Chapter Text
You had always been a quiet kid. The kid who got straight As without trying, and never said a word to anyone in class. Your classmates would talk behind your back about anything, including your ‘allegedly’ violent history. No one really believed the stories of you leveling houses and scorching the earth because you were always so soft spoken and quiet. There was that word again, it attached to you, followed you everywhere you went, but who were you to get rid of it when it was so truthful you supposed. Your mother had angrily told you many a time to be more outgoing for connections and such. You always followed her orders in fear of her punishments but this was one you couldn’t follow through on.
There you sat in that moment, at the back of the class waiting for the A on the test that was getting passed back out today. It was a minor test for a unit in transfiguration but you had been having trouble getting the material lately, making you very nervous to see the grade on the test. The professor throws the test on your desk with a sigh, pointing to the grade at the top right of the page. In bright red marker, as if to mock you, sat a C. “ This was disappointing to see L/n, I expected better from you.” The professor says, turning away with a look of disappointment on their face.
You could feel the tears well up in your eyes as you stared at the paper. You had always gotten everything with no trouble, how had you fallen off with this class? You sniff and attempt to push your tears down until you could get out of class. As soon as the bell rang you burst out of the door and full-sprinted down the halls to your dorm to hide your shame. No one had ever seen you panic in any capacity so the gossip for your next class was high. Unfortunately, your next class just so happened to be with Lady Lesso.
She was always fond of you. You were very smart, strong, and quiet, everything most nevers weren't. She appreciated that you held so much power but only chose to cause evers mischief and never your own school. She knew of your power, of the large claws and fangs that jutted out when you were upset and the damage pyrokinesis could cause. She was the only person in the entire school to know for curtain what you were… A hellhound. So as she listened to the gossip and heard your name get tossed around, she felt panic rise in her stomach. She gained the students attention with a smack of her cain on the table, maintaining her intimidating image by glaring at all of the nevers. “Where is L/n?” she questions, only getting pointing fingers and head turns from the teens.
Eventually one boy gets brave and answers “ We saw her running to her dorm after her last class.” That is what gets Lesso’s attention. You never skipped classes. She decided that checking on you was more important to her than class time, telling the nevers in her room that they could leave. They wasted no time getting out the door, in fear of what Lesso would do if they didn’t. She, on the other hand, marched down the halls to your dorm, following the scorch marks and ash you left behind in your stride until she reached a very chard door.
Your door was littered with large claw marks and singed wood, making the crashing and screaming from the inside all the more ominous. She knocked on the door and the crashing stopped, allowing her to hear the hostile growl of ‘Go away’ that came from inside. She ignored you, only giving an equally loud ‘That is not how you talk to me’. She could hear more loud crashing and cursing. Lesso decides that enough is enough and uses her skull key to the school and unlocks your door.
What she sees in the room is like a bucket of ice water was just dumped over her head. You stood in the middle of the room, claws and fangs bared and eyes a piercing red, thrashing and deductively slashing at everything like a tornado of devastation. Lesso has never seen you like this, you were always so mild mannered and soft spoken. She approaches, you seemingly haven't noticed the redhead in your area and only stop when you feel a hand on your shoulder. You turn to her, not really registering who is actually in front of you and pushing their hand off of you with a growl. Lesso sees you aren’t truly aware of what you are doing or who she is, so she speaks in the tone she only takes with you. “ L/n, what has you in such a fit?” she asks.
You turn to look at her once more, slowly registering who is in your space. You whine as you remember you had been so rude to her while she was standing outside the door. You back away with a distraught look on your face, tripping over the rubble of your belongings and curling up into yourself on the ground. Lesso sees that you have not really been in full control of yourself, a rare occurrence you have told her. “ I am so sorry Lady Lesso, I-I don’t really know what came over me. I just remember getting a C and having to get back here as soon as possible…. I lost control! I didn’t do anything to anyone did I!?” Your words flew out of your mouth in a panic. Lesso approached slowly, sitting next to you and pulling you up to look at her by cupping your face with both hands.
“You're fine Y/n, you didn’t hurt anyone. However, I need you to tell me what sent you into this so you don’t have the chance to do so in the future.” She found your concern very strange but sweet nonetheless. Very ever-like, but she could let it slide just for you. You explain everything to her, on the verge of tears as you look down at the carnage of your rage. Everything was in shambles, and that could have been a person if you didn’t lock yourself in this room. You let yourself fall into the older woman, burning your face in her neck. She is hesitant to console you at first, this being a very foreign action to her, but eventually she wrapped her arms around you and pulled your body to hers. “Shhh shhh, little demon, you did well and managed to contain yourself.”
Your concern shifts to a different problem with a small gasp and a realization. Your mother is going to kill you for that C. She was always so happy to brag about how intelligent you were, but behind closed doors, the story of your bad grades involved a belt and some very harsh words that made for some hellish nights. You pull away from Lesso in a panic, alerting the older woman that something is still wrong. “ My mother- my mother is going to end me when she sees that C!” You had told Lesso stories of your mother before, about the things she had said and done to you, but this panic made the woman very concerned. What would your mother do?
“ I will not let her lay a hand on you, little hound. I can tutor you in transfiguration so this never happens again, but you and I are also going to have to work on that temper of yours.” She states, the last bit was very playful and kind but the first bit contained an air of determination that you had never seen.
“Thank you Lady Lesso, but you need not trouble yourself. I have dealt with my mother myself all my life, what is another C?” you say solemnly, looking down at the ruin below you. You don’t want to be a burden. You feel Lesso grab your chin with her fingers and lift your gaze back to her eyes. “ And you will never have to deal with her alone again, little hound, I
want
to protect you.” She said this with conviction so she could cast out any doubt in your mind that she was doing this for any other reason other than because she cares about you. And you believed her.