Chapter Text
28 October 1994.
In the Slytherin common room, (T/p) seated with Astoria, Daphne and Tracey, was looking at the parchment in his hands. It was his last History of Magic assignment just returned, and this grade was more important than all the others, after all, it was the stakes of a bet, but, well... how to put it ?
“So? How did you do?” Astoria asked, after proudly showing them the ‘Outstanding’ grade she had received.
Unsurprisingly, Daphne had earned the same grade on her own assignment.
“Well, I think I’m the big loser here, if I keep getting nothing but ‘Acceptables’ in History of Magic, my parents are going to kill me or worse,” Tracey replied dejectedly. She turned to (Y/N). “What about you, (Y/N)?”
“Er…” he replied.
Seeing that he wasn’t very keen on revealing his grade, Tracey snatched the parchment from his hands. Upon seeing the grade, her expression shifted from joy to bewilderment. “A T? How is that possible?”
“I might have fallen asleep,” (Y/N) replied, scratching the back of his head.
“But you knew it was being graded, right?” Astoria asked.
(Y/N) shrugged.
“Force of habit; I always end up falling asleep in History of Magic.”
Astoria and Tracey couldn't help but chuckle, while Daphne sighed and had to stop herself from grabbing her own homework and whacking him over the head with it.
“So much for giving you my notes.”
“Sorry, Daphne.”
As (Y/N) started to leave, Daphne held him back by the arm.
“Not so fast. Aren't you forgetting something?”
“The loser's forfeit,” added Astoria.
The three of them looked at him with a wicked smile.
“Help,” (Y/N) managed to say in a small voice.
October 29, 1994
In the Great Hall, Astoria, Daphne, Tracey, and (Y/N) were finishing breakfast when the owls arrived with the mail.
Daphne had picked up a letter and had been reading and re-reading it for several minutes.
"Is everything alright, Daphne? It seems like the more you read that parchment, the more you frown," asked (Y/N), who had been watching her for over a minute.
Daphne put the letter away.
"Nothing serious, but our parents," Daphne began, looking at Astoria, "make a point of keeping us informed about family affairs. As the family heir, they often ask how I would have reacted and what actions I would have taken."
"Oh!" (Y/N) exclaimed. "That makes sense. My mother often does the same thing, though purely theoretically since we didn't have anything to manage... well, until now."
After a brief pause, during which (Y/N) looked at each of the three girls in turn, he continued.
"That reminds me, I never actually got the chance to ask what your parents do."
After exchanging quick glances with Tracey and Astoria, Daphne began.
"Like many Lords, our father holds a position at the Ministry in addition to managing several businesses and investments in both the wizarding and Muggle worlds. Our mother advises him, but she also owns a bookshop, though it’s more of a hobby than a real job."
"It’s more or less the same for my father, he has a position at the Ministry and deals mainly with import-export. But before that, he was a magizoologist alongside my mother…until he was injured during the war. It wasn't anything too serious, but it forced him to retire, whereas my mother continues and travels a lot."
"And..." Astoria began hesitantly. “You already told us your mother is the Defense professor at Ilvermorny, but… your father… did he do anything before he was arrested?”
(Y/N) replied with a smile, “I know he wanted to become an Auror, but as you can imagine, things didn’t go quite the way he’d hoped.”
Sensing the atmosphere becoming… awkward, (Y/N) changed the subject.
“So your parents are magizoologists, you must have plenty of stories?”
“Yes! There was this one time when…”
30 October 1994
The castle was buzzing with excitement. The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were arriving late that afternoon for the Triwizard Tournament. The Hogwarts staff was stressed about making a good impression, and the vast majority of students also wanted to show the other schools a good image of Hogwarts.
As he made his way to the Great Hall for breakfast, (Y/N) overheard other students commenting on how clean the castle was. They had never seen it so spotless, from the floors to the ceilings, the portraits and the suits of armor had all been impeccably polished.
When he reached the doors of the Great Hall, he ran into Astoria, Tracey, and Daphne who were just leaving. They had warned him the night before that they would be getting up earlier because Astoria and Tracey still had assignments to finish, and Daphne had decided to help them.
(Y/N) had offered to help as well, but they had refused. Daphne told him he looked tired and that a bit more rest would do him good, something Tracey and Astoria agreed with. And they weren’t wrong; these first two months at Hogwarts had been more exhausting than he had anticipated.
“I can eat quickly and come help you if you want?” (Y/N) offered again.
“No, it’s fine. Take your time,” Astoria replied. “We’re almost done anyway.”
“But we wouldn’t mind if you took a look at our essays if you have time before classes start,” added Tracey.
“Of course, no problem. See you later then.”
The girls said goodbye before disappearing around a bend in the corridor.
Upon entering the Great Hall, the first thing he noticed was that it had been decorated for the occasion. Large silk banners hung on the walls, one for each Hogwarts house: Gryffindor with a golden lion on a red background, Ravenclaw with a bronze eagle on blue, Hufflepuff with a black badger on yellow, and the best for last, Slytherin with its silver serpent on a green background.
Behind the staff table stood an even larger banner bearing the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and serpent surrounding a large letter P.
“Isn’t this a bit much?” (Y/N) wondered as he looked at the banners.
Another thing he noticed was how empty the Great Hall was. Only Professor Sprout was present at the staff table, and the house tables were almost completely deserted.
Unfortunately, he soon spotted the familiar platinum blond hair of Draco, and he really wasn’t in the mood to deal with him this early in the morning…or at all, really, but especially not in the morning.
Luckily, he had an idea when he recognized someone at another table. He quickly headed in that direction.
“Good morning, Sue. Can I sit here?”
Susan looked up from the newspaper she was reading.
“Oh! Good morning, (Y/N).” Her cheeks turned slightly pink. “Of course, sit down.”
“Are you all alone?”
“Yes, at this hour Hannah is probably still sleeping…” Susan hesitated before continuing. “…I saw that the Greengrass sisters and Davis were here earlier without you. I hope you’re not on bad terms?”
“If we are, I’m not aware of it. They just had some assignments to finish, and according to them I needed some rest. It’s nice of you to worry though.”
Susan glanced toward the Slytherin table before asking.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?”
(Y/N) turned around. Nott and Malfoy were staring at him strangely. He gave them a little wave with his best fake smile before turning back to Susan. Then his smile become a real one.
“I’d like to see them try to stop me from eating with a friend.”
As he started eating, he noticed Susan had been staring at him for a while without saying anything. When he was about to ask if something was wrong, she spoke up.
“They’re not wrong, you know.”
“Sorry?”
“The Greengrasses and Davis.” Susan continued, looking at him, though not quite in the eyes, a little lower.
And (Y/N) finally understood. The dark circles under his eyes were quite telling.
“Ah, that! Yeah, I know. Settling into Hogwarts has been more tiring than I thought.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why? It’s not your fault. Meeting you is actually one of the few good things that’s happened to me since I got here.”
Susan blushed furiously and took several seconds to respond.
“Thank you… that’s… that’s mutual,” she replied in a small voice, staring at her plate.
(Y/N) smiled at her, which only made her blush even more. Still, she managed to start a conversation about the arrival of the delegations and the upcoming Tournament.
The two continued talking while eating, until it was time for (Y/N) to leave. After all, he had to meet up with the girls to give his opinion on Astoria and Tracey’s essays.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Due to the arrival of the delegations from the other schools, the remaining classes of the day had been cancelled to give students and staff time to prepare.
As he headed toward the Slytherin common room to drop off his things and change before the other schools arrived, Iris intercepted him. She had something important to tell him.
(Y/N) let her guide him into an empty classroom. After making sure they wouldn’t be disturbed by casting several spells on the door and windows, Iris pulled a piece of parchment from her pocket.
“Are you aware?” she asked.
(Y/N) nodded.
“Nyx brought me this at breakfast.” (Y/N) also took out a parchment from his pocket. “See? There was nothing to worry about.”
“Yes, I was scared something might happen to him because of me… because I told him about my scar.”
“Your scar?”
Not sure if she would appreciate knowing he had been told about her scar hurting by someone else, he decided to play ignorant. Besides, it wasn’t really a lie, he didn’t have any details.
“Yes. A little before the Quidditch World Cup, it started burning. That was what my letter to him was about. I didn’t know who else to turn to, and it seemed like the most obvious choice at the time. But now I’m scared he came back to England because of that, and that he’ll get caught by the Ministry because of me.”
(Y/N) felt a pang of jealousy at the idea that his father might have returned for Iris and not for him, but that feeling was quickly replaced by worry.
“You didn’t mention that the first time we talked about the letter you received.”
“We barely knew each other. I… I didn’t know if I could tell you.”
“It’s not a reproach. I’m just worried.”
He leaned closer to Iris’s face to get a better look at her scar, though he wasn’t sure how he could help or if he even could.
Iris blushed at their sudden closeness, but (Y/N) didn’t notice, too focused on what he was doing.
“And it doesn’t hurt anymore?”
“N-no, everything’s fine.”
“Are you sure?” (Y/N) placed his hand on Iris’s forehead. “You’re burning up.”
“Y-yes, I promise.”
(Y/N) pulled back, and Iris let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.
“Has this happened to you before?”
Iris nodded, unable to find her words.
“Do you remember why?”
(Y/N) could tell she was hesitating to tell him something.
“If you want to keep it to yourself, I won’t force you.”
“No, no… I want to tell you. Have you ever been told what happened during my first year?”
(Y/N) shook his head.
Iris took a moment to think about what information to share and what to keep to herself, and how to phrase it all. Meanwhile, (Y/N) waited patiently, watching her in silence. Finally, Iris spoke again.
“Professor Quirrell, our former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher… had Voldemort on the back of his head…”
(Y/N) frowned.
“Sorry, would you rather I avoid saying his name?” Iris asked.
He was used to hearing the name. Unlike many families, his mother had never had any problem using the name Voldemort.
“No, it’s fine. It’s the idea of Voldemort being on the back of someone’s head that bothers me. Please, continue.”
Iris nodded and went on.
“Every time I faced him… or anything connected to him, my scar would burn. I don’t know why or how, but… the same thing happened when I met Tom Riddle in my second year.”
“Who?”
“Tom Marvolo Riddle… it’s an anagram of ‘I am Lord Voldemort’.”
Iris paused for a few seconds to catch her breath and calm her nerves.
“…He was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets by possessing Ginny through his enchanted diary. Or possessed it… or both, I’m not really sure. I don’t have all the details. All I know is that he left his diary behind and used it to possess Ginny. The longer it went on, the weaker she became and the more real he grew.”
Iris fell silent, giving him time to process the information.
“But how did he manage to open the Chamber?” (Y/N) asked, even though part of him already know the answer.
“He was the Heir of Slytherin. He’s a Parselmouth too,” Iris confirmed.
With Iris’s confirmation, (Y/N) told himself he needed to speak to Salazar about this soon. But one last piece still eluded him.
“But how did Ginny even come across Riddle’s diary?”
“Lucius Malfoy. He slipped the diary into Ginny’s things before the start of the year while we were at Flourish and Blotts.”
“Tch… Malfoy. Not exactly surprising. He was on Voldemort’s side during the war, even if he claims he was under the Imperius Curse. Most of Voldemort’s opponents are convinced he lied to save his own skin.”
“I’ve only seen him a few times, but I can easily imagine him doing something like that.”
A long silence settled between them. (Y/N) said nothing, leaving the choice to Iris whether to continue or stop there. Eventually, she went on.
“And my scar hurt again shortly before the final of the Quidditch World Cup. I had a dream that felt so real… I saw Voldemort and Wormtail…”
“That damned rat,” (Y/N) muttered.
“The very same,” Iris said.
“Sorry, I interrupted you. Go on.”
She couldn’t really blame him, she felt exactly the same way.
“Voldemort and Wormtail… they were talking about their plan… about several murders, and they were talking about me. There was also an old man, but I couldn’t tell who it was. I remember seeing him collapse to the ground, and I woke up with a start when I saw Voldemort. I can’t remember what he looked like, but it still gives me chills.”
(Y/N) felt Iris’s distress and instinctively pulled her into his arms. He said nothing for a moment, a moment that felt like an eternity. He had no idea what to say, no advice, nothing.
Finally, he managed to form a sentence.
“Don’t worry. I promise I won’t let him hurt you.”
He didn’t know yet how he was going to keep that promise, but he knew he would do everything in his power to fulfill it.
Iris returned his embrace.
“Thank you.”
They stayed in each other’s arms for several long minutes.
“We should probably get ready for the delegations’ arrival,” Iris said as she pulled away from (Y/N)’s arms, her cheeks flushed.
“You’re right.”
Even so, the two of them were still holding hands.
“Besides, I should hurry. I don’t want to find out what punishment Snape has in store if I’m late.”
Before leaving, Iris tightened her grip on (Y/N)’s hand to get his attention.
“(Y/N), I’m asking you not to tell anyone about this.”
“Of course. I promise, Iris.”
They let go of each other’s hands, and Iris headed back to the Gryffindor Tower, her mind somewhat lighter.
As for (Y/N), his thoughts were racing in every direction. It took him much longer than expected to make his way back to the Slytherin common room.