AN: JK Rowling owns everything.
NOTE: For this story, Lily is three years older than Petunia and Regulus is three years younger than Sirius.
Now standing in the small chamber that was off to one-side of the Great Hall, Petunia felt a twinge of nervousness. She was completely in awe of the castle around her; Lily's descriptions hadn't done it justice. The boats were magical experience and from the lake, the castle looked absolutely enormous. Now that she was inside, she could tell that it was an ancient castle and the magic humming through the walls was lifting her spirits. As the stern looking woman, who had introduced herself as Professor McGonagall in her thick Scottish accent, was gently opening the doors to the Great Hall, as Petunia frantically looked around for her sister. Spotting her sister, at what she assumed to be the Gryffindor table, she relaxed a little bit.
The first years formed a neat line behind Professor McGonagall , many of them still gazing at their surroundings in wonder. Lily had caught sight of her younger sister and had given her a small wave.
As Petunia continue to look at the cathedral enchanted ceiling, and the large medieval windows, she didn't notice Professor McGonagall transfigure a tissue into a three-legged brown stool, pull out a large scroll from the inside of her pocket, or retrieve an ancient looking Hat from the Headmaster.
Suddenly, and startling Petunia, the hat began to sing:
Young, fresh minds come sit beneath my head,
Find out the house to live in,
While you seek the knowledge of our walls,
Will it be Hufflepuff, loyal and true?
Or Ravenclaw, smart and blue?
The Brave Grffyindor's,
Or the slippery Slytherins.
Forge bonds of friendship,
Strong and fierce,
Yet refuse to be divided,
Stand strong as a school,
Come young minds,
I shall sort you, one and all.
When the hat was done singing, everyone in the school continued to keep their attention focused on the small brown stool.
'Stupid charmed hat,' Petunia thought to herself, believing in anything of what the hat just said.
Professor McGonagall carefully unrolled the scroll, and began to call names of scared first years.
"Justin Ackleton," was the first name called. A small boy with reddish brown hair nervously approached the stool and gently placed the hat upon his head.
"HUFFLEPUFF" the hat cried as soon as it touched his head. Looking relieved, the boy jumped off the stool and ran towards the table where everyone, all wearing yellow and black ties with badgers on the front of their robes, was now standing and cheering for him.
"Regulus Black" the stern Professor called, and a small boy with untidy looking hair strode up to the stool appearing confident. He obviously knew what house he was going to be sorted into, and he already had the Black coat of arms and crest emblazoned onto the left side of his robes.
"SLYTHERIN" the hat screamed, barely even touching a hair on the boy's head, and he smiled and arrogantly walked towards the table that was clapping loudly as he approached the table.
"Cheryl Beckton"
"RAVENCLAW," the hat shouted out immediately again, and the girl merrily ran off towards the blue-colored tie table, where most of the people appeared as though they were bookworms.
A few students later, all of which Petunia had zoned out listening too because she was musing about what house she would be placed into and how cute that Black boy was, Petunia heard her own name called. Suddenly realizing that it was scary when the whole school's attention was focused on you, she nervously made her way to the brown school.
"Please let me be anywhere but Gryffindor" she thought to the hat as she placed it on her head.
She was shocked when she heard the hat talk to her back, when it said, "My dear, you only belong in SLYTHERIN."
Lily, who had been eagerly anticipating what house her sister was going to be placed in, was now in shock.
"Hey, Evans, your sister can hang out with my little brother Regulus," Sirius Black called from farther down the lion's table.
"Yeah, sure, whatever, Black," Lily called back towards him. She couldn't believe that her own sister would be sorted into Slytherin, the house that was full of snakes who absolutely hated muggle-borns. She quickly made up her mind to send a note to her best friend Severus, to ensure that her younger sister was taken care of within the dungeon walls.
Meanwhile, Petunia, who was oblivious to the commotion going on at the Gryffindor table and was happily marching herself over towards the Slytherin table. She had tried hard to not notice, but she couldn't help but hear that her arrival had gotten much less attention than that Black boy's. Still, happy that she wasn't placed with her sister, she sat down at the edge of the table next to a girl with long, straight blond hair.
By the end of the sorting, there were four girls sitting at the end of the table and all were eager to share a room together. Narcissa Black, an older cousin of Regulus, was the only second year and she would be rooming with the first years. There was also Misty Slughorn, daughter of their new Head of House, and Susan Grettings, who was the only half-blood first year at the Slytherin table.
"Welcome to Hogwarts! Another year greets us in these halls. Please welcome our new students and celebrate with the older ones. Remember, there is a reason why the forbidden forest has its name. Now, I know you all have been traveling so let's eat!" Professor Dumbledore's voice boomed through the hall.
As soon as he sat down, chatter immediately filled the hall. Friends were reacquainted and first years were still in awe of their surroundings.
Petunia fidgeted nervously in her brand new school robes, which one of the nearby prefrects had already added a crest with a serpent on to the left side of her robes. Her tie, which originally had been black before she was sorted, had been converted to an emerald green, accented with silver stripes. Thinking back, she had wanted to come to Hogwarts ever since her sister had gotten her letter. Absently-mindedly and ignoring all of the food in front of her, she gazed up at the ceiling. It had millions of stars, some planets and of course, the floating candles, just like Lily had described it. Petunia next looked towards the Head table; Professor McGonagall was having a lively conversation with the Headmaster and a huge man sat on the other side of Dumbledore, who Misty pointed out was her father, Professor Slughorn.
Bored with the Head table and the teachers talking, she next gazed over to the other house tables. There was a skinny student, with long greasy hair sitting at the end of her table, with no one near him.
"That's odd, I wonder where his friends are?" Petunia thought to herself.
Finally, Petunia's wandering eyes landed on her sister sitting with all of her friends. They were all currently engaged in a laughing fit, for some unknown reason. There was that short stubby kid, a very shabby average sized kid who for some reason had his face filled with scratches, a tall skinny kid with black hair wearing the Black crest on his robes and another tall skinny kid with black hair, although his stood straight up, with the Potter crest on his robes. The four boys sat off to the side a little bit, with Lily and a couple of her girlfriends a little farther down the table.
"Misty, why do some people have family crests on their robes?" she hesitantly asked the plump girl sitting next to her.
"Oh, those are the wizarding nobility crests. If a student comes from a prestigious family, like the Blacks or the Potters or Malfoys, then they are allowed to wear their family crest as a symbol of status," Misty explained before she returned with her own question, "Are you muggle-born? Only a muggle-born wouldn't know that."
"Yes, but I think we have some magical distant relatives," Petunia lied smoothly, not liking the glaze a fifth year prefect with the Malfoy crest on his robes was giving her.
"Gotcha. Have you tried the pudding?" Narcissa said sweetly as she passed the younger girl a bowl of chocolate pudding.
"You bunch, firsties, follow me!" Malfoy bellowed to the group huddled around the end of the table, when all of their food had disappeared. The followed him down a flight of stairs to a blank wall. He showed them all where to tap their wands, muttered the password, "Murkwood" and a large section of the wall slid to the side to reveal a large room beyond it.
Entering the common room, Petunia saw that there was a huge fireplace surrounded by many chairs and a couple of couches. A gigantic banner that was made of deep, rich green velvet hung over the mantle on the fireplace, that read, "Slytherin, Cunning and Sly," scrolled across the top in elegant silver letters. Below the flowing letters, a snake slithered around the tapestry. Beyond the fireplace, there were a couple of tables. Along the walls there were a few bookcases and some portraits whose occupants seemed to be moving around. Off to one side, there was a bulletin board full of postings of one kind or another.
The four girls, who were all going to share a dorm, made their way over to a hallway which had a small plaque above it marked, "Ladies." The last door on their right opened to reveal a large room with four beds and even a couch in the middle. Each bed had its own nightstand with a mirror over it, and each girl's trunk was placed at the end of the bed.
"Girls!" the voice of the female prefect, who had changed Petunia's tie and robe for her, called, and the three first years went back out towards the common room. There they found their Head of House, Professor Slughorn, getting prepared to start his beginning of year meeting with his house. The meeting, which Petunia found very interesting, went over academic expectations, behavioral expectations, general rules and Quidditich try outs.
Later on that night, when she was lying in her four poster bed that had deep green hangings, Petunia thought how magical Hogwarts was. She was eagerly looking forward to her lessons in the morning and the girls in her dorm seemed friendly enough. The dungeons were a bit damp for her taste but she loved the way that the fireplace was always kept roaring, it helped drive the draftiness away. Inside their room, which was very large considering it normally housed up to six girls, there were three magical windows that looked out over the greenhouses as well as a small door that led to a beautiful huge bathroom. The house elves, the magical servants Narcissa explained to her, had even managed to fit in a desk for each girl.
AN: I would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to review! Thank you for reading! Comments are heart-warming, suggestions welcome, and corrections much appreciated!