home (reader at hogwarts)

sixty three

you sit next to severus and albus takes the arm chair. it fits him much better than you, his tall lean body settling into the seat you left warm for him.

he peers at your father through his half moon spectacles. these ones are different, you notice, little star charms stuck on the sides.

"possibility number one-" albus taps the arm of the chair, starting severus off.

the potions master clears his throat.

"the chance that life here was just always this way and the books were incorrect." your father tells the pair of you. "sounds realistic enough, but i find it hard to believe since everything up till now has been accurate enough."

he turns to you, looking you in the eyes as he speaks. he wants to know you hear him, and that you understand.

"you correctly predicted what would happen in the match and what would happen in that flying lesson you told me about-" he continues. "you knew about everyone before you'd met them and so the books therefore weren't incorrect about any of those details."

"so what's going wrong with the rest of the details? why are the friendship groups different? why are events straying from the general path of what originally happened?" you ask, desperate for answers.

"i'm not entirely sure." says severus. "things here seem, to me, as they should be- but you're saying that they're not."

he rubs his forehead. "i mean, i doubt your books were wrong. the probability of that being the case after all these correct predictions... it just doesn't seem feasible."

no one speaks for a while but you can almost hear cogs turn in your heads.

"you weren't in the books." albus finally says.

you and severus go silent. the cogs have stopped moving.

"you weren't here with us, but now you are." he continues. "and frankly, that's the biggest change so far."

"an extra person," severus adds. "in the story you've watched unfold. your presence here was bound to have ripple on effects."

"what-" you pause, before leaning forward and asking. "what's the winter gala?"

"oh that." severus rolls his eyes. "it's the uh- gala for the snobbier families. it's held every winter, obviously, and is a bore each year and increasingly so."

"that wasnt in the books." you tell him. "there was no such thing."

"are you sure?" albus asks and you nod straight away.

he hums and sits back.

"it's getting a bit-" you try express the way you've felt for a while, explain the knot in your chest. "i feel a bit lost sometimes. how can i help if these changes catch me off guard?"

"they won't." severus states. "you've done well with mishaps so far. do you remember getting caught at gryffindor table?"

you blush.

"you don't have to bring that up."

your voice is so quiet, you're sure only you heard it.

"you overcame that, improvised to make it fit with the plan." severus extends a hand out towards you and you grab it, shuffling closer to rest your head on his shoulder. "you can do this, too. it's minor details, the main thing is-"

he pauses.

"well, we need you to help us win the war."

headmaster dumbledore adjusts his glasses.

"the war yet to begin, " he says. "the war that, hopefully, we can finish with much less bloodshed than we are fated to."

you nod. they both believe it should all be fine eventually- that your knowledge of events to come should be helpful in saving a couple of lives and getting this war done with.

"i suppose, it shouldn't be too hard. besides, it's not like i'm doing this alone." you look at albus and severus, feeling a lot less uneasy about all of this than you had been.

"nothing is lost, my dear." severus tells you. his eyes seem to have bewitched your heart and it believes each word that leaves his lips. "this is light work for a witch as instinctual such as yourself."

"her head!" albus gasps. "look."

your father leans back and inspects you before gasping too.

"is it me, sir, or is her head growing?" he asks, before dodging a wack from you.

"stop it, both of you." you scold, chuckling. "and thank you. no matter which one of the possibilities it is, i know we can still do this."

"hope is a valuable friend in the face of uncertainty." says albus.

you hum, processing his words. hope was all you needed, the faith that all will work out in the end.

"i love you." says severus.

you grin at your father. "i love you too, dad."

"now, off we go y/n. i'll apparate you to your dorm room." says albus, standing up.

his various accessories and trinkets hidden within his endless pockets, jingle as he gets up.

you only notice now, but albus is abnormally tall.

your father itches his neck and says, "isn't that a bit innaprop-"

"nonsense." albus tuts. "i'm just a taxi apparater."

"taxi." you repeat.

it's funny, you didn't think he'd know the word. then again, albus did have a fondness for the muggles. sort of like mr weasley but diluted.

"my arm." albus extend his arm, for you to take his elbow.

you kiss your father quickly on the cheek before slipping off the sofa with him and taking albus' arm instead.

"let's go." you smile. "i'm ready for the swirly thing again."

"its horrible." severus groans.

"3, 2, 1..."

SNAP!

the world collapses and contorts around you. your knees give way as you feel the ground dissapear under your feet only to reappear in the very same second. you palms grip the ground with vigour as you try to ignore the hurricane in your stomach, the food from tonight's dinner threatening to make a surprise feature on your dorm carpet.

albus rubs your back and you reach up for his hand to steady yourself as you get up off the ground.

"it was less fun this time around." you groan, rubbing your stomach. "i swear to merlin, the first time had been a breeze."

"the first time, you were an addict. you always felt like that." he flicks your head. "woozy woozy, you."

you look around at the empty beds around you and then up at the clock. the longer snake hand is on the 9 and the smaller silver hand is nearing the one.

"quater to one in the morning and they're not in bed." you smile. "gemma's gonna have a fit if she finds out you were here to see it."

albus smiles mischievously. "well then, let's make sure she never does."

he bends to kiss you on the top of your head and steps back.

"to bed, y/n."

"yes sir."

and with another loud snap, professor dumbledore is gone.