NINE
Sorting Nervously
His first view of Hogwarts in this lifetime was even more wonderful than the very first time he had seen it. The last time his eyes had set on the castle, it had been in pieces, demolished during Voldemort's attack. So much old magic had been put into the making and the warding of it, they weren't sure that it could be put back together. Not with so much magic and knowledge lost to time.
The closer they got to the Great Hall, the more nervous Ron became. What if telling Harry and Hermione about the Houses had changed their opinion of them? What if Harry ended up in Slytherin and Hermione in Ravenclaw while he was stuck alone in Gryffindor?
His worries over the Sorting continued even as McGonagall called out the names of the students one by one, and people were sorted the same as they had been last time.
Hermione's turn came and it seemed to Ron that it took even longer for her to be sorted than it had to first time. His stomach twisting in knots, he cheered when the hat called out "Gryffindor!" and then blushed scarlet when everyone looked at him.
Harry also ended up in Gryffindor, though the length of his Sorting promised that the hat had been trying to convince him going for Slytherin like last time.
He was practically humming with happiness as the Sorting continued, until he stood beside Blaise Zabini in front of the school.
Utterly amused, he couldn't help turning to the boy and giving him a cursory look, long enough that Zabini noticed him and raised a slender eyebrow in a silent and derisive "Can I help you?"
Ron grinned. "Enjoy Slytherin."
"Weasley, Ronald," McGonagall called and he walked over to the Sorting hat before Blaise could respond.
Sitting on the stool, the hat tumbled down over his eyes, hiding the Great Hall from view. He was mentally humming "Gryffindor!", thinking about late nights awake in bed, talking with Harry, or sitting in the Common Room playing Chess, Hermione close by, reading one of her textbooks. So it came as a complete and not very pleasant surprise when the Sorting Hat muttered, "Well, this is interesting."
Ron stopped kicking his legs in nervous excitement. What's interesting?
"You know, I once had a young Slytherin who used an illegal time turner to try and go back and change his Sorting. Turned out rather nasty for everyone involved, myself included. I have a burn right under the back of my flap from that incident, and frankly, I thought that was the most interesting thing I would ever see. But you've gone back quite a bit further than five hours, haven't you?"
Ron gnawed on his bottom lip - a nervous gesture he had picked up from his wife. He tried not to think of anything, hoping the hat would just sort him and be done with it.
"Oh, but where to sort you? That's the question, dear boy! I'd be sorely tempted to put you in Salazar's House if I didn't think it would do you more harm than good. Mind you, your grandfather certainly tried to make himself fit in their company. Managed too, if your being here is any indication." The hat chortled loudly.
My grandfather?
"Septimus Weasley! He did marry Cedrella, after all, and she was Slytherin to the core. I hardly had to take a look. She knew right where she belonged."
So do I! Ron thought fiercely. Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!
"Are you so sure, though? True that Slytherin wouldn't suit you, not how it is today, but you have plans within plans, and if that isn't a Ravenclaw trait, then I'm a boot !"
Ravenclaw? Are you mad?!
"Hahaa! Well, there have been times I've been told as much. Got bits of four different brains in me, don't I? You can't imagine how Salazar and Godric fight over some of your classmates." He tsked in good humor.
"Ah, but Ravenclaw is the House for book-lovers and those who take enjoyment from learning more than anything else. I can see you're putting your books before play, but you'll never value them the way that your friend Hermione does. No, you'd rather be riding a broomstick than stuck in the library reading."
Ron grimaced. He had tried to love books the way that Hermione did, but no matter how hard he tried to bury himself in that mindset, he always ran for the broom shed given half a chance.
"You can't change who you are inside, dear boy. Nor should you try." The hat hummed and hawed a little, then said, "Really, I think the best House for you would be…"
Don't you dare! Ron thought fiercely, nearly falling off the stool when he realized where the hat planned to put him.
"Really, now, Helga's House would suit you well. You didn't come back to change your own fate out of selfish desires. You're here to save your friends, to better the world, and you have no desires to tell anyone the true secret of your knowledge. You're content to hide behind this illusion of The Sight, not seeking glory for your actions. Helga would be proud to have you. Frankly, she's being rather demanding about it."
Ron had never thought that the hat would want to put him somewhere else, least of all the House of the Loyal. All he could think of was how he had acted in his Fourth Year, and every time he had been jealous of his best friend and turned on him. Loyal? Him ?
"You have the benefit of hindsight to help you, but a word of warning - the very act of observing something alters it. You've lived your whole past and just by knowing, you're changing things even before you say things to people that you think will happen."
Ron swallowed heavily.
"Yet still, you have every intention of going on." The hat hummed in what sounded like approvable. "Perhaps you're right and you do belong in GRYFFINDOR!"
Ron sagged in relief and stood up from the stool. Just before he pulled the hat from his head, he heard "The Headmaster keeps me on a shelf in his office. Do come for a chat later if you need some advice."
Thanks.
He pulled the hat off to the sight of Gryffindor House giving him a standing ovation, and an empty spot in between Harry and Hermione. He dashed over to the table, getting slaps on the back from the twins and a small smile from Percy, which seemed like a prize all its own.
"We were starting to get worried," Hermione said, grinning widely at him.
"Why?"
"You were talking to the hat for a while," Harry said. "I thought maybe it wanted to put you somewhere else like it did me."
Ron nodded. "It did." He hadn't realized that he had been sitting there for so long, though. "It wanted to put me in Hufflepuff."
"Slytherin for me," Harry said.
Hermione nodded. "It thought about putting me in-"
"RAVENCLAW!"
Ron whipped his head around to stare up at the Sorting Hat, which Blaise Zabini was pulling off his head. Blaise Zabini, who had been in Slytherin during his last life.
He caught sight of the rip in the hat, twisted into a smirk, and then one of the shadowed folds in the cloth winked at him.
"You're changing things even before you say things to people that you think will happen."
Blaise Zabini stepped off the stage and walked over to the Ravenclaw table, clapping politely for him. The Slytherins didn't look concerned at not having him in their House, because as far as they knew, he was a Ravenclaw from the start. Only Ron knew that Blaise Zabini had once been a Slytherin.
Ron and the Sorting Hat.
It looked like he needed to sit down and think things through, because if saying a single thing - "Enjoy Slytherin." - could change the outcome, what could knowing all that he knew do?
Suddenly, this second chance business looked entirely too complicated for him to be handling on his own. Maybe he should think about telling someone what was going on.
Even if it was that he was a Seer.
He frowned down at his plate as Dumbledore made his pre-feast announcements.
Maybe he needed to start Seeing things.
As the plates and bowls filled with food, Ron decided to enjoy the Feast and his second-first night in the castle. He'd worry about the rest tomorrow.
He piled his plate high with food, the growling of his stomach reminding him how long it had been since they'd eaten their snacks on the train.
"I'm so glad we're all in the same House," Hermione was saying excitedly. "It's nice to actually know people. I was worried I was going to be alone."
Not if I can help it, Ron thought, looking at her. "Me too."
"Are you excited for Charms?" Of course Hermione would remember the class that he had mentioned in Flourish and Blotts.
"Yeah. I can't wait to start using magic."
Hermione looked ready to burst with excitement. "Me too!"
"What classes are you looking forward to, Harry?"
Harry shrugged, not quite meeting his eyes. "Potions looks pretty interesting. I like cooking and it doesn't seem much different from that."
Ron frowned, wondering what was bothering his friend. "My brothers said it gets more complicated in higher years, but yeah, it looks pretty easy to start with." If only Snape actually knew how to teach. "Percy, you met him earlier, right?" Harry nodded, because it would be very like Percy to introduce himself to the Boy-Who-Lived. "He said the Potions professor is a bit unfair to people, doesn't like teaching, either." He hadn't actually said that , but since Ron knew it was true… "He said I should make sure to read my book before class. I was going to go over some of the chapters again tonight if you want to study with me."
Harry finally met his eyes. "Yeah, I'd like that."
By the time the Feast was over, Ron was remembering why he'd gone to bed right away that first time. Stuffed full of food, having eaten about three different types of dessert, by the time they made it up to the Common Room, he was ready to drop. He yawned hugely as the Prefects introduced themselves, blinking his eyes to try and stay awake. Beside him, Harry's head was nodding and even Hermione looked exhausted.
Finally, the Prefects sent them up to their rooms.
Ron changed into his pajamas, trying not to fall over and more often than not yawning into the fabric of his shirt as he pulled it off or on. He threw his dirty clothes in the laundry basket provided for their room, which would send their clothes to the House Elves to wash and later return.
He grabbed a book out of his trunk, even though he really just wanted to go to bed, and flopped down on the mattress. He wasn't looking forward to Potions class any more than he had been that first time, but he was determined to prove Snape wrong. He, Harry, and Hermione had brewed a Polyjuice Potion in their second year, in a bathroom. They could pass Potions, and do well.
"Aren't you tired?" Harry asked quietly. He was still being really shy, which irritated Ron a little. It seemed so wrong.
"Yeah." Ron grinned at him. "But I really don't want to look like an idiot in Potions." He moved over so there was room next to him. "You want to study with me or you want to go to bed?"
"Definitely bed," Harry said, but he gave a shy grin and moved over to Ron's bed so they could read his text between them.
They only managed it for an hour before they had to give in and go to bed, but when they finally did, Harry's grin came a little faster and he actually met Ron's eyes. Ron still didn't understand what the problem was, but he was glad just the same that it was getting better.
"Night, Harry," Ron said, cherishing the sound of his friend's name, that he was actually here.
"Night, Ron."
Ron closed his eyes against the second-first night at Hogwarts and dreamed of him, Harry, and Hermione sitting around a table, long-since graduated, laughing at something with smiles on their faces. Happy.
That was what he was here for. That was why he had come back. They would have that happy ending eventually, but for now, he was content to dream it.
