Disclaimer: I own nothing except Merle…perhaps the plot, yes. BUT! I am NOT J.K. Rowling so I do NOT own the rest of the characters except the random ones I made up to fit with the Sorting Hat. You may use those if you like, but please tell me if you use them. But, if you claim Merle as your own, I will hunt you down and beat you rapidly with a pogo stick. If you survive, I'll have you arrested for plagiarism.

Warning: Plenty of POV/Third person switching ahead. If you cannot handle, discontinue reading and go bang your head on a wall until you are ready. I try to make it obvious whose POV it is/if it's in third person…but sometimes I may not succeed n.n;

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Peering into the train compartment, I noticed a young girl, most likely around my age, sitting in the far left corner. Wearing robes of pure black, she was twirling a silver dagger in her hands. Her hair appeared to be pitch black as a raven, yet I wasn't close enough to determine the color of her eyes. She stared at the floor, her eyes slowly but surely moving to my feet. She looked upwards.

"May I help you?" she spat. "Or did you just come to bother me?"

I stared at her for a moment.

"The only compartments that aren't completely full are stuffed with giggly ones, obviously future Hufflepuffs." I mumbled.

"…Oh..." she said, her voice getting a bit softer. "Well, you might as well sit down." She added, shrugging.

I sat across from her, and looked out the window. The train appeared to be going much faster than I'd expected. Then she spoke, which was a bit of a surprise.

"So…who're you, then?"

"Severus Snape. You?"

She looked directly at me. Her eyes were black, it was obvious she'd fit in as a Slytherin.

"Merle Charton. Pureblood, at that."

"Interesting. What house do you think you'll be in?"

"Where else? Slytherin."

I grinned.

"You?" she added, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll give you three guesses."

"Hufflepuff." She grinned, obviously joking.

I nearly swallowed my tongue.

"You know I'm kidding, of course?"

"…Yeah."

"Slytherin."
"Right in…two."

…--…

Two boys stood in the doorway of the compartment, another two behind.

"Yes?" Merle said, her voice becoming cold once more. "Did you want something?"

"The name's Sirius Black," one of the boys said. "And this here's my friend James Potter."

One of the boys in back tapped Black on the shoulder.

"Oh, and that's Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew."

Lupin smirked.

"Very nice introduction, Sirius." he said.

Merle glared at the four.

"If you don't want something, I suggest you leave before I hex you." said Merle, standing up and gliding over to the door.

"Ah, yes." said Black. "We just wanted to introduce ourselves. The Marauders of Hogwarts."

"Ha. Marauders." Merle muttered. "Couldn't find a more childish name for yourselves, could you?"

"Apparently not…" Lupin said.

"You were the one who came up with the name!" Potter exclaimed.

"I was not! Sirius came up with the 'Marauders'!"

"So who exactly are you?" Severus interrupted.

Merle sighed.

"Evidently, a group of bloody gits who want attention." she snarled, still glaring at the four.

"Hey! We are not gits!" said Potter.

"Well maybe Peter is, but…" Black trailed off.

"I am not!" the other one, Pettigrew, said.

Severus rolled his eyes.

"ARE you quite finished?" he said.

"Look," Merle interrupted, "I'm sure you'll have a chance to introduce yourselves at the school, so I suggest you get out."

Black stood there with a shocked expression.

"You mean you don't want to know us?" he said.

"No." Severus and Merle chorused, Severus eventually grinning as the four boys left. Merle stared after them.

"Gryffindors, I'd expect."

"How do you know?"

"I'm good at these sort of things…"

A voice swept throughout the train; "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train—it will be taken to the school seperately."

Severus looked at Merle.

"Nervous?"

Merle shrugged.

"I suppose."

…--…

The large doors leading to the Great Hall opened, giving us our first look of the dining hall. The house tables were rather long, I noticed. Reaching the front of the room, led by Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, a long table was set, full of Professors. There was a stool in front, a raggedy-looking hat sitting on it. McGonagall pulled out a piece of parchment and looked at the First Years, including me.

"When I call your name, you may step forward and let the Sorting Hat decide your fate."

Looking at the parchment, she called out;

"Abbot, Brian!"

A blond boy walked up to the stool and carefully placed the hat on his head. The hat just sat there. Suddenly it literally screamed into the Great Hall;

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Black, Sirius!"
One of the boys of the "Marauders" that had introduced themselves on the train leapt forward and jammed the hat on his head.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

I grinned.

"What did I tell you?" I whispered to Severus.

"Charton, Merluvee!"

Severus stared at me as I walked up to the hat. Quickly placing it on my head, it spoke to me.

[So, you're of Slytherin blood, are you?]

[Put me wherever you want,] I thought back. [I don't really care as long as it isn't Hufflepuff or Gryffindor.]

[Ah well then it's obvious what house you should be in...] it said.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Relieved, I bounced off the stool and into a seat at the Slytherin table. The sorting continued;

"Evans, Lily!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Finnigan, Arianna!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Fuller, Mills!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Hawk, Samantha!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Lupin, Remus!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Malfoy, Lucius!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"McKay, Adam!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Pascall, John!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

And so on. Turns out that I was right, the four "Marauder" boys were in Gryffindor, all of them. Finally..

"Snape, Severus!"

Crossing my fingers, I held my breath.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Letting out my breath in a sigh of relief, he came and sat next to me.

"Your name is Merluvee?"

I paused for a minute, then grinned at him.

"My friends call me Merle."

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