A/N: If there are any mistakes or grammatical errors, just a warning, this chapter didn't go to the beta. So I just wanted you to know. Once I have the chapter edited, I will replace it.

Here is the long awaited result. I won't keep you any longer, I just hope that you're all excited for where this could lead, just as I am. It will be most exciting to see what shenanigans Draco will get up to being in such close quarters with Harry and Ron, as well as Hermione.

I want to take a moment to express how much your follows, favorites, reviews, kudos, bookmarks and comments mean to me. It gives me so much joy to see that you are enjoying this as much as I am. Now, onto the good stuff.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

XoXo,

Elle.

Gryffindor

"Better be… GRYFFINDOR!" Draco's jaw dropped. He could hear shocked gasps resounding around the Great Hall. Hermione looked just as shocked, like she had expected him to be placed in Slytherin just as much as he had. His eyes dropped to Crabbe and Goyle's faces, they looked dumbfounded, Pansy looked livid. This was it, the Sorting Hat had just signed his death warrant, he was sure of it.

McGonagall removed the hat from his head and actually smiled down at him, "Welcome to Gryffindor, Mr. Malfoy." Draco moved slowly as he rose from the stool and stumbled over to the Gryffindor table. He sank down clumsily next to Hermione in a daze, his eyes watering from the need to blink. But he couldn't make himself do it. He was most definitely in shock.

A brown haired boy with a Scottish accent slid over a goblet of pumpkin juice. "Here, drink this. It'll help with the shock." Draco took large gulps of the juice, feeling Hermione's eyes on him. She had her hand on his back and was rubbing soothing circles there, as his mother would do. When the goblet was empty, he looked over at Hermione, "My father is going to go ballistic. Everyone in my family, in the Malfoy line, for as long as I can remember has been in Slytherin. My dad is on the Board of Governors. He'll be here in the castle by morning. This is so not good."

Draco groaned and dropped his head into his hands, his fingernails digging into his scalp as Hermione continued to rub his back. "Surely it won't be that bad, Draco. Maybe you could write to your father and tell him that...that…" Draco didn't mean to sneer at her, it just came out, "That what, Hermione? That I'm happy to be in Gryffindor? You just don't get it. You weren't raised the way I was. You don't understand anything about the way Purebloods think."

Hermione recoiled, a hurt look on her face and immediately he regretted the words that had left his mouth. "I'm sorry. I'm just in shock and confused. I was raised believing I would be a Slytherin like my parents. I came here expecting to be a Slytherin. This is just so bloody crazy." Hermione nodded, that hurt look still in her eyes as she returned her attention to the sorting, her hand falling away from his back.

He sighed heavily, resting his chin in his hand as he too, looked back at the sorting. "Harry Potter." McGonagall called and he made a face at the name as the black-haired boy walked up to the stool, looking nervous. The hat deliberated for a moment, no doubt speaking in Potter's mind as it had his own.

When the hat shouted out another resounding, "GRYFFINDOR!" Draco had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Of course Potter would be sorted into Gryffindor, he was, after all the one who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. As he joined the table, sitting by yet another Weasley, Draco drew into himself.

He could already imagine the letter his father would receive, alerting him of where each student was sorted, as he did every year. He'd always mutter under his breath about the Weasley's being in "Bloody Gryffindor." While his father was nothing like Theodore Nott's father, Lucius Malfoy was definitely not going to be happy.

The sorting was winding down, moving into the W section of the alphabet. When the next of the Weasley clan was called, Draco beat the hat to it as he mumbled, "Gryffindor." The gangly red-head made his way over and wedged himself in next to Harry. "I'm feeling a bit peaky. When are they going to serve the food?"

All three of his siblings rolled their eyes and just ignored him. Hermione giggled next to him and Draco found himself feeling jealous. He focused his glare on the youngest Weasley and glared at him, wishing he could make that red mop on the top of his head disappear. Then he remembered he'd be sharing a dorm with the wanker and he swore under his breath.

With the sorting done, the headmaster rose from his seat, and moved to the podium at the front of the platform. "May I have your attention, please? A few start of term reminders, before we begin our feast…"

Draco listened as best he could, but his mind was whirling a mile a minute, trying to find a way to convince his father that he would be fine in Gryffindor. To leave him here at Hogwarts. To not pull him out and send him to Durmstrang. The mere thought of leaving Hogwarts had a clenching pain in his chest.

Once Dumbledore had finished his speech, he clapped his hands and a feast unlike anything Draco had ever seen. The moment the aromas hit his nose, he forgot all about his current dilemma and he started loading his plate down with all the food it could hold. Hermione looked over at him with a grin.

She nudged his shoulder with hers and he returned the gesture, glad to see that their momentary tiff was forgotten. Conversations burst out around him, but he only concerned himself with Hermione and the boy who'd given him the pumpkin juice. Who turned out to be the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, Oliver Wood.

When the meal was over, they were all dismissed and told to follow their respective prefects to their dormitories. As they stood in front of a portrait of what the eldest Weasley called 'The Fat Lady' , she called out in a falsely dramatic voice, "Password." Percy Weasley called out in a haughty voice, "Caput Draconis." Draco nearly snorted at that password, no way he would forget that. Dragon's head? His name did mean dragon after all.

The portrait swung forward and revealed a hole in the stone wall. As the students started to clamber through it, Draco looked over at Hermione and grinned. "After you, my lady." He gestured to the hole and helped her in, then followed after her. He looked around the common room, so unlike what his father described for the Slytherin common room. The way his father described, it seemed dank and dreary. But here, in the Gryffindor common room, it was warm and cozy, everything the Manor or the Slytherin common room was not.

Percy directed them to which dormitories were which, but Draco wasn't interested in going to check out where he was sleeping, as his fellow dorm mates were. Instead he dropped down onto a plush couch by the large fireplace. When the couch dipped next to him, he turned his head and smiled at the bushy haired brunette next to him. "Well, hello there."

"Hello, Draco. Are you okay? With being here? In Gryffindor?" She asked tentatively, leaning her head on his shoulder. He nodded with a sigh, "I actually am, to an extent. It's just, my father is going to…" He trailed off and rested his head against hers. "He's going to lose his mind, yeah, I know, you said so. Maybe he won't. Have you written him, yet?"

Draco shook his head, his hands rubbing up and down his thighs. "No, I wouldn't even know what to say. Besides, he'll have already gotten the letter stating where the first years were sorted to. All the governors get one. Can we not talk about it anymore? I just want to stare into the flames."

Hermione smiled, "Whatever you want, Draco." He felt her relax into his side and he inhaled deeply, his senses fully engulfed by everything Hermione. Her flowers and sunshine scent was in his nose, her body heat was sinking into his skin and it was making him sleepy. He was just so comfortable around Hermione that he felt he could let his guard down, so he did and dozed off.

XxX

The tawny barn owl swept through the Manor, dropping the letter on Lucius' desk. He unrolled the parchment and immediately started searching for his son's name. Fully intending to find it under the Slytherin column. When he couldn't find it there, he checked Ravenclaw, better that than any other. When it wasn't there, he checked Hufflepuff and thought Merlin forbid he was sorted into that category. When he couldn't find his name there, his stomach officially dropped to his feet.

"NARCISSA!" He yelled, storming from his study, the letter in his hand. He found her in one of her sitting rooms that overlooked the gardens, a cup of tea paused at her lips when he stormed in. "Yes, love?" He waved the letter in the air, the parchment crackling in the air. "He was sorted into Gryffindor! Gryffindor, Cissa!"

She continued on and took a sip of her tea, her eyes calmly trained on her husband, brow raised questioningly. When she lowered the cup, she just continued to look at Lucius, that brow raised at him. "It was never set in stone that he would be sorted into Slytherin, Lucius."

Lucius spluttered at that, crumpling the letter in his hand as he looked at her. "But a Malfoy always gets sorted into Slytherin!" Narcissa actually had the nerve to giggle at her husband, shaking her head. "And so did the Blacks, until Sirius. You can't actually still be holding on to all those house grudges? I mean, honestly, Lucius. You are a grown ass man, act like it. He is our son and you know as well as I do that the hat takes your thoughts into account as well. There was obviously something that pulled him a certain direction.

"We raised him, Lucius, we have to trust him and his judgements. I understand that you are disappointed, but if you let him know that, you have to know how damaging that would be to him. So you will not go to that school, like I know you are planning to. You will write him a letter, from the both of us, tell him how proud we are of him, send him some of the cakes from the kitchen, and you will sign it with love."

Lucius stared open mouthed at his wife, the balled up letter digging into his palm. "But, I wasn't… I can't… Cissa, surely that hat has lost its touch. If it had a brain I'd say it had gone senile. I mean, that hat has been used since the school has opened and…" Narcissa stopped him with a glare. "And it was enchanted by four of the greatest witches and wizards Britain has ever seen, it is not an artifact that will likely make a mistake. I am completely confident that the hat will still be fully operational well after we are all dead and gone. Now do as I said, Lucius Malfoy, or so help me, I will hex you into the next century and you won't have to worry about what house Draco is in."

Lucius just still stared dumbfounded at his wife, unsure how to speak at the moment. Narcissa simply sipped at her tea again, her eyes staring at her husband calmly. The stare down lasted for a few minutes. His wife had always been the submissive type, until she found something to dig her heels in about. When she did, Merlin's sake, he knew not to push. This, he could see, was one of those moments.

He blinked first, losing the battle. "Yes, Cissa." He turned and left the sitting room, the words Cissa had spoken mulling over in his mind. He supposed she was right. They had to trust their son, they did raise him to be the best that he could be. If that was to be accomplished by him being a Gryffindor, then so be it.

Back in his study, he sat in his chair, pulled a piece of parchment close to him and lifted his quill from the inkwell. Inhaling slowly, he closed his eyes for a moment before putting tip to paper and began writing.

Draco,

Your mother and I wanted to say how proud we are of you. I know you were probably expecting me to visit personally and throw a fit. But your mother, in her way, talked me down. You know how scary she can be when she starts threatening to hex. While I would have preferred you to continue the Malfoy tradition, your mother said something that made a whole lot of sense. While I protested that the Sorting Hat is off its nutter and defective, she pointed out that it was enchanted by four of the brightest witches and wizards Britain has ever seen and it isn't likely to make a mistake. So, I want you to know, that we are proud of you and we love you, son. I was also instructed to send along some cakes from the kitchen. Share them with your friends.

Our love,

Father and Mother.

Lucius folded the letter and slid it into an envelope, sealed it with the Malfoy crest and called for an elf. "Send several of the freshest cakes from the kitchens, along with this letter to Draco at Hogwarts, first thing in the morning." The elf bowed, nose brushing the floor, before disappearing with a pop. Lucius rose from his seat and left to go and join his wife, a new insight on life forming in his mind.

XxX

Hermione's head slipped from Draco's shoulder and she jerked awake, gasping at the shock of being pulled from a deep sleep. After she and Draco had agreed to just sit in silence, he had drifted off to sleep. She had stared into the flames as he had insisted, but the heat from the fire, the full stomach, and comfort she felt being so close to him had lulled her into an easy sleep as well.

Once she recovered from her abrupt wake up call, she stretched her body out, yawning widely. She looked around the common room, finding it empty. Her eyes landed on a grandfather clock in the corner. No wonder it was empty, it was two in the morning. She nudged Draco, calling his name quietly. "Draco. Draco, wake up."

He squeezed his eyes tighter then opened them, blinking rapidly, looking over at her. He looked a bit dazed and certainly confused. "What? Is something wrong?" She smiled, brushing her hair back. "We fell asleep on the couch. It's two in the morning. We need to go to bed. Classes start in the morning." He did the same clock check she did and his eyes widened. "Wow, okay."

He stood up, stretching his body, then holding his hand out for Hermione. She took it with a smile and they headed towards the dorms. She turned to hug him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight, Draco." She turned and went for the stairs to the girls dorm with a grin tossed over her shoulder. "Goodnight, Hermione. See you in the morning."

Hermione climbed the stairs to the dormitory and slipped in quietly, finding the only empty bed and dropping into it utterly exhausted. But she couldn't help but wonder if Draco was truly okay. She hoped that his father wouldn't be too disappointed or hard on him for not being in Slytherin. It was with those thoughts floating around in her mind that she drifted off to sleep.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I am sorry it took so long. I just couldn't choose which house I wanted Draco in. And then when I finally chose, I got hung up about whether or not I was happy about it.

Please review, it means so much!

XoXo,

Elle.