Here's the second chapter. I know McGonagall was supposed to retire, but I like her too much to leave her out. Plus, this way, she feels closer to Albus and Rose because she knew their parents than some random other person.

Anyway, please review; I want to know what you think about it!

Chapter 2 The Sorting

"Where's Nev- I mean, Professor Longbottom?" Rose asked Albus in a whisper.

"I think he's right by McGonagall." Albus whispered back. Still thinking of the ride on the Hogwarts Express, he said "Why did you freak out when that girl, Carlina, said her name?"

"Don't you remember?" she asked. "When you asked Uncle Harry about your middle name, he told you about this man named Severus Snape. I wanted to know more about him, so I asked my mum and she told me about him being the Half-blood Prince." To Al's blank stare, she replied. "Uncle Harry found a potions book sixth year that belonged to the self-proclaimed 'Half-blood Prince'. His mum was a pure-blood who's maiden name was Prince. Carlina must be related to Snape, but I thought all of the Princes' were dead."

"You and your photographic memory," Albus said shaking his head.

"I don't have a-" Rose protested. She was cut off mid-sentence by a call from the other side of the room.

"Hey, Rose! Albus! Over here." Emmet called from the other side of the line of first years. Carlina was standing near him, and Ben was talking with some other first-years a few meters away.

Rose and Albus made their way over to their new friends just as Professor Chudwick the charms teacher led them into the great hall. Everyone exclaimed over the ceiling and Rose explained that it was enchanted to look like the sky outside. Today, there was a full moon, and many stars were out.

When it was time for the sorting, Chudwick called the first name, "Abbot, Melody."

The girl walked nervously up to Chudwick who placed the hat on her head. The hat didn't take long deciding. "GRYFFINDOR!" it called for the whole hall to hear.

As they went through "Anglon, Andrew", "Blackwell, David", and "Daniels, Grayson", Albus realized all of their names were near the end. The hat went through tons of first years until they got to one Albus recognized. It was the boy his uncle had pointed out at the station.

"Malfoy, Scorpius."

As soon as the hat touched his head it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

"Potter, Albus." There were collective gasps as people realized who this was. Albus saw James grinning at him from the Gryffindor table. People didn't make as big a fuss about attention-craving James because he looked nothing like his father, whereas Albus was a younger version of his father, just without the lightning shaped scar. Chudwick placed the hat on Albus' head.

"Ooh, a tricky one." The hat announced. "Like your father, you could well in Slytherin."

But I'm not a parselmouth like he used to be, thought Albus.

"No, you are not." The hat replied for his ears alone. "Very few Slytherin students are parselmouths, Potter."

I don't want be in Slytherin, he told the hat in his head. Dad said I could choose.

"Then courageous and brave as you are, child; better be GRYFFIDOR!"

Albus hopped up to go sit beside his brother at the Gryffindor table. Immediately after Al was Carlina.

The hat took no time in deciding with her either. "SLYTHERIN!" Her new friends groaned, but the Slytherin table cheered, as did the others when a first-year was pointed in that direction.

They went through a few more first-years. The hat took its time on some people, but on others it decided without hesitation.

"Shacklebolt, Emmett."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Stubbs, Coralline."

"RAVENCLAW!" The Grey Lady, Ravenclaw's ghost, waved to the terrified first-year who ran to the Ravenclaw table.

"Strickland, Benjamin."

The hat took its time, but chose, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Rose's POV

Rose was very nervous by the time the hat made it to her. She wanted to be with her friends, but she did not want to be in Slytherin or Hufflepuff. She had the feeling her dad really might disown her, no matter what he pretended. She was the second-to-last first-year to be sorted. By the time the hat got to her, the only ones paying any attention were James, Albus, and their many cousins Victoire, Molly, Lucy, Fred, and Andromeda.

"Weasley, Rose."

"You are wise for your years." The hat whispered after Chudwick put it on her head. "You are intelligent like Ravenclaw, loyal like Hufflepuff, shrewd like Slytherin, and courageous like Gryffindor, but where to put you? Which quality stands out?"

She later told Al that she had informed the hat she must be in Gryffindor.

"As all Weasleys' must," It replied aloud after a minute of seeming to debate this option. "GRYFFINDOR!" Rose and her cousins let out a collective sigh of relief as she scurried over to the Gryffindor table to sit by Al and Emmett.

After the hat was put away, Professor McGonagall stood up to make her beginning-of-term speech. "Welcome, students! I am Professor McGonagall, headmistress of Hogwarts. I would like to welcome-" By this time, food had appeared on the table and who could fault the children for becoming distracted. The first years were all shocked when the food had appeared on the table with no servers.

James, being his usual rude self, reached for a plate, but the girl sitting next to him slapped his hand away. Al and Rose found this funny, but James couldn't stand being reprimanded by a girl. He pulled her hair hard, causing her to squeak and drawing attention to them. He sat back in his seat, pleased with himself as a bunch of teachers and hungry kids gave him dirty looks. Most of Rose's cousins were sitting nearby, and she saw Molly, Lucy, and Andromeda all roll their eyes at James.

"And that is all, you may eat," announced McGonagall.

Albus' POV

Everyone dug in but the girl who sat beside James, across from Rose and Al. She started to interrupt James' eating to pester him, but Andromeda said, "Shut up, Elise. Can't you give James a break every now and then?"

"Thank you, cousin." James told her glad that someone took his side for once. It sounded to Albus as if this was a conversation they had had before.

"Oh, it's not because you deserve it, James. It's just because you two get annoying." Andromeda added.

"Yeah," Al put in, "They sound like Rose's parents." Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione probably couldn't live without bickering with each other.

James scowled, but Andromeda and Rose giggled. "They do, you know? I never realized that." James gave his little brother a look that told him he'd be in trouble later but didn't say anything.

Everyone went back to their food, Albus thought he would never get used to the wide array of food that magically appeared on Hogwarts' tables. There were pork chops, roast beef and potatoes, carrots, gravy, and even puddings, and after the meal was over, dessert appeared. One thing was for sure, Albus thought to himself, they would never go hungry here.

I know the ending to that chapter is very... well, it just sort of ends, but I couldn't think of any other way to end it, because I wanted this chapter to just be about the sorting. Oh, and just so you know, Andromeda is like a second cousin of theirs, not directly related and not a Weasley.