home (reader at hogwarts)

forty four

albus' eyes glisten, landing on you.

"y/n?" he blurts and you hear shuffling in the back and in a moments time your father stands beside the headmaster in the doorway.

"y/n?" he grumbles. "what are you doing here, you should be in bed."

you nod. "i will be soon. i just needed to talk to you both about a few things. i-"

you frown, remembering the conversation you just had the in the common room. the tension you had already stirred within the slytherins.

"i'm not sure what to do with- with all of this..."

severus steps forward and guides you into the headmaster's office, sitting you down where you assume he was once seated as his dark velvet cape is draped over the back of the armchair.

"what's wrong?" he asks, leaning back on the table and peering down at you. you bring you knees to your chest and curl into his coat at the chill coming from the balcony.

"i had so much planned but it went to absolute poopie when i was sorted into slytherin." you say, looking up at both of the men. "and then, when i thought i could make it work- when i was making good progress with harry, ron and now even hermione- the slytherins are all turning on me."

severus tilts his head. "they're suspicious."

"vexed." you correct him. "that i dared to even try to be friends with them."

they wait for you to carry on as you try to place your words- trying hard to articulate what exactly you need to hear from them.

"do i- do i have to choose a side? because that doesn't seem like the smart option at all." you ask.

severus smiles.

reassurance?

you let out a tired laugh.

please?

"no." he agrees. "it's not the smart option. honestly, y/n. i'm not even just saying it. now, that you're in slytherin, being on their good side is the safest place you can be-"

he bends down, his brows low and a serious glint in his black eyes. "trust me. i know."

you nod.

"your father is right, y/n." albus says, "getting on their bad side now will make it incredibly hard to readjust later on. slytherins don't tend to give second chances."

"not that that's a bad thing." you hear severus mutter.

"so what do i do?"

"i think-" severus pauses for a second. "you should- just do what i did."

you frown.

"you know who i'm talking about." he pushes and your eyes widen and you nod.

"oh yes. what did you do?" you ask.

"i'd meet her discretely. i even told her that i'd be an outcast if the slytherin's saw how close i was to a gryffindor." severus tells you. "they tend to be heroic enough, to let you know you're safe with them. they won't tell."

"so i must make it known that our friendships are supposed to be secret?" you ask.

"precisely." albus confirms. "do it as soon as you can and do it in the middle of a conversation. don't take them away for a word- it'll put them off."

you nod slowly. this doesn't sound like the way to make friends.

"he'll make you into a child soldier."

was that what severus had said?

anyways, you thank the men for their council and severus insists on dropping you off to the common room. when you step in, the rest of the slytherins spot him from the doorway and freeze- cards in hand, sweets in mouth, words half spoken.

the entrance closes behind you and you watch the slytherins go back to motion. suddenly, you hear a voice from the back of the room.

"what did you tell him?" gemma asks, her voice steady and eyes full of dread.

you shake your head. "he wanted to speak to me. he'd sent a note."

"did you mention anything i said?" she asks another question, quieter this time. "did you-"

"no." you tilt your head. "you wouldn't still be prefect if i did."

she pales, before slamming the book she had open in her lap shut and storming her way up to her dorm.

you look around at the common room at the slytherins peering at you. you'd hushed the prefect and on your first day.

"y/n." you hear serena call you, and you both take the stairs up to your dormitory where the girls are waiting by the door.

"what was that?" pansy asks you, as you walk in.

"nothing. i just went to go speak to my dad about something and gemma got a bit-"

pansy gasped. "did you grass her up?

daphne let out a snort. "it's like y/n said. do you really think he'd let gemma be prefect if she did a thing to irk y/n?"

you blush. "i didn't mean it like that. i wasn't saying that i would use dad's-"

"nonsense." daphne sneered, heading back into the dorm. "you were sorted into this house for a reason."

the last few words resonate with you.

you were sorted into this house for a reason.

"are you tired?" serena yawned and you nod at her, heading to your beds.

"goodnight, girls." pansy calls out and you all reply, save daphne who gives a hum in response.

as you try to drift off to sleep your mind wanders.

the first day has been strange to say the least but the good news is- you haven't died.

that means you're still around to make sure everyone's okay. that no one gets hurt on your watch, whilst you know what's going to happen.

you need to make sure you don't interfere too much though, ensuring that the events happen without your presence disrupting the way things are meant to pan out.

can you have the best of the story and save these people from the worst of it?

is that too much to ask for?