"Black, Regulus"
It seems that a lot of people in Hogwarts know my name. My brother Sirius looks up at me from the Gryffindor table. He shouldn't be there. He should be in Slytherin, like every other Black. Like me, hopefully. No, there's no need for me to be doubtful. I'll be in Slytherin. My parents would be so disappointed if I wasn't; first Sirius, then me? I can't even imagine how my mother would react if I also wasn't in Slytherin. I live to please my parents and I really don't want to let them down. When my mother got an owl from Sirius telling her that he'd gotten into Gryffindor, she'd flown into an enormous rage. She used the Cruciatus Curse on our house elf, Kreacher, in her anger. I don't want anything like that to happen again.
"Oh. A Black"
"We're a big family. I imagine you've sorted many of us"
"Yes, I have. Many of them rather unpleasant; like your cousin Bellatrix for example. Your mother wasn't particularly friendly either"
"There's nothing wrong with my mother!" I tell the Hat.
"I can see into your mind so I know that you're lying to yourself"
"What do you mean?"
"You don't agree with your parents views, do you? You also don't like either of them"
"That's not true! Mudbloods are scum"
"There'll be none of that foul language when you're talking to me! Hmm, maybe you've inherited more of them then I would've hoped"
"I'm a Black and I agree with everything the others believe in!"
"Don't lie to yourself, Regulus. You may be similar in some ways but you're not completely similar to the others. Let's debate no longer and continue with the Sorting"
"Fine. I'll be in Slytherin anyway"
"Don't jump to conclusions! Goodness me, children these days are so impatient! You're definitely smart, cunning, quite ambitious...and very talented at Quidditch, I see!"
"Yeah I love Quidditch. I'm hoping to join the team"
"There's proof of your ambition! Okay, I think we are done here now. Remember, be yourself. Don't let your parents control your life. SLYTHERIN!"
Sirius looks genuinely disappointed; I guess he wanted me to break the Black-Slytherin tradition. I take a seat with the serpents, feeling strangely disappointed. Maybe I should take the Sorting Hat's advice onboard. Should I live to please my mad, pureblood maniac parents? Or should I join Sirius and be my own person? I don't even know if that's what I want. All I do know is that I don't want to be 'just another Black'.
A/N. Regulus was difficult to write because he is such a complex character. Did I characterize him rightly? The next chapter is going to be Pansy Parkinson, followed by Poppy Pomfrey and, after that, a special chapter which is going to be a bit different from the others! I'm not going to give anything away ;) Please leave a review with some suggestions for characters to Sort because I'm a little low on ideas. Lots of people have suggested the Marauders and Next-Gen characters; I am planning to do them right at the end of this fanfiction, so there's no need to suggest them :) Thanks for reading!