The Sorting

Neville led them through the corridor, explaining the four Houses' attributes as they filed in silently. "Gryffindor is my old House," he nodded, limping slightly, "Those in my House are brave, daring, and occasionally reckless." There, he smiled fondly. "Hufflepuff... They'll tell you they're duffers, but don't worry – my wife was one, and she didn't turn out too bad, my daughter Val as well! Ravenclaws are clever and especially witty. Slytherin houses the cunning, the ambitious, and the determined."

He continued, his brown eyes on the chandelier hanging overhead. Rose could see that they were quickly approaching double oak doors and felt a pang of excitement. She was finally at Hogwarts! Now, she could get James back, explore the grounds, visit the library... Her mind drifted until she heard the unmistakable sounds of sharp intakes of breath. Craning her neck, she found that Neville had pried open the doors, and they were walking into the Great Hall.

She could barely keep herself from bouncing. Shuddering slightly, she grinned at her cousins; Molly at Hufflepuff table, Dominique at Slytherin (who ignored her), and Victoire and James at Gryffindor. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning, her curls quivering, she found herself face-to-face with Louis.

"Where were you?" he asked. "I was looking for you."

"Oh, I was with Al and Scorpius."

"Malfoy?" His blue eyes were wide. He yawned; Louis Fabian Weasley was always yawning, to her knowledge. The family had long since gotten used to it. "Bloody, Rose!"

"Shut it!" she snapped. "He's somewhere behind, and he's really nice!" Scowling, she added, "I bet you'll be Hufflepuff."

Louis shrugged, though he was starting to look a tiny bit worried. With a perverse satisfaction from that victory, Rose turned her attention back to Al and Scorpius. Al was staring at the crowds, more like gaping; what an idiot he was! Scorpius was frowning slightly and staring back at those who threw him dirty looks in a most calm manner.

"He's back!" someone shouted.

Rose frowned. She hadn't noticed Neville leaving, but now she saw him returning with the Sorting Hat. She smiled broadly as the hat opened his brim like a mouth and began to sing his yearly song:

A long, long time ago,

Before, without a doubt, you were born;

Two wizards, two witches of the age, reunited

There was Godric Gryffindor, seducer extraordinaire

Running headfirst into duels, never having a thought beforehand

There was Rowena Ravenclaw, the haughty seamstress's daughter

Beautiful, but vain, and very, very proud; intelligence was her drive

There was Helga Hufflepuff, maidservant in an inn

Poor but compassionate, she was the most loyal of them all

And last, but not least, there was Salazar Slytherin, second son of a duke

Power-hungry, ruthless, but determined and wily; his beliefs were his fall

They gave their surnames to Houses, four if I count well;

They gave their strongest traits as attributes

Attributes you will with no doubt heed

So join me, young friend-

Let us Sort without further delay!

Neville took a scroll of parchment paper from his pocket, smiled at the worried-looking first years, and began calling out names.

"Bagman, Luke!"

A green-faced blond boy with big blue eyes looked confused, as Neville directed him to the stool with a point-

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Beetle, Mark!"

A tall boy with greenish spikes in his ordinarily brown hair strutted to the Sorting Hat, throwing various other people contemptuous looks-

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Belby, Taurus!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Blishwick, Mimosa!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Burke, Helena!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Corner, Ryan!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Corner, Sophia!"

His equally haughty-looking twin sister, it seemed-

"RAVENCLAW!"

Rose thought she heard Sophia sigh in relief, but the sound was then drowned by the thunderous applause from the Ravenclaw table.

"Davies, Simon!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Derby, Evan!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Finch-Fletchey, Richard!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Finnigan, Patricia!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Rose wondered why the sandy-haired girl she had seen at the Leaky Cauldron during the summer seemed slightly disappointed as she skipped over to the Gryffindor table, where James and his band of loser friends clapped her on the back and wolf-whistled.

"Flint, Dorea!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Fortescue, Lawrence!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Fortescue, Mario!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The twins glanced at each other longingly as they made their way to their separate House tables.

"Gamp, Algernon!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Hoffman, Tara!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

With surprise, Rose watched Sophia Corner grin at Tara as she patted the seat beside her.

"Huang, Melanie!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Jordan, Amy!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Jordan, Kayla!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The third set of twins, Rose thought. There sure were many twins this year. Like the Fortescue brothers, the girls were nearly identical, only one had pigtails and the other's hair was loose, curly, and bushy. They high-fived each other as they sat down.

"Lam, Cindy!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Lee, Caroline!"

Rose held her breath. She wondered where Caroline would end up – Hufflepuff, perhaps? She seemed like the type.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Well, there were always surprises in life, Rose thought.

"Macmillan, Skylar!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Malfoy, Scorpius!"

The entire hall seemed to hold its breath as Scorpius made his way, slowly, to the stool on which the Sorting Hat rested upon. The boy was nervous, yet so excited that he could not find words to describe it, later; he grabbed it with a slightly shaky hand and put it onto his blond head.

The inside of the hat was dark as he pulled it over his grey eyes. He blinked, once or twice; and then he heard a tiny voice, like a bee's buzzing. "Ah, a Malfoy." There was a short pause as Scorpius drew in a breath. "Yes. You are much harder to Sort than your grandfather, and even your father." The boy knew that it was speaking of his Malfoy grandfather. "Your mind works in a similar way than your aunt Daphne's, really – innocent, yet so brave and wise. Mmm-hmm. I suggested Ravenclaw for her, you know; she begged for Slytherin. Later, I did realise she made a good Slytherin. Fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, even."

"Don't put me in Slytherin," Scorpius said flatly.

"Agreed," the Hat replied quietly. "You don't really have the ruthless drive that the members of Salazar's House possess... You have not a bad mind, really. A desperate thirst to prove yourself away from your family... I like that, lad. You're peaceful, you don't like fighting, but you'll do it when you're provoked. Hmm. Nay, you are too – ah – hard for Hufflepuff. I'd say Gryffindor. Yes, your daring, nerve, and chivalry do tend to stick out."

"Let it be GRYFFINDOR!"

The Great Hall seemed to be shell-shocked for a sheer moment, as Scorpius looked at the floor and walked quickly to the Gryffindor table; Rose saw Victoire get up, her prefect badge gleaming on her chest, and begin cheering. Wolf-whistling, she grinned broadly, shook Scorpius's hand. "Welcome to Gryffindor!" she shouted above the raucous applause that had erupted after many other lions had begun following her lead, clapping so loudly the Slytherins' indignant whispers were almost drowned. Almost.

"Wait! Draco Malfoy's son, in bloody Gryffindor?"

"A Malfoy? A bloody Malfoy in Gryffindor? You can't be serious, dratted hat!"

"Re-Sorting! Re-Sorting! Malfoy belongs with us!"

"Great, now his father can't sponsor our Quidditch team..."

"Do you think he'd sponsor Gryffindor, you prat?"

Scorpius winced. He suddenly began dreading Christmas. His insides twisted, wondered whether his parents would throw him out of the house; where would he go? He was quite certain his sister wouldn't accommodate him in her flat, and his grandfather had no power whatsoever over Father. Maybe Aunt Daphne and Uncle Theodore would take him in, in their villa in France? Alcmene and he had always gotten along well...

He turned his head, his attention focusing on the Sorting. Unknown to him, Al and Rose were watching him carefully, still in line. Al promised himself he would remain friends with Scorpius, no matter what; the poor bloke needed friends. Bonus, Scorpius Malfoy was nice. He felt slightly sick as he continued to wait for his turn in the Sorting.

"Nott, Alcmene!"

Al guessed that the slight girl with chocolate brown hair and big brown eyes – actually, he found her quite good-looking – was Scorpius's cousin-

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Peakes, Pierce!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Potter, Albus!"

Breathe, idiot, he told himself sternly as he stumbled, blindly, to the stool. Feeling a firm hand on his scrawny shoulders, he found himself staring at Neville, who smiled reassuringly, maybe a tad sympathetically. Al flushed. He bet that hadn't happened at James's Sorting, and wouldn't happen at Rose's.

His head of aggressively messy black hair disappeared along with most of his face – including those bright green eyes inherited from Gran Potter – as Al saw the inside of the hat. He inhaled again, and then told the Hat, "I'm ready. Sort me, now."

The Hat was highly amused; or, it sounded so to Al. "Very well. A Potter, I see. Why, I Sorted your brother last year."

"James Potter," Al said automatically. It was a reflex.

"Ah," it ignored his comment. "You have a sharp, sarcastic mind... Ravenclaw would be good for you, but I see you do not enjoy learning so... Hmm. You are also self-preserved, by some degree; you think before acting, I see. But you possess a remarkable amount of courage and daring, still. What say you, Albus Severus?"

"Al," he corrected. "I think Gryffindor."

"Good luck in GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindors' reaction was simultaneous; all stood up, clapping wildly. Al saw a blur of faces, as his housemates began shaking hands with him enthusiastically – he lost track of their names as soon as they said them; there were too many, really. All he could make out was the constant refrain, "We got Potter!"

A tall boy made his way through the crowd of Gryffindors, nimbly; he grinned at Al, and embraced him with a tight hug. Messing up his hair (something that James most certainly knew his brother did not like, but did anyways), James said, "Congratulations, Al! Never thought you would have made Gryffindor, but congrats, anyways!"

"Yeah," Al muttered darkly, "You hoped that I would have been Slytherin, eh?"

His eyes travelled to Scorpius, and they both nodded in mutual understanding. Moving a wee bit to the left, the blond boy gestured to the free space on the bench. Al obeyed, his feet hanging a few inches from the ground as he stared at the wood table.

"Good making Gryffindor, Al," Scorpius said with a small smile.

"Thanks." The boy paused. "Will your parents be mad?"

Scorpius laughed. "Of course they'll be angry, I'm sure. I'm only worried that they'll send a Howler or the like; I don't care about pleasing my parents, at all. They'll have to be content with their imperfect son, if they want an heir, however stupid and unfit, to their precious Malfoy line."

Al, not sure what to reply to that, went back to giving a smirk to Rose, while Scorpius stared off into the distance.

Rose was positively quivering with impatience, right now; her two friends had been Sorted, all in Gryffindor, and her sort-of friend Caroline as well. Biting her lip, she set for staring at Neville with rapt attention, her blue eyes wide.

"Rosier, Alexandra!"

Neville had only called the next name when the applause had died down, slightly, to a controllable level, with the approval of the Headmistress-

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Smith, Jerome!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Thames, Priscilla!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Thomas, Darcy!"

Rose had seen the dark-skinned boy in Diagon Alley, a few weeks ago; he had sold Potions ingredients to her in his mother's apothecary-

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Verde, Camilio!"

A second's hesitation-

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Walter, William!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Weasley, Louis!"

Rose nudged him as he stepped forward, lips pressed tightly together. Neville caught his eye, nodded; he gave a thumbs-up-

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Weasley, Rose!"

Rose half-skipped, half-ran as she approached the wooden stool. Jamming the hat onto her head eagerly, she ignored the snickers and laughs from all four House tables as the older students viewed this bizarrely hyper child.

"Ah, excited, I see," said the Sorting Hat, sounding weary. "Clever mind, like your mum, but you do have Weasley blood. You remind me of another girl that came through beloved Hogwarts, not so long ago. I put her in Ravenclaw. I wonder if taming would work by me Sorting you there?"

"I want to be a Gryffindor," snapped Rose. She was conscious of her impoliteness and added, "Sir, please."

"OK, let us not be hasty, then. Hufflepuff is definitely out; Slytherin as well with your prejudices of Slytherins. Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Yes, I rather think Gryffindor. Dumbledore did tell Harry Potter I would take choices into matter, and I wouldn't want to contradict him."

"Yes, you wouldn't."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Rose thought she heard the hat sigh as she pulled it off her head; she however held no regard as she grinned at the clapping Gryffindors, squeezing in between Al and an older Gryffindor. James came over to congratulate her, yelling at a long-haired bloke at the Hufflepuff table, "You owe me twelve Galleons, Rick!"

"Damn!" the Hufflepuff yelled back, scowling. "Give me time, I'll have to borrow it off from Val!" He nudged the blond girl beside him, whispered something into her ear as she frowned at him and mouthed something that seemed like a swear.

"Hello," Rose turned her head, shock of brown curls and all, to the boys. "Congrats, Al, Scorpius."

"Thanks," Scorpius smiled at her. "Congratulations, yourself, Rose."

"Aye," Al added, grinning. He looked towards the front. "Only a few left."

In fact, this year's Sorting was concluded by a "Ye, Jules!", who went to Hufflepuff, and a "Zabini, Natasha!", who went to Slytherin. After the two had left to sit at their respective House tables, Neville carried both the stool and the Sorting Hat away, his scroll of parchment that was the class list exploding into dust.

At the High Table, an elderly witch with stern features and grey hair in a bun stood up, surveying them with her spectacled beady eyes. A smile formed on her thin lips as she caught hold of several of the first years shrinking away from her slightly. "Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, first years," she intoned in a voice that seemed to enrapture even the bored-looking seventh year Slytherins. "For those who do not know, I am your Headmistress – Professor McGonagall. There are a few announcements I want to make, more notably on Mr Filch's newly expanded list of forbidden objects and substances," she had a dry smile at that, "but as many of you, particularly Mr James Potter at the Gryffindor table, seem to wish that I would be Silenced, and quickly, so we shall first eat."

Al smirked when he saw James redden and look down at his empty plate.

Maybe Hogwarts wouldn't be so unlike home, after all.

Hey, thanks for the reviews/alerts/favourites, by the way! :)

So, the trio is now Sorted - next chapter is the Feast and a few strange happenings before they are finally off to bed. There will also be a revelation about Scorpius's family - well, a small one.

Ah, and for the shifts in POVs - they will mostly alternate between the trio, though like in the beginning, can occasionnally change. The Crossover part will be more visible after a few more chapters, I hope.

End of rant - please read and review, especially if you favourited/alerted!