Hello! Hmmga here, and I just realised that I haven't done a disclaimer yet!

I do not own the rights to Harry Potter, or any of it's associated universe.

This story was a plot-bunny that sprang at me from nowhere. I hope you're enjoying it!

Chapter 3

The hall broke into applause when the hat finished its song, and Alex had to resist wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"We have to try on the hat?" he asked Lily. "Has it ever been washed."

"Probably not," she giggled. "It's a powerful magical artifact, I don't think it would take very well to soap."

Professor Flitwick stepped up, holding a sheet of parchment that was longer than he was. He cleared his throat, and then squeaked the first name.

"Abbot, Henry!"

"Alice's cousin," whispered Lily.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Adams, Katherine!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Baxter, Fiona!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The sorting went on, with the students being divided into the four houses. Soon they were growing close to the 'M's…

"Longbottom, Alice!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Alice grinned at her father as she sat down, and Flitwick called the next name:

"Millington-Lee, Alexander!"

The entire hall was scrutinising him as he stepped forwards, and he held his head high, effortlessly holding the mask in place. The shield he had began to construct for himself when he was just seven years old.

The hat, to his great surprise, didn't smell as bad as it looked.

"I'll take that as a complement," said a small voice in his year. "Now shut up and let me look at you… hm, a good mind, very intelligent, Ravenclaw could suit you. Hufflepuff… out of the question. Gryffindor… you have courage, that much is obvious. You will face your worst fears with a cool face. But that is also a Slytherin trait. I wonder… there hasn't been a muggleborn Slytherin in over five hundred years. It would be a bold statement to place you there, but if you really belong… what do you say?"

"You're asking me?"

"Of course."

"Put me somewhere I can be great, so I can make my father proud of me."

"In that case, better be… SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherins applauded politely as he joined them, and a boy wearing a prefect badge clapped him on the back. Alex caught Lily's eye as "Nott, Graham!" was sorted into Gryffindor. She looked slightly dumbstruck.

"Potter, Lily!"

She jumped as her name was called, and walked over to the stall. A moment later…

"SLYTHERIN!"

Her applause was a little more enthusiastic, but there were mutinous mutterings from the Gryffindor table. Lily looked mildly surprised, but she smiled as she dropped into a seat opposite Alex, and a black-haired, green-eyed boy quickly changed seats to be next to her, flinging an arm around her shoulders.

"Well well well," he said cheerfully. "Look who's joined me in the snake-pit. It's a little Lily-pad!"

The surrounding Slytherins chuckled. Lily blushed.

"Don't call me that, Al!" she whined, pushing him away. The boy laughed, and Alex remembered Lily mentioning him before. This was her brother.

"I really didn't expect to see you here, though," said Albus seriously. "But look at James' face…"

"I try not to," said Lily, but they both swivelled around to observe a brown-haired boy who was looking at Lily in horror. They laughed and turned back.

"Smith, Adam!"

Alex looked up to watch his 'friend' being sorted.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

He sighed in relief. At least they would not have to share a dormitory for the next seven years. Lily was watching him.

"Do you know that boy?"

"Our families went to Diagon Alley together," he explained.

"Oh, I see. I think I saw him on the train when I was running away from James. He was dribbling all over his chin."

Alex laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like him."

"Weasley, Hugo!"

Lily and Albus watched their cousin as he was being sorted. The sorting hat took a long time to decide with Hugo.

"RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaws cheered their new house-mate, but there was a large group of red-headed Gryffindors who were all looking outraged. Albus and Lily exchanged smiles.

"Good old Hugo," said Albus.

"I would never have guessed he would be in Ravenclaw," admitted Lily. "The last Weasley of our generation, and he's been sorted outside Gryffindor…"

"Shock, horror, disaster…" said Albus dramatically. He caught Alex staring, and nudged Lily. "Who's your friend? I don't think we've been introduced."

The conversation was cut off as the last student (Zenou, Lawrence) was sorted into Gryffindor, and Headmistress McGonagall got to her feet.

"Good evening," she said. "To our first years, welcome, and to everyone else welcome back! There will be notices, but for now, tuck in!"

There was a general sigh of relief as food materialised on the plates. Alex's eyes widened in shock, his last school had never even attempted to put on a feast of this scale.

"How did they do that?"

"House-elves," explained Albus. Alex nodded. He had read about them.

"Alright, Potter," said an older boy, who had a green prefects badge pinned on his robes. "I'll take it from here. Malfoy's complaining that you've abandoned him."

Albus grinned at his sister, and left to go back to his original place. The prefect positioned himself in the middle of the first-years, looking from one to the other.

"I'm Orion Sharpe," he said. "And I'm your fifth year prefect. I would like to take this opportunity to formally welcome you to Slytherin house. Now, we're going to go around the table, and I would like you to introduce yourselves. Your name, and your blood status."

There was a moments silence, and then Lily spoke up.

"I'm Lily Potter, and I'm a pureblood."

"I'm Rachel Blackwell," said the blond girl to her left. "And I'm a half-blood."

"Joshua Simmons," muttered a boy. "Half-blood."

"I'm Elizabeth Greengrass," said a haughty looking girl with black hair. "I'm a pureblood."

"Nigel Carson, half-blood."

Then it was Alex's turn.

"I'm Alexander Millington-Lee. I'm a muggleborn."

The others, bar Lily, turned to stare at him.

"A muggleborn?" asked Sharpe. "How interesting. We can't have had a muggleborn in Slytherin house in… ooh…"

"Five centuries," said Alex. "According to the sorting hat."

"Fascinating. Well, you were sorted here, so you're one of us now. You're quite lucky really. Before the war you would have been shunned, by the Slytherins for being a muggleborn, and by the rest of the school for being a Slytherin. However, Slytherin is no longer such a pureblood hot-house, even if the rest of the school still sees us that way. Look around you. There's six of you here, but look at the other houses."

Alex saw. All the other houses had at least eight new students, if not more. Looking around, he realised that Slytherin was the smallest house in the hall, and Gryffindor was the biggest by far.

"Because of the war," continued Sharpe, "We now face more prejudice than ever. Slytherin is believed to be the home of cowards, idiots, and dark wizards. So it is our job to prove them wrong. We have to work harder than them, to prove that we're not stupid. We have to be more courteous, and braver to prove that we're not cowards, or dark wizards in the making. But above all, we have to present a united front, to create a shield they can't break through."

"They divide us, they conquer us," realised Alex, and Sharpe nodded appreciatively.

"Later you will see the common room and dormitories. They are positioned down in the dungeons. What happens in the dungeons stays in the dungeons. In the common room you can argue, duel, hold grudges… but when you come up here you must put all conflicts aside. Now, you see that Professor? The one with the white hair."

He pointed to a man sitting at the staff table. He saw them looking, and nodded.

"That is Professor Konechny. He's the transfiguration professor, but he's also our head of house. He'll probably talk to you tomorrow morning. Any problems, and you go to him, myself, or one of the other prefects. He runs compulsory classes for each year group, teaching us etiquette and politics. I think the first year classes are on Friday afternoons…"

The main course vanished from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean. A moment later, the puddings arrived. Eventually, even they disappeared, and McGonagall got to her feet once more.

"Now, just a few start-of-term notices… will the first-years please note that the black forest on the edge of the grounds is forbidden to all students. Quidditch tryouts will be held on the second week of term, and anybody interested in playing for their house team should contact Madame Hooch. "Now, however, it is time for you all to go to bed. Dismissed."

There was a wave of noise as everybody got to their feet at once.

"Follow me," said Sharpe. "I will take you to our common room."