Written for the Houses Competition: Round 4
House: Hufflepuff
Position: Potions
Category: Standard
Prompt: [Trope] Different House Sorting
Summary: By the fifth time, they became amused. And over time, it became a competition to see how many times they could be sorted into their original house. (Harry likes to think he's winning, but Hermione and Ron would beg to differ. Sneaky snake.)
Word Count: 1674
Minerva McGonagall was expecting many things when Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley came to Hogwarts. From great things to pranks, she thought she was ready for whatever came.
She was wrong.
She had already met Hermione to introduce her to the magical world, and she was… interesting. She seemed like a normal little girl, except something was off. Like she knew something Minerva didn't. She would deny it, but she felt a slight shiver go up her spine when she gazed into the knowing eyes.
She had not met Ron Weasley yet, but she wondered what he would be like, considering all his older brothers. She was not prepared for a weary boy who joked around a bit, yet seemed to scrutinize everyone and everything.
Harry Potter was especially weird. It had been ten years since she last saw him as a baby, and the years did not seem to be good to him. He was startlingly thin and Minerva thought she saw some bruises, but they always seemed to be gone when she looked again.
But more than that, he was like a war veteran. Always prepared for the worst and getting lost in memories about war. It was unsettling for an eleven-year-old boy, and it made her sad and worried.
Then came their sortings. And anything she thought before flew out the window.
"Granger, Hermione!" she called out.
The girl came forward, looking the same as she did when Minerva picked her up. Before she sat down, however, there was a shout from the first years.
"Don't get into Slytherin this time, Hermione! Else we have to kick you out."
It was Ron Weasley. His comment surprised everyone, including her. The Weasleys had a slight prejudice against Slytherin. It wasn't much, but Minerva heard Ron was a little worse. From the comment he made, however, it seemed like he was more than okay with being sorted into Slytherin.
Hermione blushed, then scowled. She didn't look surprised, which surprised Minerva as the way they interacted seemed like they knew each other, even though they only met today.
"Oh, shove off Ron! It was one time!" she snapped before sitting down.
And once again, everyone was shocked. One time? But they were just being sorted now. What did she mean by one time?
"Don't fool yourself, Hermione, it was like twice!"
Minerva felt herself getting a headache. Something was going on and she wasn't sure if she wanted to know what that was. She heard Hermione clear her thought and realized she was still holding the Sorting Hat. She flushed unnoticeably and put the Sorting Hat on her head.
It took four minutes for Hermione Granger to get sorted. For a moment, Minerva thought she would be a hat stall before the Hat shouted out.
"Ravenclaw!"
"Damnit!" Hermione cursed.
"Hah! I win, Ron," another voice from the crowd of first years shouted out.
Everyone's attention turned to the voice and saw Harry Potter holding out his hand to Ron Weasley, looking smug. Ron looked disgruntled as he pulled out a sickle and gave it to him.
"Knew I shouldn't have bet with you," he muttered, but everyone heard it as they were all silent.
"Honestly Ron," Hermione started, walking down to them, "You should know better than to bet against Harry."
Ron groaned. "I know, but I thought I would get lucky."
He then grinned.
"Ravenclaw again? Why am I not surprised?" he teased, "Were you hoping for Gryffindor again?"
It was Hermione's turn to groan as she replied, "I really needed to get sorted into Gryffindor this time! If you get sorted into Gryffindor this time, we'll be tied and I don't want to lose my lead!"
"Alright guys," Harry interrupted before the two began fighting. They were already gearing up to argue, Harry could tell. "The sorting has to go on and I think everyone knows something is up."
Ron and Hermione turned to look at the crowd in surprise, seeming to have forgotten they were there. Minerva's headache grew and she could tell some other teachers, Snape especially, were getting a headache as well.
Deciding to take back control of the situation, Minerva cleared her throat before saying, "Mr. Potter is right. Now, back to the sorting."
The rest of the sorting went on relatively well until she called Harry's name.
"Potter, Harry!"
Harry made his way up, but not before Hermione made a comment while he was walking.
"Hope you get Gryffindor this time because you need to catch up!" she shouted, Ron, laughing in agreement.
"Hey!" Harry protested, "I'm not that far behind!"
Ron and Hermione snorted, which made him blush a bit. Minerva sighed as she put the hat on him, hoping this would be the last of it, despite not having sorted Ron yet.
In a surprise move, it only took 30 seconds for the Hat to decide what House to sort him to.
"Slytherin!"
Immediately, there was outrage. How could the Savior of the magical world be sorted into Slytherin? Minerva ignored that, instead looking at Ron and Hermione. They did not look surprised but amused.
Harry let out a few curses as he passed them. Ron and Hermione laughed, and the hall went silent once more to hear what they would say.
"What number is that now? 10?" Ron teased.
"30, actually. In 51 lives, including this one, he has been sorted into Slytherin more than half," Hermione corrected in her know-it-all's voice.
Ron and Harry rolled their eyes, and something dawned on Minerva. It seemed impossible, but there were no other options.
The three had time traveled.
It was a bit confusing. Why would they reveal themselves and how did they do it? Time-Turners were rare and hard to get, and most didn't go that far back on time. How many times did they time travel if they lived 50 lives?
'What year did they come from in the first place?' Minerva wondered.
There were a lot of unanswered questions and she knew the three of them aligned with herself and the Headmaster would have a long conversation tomorrow.
For now, though, she just sighed and continued with the sorting until she called the name of the last of the trio.
"Weasley, Ron!"
To her surprise, Harry and Hermione said nothing. They looked focused, watching Ron walk up and put on the Sorting Hat. She heard Ron whisper something like 'please, please, please, come on!'
"Gryffindor!"
"Ha!" Ron yelled in triumph causing Hermione to groan and Harry to be even smugger.
"You're tied now, Hermione," he said, looking gleeful.
"I know," Hermione ground out, annoyance clear in her voice.
And as Ron Weasley walked smugly over to the Gryffindor table amid polite, shocked applause, Minerva knew this school's year would be very interesting. She just prayed that they would all survive.
How they time traveled was a bit anticlimactic, in Harry's humble opinion. And if anyone asked him, it was definitely Hermione's fault, though Hermione would probably say it was his and Ron's fault.
The spell Hermione found was simple. For a brief second, you could see a potential future you might have. With Harry's luck and Ron's somewhat lack of skill with new spells, they managed to mess it up.
"You idiots!" Hermione screeched when they met again in their first life. Or was it second? Harry didn't really want to think about it.
Instead of trying to blame Hermione though, he just smiled sheepishly and shrugged. By his side, Ron looked just as sheepish. Hermione's responding groan could be heard around the world.
'At least,' Harry thought offhandedly, 'Things won't be boring. After all, Voldemort is still a…"
Later, parents dropping their children off at the train station swore they heard Harry Potter curse. They figured it was just their imagination, however, and went along their way. Hermione and Ron laughed at him the whole train ride to Hogwarts, much to his chagrin.
And so it began. The first time through, they tried to keep as much the same as possible. Of course, they tried to change a few things like who died. Sirius actually managed to survive, much to Harry's relief.
They lived full lives and when they thought they were done, they were suddenly eleven once more, having just gotten their Hogwarts letters. Harry was even more sheepish, Ron was just done with it all, and Hermione blew up in anger.
It was in their fifth life when they figured out they couldn't pass on. They were stuck, cursed to live their lives in a constant loop. By some luck - Hermione thought Harry's good luck finally kicked into his protests - they finally managed to find a book about it. It was all theory, of course, though Hermione suspected it may have happened to the author as well and he just didn't want to say it.
So, they decided to at least have some fun with it. The sixth time around, they tried to see if they could get sorted into different houses. It was fun for a bit, especially the first time Harry got sorted into Slytherin, but by life 13, they were bored of it and turned it into a competition. They wanted to see how many times they could get sorted back into Gryffindor.
By life 50, the score was Harry with 5, Ron with 11, and Hermione with 12. When they arrived in life 51, Harry and Ron were determined for Ron to at least tie with Hermione. Harry knew, although he would deny it if asked, that he would not win, so he decided to choose sides. Whoever was winning, he was on their side.
To hear Ron get sorted into Gryffindor was music to his ears and as he fell asleep after getting sorted in his dorm, he thought, 'Well, 51 time's the charm, right? I'm feeling hopeful for this life.'
Harry snorted in laughter, knowing his luck would ruin that and fell asleep, waiting for the next day in his 51st life.