Disclaimer: I owned none of the characters (JKR owned them), except for a few of them which is created by me.

Please read and review.

Never had a dream come true

Chapter 11 The sorting ceremony

Eve had never been more nervous than this.

It was the night of the Feast, and also the sorting ceremony. She didn't really know what she was getting so nervous about it. It was lucky that she cover up her nervousness with some make-up, so she didn't look so pale. She also changed into her robes finally, which seemed okay.

Before the feast started, Remus asked her to wait for him outside the hall to introduce a few friends of his, who were also students here studying for their last years.

"Why is Moony asking us to wait for him here before going into the hall?" said a boy doubtly.

"Moony?" thought Eve, "Who would possibly have such a feminine nickname? I don't suppose it would be a real name."

She turned and saw two boys and a girl standing on the other side of the doors, one of them would possibly be Harry Potter, whom Minerva had told her about. She could see his scar on his forehead faintly. One she assumed would be Ronald Weasley, Harry's best friend. The girl, she would probably be Hermione Granger, the student that Minerva told her she was so proud of.

"I don't know." said the boy with red hair.

"Could you two just be patient? We arived earlier before all the other students already, you will have more than enough time to talk to him." said the girl.

Eve chuckled at this. It reminded her of her school days with her best friends.

They finally noticed that Eve had been standing there looking at them. Then Remus appeared.

"Hi, Harry, Ron, Hermione, you are all here. I'd like you to meet a new teacher, who is also a new friend of mine. So, where is she?" Remus was looking around and seemed not noticing that she had been standing right in front of him.

"Remus, or should I say Moony, that it seems you haven't brought your eyes with you tonight?"

Remus looked at her, and stood there. "Eeeer... Eve?"

"Yes?"

"Haha... sorry didn't recognize you. Never seen you with make-up on. Haha..."

"Really funny Remus. Are they the friends you said you wanted to introduce to me?"

"Yes. Harry. Ron. Hermine. This is Eve Ho, the new Muggle Studies teacher."

Eve shock hands with them, but they seemed a bit shock that she was a teacher at her age. And she gave them the same old answer. "Chinese do look younger most of the time, but I am a bit shock that you still think I am young with my make-up."

"Miss Ho, you look great. No offence." said Hermione.

"Call me Eve when not during lesson. Don't worry, I am just not used to have make-up on. I just realized that I looked quite pale this morning, so I put some make-up on to bring back a bit of colour. I am really nervous though. Sigh."

Ron said, "Don't worry, you are only going to be introduced at the feast. It is simple."

"No, that's easy, but I have to go throught the sorting ceremony too."

"What? But isn't that for students only?" asked Harry, who was totally confused.

"Yes, I am both a student and a teacher."

Harry, Ron and Hermione were totally confused, and Remus didn't seem wanting to help her.

"It is a long story. I'll tell you next time. It's almost time we need to go in."

So, all of them went into the hall, leaving Harry and the others at the Gryffindor table. She and Remus walked up to the teacher's table, and quite a number of teachers were already there, including Severus.

Dumbledore walked up to her, "Here you are. Eve, I'd like to introduce you to the other teachers first before the feast began."

She was introduced to other teachers, and were walmly welcomed. She also noticed that even though it was literarily just first day back to school, but gossips had already spread. Madam Hooch, who insisted on calling her Hooch, asked, "Did you really scream at Remus after he scared you off your broom? And Severus saved you?" Sigh. She finally understood why Severus was sitting so stiff on his chair.

Just in time, Dumbledore announced everyone to be seated, and she was sitting between Hooch and Severus. Then she saw McGonagall came in with the new first year students, and the sorting ceremony started.

She was so nervous that she couldn't hear McGonagall shouting the student's name, and ask them to come forward to try on the hat. She held her hands together so hard that she didn't notice she was hurting herself. Then someone put his hand on top of hers, and she looked up and saw Severus, and it was his hand on top of hers.

"Relax. Are you nervous about the sorting?"

Eve could only nod, with her face now as pale as ghost.

"Calm down. It won't do any good. You just need to worry that when that hat looking through you in your head, it won't ruin you hairstyle."

She gave a chuckle. "Thanks. Severus."

"You are welcome. I just hope that you will not be sorted into Gryffindor." and gave her a small smile.

"Why? Because of Minerva and Remus?"

"You bet it." They gave each other another smile.

**************************

At the Gryffindor table

**************************

"Ron, did you see that?" Harry asked.

"What?"

"I saw Eve and Snape talking to each other, I mean not arguing, they are actually chatting."

"Huh?! You sure?" Ron turned his eyes from the sorting ceremony to the teacher's table. "Oh my God."

"What are you two 'surprised' about again?" Hermione turned to them.

"Snape and Eve are chatting." said Harry. "Snape gave her a smile." continued Ron.

"So?"

"You are not surprised?" questioned Harry.

"You two are hopeless."

"What?!"

McGonagall had now finished sorting out all the new students, and now was Eve's turn.

Dumbledore then stood up and announced, "This year we have a new Muggle Studies teacher, Miss Eve Ho, who is also going to continue her studies here." There were weak applause through out the hall, but Harry, Hermione and Ron gave the loudest ones. "Therefore, I would like to sort her into one of the houses by the sorting hat." Dumbledore gestured to her to go down the stool.

"Good Luck." whispered Severus.

"Thanks. Hope I will be a Slytherin." She joked back. It was so funny, she didn't feel that nervous anymore.

She walked down, and sat on the stool. McGonagall placed the hat on her head.

After the hat had placed on her head, she heard a voice talking to her.

"Nice to meet you, Miss."

"Who..."

"I am the Sorting Hat. Pardon for shocking you. Now let's see which house I should put you in. It's the first time I am sorting for a grown-up."

"Finally someone saw me as a grown-up."

"Of course you are a grown-up. Now, you did shock me though, you had gone through so many things at your age."

"You are exaggerating."

"It is rare to see someone as practical as you are at this age. Back to business. Wow, you got a really good mind, but it seemed that you didn't have a really happy school life. You weren't interested in the subjects, and had no choice about them. Great potentials. Courage, absolutely. How could you have no courage and strong will, standing through all those years on your own, not asking help from your best friends? Loyal. Very loyal to your friends. Ah, but seemed that two of them hurt you very much. I don't want to make you sad for saying the names, especially with one of them, who still haunted you, as he betrayed you and hurt you deeply. It seems that you had lost the desire to prove yourself after that. Is that the reason why you hated to show your talents again?"

Reluctantly, she replied, "Yes."

"Well, you know, no need to regret for loyal to him once. You deserve better."

"Thanks."

"Okay, now. This is making me very difficult. Very difficult indeed. Obviously, you can fit in either one of the three houses --- Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. But I would think it is time you should jump out from your grief, and be yourself again."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't worry of getting hurt again. The coming one will never hurt you. It would kill him if he ever made you sad."

"Huh?"

"Don't fool me. You know who I mean. So you should better be in... SLYTHERIN!!!"

She couldn't believe what the hat had done. It originally said she didn't fit in Slytherin, why? Before McGonagall took the hat off for her, she had heard the hat reminded her further, "You are who you are, what Pablo did to you will not change your identity. Severus likes you just the way you are. Be strong and brave." She didn't remember what happened next after the hat was taken off, because she had collapsed from the stool.

TBC

---------------------

Aimie, sorry, I think I have disappointed you, as I thought being a slytherin should have a thirst to prove or show up themselves, so... Anyway, give me some comments what you think, thanks.

It is a little bit dramatic with the end, isn't it? I want to make a 'grand open' for this mysterious charater Pablo, with her collapse, so, sorry if you don't like it ended like that. Actually, I doubted myself if fainting off would be a good idea. Anyway, here it is. The only thing I am really worried about is that I seemed giving Eve a quite vulnerable image, as I designed her to be quite a strong character. What do you think?