Aimee
Harry was incredibly anxious to get to Kings Cross the next morning, waking Lily and I up before seven. I made Lily go back to sleep, but I forced myself to get up and follow Harry into the kitchen.
"What do you want?" I asked, standing in front of the child. He was short for his age, Ethan was an inch taller than him.
"Cereal." He said in a matter-of-fact voice, cocking his head and looking up at me. "You look tired."
I nodded wearily, "No thanks to you, buddy."
Harry grinned and grabbed a bowl from one of the wooden cupboards. I carefully took it from him and instructed him to get the milk instead. Lily insisted on having a Muggle-style kitchen, which included many appliances I had never seen before. There were no electrical plugs in the Snape mansion, therefore she charmed each to work on it's own, making herself a "charming" Muggle kitchen. (A/N: I know, I know. Bad pun, sorry.)
After our breakfast, I kissed Lily goodbye and made my rounds to each of the children's rooms. Ethan was happy for Harry to be leaving, but slightly forlorn about being the Man of the House. Kaylee didn't care either way; she insisted she would miss me, but along with Ethan, was glad Harry was leaving. Dea always favoured Lily, so my leaving wasn't as big a deal as she wanted it to be. She always followed Kaylee but was more or less against Harry leaving. Drake sobbed on my shoulder for a full five minutes before I could pry him off of me and move on to Dakota, who was too young to truly know what was happening.
Harry had always been the outsider; Lily and I treated him differently than the other children. Not by choice, but by default. He still didn't know about James, but somehow sensed he was different. He was ecstatic when Dakota grew up to look just like him, with green eyes and black hair.
Harry was incredibly giddy as I dropped him off at Platform 9 ¾. He insisted I meet him at the Hogsmeade Train Start after I got my affairs in order up at the castle.
My old Potions Master, Professor Barns, had tried the year previous. I was to take his place as both Potions Master and the Head of the Slytherin House. Harry wanted to be in Slytherin because of that fact, but I insisted he didn't ask the Sorting Hat to place him there and enjoy the House he was put in.
Lily had been in Gryffindor along with James, but Harry had been raised with a name that was notoriously Slytherin. Lily would be slightly taken back if he was put into Slytherin, but we both knew it was a possibility.
I Apparated to the castle and quickly bid Dumbledore hello before I retreated to the room I had been assigned; I smirked, walking through the all too familiar portrait hole. I had to admit, Dumbledore still had a sense of humor.
The crib was gone, along with the door leading into the Slytherin dorm room, but the black tapestries were hanging on the bed just as they had ten years prior. A large desk was pushed into a corner, next to a wooden bureau. I set my stuff down and smiled, reliving the memories of the room I was standing in. Overall, it made sense, since it was the closest to the Slytherin tower, but I still chuckled at the memories.
I checked the state of my office and classroom, cringing at the smell. Making a mental note to ask Filch, the caretaker, to clean them, I went back up to the Great Hall where many of the teachers were conversing. I made my way over to a group that included Professor McGonagall, not noticing the short man standing to her right.
"Severus?" I whirled around at the sound of my name being spoken to find the one person whom I least expected standing next to McGonagall.
"Remus? Remus Lupin?" I asked incredulously.
"Severus? Severus Snape?" Remus mocked, a smile on his face. "How have you been?"
I reached over to shake his hand, "Just great, just great… How about you?"
He had been the one person to show me a shred of kindness when Lily married James; he was also one of the only people who knew about it at first. He had often visited Lily before Kaylee was born, but he had just stopped visiting with no warning.
"Never been better… I've been teaching here for a year now, Defense Against the Dark Arts." He said, glancing around the room. "I'm assuming you're taking Professor Barns' place?"
I nodded, "Yes, I am, much to Lily's delight. She wanted me to take the job so I could keep an eye on Harry."
Remus looked mildly surprised, "Harry's starting his first year here, isn't he? Wow, he's grown up so fast… How is he? Does he know about James yet?"
I shook my head, "No, he doesn't know about James yet. I was planning on telling him before we left for Hogwarts, but things didn't go as planned. He's doing really well; he knows a bit of magic and is a natural on a broomstick, it's amazing."
Remus laughed, "I guess James had a few good qualities about him after all, eh?"
I smirked, "No offense to you, Remus, but his best quality as of now is that he's dead."
Remus nodded, "No life is worth losing, no matter how terrible he was. However… yes, I do agree with you somewhat. Just don't mention that to Sirius."
I looked up at him with surprise, "Sirius? Sirius Black? He's here?"
Remus nodded, "Although the subject he's teaching shouldn't surprise you."
I looked around the room, trying to find him. "Just the fact that he's a teacher surprises me, Remus."
"Care of Magical Creatures." Remus admitted, "He's out by the Lake."
"Care of Magical Creatures? Yes, that definitely sounds like Black." I sighed, "He doesn't hate me, does he?"
Remus shrugged, "He's not exactly happy with Lily for her not – grieving over James properly."
"There was nothing to grieve about." I said, checking my watch. "Now if you'll please excuse me, I have to meet Harry at Hogsmeade."
"May I come with you?" Remus asked, "I haven't seen him in such a long time."
I nodded, "I'm pretty sure he remembers you."
"Really?" Remus asked, amazed. "I wouldn't have thought…"
"To be perfectly honest, I also would have." I said.
Nearly a half hour later, we were standing in front of the Hogwarts Express,
watching students pour out of the doors. I finally spotted Harry and waved
him over, watching his reaction to Remus. They were both grinning, and
Remus pulled Harry into a hug. Moments later, the gamekeeper, Hagrid, called
the first years over, so Harry went trotting after his new friends; a red
head boy, a sandy haired boy, and a brunette girl shorter than even Harry.
Before I got a chance to say anything to Remus, I caught a glimpse of a
boy with hair too light to be called blonde; Lucius Malfoy's son.
Remus and I returned to the castle faster than the other students and quickly took our place among the teachers. Dumbledore insisted I sit next to him and show him some of the photos I had brought of the children, while Remus took a seat between Sirius Black and myself.
The brown haired girl Harry had befriended was placed in Gryffindor; the sandy haired boy was also placed in Gryffindor. Lucius' son, Draco Malfoy, was placed in Slytherin so quickly I wondered if the Sorting Hat had already known which house to choose from.
Finally. Professor McGonagall called Harry's name. I nodded towards him as he nervously walked up to the stool and placed the hat on. It definitely took it's time deciding; however, nearly a minute after he placed it on his head, the hat opened his head and yelled the house name:
"GRYFFINDOR!"
A/N: Aren't these things annoying? Anyway.. I gotta say. I really wanted
to put Harry in Slytherin... really badly... but it won't work out for
later, so I basically almost shot myself in the foot. I'm still deciding
on something though that might come as a total shock and another "kill
the author!" round. No, no one dies, I promise.