A/N: This is a Hetalia/Harry Potter crossover fic written for oresame on livejournal for the USxUK Secret Santa Exchange 2010 :) The prompts were: "Harry Potter verse with Slytherin or Ravenclaw!England and Gryffindor or Hufflepuff!America" and "Gakuen AU, becoming a new couple".
Enjoy~
Different
Chapter 1
Arthur was…different. Had always been "different".
For example, he was the only person in his immediate family that had green eyes. He was also a studious character, very unlike his brothers who enjoyed victory through roughhousing rather than victory through wits. This was not to say that Arthur couldn't hold his own in a fight. With three older brothers, one had to learn proper defense.
But this was all irrelevant. Small differences in physical appearance or personality do not constitute being singled out. Yes, Arthur was singled out from the rest of his family for one very, very important difference.
His family members were pureblood.
He was a half-blood.
And Arthur loathed this fact more than anything else.
"…And I expect you all to be on your best behavior, you hear? Now, off to bed, the lot of you!" Arthur commanded the fresh batch of first-years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They scattered amongst themselves, fleeing to their bedrooms in a state of confusion and nervousness. They would soon familiarize themselves with the school, Arthur knew.
"Arthur, you jerk, it's not even 11!"
Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose. His little brother Peter was now a first-year and in the same house, Slytherin. As if he didn't have enough to deal with. A few hours into the beginning of the year and he already had an enormous headache. Arthur was a newly appointed prefect, in this 5th year at Hogwarts, and yet he was the only one doing all the work! The others abused their power, and Arthur felt like he was the only one who was taking his job seriously.
With a big sigh, Arthur glared at his younger brother and said, "You don't have to go to bed, but you have your first classes tomorrow morning, so I'm advising you to go to bed now."
Peter glared right back and mumbled, "Well this fuckin' sucks…"
"No one said it would be a walk in the park, Peter! Now bugger off!" Arthur shouted before plopping down in the nearest armchair. Peter stuck his tongue out before scurrying away to the first-year dormitories.
In front of Arthur was a fireplace, which cast eerie shadows along the walls of the Slytherin common room. Arthur felt too tired to go through another year of school. His older brother Conor had graduated last year. Arthur thought he'd finally be free of his brothers after that, but no, Peter just had to turn 11 and that damn owl just had to show up with a letter for Peter accepting him to Hogwarts. Although Peter was annoying nearly one hundred percent of the time, at least he wasn't one of Arthur's three older brothers.
Arthur had an uneasy feeling in his chest whenever he thought about them. Stewart, Wynn, and Conor, from oldest to youngest, respectively. All three were his older brothers who would pick on him mercilessly while at home and at school. A chill nearly ran down his spine as he thought about the three of them, causing him to unconsciously lean towards the flames before him. At least Arthur had some power over his relationship with Peter, albeit a very small amount.
The silence of the common room rang loudly in his ears after a few minutes. Everyone had gone to bed, no doubt full and sleepy after the enormous feast in the Great Hall. Arthur felt his own eyelids begin to droop, his head slowly bending forward into his chest. Quickly shaking off sleep, Arthur stood up and walked towards his own bed. As Arthur entered, he noticed everyone else was sound asleep. As quietly as he could, Arthur began to undress and crept under the covers. With a gentle breath, he blew out the candle by his bedside and fell asleep.
Arthur did enjoy his newly found authority. He found it wonderfully empowering to command the halls. Although the first night as a prefect had been tiresome, he had to admit that during the past few weeks, his job was actually enjoyable. As he walked by, everyone straightened their ties and tried to seem as if they were on their best behavior. Arthur enjoyed these reactions and would put on an expression of approval at everyone's behavior.
The only thing that made the job less enjoyable was the paperwork if someone misbehaved. It wasn't enough to bring inappropriate behavior up with the head of the house. Now it had to be filed, which Arthur felt was completely unnecessary. Why not just discipline the student and be done with it? But sadly, that could not be the case. All acts of misbehavior were to be recorded, as well as the received punishment. If this was violated, there could be some legal consequences. Security had gotten much tighter ever since authorities in the ministry found out about the abuse students has suffered years ago, during the Second Wizarding War.
So, Arthur found himself with an enormous stack of paperwork headed to the headmaster's office. It felt heavy in his hands, and he was cautious as his fingers curled around the edges of the paper, lest he get a papercut if he were careless.
The headmaster was a former Herbology professor and a hero during the Second Wizarding War, a man by the name of Neville Longbottom. He was a truly kind figure and a strong leader, but Arthur really had no opinion on the man.
As Arthur ascended to Professor Longbottom's office, he heard a discussion taking place. The papers in his hand were growing heavy, so he decided to knock and let himself in.
A boy around Arthur's age was sitting in the chair in front of Professor Longbottom's desk. That part wasn't what struck Arthur as unusual, however. The unusual part was that the boy was just about to place the Sorting Hat on his head. All three heads (Professor Longbottom, the boy, and the Sorting Hat itself) turned to look at Arthur as he awkwardly stood in the entranceway to the office.
"Oh, um, I'm terribly sorry if I was interrupting something important, headmaster!" Arthur said quickly, shuffling inside and putting the stack of papers to where they needed to go. "I'll just be one my way, if you'll excuse me…" he said while backing away, about to make a dash for the door.
"Don't worry, Mr. Kirkland, I'm actually glad you're here," Professor Longbottom said, prompting Arthur to turn around and look his headmaster in the face. "This boy," the headmaster said, gesturing to boy in front of him, "is a new student here at Hogwarts. A transfer student from America. I'd like you go give him a tour of the castle, if you don't mind."
Arthur raised his eyebrows. "Oh! I wouldn't mind at all, sir."
Professor Longbottom smiled. "Very well, then. Alfred, why don't you put the Sorting Hat down? We can sort you at another time. Just follow Arthur and he'll give you a tour of the grounds."
The boy, or Alfred, placed the Sorting Hat back down on the headmaster's desk, saying, "Sure thing!" and quickly got up and stood next to Arthur. He stood a little too closely for Arthur's tastes.
"Well," Arthur said, turning to face Alfred who was only two inches taller, "why don't you follow me, Alfred?" He turned towards the exit, making sure to say goodbye and give his thanks to the headmaster before departing.
Once both he and Alfred were a few feet away from the headmaster's entranceway, Alfred let out a big sigh. "Man, it was really stuffy in there! I felt like I could hardly breathe. And did you see all those plants everywhere? That guy must be seriously lonely if he needs all those plants to keep him company. I mean, seriously, did you see-"
"Ahem," Arthur coughed into his fist, interrupting Alfred's little ramble. "That is Headmaster Longbottom and I would appreciate it if you did not insult him or his office. Now then, my name is Arthur Kirkland. I belong to the house of Slytherin and I'm a fifth-year prefect, which means if I catch you misbehaving, I have the authority to take away points from whichever house you belong to, as well as bring you to a higher power to punish you for inappropriate behavior. I expect you to treat me with respect as well as the other students and faculty who reside here and I would appreciate it if you could keep quiet for the duration of this tour. I'm very busy and I'd like this to go over quickly. Thank you." Arthur closed his eyes in a sense of achievement. It seems as if the boy knew his place, and Arthur would make sure it continued this way.
However, his small victory was quickly crushed when Alfred mumbled, "Gee, who shoved a stick up your ass?"
Speechless for just a moment, Arthur sputtered, "Excuse me?"
Alfred responded, "You heard me. Who shoved a stick up your ass? No need to be so uptight, dude."
Arthur glared. "First of all, I am not 'dude'. And secondly, that is hardly appropriate language to use around here."
Alfred seemed to ignore everything Arthur had just said and stuck out his hand instead. "By the way, my name's Alfred, Alfred F. Jones from the good ol' United States of America! Pleasure to meet your acquaintance!" Arthur, in turn, ignored the hand and stalked away.
"You better follow quickly, Jones, because I'm only giving this tour once."
"It's 'Alfred'!" he shouted before quickly running up behind Arthur, ready for the tour to begin…
A/N: Life has been hectic, what with this being my first year of college and some things going on at home, so I haven't really been writing a lot of fanfiction lately, especially usuk, which I used to write all the time. I'm really sorry for that :(
Although I love Harry Potter, I've never written or read Harry Potter fanfiction and I might be a little shaky on certain details about the wizarding world (since it's been about two years since I've read one of the books in the series). If I get any facts wrong, please feel free to inform me!
Also, Neville becoming headmaster has become my own personal headcannon after the fic "Specialis Revelio", so I've adopted that idea here.
Anyway, I really hope you've all enjoyed the first installment! Happy holidays! :)
PS: Stewart- Scotland, Wynn- Wales, and Conor- Ireland