Scavenging for a... Friendship? PV George Henry Finished

(had to write a little bit where alec talks about muggle books because he would have beem so excited to respond)Alec grinned, excited to be asked about muggle books. He'd read so many and he wasn't going to be able to name specifics but he knew he'd have fun highlighting around the categories of what he tended to read. “I've read most of the muggle 'classics' by now. Mysteries are fun, I read anything Sherlock Holmes. When I was younger I used to be fascinated by muggle fairy tales.”
----(and now more in line with the timeline and what is currently happening)
With George's words having gotten to Alec's head it was no surprise he felt like saying something. Was Alec simply supposed to ignore George calling Hufflepuff the loser house? It didn't sit right with him. He wasn't sure if it was a self-confidence issue for George or something else entirely. Debacles as George's weren't in Alec's expertise to fix. An improvement over the summer had been a massive change in self-confidence and belief in himself, Alec usually was able to handle situations and keep his confident stature. This time there had been a slip-up. Alec tried to avoid imposing his whole weird life advice spiel and other stuff onto people, he understood how annoying it could get, especially if you don't know the person well enough. Letting doubts and a sudden flicker of anxiety carry him away. Really it wasn't Alec's place to begin with and-

George cut in, telling Alec not to worry. He noticed George had a stronger accent but didn't comment. It reminded Alec of Starkey who had a tendency to cover his natural way of speaking, whenever he was tired or caught up in his emotions it slipped. Alec never said anything, it didn't seem like the sort of thing everyone was interested in talking about.

At being told to hold it together Alec burst out into an anxious laugh. “Right,” he spoke, nodding to himself. Taking a deep breath Alec would slow his walking pace. In his silence Alec took the time to form his thoughts. It was better for him to not speak on a whim, it was how careless words slipped through the cracks. “What I mean is... I know so many incredible people from Hufflepuff. More ambitious then a Slytherin, smarter then a Ravenclaw, and more hero-like then a Gryffindor ever could be.” His words were followed by another deep breath, herding the motivation to continue and push forward with his words. “Some of the most genuine and hard-working people I've ever met are from Hufflepuff, and it's hard to hear a person call Hufflepuff the loser house.” Yes... That was worded better, it still felt slightly preachy but he'd cut down on most of it, he couldn't do a ton about the rest of it.

“Our hexwizard champion is from Hufflepuff.” The person picked seemed capable enough to win as well. Alec was nervous for the people involved, and at the same time he was excited to see how the hexwizard tournament would play out. Remembering how George mentioned that Alec could have been in Hufflepuff the Gryffindor let out an audible groan. “People tell me that far too often. . . I would hope everybody likes to think they embody Hufflepuff traits.” Alec found it hard to think of an example of a bad trait from Hufflepuff, it was easy to do it for all the other houses, especially Gryffindor. “Hard-working and loyal sounds better than being stuck with brash and impulsive Gryffindors who tend to get a big-head over the fact they were placed in the 'hero house'.”

Alec paused, he'd been doing all the talking, and yet he had been the one to bring the topic of discussion up. It felt wrong to leave George out of the conversation without a place to speak his thoughts. Alec glanced towards his scavenger hunt buddy. “What about you? What do you think?” Was his calling Hufflepuff the loser house meaning he was going to go along that path as he spoke? Or was Alec in for something else entirely?

@George Henry

"There you go," said George. He smirked, raising an eyebrow and staring at Alec as the boy laughed uncomfortably. This did not look a whole lot like holding it together, but it would do for the moment. The Hufflepuff slowed to match his scavenging companion, having no interest in running ahead to finish the scavenger hunt. In fact, he had half a mind to keep his bag of trash and repurpose it for playing jokes on his tent mates.

He bit his tongue as Alec spoke about the incredible Hufflepuffs he had met. George thought of himself as being quite smart, ambitious, and occasionally brave, and yet he was still relegated to this house. The temptation to double down on Hufflepuffs being losers was great, but Alec already seemed worked up. Losing his new friend so soon would ruin the afternoon as well as the scavenger hunt.

"Well... I've met many losers in other houses, so maybe you're right," he said, with a playful smile. Crybaby lions and snakes lacking in cunning were commonplace in Hogwarts, so George supposed there was potential for a few non-losers to be in Hufflepuff. Maybe he was one of them... though that was doubtful. Even sniveling little Jake was more well-liked than him. Less of a loser. He never did anything wrong. He didn't know how. "The champion is a Hufflepuff. That's a good point. Though, I have my suspicions that's not why he was selected."

Half-breeds and Hufflepuffs were the most derided groups in the world and Hogwarts, respectively. George wasn't entirely sure what the other half of a dhampir's breed was, but people sure got into a big fuss about it. Brought out of his thoughts again, George laughed as Alec mentioned the brashness and impulsiveness of Gryffindors. They really were like wild animals in that regard. Most of the Gryffindors he'd met could stand to learn some anger management, except maybe Alan, who could benefit from having more anger.

"...What do I think?" he repeated back. That was difficult to articulate. George never did much thinking outside of class, although he definitely had a working theory of what your house meant at Hogwarts. It took him a moment to consider what to say, with some additional hesitation between the thoughts leaving his brain and coming out of his mouth. "I've definitely met fewer bad people in Hufflepuff. They're nice. Sometimes too nice. I don't know, really... I don't think I fit in."

Perhaps surprised by his own honesty, George's mouth fell into a tight-lipped neutral expression, his eyes glancing around to ensure nobody had heard him opening up a bit to his scavenging buddy. Not that they had any chance of winning by now. They'd been standing around talking for too long. "Maybe we can switch identities in September," he suggested.

Playfully Alec waved his hand in dismissal to George admitting there was many a loser in other houses. Yes, that the spirit George! Alec thought keeping his light smugness to himself for but a few seconds as George admitted to Alec possibly being right. “Of course I'm right, I'm always right,” the statement was nothing close to a serious one, perhaps however Alec could be right about this one. They were talking about Howard now, “It is selected by random, so yeah, I hoped it wouldn't be because he's in Hufflepuff.” Alec joked, staying playful only for a moment as his face suddenly turned serious. Alec's nose crinkled, and his face scrunched as he looked at George with a look of disgust. “The way Howard was written about in the daily prophet for the piece covering the Hexwizard champions was sickening,” Alec didn't know a person who wasn't aware of what Alec was talking about. The mini article was a sore reminder of lacking compassion, kindness, and understanding people would offer towards those different from them. Bias was incredibly clear and Alec could only wonder who approved it, thought it was a good idea, let it print. For someone who had so little to do with such a large issue it felt hard to distinguish whether or not he was allowed to hold such a firm opinion on it.

Alec had pulled an unexpected move, George not thinking Alec was going to ask what he thought about the whole house thing. The young teen watched as he hesitantly scrambled to put together an eloquent response. He mentioned meeting fewer bad people in Hufflepuff, and he would mention how nice everybody was, how George didn't think he fit in. Alec's breath hitched, “I felt that way to,” Alec spoke not thinking, not doing anything more than trying to get the words out. Alec's voice was a whisper, soft and quiet, “I still do. I feel that way a lot of the time actually.” He didn't know what urged him to speak, to make the admittance. Maybe he didn't want George to feel alone.

Gryffindor wasn't the only place Alec felt that way though. He'd always felt distant from everybody around him, different in a way he couldn't explain. Alec couldn't remember a time where he had ever been able to fit in. At a certain point Alec had begun to embrace what made him unable to fit in. Some days were harder then others.

“It's almost like a sweet with too much sugar, not that it's a bad thing.” Alec spoke up, talking about George's comment about how nice everyone in Hufflepuff seemed to be. There were people who liked sweets with too much sugar, some who weren't used to it, the list went on. “Hufflepuffs that are a little too nice,” Alec clarified, feeling the need to make what he was talking about clear. “Everything in moderation right?” Alec joked. He wasn't the best the kindest of the bunch, he supposed he wasn't used to it, he didn't know if he ever would be, Alec friends tended to be the cold and aloof type.

Alec chuckled, nodding in agreement as George suggested switching places in September. "I'd like that." The idea was more than amusing, imagining swapping places and taking the other's life. Alec had many a doppleganger, surprising each time he saw them, it was strange how the world worked.“Do you think you can pull off pretending to be me?” Alec teased.

This was when their unfortunate situation would dawn on Alec as he glanced down at their scavenger hunt list. They wouldn't have the time to complete, and they'd spent so much time talking that they weren't likely to. “Hey- would you - how about we go do something else? We're pretty far behind for the scavenger hunt by now.” Alec suggested. If they stopped they wouldn't be scavenger hunt buddies, but Alec was looking for an excuse to keep George around anyway. Alec didn't want to make any calls to soon, however to scavenger hunt buddies Alec preferred the term future friend.

A smile forming on Alec lips Alec glanced to the bag holding the clock and gestured towards it. “We could pull the alarm clock apart fully and figure out how to put it back together again?” Alec suggested, knowing it would be more than pulling something apart and putting it back together again. It offered a chance for some conversation. “I could brew us some tea, do you have a preference on what I brew?” The beginning of something new, a lovely afternoon, and with luck freshly brewed tea as well.

Thread Ended
@George Henry