All Sorted Out

Luna entered the Great Hall only to encounter the two manky Slytherin girls who had caused her all the trouble the night before. Although without them, she realized, she wouldn't have spent the night wrapped in Draco's arms. She smiled dreamily at the thought. The girls, however, had no intention of letting her pass without comment.

"Oi, Looney, good to see you found your way to the Great Hall," the pixie-looking girl said mockingly.

"Hope you didn't have any trouble with the stairs on your way," the freckled girl chimed in, and they both broke into laughter. Luna acted as if she hadn't heard them and tried to go around them, but they moved to block her way. Trapped, Luna wondered why ever Blaise Zabini was walking over with his eyes glued on her. Was he going to call her out for sneaking into Draco's room? Did he know? Had Draco let on to him? Blaise was his roommate, after all, but his next words took her entirely by surprise.

"Mary, Liselle, good eye for welcoming Luna. Can I walk you over to the Slytherin table, Luna?" he asked, dead serious. Luna blinked at him in surprise.

"What? Loony Lovegood sit with us?" Mary shrieked.

"Watch yourself, Mary. Slytherins stick together. You know that's the way we do things." To all three girls' utter amazement, Blaise pointed to Luna's robes and the emblem that was still as green as dragon scales and emblazoned with Salazar Slytherin's slithering snake. Luna was gobstruck, but by the count of three, she had recovered and smiled a heartbreaker of a smile at Blaise.

"Thank you. I do always appreciate the kindness of being pointed in the right direction." She and Blaise swept away from the two girls, and he guided her right over to the Slytherin table and directed her to sit on his right. On his left was the hunched-over tall frame of a light-haired boy Luna knew very well.

Draco was slumped with his head in his hands when the other two sat down. With a sideways glance he noticed Blaise and grunted at him in greeting. "Blaise. Pansy," Draco muttered in greeting without really looking at them.

"Nah. Not Pansy. I always did have a thing for blondes, you know," Blaise said with a grin. "If I'm not mistaken, you do as well, aye, mate?"

Draco grunted again in response as he took a sip of his drink, and at that moment he looked down past Blaise and into the eyes of Luna Lovegood. His face went slack with surprise, and the pumpkin juice went down his throat in just the wrong way so that he choked. Badly. Blaise thumped him on the back, bringing tears to Draco's eyes. Once his coughing subsided, he looked again at Luna and saw her smiling sweetly at him, starry eyed and innocent as could be.

Luna thought Professor Snape had looked chilling when she was late for his class, but that was nothing compared to how he looked when he found her at the Slytherin table. He was icy as a hailstorm and just as dangerous. He was so upset that even his pale-as-parchment complexion wasn't dead white for a moment as he stormed over to confront her. Luna politely inquired whether the furious Professor had eaten any of the potatoes, entirely out of concern since the Stinging Beezles in this year's potato crop tended to make people flush. At this Draco actually expelled pumpkin juice through his nose, which drew the attention of his furious Head of House. Draco tried to appear contrite, but holding his laughter in had the effect of making him look a tad seasick. Luna thoughtfully inquired about his digestion as well. While the students within hearing distance of the exchange tried to contain their snickers, Professor Snape officially surpassed livid, and Headmaster Dumbledore had to step in.

"Really, Severus, there is an easy way to resolve this. Minerva, will you please fetch the Sorting Hat from my office?" The Great Hall erupted into excited chatter. No one could remember hearing about a time when the Sorting Hat had been brought out except when first years came to Hogwarts. Quickly enough Professor McGonagall arrived with the Sorting Hat, which was grumbling testily about being disturbed. Grumbling even more ferociously was Professor Snape, who led Luna up to the front of the Great Hall with a very firm grip on her upper arm.

Draco looked on with concern; Snape's rough grip on Luna had him bristling. It was an emotion he was not entirely familiar with, and he didn't care for it in the least. Luna was jostled alongside Professor Snape up to a chair that had been hurriedly dragged into place for what was to follow. Once Snape released his vise-like grip on her arm, Luna turned and sat down unconcernedly. She had a slightly dazed look but wore her characteristic contented smile.

A worried-looking Professor McGonagall looked as though she wanted to say something to Luna, but she held her thoughts to herself as she approached Luna with the Hat in her hands. Just before Professor McGonagall set it on Luna's head, Draco was sure he saw Luna glance over at him and wink knowingly. Oh, yeah, that spacey look of hers hid a girl who knew what she was doing. If only he knew what she was doing!

The Hat took to song at that moment with a short introduction:

I'm never wrong, this much is fact,

Not often am I doubted;

Rarely has it come to pass

A student's House was flouted.

I do not take it lightly when

My decision has been questioned.

Every student's home I choose

With the very best intentions.

Who calls me here to denounce

My careful cogitation?

Who dares demand this appeal

Of my earnest consideration?

In the darkness with the Hat covering her eyes, Luna listened to its deliberations. She was as surprised as anyone that Dumbledore had brought out the Sorting Hat. This had all spiraled out of control. She had apparently gone the entire day without a single person noticing the altered emblem on her robes until Blaise had spotted her.

Now she listened in earnest to hear what the wise old Hat had to say. She felt a bit remorseful for all the disruption she was causing and all the unwanted attention she was garnering, but it was a small price to pay to protect Draco from scrutiny over their night together.

"Isn't this interesting?" the Hat drawled. "I had not thought you would be the student to return and challenge my decision." While Luna wondered if she should respond and reassure the Hat that she hadn't meant to offend it, it continued, saying, "It is good that you have called for my attention. When you first came to Hogwarts, it was a difficult decision to place you. Every student has characteristics of more than one House, and it is my difficult task to select the House that will best suit them. I knew that Ravenclaw would nurture your intelligence and wit. But it seems you have honed your savvy as well in order to achieve your purposes. You remain as bright as any Ravenclaw, but your cunning is your crowning attribute. I have decided that you will find a happy future in . . . ."

The Great Hall had fallen silent as everyone waited for the Hat's announcement. They hadn't long to wait before it echoed through the room. "Slytherin!" The bright light, when the Hat was swept off her head, made Luna blink. The entire Slytherin table was cheering, and all the other tables sat in stunned silence. Snape was glaring at her shrewdly with his arms crossed over his chest. After the briefest moment, he turned on his heel and swept from the room, his robes billowing ominously behind him.

The Ravenclaws seemed unfazed by the Sorting Hat's pronouncement. Luna wasn't close to any of them, in any case. At the Gryffindor table, Ginny Weasley looked as if she'd had the wind knocked out of her. Hermione, who sat beside her, looked repulsed, and across from her, Ron just looked confused. The vacant look on his face made Luna chuckle.

She turned to search for Draco in the cheering sea of Slytherins. She found him at last; Blaise was dragging him to stand up with the rest of them. It wasn't as if many of the Slytherins besides Draco and the three girls who had pulled the prank with the slippery stairs had ever paid much attention to Luna before. She wondered whether their excitement was genuine or more a display of victory over the other Houses, to have won this contest for her placement. It would be a matter of some notoriety to have been the choice of the only Sorting the school had ever seen of a student past their first year.

Oooh, and Draco didn't look too pleased. He wasn't smiling. He was just sort of staring off with a strange blank expression on his face. He glanced in Luna's direction for a moment, his brow furrowed and his face serious as if he was deep in thought. His expression softened for a moment, and he smiled gently at her, tipping his head in silent salute, and then whatever it was he had been thinking about carried him out of the Great Hall in the same direction Snape had taken. Professor McGonagall finally got Luna's attention and guided her over to the Slytherin table.

"We'll have the house-elves move your things for you. Please feel welcome to stop by and say any goodbyes you'd like to your Housemates. And I do so hope you will enjoy being in Slytherin. You can come see me if you ever need to talk about anything. All right, dear?" she asked kindly. Luna murmured a thank-you without commenting about not needing to say goodbye to anyone from her House. Some things were better left unsaid. "Here now, Pansy, will you be a dear and show Luna around her new House? It's so far into the year, and she won't know a thing about Professor Snape's rules for his House. Or even how to get there." Pansy seemed surprised by the request but nodded in assent.

A shaken-up Luna turned to find the placid, beautiful face of Pansy Parkinson waiting for her. "Luna," she said in greeting, a wry smile touching her lips. "Welcome to Slytherin."