Chapter 4
It took longer than expected. Around midnight, the heads of houses left to make sure all of their students were in bed. James and Al were herded back to their rooms by Teddy, who then returned to sit and wait with Lily. The headmaster continued to sit and wait, not moving except for the occasional change of position. Above his head, Dumbledore and Snape kept Lily occupied with stories of her relatives, mostly her dad, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione. She heard about the sorcerer's stone, the chamber of secrets, the tri-wizard tournament, the first time Harry met his godfather, the adventure at the ministry, the story of how her parents got together for he first time, how Harry had gone to find a Horcrux with Dumbledore, and how Harry had defeated Voldemort in the end. She also heard other stories, like the pranks her uncles used to pull, and stories about her grandparents and their friends, including Teddy's father and Harry's godfather. But even Dumbledore ran out of stories by sunrise. Snape continued to stare at Lily with interest until she finally got annoyed around 2 am.
"What?" she asked bluntly, glaring at the picture of Severus Snape.
"I was just thinking," said Snape, drawing out his words, "that you seem so much like another young lady I knew. Your grandmother, in fact. You look just like her; flaming red hair, bright green eyes and the famous Evans wit." Lily's brow furrowed.
"You knew my grandmother?"
"Yes, I was best friends with her for quite some time. We both excelled at potions."
Lily tilted her head to the side, making the hat slide down her head a ways.
"What happened?" Snape looked down at his hands. Whether it was in shame or sadness, Lily wasn't sure. It could have been both.
"I did something that she never forgave me for. She moved on, and I still haven't forgiven myself for it." Snape rubbed his forehead, thinking.
Lily became sad, but also angry. What had this man done to her grandmother that was so unforgivable? But Lily didn't press him further and continued to stare out the window.
Everyone else was asleep. The Sorting Hat still upon her brow, Lily sat in a window seat, staring out over the lake. She could see Hagrid's hut, small puffs of smoke leaping from the chimney. She could see the Whomping Willow, shaking off the morning frost. She saw a hippogriff flying above the Forbidden Forest, circling lazily. Teddy snored softly, while the headmaster's great phlegm gasps muffled broke Lily's concentration every few minutes. The sun had just peaked over the mountains, throwing rainbows over the lake, like a crystal prism, when the Sorting Hat finally spoke.
"I was wondering," it spoke softly, "do you have a preference as to which house you would like to go into?"
"What?" asked Lily, not sure whether she had heard the hat speak or if it was just her imagination.
"Well, when your father was sorted, he preferred to be in Gryffindor, as opposed to Slytherin. I have always thought that the Potters would do well in Slytherin, but I gave him the choice and took it into account when making my decision for him. No one had asked you where you preferred to go yet, so I thought that I might."
Lily was puzzled. Where did she want to go? For the past hours, her main concern had been getting into a house at all, let alone getting to choose, now she had the choice and she knew where to go. Lily sighed and rose to shake Teddy awake.
"Good choice," said the Sorting Hat, reading her mind, "it was where I was going to put you, I think, anyways."
"I'm glad you approve," whispered Lily, "but we should wake everyone else and tell them too, so they know where to send my trunks."
Lysander woke to someone shaking his shoulder. He stretched and turned over.
"5 more minutes, Mum," he mumbled sleepily, only to receive giggling from who ever was in his room. He cracked open his eyes to reveal Lily, hands over her mouth, green Slytherin robes to match her green eyes.
"Mum?" she asked, taking her hands away from her mouth, as Lysander sat up "that is a new one. I was just wondering how you liked my new house robes." Lily pirouetted softly over to Lysander's side and sat next to him on his bed. Lysander smiled when he realized that Lily was in his house.
"So you and I are in the same house?" Lily smiled back at him.
"Yup," she said, then got up and walked to the door, "now hurry up and get dressed. Or we will be late to breakfast and not get our schedules on time." Lily left the room just as the morning bell rang. Her robes whipped around the door as the other boys got up. One stared at where Lily had just been.
"Who was that?" he asked.
Lysander smiled and lay back down on his bed, hands behind his head. "My girl," he said, smiling bigger than ever.
