Dudley wasn't aware of walking to the table, but here he sat. When he finally peered to the other first years already there, Crabbe was staring back, clearly at a loss of what to make of another boy there. The two girls dipped their heads in greeting. The one sorted before him tilted her head to study him for a moment longer. Both their attentions returned back to the front of the hall and they clapped.
The blond boy followed the action. Slytherin? Him? Sure, Aunt Lily said how everyone could probably fit into all of the houses, but Dudley hadn't been expecting this house. There was nothing really wrong about the traits in it, like his aunt said, but it was only that its reputation had become more tarnished than the other houses over the course of that war. That this was the house more likely to still lean toward ideas touted by the other side's leader.
He swallowed. Lily was one thing. What about James?
The other boy from the train, Gregory Goyle, joined Slytherin table next to Crabbe. Then Dudley whipped his head back around at hearing the next name called out to be sorted.
Hermione practically ran to the stool and sat, jamming the hat over her head. He barely had enough time to work up any nerves for Remus's former student when the hat called out "Gryffindor!" The blond clapped, his head swimming from what his uncle's face would be to the soothing face of Remus snapping over at James. The image helped. And he glanced over to the head table, jolting at seeing Albus glancing over at him too. The older man smiled at him before putting his attention back onto the sorting.
Still, the blond couldn't quite forget overhearing his uncle ranting to his aunt when he first moved in. Back to that time he looked back in shame with his actions and temper tantrums. James had compared Dudley to a spoilt Slytherin, albeit one that shouted on for muggle supremacy instead of pureblood supremacy. It left a bad taste in his mouth and the very little appetite he might have had left disappeared.
Greengrass came next, a girl named Daphne. Her face was composed, sure of herself as she glided over to where the hat sat on the stool. She sat primly, shoulders back as she lowered the hat over her head. "Slytherin!" Looking completely unruffled, she made her way over to the Slytherin table. Admiring her poise, Dudley watched as she made her way closer. Her smooth blonde hair was pinned back on one side of her aristocratic face. Slate grey eyes flickered to him, then away as she sat next to the other two girls.
Between the girls separating from the boys, Crabbe and Goyle keeping a distance, Dudley was not looking too forward at the rest of the year. Of being…Slytherin.
Then he found Neville. Harry and Ron had, at some point, moved in the line to stand next to the boy. The round face boy was pale, trembling. Something in Dudley pleaded with the universe to at least guarantee them classes together, even if it wouldn't be a house. Neville was gloomily positive he would be Hufflepuff because of how his grandmother spoke of his father and Gryffindor.
Whispers hissed across the hall at hearing Longbottom, Neville. At the Slytherin bench, Dudley tightened his fists at seeing how the boy clammed up. But the other boy made it to the hat and after some time of deliberation, "Gryffindor!"
Stunned, Neville stared as the Gryffindor table cheered loudly for him and slowly stumbled his way forward. Dudley applauded himself for the boy, glad for Neville's pessimistic prediction to be proved wrong. Seconds later, Neville went red in the face and rushed back up to give the hat to the Morag MacDougal. His house burst into laughter and a few clapped him on the back when he returned to the table. Then Dudley jolted at seeing his new housemates studying him suspiciously and he lowered his hands, stomach swooping uneasily, and turned back around to watch the rest of the sorting.
A few students later, the Slytherin house earned Draco Malfoy. That hat barely touched the Malfoy boy's head before declaring it too. Giving Dudley a strange look, eyebrow raised, the boy sat neatly between Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. At least Theodore Nott sat beside Dudley. The weedy looking boy appeared bored and uncaring though, disregarding the ceremony to slump his head into his hand and huffing as he halfheartedly scanned the night sky on the ceiling. Dudley looked up to stare as well. It was marginally better than facing fears and worries of exactly how terrible this year would go with these as his housemates.
There was a tap on his left thigh and Dudley stiffened, snapping his head over to who did that. Theodore Nott blinked back at him and then pointed to the front of the hall. It was Harry's turn. Surprised, Dudley looked back to the boy who poked him. "Thanks," he said softly. There was shrug and then Dudley's blue eyes went wide, spinning back around to his cousin.
Panicked, Dudley's arms vibrated at how tightly his grip was on the bench underneath him. Harry was staring fiercely at the hat as he walked toward it. When he glanced over to Dudley, the blond shook his head and narrowed his eyes as he mouthed silently. No. Don't you dare do it. Harry's mouth pressed firmly together and green eyes went bright, filling with determination. And then, his cousin wasn't looking at him anymore but shoving the hat on his head.
The world pressed down on Dudley, this one moment, one minute, one mouth muttering silently. Dudley ached to race forward and shake his cousin from doing whatever it was. Threatening the hat? It'd been sorting kids for years into wherever it thought it best for them, not the other way around. Harry wasn't likely at all to changing it. Except perhaps, provoking the thing. And getting expelled completely if he didn't like getting the house he should, Gryffindor probably. Because his cousin would follow through on his word in this case. It was seven years. Seven long years.
The hat's upper brim shifted and Dudley's heart pounded, knowing Harry wasn't going to like this. And then its mouth opened wide and made its declaration.
"Slytherin!"
Everything in Dudley went frozen.
What?
Slytherin?
That couldn't be right.
What…what just happened?
A scattered applause followed Harry as he leapt up off the stool with a gleeful grin and headed over to the Slytherin table to sit on Dudley's other side. It wasn't just Dudley staring wide eyed at his cousin. Most the table was looking very much taken aback. Even the professors looked startled. One looked like a cross between having ate a lemon and being thunderous at the sight of Harry at the Slytherin table.
It didn't seem to change when three students later, a Sally Smith joined the table in the same bug eyed look at Harry, who just continued cheerfully clapping after each student as though he'd done nothing of note. Up front, Ron's gaze on Harry didn't waver, wildly disturbed at where Dudley's cousin sat. Fresh worry and fear filled his face when he heard his name called, but he looked very relieved in heading over to Gryffindor where Neville was and his older brothers clapping him on the back.
With a Zabini, Blaise to finish off the sorting—he sat at Slytherin too—Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll of names and put the hat and stool away. Albus was standing now, a smile on his face and arms open wide to the hall of students. Dudley stared at the older man. He'd seen the face earlier and couldn't figure how Albus hid his shock so well now. Albus had the twinkle back in his eyes as he smiled warmly. A twinkle. Which meant Albus didn't think the whole Harry-sorted-to-Slytherin situation wasn't something to be concerned over. Dudley glowered.
He disagreed. Massively.
"Welcome. Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts. Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words." So did Dudley. Potentially loud ones. At his particularly pleased looking cousin. "And here they are. Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you."
Albus sat back down. Everyone clapped and cheered. Dudley couldn't feel any of the cheer and most of the other first years near him stared, trying to hide any confusion on his words. Beside him, Harry laughed at Albus's words, then brightened and nudged Dudley as he grabbed for the roast beef at the table. The whole table was full of food.
Dudley ignored it and jabbed his cousin with a finger. "What did you do," he asked in low tones.
Harry blinked. "Grab food?"
There was a snorted huff of amusement from somewhere behind Dudley. An arm slid a bowl of roasted potatoes in front of them and Dudley turned to look. Theodore Nott tilted his head, dark eyes studying him and then roving over to Harry, who thanked the boy. Ignoring whatever it was that twisted in the boy's face for now, Dudley put his attention back onto his cousin.
"What. Did. You. Do." He prodded harshly with his finger. "The hat Harry. What did you do to it?"
"Oh, that." Harry's face cleared, then turned mischievous. "Put it on my head like everyone else."
Dudley grabbed the plate away from his cousin, glaring. Harry wilted and whined, trying to jab at the food with his fork once before giving up at how Dudley covered it with his arms.
"I asked for Slytherin, okay? That's it. And it put me here. I told you we'd be in the same house, didn't I? Can I have my food back now? I'm starved." At seeing his cousin appeared honest with him, Dudley pushed the plate back over. He was sure there was more to it than that. It was a magical hat that sorted students where they belonged. Why would it go along with where a student asked to go over what it saw of them? Dudley stabbed at a roasted potato for himself, suddenly upset he hadn't tried convincing the hat to lean to the other house it'd thought best for him.
"You asked for Slytherin," came a voice of disbelief from the table. Blond and black heads of hair popped back up from their plates. It was the Malfoy boy, Draco.
Harry shrugged. "Yeah, so?"
"You're a Potter," the boy accused.
"I don't see how that matters to what house I go in. There's nothing wrong with Slytherin." Harry reached for more food and then his eyes lit up in humor. "Are you saying there's something wrong with wanting to be in Slytherin? Were you hoping for—"
"Of course there's nothing wrong with Slytherin," Draco defended loudly. "It's the best house after all."
Most of the others nodded in agreement, all of them watching the ongoing conversation.
"Well then," Harry said happily. "Let's eat to all of us being in Slytherin!"
And suddenly, the attention of the other first years fell onto Dudley again and he quickly followed his cousin's example. He wasn't altogether sure of why they were looking at him. The pug faced girl, who both had the cuteness of a puppy and reminded Dudley a bit too much of his Aunt Marge's dogs, nudged the girl beside her. Pansy Parkinson came to his mind. And Tracey Davis was the girl sorted right before him. Tracey fidgeted and Daphne Greengrass sighed, turning her head to gaze at him. It was piercing and he noticed they had a hint of blue in them, but not much emotion other than seeming annoyed.
"So, we're curious, how long have you two known each other?"
He stared. This is what bothered the rest? How they didn't know him, but Harry did. The blond frowned though. Daphne didn't react, clearly waiting for an answer with the rest of the table. They'd all paused for a moment in their eating at the question. He had a feeling there was more to it. She, and the others, had given him an odd look even before Harry was sorted.
"A while," he said. She continued to gaze at him and he relented. "Harry's my cousin, but I moved in when I was almost six." That was when they actually started knowing each other. The visits he remembered before that weren't really too much fun as he stuck close to his parents rather than play with Harry.
There were mutters at what he said around the table. He caught the words mixed, half, related, muggle, throw away, wizard, and then a curse word from somewhere.
"I didn't realize Auror James Potter had a sister," Daphne commented. Theodore Nott huffed beside Dudley but didn't say anything. Draco looked primed to say something, but held back as he leaned forward to hear him better.
And it suddenly hit him. It wasn't that they didn't know him, but they didn't know who he was. As in his blood. He gulped and managed out something not quite a lie, but an unknown possibility of what he was to hope it worked. "Half. I… The magic in my blood is half." Or more if he included anything he might have had outside of Harry's blood. Or a muggleborn. Or something false to the wizardly world.
"You," Harry began and Dudley stomped on his cousin's foot. Pausing to think, Harry chimed in agreement. "Yep. Both of us. You want to pass the treacle tart? Thanks, what's your name again?"
"Sally. Sally Smith."
Harry grinned widely. "Thanks Sally. Anybody else want some?"
After a moment, Draco spoke up. "Give it here Potter."
Then the Malfoy boy directed the conversation over to the topic of Quidditch. Teams, players, the World Cup, and positions wanted on the house team. Harry easily jumped into the conversation, saying how he agreed with Draco on the key position on the team. Pansy agreed with Draco on everything he said, adding a few points, and Tracey agreed beside her. Vincent and Gregory nodded at Draco saying they'd want to be beaters. It didn't surprise Dudley.
But all of this did relax him. It didn't seem as though any of the other first years were going to make an issue out of what kind of blood he had. The relief helped any other worries he held over the schoolyear.
Albus stood once again, giving a speech over a few rules, like how to go about joining a Quidditch team and places to avoid. The Forbidden Forest was right in the name and then there was the third floor corridor on the right side which was followed by his usual dramatics. Harry laughed again, looking over to Dudley and they both shook their heads at Albus's idea of warnings. It was just like his warning on finding out it was a terrible idea to get closer the tracks of the London Underground.
"We'll wait," Dudley heard as Albus gave a whoosh and a flick. Words of the school song came out of it in a golden stream. He didn't turn his head, but focused on listening past everyone starting up the song. "See if they fit. Or prove useful. Keep an eye on the cousin. Bloody stupid muggles, throwing out a wizard. Bet the muggle one turned on one of ours."
Dudley swallowed. His relief came too soon. Not paying too much attention, he read the words out loud, scrambling in his mind to figure a way to survive in a house filled with people far too much like his younger self. Like Aunt Lily? With her perpetual warm kindness? He didn't think that strategy would work for him. That was who Lily was as a person. He shifted closer to his cousin. Oblivious to what had just been said, Harry moved closer as well and sang louder. He was not looking forward to this year after all, he decided. And he wasn't approving of whatever Harry did, but he was thankful to have his cousin with him.
Author's Note: Well. I just did that. Both boys are in Slytherin. Harry pulled the same stunt he did in the books. And is anyone surprised by that? At least one wondered in a review about Harry winding up in Gryffindor with Dudley being Slytherin. I'll assume they were not the only one. Apologies about a few Sundays going by. I've been preoccupied with anime convention things in my spare time since it's the one I staff at and getting close to go time. Sorry about that. The 'What If' story continues. At ten chapters, wow. Thank you to the favorites and follows and to the reviewers malfoyravenclaw555, Alicia Olivia Mirza, and Nanettez.