A/N: Bet you all thought I'd given up on this one, eh? Nope! It's back!
It's impossible to please everyone when writing Harry Potter. It just is. So not everyone will be happy with what's happening and what houses they're in, but that can't be helped. See bottom for justification.
PS, This is set in my alternate HP world which began in The Last Year, and doesn't follow what JK stated happened after, hence why there are different Weasley cousins and George is married to a kick-ass lady called Teatrina- who seems widely popular. Personally, it annoys me when writers continue to add facts after the last book had been published. A little should be left to the imaginations of the reader...or the writers of fanfic.
The Sorting Hat
"Oh God. Oh God oh God oh God oh God oh God."
"Rose, calm down, it's OK-"
"OK? OK!? How can it be OK? What if I don't get chosen at all? What if I just sit there? What if-"
"Rosie, that's never happened before, what makes you think-"
"There's a first time for everything, isn't there? What if-"
"You won't be."
"But just say-"
"Don't worry about it."
With a final tug, Albus pulled Rose out of the boat and Scorpius followed behind her. They were both trying to hide the fear in their faces and walks too. Never had walking in Hagrid's shadow seemed more foreboding than that night as they walked up to the brilliantly lit castle, a herd of other first years trailing behind them, each with a matching nervous expression.
"Don't worry, yeh'll all be fine," Hagrid beamed, looking at Rose and Albus. He clearly wanted to say more but was trying to act the part of teacher. In the Entrance Hall, he turned them over to Neville, who winked and smiled at them.
"Doesn't he look funny in his teachers robes?" Rose giggled.
Neville cleared his throat. "Ahem. Welcome all, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am the deputy head, Professor Longbottom. You'll all have the pleasure of my Herbology lessons this year, and for the next five years, so let's be pleasant, all right? In a few moments, the Sorting Ceremony will be begin. For all the Muggle-Borns among you, you basically put a hat on your head, and it tells you what house you're in. Some people think this is of great importance, but others not to so much. In any case, each house has equal values within the school, and we encourage you to mix with others. Hostility to other houses is –and apparently, never has been, I'm supposed to tell you- tolerated in any form. Any questions?"
Everyone shook their heads. Neville groaned comically.
"There never is. Come on then, let's got on with it!"
The doors burst open and they marched in awkward pairs up the Great Hall where a burnt and frayed hat sat on a lonely stall. Faces looked up from all the tables, cousins waving and winking. At the centre of the table, a pretty witch with dark dappled hair and immaculate robes smiled at them secretly, suppressing her urge to wave.
"Doesn't Aunt Andy look nice?" Rose whispered in Al's ear, but Al had been overtaken by a fit of nerves and was in no condition to reply. He was trying to concentrate on the words of the Sorting Hat's song, but they made no sense whatsoever. Eventually, after what seemed like an age, it finished.
"Didn't know it did that," remarked Scorpius, causing some girl at the back to laugh.
Neville was speaking again. "When I call your name, come up to the stool and put the hat on your head. And don't worry. He doesn't bite."
Most of the students chuckled briefly at the joke as Neville unrolled his parchment.
"Bane, Jack."
A confident-looking boy with dark curled hair walked forward and pulled the hat over his head. It pondered for a moment or two, then,
"SLYTHERIN!"
The boy hopped off to join the Slytherin table, receiving a clap on the back from at least two of his housemates.
"Cartridge, Cassopia."
Another Slytherin. A murmur went up from the other tables, two Slytherins in a row? Thankfully, the next student, Charles Emerson, was a Ravenclaw, followed by a Hufflepuff and the first Gryffindor, a cheeky-looking dark-haired girl.
"Harper, Harmoy."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Jameson, Eric."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Leonard, Paul."
"RAVENCLAW."
Finally, came M.
"Magila, Maria."
As a shy girl with mousy, dishwasher hair stepped forward, Albus spun round to face Scorpius.
"Do you want to be in Slytherin?" he asked seriously.
"What?"
"Do you want to? Actually want it?"
"My whole family's-"
"That's not the question. Because if you don't want to be, tell the Sorting Hat. Don't… 'give into your fate' or whatever."
Scorpius opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Neville.
"Malfoy, Scorpius."
With a backward glance, Scorpius stepped up to the stool. Albus felt a hand grip his arm nervously, and turned to see Rose biting her lip. She seemed to be hissing something under her breath but it was too low for Al to hear. He looked up, eagerly awaiting the Sorting Hat's answer.
It seemed to be taking forever, and whispers were emerging at the corners of the room. Why was it taking this long. Al heard someone from the Slytherin table say, 'it's never taken any Malfoy more than a few seconds to be sorted into Slytherin before' as if Scorpius weren't worthy of his name.
Al felt his anger rising and close his eyes in frustration. Why did everyone always expect you to turn out like your parents or siblings? Just because he was a Potter and a Weasley, didn't mean he was certain to be a Gryffindor, and the same for Rose. Phillip's parents had been a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw, yet he was still in Hufflepuff. It didn't matter one bit. It didn't, it didn't…
"Not Slytherin, not Slytherin…"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Al opened his eyes. His surprise was equal to Scorpius', who was tumbling nervously off the stool and scampering over to the waiting table, aware all the eyes in the room were on him. Everybody looked in shock as a Malfoy, Slytherins for centuries, became a Gryffindor.
"Al! Albus! He's in Gryffindor! Did you see? Gryffindor!" Rose was tugging at his sleeve.
"Narebolt, Rupert."
"I know, Rose. I can see. And hear. Don't keep shrieking."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Oh, but, oh!" she exclaimed, almost hopping up and down. "I'm so-"
"Will you be quiet, please?" Hissed a girl in front of them, "I'm up soon!"
Rose scowled behind her back.
"McKane, Lavender."
"RAVENCLAW!"
Shortly afterwards, the girl in front of them (Ella Octavia) became another Ravenclaw. Al barely had time to think about when his name came, to worry about what house he would be in, before Neville was calling out his name.
"Potter, Albus."
Then they came. The murmurs. The voices James had warned him about. The hushed exchanged of, "Potter? As in- the Potter?" followed by, "What, is it James' bro?" He could hear the almost mocking voices of his part-Veela cousins, "Oh, lay off. He's our little cousin!"
"Still, a Potter-"
"Oh, grow up, like it matters."
"Stop teasing him…"
"He's a Weasley really, you know-"
The last line made him chuckle, and he looked up at the sound of the voice to see his one of his oldest cousins, Fred, winking at him, nodding him towards the Sorting Hat. Al suddenly wished he'd been able to talk to him before the Ceremony began. Fred wouldn't care what house he was in, joke about him butchering him on another Quidditch team, laugh about inter-house championships and putting cockroaches in the beds of particularly unliked teachers.
There was no time for any of that now. The last thing Al saw before he pulled the hat over his head was hundreds of expectant faces, his cousins' and brother's among them, and Neville's thumbs up.
"A POTTER!" Shrieked the hat.
Al nearly screamed, but instead yelled something back, although his lips did not move. "Hey! Not so loud!"
"Sorry, bit carried away. So, I suppose you want to be in Gryffindor, don't you??"
"Yes please." said Al quickly.
The Sorting Hat laughed. "Tough, because you're going to be a SLYTH- joking, joking. You're so obviously…a GRYFFINDOR!"
The last word he spoke to the room and the whole Gryffindor table seem to erupt into cheers. "Potter! Potter!" Called strangers, "We've got another Potter! Woo-hoo!"
Al felt hands pulling him into a seat, squeezed next to a rather confused looking Scorpius whose welcome had not been as celebrated or, really, welcoming at all. But although the gleeful shouts of his cousins were not unnoticed, Albus could only think of poor Rose, now alone and even more nervous.
"She'll be in Gryffindor, won't she?" asked Scorpius anxiously.
Albus shrugged and looked sadly back at her.
Fred Weasley fought his way towards his cousin. He was the spitting image of his father, but his hair was that of his mother's- a tousled dark brown. It bore streaks of red and there was no denying he was a Weasley and his father's son at that- he had that mischievous twinkle in his eye and could easily pass for Fran and Gwen's brother rather than cousin.
"She'll be in Ravenclaw, we reckon," he answered. "Too clever for her own good."
"You can't say that!" Argued Adie, "Her mother was extremely clever and-"
"And brave."
"I'm sure Rose is her double. And Uncle Percy is very clever and he was in Gryffindor too. You can't say just because someone's smart they'll be in Ravenclaw."
"Yeah, that's true. Luna's a raving nutter."
Adie sighed. "I give up! Like talking to a brick wall, honestly…"
"Weasley-Granger, Rose."
Albus snapped his head back round as Rose tottered nervously up to the stool. Murmurs began at her name too, several of them beginning 'another Weasley'. A handful of people who clearly didn't know them that well turned round to Fred and Adie asking them 'not another one of yours?'
"Cousin," they replied.
Rose nervously pulled the hat over her head, blocking out the whispers. The more intelligent of the school population were exchanging chatter around the Granger part of her name. "Do they mean Hermione Granger? The famous author?"
"It's not an uncommon name among Muggles I hear."
"Doesn't she look like her though? I met her once at a book signing…"
Al's eyes were rooted on Rose. She was shaking ever so slightly, gripping the stool. He wondered what the Sorting Hat was saying to her.
"She'll have to be in Ravenclaw, obviously, so clever I'm sure…"
"Well, both her parents were in Gryffindor…"
"Bet she'll be in Slytherin. Ha! That'd surprise them."
"Well, we just had a Malfoy in Gryffindor, I think the balance could do with being restored…"
Al was so busy listening to the others that he didn't realise the Sorting Hat had spoken, only that suddenly, everyone around him seemed to be cheering.
"Albus! Al! She's in Gryffindor! GRYFFINDOR! She's with us!" Scorpius was hopping up and down with excitement.
"Yes! Yes!" Adie hugged Fran and Gwen, who were cheering at the top of their voices.
Rose climbed off her stool and came towards them. She was still shaking, but there was a huge smile spread across her face.
"Al…" she shook with excitement. "Al, I'm in Gryffindor…I'm with you. I'm still with you!"
.o0o.
Right, now I have to justify why they are ALL in Gryffindor, don't I? Bet you think I'm super-Gryffindor-fan, don't you? Not so. I would have been happy with Rose in Ravenclaw, even Hufflepuff. I would also have been happy with Al and Scorpius in Slytherin. Why weren't they? Because Al is a Gryffindor. That's the character he is. And I wanted Scorpius to defy stereotypes. Rose was the trickiest, because I do see her as a Ravenclaw, but would she have been happy there with her two best friends elsewhere? It took a while for the Sorting Hat to place her anywhere, but in the end I think she was brave (and bossy) enough to decide for herself. I can imagine her saying, 'Put me in Gryffindor, or I'll carve you a new mouth.'
Like it or lump it, that's the way it is!