AN: Written for Round 2, Season 9 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition

Pride of Portree Captain

Prompt: Song - Part of Your World

Harry was used to not fitting in. His entire childhood was one story after another of him not fitting in. At home, at school. His family hated him. He couldn't make any friends at school because of his cousin. It was hopeless.

By ten, Harry had resigned himself to the fact that this was his life. It often felt as though he was nearly living in an entirely different world than everyone around him. A world that separated him from reality. It made him feel crazy.

The one day, suddenly there was hope. It all made sense. He was part of another world. He was a wizard. Finally, he thought he understood why he never felt right anywhere else. Obviously, it had to be because he wasn't with people like himself. Once he was with other wizards he should fit right in. Shouldn't he?

Harry was ecstatic. He should have known it was too good to be true. Famous? Him? It seemed like some sort of terrible prank. Yet, it wasn't. He really was famous, in a world he'd never heard of. He was different even before he got a chance to become a part of his world - his parents' world. It seemed like he would never fit in anywhere.

Hagrid tried to make him feel welcome, but it was too late. Harry knew what being an outcast was like. The stares. The whispers. From anyone. From everyone. It was terrible. He resigned himself to the fact that he was just not meant to fit in anywhere. That must just be the hand life had dealt him.

Then he met Ron. Ron Weasley. Ron with the big family who loved him. Ron who had grown up in this strange world of magic. Ron, who maybe, just maybe, would let him become a part of his world. Ron was his first friend. Harry didn't really know what to do with friends. He'd never had one before. What did you talk about? What was expected? He needn't have worried, Ron was happy to talk about anything. About everything. For the first time, Harry felt like he actually belonged. Nestled into a small train compartment, with his owl and his first friend, he could finally allow himself to believe that maybe, just maybe, this new world would be different than the last.

Hogwarts was amazing. Wonderful. Captivating. Harry hadn't managed to escape the stares or whispers entirely, but thankfully Ron was always at his side, glaring at anyone who stared a little too long. Or who whispered a little too loudly. Harry was finally a part of something. He had someone who cared. He knew of course that Ron belonged in a way he never could. Ron had grown up here. Ron didn't have people staring at him everywhere he went. Ron's family loved him. Those were facts. Harry was grateful that he was starting to fit in, but he couldn't help but feel jealous that Ron had these things that he never even had a chance at.

After the troll, Hermione became a part of their little group. Another friend. Harry was worried, he had never had one friend, let alone two, who actually cared for him. It had to be too good to be true. He didn't belong here. He just wondered how long it would take his new friends to notice.

They didn't notice. He had made it to Christmas and they were still friends with him. It was amazing. Running around, trying to figure out who Nicholas Flamel was. It was fun. It was a type of adventure he had never expected to be a part of. Harry had almost forgotten how different he was when Christmas Eve rolled around. All his housemates were excitedly talking about what they were hoping to open the next morning. Harry knew better. He had never received presents from his family. He knew that come morning he would have nothing to open. It was a stark reminder that for all his pretending, he still didn't quite fit in.

When he woke up, he was shocked beyond words to see that he had received gifts. Gifts from his friends, gifts from Ron's family. Harry was amazed, this was more than he had ever dreamed of. More than he dared to hope for.

They couldn't figure out who had sent him the invisibility cloak, but Harry was so thrilled to have something from his parents, he didn't allow the mystery to take away from the gift. It would after all prove useful.

For all their reassurances throughout the year, Harry was still shocked when his friends decided to come with him to try and save the stone. They had to leave at some point, right? Everybody else did. Yet, Ron and Hermione weren't everybody else. They were his friends. They didn't leave. They came with him and gave everything they could to help save the stone.

When he finally got to the end, and came face to face with Professor Quirell and Voldemort he was alone. But he didn't feel like it. He never would have gotten this far without his friends. Hermione's words were still echoing in his head.

"You're a great wizard, Harry."

He didn't know if he believed her yet. He did know that she was getting help. He wouldn't be alone for long. His friends wouldn't abandon him. He paused as the thought went through his head. For the first time he actually believed that. For the first time, he knew that he would always belong with his friends. That they would never leave him.

His faith was not unfounded. When he woke up in the hospital wing a few days later, Ron and Hermione were waiting right outside for him. They had been worried. Worried for him. This is what having friends was like. This is what belonging was like.

For the first time he felt like he did belong. Like he had finally found his place in this big big world. Like he was finally a part of their world.

AN: Thanks for reading!