A/N I know, it's been FOREVER, I've been drowning in uni work. This one's longish and I thinkkkk I'll have the next part up by tonight or maybe tomorrow night to make up for it (ish). Thanks for the support guys!
There's a war coming. There's a war coming. There's a war coming.
The words echoed in her mind, the memory of Lucius' threats and her reaction playing in a taunting loop.
----------flashback------------------------------------------------------
Y/N hadn't minded Potions with the Slytherins, not really. Severus was nice enough, same with the Parkinson boy. Ambitious to a fault, but nice if you stayed out of their way.
In fact, she'd even been in a fantastic mood in the morning. It was a warm spring day, the last remnants of autumn disappearing with a satisfying crunch under everyone's feet. She was sprinting to Potions after catching Sirius copying her assignment, his copied homework in one hand, him hot on her trail as she threw her head back, laughing with youthful glee. Three years ago, she didn't think she'd ever feel exhilaration at running.
She remembered thinking later, no matter what happened, she'd never forget the feeling:
The feeling as Sirius' hands wrapped around her waist after she let him catch up with her, faux irritation lining his forehead, betrayed only by the twitches at the corner of his lips. Y/N was out of breath from laughing, loose baby hairs entangled on her glossed lips as she struggled to get coherent words out between fits of laughter, and Sirius pretended to struggle to reach his assignment, despite Y/N being significantly shorter than him.
"First you can't do your own assignment, and now you can't catch little ole me? Pathetic!", she chuckled out lightheartedly after handing Sirius back "his" assignment.
She remembered how weird it was that quick-witted Sirius had nothing to say back; he simply smiled softly, a twinkle in the gaze that lingered just a couple seconds longer than usual.
"Alright class, settle down, settle down. Pick your partners wisely today, students! We will be making Confusing Concoction today; not an easy potion to make, if I do say so myself! I've warned you, I will not be pleased if these potions turn out poorly", Slughorn strained out over the chatter of over-excited third years.
Y/N flashed Sirius a wicked grin and a wink before leaping out of his grip and making her way over to Lily's desk. Not that Y/N really needed help making the potion, she could do it with her eyes closed at this point, but she didn't miss the disappointment flash across Lily's eyes as Severus chose once again to work with the Yaxley boy; one of the Slytherins Y/N couldn't stand.
Thinking back, if Y/N had just minded her own business, maybe her day would have stayed fantastic. They were almost done, Lily and Y/N working like a well-oiled machine, gossip about the latest crushes and professor changes in between bits of Leech Juice and Jabberknoll feathers.
"I heard, The Dark Lord comes from the Slytherin family themselves, and he's going to make Wizards stronger than ever", Y/N heard Alfred Nott whisper from behind her.
Instantly, she whirled around, interest peaked.
"The WHAT Lord?", she asked incredulously, causing James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus to look up curiously. Lily continued carefully counting the clockwise turns of their potion, oddly interested solely in the potion.
Nott paled, instantly shushing her as he leaned forward ominously.
"The Dark Lord? You must have heard of him. My parents say he's going to save the wizarding world."
Y/N snorted, finally recognizing the sentiment of "Saving The Wizarding World" from one of her father's endless, heated phone calls.
"You can't possibly mean that man that's been going around talking about blood purity, can you? It's a load of bull!" Y/N cried. She felt Lily relax slightly next to her and looked over, offering a reassuring smile. "We're not all like that", it seemed to say.
Nott looked indignant, as if she'd offended him personally, and his partner, Lucius, suddenly looked up sharply.
"You know", sneered Malfoy, "Father knows the Dark Lord personally and he told us unworthy people would say things like that; people who don't understand the power wizard-kind deserves"
At this point, Sirius guffawed from behind them.
"Right, and you're going to tell us about power. Can you fly your broom in a straight line yet, Malfoy? Or are you still using training charms?", Sirius shot back, the same air of carelessness that Y/N remembered from her bullied days, the aura that Sirius was too good to even be bothered with your presence, but he'd make it worth his while to insult you if he had to be in it.
Y/N and Lily snickered, while the Gryffindor boys hooted with laughter. Even Nott struggled to hide a smile, while Lucius' startlingly pale face had turned an angry shade of red.
"Laugh it up, princess", he sneered, "I've heard he hates blood traitors even more than mudbloods", he spat out. "There's a war coming, and you're on the wrong side".
His sentence hung dangerously in the air, the previous mirth in the room dissolving in the hateful words, and Y/N felt Lily go rigid next to her. A smug grin rested on Lucius' face, and Y/N felt rage boil in her veins, all the way to the tips of her clenched fists as she rested the urge to quite literally wipe the smile off his face.
No, that was too easy. She knew James and Sirius weren't ones to let that comment pass, knew all of Slytherin house would pay with dyed hair, or exploding robes, or disappearing ink.
But Y/N was different. She always thought she got it from her father, this darkness in her, this perpetual anger that gnawed at her at the slightest inconvenience, at the slightest twitch of her enemies. It was concerning at best, homicidal at worst. She'd look at her enemies and think of ways to destroy them in ways bandages and antidotes couldn't fix. She wanted to watch the most steely of opponents break down in tears, wanted to watch them despair at the broken pieces of their soul, their dignity, their pride.
And so she waited. Waited for Lucius, with his false sense of security and air of arrogance, to turn to the rest of the Slytherins, talking loudly of the purity of his blood-line, while Y/N slipped past his desk discreetly, little fingers gliding against his robe where he kept his wand, pocketing it before he had even noticed her presence. She couldn't risk charming it to her; wands are highly loyal, performing simple spells with his wand shouldn't pose a problem, but summoning someone else's wand against their will is not easy magic.
And then Y/N waited some more, waited outside the classroom door as the whole class emptied, and Lucius milled around Slughorn, eager to boast about his flawless potion.
Y/N's heart beat rapidly, her fingers felt strange around Malfoy's unfamiliar wand and it shook in her hand, as she ever so gently, coaxed a Mandrake Leaf into Malfoy's finished potion, holding her breath between each of their movements.
And then she watched with glee as the green potion turned an angry, boiling purple, erupting and pelting Professor Slughorn with scorching goo.
Pulling her own wand, she whispered a cautious "Depulso" at Malfoy's wand, watching with triumph as it landed next to the damaged cauldron.
"Excuse me, Professor, I just-" She stopped mid-sentence, walking into the classroom with faux innocent, wide eyes, and a look of pure shock. "What happened here?", she cried, sickly sweet concern lacing her words.
"That's what I'd like to know", boomed out Slughorn, wincing as he waved his wand to clear his skin of the gunk. "I thought you said your potion worked, Mr. Malfoy!" His arms shook, and Y/N wasn't sure if it was from anger or pain, and his eyes screamed murder.
"I-I-t did, it really really did, I assure you sure I-" Malfoy stuttered out in a panic, before he was cut off by Slughorn with an assertive wave of his hand.
"Enough. Malfoy, I am giving you a grade of Poor on this assignment, and you are to spend the weekends of the next month in here organizing my ingredients since apparently, you cannot tell the difference between them. And since you're in MY house, representing MY integrity, I'm taking 30 points from Slytherin and will make sure the house knows where they went and why. As for you, Y/N: I'm sorry I can't help with whatever you came in here to ask but please take Malfoy to the Headmaster's office so that he may have a word with this young man about being careful around one's professor. Thank you", he huffed out the last part, before stalking out of the classroom in a flurry of robes, muttering under his breath about the carelessness of this generation's students.
Y/N walked cautiously to the door, making sure he had disappeared completely before turning to Lucius Malfoy with a sly smirk on her face. He looked devastated, confused, and utterly rejected.
"Well that worked a lot quicker than I imagined, I thought I was going to have to frame you for levitating a Mandrake Leaf into the potion. I even set it up and everything!", Y/N claimed, playful exasperation coloring her tone.
Slowly, Lucius turned towards her, disbelief clear on his features.
"Y-Y-You did this! Wait until Slughorn hears about this, I'll have you expelled, my father, he'll have you put in Azkaban , this is assault, L/N!"
Y/N chuckled darkly, enjoying the scene in front of her. She really would have made a succesful Slytherin.
"Oh, Malfoy. It's my word against yours", Y/N drawled, making her way over to Malfoy's cauldron, and watching as horror dawned on him when she picked up his wand.
"Prior Incantanto", she whispered to it, and Malfoy watched incredulously as his wand spit up an image of a Mandrake Leaf being levitated into his cauldron.
"Or should I say, your wand's word against yours", Y/N whispered in the following silence.
Malfoy paled, and Y/N realized she reveled in the flicker of fear, and admiration in his eyes.
She leaned in close to him, her hair fanning the edges of his pointed nose, his beady irises visible against his pale blue eyes.
"If there's a war coming, Malfoy, against me is the worst side to be on. Remember that."