Professor McGonagall returned to address the congregation of first year students. "Please follow me to the Great Hall. Silence would be sincerely appreciated."

The gaggle of first years followed the green-clad witch into a large banquet hall. This room is huge, Harry thought as he traversed the Great Hall with a slight feeling of trepidation. At the front of the room was a table reserved for faculty and staff, and four long tables with hundreds of students took up most of the rest of the space.

Suddenly, near the front of the hall, Professor McGonagall stopped. She turned to the students, and held a brown piece of parchment. Next to the professor was an old wooden stool, and seated on it was a dusty, dingy hat that literally looked like it was hundreds of years old.

The Deputy Headmistress spoke up. "Before we begin, the Headmaster would like to share a few words. Professor Dumbledore, the floor is yours."

"To our first-year students, welcome to Hogwarts, and to our returning students, welcome back. I have a notice for our first-year students. The Dark Forest is expressly forbidden to all students, and also, the third corridor - on the right - is off-limits to those who wish to avoid a most painful death. Mister Filch, our caretaker, has the authority to direct students violating these rules to their appropriate heads-of-house. That is all I have, thank you for your cooperation, and may each and every one of you have a successful year."

"When I call your name, you will come up here to take your seat. This hat will be placed on your head to determine which house you will belong to. I must warn each of you that the choice the hat makes is final, so you will remain with that house until you complete your studies at Hogwarts. This house will effectively be your family."

Harry and Lilah held hands, hoping that they would be selected in the same house. Lilah felt the sweat from Harry's palm drip on to hers. "Nervous, Harry?" she whispered. Harry could only nod in response.

Professor McGonagall read off several students names, and they got placed into various houses. The wrinkles on the hat seemed to twist and bend to take the same of a makeshift face. The hat twitched every which-where, as if deep in thought.

Finally, the Professor called a name Harry knew.

"Lilah Darling."

"Good luck, Lilah," Harry whispered, giving her hand a slight squeeze. Lilah looked back at Harry, giving him a little smile as she approached the stool.

"Miss Darling... my goodness, what an apt name for such a good soul," the hat whispered to her. "Kind, generous, and industrious. You have some bravery in you, yes. And a clever mind as well. You would do well in several houses, actually." The hat took nearly three minutes to make a decision. "HUFFLEPUFF!" She smiled to Harry as she took her seat at the Hufflepuff table.

Harry now knew which house he wanted to be in, more than anything. He had to be a Hufflepuff to be with his new best friend, Lilah.

"Hermione Granger."

This must be the frizzy-haired brunette Lilah talked about, Harry thought. Cute, but not Lilah-cute. And Lilah must not be very good with remembering names. I mean, at least Donald was close to Ronald. But, Calliope? Really? Not even the same initial - something like Hyacinth or Heidi would have been a better butchering.

Hermione took her seat on the stool. Much like with Lilah, the hat seemed to be torn for several minutes. Finally, the hat coughed out "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry then heard the professor rattle off several names of students he wasn't familiar with.

"Neville Longbottom."

Neville approached the stool cautiously. He sat down on the stool even longer than Lilah or Hermione. In fact, he was not that far off from being a Hatstall. "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat cried out. Neville seemed to be somewhat disappointed by the decision, as he did not smile as he took his seat at the Gryffindor table.

Then came a name that made Harry's hands clench into fists.

"Draco Malfoy."

It did not take the hat long at all to decide where to put Draco, almost as soon as the hat was placed on his head - "SLYTHERIN!"

Not long after that, it was Harry's turn.

"Harry Potter."

Harry looked toward the Hufflepuffs the entire time, hoping to join Lilah's house. He gingerly sat on the stool as Professor McGonagall place the hat on his head.

"We meet at last, Mister Potter. You are an interesting one, for sure..." it whispered to Harry.

"Hufflepuff, please," Harry thought.

The hat seemed to actually taunt Harry. "Hufflepuff? But you have many talents, young man. You have much courage, and a desire to make something of yourself. And you have a sharp enough mind, too... but Hufflepuff? Are you sure about that?"

Harry wasn't about to take 'no' for an answer. "I want Hufflepuff, please. I know I'll be happy there."

The hat also wasn't about to let Harry simply have his way, either. "Tut, tut, young Potter. You think you know happiness... and it's because of Miss Darling, isn't it? You're right, she's a good witch, and she can make you happy, but that's still quite a selfish reason for a house request. You're really better off elsewhere..."

Harry's frustration grew. "FINE. Anywhere but Slytherin then."

The hat actually seemed to be impressed with Harry's moxie. "You're an ornery one, aren't you Mister Potter? Very well, I'll cross off Slytherin, even though I do think you should reconsider. If not Slytherin... then better be... GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry shook his head in exasperation. He was clearly disappointed with the hat's decision, and Lilah clearly saw the sadness on Harry's face as he turned to look at her. "I'm so sorry," she mouthed to him. He hung his head in shame as he turned around and headed toward the Gryffindor table, despite the fact that the table roared loudly in approval. "We got Potter, we got Potter," chanted a pair of red-headed twins that looked much like Ron - they were likely relatives of some sort, Harry thought.

He took his seat between Neville and Hermione, who both wanted to welcome him openly, but Harry was so overcome with disappointment that he actually started weeping.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Neville asked. Harry didn't say anything, but looked at Neville, and then pointed over to the Hufflepuff table with his head.

"Oh, Lilah," he said softly. "I'm so sorry, mate. I know you wanted to be with her more than anything. Miss Darling's a right angel, that one is."

"She's my very first real friend," Harry said, sniffling. "And just like that, she's gone."

Hermione then held out her hand. "Hello Harry. I'm Hermione Granger. Pleased to meet you."

Harry could barely even acknowledge her. "Hi Hermione," he said softly, as he shook her hand nonchalantly.

"Is something bothering you, Harry?" Hermione asked.

Again, he pointed toward Lilah with his head.

"Oh," was all Hermione could say. "You really wanted to be with Miss Darling I take it? I know I'm not as pretty or as extroverted as Lilah, but I could use a friend." She looked down at her feet, her face pink with embarrassment. "Any friend, really."

The corner of Harry's mouth perked up slightly. His sniffling suddenly stopped, and he placed his thumb and the knuckle of his index finger on Hermione's chin, and gently brought her face up to look at his. "I could use a friend, too," he said, his smile broadening. Hermione responded with a radiant smile of her own.

"Lilah is a very sweet girl, Harry," Hermione said. "You can still be friends with her. It's not like you or she got sorted into Slytherin. There will still be plenty of opportunity for you to spend time with her. I'm pretty sure you can even go over to her table for meals, or have her over here on occasion. To my recollection, there are no rules against that."

Harry actually started laughing. "Yes, she told me about you. She said that you were quite the studious one, and maybe a teeny bit bossy." Harry saw Hermione's jaw drop slightly at that particular observation. "But she also said you were very nice, too." Hermione's face returned to its sweet smile.

Hermione giggled. "Yes, I spent a few minutes chatting with Lilah on the train. She's truly a bright one - she seemed to have at least a cursory knowledge of the texts. I don't think she has quite my passion for reading and learning, but I guarantee she's no slouch in the classroom."

Harry took off his glasses to show Hermione. "She is a bright one. She used some sort of a spell to fix up my dinged-up glasses. I'm not gonna lie, I had my doubts at first. But I'm glad it worked."

"Oh, she must have used the oculus reparo spell," Hermione replied glibly.

Harry smirked. "That's the one."

At that moment, Ron Weasley took a seat across from Harry, Hermione, and Neville.

"Hi Ron," Harry said. "Five minutes ago I was sorely disappointed that I was sorted into Gryffindor, but now I guess it's not so bad. It's not the same without Lilah, but the good news is she's not a Slytherin."

Ron smirked as he looked at Hermione and Neville. "D'you recall seeing Harry's face when the Hat called out 'GRYFFINDOR!' a few minutes ago? That was priceless!"

Hermione gave Ron a bit of a stern look. "He was literally crying at the table, Ron. You were being a little insensitive there, even though you probably didn't mean anything by it."

"Tears of joy, I hope," Ron said with a chuckle.

Hermione's icy stare only intensified. "He really wanted to be a Hufflepuff, if you must know why."

Ron shrugged. "Why would anyone want to be a Hufflepuff? Gryffindor's pretty much the greatest."

"A-hem," Hermione said, pointing towards Lilah at the Hufflepuff table.

"Ohhhh," Ron said. "Sorry, Harry. She's a nice girl. The Hat was probably wrong, she should have been sorted into Gryffindor."

"Not everyone is cut out to be a Gryffindor, Ronald," chided Hermione. "Maybe Lilah could do well in Gryffindor, but what's done is done."

"It's not the end of the world, I guess," Harry sighed. "She's not a Slytherin at least, so we can still spend some time together. But she's my first real friend, so not seeing her hurts."

Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed it gently. "Lilah is truly a sweet witch, Harry. You'll talk to her soon, I promise." She smiled at him warmly.

Harry smiled at Hermione. "You're right. She's amazing... she even showed me how to tie my necktie today. I kinda-sorta got it, but my knots are not as tidy as hers. She redid mine so it looked... not so sloppy."

Hermione giggled. "I'd have been embarrassed if I were in your situation there, Mister Potter."

Harry shrugged. "Not me. I was glad she was there, to be honest."

At that moment, there was a clanking sound from the front of the dining hall. Professor McGonagall had called for everyone's attention. "May I have everyone's attention? The headmaster would like to have a word before the Start-of-Term Feast."

Professor Albus Dumbledore - Headmaster of Hogwarts - stood from his seat to address everyone in the Great Hall. With a slight smile on his face, he simply said, "Let the feast - begin!" And a wonderful banquet made courtesy of the house elves magically appeared on every table.

Maybe Gryffindor won't be so bad, Harry thought.