Disclaimer: Still only borrowing the characters

The Second Sorting Ceremony

All too soon a red sunset shone outside the window and the lamps in the compartment and along the train flickered to life

``We must be getting close to Hogwarts. I had better go and find a bathroom so that I can change into my uniform,' Severus said, leaving the compartment for the girls.

When Severus got back to the compartment he only had to wait a little while until the blind over the window was pulled back up and the door was unlocked allowing him to place his everyday clothes inside his trunk.

At long last, the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside;

'First years!' a loud voice boomed over the racket

'You and Rose will be safe with Hagrid,' Severus said to Tansy pointing out a gigantic figure at the far end of the platform.

They waved farewell to the twins but had no chance to see if they had reached Hagrid safely because the mass of people around them was shunting them away up the platform. Petunia, Lily and Severus followed the rest of the school along the platform and out onto a rough mud track, Severus' mother had told him about Hogwarts having a flock of Thestral's that pulled the carriages up to the school but seeing about a hundred horseless stagecoaches awaiting them was somewhat disconcerting.

When they climbed inside and shut the door, the coach set off, bumping and swaying in procession; it also smelled faintly of mould and straw as if it had been taken out of a barn not too long ago.

As the carriage trundled toward a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars, when they passed the gates the carriage picked up speed on the long, sloping drive up to the castle; Lily was leaning out of the tiny window, watching the many turrets and towers draw nearer.

'I almost forgot how pretty the castle looked' Lily sighed

At last, the carriage swayed to a halt, and Severus hopped out first and helped down the girls. The three of them joined the crowd swarming up the steps, through the giant oak front doors, into the cavernous Entrance Hall, which was lit with flaming torches and housed a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors. The door into the Great Hall stood open at the right; the three followed the crowd toward it.

The Great Hall looked its usual splendid self, decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates and goblets glimmered in the light of hundreds and hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in mid-air.

'Bye Sev and Tuney. I'll see you later when the twins are both sorted into my house,' Lily teased before bouncing off to the far right of the Great Hall to sit at the Gryffindor table.

The four long, House tables were filling up quickly with chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils. It was much warmer in The Great Hall.

Severus and Petunia waved farewell to Lily and walked left, dropping Petunia off at the Ravenclaw table Severus continued to the far left of the Hall and sat down with the rest of the Slytherins close to where the First-years would be sitting, curious about which one he would have to babysit.

'There, there my sweet' Lucius said, patting Narcissa's arm as they sat across from Severus. 'I'm sure young Regulus will have no trouble with the Sorting hat'

The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the doors of the Great Hall opened and silence fell. Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first years up to the top of the Hall.

Severus could see all of them were whispering with a combination of excitement and nerves as they filed through the Great Hall and came to a halt in a line facing the staff table. Severus finally spotted Rose and Tansy waving to him.

Professor McGonagall now placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first years and, on top of it, an extremely old, dirty patched wizard's hat. The first years stared at it. So did everyone else. For a moment, there was silence. Then a tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song:

'Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've got a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!'

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again. Professor McGonagall was now unrolling a large scroll of parchment.

'When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool,' she told the first years. 'When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table.'

'Arkell, Keith!'

A boy walked forward, visibly trembling from head to foot, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, and sat down on the stool.

'RAVENCLAW!' shouted the hat

Keith Arkell took off the hat and hurried into a seat at the Ravenclaw table, where everyone was applauding him. Severus caught a glimpse of Petunia, cheering for Keith Arkell as he sat down.

'Abercrombie, Ian!'

'HUFFLEPUFF!'

'Ackerley, Charles!'

'GRYFFINDOR!'

Severus saw Lily cheering wildly

'Baddock Stanley!'

'SLYTHERIN!'

'Baddock, Tracey!'

'RAVENCLAW!'

'Bennett, Bonnie!'

'SLYTHERIN!'

'Black, Regulus!'

Severus saw Narcissa tense in her seat crossing her fingers and seeming to hold her breath

'SLYTHERIN!' shouted the hat at last

Narcissa clapped enthusiastically, as her young cousin came over to sit next to her.

Severus could easily see the resemblance to his brother Sirius who was glaring at the Slytherin table. Regulus Black had the same dark hair, grey eyes and slightly haughty look as his brother, though he was smaller than his older brother.

'Branstone!' … 'Carter!' … 'Caudwell!' … 'Cole!' … 'Cooper!' … 'Cooper!'

'Crouch, Bartemius Jr!' Professor McGonagall called

A pale young man with straw-coloured hair and freckles walked over to the stool, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, and sat down on the stool.

'RAVENCLAW!' shouted the hat

'Dobbs, Will!'

'SLYTHERIN!'

'Edwards, Scarlett'

'RAVENCLAW!'

And finally after what felt like forever …

'Evans, Rose!'

Rose, who had been clutching onto Tansy's hand staggered forward, Severus watched as Rose put the Sorting Hat on her head. The rip at the brim opened wide - and ….

'HUFFLEPUFF!'

Severus let out a relieved breath Rose would definitely be safe in Hufflepuff. Severus could see both Petunia and Lily clapping along with the Hufflepuffs as Rose sat down.

'Evans, Tansy!' Professor McGonagall called

Tansy, the smallest First-year in the group, was grinning widely as she practically bounced up to the stool, Tansy picked up the hat and when she sat down she was so small that her feet were left swinging in the air.

Severus waited and waited, the time seemed to drag on. One minute … two minutes passed and still, that hat hadn't sorted her. What could possibly be wrong? She was definitely a witch, Severus himself had seen her perform magic. She had to be able to come to Hogwarts, she just had to. Severus balled his hands into fists to stop himself from coming to her rescue. When the rip at the brim opened wide Severus let out a whoosh of air that he hadn't realised that he had been holding in.

'SLYTHERIN!' The hats' shout echoed throughout the quiet and still Hall. Severus sat dumbfounded in disbelief, he had thought that he would be spending all seven years isolated and alone, separated from the Evans. But now Tansy was here in Slytherin, sweet tiny little Tansy being thrown into a viper pit. Severus now knew it was his duty to protect her at all cost.

Severus jumped slightly when Tansy who was now sitting next to him slipped her hands around him to give him a hug.

'Are you ok Sev?' Tansy asked

Severus smiled in reassurance 'I'm ok how about you, your sorting seemed to last a long time was everything ok?'

'It's wonderful,' Tansy said beaming up at him and letting him go. 'The Hat and I were having the most wonderful conversation about me fitting into any of the houses, he let me choose what house I wanted.

'You chose Slytherin?' Severus asked in astonishment

'Of course' Tansy said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

The Sorting continued; boys and girls with varying degrees of fright on their faces moving one by one to the three-legged stool, the line dwindling slowly as Professor McGonagall passed the K's

'There still seems to be lots of students.' Tansy said, directing Severus' attention to the twenty or so students still waiting.

'It always pays to have more wizards and witches around' Narcissa Black said as 'Lockhart, Gilderoy!' became a Ravenclaw.

'I do hope this year's batch of Slytherin's are up to scratch' Lucius Malfoy said as Fiona Phillips and a weedy looking boy named Terrence Prang joined the table.

'Pritchard!' … 'Proudfoot!' … 'Queen!' … 'Quirke!' … 'Roberts!' … and 'Roberts!' all got sorted into other houses and 'Rosier, Evan!' was the next to be sorted into Slytherin. Two others were sorted into the house of Slytherin, 'Stubbs, Imogen!' and 'Wright, Sofia!' Finally with 'Zeller, Simon!' – 'RAVENCLAW!' the Sorting of the First-years came to an end.

Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and the stool and carried them away. Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was smiling around at the students, his arms opened wide in welcome.

'I have only two words to say to you,' he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. 'Tuck in.' the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes.

Severus filled his plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat. It was just as delicious as he remembered.

'I would like to congratulate all our new First- years' Lucius said in an almost identical tone of voice as the one in Severus' First-year. 'I am Lucius Malfoy your Seventh-year Prefect and this is the love of my life and my betrothed Narcissa Black your Fifth-Year Prefect.'

If Severus hadn't already known about Andromeda and Lucius being together the year before he would have sworn that Narcissa Black was the only person that Lucius had been engaged to.

However, at the end of last year, Lucius and Narcissa' older sister Andromeda had an extremely ugly break-up where she publicly left him for a Muggleborn named Edward Tonks; their marriage announcement had shown up in the Daily Prophet not long after the summer holidays had started.

'I still can't believe how big this place is' Tansy said when she had eaten her fill 'It's huge …. Massive … it's …. it's ….'

'Brobdingnagian' Severus said remembering a word from one of his favourite books

'Excuse me? Brob ding nag what? That has got to be the most enormous word I have ever heard. Does it mean big?' Tansy asked looking quite puzzled

'Brobdingnag is a fictional land, which is occupied by giants, in Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels. The adjective "Brob…ding…nag…ian" has come to describe anything Huge, Massive, colossal in size.' Severus explained

'Wow Sev, you're like the most amazing person I know.' Tansy said looking up at him in wonder, a light blush blossoming across her cheeks. As Severus gazed down into her warm hazel eyes he felt his chest expand with pride.

'Black and Rosier are part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. What I would like to know is how the rest of you belong in the Nobel house of Slytherin.' Lucius' blue eyes turned hard and unforgiving, warning them that there would be dire consequences if they didn't have an appropriate family.

Severus panicked, what would Tansy say about her family heritage, Severus didn't know if it would be safer to mention her connection to the Parkinson or Black families or would he need to declare himself as her protector, Severus was so busy panicking about how best to protect Tansy that he completely missed the first six introductions. When Lucius turned towards Tansy, Severus decided to introduce her to Lucius knowing that doing so would place her under his wing so to speak.

'Lucius Malfoy, may I introduce Tansy Evans' Severus said sitting up straight and staring Lucius down.

The corner of Narcissa's mouth curled up in a smirk and when she spoke her aristocratic voice was tinged with amusement. 'You have a very protective chevalier, Miss Evans, if only we were all so lucky.'

'Thank you for the compliment, I was wondering however if I might possibly be related to both you and Regulus.'

'And what exactly led you to that conclusion?' Narcissa asked

'My maternal Grandfather Marius Black, may he rest in peace, used to regale me with tales of growing up as part of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black'

'Regulus do you know anything about Marius Black? The Black Family Tapestry is hung up in your family home.' Narcissa asked

'I do believe Grandfather Pollux did have a brother named Marius who was burnt off the Tapestry, I never realized that he had children since descendants of disowned members are not included on the tree' Regulus said

'Hmm interesting, that would make us at least second cousins although I am reluctant to acknowledge the relationship at this time given the fact that it involves a disowned member of the family' Narcissa explained

'Of course, I completely understand, although it has made me wonder whether it was our connections to the Black's or even the Parkinson's that made My Sisters and I so proficient with magic,' Tansy's broad hints about her family's ancestry was almost Griffindore-ish in nature, but with Narcissa and Regulus hanging off her every word, Severus didn't think they paid much attention to her unsubtle approach.

'Are you claiming kinship with the Parkinson's as well?' Narcissa said now sounding intrigued

'I think there might be some connection, my late paternal Grandmother's maiden name was Marigold Parkinson, but I was hoping to talk to somebody with that last name in order to verify the link.' Tansy explained

'There is a girl named Peony Parkinson who was sorted at the same time as me and I think she has an older brother Powel who is in Third-year' Severus said inserting himself into the conversation. 'I can help you get in contact with Peony if you would like.'

'That would be lovely, thank you, Severus.' Tansy beamed in delight.

Severus smiled down at her in spite of himself, he was thankful that Tansy was wise enough not to use the nickname they had given him in front of the other Slytherins.

'I must say it has been very illuminating to meet you, Miss Evans.' Lucius said.

However, I do believe there are a few more First-years who have yet to introduce themselves.'

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates leaving them sparkling clean. A moment later the puddings appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs, cinnamon, and jam doughnuts, strawberries, jelly, rice pudding and chocolate milk. As Severus helped himself to a treacle tart, the next First year, Nyer Jewel introduced himself.

Severus breathed an inaudible sigh of relief as he bent down to Tansy's ear and whispered. 'Congratulations on surviving your encounter with the Black's. Even if the Parkinson's and Black's do not acknowledge you as a second cousin you have still shown you have a link to two of the most old and powerful families.'

'Daddy thought that it might help to mention them.' It wasn't until Tansy had mentioned Mr Evans that Severus remembered he had made a guess that Tansy would be placed in Slytherin. Finally, there was only one First-year left to introduce herself.

'I'm Sofia Wright, my ancestor Bowman Wright was the inventor of the Golden Snitch.' Sofia said. 'Golden Snidgets are very fragile birds since a simple human grip is enough to crush them to death. My ancestor Bowman Wright who was a skilled metal-charmer created the Golden Snitch to weigh exactly the same as a Snidget, and its rotational wings imitated the bird's, allowing it to change direction and speed like its living counterpart. Our family still takes holidays to Cornwall during the summers to try and track down a wild Snitch that was never caught during the six-month match on Bodmin Moor in 1884.'

The chatter died down as the desert disappeared and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. 'I have a few start of term notices to give you. First-years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students. I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors, and also Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!' cried Dumbledore.

'Cover your ears' Severus suggested to Tansy as Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

'Everyone chooses your favourite tune,' said Dumbledore, 'and off we go!'

A cacophony of noise followed as everyone sang at different tunes and at different times. Severus scowled at Potter and Black who were hollering the song at the top of their voices. At last, when everyone had finished, Dumbledore was one of those who clapped the loudest.

'Now it is bedtime. Prefects please round up and escort all of our first years to your respective Common-rooms. Off you trot!'