(Slight typing error corrections, May, 2014; punctuation corrections, September, 2015)

Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: The following is a one-shot, set in an alternate universe where Severus actually researches Hogwarts houses ahead of his first day, and makes an alarming discovery...

Severus Snape was anxious. It was 1971 and throughout the summer he had been talking about Hogwarts with his mother, and reading what he could about the school. He dearly wanted to be in Slytherin house – and he dearly wanted his best friend, Lily Evans, to be in the same house as him.

He had belatedly concluded that these two goals were almost certainly mutually incompatible. Muggle-borns just didn't seem to end up in Slytherin, and the house was renowned for a hardline anti-muggle-born stance, citing Salazar Slytherin as having regarded all muggle-borns as inferior beings or some such nonsense as that. Severus Snape doubted that anyone as clever and cunning as Salazar Slytherin was reputed to have been would have dismissed a whole section of the wizarding population out of hand simply on the grounds of birth; whatever he had actually said had somehow become confused over the centuries, but that wasn't the point – the point was it was a philosophy of Slytherin house now and the numbers said that muggle-borns didn't end up in Slytherin. And reluctantly Severus Snape had concluded that he wanted to be in the same house as Lily Evans slightly more than he wanted to be in Slytherin.

So Severus had studied what he could of the other three houses, and their philosophies. He concluded that brainless idiots generally ended up in Gryffindor, who had a tendency to simply charge in without thinking, which didn't really fit his style, and moreover Gryffindors tended to be involved in inter-house hostilities with Slytherins. If Severus wasn't going to be in Slytherin, Gryffindor was the last house he wanted to be in.

Both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had their attractions for Severus. Ravenclaw students typically valued knowledge above all else, and spent a lot of time studying and thinking. It would be a very sophisticated, highbrow, house to be in, he was sure. Hufflepuffs spent a lot of time studying too, but that was because most of them actually enjoyed working hard. Hufflepuffs were also generally thought of as being loyal, and, most important of all, were largely ignored by the members of other houses, on the mistaken grounds that it was where students 'not good enough' for any of the other houses ended up.

Severus had not been able to discover – even from his mother – how students were sorted into houses, but he had been able to determine that it was done in alphabetical order. That meant that Lily would be sorted into a house ahead of him which meant he would at least (unless houses were allotted randomly, though the lack of muggle-borns in Slytherin would seem to argue against that) get a chance to try to follow her into whatever house she ended up in.

And in the meantime, he had the last week of August left to discuss houses with Lily, to admit Slytherin had flaws, despite the way he had been going on about it for months, and to attempt to nudge her away from any ideas of going into Gryffindor if she got any say in where she was sorted.

The first of September arrived and Severus Snape had stuck to Lily ever since he had boarded the Hogwarts Express. He was hoping for Hufflepuff sorts for Lily and himself at this point, as although he was certain he was reasonably clever, he didn't know if by wizarding standards he was bright enough to get into Ravenclaw.

He and Lily wound up in a compartment with four rowdy other first years, named James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. The topic of houses came up, and Severus shrugged and said he was hoping for Hufflepuff. Black and Potter would have fallen over themselves laughing at this point, but Lupin stepped in, and commented he thought there was nothing wrong with loyalty and hard work. Potter and Black were both apparently angling for Gryffindor. Lily pursed her lips hard, upon learning this news.

Lupin himself felt like going for Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Peter Pettigrew said he wanted to be in Gryffindor, although Severus was left with the impression that was more because he wanted to stick with Potter and Black.

Things gradually calmed down, and Potter and Black forgot about Severus and his expressed desire to be in Hufflepuff. They started arguing about quidditch teams which went rather over the heads of Lily and Severus.

The journey passed uneventfully, otherwise, and at last the train arrived at Hogsmeade.

Severus was concerned to discover upon arrival at Hogwarts that sorting into houses was carried out by means of a magical hat, as he had no idea to what extent such a device might reflect where a pupil actually wanted to go in the placements it made. He watched a number of sortings, including Black being dispatched to Gryffindor, which gave him a few clues as to how the hat might be carrying out sortings. Occasionally pupils frowned, or made faces, whilst the hat was sorting them, so Severus guessed some sort of mental conversations were taking place.

Then Lily arrived on the stool, and sat with the hat on her head to be sorted.

The hat took a long time over her. Apparently she was either difficult to place, or there was some sort of extended mental discussion going on.

At last the hat opened the tear just above its brim that passed for a mouth and proclaimed: "Hufflepuff!"

Severus' heart skipped a beat with excitement.

Now all that he had to do was to follow her there, if he could manage to persuade the hat to do that.

Amidst a whirl of other sortings he saw Lupin being sorted into Ravenclaw, and giving a faint smile, and then Pettigrew and Potter following Black into Gryffindor.

At last it came to his turn.

Hmm. Interesting, very interesting. Where to place you, I wonder, Mr. Snape? the hat considered. I see for quite some time you've held an ambition to be in Slytherin, and only recently given it up.

Severus' thought that the hat might hold mental conversations was apparently correct.

Please, not Slytherin. I want to be in Hufflepuff.

Let's not be premature about this. Even without an ambition to be in Slytherin, certain elements of low cunning which you possess would serve you well there. Then again you also have a quite good mind, which would not be at all out of place in Ravenclaw. Simply arriving here and watching the sorting, you formed for yourself a number of intelligent theories about how it was happening. And then, of course, I suspect that an ability to stubbornly persist with a course would fit you in Gryffindor.

I want to be in Hufflepuff though.

I am very reluctant to place you in Hufflepuff however. You have the mind and talents to do astonishing things in other houses.

I don't care. I want to be in Hufflepuff with my friend, Lily.

Ah, the redheaded girl. We had a lengthy discussion too, as you observed. I won't say what we discussed – I keep details confidential, even from the headmaster, unless requested by a pupil to disclose them – but maybe she'll tell you if you ask. Well, there is nothing for it. Loyalty to a friend, first and foremost, even ahead of one's own personal betterment, is loyalty, and certainly a Hufflepuff trait. Are you absolutely certain about this?

Yes.

Then, reluctantly, I shall acquiesce. I would have rather placed you anywhere but Hufflepuff, Mr. Snape, and would have done, against your wishes, had your commitment to Miss. Evans not been quite so firm.

"Hufflepuff!" the hat announced, and it was with considerable relief that Severus stood up, removed the hat, and headed for the Hufflepuff benches and a smiling Lily.

"I was worried you wouldn't make it." Lily said between mouthfuls during the feast which followed the sorting. "The hat had a poke around in my memories, and warned me from what it could see of you, you were a natural Slytherin or Ravenclaw, and I shouldn't hold out much hope of you making it here."

"It tried to sort me into every house but Hufflepuff." Severus said. "But I kept thinking of you, and wouldn't let it."

"It's nice to be here at Hogwarts with someone I already know." Lily said. "I'm sure we'll learn lots and have lots of fun together."

Author Notes:

Yes, it's perhaps overly fluffy for some readers' liking, but there had to be at least one alternate universe out there where Severus checked his facts ahead of time and discovered muggleborns and Slytherin do not make a good combination. This is such an alternate universe.

I have assumed that the Severus of this alternate universe hasn't spent much time around 'normal' witches and wizards of his age, so has no idea if he's clever or not by wizard standards. He's certain that Lily is probably dead clever, but rather lacking in confidence and self-belief. And so, ironically, he devises a rather Slytherin plan of trying to persuade her to be sorted into Hufflepuff. Which with a bit of help from those Gryffindor jerks on the train, actually works... (I assume in canon Harry's several pre-sorting run-ins with Draco Malfoy had a similar effect in souring him on Slytherin.)

And then, of course, Severus is in danger of getting sorted into Slytherin anyway, even though he doesn't want to be there, for devising such a plan...

Remus went into Ravenclaw in this sorting as a result of seeing Potter and Black mocking another student for expressing a wish to be in Hufflepuff.

Let me reiterate, this one is a one-shot. The principle characters in the story are (currently) happy. It's nice, as a writer, to leave things that way once in a while rather than start delving into what happens when the headmaster notices that Hufflepuff appears to have acquired two unusually talented badgers...

* Update *

An early reviewer raised an interesting point querying Lily's placement going potentially against her character. The Sorting Hat does odd things, and apparently does 'special requests' if pupils are sufficiently insistent. As regards Lily's sorting in this one-shot, please read it as Severus sufficiently convinced her she ought to be in Hufflepuff, with him, and she argued the hat into it. (It did take a long time to sort her...)

Thanks for the reviews!