Disclaimer: i own neither RWBY or the Harry Potter franchise; if i did there be gay
Summary: Ruby Rose is about to be sorted into her house at Hogwarts. She wants to be with her sister in Gryffindor, but there's still a worry she won't be.
Rating: K
Notes: just a drabble based on headcanons; i may? write more in this verse but idk only if this is well received i guess
fun fact, this is saved as "awww snap beware the huffpuff" on pages and "the huff is strong with this puff" on word
Edit: 1/29 - just some small edits for some words i messed up and a few omitted parts, nothing too drastic
"Ruby Rose"
This was it. Her heart beat hard in her chest as she stepped over to the stool, nervously boosting herself on the seat; when the Sorting Hat was placed on her head it fell down and over her eyes, and she was sure she heard a few laughs from the crowd. Ruby was worried about her sorting, she wanted to be in Gryffindor with her sister, but a part of her feared she would be separated from her.
"Well there's no need to worry"
Ruby jumped at the voice—in her worries she nearly forgot the hat could hear her thoughts!
"Gryffindor just might be the house for you, indeed. I see great bravery and courage in you."
Ruby inwardly puffed up her chest, proud of herself. Still, she had a feeling the hat wasn't done.
"Yes, Gryffindor might suit you well…but there is also the ambition and resourcefulness of a Slytherin."
That crushed Ruby's hopes. She didn't want to be a Slytherin! Her sister said they were mean and evil! She wasn't mean or evil! The hat, hearing her thoughts, laughed, the feeling low and rough in Ruby's mind.
"That may be how the majority is, but let me tell you there are some good ones, some you may be able to find a friend in."
Yeah right, Ruby scoffed. She considered herself to be polite to new people most of the time, but if someone was rude, she wouldn't hesitate to break that.
"You may not be much of a Ravenclaw, no, though there is an abundance of creativity in you that could be put to good use in there. No, no, Ravenclaw might not be the best.
"I can tell you want to be in Gryffindor, where your sister is,"
Yes! Finally! She just wanted the hat to sort her already! She belonged in Gryffindor! She just knew she did!
"Don't be so quick to assume, Miss Rose…you are honest and capable of hard work, you have dedication and kindness…and an unwavering loyalty to those you hold dear…
"Yes, I know exactly where you belong, where you will bloom the brightest…"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
And with that, Ruby felt a stab in her heart. She looked frantically over to the Gryffindor table, searching desperately for her sister. Unfortunately she was unable to catch her sister before she was ushered off the stool, her legs wobbling as she made her way over to the Hufflepuff table. While the welcoming was warm and friendly, she couldn't keep down the despair of being separated from her sister.
As the food was transported to the table, all Ruby could do was pick out a small amount of turkey and potatoes to push around on her plate. Propping an elbow on the table to rest her head on, she pouted on her sorting.
What was the hat thinking, putting her in Hufflepuff? Hufflepuff wasn't important! How was she not a Gryffindor? This wasn't fair! Shouldn't the hat take her own opinions into consideration?
While lost in her thoughts, she barely noticed the peas and carrots being added to her plate. Jerking her head up she caught a blond boy in the act, a spoon of gravy halfway to her plate; his mouth was scrunched up and his cheeks red with embarrassment. Slowly, almost with care, he brought the spoon to her plate and tipped the gravy on her potatoes.
"What are you doing?" She tried to keep patience, not wanting to make enemies this soon into the school year.
"Uh, well," the boy stammered, eyes moving left and right to avoid looking directly at her, "you, you should eat more, and, and I, well, uh, I mean," he went on, his words gradually getting quieter until she could no longer hear him. He tucked his head down, one hand reaching up to scratch his cheek, which she noticed was even more red than before.
"I'm not hungry," she stated firmly. She didn't need someone to look after her! At least not some boy she didn't know!
"E-even so, it's always good to eat," he turned back to his own plate, dejectedly hunching over and proceeding to pick at his own food before bring it to his mouth to eat. Ruby paused, mostly curious as to why this boy felt the need to take care of her.
"Yeah, so? Why should you care?"
He snapped his head back up, almost offended by her words. "Why shouldn't I care? Besides, you seemed kinda upset about being placed here, and I thought I might try to cheer you up…"
"Why? You don't know me, and I didn't see you with the other first years, so you're obviously older than me." Though that last part was a given, she didn't really need to say why.
"Well, my mom always says that strangers are just friends you haven't met yet…and I, uh, I don't have many friends…" the last part was said in a rushed whisper, but Ruby was still able to catch it. Okay, well, he was sincere, he really did seem to care, and he seemed nice. Maybe she could be friends with him?
"What's your name? We can't exactly be friends if I don't know your name."
"Oh, I'm Jaune. And you're Ruby, right?"
"Yeah, I didn't think people paid much attention to the sorting, really."
"Well, not everyone does, unless they hear their house being called. But I like to, I can look for someone who seems nice."
"Huh," Ruby pushed around some peas before scooping them up to her mouth. "And no one is your friend? Like, there's no one who's friendly to you?" She raised an eyebrow; Hufflepuffs were supposed to be caring, weren't they?
Jaune rubbed the back of his neck nervously, Ruby kind of wished he'd stop that habit. "Well, I mean, there are some who are nice, just…not exactly my friends, I guess," he trailed off, placing both hands on the table while he looked around. "Like those two," Jaune pointed, Ruby followed his finger to see a petite girl with long brown hair chatting with a large, muscular boy with a near shaven head. "That's Yatsuhashi and Velvet. They're both third years. Yatsuhashi looks scary but he's really nice, he's helped me a few times when…" he trailed off, lowering his hand slightly and coughing; almost suddenly he looked the opposite direction and pointed at two others.
"Those two are Flynt and Neon." Flynt seemed to be laughing, his head thrown back with a smile, the girl next to him was playing with her food and leaning in close to him. "They're second years, like me. Flynt is really cool and Neon is kinda…loud, but they're both good company if I need it." Jaune went silent again, biting his lip. "And that's kinda it…" the two were silent as they watched the food disappear before being replaced by desert.
Ruby's eyes practically lit up as she saw the array of sweets and began piling everything she could onto her plate. Next to her Jaune seemed to be in a mix of awe and shock. When Ruby finally felt satisfied with her hoard she turned to her new friend, raising an eyebrow at his expression. "What?"
"N-nothing!" Jaune scrambled to grab some sweets for himself, or at least what was left. "That, that's just a lot is all…"
"I don't think so!" A cheery voice piped in from Ruby's other side, making the two jump in surprise. Ruby recognized the owner of the voice as another first year from the group, but she couldn't recall her name. The girl had orange hair that curled up at the end to frame her freckled face. She stuck a hand out in their direction, a bright smile taking over her face. "I'm Penny Polendina! I'm a first year! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"Uh," Ruby hesitantly took the hand, shaking it slightly, "I'm Ruby." She looked over to Jaune, mostly for help, but he only shrugged and went along.
"I'm Jaune," he reached over, taking Penny's hand more firmly than Ruby did.
The other girl's smile seemed to get bigger as she pulled back her hand and placed it in her lap. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Ruby shared a look with Jaune; the girl seemed nice, if just a little over-enthusiastic. "You…already said that…"
Penny paused, looking down briefly before snapping back up to them. "So I did!"
The girl then went on about how she was excited to be at the school, Jaune gave advice on how to get to classes easily, and Ruby just worked on her pile of sweets. Even though she was in a different house than her sister, a house she didn't really want to be in, she just might find a way to make it livable. Yeah, maybe she'd be okay.
