ʙᴇᴛʀᴀʏᴀʟ • ʙɪʟʟ ᴡᴇᴀꜱʟᴇʏ

ᴏɴᴇ

"GRYFFINDOR!" The Sorting Hat announced loudly to the Great Hall. A few students from the Gryffindor table erupted with applauses as Professor McGonagall lifted the hat off of Freya's head. She bowed her head down as she made her way to her Houses table.

"Really? The second Black family member to be Gryffindor! What a disappointment." One girl commented, eyeing the poor girl from head to toe with judgement.

Another boy chimed in, "Honestly look at her, she looks more like a Hufflepuff, which would have been an even bigger disappointment for her family."

That first night in Hogwarts, Freya barely ate and ended up crying herself to sleep. She couldn't imagine how her family would react when they find out she was Gryffindor like her older brother. She was looking forward to finally proving herself a great witch to her family, that she would someday make them proud.

Wishful thinking. Maybe the next day would be a fresh start? It wasn't, nor were any days and weeks that followed. Freya did well in her classes and the teachers loved her (with the exception of, of course, Professor Snape), but outside the classroom setting, she was alone. She had absolutely nobody to talk to. She wanted communication with someone other than her superiors so badly; she just didn't know where to start.

One day, she was making her way from the Greenhouses to the Great Hall, when she was surrounded by a group of fellow first years.

"Well, well, well..." Her eyes widened when she recognised the voice. It was Ann, a girl from Slytherin that made sure Freya's life was a living hell at school. It was almost as if her mother and this girl were conspiring together against her, because at home she had her mother to pull her apart, and in Hogwarts, she had Ann. "Freya Black. My, my. I cannot believe you belong to that family. An equal disappointment alongside your brother."

"How do the parents even cope with their disappointing children?" her sidekick, Jonas, chimed in.

"I--"

"Shut up, you filth. Nobody gave you permission to speak." Ann spat back, almost lunging at Freya. Freya stepped back, accidentally tripping on a rock. She flew back, hitting her head hard against the ground, her glasses flying off her face and books to the ground. Ann, Jonas and the other two students she didn't know - she assumed they were from different years because they were so tall - laughed cold-heartedly.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing to her?" Freya froze, not recognising the male voice and able to see him because she was blind as a bat without her glasses. She was only sure it was a student because he sounded young, her age or just a bit older.

"Let's go." Ann told her posse, glaring at the vigilante student. As they walked past her, one of the older students harshly and purposely stepped on her glasses, breaking them beyond repair. Freya turned her body to pick up her broken spectacles.

"Here, let me help you." The male student bent down to help Freya up. He then cast a spell and repaired her glasses. Freya quickly put them on. This was the first time she saw him up close. It was a boy from the same house as hers. She saw him around a lot and knew he was very popular amongst other students. He was tall, skinny and had red hair. His uniform looked very shabby and had splatters of mud all over it, but his skin was very clean. "Oh, no. You're bleeding." He frowned.

"I'm fine." Freya insisted, wiping the dust off her cloak and making her way back in the castle.

"A-are you sure you don't want me to--"

"I said I'm fine." she insisted, only turning her head to look at him. Seeing as he didn't even budge surprised her, so she turned her whole body to face him. None of the students really talked to her unless they absolutely had to. "Why're you even talking to me?"

"Because you looked like you needed a hand back there." he smiled and stuck his arm out. "I'm William Weasley, but everyone just calls me Bill." She just stared at the hand bemusedly. He laughed and reached for one of her hands and shook. "You were supposed to shake it, silly!"

She raised her eyebrow as she stared down at their held hands. Bill frowned and let go of her hand, continuing their walk to the Great Hall. "You really don't have any friends, do you?" Freya shook her head as she looked back down, embarrassed. What happened next surprised her. "Well, that's okay! I'll be your friend!"

Freya raised her eyebrow, smiling a little, something which Bill thought was really cute and very refreshing. It seemed like she didn't smile often. "Won't your reputation perish a little if others saw me with you?"

He shrugged. "I don't care about that. You seem like you need a friend. I see you in the Hall and during classes alone. I always wanted to talk to you, but whenever I do, you walk away!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Freya looked up and gave Bill a sincere smile and nod. "Okay, Bill. I'll be your friend!"

As they made their way to the Great Hall, she felt a ball of hope and happiness and excitement forming in her. She's never been this happy in her life. She liked it. She liked this feeling a lot.