The hundreds of curious, enraptured eyes made Andromeda's stomach twist uncomfortably. They were not all on her, in particular, but on all of the first years awaiting their sorting. They passed by her as quickly as they landed on her, surely wondering which one of them would be the first of the first years joining their house. The strawberry blonde-haired girl beside her was practically quaking and had been since the stern-looking Professor McGonagall had greeted them in the little room off of the Entrance Hall. Andromeda had heard her whispering to the fair-haired boy beside her about how desperately she wanted to go to Gryffindor, but she didn't seem very brave at all.

But Andromeda didn't have to worry. She was a Black and she knew exactly where she was going. Bella had said her own sorting had only taken a moment. "And it barely even hurt. Just a pinch." She added with one of her terrible grins, pinching an arm and drawing a yelp from Andromeda. Bellatrix was grinning at her now, from the Slytherin table at the far end of the hall. She had saved an empty seat beside her for Andromeda.

Yes, yes, she was going to Slytherin.

It wouldn't be long now, as the first student "Aaron, Janet," a girl far down the line from Andromeda, was called forward to the stool and the Hat dropped onto her head. A moment later, the Hat's seam of a mouth opened and shouted "Gryffindor!" The table farthest from the doors began roaring excitedly as Janet hurried toward them. At the Slytherin table, some students, including Bellatrix, were jeering.

This was repeated when the next girl also went quickly to Gryffindor. "Appledoorn, Desmond" was the first Hufflepuff. "Ashe, Eric" became the first Slytherin, who the others greeted with their own round of shouts and applause. A few Gryffindors returned the Slytherins' couple rounds of jeers.

Two more Gryffindors and another Hufflepuff were sorted before the quivering girl beside Andromeda, "Belby, Barbara," was called, and she walked forward quickly on shaky legs. The boy who had been on the other side of Barbara shuffled down the line toward Andromeda. He was short, fair-haired, and friendly-looking. He had a collared shirt poking out from under his robes and blue plimsolls on his feet. He was a Muggle-born, Andromeda realized with alarm as he smiled trepidly at her. She snapped her head around toward the stool where Barbara sat. The Hat was taking its time with her, stuck on that stool while everyone stared at her. Andromeda knew her turn was close. Why on earth could it be taking so long?

At the Slytherin table, a bespectacled, dishwater blonde girl was whispering behind one hand to Bellatrix and pointing at Barbara Belby with her other. Bella laughed at whatever she was saying. Then she caught Andromeda looking at her and smirked and waved. Andromeda tried to smile at her.

Finally, finally, the Hat shouted "Ravenclaw!" and after such a wait and being the first Ravenclaw, Barbara received a riotous cheer, with even some from the other tables joining in. Barbara was smiling shyly as she walked to the Ravenclaw table. She'd wanted Gryffindor. Andromeda felt a bit anxious at that thought.

Once it quieted down, Professor McGonagall called "Black, Andromeda." Andromeda came forward. The Hat slipped over her eyes, hiding the thousand burning gazes from view.

'Hello, well, what do we have here? Another Miss Black, I see?' said a little voice in her ear. 'Hmmm...but you're not much like your sister, are you? Not quite as clever. Very determined, yes, but certainly not as ambitious—Where should I put you?'

'Slytherin,' She thought indignantly. 'I am a Black."

'Hmm, but don't you want to be different? To stand out?' The Hat's little voice hissed.

'No!'

'Well, that's not very Slytherin of you, is it?'

'My sister has already saved me a seat.'

'Very loyal...maybe Hufflepuff?' the small voice said. Andromeda's heart hammered in her chest. Maybe she wasn't as clever as Bella but she wasn't stupid. 'Yes, there's great kindness buried in here somewhere and a willingness to work hard.'

'Who says a Slytherin can't be kind?' Andromeda thought.

'Who says a Black can't be in Hufflepuff?' The tiny voice almost sounded amused, and Andromeda furrowed her brow under the Hat's brim, her heart still beating very fast.

'I do and I'm a Black. You're just a stupid Hat.'

'I did say you were determined. I suppose it will be,' said the Hat, "Slytherin!" It took Andromeda a moment to realize that the last word was not just in her mind. The Hat was off her head, and the Slytherins were again cheering, Bella's voice loudest among them. Andromeda bounded off the stool toward them, as fast as she could.

"You had me scared for a moment, Drommy," Bella teased, with one of her terrible grins as Andromeda sat down beside her. Andromeda did not say anything. Her heart was still beating far too loudly, her breathing was too fast, but she forced herself to smile.

The next few minutes were filled with the names of Bella's friends (the ones she had not already met on the train), including the girl with dishwater blonde hair, who was called Rita. This conversation took up most of the rest of the B's and C's, punctuated by five more new Slytherins. Then, there were no more to join them until Moira Goyle and Ramona Greengrass.

"I don't know why they have us watch after the first couple. It's lost all narrative and tension." Rita said, leaning heavily on her arm. "It gets frightfully dull after a while, and I'm hungry."

They were only on the L's. "Longbottom, Francis," was striding happily toward Gryffindor.

"Oh, I don't know," Bellatrix grinned. "It's fun to watch the rest of them squirm," She pointed toward the blond probable-Muggle-born who was still standing in the thinning line of students, biting his lip and shifting foot-to-foot. Andromeda felt a bit bad for him, even if he was a Muggle-born. Is that what she had looked like up there?

The Hat barely touched "Malfoy, Lucius"'s white-blond head before it shouted "Slytherin!" and he sauntered over to join them. His cheers seemed louder than Andromeda's.

M's faded into N's to O's to P's and on and on before the Muggle-born boy, "Tonks, Edward" was called forward. He sat down on the stool quickly and nearly as fast as for Lucius Malfoy, the Hat bellowed "Hufflepuff!"

Edward's face broke out in a grin. He raced off toward his new house.

"I can't imagine why he's so happy," Bella rolled her eyes. "Really? Hufflepuff!"

"Maybe he doesn't know. Poor lamb," Rita said, picking at her acid green nail varnish, completely indifferent.

"You're right. He looks like a bloody Muggle." Bella agreed and turned to Andromeda and whispered, "Hufflepuff is loaded with Muggle-borns and half squibs. They appreciate that 'teach the lot' nonsense. It's a disgrace."

Andromeda looked over two tables to Hufflepuff, where Edward Tonks had joined his new housemates, all grinning together at the front of the table. They couldn't have all been Muggle-borns, too ignorant to know where they'd gotten themselves placed. She imagined herself among them for just a second and felt that twist in her stomach. She quickly turned her attention back to the sorting.

It went on until "Zeller, Enid," became the last new Hufflepuff, and Professor McGonagall rolled up the scroll and carried away the Hat. The Headmaster took a few moments to welcome them all and the feast began. Andromeda ate and drank pumpkin juice until her belly hurt. The food, excitement, and long journey north were by the end of the feast making her woozy and tired, and a Slytherin prefect led her and other first years down to the dark dungeons, through a door cut out of stone, and into the common room. They were sent off to bed, four to a room.

In the dark, behind the deep emerald drapes of her four-poster, Andromeda was alone. She was undoubtedly sleepy, yet unbidden thoughts came to her. She could have been in Hufflepuff. The Hat had almost put her there with Desmond Appledoorn, Enid Zeller, and the almost-squibs and Edward Tonks, the Muggle-born in the blue plimsolls. Oh, it would have been miserable, Mummy and Daddy disappointed in her, Bella hating her. Cissy would have cried. But it didn't matter. It's a stupid Hat, and it had done her right, besides. She was in Slytherin House, the place of her ancestors, where they'd lived and studied and slept. Perhaps, one of them in this very bed... Andromeda pulled her bedclothes tighter around her... And her sister was sleeping just down the corridor. And tomorrow morning, they would get up and go to breakfast together at the Slytherin table.