Chapter Two – In which it all goes downhill…

It starts on the train

It takes Draco more time than he'd like to ditch his stalker, but he finally manages it without going out a window. Of course, he then had to find his brother without running into them again, he was successful in that too. Ignoring the two people sharing a compartment with his brother, Draco zeroed in on the kitten purring in Neville's lap.

"Is that a cat, Neville?" Draco asked as his eyed twitched.

"Yes…" Neville replied hesitantly.

"Is it YOUR cat, Neville?" Draco growled, teeth grinding with barely repressed fury, because his foolish little brother had obviously bought the damned thing so Draco couldn't just throw it out the nearest window.

When Neville didn't answer, Draco opened his mouth to once again expound his modified reasons why they couldn't have a cat, only for Neville to interrupt him with a shout.

"I won't let you take Havoc!"

This had everyone in the car pausing as they imagined Lieutenant Havoc sporting cat ears and a tail along with his ever present cigarette.

The aftermath of the pause, however, made Draco finally notice the others in the compartment. Because the black-haired boy, who was sitting opposite his impressionable little brother, shoulder's were shaking with barely repressed laughter.

"What are you laughing at, bastard?" Draco growled as he immediately took it as an insult.

Still snickering, Harry replied, "Still short on vocabulary there I see, Fullmetal."

"Who are you calling so short a breath of wind could blow him away!" Draco shouted, before blinking and narrowing his eyes. "How do you know that name?"

"I'm hurt, Fullmetal, I really am. After all, even Alphonse managed to recognize me." Harry drawled, with a slight sniff.

Draco growled. "Colonel Bastard."

"Maybe you aren't so short-sighted after all, Fullmetal. Although, technically, I am no longer a Colonel, as I have been demoted to a mere celebrity pawn."

"A mere celebrity? Only you could be such a snobbish bastard. I'm surprise Hawkeye ever put up with you."

"Someone had to make sure the paperwork got done." Hermione interjected calmly.

Suddenly confronted with the identity of the fourth person in the compartment, Draco could only gape at her in shock, allowing her to fully introduce herself.

"My current name is Hermione Granger, although you know me as Riza Hawkeye. And Colonel Mustang is now Harry Potter."

Draco replied somewhat dazedly, "I am Draco Malfoy."

After blinking a few times, he turned back to Harry, and smirked, "You know, bastard, celebrity's putting it a bit mildly."

Harry returned his smirk, motioning for Draco to sit, and they passed the rest of the train ride catching up.

And that is how they finally came together.

And plans are made

Hermione was not an easy sort, and the Hat could see from her memories that none of them would be, as they were each a mix of two Houses. Hermione, for example, was incredibly brave and courageous but also loyal to the bone to those she considered friends. After a few seconds deliberation, the Hat decided that she was much more of a Hufflepuff than a Gryffindor, so that was where she went.

By the time Neville was to be sorted, the Hat had a plan, which if it had to say, was quite a cunning plan which involved each of them going to a different house. After all, it was past time to put an end to inter-house rivalries. Still Neville needed to be sorted, and while he was an even mix between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, his thought on how the Hat could talk made him a shoo-in for Ravenclaw.

Draco was next and, in a clear departure from every other Malfoy to pass under the Hat's brim, would never fit into Slytherin – unless, of course, the Hat wanted to kill off the entire House. However, despite the fact that he might have been a picture perfect Ravenclaw, the Hat sorted him into Gryffindor. Because for all of Draco's desire to learn, it was driven by his desire to protect, and he was loud, outspoken, and brash, and refused to bow to anyone – which was picture perfect Gryffindor.

Harry, despite being last, was still carefully examined. After all, there was no point putting a child in a House where they would never belong just for the sake of furthering a few of the Hat's plans. Of course, the Hat needn't have bothered, because Harry was, if nothing else, a Slytherin. While Harry would have fit in almost any House, he was simply meant for Slytherin. He was just as ambitious as Roy ever was, and he already had plans for modernizing the wizarding world and bringing it into the twenty-first century. Being in the pure-blood house would only help him, provided he got at least a few of them on his side, of course.


AN: Sorry this chapter is so short and abrupt, I just wanted to get this out, and my muse isn't being very cooperative with giving me ideas. I hope I explained why they went into the Houses they did well enough, and please let me know if y'all have any questions. And, Svarra, thanks for the suggestions! Also, Amazingly happy, Ron is currently a teeny-tiny part of this story, as he's not my favorite character and rather hard for me to write.

Currently, Hughes is the only other person who is for sure going to be reincarnated (and I'm thinking about Nina), and will appear during second year as a firsty. (correct guesses get cyber cookies!) I do need to figure out his house though, so please give me ideas and a good reason why to put him there! And the same for anyone else, because as long as they have a good reason to be reincarnated I will try to fit them into the story. The Sins are the only exceptions, and if you want them go to my other fic The Seven Deadly Sins.

Now to answer a few other reviews!

Fluehatraya - ^_^ I am very glad you liked it!

Manga154 - *wink*wink* Maaayyybbeee….

TristaDen – I think that's a pretty interesting, to have Luna instead of Hermione.

To everyone else – I am very glad that you liked it!

Please don't forget to review!

~Sayanora!