Part 1:
Harry Potter was concerned. He had known Draco Malfoy was up to something all week, due to his aggressive, whispered conversations with Snape in the hallways, which came to an abrupt end whenever Harry or one of his friends came into sight, and the way he seemed to go off at Crabbe and Goyle every time Harry saw them. He was concerned. Malfoy was bad enough on a good day, but it was safe to say that grumpy Malfoy would be worse, and Malfoy had been grumpy all week. He had been expecting something from him, something bad. He was up to something, Harry was sure of it. He had spoken to Ginny, Hermione and Ron about it, and although they agreed that Malfoy was acting quite strange this week, none of them seemed to think that this was something to be concerned about.
"Harry," Hermione had said, "Malfoy always acts strange, you know that."
"Yeah, Harry," Ron agreed, "there's nothing odd about that. Well...there is, but that's just the way he is, innit?"
Finally, Harry had been outnumbered and forced to leave the subject. He had assured them that he agreed, there was nothing to worry about, but he still had a bad feeling about this. Malfoy was up to something, he just knew it. He had no idea what it was, but it had to be something, it just had to be! Something was going to happen, and he had a feeling Snape was involved, what with the way he kept seeing them in abandoned hallways, whispering aggressively at one another, and then suddenly stopping when they realized that someone else was in the room. He had tried following them under his invisibility cloak a few times, but it was almost like they knew he was there, because Snape always looked around with a sceptical look on his face, and then told Draco to go back to the Slytherin common-room. Disgruntled, Draco would obey, and that would leave Harry with as many questions as he'd started out with, if not more. Finally, Harry decided to take action and find out what on earth was going on.
It was a Saturday in September, the sun was shining, birds were singing in the treetops and being beaten to death by the Womping Willow, and just about everyone was outside, enjoying the day. Everyone except Harry, that is. Harry had woken up that morning with a feeling that today was the day; this was when Draco was going to make his move, and Harry was determined to stop him. He waited until after breakfast, giving himself enough time to come up with some good arguments to persuade Dumbledore that something actually was wrong, and that Draco really was up to something. He marched through the halls, muttering his arguments on the way to perfect them, and had almost reached the gargoyle he knew guarded the staircase up to Dumbledore's office, when suddenly that hidden door opened, and out stepped the one person Harry had not expected to see. Draco Malfoy, followed by the headmaster himself, who was currently resting a hand on Draco's shoulder. Draco was smiling up at the headmaster, and as they exited the office, he could just hear Dumbledore speaking the words:
"I'm sure we can arrange something, Draco. Come back tomorrow, and we'll have it all set up."
Harry stopped dead in his tracks, watching the sight before him with large, amazed eyes. Malfoy...in Dumbledore's office? Why was he smiling at Dumbledore? What on earth was that creep up to? It had to be a conspiracy, a conspiracy to gain Dumbledore's trust and then betray him, just when he expected it the least. Harry realized that he was gaping, and so he shut his mouth. He had to have made a sound, for at that moment, both Dumbledore and Malfoy turned they heads towards him, and did something Harry would never have suspected.
They smiled.
Seeing Dumbledore smile at him wasn't a new experience for Harry, and so that wasn't the strange bit. The strange bit was that Draco smiled with him. Draco was smiling at him! Draco, his enemy at this school, was smiling at Harry. It had to be a fake one, one he put on just to show Dumbledore what a good boy he was, and how he could be trusted. Harry could feel the anger building up inside him. The nerve! Planning to betray Dumbledore like that, and using him, Harry, as a pawn! Harry started marching forward, feeling like he could nearly explode with anger, but lowered his pace when he got a closer look at Draco's smile. That wasn't a fabricated smile, that was a real smile, a friendly smile. What on earth was going on?
"Ah, Harry," Dumbledore said, "how good of you to join us! You know, I was quite hoping you would. Step into my office, Harry."
He took a step to the side, clearing the path for Harry, who stepped forth with small, insecure steps.
"And, Draco," Dumbledore suddenly continued, "I believe it would be best if you came, as well."
A little while later, they were in Dumbledore's office, all seated. Dumbledore was sitting on a chair behind his desk, looking from Harry to Draco and back again with a knowing smile on his face. Draco was sitting on a chair on the other side of the desk, returning Dumbledore's smile whenever he looked at him, and otherwise smiling a friendly smile at Harry. Harry was sitting on a chair next to Draco, looking with confusion at both Draco and Dumbledore, before his gaze finally rested on Dumbledore, pleading for an explanation to what was going on.
"Well, Harry," Dumbledore started, "I supposed you're wondering what's going on?"
Harry nodded quickly, eager to get an explanation from Dumbledore's lips, an explanation that would let him decide whether there really was a plot to betray Dumbledore, or if...well, Harry didn't know what else it could be, but whatever it was, it was freaky as hell. He glanced sideways at Draco for a moment, and was only able to catch a sight of his pearly-white teeth, smiling at him. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable, and tried focusing on Dumbledore, instead.
"Well, Harry," Dumbledore continued, amusement apparent in his voice, "it seems we have a problem."
Finally, Dumbledore managed to get Harry's undivided attention, and he forgot all about Draco for a moment.
"We do?" he said, suddenly insecure. Dumbledore had a problem? With him? He started thinking about what he had been doing these last couple of days, if there was something he had done that might offend or annoy Dumbledore, or if he had broken any of the school's rules. Maybe he was being expelled? Maybe Draco was in on it! Maybe he had come up with loads of accusations towards Harry, and had made Dumbledore believe that he was guilty of a whole bunch of charges! And Dumbledore had believed him... How could Dumbledore believe him? How could he? He was supposed to be on Harry's side, wasn't he? He was supposed to be one of the good guys, and thus know that Harry was on his side, and was one of the good guys, as well? He had to know that Malfoy was lying, he just had to!
Suddenly, Dumbledore started chuckling.
"Oh, no, Harry," he said, between chuckles, "You and I do not have any problems. As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing wrong going on between us...unless there is something you wish to tell me?"
"No!" Harry immediately exclaimed, overcome by relief that Dumbledore wasn't angry with him for something, "No, nothing's wrong. Everything's good! Really good!"
Dumbledore kept chuckling, and this time, Draco joined in. Harry looked to his side and scowled at him, but Draco was too busy looking at Dumbledore and chuckling to notice, and so he gave up, and simply let them laugh.
"That's good, Harry," Dumbledore continued, "No, it is Draco who has the problem."
Harry was amazed. Had Draco, Snape's favourite student, come to Dumbledore with a problem. Now, Harry was even more confused. He could not, for the life of him, understand what was going on. If Draco had a problem, why didn't he just go to Snape? Or better yet, why didn't he just have his father throw some money at it to make it go away? That was what he usually did, so why didn't he do that now? It had to be something serious, Harry concluded; something out of both Snape and Lucius Malfoy's hands, something only Dumbledore could fix. But what could that be? It had to be bad, really bad, and big, really big.
"Oh?" was all that Harry managed to say as a response.
"Yes," Dumbledore said and nodded, "It seems that our Draco, here," he gestured towards Draco, whose smile had now faded slightly, and seemed to have been replaced with something resembling shyness, "thinks that there might be a slight possibility that he might, just might, have been placed in the wrong House."
Harry sat there for a moment, staring into Professor Dumbledore's eyes with a blank look in his eyes, while his mind tried to process what had just been said. Every time he tried, however, he came up with the same conclusion: It simply could not be processed. Finally, he gave up his futile attempts and understanding what was going on, and posed the question he had wanted to pose ever since Dumbledore made his last statement.
"Excuse me?"
"He what!" Ron cried out as he, Harry, Hermione and Ginny sat in the Gryffindor common-room two hours later. Harry had fetched them from the garden, where they had been enjoying the sunny day, the second he got out of Dumbledore's office, and got away from Draco's friendly smile.
"Shush, Ron! Be quiet!" Harry said quietly yet firmly, and gave him a strict stare. They were the only people in the Gryffindor common-room, since everyone else was outside enjoying the day, but he still felt that they couldn't be too careful.
"Sorry," Ron said and lowered his voice, "He what?"
Harry could not help but chuckle a little at his words, having had enough time to process the news Dumbledore had given him to be able to react to other influences, as well.
"Honestly, Ron!" Hermione said and glared at him, "Haven't you been paying attention at all? Harry just said that Draco thinks he's been placed in the wrong House!"
She paused, and seemed to be considering the information she had just passed on to Ron.
"I'm sorry, Harry," she then said and turned to him, "but how is that possible?"
Harry smiled and shrugged at the same time.
"Apparently," he started, "he feels that the Slytherin ways are not his ways, and he wants to be placed in another House. He just doesn't think he's a Slytherin, any more."
"But, Harry," Ron interrupted, "the Sorting Hat placed him in Slytherin before McGonagall even had time to put the hat on his head!"
"I know!" Harry replied, "I think it's as strange as you do! I'm just telling you what he said!"
"So..." Ginny started, "What is Professor Dumbledore going to do about it?"
Harry paused and drew a deep breath, hesitating now that he finally got to what he had wanted to tell them all along.
"Well..." he hesitantly said, "Dumbledore is letting him get re-sorted."
"What!" Hermione, Ron and Ginny exclaimed simultaneously.
"Harry!" Hermione said, "How is that possible? The Sorting Hat's never been wrong before, so why should it be wrong this time! And with Draco, of all people! Everyone knows he's a Slytherin; he's probably the most obvious Slytherin since...You Know Who."
Harry sighed and buried his head in his hands.
"Look, guys, there's something I didn't tell you," he said and looked up at them.
"What?" Hermione immediately asked, "Harry, what is it?"
"It's about Draco. He's, well...he's...nice."
"What?"
Again, all three of them spoke at once, and they all stared at Harry with large, amazed eyes, like they were expecting him to have all the answers. He couldn't help but smile and chuckle a bit, even though he didn't really feel like it.
"I said, he's nice. He was smiling at me, and being friendly and polite, and well...nice."
"But, Harry," Hermione said in a no-nonsense way, "that could just as easily be an act! You know Draco, he simply can't be nice!"
"Yeah, Harry," Ron agreed, like he always did when Hermione said something, these days, "You can't actually think that Malfoy's nice after everything he's said and done. What, with him always making fun of Hagrid, and calling Hermione a Mugblood, and all..."
"Ron!" Hermione said, "Don't use that word!"
"Sorry, Hermione..." Ron said, lowering his head in disgrace. He'd been acting really odd lately, they both had. She'd been very touchy about everything Ron said - more than usual, that is - and he'd been agreeing with everything she said and watching his step around her. Harry wasn't sure if he liked it, but he didn't know if there was anything he could do about it, either.
"Anyway," Harry said, to get them back on the right track, "if Draco's acting, he's really good at it. I don't know if he is, though, but I suppose we'll all know tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Ginny said, confused, "What's happening tomorrow?"
Suddenly, all eyes were on Harry again. He sighed again, and looked from one to the other, taking in the view of their confused and eager faces.
"During dinner tomorrow, Draco is going to step up in front of the whole school and Professor McGonagall is going to put the Sorting Hat on his head again. He'll be re-sorted in front of the entire school."
They all sat there gaping and staring at him for a while after that, in total silence. Harry didn't want to be the one to break the silence, worrying that it might be too soon. It had taken him a while to process the whole thing, too. He could almost picture it, now; Draco Malfoy sitting on a chair in front of the entire school while McGonagall placed the hat on his head, once more. He almost found himself pitying the boy, but refused to let himself feel anything like pity for Draco Malfoy. His newfound kindness was probably just an act; a part of a bigger plot, and he wasn't going to fall for it. When Hermione spoke next, however, he realized that he might be alone in that opinion.
"Poor Draco..."
There was uneasiness about their small assembly when they sat at the dinner-table; silently expecting what they knew was to come. People had remarked upon their strange and silent behaviour that day, and upon how they seemed far less cheery than they usually were. Now, they were all sitting there in total silence, gaining the odd confused glance from one of their classmates, who still wondered what was wrong with the four of them. Harry had spent the better part of the evening looking from Ginny to Hermione to Ron for comfort, but every time his eyes landed on one of them, they were looking the other way, trying to get comfort from one of the other two. Now, he had decided to deal with it on his own, and was simply sitting there, nibbling at his food - as he didn't feel very hungry - in total silence. He looked to the front of the room. There was a chair placed in front of the teachers' table, and beside that a small table, which seemed to confuse the entire assembly, even the teachers. Not Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione, though. They knew what it was for. The table was for the Sorting Hat and the chair...Draco Malfoy. They could hardly believe it was actually going to happen. They could hardly believe Draco was actually going to subject himself to this. He was born to be Slytherin! How could he ask to be re-sorted? Again, Harry looked to his three friends for comfort, but noticed that they were all staring in the same direction, towards the front of the room. He quickly turned and looked the way they were looking, and saw that McGonagall had just carried out the Sorting Hat and placed it on the table, and that Dumbledore had just stood up. He cleared his throat, and the entire assembly became silent as all heads turned to see what was going on.
"Dear students of Hogwarts," Dumbledore started, and Harry held his breath. He could tell by the look on Ron's face that he was doing the same thing, "Today is a day unlike any other, a day of change and new experiences. Today, we will have a re-sorting."
Although Harry had expected the crowd to gasp and start arguing amongst themselves what this was all about, no such thing took place. Instead, the crowd broke into silent muttering, and Harry could many times distinguish the words "what's a re-sorting?" Dumbledore cleared his throat again, and kept on speaking.
"A student has come to me with the concern that he, for it is a he, might have been sorted into the wrong House. This has never happened before, but it does not surprise me that is has, since you students are in a growing state, and it is very likely that you will change as you grow. Apparently, that is what has happened, now. This student has asked to be sorted again, and for this, we have brought out the Sorting Hat once more this year. I will now ask the student in question to come up to the front, and be sorted."
Now, the gasp Harry had expected to come sooner finally broke loose, as Draco Malfoy stood up and started walking towards the front. He could hear Slytherins calling "Draco, what are you doing?" and he could see some of Draco's fellow Slytherins trying to make a grab for him and stop him from doing what he was doing, but Draco just kept on walking, oozing of determination with his head held high. Harry could hear a gasp beside him, and saw that it was Hermione, who was now covering her gaping mouth with her hand. He looked to the front, looked from one teacher to the other, and noticed that every face up there was filled with confusion and surprise. Well...almost every face. Snape, on the other hand, was staring angrily at Draco, following him with his eyes like he was willing him to turn back and sit back down at the Slytherin table. So this was what it had all been about? This was why they'd been whispering in the hallways, this was why Snape had seemed so agitated every time he spoke to Draco this past week? Harry couldn't help but smile a victorious smile at the sight of Snape's angry glare. Snape had lost his golden boy. What a pity.
Draco finally reached the chair at the front of the Great Hall, and he sat down, seemingly untouched by the loud mumbling that filled the room, and the amazed stares that had been following him ever since he stood up, and were still locked onto him now, as he sat in his chair. McGonagall stood beside him, looking out at the crowd, and then she cried out:
"Silence!"
The crowd was silent, and all eyes were on Draco, watching him with expectation oozing from their bodies. Harry heard Ron loudly releasing a breath of air he'd probably held since Dumbledore started talking, but he didn't react to it. All he wanted to hear now was the Hat's words. He studied both Draco and McGonagall closely, and noticed that McGonagall seemed insecure. So insecure, in fact, that she finally leaned down and whispered something into Draco's ear, to which he nodded in reply. Harry could only guess what she had said.
Finally, she took the hat in her hands, and moved it towards Draco's head. It seemed like an eternity passed before the hat was finally hanging over Draco's head, and that another eternity passed while McGonagall slowly lowered the hat onto his head. Everyone was quiet, not as much as a whisper was exchanged in the entire hall; everyone was too busy waiting for the Hat to pass its judgement. Harry could hear his heart beating, louder and louder, as he watched the Hat squirming in contemplation atop Draco's head. Maybe he really had changed? Maybe he wasn't a Slytherin anymore? Last time they'd tried this, the Hat had spoken before it had even been placed on his head, and now, it seemed to be thinking forever. Draco was looking up towards the hat, and he seemed to be whispering something to it, like Harry had done when he had been sorted. Harry couldn't help but wonder what was going on inside that head of his, and what the Hat was saying to him. Maybe they were arguing about whether Draco had changed or not? Maybe they were arguing about which House to place him in? Maybe they were just having a friendly conversation about the weather? In any case, all Harry wanted to hear was the name of a House, shouted out across the assembly. Where would the hat place him this time? Would it condemn him to be in Slytherin? Would it deem him wise and send him to Ravenclaw? Would it think him dependable and witty, and send him to Hufflepuff? Or maybe, just maybe, it would place him in... No, it couldn't be. It never would. Not Draco Malfoy. It wouldn't...would it?
It didn't.
"Slytherin!" it finally said, and relieved sighs broke out all around the hall, especially from the Slytherin table. Even Snape was smiling in a relieved manner, and Harry could not remember having ever seen Snape smiling in any way other than cruel. Hermione, Ron and Ginny turned to him, all three of them bearing expressions that seemed to scream "told you so", but then it happened; what no one had expected.
"No, wait..." the Hat suddenly shouted, and the crowd was suddenly silent again. All eyes were on Draco, who was looking just as confused as everyone else. Snape was mystified, it seemed, for he, of all people, was gaping. He shut his mouth mere seconds after it had opened, of course, but Harry would never forget the sight of Severus Snape gaping in amazement. Harry looked to his three friends again, but they were all looking away, all looking at Draco with giant eyes. And then the Hat spoke again, louder than before, more certain than before, and everyone knew it was final.
And this time, it did.
"Gryffindor!"
The Hat's familiar voice rang out across the Hall, and everyone gasped in amazement. A loud humming broke out, the sound of all the school's students speaking at once, as the Hat was lifted off of Draco's head. Draco himself had to do it, as McGonagall was staring at him in amazement. Even Dumbledore seemed amazed, and although Harry could imagine it was possible for him to be surprised, he had never expected anything to be able to amaze him. Harry's eyes travelled further down the line of teachers, past all the amazed expressions, and finally landed on Professor Snape. Harry wasn't sure he could describe that expression. He could use 'terror', but he felt it didn't even begin to describe the emotion displayed on Snape's face. He almost felt like laughing, but at the same time, he couldn't help but pity the poor man. Snape really had lost his golden boy, and what was worse, he had lost him to Gryffindor.
Draco was trying to hand the Hat back to McGonagall, but she didn't react. It was almost as though she'd been Petrified, the way she was standing there and not reacting to anything that was going on. Finally, Draco decided to simply put the Hat down on the small table beside the chair, and he stood up. He looked to Dumbledore for instructions, since McGonagall seemed to be completely frozen at this point, and realized, to his great relief, that Dumbledore was at least able to motion towards the Gryffindor table. Smiling, Draco stepped down from the rise in the floor, and walked briskly towards where Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny were sitting. A seat was immediately cleared for him, and he sat down between Harry and Hermione. Harry could feel everyone staring at them, their eyes broad and their mouths at their knees, and he couldn't say he would have behaved any differently, had someone else been in his shoes. They were all looking at Draco, even Harry, when he suddenly turned towards him, grinning broadly.
"Well, isn't this just peachy?"
Draco looked from Harry to Hermione, from Hermione to Ron, and from Ron to Ginny, but when he saw that they were all gaping and staring at him, he directed his gaze towards the food lying before him, instead, and helped himself to a piece of chicken.
...to be continued