Chapter 12: Sorting It Out Again

Severus pulled Lily towards the shadow of Hagrid emitted by the lantern he held high to guide the first years towards him, as if his towering, bulky figure wasn't enough. Lily was astonished to see this humongous man, with barely any visible skin on his face, and the biggest, bushiest beard she had ever seen.

"They have giants working here?!" she whispered to Severus.

"Just him, I think." said Severus. "He's not tall enough to be a full-grown giant. Maybe he's half giant."

"Giants and humans can mate?" asked Lily in amazement.

"Don't ask me how." chuckled Severus.

Soon, they, James Potter, Sirius Black and the other first years were all gathered before Hagrid, as the other students headed towards the area where the invisible Thestrals were waiting to carry them there by carriage. The second years were guided towards this area by the prefects and Head students. Severus wondered if his first life would impact on his own ability to see Thestrals in this life. He was yet to see one in this life, and he likely wouldn't see one until next year, because he knew the Forbidden Forest well as a professor at Hogwarts, he did not intend to break the rules as a student this year and draw attention to himself. Besides, knowing a pre-adolescent werewolf was also starting his first year here too, Severus knew better than to travel the grounds at night.

He was about to look among the students to see if he could spot the eleven-year-old Remus Lupin when Hagrid called out: "Follow me to the boats, please!"

Hagrid led them down towards the Black Lake, which excited Lily as she had never seen the grounds before.

"This place has everything!" she cried to her best friend.

Severus played the part of the excited first timer, holding Lily's hand as they went.

Eventually, Hagrid's lantern lit up some boats moored by the shore and it became clear what was to happen.

"Four people per boat, please! No fun and games while we travel up to the castle!" he bellowed.

Lily and Severus climbed into one of the boats. They were soon joined in the back seat of the small vessel by two boys. One of them looked slightly plump and extremely timid. The other looked more tired than anything else, and almost collapsed into his seat.

Severus didn't notice who they obviously were, as he was looking straight ahead of him, and towards the lake that would eventually bring into view of the Hogwarts castle. A place that filled him with joyful memories and fearsome and tiresome nightmares of his original life…and then in the wind, he felt sure he could hear the whishing and crunching sounds of the freshly grown Whomping Willow, the hiding place of the very building he had died in. He shuddered in his memory of this, but Lily saw it as a result of the wind hitting them, as they set off across the lake; the air grew colder as the night was growing darker and on the lake, it seemed worse. The water even seemed to be producing steam as it was below zero degrees under the surface, but the air out here was still at least eight to ten degrees.

Shortly, the boats came into view of the splendid castle. Its parapets and towers soared up to the sparkling night sky, the many windows had golden shades shining from firelight out onto the lake, making a beautiful and guiding reflection as the students floated, Hagrid leading the way in his own boat. Lily had never seen such a magnificent sight in all her life. Severus remembered his real first day, and Lily's awestruck expression was mimicked by this Lily to a tee.

Severus was so happy to see this part of his relived, and he knew that he would treasure that smile on her face forever. He hoped that this time, she would never cease to show him that smile.

At long last, Hagrid got them out of the boats and up towards the front doors of the castle, knocking strongly on the door.

Suddenly, Severus' heart leapt, as he knew who was about to answer the door and what she meant to him in his past life; almost as close a friend as Albus Dumbledore had been, although this dropped to nothing after Severus killed him. He was almost scared to look at her again. She would have no friendliness in that face while he was only eleven; she didn't even know who he was yet.

The doors opened and that notoriously strict face with a pointed hat appeared behind it.

"Thank you, Hagrid. As always, I shall take it from here." she said stiffly.

"As you say, Professor McGonagall." replied Hagrid cheerfully, and he passed the students and headed up to the Great Hall.

McGonagall led the students into the Entrance Hall and had them stand in rows of two before she gave her speech.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." she said strictly, in order to maintain a strong silence amongst the group of excited first years. "In a moment, I shall open these doors behind me, and you will be taken up through the Great Hall and up towards the teachers' table. Because before you can settle in here, you must all be Sorted into your respective houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin."

She said that last word with emphatic severity.

"Your house will be like your family." continued McGonagall. "Your triumphs in your lessons here will gain you points for that house. But any rule-breaking will lose your house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the House Cup!"

The students murmured excitedly. Severus was growing increasingly anxious. He was afraid of this moment for a long time. Would the Sorting Hat see through him and realize he was originally a Slytherin? Would the Hat therefore replace him there? Would the Hat see that he was a changed person? And could Severus himself even face the possibility of becoming a Gryffindor? He had hated that house for so very long…

"I can't wait to see which house I'm in!" grinned Lily.

"No? No…me neither." whispered Severus with a smile, masking his anxiety. He noticed that McGonagall had gone to make sure that the time was right to let them in.

"No doubt which house I'm in." boasted James Potter.

"Nor me." said Sirius Black mournfully.

"Better be in Slytherin. Me 'ole family had bin there." muttered a first year whom Severus recognised to be the future Death Eater, Avery.

"Same 'ere." came the clumsy voice of Mulciber.

"Like anyone cares about losers who want to be in Slytherin." snapped James.

Before another heated debate could begin, McGonagall returned and under her cat-like eyes, the students became silent once more.

"We're ready for you now. In your rows of two, follow me." she said.

McGonagall led them into the Great Hall, and Lily gasped in wonderment at the beautiful room she had entered. The hundreds of candles floating above the five tables, packed with students in their pointed wizard hats, and cups and platters crowding the table tops. The teachers perched in a row along the table at the far end of the Hall, where Lily noticed the man who visited her and her family some time ago, Albus Dumbledore. Then to her great surprise, she saw no ceiling but a night sky above.

"Bewitched to look like the sky outside." explained Severus. "Why I never got you to read Hogwarts: A History is beyond me."

Lily giggled.

They reached the end of the line and broke out of their rows into a muddled crowd.

Albus Dumbledore rose and gave his announcements, such as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, a Professor Reynolds. Severus remembered Reynolds and remembered that he died before the year ended after being poisoned by one of the plants in Professor Sprout's greenhouses. He was trying to steal it to sell, as it was rare. Then Dumbledore announced the usual rules of the Forbidden Forest and the caretaker's prohibited items. However, this caretaker was not Argus Filch. Filch hadn't joined Hogwarts until Severus' final year. This caretaker, Zeus Gardner, was a much more pleasant man, and he could use magic.

"Now for the Sorting to take place before we tuck into our feast!" announced Dumbledore, letting McGonagall take the stand with the scroll of first year names, and the Sorting Hat clutched into her hand.

Severus looked at the Hat with fear. Lily noticed, believed him to be worried about being in Slytherin and held his hand gently for support.

As the Hat sat at the stool, placed there by McGonagall, a rip appeared as a mouth and the Hat sang its most jovial and famous song.

Severus and Lily listened keenly. They kept their hands held together, happy to watch a hat sing a song.

"Magic will never stop surprising me." whispered Lily.

"I hope not." replied Severus.

As the Hat finished its song and bowed its pointed tip to the tumultuous applause that followed, it became still once more and was picked up by McGonagall, whom unrolled her scroll bearing the names of the first years in alphabetical order. Severus prepared himself intensely.

"Arnolds, Quincey." called McGonagall.

The boy with blonde hair and a nervous expression stepped forward and the Hat was placed on his head. The Hat announced: "Ravenclaw!"

Quincey Arnolds rushed happily to his seat at the Ravenclaw table.

"Avery, Bradley." said McGonagall, restraining some stiffness in her voice. Clearly she knew the Averys were a notorious family, and likely supported Voldemort.

Avery dismissively sat on the stool and within two seconds of wearing the Hat, the name "Slytherin" was announced, and Avery skulked off with a grin on his face to the Slytherin table.

After William Aviston and Morgan Bass were sorted into Hufflepuff, McGonagall called out "Black, Sirius."

Sirius approached the stool nervously. It was one of the few rare moments that Severus had not seen Sirius looking confident and smug. He sat down and after ten seconds, the Hat cried out: "Gryffindor!"

Everyone applauded, James whooped.

"Yes, Sirius!" he shouted. "Told you so!"

Sirius' grin flashed in appreciation, delight and relief and he sat at the Gryffindor table, next to a fourth year, whom Severus instantly remembered and his face paled. He remembered this boy to be the future father of a child whom he intimidated and bullied so much, that Severus himself became that boy's greatest fear and Boggart.

It was Frank Longbottom.

"I must find a way to save him and his wife one day." he thought to himself.

He was suddenly pulled out of his trance when McGonagall called out: "Evans, Lily."

Lily looked to Severus, growing scared, but Severus squeezed her hand, smiled encouragingly as he often did and she let go to sit at the stool.

The Hat touched her head, considered and then called out: "Gryffindor!"

Everyone clapped, even Severus. This proved beyond all doubt that this Lily was the exact same as the Lily he knew before, and she was a true Gryffindor.

The ensemble of students being put into their houses went on monotonously for a while, before Severus showed interest at the call of "Lupin, Remus!"

Remus Lupin staggered up to the stool.

"So nervous, he can't even move properly!" cackled a Slytherin from the table.

"Silence!" called Dumbledore harshly and silence fell again.

Remus showed some appreciation towards the Headmaster who let him into Hogwarts despite his secret lycanthropy. He sat at the stool and the Hat was placed over his head and eyes.

The Hat shouted: "Gryffindor!"

Remus smiled thankfully and walked as quickly as he could to the Gryffindor table, where Sirius patted him cheerfully on the back. Remus almost looked shocked at this warm welcome. He was clearly unused to being around other kids.

Severus almost felt pity for him, but recalled how the boy left him to be tormented for the sake of his own secrets and friendships remaining intact.

Ten minutes later, McGonagall called Peter Pettigrew's name, whom moved forward looking petrified at being called to take the stand in front of hundreds of people. He sat at the stool after enduring some cruel laughter and taunts from the Slytherins, all of who were blissfully unaware of the fact that Pettigrew could very well one day become their ally.

Severus looked at Pettigrew with raw hatred and it was all he could do to restrain himself from flying at him with fists bared. But this was something he had done before, back when Voldemort had made Pettigrew his housekeeper and slave at his home in Spinner's End.

Dumbledore looked past Pettigrew and noticed that Severus, the boy he saw briefly at Lily Evans' house was staring at Pettigrew with restrained fury beyond petty rivalry. This intrigued him, but as Severus wasn't looking him in the eye, Dumbledore could not see what was on the boy's mind.

The Hat took longest of all to choose a house for Pettigrew, but eventually called out: "Gryffindor!"

Everyone clapped but the applause was mingled with surprised calls such as "Seriously?" and "What the hell? Look at him! He's clearly a wimp!" Most of these taunts came from the Slytherin table again. Severus only inwardly groaned.

After Pettigrew sat down opposite Sirius and Remus Lupin, McGonagall called out: "Potter, James."

Severus watched coldly as his old love rival sat down and took the Hat. Dumbledore noticed Severus' hard stare again and grew more and more curious, then James was Sorted into Gryffindor and he sat down again and Severus lowered his head. It was his turn.

"Prince, Severus." called out McGonagall.

Severus moved slowly to the stool and sat down. He took one last look of trepidation at Lily, sat cheerfully at the Gryffindor table, and she whispered, "Good luck" just as McGonagall placed the Hat on Severus' head and over his eyes.

Dumbledore was watching Severus with interest.

From within the Hat, Severus heard the familiar voice speaking to him from within his head.

"Hm, very, very interesting. I haven't seen an occurrence like this before. Only a rumour that such things could even be possible since the days of Merlin. Nice to see that the rumours ring true. Hm, a Slytherin, eh? Now that is interesting indeed. A Slytherin who wanted a second chance in life. Unheard of before. Most of that house showed no regrets before. And these things that have occurred in your secret past have affected your character deeply. I can no longer see you as the ambitious wizard a Slytherin would be…so that leaves three houses. Not a Hufflepuff. You are loyal, but you are beyond the friendliness of such a character with most of your peers. You have certainly all the bravery and selflessness to be a Gryffindor…oh, but the hatred in your heart and soul brought about by members of that house…and you also have the intelligence to be a Ravenclaw. It is obvious that your intellect was strong before your second chance came about…you must have been a tight choice between Ravenclaw and Slytherin to my alternate self…hm…I no longer see you as a Slytherin…I now see you as more of a…"

"RAVENCLAW!" declared the Hat out loud.

The Ravenclaw table cheered and Dumbledore smiled. This boy was truly not like his predecessors in the Prince line, and he was not a Slytherin, hence making him less suspicious of him. He was still curious at what made Severus look so hateful, but he was sure the reasons would present themselves in due course.

Lily looked rather saddened. She had hoped that Severus would be in her house, and she didn't like the idea of sharing the house of Gryffindor with that bullying pest on the train, James Potter.

As Severus sat at the table of Ravenclaw, feeling extremely foreign as he never sat here, even though he had been at Hogwarts longer than most people, he looked across to Lily. He saw the sad expression on her face. He too felt disappointed, but he knew it was for the best. He couldn't bring himself to like Gryffindor or the future Marauders, and the idea of sharing a dormitory with them was too much of a scenario for him to bear.

However, he smiled faintly at Lily and mouthed slowly, "We'll be fine."

Lily understood, nodded and smiled faintly too. She knew for sure that nothing could alter her and Severus being best friends, even though they were in separate houses.

The two friends and their new peers tucked into the feast as it magically appeared seemingly from nowhere. There were roast chickens, casseroles, stews, endless amounts of vegetables and potatoes of every variety, not to mention countless jugs of rich gravy and sweet cranberry sauce.

As Lily tucked into her chicken and sour cream, another Gryffindor girl nudged her elbow.

"Hi, my name is Mary McDonald." she said keenly.

"Um, hi." said Lily.

"Just wondered if you would like to be, um, friends." said Mary. "I don't know many people, and you look really friendly."

Lily blushed. She was becoming popular already, but she was shy.

"Okay, Mary. Um, my name is Lily Evans and I'm a Muggle-born witch. I was told about my magical identity by my best friend two and a half years ago."

"Ooh! Who's your best friend?" asked Mary.

"Severus Prince. The new Ravenclaw over there." pointed out Lily.

"That's the boy that the Sorting Hat took the longest to select." said Mary.

Now she came to mention it, Lily saw that Mary had a point. Severus did spend a lengthy amount of time wearing the Hat. She shrugged.

"I think that might be because Severus' family on his mother's side were all from Slytherin." she explained. "He is the odd one out of them because his mum married a Muggle. Severus is Half-blood. He and his mother reunited with his grandparents not long after we first met. His whole family are so nice, and the grandparents' house is like-wow! Amazing! Their dining room is almost the same size as this room!" she observed.

Mary frowned in Severus' direction.

"That kid is from a Slytherin family? The Prince family?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yes, he is. Any problems with that?" asked Lily sternly.

"Well, Lily, um…do you know the reputation of Slytherin House?" asked Mary.

"Yes, I'm aware that Slytherin are old-fashioned and egotistic. I know they tend to be abusive and racist towards Muggles and Muggle-borns, such as myself. But Severus isn't like them, otherwise why would he have been sorted into Ravenclaw?" said Lily stiffly. "Besides, he knew I came from a Muggle family from the moment we met. I was with my sister in a playground and he could see clearly that she possessed no magic, and when I named her as my sister, he realized I was Muggle-born, but I was still a witch and that's what mattered to Sev. And he's a Half-blood. His mother married a Muggle, so he's not exactly a purist, is he? He told me what I was, and he introduced me to so much. He showed me the wonders of the Wizarding World, helped me fit into it, even helped my sister come to terms that she couldn't come here with us. Severus Prince is my best friend, and I owe him so much. He has been through a lot in his life already, and he's only just started to have a normal family again. His grandparents reconciled with his mother and met him two years ago, and now they are as close as I am with my family. His existence has even ended their own prejudice towards Muggle-borns. His grandparents and his mother are now close friends with my parents. I don't know why I have to keep reassuring people today, but the Princes are good people!"

"Okay, okay, sorry, Lily!" said Mary, then she thought. "I guess my parents have been saying that the big guy of the Prince family has been acting friendlier in the last year or more. I think it was in the Daily Prophet."

"Yes, he is more friendly than he was, like I said." affirmed Lily.

"Well, at least Severus is in Ravenclaw, not Slytherin." said Mary. "If he were put in Slytherin and was still as you say he is now, nobody would give him a chance. There's not a witch or a wizard who went bad that wasn't in Slytherin. Slytherin is much more notorious now that the darkest wizard of time is known to have come from that House."

Lily sat thoughtfully. "I don't think every witch and wizard in Slytherin can be all bad. Look at the Princes now, and even before when they were prejudiced, Sev's mum clearly wasn't. She married a Muggle wholeheartedly."

"Yeah…and I suppose Professor Slughorn is okay." added Mary.

"Who?" asked Lily.

"Over there. Really fat teacher, looks like a walrus." pointed out Mary.

Lily saw the man Mary was referring to. His gigantic belly almost perched upon the table as he tucked into at least three people's worth of chicken piled on his plate.

"Who is he?" she asked.

"He's the Potions Master at Hogwarts, and the Head of Slytherin House." said Mary. "My parents say that he taught them and was never once known as a prejudiced and cold-hearted man, though he does apparently have a habit of favouriting students with exceptional qualities in magic or sub-magic talents. They said he was likely the kindest and most jolly man that Slytherin ever coughed up."

Lily smiled. "So there is proof then even here that not Slytherins are bad. I bet not all the Slytherins in our first year group will turn out supremacist and cruel."

Mary smiled too. "Perhaps you're right, Lily. But good luck trying to convince the rest of the students."

Lily knew that would be difficult. Even Sirius Black saw nothing but evil from Slytherin and he was raised by a Slytherin family.

Meanwhile, Severus sat eating some chicken wings with mashed potato when he was nudged rather like Lily had been in a shy way. He looked nervously to see who it was. It was the first to be Sorted, Quincey Arnolds.

"Hi." said Quincey shyly.

"Um, hi." replied Severus.

"I'm, um, new. I never knew I was a wizard until a few months ago when I got my letter." began Quincey.

"You're a Muggle-born, then?" asked Severus.

"Yeah." said Quincey, and he looked down at his sweet potatoes despondently. "I sat on the train with a bunch of other kids, and when they asked which wizarding family I was from, I said I was from the Arnolds family. They said it wasn't a name they knew, and asked what they did. I explained that they were doctors. Then they asked if I meant Healers at St Mungo's and I said no, they work in Southampton General Hospital…and they went mad. They started yelling at me, calling me 'Mudblood' and…they said…that I was contaminating the air of the compartment with my presence!"

Quincey was shedding tears, but kept still and silent after that.

"Um, Quincey." said Severus awkwardly. "You don't need to be ashamed of being from a Muggle family. Those guys were just bullies who believe Muggle-borns and Half-bloods shouldn't have the privilege to learn magic. I promise that you won't be bullied by everyone."

"He's right." said a second year Ravenclaw girl with blonde hair with brown highlights. "We Ravenclaws don't have anything against you, Quincey. And nor do the Gryffindors nor the Hufflepuffs. Just steer clear of most of the Slytherins and you'll be okay."

"Thanks." said Quincey wiping his eyes.

"Thanks, um…" started Severus.

"My name is Nora Waynefleet."

"Thank you, Nora." replied Quincey softly.

The rest of the feast passed by smoothly. Severus and Quincey soon became friendlier towards another and chatted cheerfully between mouthfuls of food. Nora joined in with her friend, Elizabeth Burns, whom was also second year, with brunette hair and a pale complexion similar to Severus'. As for Lily, she and Mary started talking to an alternate version of Marlene McKinnon and her best friend from home, Rebecca Castle. The four became four close friends immediately, though Lily wasn't so keen after noticing Marlene and Mary paying close attention to James Potter and Sirius Black, who were hyperactively celebrating their mutual Sorting into Gryffindor.

Those two tried to harass Severus for coming from a Slytherin family." said Lily coldly to Mary. "Potter even had the gall to suggest Sev's mum murdered her own husband."

"His dad is dead?" said Mary. "Why?"

"He fell down the stairs in the pub near where we live. He broke his neck in the fall." Lily didn't say any more than that.

"Wow…Severus sure has had a tough life so far." said Mary sympathetically. "But at least he met you afterwards."

Lily smiled. "We were lucky to have met each other."

Severus and Lily looked at each other, saw the other seemed to be fitting in with their housemates splendidly, and nodded and smiled to one another.

Dumbledore soon declared the feast to be over, and sent the students off to bed.

The prefects led their students to their respective dormitories. Lucius Malfoy demonstrated the most dominant voice of all.

"Come along, to the dungeons at once. Don't delay!" he called authoritatively.

Severus rolled his eyes at Malfoy. It was weird to think he would no longer be friends with the future father of Draco Malfoy, but in his last years in his past life, Severus often wondered he had even befriended the fool in the first place.

As the groups made their way to the common rooms, the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws walked along side by side up the massive staircases, and Severus and Lily found themselves walking alongside each other.

"This was a fun start, then?" suggested Severus.

"Yeah." agreed Lily. "Although I am sorry that we're not in the same house." she added sadly.

"Hey." replied Severus assuredly. "It doesn't matter. We'll always be best friends, and together we will show those Voldemort followers and we will make other friends, help Petunia get some magic in her life and we will become great sorcerers together! Nothing can stop us now, Lils!"

"You can bet on that, Sev!" grinned Lily. "Goodnight!"

"Night, Lils." Severus smiled in amusement as Lily comprehended that the staircases were moving around.

Severus' group came to the spiral staircase of Ravenclaw Tower, where their common room was situated. There was a door at the top with a knocker shaped like an eagle's head. Then it spoke.

"I see without seeing. Day is as dark as night to me. What am I?" asked the knocker.

"Blind as a bat." replied the Ravenclaw prefect at the head of the group.

"Correct. Enter." said the knocker approvingly.

The prefects led the boys and the girls in separate lines into their common room. Severus surprisingly had never seen this room in Hogwarts before. The room had a domed ceiling unveiling the night sky around them, with lamps all over the room to aid the light, as well as a snug looking fireplace surrounded by settees and armchairs. There were bookshelves at the far end, along with a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, and the floor was blue like the House colours of blue and bronze, with stars around it reflecting the sky.

"The boys' rooms are to the left and the girls' rooms are to the right." said the second prefect.

As Quincey and the others went into their rooms to find their bunks and possessions, Severus stood silently and alone for a moment in the common room. Several things had sprung to mind at this point.

He noticed that Lily had approached him and spoken to him cheerfully after the Sorting had ended and went to bed. But the weird thing was that she didn't do this in his past life when he was Sorted into Slytherin. In fact, she seemed slightly reluctant to speak to him in their first classes that first day either.

Was his relationship with Lily really that shallow back then? Was it not his fascination with the Dark Arts that first began the strain on their friendship all those years ago? Perhaps it was the fact that he was a Slytherin that altered things.

And then he thought of this whole experience here in the common room of Ravenclaw. He was a Ravenclaw. He was to wear the colours of blue and bronze, not green and silver. He was no longer prejudiced by every student for the House he was in, though he doubted James Potter and his cronies would stop though.

It was only now that Severus realized that perhaps this new Lily in his second life was different to the original after all. This Lily was less prejudiced and less judgmental. She was a kinder child. And he also now realized and accepted that he wasn't the same anymore either. He was a good person, a Ravenclaw student at Hogwarts…and he now felt sure that he was no longer a cursed child.

(And there's Chapter 12. Chapter 13 coming on Friday perhaps. Sorry for the riddle from Batman Forever. I don't know many riddles, and as bats are known in the Wizarding World, it seemed as fitting a riddle as any. Please read and review. Thank you.)