AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm so sorry these updates have come so late, I switched over to Archive of Our Own and almost forgot that I had stories on here. I promise I'll try to keep up with both. Also, I have seven new chapters to post so if you're reading this at the moment, give me a few minutes.

To everyone else in the dining hall, it was a tradition that they just listened to with smiles and rolled eyes as the first years watched in wonder as the seam of the hat opened up and cleared it's airway. But to a scattered few, they were listening. Hoping not to hear a warning or a prophecy of the man they never spoke of, who they didn't dare even say his name. When the hat started to sing, these scattered few bit their tongues and held their breath.

The melody was soft and quite, a tired old man retelling a tale long forgotten.

A seer with a smile,

A fighter with some charm.

A learner's resourcefulness,

A wit to disarm.

They came to together,

With a crash.

They built a school,

With a flash.

Magic in the air,

Jokes that were such fun.

But how to teach them,

When all is said and done?

Four houses were created,

To represent the few

Who had magic in their veins,

A comradery as glue.

The cats with their manes,

The birds with their voices,

The reptiles with their colors,

The badgers with their choices.

Seperate you are placed,

To give you an upraised chin.

But together you are family,

Connected by what lies within.

A hat that sings,

Teachers that ruin all your fun.

You think there is no more,

But the school year has just begun.

There was the ever present placating cheers of the houses with the polite clapping of the teachers. Lily on the other hand was tightening her grip on Peter's arm, the words running through her head at a million miles an hour. "Have you guys noticed a pattern in the songs? Is that normal? I mean last year it was about teaching us to be better because Gryffindor's tend to be arrogant and the other houses have their flaws too and this year it was all about coming together."

"You're overthinking it. The sorting hat just needs to sing and rhyme, it doesn't actually mean anything. Besides, that doesn't sound like a pattern to me." The newly appointed prefect was someone who loved to shove everyone else's noses in it. He was obsessed with house points, even the year before he liked to act as the perfect student.

"Shove it up your arse." Sirius called across the table just as one of the new first years went to sit down. It was startling to watch him suddenly transform into a friendly face, introducing himself and making jokes to help keep the poor child from running away screaming.

Lily caught Aphrodite's eyes across the room and started wiggling her brows, grinning over her friends blush. Even though they were just starting to grow into teenagers, Sirius had gained all of his pureblood charm. Was she worried about having to reel him back in? Yes. Was she going to use it to her best advantage at every opportunity? Also yes. "Leave the first years alone, Snuffles." She grinned evilly when his mask slipped for a second.

"James, how could you mate? Traitor!"

Waking up the next day was a struggle, she had almost forgotten how comfortable the beds were at Hogwarts. Or at least, it was a struggle until there was a dog pile on her bed of all of her mates. "LIIIILLLYYYY! You have to get up or we're going to miss Quin trying to control all of the first years. His partner left him to deal with it after her called her a ditz cause she was exhausted last night."

She was already up and throwing on her robes when she heard "miss Quin", fussing with her mass of curls to try and get them out of her eyes. "Does anyone have any…?" Lily grinned as she threw some Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and Scalp Treatment into her hair, quickly casting the coloring charm to make it go back to normal. "Okay. Let's go."

"You've still go some spots, let me fix it." After the first time they tried the product on each other, the girls all quickly learned a coloring charm for hair, to correct any mistakes that might occur. "You do look good as a blond with blue lights though."

"And you looked good with pink hair, Dua, but I'm still going to fix your hair any time you ask." They stuck their tongues out at each other before racing down the steps to watch the growing chaos in the common room.