Chapter three: Underdogs united

"Hey."

Ron jumped at the sound of the voice. He hadn't been prepared. He'd been sitting in an armed chair in front of the fireplace, reading up on his Defence Against the Dark Arts. His paper was way overdue; it should've been handed about a week ago. Fortunately, the new teacher could understand the students' lack of discipline. After all, this was the beginning of the school year, and everyone was a bit sloppy. Except Hermione, of course.

It was Xander. Ron had greeted him earlier upon the group's arrival, but he hadn't expected a visit from him here, in the common room. The guest was casually dressed as always, jeans and fleece shirt on. Ron felt awkward in his robes.
"Hiya, Xander."
Xander took a seat next to Ron, adjusting the chair so they could talk easier. "Thought I'd find you here. You sit in the common room a lot?"
"Yeah," Ron answered him, putting his paper, bottle of ink and quill away. It wasn't polite to keep writing, he figured, and especially not when a guest came to see him like this. "It's warmer than the sleeping quarters here by the fire. Besides, it's better lit." He gave Xander a doubtful look. "So, what's up? Why aren't you with the rest of your lot?"
"Buffy keeps taking my pillows," Xander answered, shrugging. "She's pretty violent in her sleep… not so weird when you think about it. Figured it'd be nicer in here."
"Buffy. Is she the blond one?"
"Yeah. The blond. Also known as the leader, the almighty Slayer and the Chosen."
Ron smiled. "Thought so. Hey, is she… I mean, you and her, do you ever…"
Xander understood what he meant almost instantly. "Buffy and me? God no. A whole world of no. Well, I had a thing for her years ago, but… she's always gone for the dangerous, dark and broody type. As you can see, I don't really fit the description. Which is fine, 'cause I've got Anya now. Not as blond, but equally hot."
Ron sighed. "Okay. I just thought… well, since you're the only male in the group… except for the old man, that… well, you know."
"Old man? Oh, you mean Giles?" Xander chuckled. "Don't ever let him hear you say that. He's still 'young at heart' – at least he likes to think so."
Ron guffawed, looking a bit like a horse because of his front teeth. Xander caught himself thinking the boy was really cute. "Yeah, it's pretty much the same deal with McGonagall. I mean, mascara and eye shadow, at her age? Just makes the whole appearance a tad more pathetic."
"Has she ever bought a sports-broom? Then she and Giles have a lot more in common than they realise. Giles' bought a brand new car when he was feeling too old. It was red, bright and shiny. Guess how much we taunted him about that. That was months ago, and Buffy's still going at it."

"Seems you guys are really tight," said Ron, tugging at the tufts on the armed chair. "I mean, after all that you've been through… you know each other so well. It must be really comforting to know they're always there, no matter what."
"It is," Xander said, smiling sincerely. "It really is. We're close, all right. I mean, I trust Buffy with my life – sometimes even involuntarily." Suddenly, his smile faded, his eyes darkening slightly. "Too bad it doesn't work the other way around, though."
"What do you mean?"
The crackle of the fire was all that could be heard for some moments. Then Xander sighed deeply, his face a mask of sadness. "I… well, what do you think I mean? You've seen the gang, Ron. You've seen the people I hang out with. Witches, bookish Watchers, ex-demons. Not to mention a girl who, although she's shorter than me, has super human strength. A guy like me… well, I don't really fit in the gang, do I?"
Ron looked at him in surprise. "I hadn't noticed," he said reassuringly, whilst he was playing with his quill. "I mean, you're brave and stuff. And you're the funny one in the bunch. There's got to be a funny guy to, keeping the spirit of the team up. Me, on the other hand…" He stopped playing with the quill, and looked straight at Xander. "I feel that perhaps I'm not qualified to fight alongside my friends. Harry and Hermione, they're both great at magic. They've both got something going for them that I'll never have. I'm not brilliant in any way, and I always screw up when I try to do magic. Yeah, I provide Snape with every opportunity in the world to pick on someone, and to draw points from Gryffindor house."
Xander frowned. He'd only met some of the teachers at their arrival, and just the ones who'd been kind enough to welcome them. He recognised the name, but he couldn't put a face to it. "Err… Snape?"
Ron looked at him, confused at first, then apologetically. "Sorry. I forgot you weren't a student. Snape's the Potionsmaster. You know, greasy hair, big nose… real malicious looking. Ring a bell?"
Finally, it all came back to him. Xander snapped his fingers. "Right! He was standing in the corner of the Hall when we arrived. You're right, he had kind of a shady look to him." He leaned forward a bit, so as to whisper his next few words. "You're sure he isn't… you know… evil? 'Cause he really looked it, you know."
Ron smiled ironically. "No, actually, I'm not sure at all. You never know with Snape. One minute he's mister Big Bad himself, the other he's preventing Harry from falling off his broom and breaking his neck. He's a really ambiguous character. We're not through figuring him out yet."
"Okay." Xander shook his head. "There'll always be some of those people around. Seems the world can't exist without 'em. It gives us good folks something to do, you know? Figuring deceptive characters out."
"I guess."
"So he gives you a hard time, does he?"
"Mhm. Well, not just me… everyone except the Slytherins. It's only natural, of course, since they're his people. But still…" Ron sighed and gazed into the fire, a dreaming look on his face. "I wish Dumbledore could kick him out, replace him with someone who actually can practice his job without taunting his students to their deaths."
"I felt the same way about my math teacher back in high school," said Xander, nodding. "She was a real bitch."
"There has to be some of those people around, too," Ron smiled sarcastically. "Just so you don't feel content with things."
"Yup." Xander followed Ron's example and looked into the fire. The flames licked the bars and looked like small devils, just waiting for the chance to jump out and torch the place. "But back to the things you said before. I found it really interesting."
"What part?"
"The part about you feeling as shut out as me," said Xander. He was testing the boundaries now. He'd never thought he'd stumble upon someone who felt just like he did, and had the exact same problems. It was just incredible. It was… intriguing. "The part about you feeling like everyone's better than you, and that they're light-years ahead of you when it comes to importance and talent."

Ron turned away from the fire, his eyes glinting toward Xander. "Oh," he said, a doleful smile on his lips. "That part."