Careful What You Wish For (H/D, PG)
Title: Careful What You Wish For
Author: sesheta_66
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~ 1625
Pairing/Characters: Harry/Draco
Challenge: For biohazard_x502's birthday prompt of "Draco is sorted into Hufflepuff." It also fits my GJ 100_prompts table #061 - "Bewildered."
Summary: Harry makes a wish without thinking things through.
Disclaimer: The author is not responsible for underage readers. Please observe the ratings, warnings, and age of legal consent for your country. The characters contained herein are not mine. They belong to JK Rowling and her publishers. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.
Harry watched intently as the various students approached the sorting hat with as much trepidation as he felt. He observed as the bossy girl and the boy who lost his toad that he saw on the train got sorted into Gryffindor. He looked at Ron, knowing that he, too, wanted to be sorted into that house.
"Malfoy, Draco," the teacher called. Right, Harry thought. That mouthy prat. He watched as the boy swaggered -- how does an eleven year old learn to swagger, anyway? -- up to the front, looking as confident as could be. Harry searched his brain for the snippets of conversation from the robes shop when they met that first day. What house was it he said he wouldn't want to be in? Hufflepuff, that's it.
A grin spread across Harry's face as he thought, It would serve the prat right if he ended up in Hufflepuff. Harry stared at the hat as it was lifted up to be placed on the blonde boy's head. Narrowing his eyes, Harry thought, Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff, put him in Hufflepuff. He kept thinking that as he heard the hat, "S -- Hufflepuff!"
Harry blinked. No way! he thought. Remembering back to the fact that Uncle Vernon had blamed Harry for anything strange that had gone on around him, Harry fidgeted in his seat. I didn't just do that, did I? I mean, everyone here is magical, so my magic wouldn't be any stronger than his. And he really wanted into Slytherin. Right, it's just a coincidence.
Harry gave his head a shake, thinking that it was rather delusional of him to think he could convince a hat to do anything like that.
Slightly relieved, he continued to watch the sorting, until Potter, Harry was called. He made his way up to the stool, all the while hearing the muttered whispers of the students gathered. He could sense everyone staring at him, even though his back was to them. At last, he sat on the stool facing the crowd and the hat was placed on his head, dropping down so far that all Harry could see was blackness and a hint of the inside of the hat.
"Well ... what do we have here? Harry Potter ... yes ... I see bravery. Ah, yes, you would make a fine Gryffindor."
Harry thought that would be a fine idea.
"But I also see cunning. You would do well in Slytherin."
Harry wondered if it would be as bad as Ron said, especially now that prat was in Hufflepuff.
"Hufflepuff you say?" the hat chimed in his ear.
What? No, Harry thought. Why would I want to be in Hufflepuff?
"Well ... you wanted the Malfoy boy in Hufflepuff, didn't you? Did you perhaps want to join him there?"
I what?
"You willed me to put him there. Surely you know that, don't you?"
And you listened?
"Of course I listened. I was going to put him in Slytherin, but then I thought about what you wanted me to do, so I looked deeper into his mind. There was something in there that told me perhaps you were right. Perhaps things might turn out better for the boy if he weren't in Slytherin house."
Bewildered, Harry thought, You mean you put him there because I wanted you to?
"Hardly, Mr Potter. I put him there because Huffepuff house takes everyone in, and that is a good policy for us all. I won't tell you what I saw in his mind, because that is private between us, but I will tell you that I considered what you thought, and decided that the idea had merit."
And now you want to put me there, too?
"No, Mr Potter, I still believe you would do well in either Gryffindor or Slytherin."
Harry looked around at the two house tables, and thought, Not Slytherin.
"Very well, then. Gryffindor!" the hat called out to the room. Shell-shocked, Harry took his seat at the Gryffindor table, ushered over by one of Ron's twin brothers who called, "We got Potter!" and was relieved when Ron too was sorted there.
Harry's seat, unfortunately, gave him a clear view of the Hufflepuff table and Draco Malfoy. Harry tried not to stare, but it was difficult when the blonde kept drawing his attention by grumbling and scowling like he was being forced to endure torture.
He distinctly heard him utter the words, "my father" and "mistake" and he thought he heard "fix" and "Slytherin". As angry as he looked to Harry, he also appeared quite out of his element. In fact, if Harry wasn't mistaken, he looked rather lost.
Harry tried not to feel guilty, but that too was difficult with the hat's words echoing in his head. If it hadn't been for Harry, the hat would have put the boy in Slytherin. Harry had known that he hadn't wanted to be in Hufflepuff, much like he, Harry, hadn't wanted to be in Slytherin. How would he have felt if the hat had put him in the house he desperately wanted to avoid?
After dinner, Harry followed the rest of the first years up to Gryffindor Tower and got settled in his new dormitory. They all stayed awake quite late chatting animatedly about what they thought their lessons would hold for them the next day. Harry, however, couldn't stop thinking about Draco Malfoy and how he might be faring in Hufflepuff.
He found out the next day when he saw the blonde at breakfast. He overheard the conversation he was having with his head of house. He had asked about sending an owl home, and she informed him that he wasn't able to send a note home until lunch. She then asked why he hadn't sent one the night before when they had all had the opportunity. Harry heard him mumble something about his father and how to break the news. His head of house looked stern and repeated that he would just have to wait.
Harry had decided the night before that he would try to befriend the boy, even if he had been a prat in Diagon Alley and again on the train. It was the least he could do, considering. As he approached, his resolve wavered slightly as he realized that he hadn't any idea what to say.
"Come to rub it in, Potter?" came the snide remark, accompanied by a sneer in Harry's direction.
"Um … no. I just thought --"
"Right, well," he cut Harry off. "I'll have this sorted by the end of the day. My father will take care of it, you'll see. I'll be in Slytherin, where I belong, by this time tomorrow. So you can save your gloating."
"I wasn't --"
"Sure you weren't." And with that, the blonde turned at made his way out of the Great Hall.
Harry felt at once annoyed, because the other boy really was a prat, and relieved that his guilt would be eased soon enough when Malfoy's father did whatever it was he had to do to get Draco into Slytherin. Harry determinately ignored the voice in the back of his head that questioned how exactly a parent would be able to override the hat's decision.
It turned out the voice in his head had been correct. Draco Malfoy was seething the next morning at breakfast after reading whatever the parchment that his owl had delivered said. Harry could make out "not fair" and "abandon me" from whatever else it was that he was mumbling under his breath.
Again, Harry approached him, despite Ron's objections. "Just leave the prat," he had said. But Harry couldn't. This was all his fault, and he needed to at least make sure the other boy wouldn't be miserable for the next seven years of his life, because of something foolhardy Harry did, albeit unknowingly, on a whim.
"Malfoy," Harry said as he approached, "I take it your father didn't get you switched into Slytherin?"
"Oh, bugger off, Potter!"
"It can't be all that bad, can it?" Harry asked, ignoring his request.
"Not that bad? Not that bad?" he growled scathingly. "My family has been in Slytherin for generations. Both my parents were, and I am nothing if not a Slytherin. I fit the house precisely, and I have never even considered being anywhere else, though Ravenclaw would be considerably less humiliating. I was meant to have power, Potter, and Slytherin's the place to start. Now I'm in … Hufflepuff. It's a disgrace! Now stop rubbing it in and leave me alone!"
Harry knew he was about to make a huge mistake, but he couldn't seem to stop his mouth from taking on a life of its own. Bracing himself, he said, "For the last time, I'm not rubbing it in!" He managed to, quite amazingly Harry thought, refrain from adding you stupid prat. "You wanted to be friends. Well?" Harry held out his hand in friendship as the blonde annoyance had done on the train the day before.
Expecting the prickly Hufflepuff to accept, perhaps not graciously, Harry was shocked at the response he did receive. Malfoy threw his hands up in the air, looking as though he was preparing to take flight, and screeched, "What?! You're joking, right? Now you want to be my friend? Now that I'm a … Hufflepuff? You're an idiot, you know that! Befriending a Slytherin would have been much more beneficial to you."
Harry just looked at him incredulously, still holding out his hand.
"And I don't befriend idiots." With that, the prickly prat stormed off.
Groaning inwardly, knowing full well that he was not prepared to take no for an answer, Harry wondered if this was Karma biting him in the backside already for wishing a Huffepuff fate upon the other boy.
.
Author: sesheta_66
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~ 1625
Pairing/Characters: Harry/Draco
Challenge: For biohazard_x502's birthday prompt of "Draco is sorted into Hufflepuff." It also fits my GJ 100_prompts table #061 - "Bewildered."
Summary: Harry makes a wish without thinking things through.
Disclaimer: The author is not responsible for underage readers. Please observe the ratings, warnings, and age of legal consent for your country. The characters contained herein are not mine. They belong to JK Rowling and her publishers. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.
Harry watched intently as the various students approached the sorting hat with as much trepidation as he felt. He observed as the bossy girl and the boy who lost his toad that he saw on the train got sorted into Gryffindor. He looked at Ron, knowing that he, too, wanted to be sorted into that house.
"Malfoy, Draco," the teacher called. Right, Harry thought. That mouthy prat. He watched as the boy swaggered -- how does an eleven year old learn to swagger, anyway? -- up to the front, looking as confident as could be. Harry searched his brain for the snippets of conversation from the robes shop when they met that first day. What house was it he said he wouldn't want to be in? Hufflepuff, that's it.
A grin spread across Harry's face as he thought, It would serve the prat right if he ended up in Hufflepuff. Harry stared at the hat as it was lifted up to be placed on the blonde boy's head. Narrowing his eyes, Harry thought, Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff, put him in Hufflepuff. He kept thinking that as he heard the hat, "S -- Hufflepuff!"
Harry blinked. No way! he thought. Remembering back to the fact that Uncle Vernon had blamed Harry for anything strange that had gone on around him, Harry fidgeted in his seat. I didn't just do that, did I? I mean, everyone here is magical, so my magic wouldn't be any stronger than his. And he really wanted into Slytherin. Right, it's just a coincidence.
Harry gave his head a shake, thinking that it was rather delusional of him to think he could convince a hat to do anything like that.
Slightly relieved, he continued to watch the sorting, until Potter, Harry was called. He made his way up to the stool, all the while hearing the muttered whispers of the students gathered. He could sense everyone staring at him, even though his back was to them. At last, he sat on the stool facing the crowd and the hat was placed on his head, dropping down so far that all Harry could see was blackness and a hint of the inside of the hat.
"Well ... what do we have here? Harry Potter ... yes ... I see bravery. Ah, yes, you would make a fine Gryffindor."
Harry thought that would be a fine idea.
"But I also see cunning. You would do well in Slytherin."
Harry wondered if it would be as bad as Ron said, especially now that prat was in Hufflepuff.
"Hufflepuff you say?" the hat chimed in his ear.
What? No, Harry thought. Why would I want to be in Hufflepuff?
"Well ... you wanted the Malfoy boy in Hufflepuff, didn't you? Did you perhaps want to join him there?"
I what?
"You willed me to put him there. Surely you know that, don't you?"
And you listened?
"Of course I listened. I was going to put him in Slytherin, but then I thought about what you wanted me to do, so I looked deeper into his mind. There was something in there that told me perhaps you were right. Perhaps things might turn out better for the boy if he weren't in Slytherin house."
Bewildered, Harry thought, You mean you put him there because I wanted you to?
"Hardly, Mr Potter. I put him there because Huffepuff house takes everyone in, and that is a good policy for us all. I won't tell you what I saw in his mind, because that is private between us, but I will tell you that I considered what you thought, and decided that the idea had merit."
And now you want to put me there, too?
"No, Mr Potter, I still believe you would do well in either Gryffindor or Slytherin."
Harry looked around at the two house tables, and thought, Not Slytherin.
"Very well, then. Gryffindor!" the hat called out to the room. Shell-shocked, Harry took his seat at the Gryffindor table, ushered over by one of Ron's twin brothers who called, "We got Potter!" and was relieved when Ron too was sorted there.
Harry's seat, unfortunately, gave him a clear view of the Hufflepuff table and Draco Malfoy. Harry tried not to stare, but it was difficult when the blonde kept drawing his attention by grumbling and scowling like he was being forced to endure torture.
He distinctly heard him utter the words, "my father" and "mistake" and he thought he heard "fix" and "Slytherin". As angry as he looked to Harry, he also appeared quite out of his element. In fact, if Harry wasn't mistaken, he looked rather lost.
Harry tried not to feel guilty, but that too was difficult with the hat's words echoing in his head. If it hadn't been for Harry, the hat would have put the boy in Slytherin. Harry had known that he hadn't wanted to be in Hufflepuff, much like he, Harry, hadn't wanted to be in Slytherin. How would he have felt if the hat had put him in the house he desperately wanted to avoid?
After dinner, Harry followed the rest of the first years up to Gryffindor Tower and got settled in his new dormitory. They all stayed awake quite late chatting animatedly about what they thought their lessons would hold for them the next day. Harry, however, couldn't stop thinking about Draco Malfoy and how he might be faring in Hufflepuff.
He found out the next day when he saw the blonde at breakfast. He overheard the conversation he was having with his head of house. He had asked about sending an owl home, and she informed him that he wasn't able to send a note home until lunch. She then asked why he hadn't sent one the night before when they had all had the opportunity. Harry heard him mumble something about his father and how to break the news. His head of house looked stern and repeated that he would just have to wait.
Harry had decided the night before that he would try to befriend the boy, even if he had been a prat in Diagon Alley and again on the train. It was the least he could do, considering. As he approached, his resolve wavered slightly as he realized that he hadn't any idea what to say.
"Come to rub it in, Potter?" came the snide remark, accompanied by a sneer in Harry's direction.
"Um … no. I just thought --"
"Right, well," he cut Harry off. "I'll have this sorted by the end of the day. My father will take care of it, you'll see. I'll be in Slytherin, where I belong, by this time tomorrow. So you can save your gloating."
"I wasn't --"
"Sure you weren't." And with that, the blonde turned at made his way out of the Great Hall.
Harry felt at once annoyed, because the other boy really was a prat, and relieved that his guilt would be eased soon enough when Malfoy's father did whatever it was he had to do to get Draco into Slytherin. Harry determinately ignored the voice in the back of his head that questioned how exactly a parent would be able to override the hat's decision.
It turned out the voice in his head had been correct. Draco Malfoy was seething the next morning at breakfast after reading whatever the parchment that his owl had delivered said. Harry could make out "not fair" and "abandon me" from whatever else it was that he was mumbling under his breath.
Again, Harry approached him, despite Ron's objections. "Just leave the prat," he had said. But Harry couldn't. This was all his fault, and he needed to at least make sure the other boy wouldn't be miserable for the next seven years of his life, because of something foolhardy Harry did, albeit unknowingly, on a whim.
"Malfoy," Harry said as he approached, "I take it your father didn't get you switched into Slytherin?"
"Oh, bugger off, Potter!"
"It can't be all that bad, can it?" Harry asked, ignoring his request.
"Not that bad? Not that bad?" he growled scathingly. "My family has been in Slytherin for generations. Both my parents were, and I am nothing if not a Slytherin. I fit the house precisely, and I have never even considered being anywhere else, though Ravenclaw would be considerably less humiliating. I was meant to have power, Potter, and Slytherin's the place to start. Now I'm in … Hufflepuff. It's a disgrace! Now stop rubbing it in and leave me alone!"
Harry knew he was about to make a huge mistake, but he couldn't seem to stop his mouth from taking on a life of its own. Bracing himself, he said, "For the last time, I'm not rubbing it in!" He managed to, quite amazingly Harry thought, refrain from adding you stupid prat. "You wanted to be friends. Well?" Harry held out his hand in friendship as the blonde annoyance had done on the train the day before.
Expecting the prickly Hufflepuff to accept, perhaps not graciously, Harry was shocked at the response he did receive. Malfoy threw his hands up in the air, looking as though he was preparing to take flight, and screeched, "What?! You're joking, right? Now you want to be my friend? Now that I'm a … Hufflepuff? You're an idiot, you know that! Befriending a Slytherin would have been much more beneficial to you."
Harry just looked at him incredulously, still holding out his hand.
"And I don't befriend idiots." With that, the prickly prat stormed off.
Groaning inwardly, knowing full well that he was not prepared to take no for an answer, Harry wondered if this was Karma biting him in the backside already for wishing a Huffepuff fate upon the other boy.
.