My sixth piece for the 'Rubik's Cube Challenge' - different houses!AU.
A beautiful smile lit up Harry's face as he hurried down the hall to his Charms class. His yellow tie was askew and his glasses were slipping down his nose, but he was having such a good day that he didn't care that his appearance was all over the place.
Finally arriving right on time at Charms, he rushed to his seat next to Pansy Parkinson and sent her a blinding smile in greeting. When Harry and Pansy had both made Hufflepuff in their first year, they had both latched onto each other. Pansy had been scared of the rejection which was surely to come from her family because of her sorting into Hufflepuff, and Harry had been generally mistrustful of anyone more than a year older than himself.
They had clung to each other at the start, and even as Harry got more trusting of adults and Pansy got over the partial disownment from her family, they stayed together as only best friends could.
When Pansy was mocked by Hermione Granger, a bratty know-it-all in Ravenclaw, Harry came to her rescue. When Harry was scorned for his less than pure blood by Draco Malfoy and his gang, Pansy sliced them to shreds with cutting remarks.
They were a formidable duo, and whilst their loyalty was primarily to each other they had grown closer to their house as the years passed. Hufflepuff was the most over-looked of the four houses, and while they were more-or-less happy to do their own thing it meant that they had created an internal motivational system to create a fair and just rewards system which was not provided by the school.
When Charms class finished, Harry exuberantly grabbed the dark-haired girls wrist and excitedly tugged her to get her to follow to him.
Lead by Harry, the two Hufflepuff's ended up outside by the Forbidden Forest as he called into the trees to show his friend what had excited him all day.
After a few minutes a rustling was heard, and a magnificent white unicorn serenely tread out of the forest. Pansy gasped, and Harry carefully stepped towards the beautiful creature. A pale hand ran down the dazzling coat of the beast, and the emerald-eyed boy turned to beam at his friend who was still staring in amazement.
Motioning her towards him with his free hand, he kept one hand on the smooth coat of the unicorn. His friend's hand soon joined his on the sparkling hair, and they joyfully marvelled at the spectacular being.
"You really have a way with magical beings, Harry." Her words were kept quiet, but Harry's smile widened at the words. Over the years, he had come across many animals and most of they had become attached to him.
"I can't help it; they're all just so wonderful!" The admission was guilt-free, and the two Hufflepuff's turned back to the glorious unicorn beside them.