Chapter 61: Re-Sort

-Bex p.o.v.-

The night in the Room of Requirement was a long one. Andrew and Sebastian had come to visit me not long after I laid down on the bed. Sebastian curled up on the end, falling asleep quickly in his kitten form. Andrew rested his back against the headboard, wrapping an arm around me.

"You know," Andrew mused, "you could always just not be sorted. Just be houseless."

I shook my head, "I don't want to feel like that, Blake, I want to belong somewhere. I want to have a family."

"Dumbledore, don't be stupid. I'm your family. So tomorrow at the sorting, I'll recommend you to the Ravenclaw's, it'll be easy. You'll be a Ravenclaw and you can chill with me, you don't have to do anything with the others. You can spend all the time with me."

I smiled softly, "thanks. But I doubt that they'll want me in their house."

He rolled his eyes, "now I think you're being stupid on purpose, of course they'll want you." He smirked, "the second you left the room, everyone broke out in whispers, they were all talking about how much they wanted Bex Dumbledore in their house."

"We'll have to wait and see tomorrow then." I shrugged, still not completely certain.

The next morning arrived too quickly for my liking. I was still cuddled up in Andrew's side, our legs tangled together. When I sat up a bit straighter his blue eyes connected with mine. He smiled slightly, "morning sleeping beauty."

"Morning, Blake. How are you?" I asked softly, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"Pretty good, though you made my arm fall asleep about halfway through the night." He chuckled, stretching his arms above his head.

I giggled, "sorry, I didn't mean to make your arm go numb." I gave him my best apologetic smile but couldn't help the giggles that escaped.

"Let's get some food." Together we walked down to the great hall. It was silent when I entered. Everyone watched my every move. They kept their eyes trained on me.

I struggled to choose were I would go. Which table should I sit in? What should I do?

Andrew seemed to catch my mental contemplations because he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the very end of the Ravenclaw table. "Ignore everyone else. Focus on me."

I nodded and picked up an apple, taking a bite from it. I felt awkward with everyone's gaze on me.

The day was rather eventful, I stayed by Andrew's side the entire time. We hung out by the lake, speaking softly to each other. He comforted me and told me not to worry, telling me everything would be fine.

And I didn't argue. I believed Andrew because Andrew knew everything. He knew what would happen and he knew it would be fine. If I could trust anyone, it would be Andrew. I trusted him with my life.

My friends didn't try to communicate with me. They kept their distance. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter would watch me, but they did nothing about it. They simply watched. Though, they did have a quittich practice and they looked sort of helpless. James almost came up to me to, he was about to ask me to come practice, but Sirius stopped him. He probably never wanted to speak with me again.

And as I suspected, Lily was giving me the silent treatment. The girls stayed on Lily's side, I guess they agreed with her on the matter.

Only three people I called my friends, talked to me. Those three were Liam, Regulus, and Severus. They stayed by my side. They trusted me.

Dinner came quickly though, Andrew had gotten my mind off of the subject. I was having fun. I didn't even notice that the time was passing so quickly.

I stood at the doors with Andrew. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

I nodded, "yeah, I'm ready. Let's get this bloody over with, yeah?"

He smirked, "yeah. It's going to be good, trust me." He pushed the door open for me, allowing me to enter before him.

I walked to the front of the room, ignoring all of the stares as I passed the student tables. Minnie was waiting at the end, just before the teacher's table, for me. The stool was sitting next to her, the sorting hat placed on it.

I stood in front of her, waiting.

She cleared her throat, gaining all of the attention from everyone in the room. "Tonight will be the re-sorting of Ariana Dumbledore." She picked up the hat, gesturing for me to sit. She hovered the hat over my head, looking into the audience. "Does anyone have a recommendation?"

Every single one of the students shared a look. They glanced around the room, daring someone to stand. Andrew stood, gaining small gasps. He smirked, "I'd like to recommend Dumbledore to join the Ravenclaw house."

"Your argument?" Minnie asked.

"She aces every test she's ever taken. She may not read all the time, but she is intelligent. That's all the Ravenclaw house asks," he addressed the table in which he stood. "We are only asked to be intelligent in some sort of area, not to read every single day. And Dumbledore is intelligent. No one can argue that she isn't."

Minnie nodded and gestured for him to sit. "Any other recommendations?" She glanced around, looking for someone to stand.

There was a small outbreak of whispers as Regulus stood. "I would like to recommend Aria to join the Slytherin house."

"And what is your argument?" Minnie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The Slytherin house has been more accepting of her than the Gryffindor house has. She belongs somewhere that will not expect her to be anyone but who she is. The Slytherin trait, cunning, is seen in Aria everyday. She plays pranks with such an obvious display of cunningness. You can't say that is isn't cunning. She belongs with us." Regulus explained simply, looking at me while saying the last sentence.

She nodded, telling Regulus to sit. "Are there any other recommendations?"

James stood abruptly. "She is a Gryffindor still, we want her back."

Andrew stood, glaring at James, "you didn't want her back last night when she asked to join again. You lost your chance. Tonight is for those who actually want her to be apart of their house."

"I would like to recommend she join the Hufflepuff house." Anabeth spoke over the small argument. I looked at her in surprise.

"Continue," Minnie nodded, also intrigued.

"Bex was nothing but nice to me. She was constantly asking if I wanted to change my mind after I agreed to help her with her prank. She didn't want me hurt and worked with the utmost care to be sure that I didn't get hurt. She shows the Hufflepuff trait of kindness. I would like for her to join us."

"She belongs to our house. You can't have her." James argued, "I would like to formally recommend that Bex does not leave our house. She belongs to us. She was sorted in the Gryffindor originally and we might not have said it last night, but I'm saying it now. I want her back."

"You can't just say that!" Severus glared at James, "you don't care about her. You were all for claiming that she was a criminal. You didn't have one ounce of faith in her."

"The only house that did was us!" Regulus pointed out, "so technically, we are the only house that should be able to claim her."

"I know her better than any of you!" Andrew pointed out. "I've known her far longer, I can guarantee you that I am the only one in this room that deserves her."

"I'm her best friend!" Lily suddenly interjected. I glanced over to see that the redhead was standing there, glaring at Andrew furiously.

Andrew scoffed, speaking to her in a condescending tone, "you can just sit down, Little Red Riding Hood, you're the one who decided to be all high and mighty and ignore your so called best friend."

"Don't call me that." Lily spat at him, "last I checked, you're the one that doesn't ever speak to anyone. You walk the halls like you're better than everyone else. You don't speak to anyone. You rarely even associate with your own house! How are you able to interject in a matter based on houses? You can't claim her for a house that you don't actively participate in."

Andrew rolled his eyes, "actually, Carrot Top, I've been Dumbledore's friend for a long time. Much longer than you think. I speak to Dumbledore here, more than you have in the past few days. All you've done is complain and pout. News flash, Fireball, while you were off ignoring your 'best friend' I was comforting her and making her laugh. While all you did was make her sad. Who is the better friend, again?" He scoffed at the house comment, "not an active member of my house? I win my house points, thank you very much. Just because I'm not a prefect or head boy doesn't mean that I don't join in my houses activities. I go to the games, I participate in the house competitions, I am a Ravenclaw and you saying that I'm not doesn't change the fact that I was sorted into it."

James jumped in, "don't speak to her like that!"

Andrew turned to James, glaring at him and speaking angrily. "And you, you try to act like you care about her. You hug her when she reveals it's a prank, then what? You keep your distance. Did it ever cross your mind how horrible she's been feeling? She's been beating herself up about this whole thing. She's calling herself a horrible human being and you're worried about your stupid quittich team. That's the only reason you want her back, is so that your precious team doesn't suffer."

"That's not true!" James began, looking furious.

"Yes it is! The only time you tried to speak with her was when you wanted to get her to go practice. But Black pulled you away. The guy that everyone seems to think is smitten with her. He was the one to pull you away. What does that say?"

Sirius stood, glaring at Andrew with such hatred and loathing. "You want to talk about fancying Bex? How about you back off of my girl."

"Your girl?"

"Yes! My girl!" Sirius watched Andrew, clenching his fists and jaw.

Andrew smirked, "does it bother you that she lets me hold her hand and wrap my arms around her? Does it bother you that I get to do that but you don't? Tell me, Black, does it bother you that she fell asleep lying next to me last night. I was the one that comforted her last night, I kept her company, I made her laugh, I made her forget about you. And then she fell asleep lying on my chest, her arms wrapped around me. Not you." He chuckled darkly, "still think she's your girl?"

Sirius looked livid. "Back off of my girl or we are going to have a big problem, Blake."

Andrew looked just as angry as Sirius, "we already have a big problem, Black. You don't treat her how she should be treated. You don't love her."

"Yes I do!" Sirius argued.

"You do what?" Andrew commanded an answer.

"I love her!"

The whole room went silent. Sirius' eyes widened in disbelief, had he really said that? Had he really screamed that for the entire school to hear?

Had he really said that he love me?

"You don't show it very well." Andrew scoffed.

Minnie cleared her throat, looking between the two. "If no one else has something they would like to say, we'll start the re-sorting now."

"I have something I want to say," Sirius looked at me. Not anyone else, he spoke to me and only me. "I've been a git, and I'm sorry, okay? Blake is right, I don't treat you the way I should. But what I said is true. I love you. And I want you to be my girlfriend. I want you to be mine." He sighed, "so regardless of what happens, I want to make things right between us."

Before I could say anything, Minnie plopped the hat down on my head. It fell forward, covering my eyes.

Hmmm, he purred in my head, quite the eventful night.

"I suppose." I murmured quietly.

You show true potential, but as I've said before, you belong in one place truly. The hat informed me, flipping through my head. I cannot put you anywhere but one house, I'm afraid. No matter how good of a point some of the other students have said tonight.

The sorting hat paused and I waited in anticipation.

"Ariana Dumbledore belongs in Gryffindor!" The hat announced loudly to the school.

There was a sudden burst of applause, and when the hat was pulled from my head, it revealed a touching scene.

The Gryffindor house stood in a standing ovation, clapping for me. The other houses joined after a second. Andrew smirked at me, sending me a wink.

"To the Gryffindor house, Miss. Dumbledore," Minnie smiled, nudging me in that direction.

Lily pulled me in a hug, apologizing and saying how much Andrew was right. How she had been a horrible friend. I forgave her instantly.

Sirius watched me as I made my way towards the boys. "Bex, I-"

"Oh shut up," I interrupted him, pulling him into a hug. "You're an idiot, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd love to go on that date with you."

He grinned, pulling me tighter against him. "Good. Because I was going to take you this weekend either way."

I smiled as we sat down for dinner. I couldn't help the immense amount of joy that overwhelmed me. I was back with my family.

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Gosh. You guys freaked out quite a bit. Like chill out, did you seriously think that I would change Bex's house? That's ridiculous. She's a Gryffindor and nothing can change that. So I hoped you all liked it, it was fun, yeah?

Please comment, vote, share, fan, and follow! Thanks so much!