Unusual and Unexpected Sorting

Fred:

"Ready for Hogwarts, dear brother?" George asked from where he was sitting on his messily packed trunk. He was breathing heavily, a sure sign that he had only just packed it so that Mum wouldn't explode on him.

"Of course," I replied as I jumped up and began to pack my own trunk hurriedly as I could hear Mum already coming up the first step, reassuring Ginny that her time would come next year as she did so. "Ready to wreck havoc?"

"Of course," he repeated my earlier words as, with a huge sigh of relief, I sat on my, now full, trunk in order to make it close. It couldn't be described as neat but it was better than doing a Ron and Mum finding out that our trunks hadn't been packed. I could hear he yelling even as we exited our bedroom and made our way into the cluttered living room.

"Everything okay, Perce?" I asked our third oldest brother, who puffed up his chest in annoyance. It was well known that he wanted to become Prefect next year but in my personal opinion he was taking it a bit far. Then again, I couldn't really talk as George and I always took it too far.

"Of course not," he spat pompously, "I can't believe Ron didn't think to pack. I've been packed for weeks."

I exchanged a glance with my twin, both of us thinking the same thing. How could he be related to us? Rolling my eyes at his naivety (seriously, not everyone packed weeks before. In fact, he was the only one I knew who did), I strolled past him and stared uneasily at the car Dad had transfigured so that it would fly. I mean, we were Wizards, why did we have to use Muggle equipment.

"Everyone in," Mum yelled and I noticed that I wasn't the only one with a wrinkled nose. She was glaring down at the car with an expression of mile disgust but didn't dare tell Dad. She never did when he came up with absolutely crazy schemes such as this one.

"I'm going to Hogwarts," Ron crowed once we were all squished into the backseat (all five of us – Percy, me, George, Ron and Ginny. Mum and Dad were in the front). Ginny sniffled despondently and he patted her head like one would a dog. "Don't worry, Gin, you'll get to go next year. I mean, it's Hogwarts."

His attempts at consolation didn't work and our youngest sibling allowed a few tears to slip from her eyes. She was sitting in between Ron and George, with me next to my twin so I leant over George and took one of her small hands in my own.

"Come on, Gin-and-tonic," I said in as chipper a voice as I could, "It's only a year."

"But you, George…P…Percy and Ron won't b…be at h…home…"

"I'm sure Bill and Charlie will come and visit our favourite sister."

"I'm your only sister," she said with a watery laugh and I noticed with satisfaction that her tears had dried up and she was staring at me with bright eyes.

"Alright," George snapped, trying to sound annoyed as he pushed me off him and back onto my own seat. I laughed at that and stared out of the window as the car became invisible and we set off, Dad attempting to drive. I could already guess that we would be feeling slightly ill when we arrived at school.

I was absolutely correct. When we arrived at Kings Cross Station, where we would catch the Hogwarts Express, we all staggered out of the car, dry heaving onto the pavement. Well, all of us apart from Dad, who, for some random reason, seemed even happier than usual and kept mumbling things under his breath on improvements he could make to the car.

"Let's go," Mum muttered, her face slightly green. "Arthur, why don't you stay with the car?"

As soon as Dad had nodded we were gone, rushing down to Platform 9 ¾, where we were to catch the train.

"Look," Ron whispered as Mum went off about Muggles to Percy. The rest of us turned our attention to the people just entering the station. Three of them had white-blond hair and snobbish faces, glowering at everyone in sight as though they wished all of them would drop dead. However, it was the fourth extremely beautiful figure that had our attention. She didn't look like a Malfoy, though there was no one else she could be.

He hair fell in curls like a waterfall down her back, a few escaping to frame her heart-shaped face and her eyes were a deep, chocolate brown that I felt that I could drown in. She was dressed in a simple, blue Muggle dress and sandals. I was surprised the illustrious Purebloods allowed her to wear Muggle clothes.

As if she had felt my – our – gazes, she turned her head in our direction and I felt my heart skipped at the vulnerability I could see in her eyes. She gave us the fleeting of smiles before she once again turned away and followed the Malfoy's onto Platform 9 ¾. It was clear that she was scared before she went in but Draco Malfoy looked at her with such tenderness that it stole my breath away. Who knew that Malfoy's could actually care about other people?

XxX

Hermione:

"Hermione? Mione? Can I call you that? Mione Malfoy, it suits you. Come on, get up, we're going to Hogwarts."

That was only some of the jumbled words I could hear as my twin brother made his presence known in my room, waking me up from a comfortable sleep.

"What do you want?" I snapped groggily even though he had technically already told me that.

"We need to get to the train station," Draco said with an innocent look. He was already dressed in a long black robe, underneath which he had (surprisingly) Muggle clothes. I expected he had worn it because no one could see it. He couldn't destroy his precious Pureblood image, could he?

"Alright," I groaned, "Give me five minutes."

He gave me an odd look but nodded none-the-less. I guessed he expected me to take hours like the other girls he knew. Well, I was nothing like them, and I was going to prove it at the sorting.

Lucius and Narcissa had sat me down a couple of days ago and told me how all Malfoys (and Blacks apart from Sirius, who ended up being a murderer) had been in Slytherin and how they expected me to be in the same House. Well, I hated to disappoint them but if they thought that then they definitely didn't know me as well as they thought they did. I had read Hogwarts: A History and I already knew that I wasn't Slytherin material. I guess in that case the next best place for me would be Ravenclaw and, not to sound bigheaded or anything, I was definitely smart enough to go in there, but I didn't want to. No, the House I wanted to call my own was Gryffindor. I wanted to be known for my bravery rather than my cunning, and I could do that in the House of the Lion. Also, maybe I could stop the House rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin by being the sister to a Slytherin. I only hoped that they (meaning Lucius, Narcissa and Draco) wouldn't hate me for my choice.

I ran a brush through my hair and sighed as I stared at myself in the mirror. I knew I was pretty, I always had been, but I was no beauty. I was actually quite glad of that fact. I wanted to be known for my brains rather than my beauty but it wasn't extremely nice to know that, while Draco was everything a handsome boy should be, I was only average at best.

I changed into a stunning aqua-blue, above-the-knee dress and slipped my favourite, worn, white sandals and regarded myself in the mirror. I knew that the Malfoys (well, maybe apart from Draco) hated the fact that I wore Muggle clothes, but they hadn't brought it up and I didn't actually own any robes like those Pansy wore. I knew that Narcissa would buy some for me if I asked (she had already tried), but I actually enjoyed my Muggle clothes and wouldn't change it even if asked.

I sighed once more as I left the room and made my way into the Floo room downstairs, where my already-packed trunk waited along with my family. Dobby had insisted on packing it but I overseen it so that he put in what I wanted as well as what Narcissa wanted. I had rolled my eyes at that, she had wanted dozens of robes but I had rejected them all and tossed them out at the first chance I got.

"Finally," Lucius spat with a sigh as he entered the fireplace and shouted for Kings Cross Station.

We arrived into a large room surrounded with fireplaces, most of which were glowing green as people exited. This was part of the magical area of the station and I found myself taking all of it in with my mouth open until Draco nudged me and I closed it with a snap, giving him a quick glare over my shoulder.

I could see Narcissa, Lucius and Draco raising their noses at the Muggles that surrounded us but I personally didn't see anything wrong with them.

I pulled my trunk behind me as we approached the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. I could feel someone staring at me, their gazes unnerving and questioning. I looked up, my eyes fixing on the four red-heads staring at me while a small, squat but kindly woman who I assumed to be their Mother talked to an extremely tall and gangly lad of about fourteen.

The smallest of the four staring at me was a girl with auburn hair that fell in soft waves down her back. Her face was plump with an air of childishness about it. I could tell that in another couple of years she would be beautiful, but at the moment she looked innocent and her eyes were puffy with what looked to be tears.

The smallest male seemed to be about my age with a spattering of freckles on his nose and fire engine red hair. His head was tilted to one side and he was regarding me as one would a particularly interesting species of frog – with suspicion and slight disgust but also fascination. I wondered what I had done to upset him so much as I had never met him before.

Shrugging I turned to the final two, who were very clearly twins. The one on the left was leaning slightly to the left while the one on the right was leaning heavier on his right leg. They were both taller than their siblings but it was clear that the younger boy was going to outgrow them in a couple of years. Their hair was the same colour as their sisters and it was longest than their brothers, covering their ears but not coming anywhere below that.

Even though their staring was a bit creepy, I ignored it and gave them a tentative smile. However, only the left twin and their sister gave me a grin in return. The other two just turned away, glowering. I was still unsure of what I'd done to upset them but Draco was pulling on my arm so I just allowed him to pull me along.

"Goodbye dears," Narcissa said coldly, giving both of us a kiss on the cheek before taking her leave. She had gone from a kind Mother to a heartless Pureblood. The change shocked me a bit.

Lucius didn't say anything but only gave us a stiff nod and followed his wife. I didn't see how anyone could be immune to showing emotion.

"Those are the Weasley's," Draco whispered in my ear, "They're Purebloods but the likes of them aren't fit to mix with the likes of us."

"Why?" I asked, confused at the hostility I heard in his voice.

"They're Blood Traitor's, they mix with Muggles and Mudbloods."

"What's wrong with Muggles? And what are Mudbloods?" I asked in quick succession, clearly taking my brother aback.

"Well…they're Muggles. They don't have magic, so that puts them below us…"

"But why?" I demanded, feeling that the conversation was going around in circles. He clearly didn't understand so I decided to elaborate. "Just because they don't have magic, it doesn't mean that they are beneath us. They are still people, just like us. They bleed blood, just like us. They are just like us. If Mum and Dad (that is, my Muggle Mum and Dad) hadn't looked after me for the first eleven years of my life, I would be dead. They protected me, why can't you see that?"

He seemed to be speechless but just shook his head and moved onto my second question.

"Mudbloods are people with non-magical parents."

"Oh, Muggleborns," I said, finally understanding, "But why do people call them Mudbloods?"

"Because their blood is dirty, it is polluted with Muggle genes. They should be Muggles."

I still didn't understand, and shook my head as though to prove it, but before I could say anything, shouts could be heard from behind us. Blaise and Pansy appeared and Draco left with them to find a compartment, expecting me to follow.

I attempted to lift my trunk onto the train but just ended up toppling backwards, expecting to fall to the ground. Instead, strong arms hauled me into their chest and my trunk was caught by someone else.

"Thanks," I muttered, turning around, only to be faced with the redheads from before. One of the twins had caught me while the other had saved my trunk.

"No problem," the twin holding me said with a grin. This was a different reaction they had had when they had first seen me. "I'm Fred."

"And I'm George," his twin said, "Oh, and this is Ron and Ginny."

I smiled back at them before introducing myself, "I'm Hermione."

Ginny had started crying, her already red cheeks swelling under the weight of her grief. George started whispering to her but it wasn't doing any good. I could see Ron with a trunk and gathered that she only had a year to go until she could come to Hogwarts.

I pulled myself out of Fred's arms and bent until I was at her level (although I didn't have to bend far).

"Ginny."

She looked up at me, sniffling pathetically.

"It's only a year, it's not like it's a lifetime. And your brothers will be back before you know it."

"But…it's so long," she whispered back.

I hugged her, allowing her to get my dress wet with her tears as I whispering soothing words in her ear. Finally her tears had dried up and I pulled back, grinning widely.

"Remember, it's only a year." And then I took my leave, dragging the trunk that George had pulled onto the train behind me as I searched for my brother and his friends.

XxX

Fred:

"Did that just happen?" a shocked voice said from behind us and we turned in surprise to be greeted with the sight of our oldest brother, Bill.

Ginny let out a happy shout and leapt into his arms. He hugged her back but still seemed slightly shocked at what he had just witnessed.

"That was little Malfoy Jr., right?"

"Yeah," George replied back, "It was. She doesn't seem so bad."

"Remember what the Malfoy's were like in the first war," was all Bill said as we said our goodbyes to Mum, Bill and Ginny and made our way into the compartment, leaving Ron alone.

"She was beautiful," I whispered, hating how breathy my voice sounded.

"Who was?" came the chipper voice of our best friend, Lee Jordan. Lee still looked the same as when we had first met him in our first year.

"That's it, George," I breathed in my twins ear as he levitated a bucket of water in front of Snape's study. It was a pathetic prank, I admit, but it was the only one we could think of at the time.

The sound of footsteps halted our movements and soon our fellow Gryffindor first year, Lee Jordan, was making his way down the corridor. Before we had a chance to hide he had seen us.

"What are you doing?"

His voice was polite but there was an undertone of curiosity in his voice. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to tell him the truth. So we did. Instead of walking away as we'd expected, he said:

"It won't work properly if you just levitate the water."

He moved stealthily over to the door and opened it a crack before motioning for George to put the water on top of the door. Exchanging a confused glance with me, my twin complied.

Once the water was secured, Lee pulled us behind a statue where we could still see the action and not even five minutes later there was a massive CRASH as the water upended all over Snape's greasy head.

"Perfect."

That had been the start of a strong friendship between the three of us, and now Lee was privy to all of our prank ideas.

"So, who's beautiful?" he asked.

While I had been in La-la-land, he had sat down on the seat in front of me and was staring at me curiously. However, it was my twin who answered.

"Hermione Malfoy. She's a first year."

"Yeah, I heard about her. I just thought the rumors weren't true."

"Well they are," George said with a snicker as the train began to move, "And Fred here's got a crush on her."

XxX

Hermione:

The train slowed down after about two hours. I was in a compartment with Pansy, Blaise and Draco, and they were really annoying me. I mean, as individuals they were okay, but all they would talk about was how great Slytherin was. Seriously? As if I cared.

"Time to go," my brother said with a grin as the four of us rose and began to make our way out of the train.

A half-giant and precarious boat ride later and we were standing in the entrance hall of the castle that would be our home and school for the next seven years. It was quite a daunting fact.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Draco talking to a small boy with unruly black hair, startling green eyes and glasses: Harry Potter.

His eyes flickered to Ron and an expression of derision came across his features as he said. "There's no need to know your name. Red hair, hand-me-down robes…You must be a Weasley."

I moved forward slightly, moving to my brothers side as I gently took a hold of his shoulder. He shrugged me off and he continued. "I'm Draco Malfoy, and these are Crabbe and Goyle." He was talking about two thug-like boys I had only met in passing but who seemed as thick and as ugly as trolls.

"You'll soon learn that some Wizards are better than others, Potter, don't go messing with the wrong sort."

"Draco…" my voice came out as slightly desperate and everyone eyes turned to me, widening as they took me in.

"Already got yourself a girlfriend, Malfoy," a small boy I would soon learn was Seamus Finnegan said sharply, "Wow, you do work fast."

The next thing I knew, Draco had pulled out his wand and was pointing it furiously at the other boy.

"Never talk about my sister like that."

Professor McGonagall had arrived and he swept past her into the hall. As soon as he'd gone, every eye turned back to me once more.

"Ignore him," I said quietly, "He's a bit touchy." Then I followed Draco's example and made my way into the amazing hall.

The picture I had seen in Hogwarts: A History didn't even do it justice. It was absolutely magnificent and massive. The four house tables took up most of the hall with the teachers table at the far end, the Headmaster in the center. The ceiling was enchanted like the night sky and was extremely beautiful, with stars twinkling high above us.

Professor McGonagall moved to the front, next to a wooden stool and a hat that I knew must be the Sorting Hat. A sheaf of parchment popped into existence in the elderly Witches hand and she read out the first name:

"Abbott, Hannah."

The shaking, blond-haired girl made her way to the front, to be sorted into Hufflepuff. A look of utmost relief came across her face as her house exploded into applause.

More names passed (Draco, of course, was placed in Slytherin) and then it was my go.

"Malfoy, Hermione."

I could hear the angry murmurs of my fellow students as Professor McGonagall gave me an encouraging smile that made her usually stern face soften slightly.

I picked up the hat and put it onto my head, wincing slightly as an unfamiliar voice boomed in my ears.

"Yes, I see a sense of loyalty that would do well in Hufflepuff, but I also see a cleverness that would do well in Ravenclaw. I also see bravery and a sense that you need to prove yourself of a Gryffindor. You are also a Malfoy, which should be Slytherin…"

"Please not Slytherin, please not Slytherin…" I chanted under my breath, closing my eyes.

"Not Slytherin, eh? And why not? You could do it, you know? Well, if you're sure…better be…

"Gryffindor."