"Snape, Severus."

Lily heard her friend's name being called and raised herself up off of her seat slightly to get a better view. He looked self conscious walking up to that stool in front of so many people, she saw him playing with the hem of his second hand robes. At least Professor McGonagall had got rid of all that mud, Lily thought, she didn't exactly what had happened when Severus fell, she had been too busy gazing up at the castle, but seeing as those two boys from the train where involved she was inclined to think it hadn't been entirely accidental. Severus looked over to her for a moment before he sat down on the stool and his lip twitched in a nervous smile. Lily tried to smile back but her face wouldn't quite obey. She was torn, she didn't want her and Severus to be split up, but she also wanted the best for Severus, even if she didn't manage to get into Slytherin at least one of them still might get in. What she really wanted of course was for them both of them to be in Slytherin, but it was too late for that now. She had to hope for what was the best outcome for Severus, she had hope on his behalf, as he had done for her, that he would get into the House of the successful and the great.

Severus wasn't ready. He wasn't ready to be Sorted. He had been ready half an hour ago but then Lily had been Sorted into Gryffindor and suddenly everything that was certain in the world had crumbled around him. He needed more time, time to think, time to decide. Of course he wasn't having doubts, he knew that he was a Slytherin through and through like his mother, he knew that was where he wanted to go... but then there was Lily. He looked over to the Gryffindor table as he turned around to sit down and be Sorted. He caught her eye and tried to offer her a smile, she looked like she was about to smile back but then she bit her lip instead.

He sat down on the stool and Professor McGonagall placed the Hat over his head.

"No stop! I need to think!" he wanted to scream, but of course, he didn't.

"Then by all means do, it may help me see you more clearly," said a voice that seemed to come from all around his head.

"Just wait then, please, I don't know where I want to go. I mean, I do know where I want to go but... can you re-Sort people? Can you give them a second chance?"

"I'm afraid not, are you concerned you may come to regret your Sorting... no, you are concerned for another... no, I am afraid not Severus Snape. You cannot change someone's nature."

"But people can change their own nature? Right?"

"In time, some do, but I have a strong feeling that Lily Evans won't. You are brave Severus Snape, proud too, you could make a good Gryffindor if your heart was in it. But you are also clever and cunning, you know when to stay hidden as well as when to stand and fight. You know how to control your feelings, because after all, feelings are hardly as important as thoughts and plans and aspirations are to you. You could do exceedingly well in Slytherin."

"Lily could have done well too."

"You could make a good Ravenclaw as well of course, you have a thirst for learning and a hunger for magic, but no, Slytherin or Gryffindor could offer you a better opportunity to prove yourself. I know where I would put you, but the choice is still there if you want to take it... Gryffindor or Slytherin."

"Slytherin," thought Severus, "I'm a Prince, and I'm a Slytherin, and Lily's a Slytherin too even if she was Sorted into the wrong House, I need to be in Slytherin for both of our sakes, I can make sure everyone knows Lily's not just some mudblood and I'm not just some halfblood either. We're Slytherins."

"I believe we can expect great things from you..."

"SLYTHERIN!" the Hat bellowed.

Professor McGonagall lifted the Hat of Severus's head and as he stood up he looked once more over to the Gryffindor table. He felt guilty about leaving Lily over there on her own when she was so much better than anyone else at that table, but really what was he to do? What good would it do anyone if he played the martyr and accepted a place in a House that was beneath him as well. He tried to communicate this to Lily in a look but she had already sank back down into her seat so that he couldn't see her over the heads of the taller students. He turned and walked to the Slytherin table. Just as he sat down he heard a loud whoop from the far end of the room, a whoop that was unmistakably Lily's. He smiled. Okay so it hadn't all gone quite to plan, but there was still plenty of times to rectify things. Lily deserved better than being lumped in with the House of reckless fools just because she was good and brave and kind. And now that he at least had made it into Slytherin he could work tirelessly to make sure that she had the same chance to be great as any pureblood did.

Lily sank back down into her seat. She should be happy, Severus had got into the House he wanted, and it wasn't as if they wouldn't be able to be friends any more just because they were in different Common Rooms and ate at different tables and had some different classes. And maybe at normal meals students could sit wherever they liked, maybe it was only at the important feasts that they had to sit at their House tables. No, she was just being stupid and jealous, it was her own fault that she wasn't good enough to get into Slytherin, but she could still prove that stupid Hat wrong couldn't she? She could still prove that she could become a successful witch, after all, Severus had said that it made no difference being muggleborn. And if the Hat thought she was brave as well then she could use that to her advantage. She got it together to cheer for Severus as he was welcomed onto the Slytherin table. She noticed she was the only person at the Gryffindor table cheering with any enthusiasm, and those horrible boys from the train were even boo-ing and hissing. She was not going to be like them just because she had been put in the same House as them. Who cared what House she was in anyway? She was still Lily Evans, being a Gryffindor didn't change anything.