Summery: Draco's fate is altered by a careless remark.

Draco Malfoy: Pride of Gryffindor

"Draco Malfoy." Draco smirked to his friends Crabbe and Goyle as he walked towards the stool and the Sorting Hat. They'd already been sorted into Slytherin and were eagerly awaiting him at the table. Unlike most of the other students, he'd known what to expect as his father had told him long before now. He felt rather confident about the whole affair also, it was like his father said; "The Malfoys are the most cunning Wizards in the world, we define Slytherin."

He sat down and the professor placed the hat over his head. It dropped down over his eyes and he heard a whisper in his ear, "Hmm, interesting."

He sighed and muttered, "What is taking so long?"

The voice chuckled in his ear, "Well, normally I'd sort a Malfoy into Slytherin without a second thought, but since you're in such a hurry, perhaps I'll take my time."

He suppressed a growl, "Now listen here, I am a Malfoy and we're born Slytherins so just do your job and sort me into Slytherin. I demand-"

The voice laughed again, "Awfully brave to make demands of me when I hold the key to the next seven years of your life. Very brave indeed and such bravery should be rewarded, so it must be GRYFFINDOR!"

Draco's heart stopped and he heard a gasp come from the outside world. The hat was pulled off and he looked out to the stunned faces of Crabbe and Goyle then away from them to see that the students at the Gryffindor table had similar expressions on their faces. He couldn't believe that he'd been sorted into Gryffindor. He was a Slytherin! Any second the hat would speak up and say to the assembled school that there was a mistake and it had been joking. He couldn't be a Gryffindor; they were idiots with a need for attention…

The professor spoke into his ear, "Mr. Malfoy, please take a seat with your house."

His house? His HOUSE? His house was Slytherin! How could she even suggest this? "But-"

"Mr. Malfoy, please take your seat." Her tone was as stern as her face and he felt compelled to take a seat, even if it was with the Gryffindors. He slumped off the stool, sulked over to the Gryffindor table and sat at the very end seat, away from everyone else. There were four other first-year students at the table already. That fat-ass Longbottom with his toad, another boy named Finnigan and two girls whose names he couldn't recall. He looked a little further down the table and saw three red-headed boys looking at him with shocked expressions. They were clearly Weasleys. He slumped and pouted at the thought of telling his father his only son was now a housemate with Weasleys.

He barely noticed when a dark-skinned girl sat down at the table. But he looked to the front when he heard that professor call out, "Harry Potter."

A tense silence seemed to fall over the Great Hall. Every student craned their necks to catch sight of the Boy Who Lived. Draco had already met him on the train and was wondering which house he'd end up in himself. The dark haired boy climbed onto the stool and the professor placed the hat on his head. It dropped down over Harry's head and the tense silence seemed to grow even more so as the Hat seemed to be taking even longer with Potter than it did with him.

After what seemed to Draco (and likely every other student) to be an eternity the Hat suddenly spoke, "Right then, GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table erupted into applause which resolved into a chant of "Go-go Gryffindor!" As the dark-haired boy climbed off the stool and smiled as he past the remaining Weasley on his way to the table. Draco watched as the other tables murmured disappointedly, he frowned as Potter took a seat near Longbottom next to a first-year girl with a bushy head of brown hair and prominent front teeth.

The remainder of the firsties were sorted and only two more of them became Gryffindors; a dark-skinned boy named Dean and, of course, the Weasley, Ron.

As Dumbledore droned on about the Forbidden Forest and the Third Floor, Draco's attention turned to Crabbe and Goyle and he felt his blood boil. It seemed that his friends were sucking up to Blaise Zabini. "That was fast." He should have known those two wouldn't wait to find someone to tell them what to do.

When he looked back to Dumbledore he found the Headmaster sitting down and at that moment piles of food appeared on every table. He chanced another glance to the Slytherin table and this time Goyle caught sight of him, he then nudged Zabini, who smirked, made a remark Draco couldn't hear and the trio laughed at him before filling their plates. It was a morose boy that began to fill his plate and kept to himself as he ate.

Far too soon for Draco's liking, the feast was over and the Prefects were instructed to lead the students to their Common Rooms. He scowled as it was the eldest of the Weasley brothers that took the lead. As they started out of the Great Hall he felt someone bump into him from behind and he scowled angrily when he turned to find it was Crabbe that had bumped into him. An older Slytherin boy scowled at him, "Watch where you're going Gryffindor!"

Draco's scowl further marred his features as he turned back around to follow the Weasley-led group of students. They were led up several floors from the Great Hall until they arrived at a portrait of a fat woman. The elder Weasley spoke the password and they were led inside and through the Common Room. He noted with annoyance that nearly every piece of furniture was maroon as well as the curtains.

The girls and boys separated and he was led up the staircase then entered their dorm. One of the six beds had his trunk sitting at the foot, his wand and personal items were sitting on the desk nearby and his pajamas were set out on the bed. His Gryffindor Robes mocked him from their position, neatly folded on his bed next to his pajamas.

By the time he'd changed and got into bed only one thing came to mind, it was going to be a cold day in Hell before he accepted being anything but a Slytherin, he would have to write his father as soon as possible.