The Perks of Being a Gryffindor
Chapter 1
Harry had scarcely met anyone quite like him - he was arrogant beyond anything he could quite comprehend, moreso even than his own horrible cousin - Dudley Dursley. Harry couldn't help but silently hope that the boy's deepest aspirations for life became crushed somehow, though, being the good person he was, he instantly berated himself for the cruel thoughts. Though, just seeing the superior look on Malfoy's face alone was enough to make Harry's insides boil.
"Malfoy, Draco," Professor McGonagall called in her usual stern tone, and Harry's eyes darted to the little menace that he couldn't get his mind off of.
"I bet you ten galleons he'll be put Slytherin," Ron said, leaning closer to Harry so as to not raise his voice above the silence.
Harry barely had time to ask why before the Sorting Hat shouted, sounding rather puzzled, "Gryffindor?!"
A silence like no other stretched over the Great Hall, during which Ron quietly cursed, now owing Harry ten galleons, and the look on Malfoy's face made Harry think that when he'd blinked someone had stepped onto the platform and slapped him.
"Please take your seat, mister Malfoy, you're holding up the line," said McGonagal softly, a certain shock in her eyes as she lifted the Sorting Hat off of Draco's small, blonde head.
Draco stood, unbalanced, and tripped over his own feet twice in his attempts to shuffle his way over to the Gryffindor table, shocked into silence. Unlike the other freshly sorted students, who received thunderous applause from their new houses, Malfoy only got a few, stray, unenthusiastic claps as he stiffly seated himself, far removed from the other Gryffindor students.
"Granger, Hermione," McGonagall said, her voice sounding rather loud and shrill in the silence of the large room.
Hermione shifted nervously, giving herself encouragement out loud as she carefully climbed onto the stool Malfoy had previously been sitting at. She was promptly sorted into Gryffindor as well, and, being the kind little girl she was, seated herself closely to Malfoy who was staring forlornly at the tabletop. Instantly, his face screwed up bitterly and he shifted away from her so drastically that he bumped into one of the Weasley twins, who pushed him quickly back towards her.
"I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione introduced herself, thrusting her hand forward. "You don't look too pleased about your sorting. What were you hoping for?"
Malfoy ignored her hand, his eyes shifting to Harry who had just been sorted into Gryffindor as well, to a great deal of cheering, and was lowering himself into the seat across from them, staring at him with a straight face.
"Draco Malfoy," Draco began, through his teeth. "And I'd been hoping-" his voice cracked horribly and he twisted his pale hands together, dropping his gaze. "Slytherin," he whispered. "I should have been sorted into Slytherin. Oh my father's going to kill me, how did I get myself sorted into Gryffindor… Ravenclaw, I can see Ravenclaw, but Gryffindor?" he lamented, burying his head in his arms, ignoring the looks he received.
Ron came up behind Harry, cautiously sitting across from Malfoy, nodding in thanks for the congratulations and applause he got from the other Gryffindors, most of which were now paying attention to the sorting once again, save for Hermione, Ron and Harry, who merely stared at the should-be Slytherin in their midst, unsure what to do about him.
"I'm sure your father will be proud of you no matter what," Hermione said, having no clue who his father was as of yet, and no idea how devastated Draco was at the thought of the disapproval his father would show for this…
"My whole bloody family, except for me!" Malfoy wailed, his voice muffled by his arms, and his fingers steadily undoing the spell which had slicked his hair back against his scalp. "My father will murder me for this! I'm not Gryffindor material, Slytherin's where I should be-"
"The Sorting Hat thought otherwise, or else you wouldn't be here, now would you?" Hermione said smartly, still patting his back encouragingly, which had become astoundingly irksome to him. "And I doubt your father will kill you over something so silly-"
This comment raised quite a few eyebrows and turned quite a few heads. "Houses are the basis of the school!" One of the twins, Harry wasn't sure which, said.
"You're sorted into them based on what you've got-"
"-you heard the Sorting Hat!"
"-where dwell the brave at heart-"
"-which is Gryffindor-"
"-use any means to achieve their ends-"
"-which is Slytherin-"
By now, Hermione was scowling, waving her hands for them to stop. "All right, all right! I agree, the houses are important - but not being sorted into the house you wanted isn't going to ruin your life-"
"You don't know my family," Malfoy argued, eyes wide and staring at nothing, still pulling fretfully at his hair which by now hung in front of his eyes in glued-together clumps. "My family's been sorted into Slytherin for generations! I'm the first one not to be in Slytherin! I'm a disappointment to the family-"
"No, you're not. You're just special. Think about it, Draco. You're the first in your family to do something none of them could have done! Why would you want to be exactly like hundreds of generations before you? You just want to be a copy of them?"
Hermione's words did nothing to cheer him up, in fact, he seemed to becoming more and more depressed by the moment, though no longer bothered to push Hermione's comforting hands away.
Ron cast Harry a look that clearly stated, 'gag me', turning to listen to what Dumbledore had to say, and then joyfully to the food as it appeared before them in great, heaping mounds.
Draco did not touch anything, as he felt ill to his stomach, and had Hermione not anchored herself to his arm, he would have left early to sulk somewhere. His friends, Crabbe and Goyle, looked lost on the other side of the room, and continuously cast him worried glances, though he never looked up from his empty plate.
When everyone else had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. As the prefects were all leading the new students to their dorms, it appeared as though the only person showing any sympathy towards Malfoy was Hermione, who he had as of yet to bark at. He was far too lost in his own thoughts, and among the reasons he hadn't cast her aside yet was because he remained unaware of her blood status. Hermione held high hopes that by the time he learnt of it, he would be too desperate for company to brush her off.
Harry and Ron had been avoiding Hermione since having labeled her as mental, and Ron had been casting Malfoy glares all through dinner. When they reached the common rooms and were shown their dorms, Hermione at last had to part from him, and he did not answer her when she asked if he would study with her later. Instead, he merely numbly followed the other boys up to their dorm, feeling ill to his stomach at all the red and gold. Six four-posters hung with deep, red velvet curtains, and every inch of the rest of the room was decorated in the same bloody colours. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, and Malfoy far too dejected, the boys pulled on their pajamas and fell into their beds.
"This is the worst night of my life," Malfoy said only just loud enough for Harry and Ron to hear him over their conversation about the feast, though it was clear his words were not directed towards either of them. Whimpering, he crawled under the covers and hid his face, fingering the fine green nightclothes his mother had gotten for him just for Hogwarts. They were the only green thing in the room, though, other than Harry's eyes. And he felt, not for the first time, sorely out of place.
Whilst Harry was dreaming of talking turbans, laughing professors and awful green flashes, Malfoy lay wide-awake, dreading the letter he would more-than-likely receive early in the year, after his family learned of his placement in Gryffindor. The thought of being disowned constantly shoved its way into his terror-filled mind, and not a wink of sleep was to be had that night.
AN: So I got inspiration for this story on Facebook, there was a post (I think it originated on tumb1r) about what would happen if Draco had been sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. So this is just the first chapter. You guys want more? Let me know how you think Draco would behave/how his family would react/how the trio will react to his presence. Remember the three of them aren't close friends yet, they disliked Hermione until the day they saved her from the Troll, and she has yet to experience Draco at his worst, so I figured she would naturally try to befriend him first.
AS ALWAYS IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE STORY/CHARACTERS VISIT THE MIGHTY SLYTHERINS WIKI (Link on my profile)