The Pottermore Network: Gryffindor
Title: The Pottermore Network
Fandom: The Social Network
Characters: Eduardo/Mark pairing, Dustin, and Chris.
Rating: T
Warnings: I have no idea. I'll ask Kelly. WARNING: A WILD DUSTIN APPEARS.
Spoilers: Uh... The Social Network? I think?
Summary: Mark hacks into Pottermore to see what house he's in. Dissatisfied with the results, he crashes the site, and calls on Eduardo to help him make improvements. Eduardo helps, but not in the way Mark expects.
Notes: I know nothing about coding, so if anyone does and wants to correct me on what I've said, please feel free. Also: As it's a "choose your own adventure" type story, the story-line of each individual house is extremely similar, though the details are different. This is on purpose, because, well... It's Mark and Eduardo.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not own Pottermore. I do not own The Social Network. This is a work of fiction, and the characters described herein are based on the fictional representation of real people, to whom I have no affiliation or connection with. If you got here via searching your name by some means, I would advise you to go back and go to a different place. You should try YouTube! They have kittens there!
Dedication: This was inspired and encouraged by Julia and Kelly. I thank you both dearly, because I probably wouldn't have written it had you both not insisted. I love you both. TEAM PRIDE, YEAH.
Gryffindor? Really? He may have been Hermione in the past, but Gryffindor? This doesn’t make sense. He’s the least Gryffindor person he knows. Of all of them, Chris is the most Gryffindor, because he’s Chris and Chris cares about people and he fights social injustice and now he’s standing at Mark’s shoulder. Dustin needs to learn to lie better.
“Mark, I told you and Dustin to not - are you a Gryffindor? Really?” Chris squints and leans closer to the computer screen, to check that it’s right.
“I don’t know how that happened, Chris.” Mark sits still, his fingers twitching slightly. He’s confused, and more than a little bit angry.
“Well… I mean, you do have some Gryffindor qualities, I suppose?” Chris sounds equally as confused, and his left hand goes to play with his shirt cuffs on his right sleeve - a habit that only appears when he’s not exactly sure would be the best thing for him to say.
He looks like he’s thinking hard about it, and Dustin peeks his head into Mark’s office hopefully.
Mark stares at him. “Gryffindor. I’m a Gryffindor.”
“Really? That’s… different.” Dustin quirks his head.
“It kind of fits, Mark. I mean… what are you doing?” Chris asks, while Mark opens the code of the site and starts typing.
Not even ten seconds later, Chris understands what Mark is doing.
Dustin, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who you are, keeps Chris at bay as Mark takes Pottermore down.
It takes half an hour for him to code something strong enough to keep the staff behind the site confused for the next few hours. Maybe longer, depending on who they have on hand, keeping an eye on the code.
Chris shakes his head. “Mark, you can’t just take down a website when you don’t like its content.”
Mark looks up. “Why not? Dustin and I do it to Tumblr all the time. It’s like a game.”
Dustin grins from his position on the couch. “So you took down Pottermore. What now?”
Mark doesn’t even bother to turn away from the computer. He opens a new window, and begins to type more code into it. “We’re going to fix it.”
“What?”
“We’re going to fix Pottermore. Something is wrong with the way it determines houses, so we’re going to fix it, make it better. It’s the right thing to do. The world over, tons of Harry Potter fans would probably get sorted into the wrong house, and be really upset. Dustin, it probably would’ve made you a Slytherin or something.”
“Ew.” Dustin makes a face. “I’m a Hufflepuff. We’re the Party House.”
Chris sighs and rests his forehead in his palm. “Mark. Are you seriously trying to tell me that you’re taking Pottermore down and trying to fix it for other people?”
Mark pauses at his computer and turns in his swivel chair at this. “Um, yes?” He’d just said that. Obviously.
“I hate to break it to you, buddy, but… that’s kind of Gryffindor behavior.” Chris looks at him apologetically.
Whatever. He doesn’t need Chris’s sympathy. He can soldier on with or without his approval. Chris isn’t his mom. Chris isn’t War--.
“I’m going to do this. I don’t belong in Gryffindor.” He continues to code, and ignores both Chris and Dustin’s arguing about the morality of his actions, and ignores the shutting of his door after they move the debate to Dustin’s office, over lunch.
He ignores almost everything around him until he remembers that he needs an algorithm for this to work.
It’s nearly 3 am in Singapore, but War-Eduardo is in New York for business, according to the email he received two days ago, and he decides that, yes, this is important enough to call about.
He codes to a convenient place to stop, pauses, and picks up his cell phone. Eduardo is #2 on his speed-dial, because he can’t change #1 from his voicemail, no matter how hard he tries.
It’d taken a while for Eduardo to talk to him again, after everything. It started with Dustin doing a mass email to virtually everyone he knew, asking who would be cosplaying the Deathly Hallows book release with him, and wound up with the four of them sitting outside Barnes & Noble at 4 am, dressed up.
It had been really awkward. Really, really awkward. They’d barely spoken, at first, but after the first day (of three) of camping out, Mark finally sucked it up and asked Eduardo if he wanted anything from Starbucks while Mark was buying. A venti latte, venti cappuccino, and a cinnamon roll later, they were on-track to rebuilding.
So now Eduardo was living in Singapore, but he travelled often on business, and came to the shareholders meetings enough to be able to hang out. It wasn’t like they never talked. It was just easier to be as casual as possible.
But this was bigger than any of their problems. This was bigger than all of them. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the Dustin. Or something like that.
So he took a deep breath and called Eduardo.
It rang, and rang, and rang, three times before he finally picked up.
“Mark? I was… is everything okay?” Eduardo’s voice is still the warmest sound he’s ever heard. Not that he’d admit it.
“I was sorted into Gryffindor.” Mark says bluntly. He doesn’t see the point of going around the issue. The programmers behind Pottermore are probably onto his game already.
“What?”
“What?”
“You’re… what? Did you say you were sorted into Gryffindor?” Eduardo sounds confused, though not about the house. He sounds more confused that Mark was sorted in the first place.
“Yes. I hacked into Pottermore because Dustin asked me to, and I went through all their obstacles and now I’m a Gryffindor.” Mark exhales. He’s not supposed to be in Gryffindor. He’s just not.
“You hacked-- Mark, you can’t just hack into whatever website you want. But you’re a Gryffindor! That’s great, right? Gryffindor is a respectable house.” Eduardo’s smile can almost be heard through the phone. Or maybe Mark has just been on this end of it enough to know when it’s happening. “Can you sort me? Is that an option? Can you hack my computer into the site? I really want to know--“
“I took Pottermore down, actually.” Mark interrupts, almost ashamed. Maybe he should’ve gotten Eduardo in first. If he was happy with his result, then maybe it was okay. And if not, his crashing the site would be even more justified.
“What?”
“What?”
“You… took it down? Like you closed the browser? Please tell me you just closed the browser.” There’s a shuffling on Eduardo’s end, and Mark can picture him running his hand through his hair.
“I crashed Pottermore. I need you to help me make it better.” Mark turns in his chair, and spies Dustin and Chris at his door, questioning if it’s okay to come inside. He waves them away. This is a conversation he doesn’t need interrupted.
“Mark, you can’t just-- why would you do that?”
To be honest, Mark hadn’t expected that question. He’d expected Eduardo to understand that, no, he doesn’t belong in Gryffindor. He doesn’t belong in it, because he’s not that kind of person. He doesn’t consider himself a brave person. He’d sorted himself into Slytherin a long time ago.
So he answers honestly, not entirely realizing that he’s just telling the truth, instead of thinking about it. “I don’t belong in Gryffindor. I’m not brave, I’m not chivalrous, I don’t value the same things Gryffindors value.” He breathes in, and intends to say, “I’m not a Gryffindor person, Eduardo.”
What really comes out is, “I’m not a good person, Wardo.”
Eduardo’s breath hitches. “Mark… Mark, you-- Mark... you are a good person. You are. You’re so Gryffindor, I can’t even begin to-- you are a Gryffindor.”
“No, I’m not. I… Wardo, I can’t be in Gry-”
“No, Mark. You are. You’re so Gryffindor it hurts. You do so much good, I don’t know how you can’t see it. I mean… Mark. You do so much for the people around you. You hacked into Pottermore for Dustin! You made Facebook for socially awkward kids like us, you-- you dropped out of school to pursue your dream. I may not have understood it then, but that took a lot of bravery, Mark. And when I-- when I froze the accounts, you didn’t let that go, you didn’t let me get away with… you fought me, because I could’ve ruined… and you, you give so much to all these people, you give so much to charities and you fight hard for your friends and you are so, so brave, Mark.” Eduardo’s voice tightens, and Mark can almost see the tears building. Or maybe that’s just him.
He turns from his desk, swivels his chair to the wall, so no one can see his face. “I-- I do that charity stuff because Chris made me, Eduardo.”
“Chris asked you to. He gave you an option, but you didn’t have to take it. But you did, because he asked you to, and because it was the right thing to do. You make so many people’s lives better, and you work every day to improve it. No one is forcing you to do anything. No one forced you to call me. No one forced you to try to rebuild what we had. You did that on your own. You made that choice. That’s a Gryffindor trait. You’re such a Gryffindor.”
Mark pinches the bridge of his nose and inhales deep, exhales completely. He takes deep breaths, tries to keep from crying, because this is the most honest conversation he’s had with Eduardo in a long time, and he can’t understand how he went this long without being this honest. It feels so good to finally be on this page with him, to finally be able to say everything he thought would have to go unspoken for the rest of his life.
He can hear Eduardo over the phone, breathing in tandem with him, probably sitting in an empty conference room or stairwell, hunched over just like him. They mirrored each other so much, how didn’t he notice at school?
After a couple minutes of just listening to Eduardo breathe with him, Mark finally speaks, quietly. “I’ll fix Pottermore. I’ll fix what I did to it and leave it alone. And I’ll hack you in as soon as I get it all back up.”
“Thank you, Mark. Thank you so much.”
He straightens up and looks over his shoulder, making sure Dustin and Chris aren’t able to hear him. They appear to be at the desk of a programmer, probably the one that has a girlfriend that bakes really awesome brownies. He turns around again, and, summoning all his Gryffindor courage, says the one thing he’s been holding in for what feels like forever, but is really just for the past few years.
“Wardo, I… I miss you. And I wish you were here.” He can’t tell him he loves him, not yet. That’s not something he wants to do over the phone. That’s something he wants to do over dinner, or during a movie, or maybe just sitting on his couch, close, comfortable with each other. That’s something he wants to tell him in person, and then every day for the rest of his life.
But Eduardo understands him best, and Mark can tell when he realizes what he really means.
“I’m almost done with my meetings here in New York. I’ll-- I’ll be there tomorrow afternoon.” His voice is full of emotion, and Mark can almost feel the warmth from his hug, can almost feel his kiss.
“I’ll pick you up from the airport. Just let me know when you’ll be here.” Mark allows himself to smile, though no one else can see it. It would probably terrify the rest of his staff.
“I will. Then you can hack me into Pottermore when I get there.” Eduardo laughs, and it feels like Mark swallowed the sun, and it’s glowing inside him. He didn’t know he could be this happy.
“Okay.” He murmurs.
“Okay."
Party Time! | Hufflepuff | Ravenclaw | Slytherin
Fandom: The Social Network
Characters: Eduardo/Mark pairing, Dustin, and Chris.
Rating: T
Warnings: I have no idea. I'll ask Kelly. WARNING: A WILD DUSTIN APPEARS.
Spoilers: Uh... The Social Network? I think?
Summary: Mark hacks into Pottermore to see what house he's in. Dissatisfied with the results, he crashes the site, and calls on Eduardo to help him make improvements. Eduardo helps, but not in the way Mark expects.
Notes: I know nothing about coding, so if anyone does and wants to correct me on what I've said, please feel free. Also: As it's a "choose your own adventure" type story, the story-line of each individual house is extremely similar, though the details are different. This is on purpose, because, well... It's Mark and Eduardo.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not own Pottermore. I do not own The Social Network. This is a work of fiction, and the characters described herein are based on the fictional representation of real people, to whom I have no affiliation or connection with. If you got here via searching your name by some means, I would advise you to go back and go to a different place. You should try YouTube! They have kittens there!
Dedication: This was inspired and encouraged by Julia and Kelly. I thank you both dearly, because I probably wouldn't have written it had you both not insisted. I love you both. TEAM PRIDE, YEAH.
Gryffindor? Really? He may have been Hermione in the past, but Gryffindor? This doesn’t make sense. He’s the least Gryffindor person he knows. Of all of them, Chris is the most Gryffindor, because he’s Chris and Chris cares about people and he fights social injustice and now he’s standing at Mark’s shoulder. Dustin needs to learn to lie better.
“Mark, I told you and Dustin to not - are you a Gryffindor? Really?” Chris squints and leans closer to the computer screen, to check that it’s right.
“I don’t know how that happened, Chris.” Mark sits still, his fingers twitching slightly. He’s confused, and more than a little bit angry.
“Well… I mean, you do have some Gryffindor qualities, I suppose?” Chris sounds equally as confused, and his left hand goes to play with his shirt cuffs on his right sleeve - a habit that only appears when he’s not exactly sure would be the best thing for him to say.
He looks like he’s thinking hard about it, and Dustin peeks his head into Mark’s office hopefully.
Mark stares at him. “Gryffindor. I’m a Gryffindor.”
“Really? That’s… different.” Dustin quirks his head.
“It kind of fits, Mark. I mean… what are you doing?” Chris asks, while Mark opens the code of the site and starts typing.
Not even ten seconds later, Chris understands what Mark is doing.
Dustin, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who you are, keeps Chris at bay as Mark takes Pottermore down.
It takes half an hour for him to code something strong enough to keep the staff behind the site confused for the next few hours. Maybe longer, depending on who they have on hand, keeping an eye on the code.
Chris shakes his head. “Mark, you can’t just take down a website when you don’t like its content.”
Mark looks up. “Why not? Dustin and I do it to Tumblr all the time. It’s like a game.”
Dustin grins from his position on the couch. “So you took down Pottermore. What now?”
Mark doesn’t even bother to turn away from the computer. He opens a new window, and begins to type more code into it. “We’re going to fix it.”
“What?”
“We’re going to fix Pottermore. Something is wrong with the way it determines houses, so we’re going to fix it, make it better. It’s the right thing to do. The world over, tons of Harry Potter fans would probably get sorted into the wrong house, and be really upset. Dustin, it probably would’ve made you a Slytherin or something.”
“Ew.” Dustin makes a face. “I’m a Hufflepuff. We’re the Party House.”
Chris sighs and rests his forehead in his palm. “Mark. Are you seriously trying to tell me that you’re taking Pottermore down and trying to fix it for other people?”
Mark pauses at his computer and turns in his swivel chair at this. “Um, yes?” He’d just said that. Obviously.
“I hate to break it to you, buddy, but… that’s kind of Gryffindor behavior.” Chris looks at him apologetically.
Whatever. He doesn’t need Chris’s sympathy. He can soldier on with or without his approval. Chris isn’t his mom. Chris isn’t War--.
“I’m going to do this. I don’t belong in Gryffindor.” He continues to code, and ignores both Chris and Dustin’s arguing about the morality of his actions, and ignores the shutting of his door after they move the debate to Dustin’s office, over lunch.
He ignores almost everything around him until he remembers that he needs an algorithm for this to work.
It’s nearly 3 am in Singapore, but War-Eduardo is in New York for business, according to the email he received two days ago, and he decides that, yes, this is important enough to call about.
He codes to a convenient place to stop, pauses, and picks up his cell phone. Eduardo is #2 on his speed-dial, because he can’t change #1 from his voicemail, no matter how hard he tries.
It’d taken a while for Eduardo to talk to him again, after everything. It started with Dustin doing a mass email to virtually everyone he knew, asking who would be cosplaying the Deathly Hallows book release with him, and wound up with the four of them sitting outside Barnes & Noble at 4 am, dressed up.
It had been really awkward. Really, really awkward. They’d barely spoken, at first, but after the first day (of three) of camping out, Mark finally sucked it up and asked Eduardo if he wanted anything from Starbucks while Mark was buying. A venti latte, venti cappuccino, and a cinnamon roll later, they were on-track to rebuilding.
So now Eduardo was living in Singapore, but he travelled often on business, and came to the shareholders meetings enough to be able to hang out. It wasn’t like they never talked. It was just easier to be as casual as possible.
But this was bigger than any of their problems. This was bigger than all of them. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the Dustin. Or something like that.
So he took a deep breath and called Eduardo.
It rang, and rang, and rang, three times before he finally picked up.
“Mark? I was… is everything okay?” Eduardo’s voice is still the warmest sound he’s ever heard. Not that he’d admit it.
“I was sorted into Gryffindor.” Mark says bluntly. He doesn’t see the point of going around the issue. The programmers behind Pottermore are probably onto his game already.
“What?”
“What?”
“You’re… what? Did you say you were sorted into Gryffindor?” Eduardo sounds confused, though not about the house. He sounds more confused that Mark was sorted in the first place.
“Yes. I hacked into Pottermore because Dustin asked me to, and I went through all their obstacles and now I’m a Gryffindor.” Mark exhales. He’s not supposed to be in Gryffindor. He’s just not.
“You hacked-- Mark, you can’t just hack into whatever website you want. But you’re a Gryffindor! That’s great, right? Gryffindor is a respectable house.” Eduardo’s smile can almost be heard through the phone. Or maybe Mark has just been on this end of it enough to know when it’s happening. “Can you sort me? Is that an option? Can you hack my computer into the site? I really want to know--“
“I took Pottermore down, actually.” Mark interrupts, almost ashamed. Maybe he should’ve gotten Eduardo in first. If he was happy with his result, then maybe it was okay. And if not, his crashing the site would be even more justified.
“What?”
“What?”
“You… took it down? Like you closed the browser? Please tell me you just closed the browser.” There’s a shuffling on Eduardo’s end, and Mark can picture him running his hand through his hair.
“I crashed Pottermore. I need you to help me make it better.” Mark turns in his chair, and spies Dustin and Chris at his door, questioning if it’s okay to come inside. He waves them away. This is a conversation he doesn’t need interrupted.
“Mark, you can’t just-- why would you do that?”
To be honest, Mark hadn’t expected that question. He’d expected Eduardo to understand that, no, he doesn’t belong in Gryffindor. He doesn’t belong in it, because he’s not that kind of person. He doesn’t consider himself a brave person. He’d sorted himself into Slytherin a long time ago.
So he answers honestly, not entirely realizing that he’s just telling the truth, instead of thinking about it. “I don’t belong in Gryffindor. I’m not brave, I’m not chivalrous, I don’t value the same things Gryffindors value.” He breathes in, and intends to say, “I’m not a Gryffindor person, Eduardo.”
What really comes out is, “I’m not a good person, Wardo.”
Eduardo’s breath hitches. “Mark… Mark, you-- Mark... you are a good person. You are. You’re so Gryffindor, I can’t even begin to-- you are a Gryffindor.”
“No, I’m not. I… Wardo, I can’t be in Gry-”
“No, Mark. You are. You’re so Gryffindor it hurts. You do so much good, I don’t know how you can’t see it. I mean… Mark. You do so much for the people around you. You hacked into Pottermore for Dustin! You made Facebook for socially awkward kids like us, you-- you dropped out of school to pursue your dream. I may not have understood it then, but that took a lot of bravery, Mark. And when I-- when I froze the accounts, you didn’t let that go, you didn’t let me get away with… you fought me, because I could’ve ruined… and you, you give so much to all these people, you give so much to charities and you fight hard for your friends and you are so, so brave, Mark.” Eduardo’s voice tightens, and Mark can almost see the tears building. Or maybe that’s just him.
He turns from his desk, swivels his chair to the wall, so no one can see his face. “I-- I do that charity stuff because Chris made me, Eduardo.”
“Chris asked you to. He gave you an option, but you didn’t have to take it. But you did, because he asked you to, and because it was the right thing to do. You make so many people’s lives better, and you work every day to improve it. No one is forcing you to do anything. No one forced you to call me. No one forced you to try to rebuild what we had. You did that on your own. You made that choice. That’s a Gryffindor trait. You’re such a Gryffindor.”
Mark pinches the bridge of his nose and inhales deep, exhales completely. He takes deep breaths, tries to keep from crying, because this is the most honest conversation he’s had with Eduardo in a long time, and he can’t understand how he went this long without being this honest. It feels so good to finally be on this page with him, to finally be able to say everything he thought would have to go unspoken for the rest of his life.
He can hear Eduardo over the phone, breathing in tandem with him, probably sitting in an empty conference room or stairwell, hunched over just like him. They mirrored each other so much, how didn’t he notice at school?
After a couple minutes of just listening to Eduardo breathe with him, Mark finally speaks, quietly. “I’ll fix Pottermore. I’ll fix what I did to it and leave it alone. And I’ll hack you in as soon as I get it all back up.”
“Thank you, Mark. Thank you so much.”
He straightens up and looks over his shoulder, making sure Dustin and Chris aren’t able to hear him. They appear to be at the desk of a programmer, probably the one that has a girlfriend that bakes really awesome brownies. He turns around again, and, summoning all his Gryffindor courage, says the one thing he’s been holding in for what feels like forever, but is really just for the past few years.
“Wardo, I… I miss you. And I wish you were here.” He can’t tell him he loves him, not yet. That’s not something he wants to do over the phone. That’s something he wants to do over dinner, or during a movie, or maybe just sitting on his couch, close, comfortable with each other. That’s something he wants to tell him in person, and then every day for the rest of his life.
But Eduardo understands him best, and Mark can tell when he realizes what he really means.
“I’m almost done with my meetings here in New York. I’ll-- I’ll be there tomorrow afternoon.” His voice is full of emotion, and Mark can almost feel the warmth from his hug, can almost feel his kiss.
“I’ll pick you up from the airport. Just let me know when you’ll be here.” Mark allows himself to smile, though no one else can see it. It would probably terrify the rest of his staff.
“I will. Then you can hack me into Pottermore when I get there.” Eduardo laughs, and it feels like Mark swallowed the sun, and it’s glowing inside him. He didn’t know he could be this happy.
“Okay.” He murmurs.
“Okay."
Party Time! | Hufflepuff | Ravenclaw | Slytherin