Disclaimers: I apologize for not writing this in the first chapter but…I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY OTHER CHARACTERS FROM J K ROWLING'S BOOKS. (*CRY CRY* OTHERWISE I'D BE A MILLIONARE TOO…) *AHEM* I own Lapis Lazuli Azure Black, so if anyone wants to use her (which I doubt), please e-mail me first, okies??

Author's Note:

Heehee…I am warning everyone in advance NOW. This chapter is a cliffhanger. I've been feeling weird all week and have decided to ask for reviews on which house YOU think Lazul should go in. I have an idea already but am open to suggestion if you guys can give me valid points! ^_- Okies! Please send your reviews!

Salem's Lot

Chapter 9: An Old Magic Hat We've Found…

Harry's eyes nearly bulged right out of his head and knocked off his glasses. What the bloody hell was she doing here?!! The small American girl flitted up to the head table as if she were a fly on the wall, not really participating. Quite the contrary, as the entire school was silently observing this foreign creature that appeared as oblivious as a butterfly.

"My, what an…oddity, isn't she Harry?" Hermione spoke quietly across from him, keeping one eye on the girl.

"…Huh?" Harry scarcely heard her. He was too preoccupied trying to figure out exactly what the bloody hell this upstart girl was doing here. The last thing he needed was someone with an attitude. Malfoy had graciously been provided by whatever hell there was in this world, and he was already having a time of that. She couldn't possibly be coming to school here, there was no way McGonnagal would even allow Dumbledore to suggest that! He quickly glanced at the head table to catch her disapproving gaze, but felt no comfort in it. For right next to her was the Headmaster, smiling fondly at the woman in blue who had come in with the girl.

She must be her mother, Harry thought in passing. No sooner had he finished the thought than he turned to spy her staring curiously at a carefully placed stool in the center of the room, bearing a ratty looking wizard's hat. If it was possible, Harry's pit of a stomach dropped straight down into the base of his body, did several flip-flops and shot right back up into the back of his throat again. At least that's what it felt like as he observed the rest of this exchange.

"Sooo…what's all this about?" she pointed at the hat with one long delicate finger on her right hand. Her pale skin giving off a healthy glow in the dim candlelight of the Great Hall. Dumbledore stood up slowly from his seat after finishing a short conversation with her mother, and finally spoke.

"This is the Sorting Hat, my dear. Its purpose is to sort you into the House that best suits you." He smiled kindly, gesturing for her to take a seat on the stool. However, she was not easily convinced.

"Ahh…sort me? Why do I need to be sorted? Its not like an I.Q. test or something, is it?" she chewed on her lower lip in a pouting way that Harry couldn't help thinking suited her. How many girl's had lips like that that curved in just the right way? He shook his head, frowning at himself. It was like Cho Chang happening all over again. Perhaps she was attractive, but her attitude and the way she'd treated him at the theatre had been less than adorable. He wasn't about to make a lapse in judgement again.

"Please take a seat my dear, all will be revealed in due time." Dumbledore nodded towards McGonnagal, who walked around the table to take the Sorting Hat off the stool. The girl…was her name Lazy? Or something like that?…conceded, adding an overly dramatic sigh to her motions. She sat very ladylike upon the stool, crossing one leg over the other and straightening her back so that she could have been displayed like a roman statue in the wondrous art museums of London. As soon as she appeared comfortable, McGonnagal dropped the hat onto her head.

Harry held his breath and did all that he could do.

He waited.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Well now, aren't we an interesting sort? Another notorious Black come to the school, eh? Really no, it's been much too long since I've had the pleasure to sort one of you."

Lazul didn't really know why or how the stupid ruddy looking hat was talking to her, she just knew she wanted it to stop. Right. Now. "What the hell are you talking about?" she hissed. Apparently the thing took no notice or didn't care, because it continued to shift around on her head, ruffling her hair in a fond manner contemplating things she didn't understand.

"You're father was a VERY interesting sort, oh yes…it was so much fun sorting him out! You know, he and I had a long conversation about where to put him. You know what he said to me? He said, 'I really could care less where you put me, but if you absolutely must, stick me anywhere but where my mum wants me'. Oh he was such a rebel, that one! Before then, I had always settled your folk in the same place. What with all that wonderful power at your disposal…"

"Who gives a rat's ass what he said? I don't care about him." Lazul hissed, gripping the stool beneath her and bending one of her nails painfully.

"Oh…really now? Hmmmm…so rebellion runs in the family, then? Ahhh yes, you sound very convincing. I can have fun with you…where would you like to go, then? Certainly you're good enough to enter Ravenclaw, you're very sharp witted. Nnnng…Hufflepuff would suit you as well…you're very loyal to those you care about…"

"Why does it matter?!"

"Very spunky, and certainly brave…perhaps in Gryffindor with your father…"

Lazul stiffened visibly, clenching and unclenching her fists beneath her seat. Apparently this was some sort of determination of which group she would be stuck with for the rest of her school years. This stupid frumpy hat was the thing that determined where you went, and obviously had some sort of history with her father. Well, already she was feeling the anger and the frustration.

She hadn't even begun classes yet.

"…put me anywhere. I don't really care." She sighed, voice on t verge of breaking. She wasn't the type to bawl over spilled milk, but this was so…hard. She really didn't belong here, she wanted to go home. A small whimper escaped her clenched jaw, and she flinched, knowing everyone had heard it. Great, now she was weak. Oh, momma…why couldn't they have stayed home? They should've sold the stupid house and Lazul could've gone to a school closer to home. Why did they have to come to London? Why did she have to go to a school for magic? What was so important about her scum-sucking father?

The hat stilled for a moment.

"…nothing…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"…nothing…" the hat spoke in a single monotonous voice that Harry stiffened at. Everyone in the hall had stiffened, eyes had gone large, and even Dumbledore seemed a bit unnerved.

What did that mean? All this time, Harry had thought that the Sorting Hat kept all discussions private. What had caused it to speak out like this? A small sound had emitted from the girl's lips, and Harry winced, feeling bad for his earlier thoughts. This couldn't be any easier for her. If anything, she was being singled out from the entire school and made into a novelty. He could understand the feeling of being displayed like a public trophy, and silently promised to try speaking to her after this whole ordeal was over.

If it ever ended. The hat had not spoken again, and she sat there, unmoving, and deadly silent in the Great Hall as everyone awaited it to speak again. A light shadow crossed over Dumbledore's face, and her mother chewed on her lip in concern. Harry eyed the professors warily, hoping someone would either hurry it up or simply remove the hat before the girl beneath it died of humiliation. Even Snape seemed to sympathize for her, which was really saying quite a lot.

"Headmaster…" the soft tenor voice of the girl's mother carried over the silence and across the hall. Nearly everyone swayed their attention to her, curiously awaiting her next words. "Why did the hat…say 'nothing'?" she had wide brown eyes that complimented her heart-shaped face. There were soft resemblances between her and her daughter, and Harry saw them in her expressions and poise. She obviously took more after her father as far as hair and eyes went, but the full curved pouting lips belonged solely to her mother, who was pursing them now at the headmaster in silent question.

Dumbledore seemed to acknowledge her question, but remained silent, eyes staying on the girl on the stool. Harry fumed silently. If he wasn't going to answer her he could at least be vague. The old man was good at that if nothing else, when it came to the unknown.

Harry turned his gaze back to the girl, hoping silently that her torture would end.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"…"

The hat hadn't spoken again for a while, leaving Lazul feeling helplessly alone. "Jesus, please don't leave me hanging…"

"You know…there is a dangerous little heartless streak somewhere along this line…perhaps you'd do better to follow in the family business…as a Slytherin. They're very cunning, you know. You'd fit right in with that like…but then maybe not…you are still very kind, albeit the part concerning your dearly departed father…"

"Can we just leave that bastard out of this? Please?" Lazul was beginning to sweat under the heat of this oversized hat. Not only did it have a smart-ass mouth, it had no concept of time. This was taking way too long for her.

"Patients, my dear…you're very fidgety. I do not appreciate being bustled around, thank you."

"Well, excuse me. I didn't realize how uncomfortable this would be for you."

"Oh, don't lie dear, it simply doesn't become you. You would be more honest if you'd just say, 'I bloody don't well give a damn'."

Okay, now she was pissed off. "Who died and made you the frigging king of the world? I don't care where I go! I didn't even want to be here in the first place!! If it's that big of a deal just stick me wherever there's room!" she burst fervently, still maintaining a low voice so it wouldn't ring out in the echoing hall. The hat bustled about on her head again, slipping down so that it almost touched her shoulders. She was tiny, but not that tiny. It had to be doing this on purpose.

"…I suppose with all of that to go on, I really can't make an educated decision on where to sort you. Really, you should have considered this beforehand, my dear. It simply wouldn't do to have you here all night."

Lazul swallowed back the bile rising in her throat. This dreadful, annoying piece of ripped up fabric was willing to sit comfortably on her head all night long if need be. She had already been sitting there for maybe five minutes, and she could hear the whispering voices all around. She could feel the teacher's eyes burning against her back. She most certainly felt the near panic flowing through the threads of her mother's magic. Lazul took slow, deep breaths to calm herself down. This was stage fright, nothing more. Stage fright, and a really persistent prop.

"Okay. Let's do this your way. What do you propose?" she was cautious with her tone, believing this was not the time to aggravate it any more than she already had. However, she had every intention of finding where this sorry piece of tattered leather was kept so that she could burn it later.

"Now that is more like it…I have given you choices my dear, now you, must decide…"

Lazul thought very carefully before licking her parched lips and taking a deep breath.

"I choose…"