Auction: Bill Weasley
Zoology - 2. Write a fic with no female characters. Alt: Write about a bad omen.
Back to school - 53. (AU) Different House
Cat - Bill / 24. Trophy Room - "I deserve so much better."
Lizzy's Loft - 27. Where did we all go wrong?
Artist Appreciation - A Fool In Love (with Ike Turner): Prompt - Write about someone in denial
There's something on my mind
Bill isn't happy that he's in Hufflepuff.
"Hufflepuff."
For a moment, Bill doesn't understand. The hat was supposed to say Gryffindor. The hat was supposed to put him in the cool house.
Ever since he could remember, Bill has wanted to be a Hufflepuff like his dad. His father would tell stories about the portrait with the passage and password. He'd talk about the tower and he'd go on and on about Hogwarts. Bill looked forward to the day he got to go.
But he heard people talking on the train. Hufflepuff is where they go when no other house wants them. Anyone can be a Hufflepuff. It's the loser's house, and Bill's heart sinks at the hat's shout.
Bill gets off the stool. There are no words of assurance or comfort. It's merely time for someone else to be sorted. Bill moves towards his new house, shocked.
"I deserve better, " he mumbles to himself. He deserves to be a Gryffindor like his dad.
Bill refuses to play this game. He sulks around school after Dumbledore refuses to switch him between houses. He won't participate in any events that get house points, nor will he go to the Quidditch games because he doesn't want to sit in the stands with the other Hufflepuffs. He doesn't know anyone in any other house to sit in their stands.
He certainly doesn't raise his hand in class, despite knowing so many of the answers. He doesn't want to do anything that acknowledges him as a Hufflepuff. He deserves better.
"Bill, I think you and I need to have a little chat," the Head boy, a Hufflepuff called Kingsley states, and Bill freezes in the doorway of the common room. He realises the room is empty, with one of the prefects shuffling out of the entry and another by the stairs.
He nervously approaches and sits down on the sofa, his eyes moving to the Hufflepuff badge pinned to Kingsley's robes.
"You're unhappy in this house. "Why?" Kingsley asks. At Bill's scared look, he chuckles. "Do not worry, I'm here to try and help. I'm not going to get angry or take away house points. This is just a… well, a discussion between friends."
Bill hesitates. It's one thing to dislike being a Hufflepuff. It's another to discuss it with the Hufflepuff leader.
"My dad was a Gryffindor," he admits quietly.
"Ah. He wanted you to follow in his footsteps," Kingsley guesses, but Bill shakes his head.
"Actually, no. He's happy for me," Bill tells him. "But… he talked so much about Gryffindor. He talked about the tower and the portrait and the common room that I felt like I had already been there. It felt so familiar to me already, that I was convinced… I thought I was brave enough, right for that house."
"Is that it? You just had your sights set on another house? Would you feel this way in Slytherin or Ravenclaw?" Kingsley asks.
Bill shrugs. "Maybe. But… but I thought… I was on the train and I heard other students talk about Hufflepuff. They said some things about this house. That it was the house for losers—"
Kingsley lets out a laugh. "Oh. You've had that conversation." He makes it sound like it's normal. "Bill, anyone can be put in Hufflepuff. They're right if they said that we let anyone in, But why is that a bad thing?"
"Because it means that we weren't good enough for the others," Bill mutters.
"No. It means that the other houses judge eleven year old children too quickly. It means that you have to be smart or you have to be brave, or… well, you get what I'm saying. What if you just want to be accepted. Or better, what if you're the sort that would welcome anyone. You see, the other houses have… the founders knew exactly what they were looking for, but Helga was different."
"How so?" Bill asks.
"She looked at what the other houses wanted, and she realized that if she put her own demands, there would be so many children that didn't quite tick one of the four boxes. What would happen to the children that fit so many other qualities that her or the other founders didn't consider? She didn't want anyone to be left out, so she said that Hufflepuff welcomes everyone. Others might think us weak, think of us as the house that no one wants to be in. But we're the strong ones, because when someone comes along who is different, or who doesn't fit in. Or who possesses qualities that Rowena, Godric and Salazar didn't consider for their houses, Helga has opened her arms to those people."
"So… what does that mean for me?"
"It means that perhaps the hat saw Helga's kind soul in you," Kingsley says. "Or perhaps a willingness to help others. Or a protective nature. Do you have siblings?"
"Lots of brothers, they're all younger than me. And a baby sister."
"And you're the protective big brother who'd do anything for them."
Bill nods.
"Then perhaps the hat saw that protective streak and thought you'd be an amazing fit here. Because there are people in this house that are different, or feel like outcasts, and those people need protecting. The older students protect the younger ones, and maybe when you've spent a year or two here, you'll realise that you have other students who need that."
Bill likes the sound of this. He likes helping others, and suddenly, Hufflepuff doesn't sound so bad.
"Do you have this talk a lot?" Bill asks.
Kingsley grins. "A fair few times. In fact, I remember when I was sat where you are, with one of the prefects talking to me." He stands up. "I'm here to talk if you have any other concerns, Bill. But perhaps you've got a lot to think about."
"I do," Bill agrees. "I really do."
Kingsley leaves, and the prefects move from their posts and students start to move around the common room once more, and Bill sits with them, just watching how they are with each other.
They might not be as cool as the Gryffindors, but maybe they aren't all that bad after all.