the_debt_of_time

the girls, but she wanted to know their names. See if it was anyone she knew. She claimed
that she was glad I had someone to take care of me, and she wanted to feel thankful to
whoever it was."
Remus leant forward, putting his head in his hands. If he looked at Sirius right now,
he certainly would burst into laughter. "Please tell me that you were smart enough to not
fall for that."
"Shut up, Moony."
Remus sat up, holding in the laughter over the position his friend put himself in.
"Padfoot, would you care to remind me again what House the hat tried to put her in?"
"Shut up, Moony," Sirius growled.
"Wait." Ron paused. "What do you mean House and hat? The Sorting Hat?"
Remus silently affirmed Ron's guess. "She told me that when she was sorted in with
us, the Hat tried to put her in Slytherin."
Harry and Ron stood with their mouths hanging open.
"That's not possible!" Harry asserted. "Hermione's always been a Gryffindor. She's
the bravest witch I know!"
"What could she have done to end up in Slytherin?" Ron asked angrily as though
the very thought of his friend ending up in his rival House was a personal offence.
Sirius and Remus both chuckled.
"Well, first, she's not reckless like the rest of Gryffindor House," Remus said. "She's
logical and calculating. Always has been. She's smart, but unlike Ravenclaws who obtain
knowledge for knowledge's sake, she uses it for her own purposes. She's resourceful and
cunning. And those are just the positive Slytherin traits she possesses."
"What negative ones could she have?" Harry asked, offended on Mia's behalf.
"She can be cold and cruel when she wants to be," Sirius answered. "And
unforgiving. Does the name Marietta Edgecombe ring any bells? How about Rita Skeeter
in a jar? Or Dolores Umbridge and some centaurs?"
"She just did all of that stuff in defence of her friends," Ron argued.
"Well, even if all of those things wouldn't have put her in with the snakes," Sirius
remarked with a chuckle, "when the Sorting Hat suggested Slytherin to her, she threatened
to set it on fire."