Disclaimer, I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters and this is not a way for me to criticize the books. It's just how I believe the characters would react if they read JK Rowling's brilliant work.

In this chapter: Harry and his classmates get sorted into their houses, and some surprising news comes out about where Harry could have gone instead of Gryffindor.

Chapter 7

Ginny walked away from the clocktower courtyard, the sound of Hermione reading growing fainter as she went. She went down the stairs to where she knew Umbridge's office to be. Luckily, Umbridge wasn't anywhere in sight, although she was probably watching somewhere. She half expected the door to be locked and her boyfriend trapped in there with her brother and his best friend. When she opened the door, she also fully expected wands out or a full on duel. Luckily that's not what she was met with.

"I'm not sticking up for Potter!" that one Slytherin boy Ginny didn't know said to Malfoy. "I'm just saying, if you wanted to be on his good side, there were better ways to go about it!"

"Oh shut the hell up, Blaise!" Malfoy yelled back, and Ginny learned that the boy's name was Blaise. She did not expect that the two people arguing would be the Slytherins while Harry and Ron watched with amused looks.

"Seriously, can we get back to reading?" Hannah Abbott asked timidly.

"Hannah's right-" Harry started.

"You shut up too, Potter!" Malfoy turned on Harry. "I stand by what I said, you keep bad company. Weasels and Mudbloods..." Malfoy let out a scoff. All amusement left her brother and his friend's faces. The next second wands were pulled, Ginny felt her own hand fly to her wand on instinct for the insult to her friend, but she calmed herself. Behind the chaos, Michael was hitting his head with his book over and over, Hannah was practically hiding behind hers, and... who was that other girl who was staying far away? Must have been that girl in the reading group who Michael identified as Lisa Turpin.

This was now much more of what she had expected when she opened the door. Not wanting to see anyone get hexed or cursed, at least not right at that moment, Ginny used her perfected Umbridge impression.

"Hem, hem!"

Most of them jumped nearly a foot in the air, except Harry. She could never scare him with her Umbridge impression, it was annoying.

"Ginny!" Ron exclaimed. "You nearly scared the piss out of me! What are you doing here?"

"Yes, what are you doing here?" Malfoy spat. Ginny ignored him, and saw that his Slytherin friend was looking her up and down, which was creepy. Looking away from the Slytherin examining her, she turned to her brother.

"I wanna talk to Michael." she said simply. Ron's face fell into a scowl, and Ginny just barely managed not to roll her eyes. Michael, however, looked thrilled as he practically ran out of the room and into the hall.

"Hey Gin," he said kissing her cheek. She gave him a small smile.

"I've been looking up and down this bloody castle looking for your reading group, I probably know it as well as Fred and George now," she said knowing this to not be true at all. "How's the reading going?"

Michael raised an eyebrow. "You went all around the castle to ask me this?"

"You're with Harry and Malfoy, and my brother." she pointed out. "I needed to make sure you were still alive. And anyway, after all of the work I went through I wasn't going to give up anytime soon."

He chuckled weakly. "I suppose it could be worse. All of us agree we'd like to be finished as soon as possible, so we're trying to get through it."

Ginny nodded. "That's good."

"Yeah, I just wish your brother..." he trailed off. "Never mind."

"No, what's my brother doing?" Ginny questioned.

"Nothing!" he said quickly. "He's not doing anything, he's just... I don't know... rude to me I guess. But that's expected isn't it? I'm dating his- where are you going?"

Ginny had already started walking back into the reading group. Unlike moments ago, they all seemed to settle on a cold, stoney silence. "Ron, a word?"

Ron raised an eyebrow, but he looked like he was just about ready to leave the room as well, so he got up without a question. When Ron followed her out, Michael looked mildly uncomfortable.

"Michael, could you give my dear brother and I some privacy?" Ginny asked sweetly. Michael did as he was told. "Right, are you being rude to him?"

"No." Ron answered.

"Really? Because he said something different."

"I didn't hex him didn't I?" Ron shot back. "I'd say I'm doing a good job in there."

Ginny let out a long breath before responding, "I'd appreciate it if you'd not treat him like a load of dung."

"And I'd appreciate it if he not be a load of dung." Ron said. "It's a cruel world, we don't all get what we want."

"I'm not asking you to like him, frankly, I don't care," Ginny began. "But he's my boyfriend, and-"

"Right, about that. I think you're too young to be-"

"I'm fourteen!"

"I know! You didn't see me running around with girls when I was fourteen!" Ron fired back.

"Not because you didn't try, if you had it your way, Fleur Delabarf would have been all over you last year!" Ginny yelled. "Pathetic, you are. Just stop being an arse."

Ron was glaring at her, and she was glaring back.

"I'll ignore him." he said finally. Ginny knew how stubborn Ron could be, her whole family could be quite stubborn sometimes, so she decided to accept this.

"Fine." she said. "I suppose that's better than being out-right rude to him."

Ron stopped glaring and gave her one of his lopsided smiles. She smiled back, because even though Ron was infuriating, she was probably closer to him than any of her other siblings, and he probably felt the same way. As annoying as it was, this protectiveness was his way of showing he cared.

"I've got to get back to my group." she said. "As do you."

He nodded, and she turned on her heel ready to go up many steps. Her reading group, Luna and Colin, were likely still waiting for her to return to the Room of Requirement. They decided to go in there because they figured no one else would. All of the reading groups were mixed mostly evenly with houses, and no one in the DA would want to share the location of their meetings with the Slytherins. And if they did, Ginny would hex them. Her Bat-Bogey hex was really spectacular.

"Hello Ginny!" Luna said as if it were their first time seeing each other that day, when she saw her not fifteen minutes ago.

"Hi Luna," Ginny said as she sat on the chair that she claimed as her own when the room provided it. The room was much smaller than it usually was when the DA trained in it. Colin simply smiled at her, relaxing into his chair. Colin was a naturally hyperactive boy, but sometimes he was just relaxed. Turns out reading books is one of the things that causes him to relax, which was nice, because Ginny can only take so much high energy. Unfortunately, he was getting more and more excited the more they read, likely because the entire book was about Harry Potter.

"Ready to get started?" Colin asked sitting up more. "I'll read this chapter since you and Luna read the last ones."

Ginny nodded, tucking her legs into the couch. Ginny was more excited for the sorting than probably anyone else in the school, and that even included Colin. Her sorting took a really long time and she was really embarrassed about it. But Hermione told her that Harry's sorting took a long time too. Ginny supposed she was excited to have a connection like that with Harry, and not because he was the boy who lived. But because he was someone who she could relate to.

So when it was revealed that he was almost sorted into Slytherin, she was positively giddy.

"Wait, stop," Ginny said giggling. "Are you telling me... Harry was almost in Slytherin?"

Luna wasn't phased, Colin looked like everything he was ever told was a lie. "He was... almost... a Slytherin?"

"Would that change how you saw him?" Luna asked.

"No." Colin said immediately, but his face said something differently. Ginny was still laughing, she couldn't help it.

"Oh this is brilliant." she said through her laughter. "Oh my gosh, imagine how everyone's going to react! Oh the Slytherins! What are they going to say?" Ginny began to laugh again. "Oh, oh can we go see?"

"See?" Colin repeated.

"Everyone's reactions! Can we see? Let's go!" she said grabbing Luna's arm and pulling her out of the door.

"But-" she didn't hear the rest of what Colin said because she was already dragging Luna down the hall. The first place she went was the Transfiguration courtyard, as that was where the twins were reading. She was just at the entrance when she heard the toad's voice.

"Ginny!" panted Colin but she hushed him as she listened.

"You are supposed to be reading with your groups!" Umbridge was hollering. "I seperated you, George Weasley is supposed to be reading with an entirely different group!"

"Honestly I think you should consider it a miracle we're reading with these people at all." said who Ginny knew to be Fred.

"Certainly should exceed your expectations, meaning you should certainly be giving us an E as our overall grade." George continued. Not wanting to get a lecture as to why she wasn't reading with her group, Ginny decided to continue on her way and go back to Hermione and her group in the clock tower courtyard, but from sticking her head out and listening, they were still discussing chapter six. Finally, she went back to the group where her boyfriend was, still holding onto Luna, Colin still following them. It turns out they'd all pulled it together enough to be reading after all, and they were at the perfect spot. Hannah was currently reading about the horrible thoughts that were hitting Harry as they got closer to his name being called for the sorting.

"Ginny-" Colin began but Ginny shushed him.

"Harry, you're alright aren't you?" they heard Ron ask. "The last time you looked this uncomfortable was when we were about to read about your wand."

"You can't have another wand that's the brother of You-Know-Who's," said someone Ginny didn't recognize, perhaps Lisa Turpin?

"It's nothing," he muttered. They continued to read, and then the part Ginny had been waiting for came. The hat said that Harry'd be great in Slytherin, and there was a pause. And then,

"WHAT?" came Ron's voice. Ginny put her hand to her mouth to mute her laughter.

"You were almost in Slytherin?" Malfoy asked. "Salazar Slytherin would roll in his grave."

"I can't believe you were almost a Slytherin," said Hannah.

"What?" Ron said, this time more to himself.

"Would you stop being friends with me if I were a Slytherin?" Harry asked timidly, and suddenly this was less funny to Ginny. Apparently Harry was really broken up about this.

"What?" Ron said again, and now Ginny just wanted to hex him.

"I don't understand, honestly," said... was that Blaise? Yes, Ginny thought so. "You're so Gryffindor. You're the epitome of Gryffindor. You are Gryffindor embodied."

"Thank you." Said Harry curtly. "Ron?"

"What?"

Ginny had to do something, Harry was being so earnest and Ron was being so stupid. "It doesn't matter that you were almost in Slytherin," she said walking in.

"What are you doing back?" Malfoy sneered at her.

"Ginny?" asked Ron. So the prat was able to say something other than what then.

"Hello brother of mine, I believe Harry asked you a question." Ginny said. He blinked for a moment and turned abruptly to Harry.

"Uh... what?"

Ginny's hand twitched.

"Harry wants to know if you two would still be friends if he were sorted into Slytherin." Luna said coming in as well.

"Oh of course, now Loony Lo-"

"Silencio!" Ginny hit Malfoy with the spell so hard he fell back. "Be glad that wasn't something worse. Well Ron?"

"It doesn't matter to me Harry!" Colin said, sounding more genuine than when he was asked earlier. He was also a lot more excited, seeing Harry just seemed to bring this out of him. Malfoy, though silent, seemed to be trying to show his exasperation with Colin being there as well. "You'd be the first good Slytherin!"

"Thanks Colin." Harry said politely, still looking at Ron. Ron still looked like he'd been hit in the head with a bludger.

"Ron!" Ginny snapped. Ron jumped. "Does it matter that Harry was almost in Slytherin?"

"Wha- er no," he said still looking confused. "No, no. No of course not."

That was much better, and Ginny smiled.

"No," Ron continued. "It's just, blimey, it surprised me. You could have warned me."

Hannah gave Harry a smile. "It really doesn't matter much, Harry, I reckon a lot of us could have been sorted somewhere else."

Malfoy made a gesture as if to say he was not among these people.

"I was almost in Gryffindor." Hannah continued.

"I was nearly out in Ravenclaw." Blaise said. Malfoy looked him up and down, before seeming to decide this didn't affect anything. He likely thought something along the lines of 'Better Ravenclaw than Gryffindor or Hufflepuff.'

Ginny asked, "Luna, you were under the hat for a very long time. What house were you almost put in?"

"I was always going to go to Ravenclaw, but I had a nice chat with the hat." Luna smiled. "He doesn't get to talk to many people. I should find a way to say hello to him."

Malfoy was looking at Luna like he was completely baffled by her.

"I was almost put in Slytherin." Ginny finally admitted. It was why she was so giddy about learning that Harry had almost been as well. She had figured she was the only Gryffindor to almost be put in Slytherin, but here was proof that she wasn't the only one. But being honest with herself, she sometimes wondered if she was almost in Slytherin because the sorting hat was picking up on Tom Riddle already having a hold of her. She had already been pouring her soul into the diary by that point. She gave an involuntary shudder.

"Were you really?" Ron asked. "Well, that's interesting, I'll have to tell Fred and George."

"Why?" Ginny questioned.

"We thought there was a chance you'd be sorted into Slytherin," he admitted. When Ginny raised her eyebrows, he said, "They ran a book."

"They ran a book?" Ginny repeated. She looked to his right, and saw Harry looking at her with a thoughtful expression. Goosebumps broke out on her arm and she quickly looked to her boyfriend. He was smiling at her. It didn't have the same effect but she returned it and then looked back at Ron. "You know, for a while I sorta thought you could have been sorted into Slytherin."

"You're just saying that because you're angry about Fred and George and the book." Ron said.

"No I really think so," Ginny insisted.

"I think all of the Weasleys could have been Slytherins." Luna said with a small smile. Ginny saw as Malfoy made a horrible face at such a thought, and Ron didn't look much better.

"Well let's see." Lisa Turpin said suddenly. "We can actually analyze these books and see just how Slytherin they are! I'll make a list of every time a Weasley has done something that would be considered Slytherin and we can really see how Slytherin they are."

"Actually," Blaise began and then he looked over at Malfoy silently fuming and let out an exasperated sigh. "Finite."

"-if a Weasel ever set foot in Slytherin!" Malfoy shouted his voice suddenly back. He frowned. "Took you long enough."

"I liked the quiet." Zabini said simply. Ginny stopped herself from laughing, she would not laugh at a Slytherin's joke. "I'll do the list."

"Why?" Malfoy demanded.

"I feel like it'd be best if it were done by a Slytherin." Blaise shrugged. "And I'm interested myself."

Malfoy looked like his head was about to explode, and then he finally said, "Well fine. But I'll do my own list. Of every time the Weasleys were too Gryffindor for their own good. And I promise, my list will be much larger than yours."

"Perhaps," Blaise shrugged again.

"That would be even better," Lisa Turpin grinned. "We can compare them."

Ron suddenly raised his hand. "Do I get a say in this?"

"I don't know, Ron." Ginny said thoughtfully. "I'm sort of interested as well. You're not afraid your Slytherin list will be longer than your Gryffindor list, are you?"

"No." Ron said slouching looking quite unhappy. "So then it's settled." Blaise said.

"Well we'd better get back and finish reading." Ginny said quickly. As Ginny went back up to the seventh floor corridor with her friends, she realized none of them asked why they'd shown up in the first place. They did the pacing ritual, and they were met with a room that was exactly how they'd left it.

"I'm not going to say that wasn't interesting," Colin began, getting comfortable again and letting the book fall open in his lap. "But we'd probably be finished if you didn't keep running off."

"That was the last time, swear it." Ginny promised. And she meant it, she would calm down. Other than that, not much more happened in the chapter. The most significant thing to happen in this chapter was his scar burning when he saw professor Snape, which they now knew was because of Quirrell, and Harry's strange and slightly prophetic dream in which Quirrell's turban was talking to him.

"That was creepy." Colin said closing the book and stretching. "I've never had a dream like that."

"May I ask what the portrait lady's name is?" Luna asked.

"The Fat Lady." Ginny and Colin answered. Luna frowned.

"What's her real name?" she asked.

The two Gryffindors looked at each other. "I only know her as The Fat Lady." Colin said.

"Well, perhaps you should learn her name." Luna suggested. "I bet she'd like that a lot better than The Fat Lady."

"We'll keep that in mind." Ginny said. "I know we're supposed to discuss the chapter, but the thing we'd talk about the most, we already talked about."

"We can talk about how odd Dumbledore is." Colin said grinning.

"Yes, he is an odd man, isn't he?" Ginny grinned as well. "He's great though. Fred and George love him, they respect anyone who can indulge in a good laugh. And I think he loves them too. Chaotic they may be, they brighten everyone's day and I think he appreciates that."

"He's certainly has unorthodoxed methods." Luna said.

"Yeah, like his speech to the class." Colin snorted.

"Speech? Oh, do you mean the one about not visiting the third floor corridor?" Luna asked. "Yes, that was certainly strange."

"No I mean- what was strange about him telling not to visit the third floor corridor?" Colin asked.

"Well, I just feel like if he really didn't want anyone going to the third-floor corridor, he wouldn't tell anyone it's out of bounds, but instead put a few spells around it to repel students. After all, curious students must have wondered what was in there and they're likely to go looking."

"Interesting." Ginny agreed.

"But if that's not the speech you were talking about, what was?" Luna asked.

"I meant before they ate." Colin said. "Nitwit, Oddment, and all of that. Strange man, Dumbledore is."

"Really?" Luna asked. "I thought it was a great thing to say!"

"Did you?" Ginny asked. Luna nodded.

"Don't you see?" she asked. "I wish he said the same after our sorting."

Colin was looking quite confused, his eyes going cross eyed for a second. "Er, explain it for us?"

"Oh, well he's saying no matter what house we're in, we are all the same!" Luna smiled. Ginny was no less confused. How did she get that from what Dumbledore said. "See, the first word, nitwit, is what clued me in originally. Nitwit is a word that's used often in the Ravenclaw common room. Professor Dumbledore was saying what many Ravenclaws think of the other houses."

"They think we're all nitwits?" Ginny asked frowning.

"Not all of them, but... well yes a bit." Luna said. "But Gryffindor isn't much better, is it? That's where Blubber comes in. Gryffindors believe that they are the strongest and bravest, while the rest are blubber."

"That's... not true..." Colin said looking unsure. Ginny actually thought Luna had a point. Gryffindors did tend to be that way, she was guilty of thinking like that herself.

"And Oddment, well that one was directed at the Slytherins, who believe anything that isn't up to their standards should be discarded. And finally, Tweak, because many of the Hufflepuffs believe all of the other houses could change themselves even just a little to better themselves."

"Oh...kay..." Ginny said thoughtfully.

"So he's highlighting a way in which we're all the same. All of the houses!" Luna said grinning still. "And embracing the insults that come from the other houses. And also saying that the school wouldn't be Hogwarts without one of the houses."

"Well why couldn't he just say that?" Colin asked, his head in his hands like his head was hurting. "'Welcome back, don't think one house is better than the other because we're all the same at the end of the day'?"

"Well, the ridiculous way in which he said it is exposing the ridiculousness of the insulting phrases in the first place." Luna said. "And what better time to make such a speech than right after the sorting? It's brilliant!"

Ginny let her head fall into her hands. "Right, okay."

"But the sorting itself was quite fun, wasn't it?" Luna asked.

"Yeah it was." Colin said. "Although something confused me. How is it Ron thought you had to fight a troll to be sorted?"

"Fred told him," Ginny said lifting her head again. "Fred and George tell just enough truth that it's difficult to tell when they're lying. I've always been able to tell though."

"No, I mean, how come Ron doesn't know how we're sorted?" Colin asked. "With how many brothers went before him?"

"I'm not sure if it's a Hogwarts tradition or a Weasley tradition, but none of us know before we get there. I bothered Ron about it non-stop but he wouldn't tell me. Percy did the same to the twins, Fred and George did it to Ron ... you get it." Ginny rolled her eyes. "He should have known they wouldn't fight a troll, though."

"Didn't they fight a troll?" Colin asked. "In their first year? That's what I heard, anyway."

Ginny blinked, her mouth falling open. "Yeah, I believe they did. Fred must do really well in Divination."

"Maybe it's foreshadowing the fight with the troll." Luna smiled. Ginny snorted.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Do you ever wonder if maybe they might sort too soon." Colin said. "I mean we're eleven, people can change."

"I like to think we are sorted based off of, not who we are at the time, but what we need and who we need to be around to be the best versions of ourselves." Luna said.

Ginny smiled. "I like that. A lot." She wondered what Harry would say to something like that. She still had goosebumps from when Harry had put so much focus on her. What was he thinking? Was he picturing her as a Slytherin? Seeing her differently? Maybe he thought the hat made a mistake and she should have gone to Slytherin after all. Perhaps he thought it made a mistake with him as well. Perhaps he was imagining a world where they were both in Slytherin, sneered at by their housemates, trying to find a true place in the school, having only each other to turn to-

"Ginny? Nothing to add?" Colin snapped her out of her thoughts. She was being ridiculous. She had Michael now. But aren't you only with Michael because Hermione said the best way to get Harry to notice you was to venture out? Isn't Michael just a placeholder until Harry realizes who he should really be with?

Shut up you!

Michael was not a placeholder. Ginny genuinely liked him, she wouldn't waste time with him if she didn't. And really, did Harry even deserve her? She was positive he still saw her as Ron's little sister that got herself trapped in a chamber with a giant bloody snake and used to turn the color of Ron's sweaters at the first sign of him. She was so much more than that now.

"Er, sorry. What was that?" she answered and asked.

"Well Luna and I were just talking about what Neville said about his uncle." Colin said. "The way he was treating Neville."

"Oh." Ginny said darkly.

"I think it might be beneficial if the school looked into everyone's home life when they get here." Luna said thoughtfully. "Or, if that is too invasive, the ministry."

"I just think it's unfortunate that I'm going to have more people to hex now. Well not unfortunate, but certainly inconvenient." Ginny said.

"You know what is interesting to me?" Luna said thoughtfully. "Sad, certainly, but also interesting. Harry was treated poorly by his relatives because he was too magical. Neville was treated poorly by his relatives because he wasn't magical enough. If we all accepted each other the way we are, we'd all be a lot less harmful to each other."

Colin stared at Luna, and then began smiling. "You're really something, Luna."

Luna smiled back.

"Hey," Colin said as they began to stand and stretch some more. "Didn't you notice something odd about the ghosts' conversation to the first years? I could have sworn they had the exact same conversation before our sorting."

"It was so long ago," Ginny said. "But yeah, I think you might be right."

"I got the feeling it was all rehearsed." Luna said.

"How'd you figure that?" Colin asked.

"Well, they asked us what we were all doing there." Luna said with a slight shrug. "They've been here for centuries, he should know what we were all doing there. But they were acting as if they were surprised we were there, or confused. I suspect it's a nice bit of entertainment they get at the start of each year."

"That's a good point." Ginny said.

"I guess I was too busy staring at the ghosts to truly register anything they were saying." Colin chuckled. "Glad we finally got through the chapter. Even with all of the distractions."

Ginny shrugged. "Next chapter we'll hear about their first lessons."

They gathered their things and checked to see if the halls were clear before they left the room. When they got to a busier corridor, they heard people speaking about the sorting.

Everyone was talking to each other about the house they were almost sorted into. Ginny, Luna, and Colin were behind Seamus Finnigan, he was talking to Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. Parvati was always going to go in Gryffindor, but Lavender was almost sorted into Hufflepuff and apparently Seamus was another Gryffindor who was almost a Slytherin. Maybe the two houses shared more traits than either would like to admit.

"Would you like to read next chapter together?" Luna asked.

"I think we're reading the next chapter in class." Ginny said. "And after that I said I would read with some of my roommates, but we'll read together again before the book ends."

"Okay!" Luna smiled and started to walk to her common room. Colin and Ginny continued to the Gryffindor common room.

"I can read with you two as well, right?" Colin asked.

"Of course!" Ginny grinned. They reached The Fat Lady and she asked for the password, but before Seamus could give it, Ginny stopped him and turned to the portrait. "Wait, what's your name?"