B/f/n - best friends name
H/h - hogwarts house
N/n - nickname
You sat in the middle of the h/h table, chatting with your friends and eating your breakfast., you felt content, this was really your favourite place in the Wizarding World, this is where you felt like home.
You never liked going back home on the holidays or just in general. You are expected to be the perfect daughter, perfect grades, perfect behaviour. It was incredibly stressful for you, and you didn't know how to deal with it anymore.
The screech of owls sounded through the hall and you looked up to see your parent's owl and you mentally started to feel drained, you knew it was going to be something bad you just had a feeling. A Screech Owl dropped a letter in front of you and you didn't pick it up, you just looked at it.
Your friends saw your distress, looked down at the letter and didn't have a clue what was going on as you never told them but the only person who did was your best friend, B/f/n. "Is that a letter from them?"., you nodded and sighed in frustration., "just don't open it, N/n"., "I have to"., B/f/n shook their head as you opened the letter.
You got Exceeds Expectations in your O.W.L.s last year which is obviously embarrassing. All of our colleagues get to brag about their children and the fact that myself and your mother can't is extremely shameful. How do you ever expect to be an Auror if you're not good enough. We expect you to get Outstanding in every single subject in your N.E.W.T.s, so make sure you study and actually do your best and don't be a let down as per usual.
Tears streamed down your cheeks and you let out shaky sigh., "I'm never going to be good enough"., you muttered under your breath., you are one of the most, incredibly talented witches in your year, but your parents don't see the stress they put you under.
Your best friend saw your sadness and held their arms out to hug you., you try your best to be up to their standards but no matter how much you try you just couldn't., your two other friends and were saddened by your distress and started to ask if you were okay.
You nodded and stood up, shoving the letter in your bag and walking back to the h/h dormitory to cry your eyes out, you didn't want to be disturbed and luckily you weren't going to because all your friends are from different houses and nobody in your dorm cared enough about you to make sure you were okay.
You got up to your dormitory and made sure nobody was there, looking around the whole dorm room before you crawled up in a ball on your bed, starting to sob., "I'm never going to be good enough"., you kept repeating through sobs.
An hour later it was about a ten minutes until class begins so you got out of your bed and freshened yourself up to make it look like you weren't just weeping., you fixed up your hair, put your shoes on and grabbed your bag, starting to head down to the Dungeons for Potions. Class.
You love Potions, unbeknown to your parents you wanted to be a Potionneer, you it would be the coolest job in the world, you wanted to tell them that you didn't want to be an Auror but you know what they would say.
Because they are Aurors, they expect you to be. Your father prides himself in being the perfect role model for you but you didn't look up to him, you would never look up to him but however, you do look up to your Potions Professor.
You found him very powerful and incredibly smart not just in potions but just in general. You walked into the classroom to hear that Professor Snape bellowing out instructions., you tilted your head in confusion and walked in.
Everyone turned to face you including Snape., "L/n, why are you late?"., you didn't realise you were late but you really didn't want to tell him you were crying., "I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again"., he nodded and motioned you to your usual seat., "very well. Go and sit down, please. Page 25, Essence of Insanity"., you hurried to your seat and sat down next, confused as to wear B/f/n is.
You started to grab out the books and caught sight of the letter., you shook the distressing thoughts away and grabbed out your things. As Snape went on with the lesson you zoned out, playing with your quill., as much as you tried not to, the letter came to mind.
"Miss Y/n? Can you tell me what the effects of the Essence of Insanity?".
You were completely zoned out, not realising everyone was staring at you, waiting for you to answer., Snape quirked an eyebrow and huffed as you looked in front of you, thinking you were ignoring him.
"Miss L/n..."., he said annoyingly., "...answer my question"., you still didn't answer him and everyone around you was shocked at you, since you were always the goody-two-shoes, a teachers pet., Snape walked up to you and picked up your textbook, slamming down in front of you, finally taking you out of your dejected thoughts.
You jumped and he leaned down to your eye view., "why are you not paying attention?"., he yelled., your breath hitched and you realised how close you were to him., "I expected better from you"., man, those words hurt you, it felt like a punch to the gut.
He's never yelled at you until this day and you felt like crying., "leave, l/n"., your lips started quivering as you picked up your things, your foot caught the table leg and you tripped over, everything falling out of your bag.
The class filled with snickering and laughter as you started to frantically pick everything up., "enough"., Snape called out., the class silenced and you have to admit the silence was almost worst than the laughter but you picked up the last of your books and rushed out of the room.
The end of the class came to end quite quickly and Severus was grateful for it., some chairs were left untucked so he went over and tucked them in., as he walked up to your chair he noticed a letter under the table.
He picked it up and saw it was already opened with your name on it., he tucked your chair in and walked over to his desk, placing it down, going to give it to you when you arrive for Potions Club on the first break.
The break came around and you were very reluctant to go to Potions Club, it's not like you needed it for your grades but according to your parents you needed to study and so for the second time today you began your journey down to the Dungeons.
Snape tapped his fingers on the desk, looking at the letter., he knew he shouldn't invade your privacy but curiosity got the best of him and reached out for the the letter, opening it. He read the first the line and his eyes widened., "what the bloody hell is this?".
He now felt more inclined to read it, feeling a bit concerned for you. He finished the letter and felt bad as he realised that he treated you exact same as your parents do. He put the letter back in the envelope and students started to walk in, saying hello to Snape as they did so, including you but you just averted his concerned gaze.
"L/n?"., you sighed and turned to face him, still avoiding his eyes, looking at the ground., "yes, sir?"., he sighed and shook his head, angry at himself, feeling awful for treating you like that., "see me after please"., you nodded and joined the others in getting the ingredients.
Snape watched you as you stood next to the group of people, focusing very hard on doing everything correctly., he saw the pressure on your shoulders and felt bad for you., he thought you were the best in your year and the best witch maybe even perhaps in the whole school.
He thought you were incredibly smart, gifted and very sweet towards everyone, he didn't think you should be treated like garbage.
About an hour later went by and the classroom emptied and the only two left in there were you and Professor Snape., "please, sit down"., he said gently., you listened and sat down on your chair., "Miss L/n?..."., he said, picking up the letter, holding it up., "...what is this?".
You gasped and put your head down feeling embarrassed., "how did you get that, sir?"., "it must of fallen out of your bag. I apologise for reading it"., he got up and started walking over to you and you started to get very nervous.
"Are you okay?"., tears brimmed your eyes and your lips started quivering., Severus' heart sank, he didn't like seeing you upset like this., "come here, Y/n"., you looked up and he held up his arms for a hug, thinking that's what you really needed.
You got up and rested your head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around you., "please don't think less of yourself because of your parents"., he said gently., "you are an incredibly talented witch"., you felt the weight lift off your shoulders and sighed happily, nobody has said that to you before., you looked up at him and smiled., "thankyou sir"., he smiled softly back at you and nodded., "you're welcome, Y/n".
