2. Andromeda

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Sue me. But if you do I have to warn you that I have exactly 26 cents in my wallet and I'm sure your legal costs will be a lot more than 26 cents.

Italics are the sorting hat. Just like before.

The ceiling of the Great Hall is really quite interesting to look at. I've heard my sister Bellatrix, Bella talk about it but its one thing to hear about it and another to actually see it. Everybody else is enthralled with the sorting hat and its song but I'd rather look at the ceiling. It was raining, more of drizzle than rain actually, when we crossed the lake in those little boats. But now it's a full on thunderstorm. There's lightening and every few moments you can here a clap of thunder. The sky is a mess of swirling clouds and rain and wind. It's beautiful in a haunting sort of way. I take my eyes away from the ceiling and see that the boy beside me is also gazing up at it. He's sort of peculiar looking but in an interesting way.

"How do they do it?" He says, the awe evident in his voice and I'm not sure who he's addressing but I answer anyways.

"Magic. Obviously."

"Yeah but like how? I don't get it. My parents aren't magic. I don't know anything about it."

I immediately stiffen and open my mouth to speak but no words come out. He's muggleborn. I've never talked to anyone who wasn't a pureblood before. My parents had made sure of that. Muggleborns are supposed to be evil and dirty. They're not our equals. But this strange, peculiar looking little boy is making me reconsider this and I couldn't tell you why. He just seems… normal. Like everyone else. Hardly filth.

I try opening my mouth again to say something but before I can Professor McGonagall, the only teacher whose name I know, calls out my name and I find myself pushing through the crowds of students until I reach the front. All that's visible is a small stool with an old, mistreated looking hat sitting on top. I stop in my steps for a moment and then I realise everyone is looking at me. I immediately flush as red as a tomato. Another moment passes and my feet don't seem to want to move. I'm rooted to my spot and I'm suddenly consumed by fear. What if I trip? What if the hat can't decide what house to put me in? Or worse… what if I'm not in Slytherin? My parents would surely disown me. I'd have no where to go. Our entire family has been in Slytherin as far back as anyone can remember.

"Andromeda Black!" McGonagall calls out again and I turn even redder as I begin to slowly walk towards the hat. A wave of laughter echoes throughout the hall. I'm sure that I'll never live this down. I can already imagine what my sister Bella would say. She'd tell my parents how I didn't move when McGonagall called me like a stupid mudblood.

I sit down on the stool and I the hat slips over my eyes. I can't see anything and I wonder what's going to happen next. Bella or anyone else has never really explained how the sorting hat works.

"Well… another Black. You breed like Weasley's." A small voice says and I almost jump off the stool in fright. I couldn't hear this voice when other people where being sorted so I must be the only one who can hear it.

"You're definitely not the brightest. Ravenclaw wouldn't suit you… Not the bravest either. But you seem to lack the qualities of a Slytherin that are all too present in all of your relatives. But Hufflepuff… Hufflepuff would definitely suit you."

I'm glad the hat is covering my eyes because right now they are wide in shock. I can't be in Hufflepuff. Or Ravenclaw. Or Gryffindor. I have to be in Slytherin! It's the only house as far as my parents are concerned. I can't be place anywhere else. I just can't. It's impossible. I'm a Black. Therefore I HAVE to be a Slytherin. It's expected of me. My breath is starting to come in short gasps and I've crossed my fingers, praying that I'm placed in Slytherin.

"Hufflepuff is almost definitely the right house for you but if you're sure…"

I've stopped breathing all together and I'm waiting and hoping and praying. I don't want to be anywhere but Slytherin. It doesn't matter what house suits me best. I have to be in Slytherin. I just have to. Finally "SLYTHERIN" rings out across the hall and I let out a deep sigh of relief.

I pull the hat off my head and I walk, nearly skipping in relief, over to the Slytherin table and take my place beside Bellatrix. She looks over at me in curiosity as if she's wondering why the hat took so long with me but she doesn't say anything. I watch the rest of the sorting without much interest until I hear the name "Ted Tonks" and I see that peculiar looking little muggleborn boy take his place on the stool. After mere seconds of deliberation "HUFFLEPUFF" booms across the hall and I feel a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Bellatrix scoffs beside me, just like she's been doing every time some one is sorted into a house that isn't Slytherin.

As he walks over to the Hufflepuff table I feel slightly jealous of him. Because of his parentage he's free. He can be sorted wherever and it doesn't matter. His parents won't hate him and he won't be disowned. I can still feel that sinking feeling in my stomach and I wonder that if things were different would we be friends?

I just had to put Ted in. And Bellatix. Anyway Narcissa is next up. Please review!!!