson, by the way."

"Lily Evans. Nice to meet you."

America looked back at the front and grinned, proud of her new friendship.

McGonagall turned back into a teacher, and Potter and Black nearly fell out of their seats. Everyone started to laugh, but McGonagall calmly stalked over to the pair, eyes narrowed. "Potter, Black... I knew you two would be trouble. I'll see you after class. Five points each from Gryffindor."

The two shut up after that, red cheeked and shame faced.

After America and Lily had both succeeded in transfiguring their toothpicks into needles, Lily shyly asked, "So... what class do you have next?"

America checked her timesheet. "Charms, then Potions, then Lunch, then a free period, then History of Magic."

"I have Potions and History of Magic with you... do you want to sit together?"

"S-sure!"

"And how about free period? What are you planning on doing?"

"I don't know. Nothing with my roommates, that's for sure."

"Why?"

"I'm a 'mudblood.' In Slytherin. Apparently that's unacceptable."

"Oh... I'm muggle-born too. Maybe we could hang out? I'm friends with Severus Snape from your house."

"Er, okay!"

In this way, a friendship was born.

A/N This is my first fanfic, so sorry if it's a little shitty.