Y/N knew how to clean all of it. She’d learned young. Mornings dusting furniture and making beds. Afternoons carrying laundry upstairs. Evenings standing in the kitchen preparing dinner while Celeste waited.

As Y/N grew older, Celeste started attaching those lessons to something else.

So Y/N learned. Being useful made people happy. Doing things for them gave them a reason to keep her. Love was something you earned.

Years later, Y/N arrived at Hogwarts.

The new girl attracted enough attention already. Then the Sorting Hat shouted “SLYTHERIN!” That earned even more fucking staring. Apparently someone as sweet as Y/N wasn’t what people expected from Slytherin.

She already had one person there. Brielle Hawthorne, her first real friend at Hogwarts. Brielle didn’t question her sorting. She liked Y/N, so she became her friend. Simple.

And then there were them. Mattheo Riddle. Theodore Nott. Draco Malfoy. Blaise Zabini. Lorenzo Berkshire. Five boys who had been friends long before Y/N arrived. She wasn’t part of their group. Not yet.

One week later, the five boys were outside in the courtyard. Well. Four of them were. Theo had disappeared inside several minutes ago. When he returned, he stopped beside them with a strange look on his face.

Nobody spoke for a second. Lorenzo frowned. Draco looked completely fucking baffled. Theo folded his arms. Mattheo stared at the cleaning supplies before looking towards Y/N.