𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 • (𝐝.𝐦.)

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫

♔

"So, our dads are work friends?" I asked, and Blaise shrugged, leaning up against the wall as we talked.

"Technically they've known each other way before working together. Your father chose to live in America after a problem with the Ministry, but now he's back. My father got him this job and he relocated you two," He said.

"That makes sense. It seemed a little random that we were just moving here for the hell of it," I said, understanding now why we were really here.

I didn't put up much of a fight while moving here because I didn't have too many friends at Ilvermorny. The people were nice, don't get me wrong, but I always felt like I didn't fit in there.

"Well, I wanted to introduce myself to you. Now you have a friendly face around here," Blaise smiled, and I found myself smiling too... again. It was refreshing for someone to be so kind after I was sitting with a bunch of assholes.

I guess I was one of them now too, though, so maybe I shouldn't diss them so much.

Blaise and I chatted for a little longer, mainly getting to know each other, but also talking about Hogwarts. He filled me in on some of the rules here and how to find my common room.

"Woah, it's under a lake? That's so cool," I trailed off, now really finding Slytherin to be appealing to me. Maybe I had too little information to go off of, but so far it didn't seem so bad.

"Now, the number one person I recommend you be careful around is Malfoy," Blaise said.

"He's a dick, I totally get it," I nodded, already having seen how much of a tool that boy was.

"Well, yes, he's a bit of an arse, but when I say be careful, it's because he's really dangerous. His family is pureblooded and rumored to be Death Eaters," Blaise told me, and I really honed in on what he was saying.

"Death Eaters?" I asked, and he nodded. "They're the henchmen of You-Know-Who," He said.

"I know who? No, I don't," I rebutted, and he rolled his eyes, fighting a chuckle that wanted to escape. "No, his name is... his name is Lord Voldemort, but we don't say it around here," Blaise said, whispering the name.

"Oh shit, he sounds scary," I said with a sigh. There were no evil Lords in America, for the most part anyway. The only person I could maybe compare him to was Grindelwald, but I didn't know much about him either.

I just knew these two were both dark wizards and the worst of their kind.

"What are you thinking about?" Blaise asked, noticing I had zoned out. "Nothing, nothing, just trying to gauge how bad this guy really is. Have you ever heard of Grindelwald?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Gellert Grindelwald. I studied him in a Dark Wizard History elective last year," He said. 

"Okay, so like, better... worse..."

"Worse. Grindelwald has to be right under him though," He answered, and I absorbed this information. "So the Malfoy family- they follow You-Know-Who?" I asked, trying to clear up what I was being told. 

"Yeah. But you didn't hear that from me," Blaise confirmed, and I nodded. 

"Well, this school is pretty nice, all things considered," I said, changing the subject. "I've already made a couple of friends," I said. 

"Oh, yeah? Look at you, little-miss-social-butterfly. Who?" Blaise asked, and I chuckled at his remark. 

"Ron, Hermione, Harry, Fred, and George. They're in Gryffindor and I met them on the train-"

"Yeah, I knew them," He said, stopping me. "Listen, I'm not biased, they seem like really good people, but a majority of Slytherin are against non-purebloods. Hermione's a muggle-born and Harry's mother was as well. Be careful, I don't want anyone giving you a hard time about it," Blaise admitted. 

"Okay. Thanks for your concern, but the Slytherins won't be deciding who I'm friends with," I said, and he nodded. "Good, that's how it should be. Anyway, I just wanted to help you out and give you the rundown on Hogwarts, so now that you're all caught up we can go back inside, okay?"

"Sounds good," I said, and I followed him back into the Great Hall and to our table. 

When we sat back down, of course, Draco's immature ass decided to butt in.

"And they're finally back. How was the snog, mate? Nice and easy like her, I'll bet," He joked maliciously, and I had heard enough way before Blaise could have a chance to defend me. 

"God, you must have a tiny dick," I sneered, standing up and walking away from the Slytherin table once and for all. I did get some satisfaction from hearing some shocked laughs and reactions as I walked away from what I assumed was a fuming Draco.

Despite everyone staring, I made my way over to the Gryffindor table and sat down in the empty seat next to Hermione. 

"I can't stand them," I said with a sigh. 

"How'd you get Slytherin? A bloody surprise to me, it was," Ron said and I simply shrugged, not having an explanation to give him that would suffice. 

I didn't want to mention what the hat said about Harry either, it would simply have to come up another time where I didn't run the risk of exposing something he didn't want out there. 

I did shift my glance to him though, and he seemed to know why. 

His eyes met mine almost immediately, looking away almost exactly as fast. 

I'd deal with that later. 

We all talked, Fred and George eventually realizing I was sitting with them now, and I decided I was much happier here than over at the Slytherin table.

Fuck that stupid hat for putting me with a bunch of preeners. All except for Blaise, that is. 

Hopefully, I wouldn't have to run into Malfoy too much while being here, but I didn't think I would have much luck with that. 

♔

i'm trying to find a way to promote this book a little bit more, but i guess we shall just see how it goes on it's own for the time being.