• A/N •
I've decided not to have any of the things in Order of the Phoenix happen in this book because, as interesting as it is, it was hard for me to try to implement some of the things into the fanfic.
•|•
My life was fairly normal, as it seemed to others. But for me, it was a living hell.
I was raised to never waste or enjoy my time on small things, and that led me to the direction of only focusing on work. Even with the Triwizard Tournament that happened last year, father banished me from going since I flunked a test.
Ugh. My father. I don't blame other people for thinking of him as a bad person. I look at him in that way too, and I'm probably the only Slytherin who thinks so. And I'm probably the only Slytherin he's really 'proud' of, aside from Malfoy, who practically bows down to my father, Snape.
I've always wondered how it would be like to live with normal parents. Parents who let me do whatever I wanted, and didn't really care for my grades. And ones who didn't-
"Y/n, are you too caught up in that worthless mess of thoughts in your head again?" I snapped out of my thoughts as father, who stood straight with a draped, black robe at the front of the empty classroom, spoke. I quickly shook my head, lying. A slight smirk spread onto his face.
"Good. Then you can tell me the ingredients in a Befuddlement Draught." He added in after my short reply.
Nervousness stroke from the pits of my stomach as he said so. I had no idea what was in a Befuddlement Draught, since I skipped my studying yesterday to see Hagrid, since we set up a small agreement where I could help out with Fang as he works, since he never gets to walk him around.
I swallowed nervously and pulled the first two ingredients from my mind.
"Erm, bezoar and... Syrup of hellbore?" I guessed timidly as I slightly cowered in my seat. Father shook his head lightly, letting out a depressed sigh and a tsk. I flinched as he did so.
"I won't be surprised if you fail your N.E.W.T's..." he murmured, taking a step to the left to get in front of me. "... And this is the fifth potion you've gotten wrong."
I nervously fiddled with my fingers, picking at my nails as he took a step closer. I leaned in my seat.
"Tell me why, Y/n."
"I-I don't- I don't know." My eyes fell on to the floor to avoid eye contact with my father, who quickly strode over and stopped, lowering his arms along with his upper half to get his eyes to my level.
"You. Don't. Know?" He snarled, spit spraying from his clenched teeth. I wanted to close my eyes as he did so, but I knew that I'd be berated on that, too.
"You think that's a valid answer? Is that the first thing you picked out from the top of that bloated head of yours?"
Knowing that something was about to go off if I answered with a 'yes' or 'no', I shrugged, which ended up being a bigger mistake than answering differently.
His cold hand slapped me across the face, making me let out a gasp as my hand instinctively went to my face, covering where I was attacked. Father stood back up straight again, and with a smooth swish, was up at his desk again, leaving me to sit in pain on the chair I was lectured in.
"Keep that in mind next time you don't want to answer correctly to me." He said as he stood like a shadow, looking at me. "And you've ought to clear yourself up before this numbed class files in to teeter around."
I took his word and got up, quickly moving the chair I was sat on over to the desk it was taken from. Just then, the class that was assigned to be taught at this time, rushed in right on time. I quickly sat down at the nearest table and took my things out of the bag I had propped on the floor below my desk.
Father's eyes glared at me one last time before looking over the class, who was sitting still and nervously, the only thing left on their desks were their closed books, ink and quills. I was the only one with my book open to a random page.
"Well? Are you all too dull to realise that you'll need books for your lessons?" His stern voice bellowed. Everyone rushed to get their books as he started to speak again.
"Take notes off of Y/n as you do so. She brought her book out before the lessons even started."
Annoyed-spirited looks came from everyone around the room as they glared at me. I just cowered over my book as the stinging pain in my cheek kept coming in waves.
"Now that-"
"Sorry!"
Two voices from the door that was bursted open shouted. I looked back to see the two twins ('the Wallowed Weasley's', father called them), run in and sit at the two empty seats to my right. Father looked enraged as he stared at them, looking as if lasers were to come out of his eyes at any moment.
"Weasley's. Do you ever listen to what I say, or are those ears of yours too big to function?" He hissed coldly. It made a chill run down my spine, but the twins looked as if they were trying to hide fits of laughter.
"You're voice is just too boring, sir." One of them replied.
"Yeah, maybe add a bit of a pitch to it?" The one beside him added. He then proceeded to test out different pitches, doing it until he found one he thought 'suited' my father.
Father was not impressed, however. His jaw was clenched, and his arms were folded tightly, his black, souless eyes keeping their mark on him.
"Aw, what, are you miffed from one joke? Come on, professor. Learn to laugh! Curve that flubbered lip of yours into a smirk!" The other one laughed.
"He's got a point, sir!" His brother said.
That remark made me snicker lightly along with the two, and that immediately caught my father's attention.
"You... Three... Detention." He snarled. This made me shut up, but the twins, who were fearless in my opinion, kept laughing, and only stopped when father put a spell to flap their books heavily onto the chapter we were on, which made them flinch.
Detention. I wanted to sigh, but that'd probably look snarky to my father.
I've gotten quite a few detentions in my years here for stupid things, like not answering in a limited amount of time, or even for a small fault in my writing. And of course, it was all given to me by my father.
Father lightly turned his head to face me, looking me up in down as if I had just trailed mud into the room, and started, "Y/n, what is in a Draught of Living Death?" He asked. My figure, which was tense of the question, relaxed, since I read a lot about this draught.
"Water, powdered root of Asphodel, with an infusion of wormwood, valerian root... one Sopophorous bean and sloth brain..." I replied, trailing off at the end of my sentence. I feared that I had somehow messed up the order or ingredients of the draught. It made me cower in my chair a bit.
"Good. Ten points to Slytherin." Father said coolly. I let out a relieved sigh as I grabbed my quill, my father carrying on with the lesson and scratching information onto the blackboard.
=}{=
The class ended, and that meant that I had transfiguration next. I didn't really like transfiguration, but at least it wasn't potions.
A mess of squeaking footsteps came from out of the potions classroom, clearly the last ones after being berated by my father. I sorted through the books in my bag so I could cleanly bring out my book for next class without a mess, before a force knocked into my shoulder, nearly knocking me down.
I looked over to see the two Weasley twins prancing around playfully and laughing.
"Your father thinks he's 'all that', doesn't he? Jeez, I feel sorry for you!" One of them laughed as they turned a corner. I let my shoulders hang loose as I silently agreed with them. Everyone should be sorry for me, living with that ghoul and putting up with it my whole life.
But this year was my last year before I went off to study... more potions. Father forced me to follow a career in potions so that I could take over for him once I finished. I rolled my eyes at that thought and occupied my mind with transfiguration as I walked through the door into the class, along with a few more people.
Two hours and a successfully brought back white mouse from a cauldron later, and it was time to leave. I was packing everything up when professor McGonagall strolled over to where I was seated, her jade robes billowing along. At once I looked over at her, standing up and grabbing my bag.
"Snape, I need to talk to you." She sounded serious, but not in a bad way; almost in a worried way. I kept my blank face as I nodded, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear. Professor McGonagall winced as she stared at my cheek, and I was confused for a moment before I remembered the slap, and quickly let my hair fall back over it again.
We both went to her desk once the room was empty, as she urged me to take a seat, which I did, now level with her was she sat down as well. A look of worry then came onto her face.
"I'm sorry if this may come off intrusive, but, I've just happened to stroll quite a few times down past the classroom your father teaches in..." I knew where this was going, and it made my stomach sink.
"Oh, professor, it's really not-"
"Is everything- is everything all right?" She leaned in a bit as if she'd just heard someone tell her that someone she loved dearly died. I struggled to put a smile on, trying to show as if nothing was going on.
"Yes. I'm sorry if it interrupted your day, professor." I replied clearly. A second of silence ensued, but with a nod from McGonagall, I was sent out of the classroom, a new worry shielding into my head. Now I had a concerned professor on my tail, and father would be enraged to hear this.
Before I could turned the corner back to the Slytherin common room, I stopped as I heard hushed voices come from the corner. I furrowed my brows as I listened closely, trying to make out what they were saying.
"No! But did you see her cheek? That bloody maniac slapped her!" One of them said. The other one scoffed.
"People get slapped all the time! Besides, it was probably her trying to slap herself from shock after realizing that she's related to that bloke." He said. I stifled a quiet laugh as I listened. I could only guess that the Weasley twins were saying this, since no one else was this funny in my year.
"Hey Fred, George, you've got a spectator!" A voice from behind me shouted. I jumped, nearly out of my skin as I wished around, to see Lee Jordan, the boy who usually hung out with the twins. My eyes shot open as if someone had just shot a spell in front of me, nearly missing me.
"What?" One of the twins sounded confused as I took a step back to conceal myself behind the corner more, taking my nervous eyes off of Lee, who was looking me up and down with a smirk.
"It's Snape!" He called back. The two were silent.
"Professor, or...?" One of them asked. Lee squinted, shaking his head.
"Student, you dunderhead! Why would I yell if it was the professor?" He huffed. He then looked back at me. "So what, you're just gonna listen in on what we're saying?"
My eyes, which widened a lot more, stayed frozen as I shook my head, unable to speak from shock. All I could do is clutch my bag tightly and try to keep my legs from shaking in confrontation. Lee leaned his head forward as if looking for an answer.
"So?" He sounded impatient. My mouth fell open, but nothing came out. This made him rolled his eyes and stifle a laugh.
"Silence. Complete silence." He dragged out. The twins laughed.
"Well then, Snape, show yourself! Unless Jordan's hallucinating." One of the twins said. I took another step back as my heart felt like it was about to pop out of my throat, fuzzing my vision lightly.
Suddenly, Lee grabbed my shirt sleeve and pulled me out, making me let out a shocked yelp. Jordan let go of me, crossed his arms, and looked at me as if I were a prized possession. The twins raised the corners of their lips, glancing me up and down.
"Do you even speak?!" The one on the right said. I furrowed my brows slightly, trying to find my tongue to answer.
"Of-"
The door that was right beside the twins swung open, and out of all doors out of Hogwarts, it just had to be the one of the potions classroom. I silently thanked my father for he had broken up the conversation, startling the three of the boys.
"What's all this blabbering about? Don't you all have brains telling you that I'm teaching in here or not?" He scowled. Just as he looked over the four of us, he spotted me, and his face seemed to soften a bit.
"Y/n? You're caught up in all of this?"
I wasted no chance on speaking and putting the blame on the three.
"Father, they were tattering with me! Making fun of me for not speaking and gawking at me like I'm a show hound!" I put on a fake whine. Father's head snapped to the twins, who were closer to him. Lee took this as a perfect minute to run off, avoiding the confrontation. I didn't stop him, since father was already progressing towards the two brothers. The twins froze up, their already pale faces going somehow even paler. I crossed my arms, and a sly smirk, which I didn't notice, trickled onto my face.
Father towered over them, an obvious smack of rage twitching on his face.
"If you two EVER gawk, remark on, touch, tease or stride ONTO my daughter, just know - just know - that I'll do my time in Azkaban just fine knowing that you two are rid off of the scum of this earth." He prodded a finger at both of them, moving it around back and forth at them. I watched, feeling satisfied with father's beration. The twins were frozen, their heads stuck up at father.
"Do you two understand?" He snarled, obviously spitting spit everywhere as if he were a venomous snake looking at it's prey. The two frantically nodded, but that didn't satisfy him.
"Did your words stick your teeth together making you unable to speak? If not, speak!" He said a bit too loudly, his words echoing off the sides of the stoned hall. The one on the right spoke first.
"I- I understand, sir- professor, I mean." He stumbled, making a few errors before making himself heard. Then father looked over at the one on the right, his dark eyes staring at him, as if he were a Dementor about to suck the life out of him.
"Yes, professor. We understand."
And with that, father pivoted on his heel, going back to the door of his classroom, but stopping as he placed his hand on the handle, looking at me.
"I grant you permission to cast something on them next time they ease up on you." He said. I nodded understandingly as he went into his classroom, which was filled with chatter, and when the door shut, we could hear his shouts over the class in his attempt to shut them up.
I sighed, fixing my hair although it was already well kept. I looked over at the boys with the smirk still residing in my face.
"Well then. See you at detention." I brushed past them right towards the common room, where I spent the rest of my time studying, unable to stop myself from smiling about the whole ordeal.