home (reader at hogwarts)

fifty five

the days that followed the troll incident were like the calm after a storm. you rarely spoke to harry, ron and hermione and ended up spending most of the next two days learning to play wizards chess from a third year slytherin called averill.

draco and blaise are having a little trouble in their friendship as draco drifts off to hang out with the likes of vincent crabbe and gregory goyle, whereas blaise hangs around with francis avery and blaise's cousin from his estranged father's side, kai nguyen.

both you and serena begin a close bond with daphne and pansy, which makes you extremely happy and hopeful for the future.

if you tried- if you really put your all into it, perhaps you could save them from a future where they would be forced into the dark arts.

just like their parents.

"hey, y/n?" pansy asks from her seat opposite you in the great hall. though the group of first years still sits together, you've begun to form smaller circles within the larger one.

you notice that sitting as one was a rather slytherin specific thing. though the gryffindors all got along like a bustling family of loveable idiots, they sat further apart in smaller circles.

in hufflepuff, people kept to themselves, circles often interchanging regularly due to the fluidity of the warm friendships within hufflepuff House.

the ravenclaws tended to stick to fixed groups, much like yours. but you found that they often didn't know many other people's names, not even within their house. they were, generally speaking, as unsociable as slytherin, but slytherin house had a tendency to know just about everything about everyone.

you were gossipers, you came to realise. knowing just enough to ensure house security, and sticking close enough together to be strong if not in relationships but in numbers.

so your section of the first year bubble, consisted of the girls from your dorm. you and pansy faced each other and the other two, serena and daphne sat facing each other beside you.

no one changed their seat once it had been fixed for the year.

it was a slytherin rule.

"what's up?" you ask, tapping your quill against the parchment in front of you.

"what did you get for the question about the cursed tea set?" she asks, pointing at an empty section on her parchment.

you hand her a notebook to your left. "it's on the bottom of that page."

"thank you!" pansy smiles.

the two of you sit in the great hall finishing off some charms homework, whilst you're pretty sure that serena is giving daphne a tour of her egyptian jewellery up in the dormitory.

soft chatter echoes across the hall as a few dozen people from each house sit eating snacks, or completing assignments due in for the week.

you glance over at harry as oliver wood bends to lower his head and whisper hurriedly to harry. the first match was tomorrow, saturday- and it seemed wood was determined to win it with his new seeker.

your father still hadn't gotten back to you with what madame hooch had said about you joining the quidditch team for slytherin but you aren't too disappointed about it.

not being from this world originally, you felt the need to watch a game of it before signing up.

just in case.

harry looks mortified as oliver strides off to have a word with the weasley twins. george attempts to hide behind his third year defence against the dark arts textbook, seeming to forget that his long body was left in plain sight.

if i can't see him, he can't see me.

fred lowers the book, grabs it and whacks him with it. you laugh causing pansy to look up at you.

"what? what is it?" she grins. pansy follows your eyes and turns around to see oliver holding george by the ear.

you watch her as she turns her face back to you with her nose up in the air.

"they look stupid."

you nod. she's not exactly wrong.

"i think they're funny." you say quietly.

"sometimes i guess-" she starts, but shakes her head, deciding not to finish the sentence. "anyways i can't wait to watch gryffindor house lose tomorrow."

"you'll watch?" you ask and her eyes widen.

"i wouldn't miss a slytherin match for the world." she claims, flinging her dove feather quill around. "besides, seeing that potter cry is going to be a blast."

"pansy." you chuckle, shaking your head.

they're not going to lose.

they're going to win and it's going to destroy the slytherins to watch.

"y/n." you look up and find that your dad is standing to the distance a little.

"dad," you smile. pansy straightens her back, playing up for the head of the house. "hey."

"i need a word, dear. come along." he waves his wand and your things collect themselves, tucking, magically, your books and quill away in your bag.

you stand up, let your bag float on to your shoulder and follow your dad away from table draped in green.

"bye, y/n!" pansy calls and you give her a wave.

"what's up, dadd-i-o?" you ask, speed walking to keep up with him as he takes large strides beside you.

he ushers you into a small empty classroom and beckons you closer to him so he can speak hushly.

"i need to know, if anything is going to happen at the match tomorrow."

you smile. "yeah."

"go on.. 'yeah' what?" severus presses.

you think think to yourself, twirling around on your heel slightly, feeling severus' cold fingers wrap tightly around your wrist in frustration.

your father rolls his eyes.

"y/n. i can, quite literally, read your mind, i'd much rather give you the opportunity for you to just tell me yourself."

"don't read my mind!" you snap. "absolutely not, that would be a breach of our trust-"

"and they say i'm dramatic-"

"dad!" you say, equally frustrated. "if i tell you it might not happen the way it's supposed to."

"just- the general gist, maybe?" he suggests.

you bite your lip before giving him some crucial information.

"harry will be in danger, towards the end of the match. pay special attention to his broom- and only take action until after you notice that something's wrong."

he looks down at you with dark eyes that look pink in the whites.

like he's in pain.

"i- um.." he clears his throat and adjusts the way he's standing. "you're not involved, then? no chance of you being hurt?"

"n-no?" you answer, trying to figure out what is wrong with him.

you look down at the floor and your eyes dart to the bandages wrapped tightly around his calf.

fluffy.

"oh tried getting passed that dog, did you?" you frown, looking at the bleeding white.

"you are amazing." he laughs. "the books mentioned that?"

"they did." you nod up at him.

"knowledge of the unforeseeable." he says, smirking. "that's my daughter."