"Allot, David!" A small, brown-haired, nervous-looking boy stepped up to the stool. Neville placed the Sorting Hat on his head, giving him an encouraging sort of smile as the hat thought.
"RAVENCLAW!" The hat yelled. David walked over to the Ravenclaw table amidst clapping and cheers from his new housemates.
"Atelier, Sarah!" The girl flipped bright red braids over her shoulder as she walked up to the stool, trying to hide her nervousness. She must have been a Muggleborn, Neville thought. He noticed young James, waiting to be Sorted, eyeing her in appreciation. Making a mental note to tell Harry later, he placed the hat on her head.
"GRYFFINDOR!" Neville grinned – he could see a marriage sometime in the future.
There were more children this year than any before – Neville thought he could hear Teddy Lupin, History of Magic professor, whispering something about 'breaking a record' to McGonagall, who smiled in pleasure.
"Potter, Har – James," Neville said, hurriedly trying to cover up his mistake. He noticed Teddy's smirk and realized he had been unsuccessful.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"I KNEW IT" Neville yelled without realizing it. Blushing furiously, he shoved James off towards the Gryffindor table. He noticed Sarah Atelier groaning in displeasure.
Neville made his way through the list of names, until he was almost at the bottom. He called one of the last names in a flurry of déjà vu. "Weasley, Fred!"
He saw the young redhead looking up at him, confused. With a pang, Neville realized he had forgotten the ending. But he didn't want to say it. Children broke out in excited whispers, wondering what had disturbed the Sorting.
Neville saw none of it. All he saw was the face of the young boy, so like his namesake, his twin clutching his hand. Fred and George.
He was yanked back to reality as the twins merged into Fred II and Roxanne with an almost cruel clarity. He blinked. For a moment, he had been so sure…
He finished the name, his voice cracking slightly. "Weasley, Fred II!"
He barely heard the Sorting Hat's yell of "GRYFFINDOR!" before the hat even touched his head, or heard himself calling the names of the other Weasleys in that year: Louis and Roxanne. Both went to Gryffindor. But Neville didn't hear.
He saw, in a flurry of images passing by at an almost sickening speed: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Skiving Snackboxes, Hermione yelling, a swamped hallway, two brooms flying up into the air, dragging heavy metal chains behind them as students cheered.
But now, he was faced with the reality of the situation. Fred was gone, and Fred II was different. Just as Harry was different from his father – though James II seemed to be following in his grandfather's footsteps.
Fred II wasn't Fred. And he never would be.