Harry watched quietly as each person was called up to put on the hat. Every single person seemed nervous - did people really think this - was it really going to make that much difference? Bloody hell, they were making Harry nervous. Which was quite a feat, as Harry was already nervous.

Still, Harry watched quietly, even moreso as the children took the hat off. Strangely, very few of them looked displeased. Did the hat really know what it was doing? Harry watched Granger get sorted to Gryffindor, and refrained from clapping (as no one else was, and it would be noticeable), hopefully wondering if he might be able to make use of the brainy girl. The Gryffindors (as expected) erupted in loud cheers - Harry hadn't seen anything in the book that had referenced their cheerful boisterousness, but he supposed that, so long as there wasn't a war on, the Gryffindors would continue to act like the happy puppy pack that they so much resembled.

Longbottom, Harry was surprised to see, went to Gryffindor, looking more out of place than Granger - who had seemed happy (while clutching a book - was that Hogwarts a History?). Longbottom, on the other hand, simply looked... afraid. For his sake, Harry hoped that the poor kid turned over a new leaf here. It was clear that being shy wasn't a normal Gryffindor trait.

Harry watched Malfoy get sent to Slytherin, and really had to stop himself from clapping. Not simply because he was hoping not to be sent there as well, but because the blond had sounded completely certain that he had to go there, and Harry wasn't the type of person who wanted someone hurt, even if that person was a foppish brat.

Harry saw someone go over to the Ravenclaw table, and marked at how even the applause was. In fact, thinking back, he realized something. The Gryffindors cheered for their own, yes, but the Hufflepuffs clapped in unison (how Russian) when a Gryffindor was sorted, and the Ravenclaws did soft, polite clapping too. The Hufflepuffs continued to clap in unison (but louder) whenever someone got sorted into their house (the Gryffindors clapped in a scattershot fashion for anyone going to Hufflepuff, almost as if no one had agreed to do anything, so people did exactly what they fancied) - the Ravenclaws did their soft polite clapping. When a Ravenclaw was sorted, there was a sort of muted silence through the hall, the Ravenclaws clapping quietly - hands on shoulders, welcoming all. When a Slytherin got sorted, however, there were glares, and a few of the Gryffindors even hissed. The Slytherins only clapped for their own, and clapped firmly, as if they needed to outshout the rest of the hall's studious silence.

Harry devoutly hoped he wouldn't be in Slytherin. Even the welcome there seemed cold and assessing - and the looks from the rest of the school were far from encouraging.

Finally, he heard "Harry Potter" announced from McGonagall's lips. Gritting his teeth to keep from shaking, he stood up and walked with eyes straight, toward the sorting hat. Out of the corners of his eyes, he wondered if he imagined all the conversation stopping - the entire hall taking on an unnatural air of quiet. Oh, the Slytherins affected an air of unconcern - but they were still quiet, still watchful. Perhaps the most watchful, which was really no surprise, their house trait being Cunning.

Harry Potter put the hat on his head, slightly annoyed at it dropping over his eyes.

"Hello, who do we have here?"

"Harry Potter, Sir Sorting Hat. Soon to be Gryffindor."

"Oh, my! THE Harry Potter, under my brim!" Harry swore he heard the hat frown. "And just why does THE Harry Potter want to be in Gryffindor, of all places."

"Well, see, it's just, everyone seems to expect me to be a hero - and isn't Gryffindor the House of Heroes?" Harry Potter managed in as abashed and bashful a tone as he could manage.

"You'll find there are heroes in all the houses, child. And, really, such an odd reason to want to be in Gryffindor." Harry Potter could hear the hat's intent sharpening. "You, who doesn't even want to be a hero. Really, you want to be in Gryffindor? Whyever there?"

Harry Potter took a deep breath and started to tell the truth. "It's the best place to hide, Sir Hat. If no one's expecting me to be anything other than what I appear, well, then I can do as I please - at least occasionally. Enough to stand a chance."

"Why, what a Slytherin reason to want to go to Gryffindor!" The hat paused, and said, "Surely you can do better than that."

"I've made friends with a Weasel and a Granger, and they're going to Gryffindor, I mean you already know that Granger is going, and I can't possibly see that lazy Weasel going anyplace else... Couldn't you please put me in Gryffindor?" Harry asked, his eyes wide with the pleading.

"Why, what a Hufflepuff reason to want to be in Gryffindor!" Sir Hat said, and Harry could swear his eyes twinkled.

"I'm not a hero now, Sir Hat, and I can't really imagine wanting to be a hero, but I think Gryffindor House might teach me better about the skills I'm going to need to be a hero."

Sir Hat then muttered a snippy, "not likely" before saying, "Why, what a Ravenclaw reason to go to the house of the lions."

Harry Potter was at this point seriously considering throwing the hat down and saying to the Headmaster and teachers, "YOU sort me, because the blasted hat won't!" (of course, the slow mutters of the entire hall, as Harry spent more time than 10 of the other students combined, made this worse.)

"Before you do that," Sir Hat said quietly, and Harry froze, belatedly remembering that the Hat could read minds. "You'd fit better in Slytherin or Ravenclaw, you do know that, don't you?"

"Yes, of course." Harry Potter said with a roll of his eyes. "But everyone hates the Slytherins, and I think there are some supremacists there."

"There are, indeed" Sir Hat said, sounding seriously for once, "Won't you at least consider Ravenclaw?"

"No." Harry Potter said, "Ravenclaw will not get me quite the scrutiny of Slytherin, but I don't want people paying attention to me. I just want to be normal."

"You do not, Lord Potter. You do not want to be normal."
"Fine. I want to be absurdly powerful, but not to have anyone be aware of it."

"Well, that's at least the truth."

"The truth and I do have a passing acquaintance."

"Give me a reason for putting you in Gryffindor, and I'll do so." Sir Hat said, with a longsuffering sigh.

Harry Potter thought, quietly, sitting there and swinging his feet on the chair, thinking carefully over everything the hat had said. Swiftly, he stiffened, saying suddenly, with gritted teeth, "If you don't put me in Gryffindor, I will murder Draco Malfoy in cold blood and blame the whole thing on you."

Another longsuffering sigh came out of the Sorting Hat, as it said, "Good enough, I suppose. I'm not sure quite what I was expecting."

And the Hat opened its mouth, twenty minutes late, and said, "Gryffindor!"

The shouts (led by two redheaded Weasels) from the Gryffindor table were as raucous as expected, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" The entire world seemed to shift back to a relieved quiescence, as if the tension of "what if he's-?" had evaporated and left a good humor. Even a Slytherin was smiling, whispering to his friend. Harry had to bite his tongue to keep from whispering to one of the twins, "Just Barely."

[a/n: Write me a review? Pretty please? Reviews keep me writing this story and not half a dozen other ones I'm working on.]