Author's Note: Hi everyone! Thanks so much for checking out my first fanfic. I just wanted to mention that the first several chapters are build up and it's laying out background. I've noticed a lot of people drop off after reading the first chapter. Please give it a chance to get exciting (I promise, it will!)!
One of my favorite things about fanfics are that you can insert yourself directly into the story, so please feel free to ignore any character specific physical attributes like hair color/length, skin color, ethnicity, and body type.
I'd really appreciate any comments or feedback and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing it! <3
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A clean slate. Something you have wanted for years, but you never thought you'd find yourself making it happen and hopeful for the future. You've had a rough childhood, experiencing loss, pain, and loneliness from a very young age. It had just been you and your mother, against the world, for the longest time. Being an only child raised by a single, working mother left you lonely, often longing for family and connection despite your mother's best efforts. You had no friends. Most of the kids at your school hated you or avoided you like the plague, afraid they would be ostracized too if they associated with you. Apart from a kid named Jamie, the seventh year who sold you anti-anxiety pills and weed, you didn't talk to anyone at school. You attended Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry up to the end of your fifth year when you begged your mother to help you transfer. Transferring schools this late into your schooling was uncommon, but not impossible, and your exceptional academic track-record definitely helped. Your biggest wish was to run away to a far-away land where no one knew you. Where you could reinvent yourself and start to build the life you had envisioned, leaving the painful years of your childhood behind.
When a red-stamped letter arrived at your door informing you of your acceptance into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, you could not pack sooner. It was a true honor to be accepted into a wizarding school that produced some of the world's finest and most accomplished wizards and witches, and although your mother was wary about sending you halfway across the world to finish your last two years of schooling, she supported you and understood why you needed to go.
After eight portkeys and a long, but tranquil ride on the Hogwarts express, you arrive at Hogwarts; your new home. The castle seems to go on forever in height to the point your neck feels sore if you try to stare at the top too long. You could not help but feel small and insignificant in the white fortress. Your neutral robes seemed to stand out like a sore thumb amongst the other sixth years as you had not been sorted into a house yet. You catch several of the students among you looking your way, some just curious, others whispering amongst themselves obviously talking about you. It made you nervous and anxiety rose through your body. You reach into your pocket and quickly down one of your white pills. It instantly goes to work, buzzing you in a way that makes you forget your anxiety. You wanted to reinvent yourself, and that meant faking confidence through self-medication. You did not want to experience here what you did at your last school.
"Miss [y/n , l/n]?" You hear from an older woman who greets you at the castle entrance.
"Yes! Hello, nice to meet you." You reply, adjusting to the wave of high overcoming you.
"You as well. I'm Professor Mcgonagall, Head of Gryffindor House. I'm here to escort you to Headmaster Dumbledore's office." She says, her eyes warm with lips pressed into a thin smile.
"Thank you." You say, as you follow her inside. The walk to the headmaster's office is longer than expected as you try to keep up with Professor Mcgonagall's fast pace. You descend up a moving staircase, spiraling around a bronze gargoyle statue.
As you step into the office, your eyes wander around the large bookcases, floating trinkets and magnificent archways. Such a contrast between the bleak and simple design of your old school. You admire the architecture as the headmaster stands from behind his desk to greet you.
"Hello Miss [y/n , l/n]! Welcome to Hogwarts. I hope the long trip from America was not too strenuous." He says with warmth and friendliness. You look up to see his kind eyes and wise demeanor. His beard long and white, reminding you of the dragon paintings hung in the halls of your childhood home. You instantly feel at ease and Dumbledore feels like an old kindred spirit.
"It's very nice to meet you, Headmaster Dumbledore. It was a long journey, but I'm excited to be here. I'd like to extend gratitude, once again, for giving me this opportunity." You say, trying to sound as respectful and professional as possible.
Dumbledore lets out a chuckle at your formality. "I appreciate the sentiments. Your impressive track-record shows that you'll make a fine addition to Hogwarts. I know it may be daunting to start over in your sixth year at that, but I assure you that there is help all around and I will see to it that your professors are made aware of your situation."
You smile up at him. "I really appreciate that, sir."
"Since you do not belong to a house yet, you will be sorted tonight along with the first years. Find your prefect, and she will show you where your living quarters are and can answer any questions you may have. I look forward to seeing you excel at our school Miss, [l/n]." He smiles.
"Thank you, sir. I will do my best." You reply and shortly after, you are escorted to the Great Hall. You feel slightly embarrassed sitting with the first years, waiting to be sorted in front of the whole school. You feel quite big and out of place next to them as they stare at you with curious and confused eyes. All you can do is smile at them. You wait for your last name to be called, and when it is, your heart starts racing as you approach the seat. You realize everyone is watching you.
"Ah! What is this?" The sorting hat remarks. "New, but old." You chuckle at being called old, and you guess you are compared to these first years.
"Hmm... this is an odd one..." The hat pauses. "I see great ambition and great bravery. Quite intelligent, yet not much patience." (Okay, Mr. Sorting-hat, I did not ask to be dragged in front of the whole school.)
"You may do well in any four of the houses!" The sorting-hat remarks even louder, making this process slightly more embarrassing by the second.
"But alas, there must only be one... and that is... Slytherin!"
The Slytherin table loudly cheers, welcoming another member to their house. You walk over to sit at the Slytherin table to be greeted by the students around you. You smile at them and it feels like things are off to a good start. The table goes wild when it welcomes a first year named Draco Malfoy. Apparently, he comes from a long line of Slytherins and the sorting-hat knew right away where to place him. However, the highlight of the night seems to be the sorting of Harry Potter into Gryffindor, the infamous boy-who-lived. You spend the night playing catch-up with gossip of the British wizarding world, but even you've heard Potter's name mixed up with the Dark Lord's several times in the States. Ilvermorney is a sister school of Hogwarts after all, and news travels fast within the wizarding circles.
You are enjoying dinner, meeting and talking to new people, when you glance over to the High table to see a slim, tall man at the end. His black hair in contrast to his pale face. His presence captures you. "Who's that?" You ask a girl sitting beside you as you point to the man.
"That's Professor Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin. You do not want to get on his bad side." she chuckles. "He teaches potions, and he's quite the hard-ass." She leans in to whisper. "He made my friend, Penny, cry last year in class. It was hard to watch."
Great. You think to yourself. And there's no avoiding him since he's the head of your house. But if you've learned anything from your last school, it's how to deal with difficult professors. This is surely going to be an interesting year.
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Meeting Patronus | A Severus Snape Love Story
Fanfiction[y/n] [l/n], an 18 year old girl from America transfers to Hogwarts in her 6th year of her wizard schooling in an attempt to build a new life and flee her painful past. A long time companion with loneliness and anxiety, [y/n] learned to fill the voi...
