A/N: Thanks to SJ Iolanthe, the guest, Michi the Mischievious, The Scottish Girl, Gruffard, lua sollo, Vivien Lestrange, WildDragon26621, Starsnowfairy, GoodNaughtyGirl, rosiehorgan7, Moon Lantern, rissan23 and DHKroeger18 for reviewing, favouriting, following. I got such a big response and I just want to thank you so much!
Just a little note as it came up a couple of times, THIS IS NOT BELLAMIONE. I don't have any experience in that area. It just includes the characters Hermione, Bellatrix and OC.

"Gryffindor!"

Ariella smiled giddily with relief and put the hat carefully back on the stool as she stood up. Although she was confused. Who were the 'her' and 'him' that hat had talked about? Presumably, they had been in Slytherin , whoever they were and Ariella didn't know anyone who had been in Slytherin.

She pushed it from her mind as she sat down next to the dark haired boy Ariella had missed the name of and watched as Pegasus Hancock was sorted into Slytherin.

"Hill, Charlotte!" came Professor McGonagall's loud Scottish accent as the Slytherin's applause died down.

She saw Lottie stir and look straight at her with wide eyes. Ariella suddenly realised that Charlotte Hill was Lottie's full name and mouthed her a 'good luck' before she went up to the stool. The hat was dropped onto her head, but it had barely touched it when the brim opened up and shouted "Gryffindor!"

The table she was sat on burst into a round of clapping and Ariella joined in as her friend came and sat next to her.

"I'm so relieved that's over. It took ages before the hat sorted you. There was silence for about a minute before it shouted Gryffindor," Lottie said.

"Oh, but it was speaking all the time, didn't you hear it?"

"No, perhaps it just spoke to you in your head. What did it say?"

"It was just going through each of the houses, I think it was having trouble trying to place me. But, then, it also said something about me not being like 'her' or 'him'. This was when it was thinking about Slytherin. I… I just don't understand it, I don't know anyone that's been in Slytherin."

"Oh, that is strange. Maybe it was mistaken."

"Mm." Ariella wasn't convinced, but she couldn't think of any explanation, so let it go, turning to finish watching the sorting.

Finally, when Rose Zeller had been sorted into Hufflepuff and Professor McGonagall had removed the hat and stool, a man with a long white beard and half-moon spectacles perched on his nose stood up from the centre of the table. Ariella took this to be Professor Dumbledore. Her new Headmaster.

"To our newcomers," he said in a ringing voice, his arms outstretched and a beaming smile on his lips. "Welcome! To our old hands – welcome back! There is a time for speechmaking, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

There was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak of applause as Dumbledore sat down neatly, but Ariella and the rest of the first-years were no longer watching him, instead, their eyes were fixed on the feast on the tables, that had just appeared out of nowhere in front of their very eyes. The five long tables were full of vegetables, pies, soups, sauces, nearly every food imaginable and there were several flagons of an orange liquid that Ariella later found out were pumpkin juice.

The Hall was filled with the sound of clattering knives and forks and chatter as everyone tucked in, hungry after the long journey. However, as she was filling up her plate, she noticed that the boy next to her wasn't eating at all. He was just sat there, staring sadly at his plate.

"Are you alright?" she asked him, making him jump about a foot in the air.

"Yeah."

"Didn't you want to be in Gryffindor?" Ariella pressed, not convinced by his one word answer.

"My parents, my parents were in Slytherin. They expected me to be in it too. I can't be in Gryffindor." Then he added in a whisper. "They're bad wizards."

"I'm sure you'll be fine, I mean, it's only a house. I'm Ella Granger by the way, what's your name?"

"Arcturus Avery." He waited a moment, as if expecting a bad reaction. "You don't know who my parents are, do you? You're a muggle-born, right? Hermione's sister?"

"Yes, but what does that matter?"

"It doesn't, but have you heard of You-Know-Who? Surely your sister mentioned him?"

"Yes, he's the wizard who turned bad, the most evil wizard there has ever been, isn't he?" Ariella answered, starting to feel a little nervous.

"Yes, well, my father is a Death Eater, one of You-Know-Who's followers. My mother, although not a Death Eater, still approves of his aims. They already think of me as a failure because I refuse to believe what they believe. When they find out I'm in Gryffindor, they'll kill me! They want me to follow in my father's footsteps and the Dark Lord only accepts Slytherins. Not that I want to be a Death Eater," he added hastily. "But it would have given me a few more years to find a way to escape."

"Why can't you lie? Tell them you're in Slytherin, how would they be able to find out that what you told them isn't true?"

"You see the Professor with the greasy black hair, the one sitting next to Professor McGonagall?" He pointed at the long table and Ariella spotted the man straight away. "Well that's Professor Snape. He's friends with my parents. There's no doubt he'll be glad to gloat about the fact I'm in Gryffindor."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She was starting to see the seriousness of this situation. Hermione had told her that some purebloods were extremely strict, some refused to let them even talk to muggle-borns. "Your parents wouldn't be happy that you're talking to me, would they?"

"No," he admitted. "They wouldn't. In fact, you should probably stay away from me. If they found out you were talking to me, they'd probably…" He trailed off as though he thought that what he was about to say might upset her.

"What? Tell me, Arcturus."

"They've done it before, two years ago. A little muggle girl. She was only asking for me to help find her mother. My parents saw me talking to her and they… well, they just… killed her."

"Like that? Just because she talked to you?" Ariella was horrified.

"Ella, they think muggle-borns are worse. They'd say you've tainted me and then kill you. It wouldn't matter that I spoke back. I mean, I'd still be punished, but they'd blame you."

Ariella chanced a glance at the teacher's table and found the coal-black eyes of Professor Snape on them. She quickly turned away.

"It doesn't matter that Professor Snape knows, does it?" she asked worriedly.

"No, strangely enough, Snape is not that averse to muggle-borns. He wouldn't want to be responsible for a pupil's death probably."

Just as Ariella was about to answer, the hall went quiet and she turned to find that Dumbledore had stood up.

A/N:
SJ Iolanthe: I had already written the chapter before you reviewed so I hope you don't mind the outcome! ;)