A/N: Hello all! The idea for this story came to me randomly one night when I couldn't sleep. This is my very first fanfic ever, so don't expect it to be much, but I hope you likey :) It needs a title, but I'm planning on picking a few and letting you guys vote for one. Also, I'm really sorry if Draco or anyone else is OOC.

I do not own Harry Potter in any way…unfortunately :(

Changing the Ways

Prologue

Draco Malfoy was just as nervous as everyone else was when his name was called by Professor McGonagall and he walked up to the stool that the sorting hat sat on–just he tried not to show it. He was a Malfoy, after all. He had a reputation to maintain. Draco already knew, of course, what house he would be put in. Slytherin; just as countless other purebloods in his family had been.

It was to be expected that Draco Malfoy would be exactly the same as every other Malfoy before him.

But then he put the hat on his head.

He was very sure of what would happen when he picked up the ragged hat and placed it on his head. His mother and father had told him that he would hardly have to wear it for a second before it would shout, "SLYTHERIN!" So he was a tiny bit surprised when a voice whispered in his ear, "So you want Slytherin, huh?"

Draco nodded and a tiny smirk appeared on his face, only to be gone half a second later as the hat said, "Unfortunately, I don't think that is going to happen."

Draco frowned as the hat said, "Your family has been in Slytherin for far too long. You are prejudiced, and I believe that a change would be wonderful. Besides, there is a beautiful selection of Gryffindors this year. They might just change you for the better."

And before Draco knew what was happening, the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" to the rest of the hall.

Draco was, in the least to say, horrified and embarrassed as he took the hat off of his blonde head before staggering down the steps to the Gryffindor table. This cannot be happening, he kept repeating in his head. Not only was it a violation of his very nature, but also of his family's traditions! What would his father think?

He took his seat next to a bushy-haired girl, who he hoped very much was a pureblood. She looked at him and held out her hand.

"Hermione Granger," she introduced herself.

"Pureblood, half-blood, or muggleborn?" He asked, eyeing her hand warily.

"Er, muggleborn, I suppose," said Hermione. She had read that witches who had non-magical parents were referred to as muggleborn. Draco sneered at her filthy mudblood hand, but then sighed to himself. If he was going to be in Gryffindor for the next seven years, he might as well try to get along with them.

"Draco Malfoy," he said, smacking her hand down. Hermione frowned.

"Well there's no need to get so snappy!" She snapped.

Draco smirked, "Says the snapper." She huffed rather angrily at him before turning her attention back to Professor McGonagall as she called the name, "Potter, Harry!" up to the sorting hat. Everyone in the hall, except for a select few, gasped.

"Potter doesn't look so high-and-mighty anymore, does he, Granger?" Draco whispered to Hermione.

"Hush," she reprimanded him quietly, as Harry stumbled up the stairs. Harry placed the hat on his head, and about a minute later it yelled, "SLYTHERIN!"

The hall gasped again. Draco stared, his mouth open. It seemed like the hat had gotten his and Potter's places mixed up. Potter was supposed to be the brave one, not him. And Draco was definitely supposed to be in Slytherin. It seemed that the hat had forgotten that Harry was the one who had survived Voldemort's curse, was the supposed 'Chosen One', the one who was supposed to brave all evils and save the world. Slytherins were cunning, not brave. Most definitely not brave.

The rest of the evening passed rather quietly. Other than a certain very annoying—and as he soon found out, know-it-all—mudblood that he was forced to sit next to, and the occasional Weasley, he actually enjoyed the company of other Gryffindors, which was crazy since it went against everything he knew.

As Draco sank into his bed that night in Gryffindor tower, he was thinking that maybe the hat was right. Maybe this would change him for the better. But of course that was completely crazy. Slytherins. Were. The. Best. He wasn't going to let spending only one night with a few measly Gryffindors change that view. He sighed and rolled over in his bed. This was going to be a very long seven years.

A/N: Don't worry! Harry is still going to be 'the Chosen One' and all that jazz. Please, please, please let me know if there is anything wrong with my grammar, or if there is anything hard to understand so I can try to correct it in the future. Please tell me if there's anything you don't like. But give me a reason! Don't just say 'I hate the way you write Draco'. Give me a reason why you hate the way I write Draco. Is his hair too blonde? Is his nose too much like Voldy's? Is he OOC? (I know that he probably is OOC, but I'm open to any suggestions!) Ok, I think that's all for now, besides the titles. Here are my ideas, and if you have any more, don't hesitate to tell me!

A. Life as a Lion

B. A Gryffindor at Heart

C. Changing the Ways

D. What the Sorting Hat Did

I know that they might be a bit cheesy, but like I said before, I'm open to any suggestions that you might have. Just review with your preferred title, mine or yours.

I have chosen a title, no more voting :(

Sayonara,

MLMockingjay