Hufflepuff's Malfoy, a harry potter fanfic

He knew something was up the moment Scorpius was Sorted.

It was true that Slytherin was no longer filled with the children of Death Eaters and notorious for interest in the Dark Arts. It was true that all Houses had their merits, and students were not always placed where others would have expected. It was true that the Sorting Hat often acted against expectation, prior most notably when Sirius Black became a Gryffindor—but this?

Whispers broke out amongst the first years, namely those whose parents had known Draco Malfoy at school or who had met Scorpius before. The boy in question looked affronted, a flush rapidly gaining on his pale cheeks, and he flounced off toward the Hufflepuff table only after shooting a furious glare at the general crowd.

It couldn't be that a Malfoy was in Hufflepuff. It just… couldn't be.

"Potter, Albus!"

Sighing, Albus realized he had no time to dwell: he'd discuss it with Rose after the feast. Hoping against hope that they'd at least end up in the same House—that is, if he didn't end up with James in Gryffindor—Albus shakily pushed through the crowd, plopped on the stool with a thud, and jammed the Sorting Hat onto his head. He squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lower lip till it bled.

'Another Potter, eh?' chucked a voice in his ear, and Albus realized with a jolt that the Sorting Hat was talking to him and him alone. It was a definite relief to the poor boy; how could he have a say in his Sorting if he couldn't hear the Hat? Relaxing, shoulder hunching over, he nodded, then realized the Hat surely couldn't see him and thought his acceptance.

'Let's take a look, now… very interesting…' Perhaps he was imagining it, but the Hat seemed almost reluctant to Sort him, almost as if…?

No, it couldn't be, Albus decided, and it was as if the Hat heard him and was now struggling for his trust. 'Difficult, very difficult. There's clearly bravery, but is it enough? A touch of insecurity, much loyalty and intelligence…'

Gryffindor, he almost thought, but decided against it: he found himself, suddenly, wondering where the Hat would put him without his choice involved, for hadn't his father said it would be all right if he were in Slytherin? As long as it wasn't Hufflepuff, he was happy: despite the good he'd heard about the House, he in no way wanted to be Sorted alongside Scorpius Malfoy. It was almost a shame, really; he would have liked Hufflepuff very much if it weren't for just one deciding factor.

'Depends on how you want to succeed, doesn't it? Hufflepuff or Slytherin, an odd choice but still there; get along with the loyalties of friends or when surrounded by ambition?' There it was again: the Hat almost seemed reluctant to give him the choice, and yet… was Severus Snape really the bravest man his father had known…?

The Hat seemed to have heard him. 'Interesting choice, very interesting… let it be SLYTHERIN!' shouted the Hat to the hall, and Albus flushed and scampered off to the table, blushing at the whispers now directed at him. How long had it taken? almost a minute and a half, perhaps? The Hat certainly had taken longer with Albus than any other first year yet; was he really that difficult a choice to make…?

He glanced nervously at the Gryffindor table, quickly glancing away when he saw James snicker in his direction; his eyes fell instead on the Ravenclaw table, where his eldest cousin, Victoire, was seated. With silky blonde hair ice-blue eyes, she was the exact image of her mother, from appearance to the stately way she carried herself. Her vision skimmed the Slytherin table and fell upon Albus, and she gave him a warm smile… he supposed the year wouldn't be as bad as he had thought. Until, at least, the Hat placed Rose in Gryffindor in under a second.

A month into the school year, and she still hadn't even spared him a glance.

Anxiously, Albus prodded his steak-and-kidney pie anxiously and glanced hesitantly in his cousin's direction. It was funny, in a way, that it was Rose who still hadn't spoken to him since the Sorting. Though shocked, all the Weasleys had come up to him within a day or two to ask how he was enjoying the castle; while Victoire had been the most supportive, he'd only really begun to feel at home when Fred, George's son, told him confidently that, if anything, he was incredibly brave for choosing Slytherin over a house in which relatives had been Sorted before, and "it's how you act that matters, not how you're stereotyped."

Fred himself was one of the more popular Gryffindors in his year, and after the kind and very public conversation, talk had turned back to Scorpius Malfoy's placement in Hufflepuff. Though he did find it somewhat funny at first, Albus couldn't help but feel sorry for Scorpius; he knew from his dad what it was like to be isolated, and if he was in Hufflepuff, surely Scorpius wasn't that bad. It was for this reason that he'd struck up embarrassed conversation with him in Charms one day, in fact, and Scorpius, though equally bashful to be talking to a Potter, was starting to become Albus's first friend at Hogwarts.

Even James was talking to him, albeit he took the odd opportunity to make fun of Albus for his placement in Slytherin. But Rose… Rose had maintained a stony silence, avoiding him and classes and effectively ignoring him whenever he found her in the library. It was strange, in a way, that Rose was a Gryffindor; he'd always pictured her as the Ravenclaw type, considering how often her nose was buried in a book. He voiced nothing of the sort, however, and couldn't have if he had wanted to, what with the way Rose now refused to meet his eyes.

He felt Scorpius slip into the vacant seat beside him and turned to smile feebly. "Hey, Scorp," he said shyly. And to think that he'd hated Scorpius for his surname just seven short days ago!

"Hullo," Scorpius said quietly. "I haven't seen you all day; stupid that Hufflepuff and Slytherin only have Charms together, isn't it?"

"Yeah," mumbled Albus, offering a smile that Scorpius returned. He'd found in Scorpius a manner similar to James's, even a touch of occasional cruelty, but it seemed Albus's company did him good: Scorpius was much more agreeable when Albus was around. Albus gave the pie another prod, moving it around on his plate sullenly.

Scorpius noticed his mood. "Rose still isn't talking to you?" he asked in as sympathetic a manner that Albus thought he could handle. Somewhat taken aback—it was the first time he'd seen Scorpius be compassionate—Albus nodded dumbly. "Don't worry about it," Scorpius assured him. "My dad might not agree, but the Weasleys are a good family. She's probably just under pressure from her dad, but she'll get over it in time."

Albus nodded, unconvinced, but appreciated the notion all the same.

Christmas at the Burrow, thanks to Albus's many cousins, was hardly as awkward as he had been expecting. His grandparents were as amicable as always, though Granddad Weasley was somewhat distrusting of the Malfoys when they stopped in to say hello for an hour or so on Christmas Day. Albus could tell that it was for Scorpius's sake: his dad and Draco could never be friends, merely tense acquaintances, let alone what his uncles and Aunt Hermione thought of Scorpius's parents. Regardless, Scorpius was happy as ever to see Albus, claiming that he'd been bored out of his wits as an only child, and his cousins were even cordial for Albus's sake until the Malfoys left.

The gifts were many, the laughter plenty, but the real highlight was when Rose wished him a happy Christmas, blushing dark as her hair, and pressed a box of Every Flavor Beans and a note of apology and well wishes into his hands.

The year would have ended on a high note even if his dad hadn't come clean. Nevertheless, the last feast of the year was preceded by a speech from Harry Potter, Headmaster of Hogwarts, beaming down on them all with a twinkle in his eye. "I regret to inform you that there was a bit of a misunderstanding at the beginning of the year," he declared in a booming voice reserved only for addressing the student body. "With the intention of creating school unity, the first years were this year Sorted deliberately into the wrong house: Gryffindors to Slytherin, Slytherins to Hufflepuff, Hufflepuffs to Ravenclaw, and Ravenclaws back to Gryffindor." His proclamation was followed by a great deal of whispering, and Albus felt something sink a little in his stomach; he'd sacrificed a year of friendship with Rose all for that… "As I understand some of your houses may have varied by choice—not to mention that some of you may have changed over the past year—you will be Resorted at the beginning of the next school year, the Hat no longer jinxed. That is all."

In hardly an instant, Scorpius and Rose were beside him, Rose apologizing bashfully, Scorpius pelting him with questions as to where he'd want to end up now. "Gryffindor, I guess," he said, shrugging. "But Hufflepuff wouldn't be too bad."

Scorpius chuckled appreciatively, breaking into a mild squabble with Rose, and Albus wondered idly whether all Headmasters of Hogwarts had been off their rockers.

A/N: Completed for the Belladonnacordial Unsort Challenge: "Harry in his first year as Headmaster of Hogwarts spells the Hat to lie. Everyone meant for Slytherin goes to Hufflepuff, Gryffindors go to Slytherin, Ravenclaws to Gryffindor, Hufflepuffs to Ravenclaw. Then at the end of the year he announces what he did." I hope you liked it; leave a review to let me know what you think!