1 September 1971

The Sorting Hat ended its lilting song on a long, rumbling note, and immediately, the Great Hall erupted with applause. Remus clapped along with the rest, watching in amazement as the hat gave one low bow to each of the house tables before it went still again.

Then, Professor McGonagall, the deputy headmistress, stepped forward, holding a long scroll of parchment. As she unfurled the scroll, she eyed the group of first years beadily. Remus glanced around at the group, as well. Everyone looked completely ashen with anxiety—save a select few. Two dark-haired boys near the front of the queue were too busy snickering and elbowing each other in the ribs. A girl with dark red hair who stood a few feet away from Remus was positively beaming, her shockingly bright green eyes alight with excitement. And a pair of tall, thickset boys near the back of the line were sporting haughty, almost bored expressions.

Remus turned back around to face the front of the hall, not quite sure how he ought to be feeling, himself. He was nervous, certainly…but for the time being, his overwhelming happiness at being at Hogwarts at all seemed to be dispelling any particularly dark thoughts.

Saying goodbye to his parents, however, had been very, very difficult. Not until the final whistle had blown had it quite hit Remus that he wouldn't see them again until Christmas. For the first time in his life, he wouldn't spend the dreadful mornings after the full moons listening to his mother's warm, soothing voice…or the evenings before his transformations reading in his father's study…

Suddenly, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, and Remus gave a little start, straightening. The buzz of chatter in the hall died down at once.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted into your house," she explained crisply. She glanced down at the list through her square spectacles. "Aubrey, Bertram."

A sandy-haired, pale-faced boy scuttled to the front of the hall, trembling from head to toe. Remus heard one of the haughty-faced boys behind him snort audibly, and he felt a twinge of annoyance.

Bertram took a seat on the stool and lowered the hat onto his head. There was a moment's pause; then—

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat bellowed.

The second table from the left of the hall cheered and clapped loudly as Bertram, looking quite relieved, hurried to take his seat.

"Avery, Jasper."

One of the haughty-faced, thickset boys pushed and shoved his way up to the stool, sitting down and cramming the hat onto his head inelegantly.

"SLYTHERIN!" shouted the hat, and Jasper's face split into a broad, leering grin as he yanked the hat off and stalked over to the table on the far left, which was applauding raucously.

"Black, Sirius."

A sudden movement from the staff table caught Remus's eye—a large, bald professor with a very thick, walrus-like mustache had leaned forward with interest.

Remus watched as one of the dark-haired boys that had been fooling around earlier swaggered confidently to the stool and dropped the hat over his eyes, smirking. There was a slightly longer pause this time, a minute or two of silence as the hat deliberated.

Then, at last— "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat cried.

Sirius Black gave a loud yelp of glee, leaping from the stool and practically throwing the hat off. Bounding down the flagstone steps, Sirius grinned widely and slapped his black-haired, bespectacled friend a resounding high-five, before scampering off toward the Gryffindor table. But rather than sitting down immediately, as Bertram and Jasper had done, he first stood up on the bench and stuck his tongue out in the direction of the Slytherin table. Remus turned to look. Two girls—one brown-haired and one blond—who were much older than him, but who resembled him a great deal, were gaping at him, looking utterly dumbfounded.

"Where're you hoping to go, then?"

Remus jumped, tearing his eyes away from the Slytherin table and turning to his left. A short, blond boy with a round, boyish face was looking up at him. His cheeks were slightly green—he was obviously very nervous. Remus vaguely recognized him from the train; he was fairly sure they had sat in the same compartment. Unless Remus was mistaken, his name was Peter.

"I don't know," Remus said quietly, just as "Bole, Octavia" joined the Slytherins. "My dad was in Ravenclaw, and I suppose it'd be nice to be in the same house as him. How about you?"

"My mum was in Hufflepuff, so I'll probably end up there, too," Peter said glumly, shrugging. "But Gryffindor looks brilliant, doesn't it?" he asked, casting a longing look at the Gryffindor table.

Remus followed Peter's gaze to where Sirius Black was now having a very exuberant conversation with a Prefect. They certainly did look like a very friendly lot.

"Yeah, it does," Remus murmured in agreement.

The sorting ceremony continued, and one by one, the large group of first years filtered into the four house tables. "Byrd, Tabitha," "Cattermole, Reginald," and "Cauldwell, Erasmus" all joined Hufflepuff. Then, "Deverill, Catherine" became the second Gryffindor of the night. She was swiftly joined by "Evans, Lily," the red-haired, green-eyed girl that Remus had noticed before.

"Frobisher, Geoffrey" became a Ravenclaw, and "Griffiths, Honora" cantered happily off to the Gryffindor table. Meanwhile, a pair of ginger fraternal twins, "Gudgeon, Davey" and "Gudgeon, Gladys," both joined Hufflepuff.

And then, as the still-waiting crowd reshuffled into a smaller clump, a very, very dreadful thought occurred to Remus. What if the Sorting Hat didn't think he belonged in any of the houses—or at Hogwarts, at all? After all, the hat was said to be archaic—Godric Gryffindor's very own, according to Hogwarts, A History, which Remus had read cover-to-cover the very afternoon he'd purchased it in Diagon Alley. What if the four founders hadn't believed werewolves to be worthy of a magical education? Perhaps, instead of shouting out a house, the hat would simply bellow, "WEREWOLF!" Panic rose suddenly in the back of Remus's throat like bile and he inhaled sharply.

"Are you all right?" Peter asked worriedly from his left.

Remus clenched his jaw and nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"Helfer, Katarina" joined Slytherin…"Higgins, Marius" joined Hufflepuff…perhaps if Remus ducked to the back of the queue, he could make a dash for the Entrance Hall and escape…

"Inglebee, Amos" became a Ravenclaw, and "Little, Thomas" went to Hufflepuff—the moment, Remus realized, was mere seconds away—

"Lupin, Remus."

Remus's stomach swooped, and the din of the Great Hall faded into a plunging silence in his ears, barely audible over the ringing in his brain. Shaking, he broke free of the knot of first years and tottered toward the stool, glancing up at the staff table on the way. He remembered that some of the professors had been informed of his condition, and despite his nerves, he tried to pick out which ones looked fearful, or disgusted…but as far as Remus could tell, they all simply looked curious…

Against all odds, Remus managed to reach the front of the hall. Then, swallowing heavily, Remus picked up the patched, tattered hat and placed it on his head, sinking down onto the stool. The hat fell over his eyes, and for a moment, there was complete silence.

Then, suddenly— "Ah…" said a small voice in his ear. "Interesting…very interesting…intellectually sound, I see…quietly ambitious, with a remarkable mind…and a thirst for knowledge…" the voice trailed off. "Hmm…but what's this? There's more…"

Remus clenched the edges of the stool tightly, his heart pounding.

"I sense courage, and strength of character…a great deal of resilience…"

Remus's eyes widened under the hat's folds. Courage? Strength? Resilience?

"Ravenclaw would suit you very well, no doubt about it…" Remus closed his eyes, bracing himself, "but I think you'd do better in…GRYFFINDOR!"

Remus heard the hat scream the last word to the entire hall and felt his heart leap into his throat. Dimly, he was aware of the hat being lifted from his head and of Professor McGonagall giving him a gentle pat on the back. Then, utterly dumbfounded, Remus rose and stumbled dazedly toward the riotously cheering Gryffindor table, falling into the empty seat between Sirius Black and Lily Evans.

"Where'd you get that scar on your neck?" Sirius asked eagerly as he reached out and shook Remus's hand.

"What?" Remus asked nervously, touching his collarbone—there was a fading scar there, a rare souvenir from a particularly painful full moon in August. "Oh, I…I fell off a tree," Remus invented lamely.

Sirius's eyes gleamed. "Wicked," he declared enthusiastically.

And in spite of himself, Remus grinned back at him, before facing the front of the hall again, where "Macdonald, Mary" was now being sorted. Absently, Remus glanced up at the staff table one more time. Professor Dumbledore was sitting at the very center, beaming contentedly. Then, rather unexpectedly, he turned and caught Remus's gaze, blue eyes twinkling as usual—and Remus could have sworn he saw him wink.


Author's Note:

Ten points to the Hogwarts house of your choice if you can identify every cameo in this chapter XD

I hope you enjoyed this! Drop me a line with your thoughts!

Ari