Red

House of Viridian

The first time Severus Snape ever saw you was his first night at Hogwarts. You sat next to Lucius and spoke only with the girl on the other side of you, something about Transfiguration class. The conversation seemed involved but not as if it was to ignore any of the first years. Distinctive blonde hair that made him assume you were related to Lucius. It took just a few hours to learn otherwise.

In the Slytherin common room, there seemed to be a sense of internal hierarchy, The purebloods from the well known families gathered together while the odd halfblood and other less well off purebloods scattered between. Lucius pulled Severus between the two of you before Slughorn came into the room. There were announcements and schedule changes that took a while, though part of it was his rambling.

With the prefects sent off to find McGonagall, Slughorn recruited you to help hand out everyone's new schedules. You were quick but kind and that extended to Severus. Handing the slip of paper to him, you had a kind smile and

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Severus."

Was it the start of a beautiful friendship? Absolutely not. It was though one of silent support, especially with other students. Keeping both him but also others, including the marauders, in check. It might have also been why you were the favorite of many, taking the top spaces socially and academically. You were quiet a majority of the time but nearly if not always right. That also meant when you did speak, people listened, especially the younger students.

What helped was probably your pure blood status and the high social ranking of your family. Nearly rivaling Lucius and some of the sacred 28. Despite this high rank, Severus did manage to see you behave in a somewhat typical fashion. He glimpsed and almost caught you with Lucius in Slughorn's empty classroom multiple times. Keeping everyone's family names untarnished was important so Severus took the hint and kept his mouth shut.

Though it was truly both you and Lucius being the one to keep Severus in particular out of trouble. Always breaking up arguments, taking the blame, or giving small excuses. You both also included him with your circle of friends that unfortunately had some blood status opinions. It seemed to be the only way to keep him from being bullied by the same people.

"Shouldn't you be sitting with your friends?" Was the first thing out of Severus's mouth at the Welcome feast of his second year.

You shrugged, probably. "I should ask the same of you. How was your summer?" His spicy attitude was not going to ruin your good mood. You had been named prefect and plenty of people were excited for you.

"Fine." His response was still full of angst. "I know who you were with this summer." For a second you had forgotten that Severus always had been the one to almost catch you with Lucius.

If you had been alone or lacked the patience, you might have smacked him for the statement. "That is none of your business and did not happen."

"So you're a-" You had never cut someone off so quickly.

"No. If you hadn't noticed, no one here gets married for love." Severus had noticed. "The house of Viridian is more than capable of such an arrangement, my parents just want someone from our home country."

"I regret asking." Was his only response.

"You didn't ask but you should know better. Keep your wits about you." It was part threat, part advice. It wasn't like it was his first year, he had been around Slytherin long enough to know these things.