Two Houses - A Draco Malfoy Fanfic

Chapter 1

Imagine being the one kid Draco Malfoy is kind to.
I am that kid.
Unlikely, right? Hufflepuffs and Slytherins... those friendships never work out. This one did.

I was born into a family of Hufflepuffs, so I always knew I'd never fit in at school. On my first day on Platform 9 ¾, my mother kissed my forehead while holding back tears. I was the oldest of three, and my mother was excited yet scared for her first-born to go to Hogwarts. I swept my dark brown hair out of my equally dark eyes, and put on a brave smile while loading my trunk onto the train. My snowy owl hooted indignantly when we went over big bumps on the sidewalk, and she gave me a glare.

While I was boarding the train, I wasn't exactly looking where I was going. I slammed into someone.
"Whoops! Sorry!" I yelped, trying desparately to pick up my loose papers that had flown out of my trunk. It was mostly childish drawings and stories that I couldn't leave behind, which was embarassing enough as it is. The boy I had just collided with looked pretty intimidating, his blonde hair swept over to one side and his grey eyes staring me down, challenging. I looked away.
"Watch where you're going." My face scarlet, I muttered a last quick, "Sorry" and hurried off to find a compartment.

On the Train
I walked through the scarlet train, glancing in windows every now and then to see some laughing kids, already knowing where they belonged. As a newcomer to this whole wizarding scene, I didn't. So I wandered around, until I found a compartment with two girls in it who looked friendly enough. One had sleek, dark hair and a friendy smile and the other had extrodinarily curly blonde hair that looked like a beast to tame. I opened the door, and peeked in.
"Hi, uhm, I'm, uhm, Sage. Can I sit here?" I ducked my head. I couldn't believe my anxiety at a time like this. Seriously, two uhms in a three word sentence?
"Hi Sage! Nice to meet you! Yeah, we've got plently of room, and more Chocolate Frogs!" The blonde girl said, grinning, waving a Chocolate Frog as evidence. She didn't seem to be phased by my inability to complete sentences, which I appreciated. Smiling, I walked in, and chose a seat next to the black haired girl.
"I'm Sage Oswell." I said, and the two girls gave me a genuine smile. I wondered if they were always by themselves.
"I'm Clara Lester, and the Pumpkin Pasty destroying machine over here is Autumn Tennant." The dark haired girl, Clara, rolled her eyes, laughing, sitting back in her seat as Autumn emerged from her bag of sweets from home. With innocent eyes, Autumn said,
"I heard my name."
I laughed with Clara, and Autumn looked mildly embarassed.
"Don't worry, I love sweets too." I assured Autumn. Autumn grinned.
"You better, or else we can't be friends." Chortling, I pulled out my own Mars bars from home and dug in. I felt immediately comfortable with these girls; it was like something out of a movie. I didn't know then that these two girls would become like my family at Hogwarts, two sisters that I wouldn't change for the world.

A few hours and many Chocolate Frogs later, we arrived at Hogwarts. All the first-years, including the blonde-haired kid, got into boats. I ended up in a boat with the blonde boy, but this time he had some friends. Two big guys that looked almost like bodyguards flanked the blonde boy, and were in front of us in the boat. I had to sit in the back, as there were no other seats, with the blonde kid right in front of me. He turned around right after we left the shore, and asked me with disgust,
"What's your problem? Why are you in this boat? Shouldn't you be with your little blood traitor friends? I hear there's a new Weasley boy, you and him would be perfect together." I gave him my most withering stare, and answered with a crisp,
"I wish I wasn't in this boat. Maybe then I would be able to breathe; the stench here is incredibly awful." The boy gaped at me, and his stare quickly turned into a gaze of curiosity. Apparently, he'd never been sassed by anyone, much less by a blood-traitor. Hah.
"Don't you know who I am?" I raised an eyebrow, and answered,
"Should I?" I promptly turned my gaze back to the black depths of the lake. He stuck his hand out, and said,
"Draco Malfoy." I shook it, and answered,
"Sage Oswell." He nodded, and turned back to the front.

-AT THE SORTING CEREMONY-
We all waited outside the Great Hall, and I could feel a nervous energy coming off of my fellow classmates. Not that I was judging; I was pretty nervous myself. I already knew what my house was going to be, so I barely listened to Professor McGonagall. My parents had debriefed me many times as to this speech.

Instead of listening, I let my gaze wander around the room. There was a terrified-looking boy with a frog in his hands, and I silently motioned him over. He had messy hair, and an air of being unsure of his every move.
"What house d'ya think you're going to get into?" I whispered, still looking at Professor McGonagall as she spoke, so I could look like I was "listening". The boy looked nervous, and he answered in a shaky voice,
"I hope I get Hufflepuff to be honest with you." He flinched as he said the word "Hufflepuff". Obviously, he had been teased about this before. I, however, gave him a wide smile.
"My family are all Hufflepuffs, so I'm probably going to get in that house too." He gave me a huge grin, and responded,
"Maybe we could be friends."
"Sure!" I said. Less than 4 hours into school, and already had 3 friends. This was going better than I had ever dreamed! Besides Draco Malfoy, of course.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"Sage." I whispered, as the Great Hall doors swung open to greet us.
"I'm Neville. Neville Longbottom." He said in almost a whisper. He looked more relaxed, and much more confident than he had before, now that he had a friend of sorts.
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"Oswell, Sage!" Professor McGonagall called. Neville had already gone, as well as the famous Harry Potter. Both boys had been sorted into Gryffindor, despite Neville's longing to be in Hufflepuff with me. When Neville was walking towards the Gryffindor table, he gave me a sad little smile, and went to join his house.
Draco Malfoy, on the other hand, had gotten into Slytherin the moment the hat touched his head. I couldn't say I was surprised. He was going to be a perfect Slytherin.
Autumn had been sorted into Gryffindor with Harry, and Clara had ended up in Hufflepuff. I hoped that Autumn's different house wouldn't stop her from being friends with Clara and I.
I wobbled up to the stool, and sat down, my hands shaking as I laid them in my lap. Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on my head, and I jumped a little when I heard it speaking inside my mind.
"Mmm, an Oswell.... what to do, what to do... You are brave, and come from a noble pure-blood family I see... But your loyalty and kindness seem to triumph that... Hmm... Oh yes, I know exactly what to do with you..." At this point, I was terrified the hat would put me in Slytherin. My hands started sweating even more.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat announced to the Great Hall. I opened my eyes, and half expected for rivers to be pouring out of my hands. Everyone clapped politely, which is what I was expecting. No sense clapping a ton for a girl who just got into the stereotypically second worst house, behind Slytherin. I walked slowly to my new house, and I was immediately greeted by a good amount of the Hufflepuff House patting my back and people shaking my hand. Clara scooted over a bit and patted the seat next to her, motioning for me to sit there. At least they were friendly.

As I looked around, I caught the eye of Draco. He raised an eyebrow, and gave me a half smile. Grudging respect, I suppose. He respected that I could hold my own against him. I raised an eyebrow back, and then looked away and sat down next to a couple of other first-years. This year was going to be good. I could already tell.

LATER A/N: THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED PRETTY CRAZILY, SO HOPEFULLY I DIDN'T RUIN THE CHAPTER!! ILL WORK ON CHAPTER 2 LATER