Chapter Text
Janus sighed, fixing his gloves as he stood in line.
This was dumb. He already knew he was a Slytherin. He came from a long, long line of Slytherins and his Slytherin parents--both of whom came from pure blooded Slytherin families--raised him as a Slytherin.
He was a Slytherin through and through, it was in his blood. Even if he wasn't, he sure fit the description of one. Cunning, sly, ambitious. It didn't help that he had a fascination with snakes.
His name was called and Janus strolled up, placing the hat on top of his curly hair.
'I'm a Slytherin.'
'Are you now?'
'Obviously.'
'I don't believe it's that obvious.'
'And what's that supposed to mean?'
'You are the product of what you were raised to be. Clay forced into the mold of a tree is still clay.'
'What the hell are you on about?'
Janus didn't get his answer.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Janus froze for a moment.
Hufflepuff?
Hufflepuff?
He blinked hard, took the hat off his head, and stiffly walked over to the cheering table of...other Hufflepuffs, feeling numb.
God, his parents would kill him for ruining the family name.
He curled his lip, avoiding and ignoring the questions and attempts at starting conversations from the other students at the table.
Him? A Hufflepuff? What was that stupid hat even thinking ?
He sat at the very end of the table, glaring down at it like it'd change his already assigned house.
The hat must be broken or something.
Janus was not a Hufflepuff.
-
Despite the commons not being the correct commons for him, Janus found he didn't mind the Hufflepuff common room all that much. It was warm and cozy and the older students whispered plans of sneaking into the nearby kitchen to ask the house elves for cookies and snacks.
Not very Slytherin at all.
But that was to be expected of Hufflepuffs, who were some of the farthest people from Slytherins he could imagine.
His mother sent him a letter the day after the sorting ceremony asking how it went. It'd been a few days ago and he still didn't know how to respond.
His parents...they loved him--they said they did, and why would they lie to him?--but they weren't the most open minded people and even Janus could recognize that. As much as he idolized his family and would remain loyal to them unless absolutely necessary, he wasn't always certain of their opinions. Still, he trusted his family and his parents to know what was best for him, so no matter how icky some of the things he advocated for on behalf of his family made him feel, he would never abandon them.
Despite the apparent welcoming and accepting nature of the Hufflepuff house--which Janus assumes to be fake, because who's honestly that stupidly nice?--Janus is acutely aware of what the students of this house, the wrong house, think of him. Not that he cares , of course, he's just observant.
Observant enough to notice how they stare when he sighs or rolls his eyes as some other kid shared an emotional story. Observant enough to know how they look at him with strained smiles and exasperated eyes because everybody has heard of the Hufflepuff who doesn't belong, at this point. Observant enough to overhear the older kids talking about the 'bratty first year Hufflepuff' who acts like the textbook definition of a Slytherin.
He knows of the rumors, the rumors of how he was in the wrong house, that the sorting hat misspoke or misjudged him. Rumors that soon enough, people would realize the mistake and put him in Slytherin where he belonged.
Rumors of the sorting hat being wrong, broken .
It's all very stupid, really, and Janus couldn't care less either way.
Anwir pressed his small nose against Janus' arm, whiskers tickling his exposed skin.
Janus looked back down at the letter he was supposed to be writing.
"Ah, I suppose you're right." He muttered, taking a moment to scratch under the black cat's chin. The poor thing was blind in one eye, a large scar covering a decent amount of the left half of his face. His parents had tried to talk him out of getting Anwir, calling him 'damaged goods' but Janus reminded them that their own son wasn't perfect either. He had a skin disease that discolored his skin--vitiligo, it was called--and heterochromia, meaning his eyes were two different colors; one a warm brown that contrasted his cold personality, the other a muddy green, like that of a swamp.
He knew he wasn't what his parents wanted, so he made it up to them by being the best pure blooded, Slytherin son anyone could ask for.
Well.
He tried.
Apparently, it wasn't enough. All his efforts had gone to waste thanks to some hat.
"Stupid hat." He muttered to himself. Anwir meowed at him.
He worked on writing the letter.
-
Janus vaguely remembered his great grandparents complaining that when they went to Hogwarts, the tables were separated and everything was 'neat and orderly'. He recalls how upset they were over the announcement that separation between houses was no longer held and that they were encouraged to intermingle with each other. He knows he said something along the lines of 'ew, why would I want to interact with the lesser houses, anyway?', something that would please his parents and earn murmurs of praise and agreement.
He dimly reflects how cruel fate is, picking at the food he'd put on his plate.
He'd sent out the letter to his mother a few weeks prior, detailing how the sorting hat was wrong and he was in the wrong house.
An owl came and dropped a letter into his lap.
He opened it immediately and his heart dropped into his stomach. He was already not that hungry, but now the thought of eating made him feel sick.
'Janus,
The sorting hat is never wrong. Your father and I knew you were broken and messed up when we saw you looked like that, but we'd hoped that you could at least carry on the family legacy. As it turns out, you can't even be a Slytherin correctly. Don't contact us again for the remainder of the school year unless it's absolutely necessary.
-Your mother'
He stared at the paper for a long time, barely noticing as his grip got tighter and the edges where he was holding it bent and wrinkled. He crumpled it up into a little paper ball and stuffed it into his pocket.
He put his elbows on the table and his head in his hands.
Of course.
Of course!
He should've seen this coming.
They had no emotional connection to him to begin with no matter how much they lied and said they did.
One little mess up was the last straw.
They only cared about continuing the family legacy.
Now, now …
Now, they didn't care at all.
"Hi! Is this seat taken?" Janus raised his head a bit, catching sight of a Ravenclaw emblem before the stranger sat down. "Nevermind, I don't care, it's taken now!"
"Rude." Janus muttered, rolling his eyes. "It wasn't taken anyway, though."
"Cool." The stranger grinned, a gap between his two front teeth. "I'm Remus. Nice to meet ya, Hufflepuff."
"I'm not-" Janus started, then sighed. "I guess there's no point in arguing. I'm stuck as a Hufflepuff even though that's not what I am." He grumbled, shaking his head. "My name is Janus."
"Cool." Remus repeated. "You gonna eat that?"
"No. Have at it."
"Nah, I don't wanna eat it." Before Janus could even ask, Remus grabbed his plate and spoon. He scooped up a spoonful mashed potatoes and flung it at a Gryffindor two tables away.
"What the hell?" Janus muttered.
"That's my friend, Logan." Remus explained. "I'm just fucking with him."
The Gryffindor, Logan, turned and glared.
"This is stupid." Janus sighed, already over this.
"Remus! Are you bothering people again?" Someone else asked.
Another one? Why were there so many people near him? Maybe he should just drop out of this school.
The boy currently scolding Remus looked just like him outside from differently styled hair with no white streak, no gap in his teeth, and less scars.
Janus sighed.
He really just wanted to go nap on his bed with Anwir on his chest.
"He said I could have it, Roman!"
"Go bother someone else." The other waved Remus off.
He took Remus' spot next to Janus, who very much wished to be alone.
"Sorry about him. I'm-"
"I don't really care."
A pause.
"Oh. Okay, I'll stay quiet, then."
Huh. Janus had not expected that.
Janus glanced at the kid, who was twiddling his thumbs, bouncing his leg, very obviously struggling to keep to himself.
Janus sighed.
"...what's your name?"
"Roman Layor!" He volunteered. "Remus is my twin brother."
"Pleasure to meet you." Janus said sarcastically.
"The pleasure is all mine." Roman replied, apparently not getting the sarcasm part.
Janus snorted, shaking his head.
You would think someone born and raised as a wizard preparing to go to wizarding school would have been more prepared for weirdness, especially weird kids.
Apparently not, Janus thought, having never felt less prepared in his life.