TW: implied reference to a homophobic slur

It felt surreal for Ben to remember that it had only been a week since he left home and began living and studying at Hogwarts. It was as though he had been there for months already. Perhaps being away from his family made time go by faster than usual. He was honestly having quite a lot of fun at school. Harry and Ron seemed to have forgotten the little argument they had with Ben on their first day, something that he was very grateful and relieved for. And Ron had almost stopped those bitter comments about Ben and his family, so the trio of boys had started going everywhere together.

Cedric had come across Ben a couple of times during that week, too, when the three young Gryffindors came across him trying to find their class, and the older Hufflepuff helped them again.

However, someone who had not talked to him was Audrey. He had watched her from afar during meals, hoping she would approach him, but she obviously didn't. He honestly didn't really understand why he wanted her to talk to him, knowing she'd probably yell at him, or call him something rude if she did, but he still wanted to have a chance to explain her he didn't mean to become a Gryffindor, and that he didn't want her to hate him.

He was also worried about his parents. He hadn't heard from them since he left home, and it was something to be scared of. Right after the Sorting Ceremony, he had expected them to write him a letter telling him he was going to be disinherited, but they hadn't done anything. And it could mean two things: that they didn't care about it, and that they didn't mind him being a Gryffindor; or that they needed time to decide what kind of punishment he'd receive.

He wanted to believe it was the first option, but he knew it was very unlikely, so he could only wait to see what happened.

Ron and Harry told him not to worry about it. They thought the lack of reaction from Ben's parents could only mean something good.

"I don't think so," he disagreed, walking across the grounds to see Hagrid, who had invited Harry and his friends over. "I just think it's creepy."

"Well perhaps you can talk to your sister," suggested Harry.

"Audrey?" asked Ron, eyebrows furrowed.

Harry chuckled. "Of course not."

"But how am I going to talk to Alycia, then?" wondered Ben.

"There's something called letters, Ben," Ron stuck his tongue out at Ben, who rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Exactly," nodded Harry. "So why don't you write her one, and ask her about your parents?"

"Because my parents might see the letter before her, and that would end up getting us both in trouble," he explained. "Besides I don't have an owl."

"You can always use Hedwig if you need to."

"Thanks," smiled Ben. "But I think I'll just wait to see what happens."

"Alright.

When they reached the edge of the forbidden forest, Harry knocked at the door of a small wooden house. A frantic scrabbling and several loud barks were heard from inside.

"Back, Fang, back!" shouted a voice from inside.

Hagrid opened the door, struggling to hold an enormous black boarhound. "Hang on- Fang!"

He managed to push the dog inside, and signalled the three boys to walk in, closing the door behind them. The house consisted of one room, with hams and pheasants hanging from the ceiling. A copper kettle boiled on the fireplace, and there was a huge bed with a colourful patchwork quilt over it in the corner.

"Make yerselves at home," smiled Hagrid, letting go of Fang. The dog ran towards Ron and started licking his ear as Ben burst into laughter.

"This is Ben Walker, Hagrid," said Harry, tilting his head towards the boy, who smiled and waved at Hagrid.

"Ah, Ben, the firs' Walker in Gryffindor, eh?" exclaimed Hagrid. Ben blinked and nodded nervously, unsure of what to say.

"Yes, that's me..."

"And this is Ron,"

"Another Weasley, eh?" Hagrid laughed, pouring the boiling water into a large teapot and serving rock cakes. "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."

Hagrid made the boys sit down at a small round table, and offered them some tea and rock cakes. "Well, how has yer firs' week been?"

They told him everything about their first lessons while pretending to like the shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, since they didn't want to offend Hagrid.

"How did yer Potions class go?"

"Oh, it was awful!" cried Ben.

"What happened?"

"Snape suddenly went and asked me a question, and I didn't know the answer, so Ben told me the answer, but Snape heard him and he scolded him," explained Harry. "Then Ben said it was unfair to ask something he never taught us, and he got angrier."

"It was kind of scary to be honest," muttered Ron.

"So then Snape told Ben to answer some questions if he thought he was so clever, and he got them right!" exclaimed Harry happily. "It was so cool!"

"I failed the last one."

"Technically, you didn't," shrugged Ron. "Snape asked you to tell him the difference between those two weird plants, and you got that part right, you just got confused with what the usefulness of the plant was."

Ben's lips curled up into a weak smile.

"Well don't take it as somethin personal, Snape doesn't like anyone," stated Hagrid. He then turned to face Ron. "How's yer brother Charlie? I liked him a lot, he was great with animals."

"He's in Romania, working with dragons," he replied. "He really likes being there, but sometimes we miss him at home."

Harry tapped Ben on the shoulder, drawing his attention. He handed him a piece of newspaper, and Ben recognized it as a cutting from the Daily Prophet.

GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST

Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.

"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.

"Hagrid!" said Harry, "that Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"

Hagrid didn't reply, he only grunted and offered Harry another rock cake. Harry shared confused glances with Ron and Ben, but he didn't speak until the three of them were walking back to the castle, their pockets filled with rock cakes they had been too polite to refuse.

"So basically whatever Hagrid took from that chamber, it's what the person who broke in wanted, right?" said Ben.

"Exactly, so it must be something valuable."

"Hagrid didn't tell you anything about what it could be, did he?"

"He just said it was an important Hogwarts business."

"If it's something a Dark Wizard or Witch was interested in, it might as well be something dangerous," said Ben thoughtfully.

"We don't know for sure if it was a Dark Wizard who broke in, it's just what people from the Daily Prophet think," remarked Ron.

"Good point."

———————————————

Once dinner was over, the boys went upstairs as fast as they could, excited to start their first weekend at Hogwarts. They had decided they would wander around the castle together, trying to find some of the secret passages Fred and George Weasley had told them about. It sounded like a good plan that could help them stop getting lost on their way to class every morning.

But Ben's excitement stopped at once when he heard an owl hoot inside the dormitory. "Oh no!"

"Huh?"

Ben turned to face his friends, standing with his back to the door, eyes widened in fear. "Didn't you hear that? It was an owl!"

"I have an owl, Ben, it must've been Hedwig."

"No, no, Harry, it wasn't Hedwig-" he whispered, getting closer to the door. "Hedwig's hoots are different. It was my parents' owl. They sent me a letter."

"Oh."

Taking a deep breath, opened the door abruptly, and felt his heart fall to his feet when he saw a big grey owl sitting on the ledge of the window beside his bed. There was a letter tied to his paw.

"Oh no, no, no..." he whispered to himself, trying not to lose himself in fear as he took the letter.

"Ben," began Harry, taking a step towards his friend.

But Ben didn't let him continue. He ran to his bed, hand clenched into a fist, crumpling up the letter as he hastily closed the curtains behind him with his free hand. He let go of the letter and sat down near the cushions. Heart pounding in his chest, he observed it in absolute silence. He could hear his roommates whispering outside, but he didn't care. After a while, he grabbed the letter again, and opened the envelope. He readjusted himself on the bed before starting to read it.

'Benjamin Walker,

Your mother and I are immensely disappointed by what happened during the Sorting Ceremony. Your sister notified us you intended to make excuses for what happened, and it's unbelievable. Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy were compassionate enough to give you a second chance after the incident that occured five years ago, and it's idecide to ruin it by consorting with blood traitors and mudbloods. Don't you understand the shame that you have brought to this family with your selfish actions?

You are an embarrassment to our family, and do not dare to think we will let this be forgotten.

Sébastien Walker'

He tried to read it over again, but the words began to blur when hot tears welled up in his eyes. Hands shaking uncontrollably, he crumpled up the letter in a ball, and threw it away harshly. His heart was beating so hard it was almost painful, and he was trying his best to not burst into sobs. He didn't want his roommates to hear him cry. Besides, he never cried. Father always said only weak people do that, so boys should never cry.

But it was hard, very hard, to keep tears from falling. And, before he could avoid it, the memories of the last time he had cried in front of his parents came flooding back, like an unstoppable waterfall.

He was young, much younger than now. It had been some days after Draco Malfoy's sixth birthday, so Ben was still five. He didn't remember what had led to his parents being that angry, but it must have been something absolutely terrible to produce such rage. Well, to be honest, he did have a blurred memory of the reason behind it, but he had been refusing to think about it for so long that it felt as though there was a wall separating him from vividly remembering what had happened.

He did remember his parents being angrier than ever. They were furious, and kept shouting at him. Five-year-old Ben didn't dare to speak or even produce a single sound, let alone attempt to defend himself. He remembered screams, pain, tears blurring his vision, and his father shouting a word he didn't understand back then. But, at least, the use of that word made him get distracted from what his parents were doing, since his mind was focused on wondering why he was being called a 'cigarette'.

What would've been of him if he didn't make the mistake he made that day? That was something he found himself thinking about more often that he was willing to admit. He was sure he would have been a whole different person, with different interests, different hobbies, and different ways of seeing the world. He would probably be asleep in a bed far away from this one, feeling the annoying humidity on his skin, but oblivious to all worries. And his plans for the weekend would've been to hang out with Malfoy, Goyle and Crabbe, going around the castle, searching for any muggleborns to call them offensive words. During the train journey, he would've sat with them, and he would've met Harry and Ron in a much different way, seeing them in a different light. He would've been part of Malfoy's gang, so being friends with Cedric, Neville, Hermione, Ron and Harry would've never crossed his mind.

Ben didn't like that version of what he or his life could've become. He was sure it would've been far easier, but easier doesn't equal better. Thinking about how everything would've been was somehow calming, and it had stopped him from crying. After a really long time, when  not a single sound was heard apart from his sleeping friends' breaths, Ben stopped overthinking, his eyes finally closing, and he fell asleep.

———————————————

The next morning, while Ron, Harry and Ben were exploring the castle, Ben was afraid they would ask about the letter, since he didn't want to tell them about it. But, to his surprise, neither of them asked him, and they didn't even mention it. It was as though they had forgotten, and he was glad about it.

They spent the whole time chatting about other stuff, while doing their best to memorise the hallways they went through, in an attempt to stop getting lost on their way to class.

"I just hope we don't have to keep making Cedric help us get to class in time," said Ben. "He'll end up hating us!"

His friends chuckled as they approached the entrance to the Gryffindor tower.

"I wonder what her real name is," commented Ben, observing the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Everyone calls her the Fat Lady," answered Ron simply.

"Yeah, but she's got to have a real name," he replied. "One that isn't insulting her, for example."

"Well, ask her, then," suggested Harry.

"You three realise I can hear you, right?"

The three Gryffindors went as dark red as their uniforms. The Fat Lady let out a chuckle, and gave them a calming smile.

Ben cleared his throat. "Would it be okay to ask what your name is, ma'am?"

The Fat Lady nodded, and gave him an enigmatic smile. "My name is Elizabeth."

"Lovely, nice to meet you," he smiled, and held out his hand for her to shake. An instant later, he realised Elizabeth was a painting, and that he had just done something very stupid. He heard Harry and Ron's laughs behind him, so he turned around to glare at them. "Oi, shut it!"

Elizabeth laughed very softly. "It had been years since I was last asked about my real  name, boy."

"Really?"

She nodded. "But, don't you worry, I have grown used to being called 'The Fat Lady', so it doesn't hurt my feelings anymore."

"Oh, alright."

The portrait moved aside before any of the boys said the password. "Thank you!" They jumped through the hole carefully, and entered the common room.

All the first year students were standing next to a notice pinned up in the wall. Ben walked to see what was going on, and heard Seamus and Dean groan behind him.

Flying lessons would start the next Thursday, but Slytherin and Gryffindor had to learn together. "Oh, fantastic, simply wonderful!"

"Just what I always wanted," said Harry darkly. "To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."

"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself."

"Exactly, have you ever ridden a broom?"

"No..."

"So perhaps you're amazing at it, you won't know until you try it."

"I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk," spoke Ron.

"He's so bloody annoying, all day bragging about how awesome he is with that stupid smirk on his face," said Ben angrily. "I'd love to smack it off."

"Do you know if he's actually good?" Asked Harry.

"Why would I know?"

"Well you know, your families-" started Ron.

"His parents decided I was a bad influence when we were very young, so I have no clue about his flying skills since then," he interrupted.

"Oh okay, sorry."

Ben was inmediately sorry for having such a rude reaction.

"Don't worry, I bet you two will do great! And, if you don't, it's okay, we're taking flying lessons to learn how to fly, not to brag about being good."

A/N: I'm sorry the rewriting is taking so long, school's been killing me. Also, if someone hasn't noticed, i've changed ben's faceclaim, i promise this is the last time i'm doing it!