"Gryffindor!" boomed the Sorting Hat, Snape let out a small groan as he watched his best friend rush over to the scarlet and gold lions. As he watched her, Lily turned around to face him and gave him, a sad, genuine smile.

Names kept on being called, and boys and girls continued to tremble to the stool.

"Goshawk, Finnigan!"

"Ravenclaw!" cried the old hat...

"Meliflo, Joseph!" a tall freckly boy shuffled up the steps to the stool.

"Hufflepuff!" …

Severus wondered how much head lice and other micro-organisms were collected and passed on by the hat.

"Phillips, Kendara!"

"Ravenclaw!" said the hat the moment it touched her head…

"Snape, Severus!"

It was his turn, but he knew he was going to be in Slytherin. His mother had been in Slytherin, and his Grandparents also. He thought that it would save time for everyone just for him to head over to the green and silver table. But nevertheless of his wit, he strode up the carpeted steps, grabbed the dirty old hat and sat on the wooden stool. Hundreds of students watched him as he put on the seeming "sacred" hat.

Severus nearly jumped 10 feet in the air when a voice started ranting in such a fast manner, he barely understood what it was saying.

"Umm… Incredible talent, you will become a great wizard if I choose correctly… let's see, determination, loyalty, love… you seem to be much older than you really are… you wish for a place to call home? And a place to feel loved? Oh, dear… very daring, you would protect your loved ones even if it meant completing the highest of sacrifices, well I think I know-

Not Hufflepuff! Thought Severus intensely as if he had shouted. Severus knew he would be Slytherin, but he had to be sure. He might have tolerated being a Ravenclaw, and a Gryffindor would mean he would be with Lily, but being sorted into Hufflepuff was just insulting.

"Oh, don't worry child, Hufflepuff never crossed my mind. GRYFFINDOR!"

Severus was completely taken back. Gryffindor? That was as bad as Hufflepuff!

He chucked the stupid hat on the stool and stomped down the ugly stairs. He had a face that would resemble an old man being outed that he wore diapers.

Severus slugged over to the Gryffindor table glancing every few seconds at the glorious Slytherins, who were probably discussing recent magical discoveries and how different plants could become anti-dotes to the darkest of potions. He felt like a toddler walking away from his mother at kinder. The Gryffindors probably thought that the idea of fun consisted of fart jokes and playing excessive amounts of Quidditch.

But then he saw Lily, giving him the biggest smile known to man. She jumped off her seat and rushed to the awe-struck Severus giving him the biggest hug. She had no idea that behind her, James Potter turned red and forcefully looked away.

"Come on Sev!" the girl grabbed his hand and dragged him over to their seats. This time Sirius didn't make room and catching his rudeness, Lily pulled Severus away and they sat on the other side of the Gryffindor table, far away from the salty pair. Severus could only grin at her sass.

"What did eh phay?" Lily asked curiously, half a bread roll in her mouth.

"Pardon?" he laughed, amused by his best friend's goofy behaviour. Lily gulped down her food before speaking again. "What did the hat say when you put it on?" she said again as she filled her cup with iced Pumpkin juice.

"Umm, it said something about being daring, and doing stuff for people you-

he turned awfully pink at the very thought of it. Severus nervously filled his empty plate with baked beans and toast trying to avoid Lily's evident suspicious stare.

"Those are the qualities of a Gryffindor, you know," she said matter-of-factly, "I'm surprised you didn't realize sooner,"

"I guess I never really thought about it," Severus said more to himself than to Lily. There was a small pause. "What did it say to you?" he asked to change the subject. Severus didn't want to revel-on any longer, he was already confused enough with his own thoughts.

Lily read in-between-the-lines and fully turned to Severus. "It said that I was brave, and the normal Gryffindor stuff. Nothing special… you know Sev, I'm very happy that you were sorted into Gryffindor," she smiled at him radiating warmth.

"Yeah, me too, can't be that bad?" he joked. Lily beamed as she turned back around to face her plate ones more. Severus followed and ate his delicious dinner knowing it was going to be a good year, or at least decent.
Because even though he might have been sorted into the house of immature 5-year-olds and D students, it had the one person he cared about.

After finishing dinner and hearing the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore speak to them, the plates were magically wiped clean and the students headed off to bed. Severus was quite overwhelmed by the amount of people standing up and moving around. He looked around for his fellow classmates, but the tall crowd seemed to have engulfed them all. Panic started to grow inside of him as he started to imagine his first night being spent in the corridors alone. Suddenly, a gentle hand grabbed his own making him turn. "Sev! Come on! We're leaving," Lily said out of nowhere. She left him and jogged past older students, signalling him to follow her. Obediently, he rushed behind her, leaving the hall and entering a crowded corridor.

He looked around for her flaming hair and immediately found her, standing in a line of students. They were all behind and listening to a blond, older boy wearing a shiny badge with the title, "Prefect". Severus stood behind Lily and tugged her cloak.
"I'm here!" he whispered, not taking his eyes off the talking Prefect in front of them. He seemed to be very happy about being one, as he puffed his chest as he spoke to the 11-year-olds. The Prefect was also standing above them, on top of the first few steps, trying to convey an immature sense of superiority. What a loser,

"Lily?" he whispered, trying not to be heard by the blond Prefect.

"Yes?" she muttered quietly, gazing at the moving portraits around them. It was breath-taking for Severus to see all of these people inside paintings smiling at them and welcoming them into the school. He felt this even though having numerous paintings in his own house (though they were all bitter and silent). He couldn't imagine what Lily must have been feeling, being a Muggle-born.

One painting, in particular, was watching the two children with a deep stare. The painting was of a young woman, who had brow short hair and was wearing a blue long dress. Strange…

The Prefect leading the line had finally begun to walk up the stone stairs and the others followed like curious sheep. They marched up the numerous staircases, wheezing slightly, as they all wished their common room would have been made at the ground level.

"Do you know what the Gryffindor dormitories might be like?" Severus asked Lily, clutching his side as a stitch started to form. He had never been a very active person and walking up the 100's of steps had already taken a toll on him.

"Sev, I'm even more clueless than- SEV!" she cried as the staircase under them had begun to move. Lily gripped the handrail with one hand and Severus' with the other. He blushed at the sudden action of the scared girl, but she had not seemed to notice.

"Lily, it's fine. My mother told me about moving staircases here. It's totally okay," he assured her calmly. Lily stayed frozen until the stair had stopped moving, then she let go of the handrail but unconsciously gripped Severus's hand even tighter.

After a few more minutes of climbing, they finally reached their level and walked through a stone arch leading them to a separate corridor. It was lightened by torchlight and the shine of the night's moon and stars. The grouped tightened in slight fear, as the dark night filled the corridor, and footsteps echoed through the castle. Severus felt cold, as the chill air drafted through the glass windows.

But the moment he felt like he would fall asleep right there and then, in the middle of the stone corridor, they reached a painting of a plump lady, wearing a silk pink dress and a gleeful smile. The Prefect in front of them turned around on his heel and smiled down at their tired faces.

"Hello, I'm Livius Cresswell, you're male Gryffindor prefect. Soon enough you will meet your female Gryffindor Prefect, Laurin Polkiss. I hope you have remembered the way here, because you will all be walking up and down the castle at least twice a day," there was a loud groan from the students, but the vain Prefect ignored them and kept on talking. "Your common room will be where you sleep, spend most of your free time, and create lifelong bonds. Now, I'm sure you all want to go to bed, but before you do, I'm in charge of stating some rules.

First-

"Can you tell us the rules inside? It's freezing here," Severus called out, cutting him through. Everyone turned to face the pale boy, all grinning at his cheek. Lily could barely hold in her laughter at his best friend's attitude towards the pompous Prefect. Livius stared at Severus, but he just stared back. He then looked at the other small children around him, all nodding aggressively…

"Well then, follow me," a cheer erupted, and the Gryffindors rushed behind their irritated Prefect. He turned back to face the plump lady and muttered "Pink Pot Flowers". The painting swung open in the amazement of the first years and revealed a secret passage. Livius walked through the small hole and entered a large scarlet room filled with a fire's light and warmth. "Hurry up, weren't you so eager to come inside," he said bitterly. Livius was apparently not amused to be bossed around by an 11-year-old boy. In just a few seconds, all of the tired Gryffindors were through the painting and ready to head to bed.

"Now will I be allowed now to state the rules and information?" this time nobody said anything. Livius puffed his chest and took out a long parchment from his cloak's pocket. His eyes trailed the scroll's information and he started to speak.

"The password changes every fortnight, this one's is Pink Pot Flowers. When the password changes, it will be displayed on the notice board. Your dormitories contain 5 beds, all in one room. There are 14 dormitories in the Gryffindor tower, one half is boys, the other girls. Inside both sides, there are 7 dormitories, one for each year. You will be able to easily find yours. Boys dormitories are on the left, girls on the right," he pointed up the stairs at two doors.
"The bathrooms are the white doors, showers included. Tomorrow the Head of House, Professor McGonagall, will give you all your timetables and answer any of your questions. Now, you are free," Livius, now himself tired and snappy, left the 1st years and slugged of to bed.

"He's fun," Severus scoffed sarcastically. He waved goodnight to Lily and headed up the scarlet stairs and through the boy's door. There were 7 dorm rooms, all with a number. Severus assumed that the number meant the year of the students sleeping inside. So he found number 1 and headed in.

The room was large and wide, with scarlet as its theme colour. Tone it down a bit for god ness sakes,

The Gryffindor Pride still was growing on Severus.

The walls were all made of stone, and torches lit the room. 5 4-poster beds filled the room, all with a drawer next to them and a warm night lamp. A large scarlet rug covered the stone floor in the middle of the beds, and curtains draped from the windows and the beds. Severus felt oddly at home. Not his house in Spinner's End, that was no home, but a place where he felt welcomed. Just a few minutes and he felt like this room had already attached itself into his cold heart. It must be a spell…

Nobody was there yet, except himself, so he looked at the other's luggage nametags.

James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew… they were the people he would live with for 7 years.

Potter and Black were both long and powerful Pure-blood family names, especially Black, who also had strong ties to blood supremacy and the ideas of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Sirius must be the boy he had met on the train.
My whole family have been in Slytherin…Maybe I'll break the tradition…

Lupin was also a Pure-blood name but not nearly as powerful or as elite as Black.
And Pettigrew- he must be a Half-blood or Muggle-born.

He would have to try and befriend James and Sirius and create an alliance in Remus and Peter. But for now, all he wanted to do was get some rest before the school year began. He quickly changed, jumped onto his old bed that would be his for 7 years, and closed the curtains around him.
Severus gazed at the wooden ceiling above him, wondering how his future life might have been if he had been sorted into Slytherin. All he could do was wonder, but not entirely wish…

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FatCat2007