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Louis stared up at the ceiling, feeling the lasting effects of Victoire’s sensory charm on his ears and knowing that if he could focus on the night sky above his head, that the noise wouldn’t be so bad. It was wishful thinking, but he could only imagine how horrible it would be if he got laughed at for crying during the sorting.
No one would understand that it was because of deafening noise.
“Louis?”
He heard Lily beside him and then felt her hand in his, she usually wasn’t like this, but looking around the room, he understood her fear. The older students were so big, and while Louis had Victoire and Lily had Teddy, they both knew their older siblings were outliers compared to the others.
Lily was the only Potter daughter, that meant something different than what Louis was, the autistic Weasley.
“Your hand is cold,” complained Hugo, standing on Lily’s side and looking around the room with rapid eyes. He looked like he wanted to run, wanted to sprint and shout and be wild, he was the ADHD Weasley.
It was like a joke, two neuro-divergent Weasleys and a Potter girl walk into the Hogwarts Great Hall to be sorted….
Louis didn’t know the punch line, he couldn’t even guess at it, but he was sure it ended up with the three of them going in different directions. He would be the last to know, it would go Lily, then Hugo, and then him to end them off.
He was supposed to be the youngest anyways, but Lily had him beat by the handful of weeks she was born after him. They were both the youngest of the family, she the youngest granddaughter and third of the Potters, him the youngest grandson and third of the Delacour-Weasleys.
Louis looked back up at the ceiling as the singing started and the crowd of students hushed and quieted, he didn’t pay attention. He knew that he would end up somewhere, he had been the first of the three of them to perform magic.
It had been a temper tantrum, but he had plenty of those and the truth was he still had them now, though they had an actual name for the overstimulation now. But silencing all of the Weasley grandchildren that was…well it was something apparently. Louis didn’t remember doing the magic, but he had been told the story plenty of times. It wasn’t funny, but it had led to the diagnosis he had now.
It led to a lot of things.
“Louis?” whispered Lily again, and he turned to look at her. Of all his cousins, Louis felt like he and Lily looked the most alike, probably because they both looked like their Weasley parent, Louis the carbon copy and Lily nearly the same. They had all the same major features and nearly all of the little ones too, except their eyes, but just like his papa and her mum, those were different too. Lily had hazel eyes and glasses that she didn’t like to wear but kept on her at all times, Louis had blue eyes the same as his sisters and paint in his hair.
They were different in so many ways, but somewhere those differences became similarities.
Louis held her hand and then put his other hand over hers, holding her in both of his hands and trying to feel some warmth between them. They were scared, but they weren’t scared of going into different houses, they were scared of what it meant.
“Potter, Lillian,” called Neville, or Professor Longbottom in these walls. Louis could tell just by the way that Lily didn’t move that she thought she had more time, she thought that the three of them would have more time.
Louis looked over at Hugo, he was nearly a head taller than Louis, but Victoire told him all the time they would even out eventually, and either way he was still taller than Lily. But Hugo saw the same thing that Louis felt, Lily would not step forward without a little help.
Together they pushed.
Lily nearly fell down, her body still shaking as she started walking, her footsteps echoing as the whole hall held their breath. A pin could’ve dropped and everyone would’ve heard it, would’ve known the exact spot.
Lily wasn’t just a Potter, she was Harry Potter’s one and only daughter, and they had no idea where she belonged. Her brothers were split, James in Gryffindor and Al in Slytherin, but Louis knew that Lily only had one choice.
“Gryffindor!”
The noise was enough to make Louis nearly scream as he put his hands over his ears, trying to block out the sounds of cheering and applause.
With Lily gone their numbers, their remaining numbers, seemed too small. It was as if with Lily’s hand in his they were still the too large group standing between the rows of tables, but not anymore.
“Nott, Anamika,” called Professor Longbottom, and Louis watched as the beautiful Indian girl left them to walk up to the stool, her long dark braid just starting to unravel as she put the hat on.
He could feel his heart beating in his chest, a thousand thoughts about who he was, who he should be, and who he wanted to be flashing inside of his head. He knew that he wasn’t the son his parents wanted, but that didn’t make him any less of a person, any less of a Weasley.
“Slytherin,” shouted the hat, and Anamika Nott ran over to the table of green, her braid coming undone completely as she sat down next to Al. They could’ve been siblings, with their dark tan skin, dark shiny hair, and bright green eyes, but Louis knew different, he knew of Al’s freckles and glasses, of his cousin’s sharp wit and constant eye rolling.
It made sense to him, James and Lily were made of different stuff than Al, he was the middle sibling, the easy outlier.
“Weasley, Hugo,” called Professor Longbottom and Louis blinked, they were down to just a few of them as Hugo nearly ran the few steps forward. Louis was unsure of where he was going to go, Hugo would belong anywhere, he was smart and funny and had an energy that drew people in.
“Hufflepuff!” the hat shouted nearly the second it touched Hugo’s wild red curls. Louis felt his hands clap along with the yellow table, their older cousin Molly and their friend Ali Longbottom laughing and hugging Hugo as he sat at their table.
“Weasley, Louis,” said Professor Longbottom, and Louis stepped forward nervously. He looked at Neville as he stepped up to the stool.
“Deep breath,” whispered Neville as Louis sat down, “it will cover your eyes because it’s big, you’re safe I promise.”
Louis took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, feeling the fabric of the hat over his head.
“Hello?”
“Well hello there…hmmmm…now I remember your sisters young man,” a voice spoke into his head and Louis gripped the stool so he didn’t scream. “Now, now, no need to be scared…I just need to…hmmm…let’s take a look.”
He could feel himself shaking, his body was a nervous wreck, he felt a single drop of sweat sliding down his neck and his robes and-
“Well then, this is very interesting here,” said the voice, and Louis gripped the seat tighter, this was too much. “Now you are quite the challenge, you would do so well in Slytherin…ah…but that is not for you. Now let’s see what Gry- oh no no no, you would not do well there. Now let me think between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.”
Louis could feel something in his chest and stomach, his heart was beating so fast and his stomach…his stomach was regretting the cauldron cakes he shared with Lily on the train. She liked the chocolate on the outside and Louis loved the inside part of cake and jam and cream.
“Now you would be comfortable in Hufflepuff with your family, but I see something different,” continued on the voice, and Louis squeezed his eyes shut even tighter. “Oh well, just like your sister you belong in…RAVENCLAW!”
Louis panted as light suddenly appeared, Neville pulling the hat off of his head, and he took a moment to just breathe as the table of blue clapped and cheered for him. With shaky legs he walked over to the table, Lucy was standing there, waiting for him.
“Come on,” she whispered and Louis sat down beside her, feeling a comfort as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders.
“Welcome Louis,” said Devon Jordan from his seat across from Lucy, his oldest sister was friends with Victoire, or had once been back when they were in school together. “You’ll enjoy your time with us.”
Louis nodded, covering his ears as Lyla Zabini went to Slytherin, the very last of their class to be sorted. He missed the two other girls, but it didn’t matter, they weren’t at his table.
Louis blinked, he had a table, he had a house, a community of other students, of people to look after him and for him to look after and be one with. He looked at the other first years sitting with him, all of them different and yet the same, all of them with curious eyes and nervous expressions on their faces.
He always had trouble reading the emotions of others, part of his autism, but today seemed to be easier than normal.
Maybe it was a good sign, maybe Ravenclaw was where he belonged after all.