Severus Snape: First Year Slytherin

Hogwarts Express

“Severus!”

The young boy grumbled in his sleep and turned over, wincing at the groan that came from the old worn springs of his antique iron bed. He buried himself further under the threadbare covers, hoping the annoying dream would go away.

“Severus, wake up!”

Severus’ eyes flew open, but his body didn’t move a hair. A delicate, familiar hand shook him and he relaxed a little. Mum.

He sighed in relief. At least it wasn’t him.

Chills ran through Severus at the idea of his father and he turned over as quietly as he could. His attic room was small; so small it would have been cramped for anyone much larger than a small child to reside in. A small, dirty window set into the sloping roof let in some dim light. His mother had to duck when she came in and his father never bothered after the last time he had hit his head on one of the low-hanging beams. Unfortunately, you could still reach the bed from the drop-down stairs and more than once his father had come home drunk and had roused Severus with a long arm from the trapdoor.

“Your father thinks he’s been called into the factory to look at a broken machine,” Eileen Snape said quickly, her pale face a mask of worry and her beetle-black eyes darting around his small bedroom as if she were expecting someone to creep out of the shadows. Her thin porcelain fingers plucked nervously at the sleeves of the dark blue house dress that hung limply on her thin form. “Your grandmother is sleeping. We don’t have much time.”

“What’s going on?” Severus yawned and stretched his arms. He’d been getting cramps in his limbs at night and his mother had told him he could be finally having a growing spurt and soon would have to move into the house. It wasn’t something he was looking forward to.

“You’re going to Hogwarts whether that daft father of yours and his hell-beast of a mother like it or not,” she hissed as she flipped the thin bedclothes off Severus, exposing his small body to the chill air of the attic room, his light skin prickling in response.

Severus paled and his eyes widened at the very idea. “I can’t! He said I couldn’t go!”

“Yes, you can, and you are!” Her mouth was set into a firm line and her eyes were flashing angrily. “I will not have an uneducated fool for a boy!”

“He’ll kill you,” Severus whispered, terror rising in his voice.

His grandmother had no tolerance for magic, but at least all the heavy-set, steely-haired matriarch ever did was sneer at her daughter-in-law and grandson. She had once been vocal about it, but since the fainting spell she had suffered last year all she did was bare her yellowing teeth at Severus from her ancient paisley chair in the den and glare at him from ice blue eyes that might have one been considered pretty when she was a young woman. Her bony, gnarled hands clenched her dirty blue lap blanket tightly, as if she thought Severus was going to snatch it away at any moment.

This hurt him for some reason, but he couldn’t put his finger on why. He didn’t like her, but he had no reason to steal her blanket.

His father’s tolerance level, on the other hand… Severus never really knew what his father was capable of and wasn’t sure he ever wanted to fully find out.

“I’ll handle your father.” Eileen had a determined look on her face Severus had never seen before and her eyes flashed with anger even though her hands were trembling. “Quickly now, gather your things.”

Severus leapt out of the rickety iron bed, wincing as it squeaked loudly, and stood before her in a faded black shirt that had once been his fathers with a panicked look on his face. “I don’t even know what to do! Where to start!”

“You helped Lily pack, didn’t you?” His mother shook her head, but smiles in spite of her exasperation.

“Well, yes, but there are things I’ll need that I don’t have!” Severus spluttered. “She had books and a wand and-”

“Don’t worry about that now.” She interrupted him. “Just get your favorite things. He’ll be sure to damage anything you leave behind.”

Severus felt anger well up inside him at the thought of the worst of his father’s tantrums. He had destroyed all mothers books while she and Severus had been at the grocers, knowing that if the pages were dissolved with a powerful acid couldn’t be repaired like they would have been if he had just torn out the pages.

“I’m going to have a normal family, Eileen!” Severus’ father had roared at her when she had gotten back and had completely lost it.

He probably hadn’t been expecting the curse that had hit him after that. His back suddenly arched in pain and he had flung up one of his arms wildly, hitting the old black curio cabinet behind him and breaking one of the panes of glass. His eyes had rolled up into his head before he had collapsed to the ground after that and Severus’ mother had bustled him away to bed early.

Severus had stared at his father on the floor as his mother had carried him by. Severus’ heart had felt lighter for a moment, but for a second he locked eyes with his father and felt truly scared.

That night he heard his mother uttering spells quietly outside his bedroom door, but in spite of the protections Severus had bolted the door to his room anyway.

After that day, Severus’ mother taught him some simple spells with her wand. “When you get your own wand it will be easier,” she had insisted, in spite of Severus’ father’s insistence that he wouldn’t hold with any ‘foolish wand waving’ in his home.

To his mother’s delight, Severus was proficient in almost everything she attempted to teach him. ‘You defend yourself well,’ she had said proudly. ‘Don’t worry about potions. That will come with time. The simple healing potion you know how to brew will be sufficient for now.’

He had scowled at the murky brown potion in front of him that was supposed to be a bright green. It wasn’t his fault the beetle shells didn’t grind well when they were still damp. Even she had said they should be dried out for a week beforehand, but they hadn’t had a week. They’d had an afternoon.

That had been several years back and now his mother was shaking him awake so he could take flight like the silent dark owls that came at night for her after his father had drank himself to sleep in his favorite chair.

Severus pulled his nightshirt over his head and stood before his mother in a pair of worn gray underpants. She shook her head at him.

“Severus, when will you learn to separate whites instead of just throwing everything into the wash tub together?”

He shrugged at her as he cast his eyes about the room. “What am I supposed to wear?

“I have my old school robes for when you get there,” she said quickly. “They’ll be big, but I think they’ll do for now. Don’t forget to pack your black trousers. You might want them. I’ll write a letter for your Head of House so they’ll know what’s going on with your supplies.”

Severus threw on his best pair of dungarees, a soft black t-shirt that his mother had gotten from the secondhand store on their half-off day, and a dark brown windbreaker. Then he went to the small bed and pulled out a worn, brown leather trunk from underneath it.

His mother packed his clothing quickly with a broad wave of her wand as Severus rushed around the tiny area gathering his favorite things from odd, hidden-away places. Then he crawled on his hands and knees to get to the furthest point of the slanted roof. It was a place so low only he could reach and it where he kept his most important of things: his old, worn stuffed tiger. He piled everything in the trunk, making sure the tiger was on the top in a comfortable position and they quickly latched the trunk closed with thick leather straps and heavy brass buckles.

“I gave your grandmother a mild sleeping potion in her tea,” Severus’ mother whispered quickly as their fingers worked at their task. “It won’t work as well as it should because of the medication she takes for the aches in her hands, so be quiet. Carry your shoes.”

She flicked her wand and the trunk levitated a few inches off the floor. It took some maneuvering to get it out the trapdoor, but after a few thumps that made Severus’ heart leap into his throat, they were creeping lightly down the hallway on their way to the den and the fireplace to freedom. Severus felt the rough carpet through his thin socks as they tiptoed by the small bedroom where Severus’ grandmother slept, her heavy snoring filling the air and Severus felt as if even his breathing was too loud.

“How do I get there?” Severus whispered fervently as his mother closed the door to the den with a small click and he sat on the trunk to pull his gray canvas shoes on. “They left last night and they’re probably still sleeping in their hotel room.”

“You’re not going with the Malfoys,” his mother explained as she guided his belongings up to the fireplace. “I made arrangements with a school friend. They’ll make sure you get there all right.”

Severus looked at the fireplace and felt his stomach sink. He had only traveled through the Floo network once and had found the whole thing had made him nauseous.

“Get in, Severus.” His mother’s eyes darted around the room, as if she thought his father would appear and stop them. “Here, take my wand.”

“But you’ll need it!” Severus had whispered as loud as he dared as she pressed the dark handle into his palm.

“I’ll be fine.” His mother made a face at him as she drew a small bag out of the pocket of her house dress. She opened it and Severus saw the brown powder that would allow him to travel.

He screwed his eyes tight, one hand clenching his mother’s wand, the other holding onto the handle of his trunk with white-knuckled fingers.

He felt her kiss him on the forehead before the powder hit his legs and heard the woosh of the green flames of the Floo network leaping up around him.

“Malfoy Manor.”

Severus felt his stomach lurch as he spiraled through magically folded space. When his feet finally hit the ground at his destination he stumbled and fell forward, straight into something soft and fuzzy. He felt hands on his shoulders, steadying him on his feet.

He gagged at the sudden stop, but managed to keep what little was in his stomach down, and opened his eyes.

They bugged as he took in the sight of the ample bosom that he had fallen into. The curvy, creamy-skinned, plump form was clad in a black velvet dress and when his eyes slowly rose to her face she smiled warmly at him. She had light, curly blond hair and a high forehead; large blue eyes twinkled at him, and the dimples in her cheeks seemed to be dancing as she smoothed his hair down.

A tall, stern-looking man stood behind her. He wore black robes with pleats so sharp Severus wondered if they were enchanted. His short white hair and severely groomed mustache reminded Severus of the military and the stern frown plastered on his face gave Severus the distinct impression he was being sized up.

Severus felt the blood drain out of his face as his eyes flickered to the bosom he had fallen into. He hoped the man wouldn’t whip him too badly.

“Oh, you poor little dear!” The woman crushed Severus to her bosom again, his arms flailing uselessly at his sides. “You look half-starved! And so pale! Doesn’t he look pale, Abraxas?”

“Mother! Stop trying to smother the poor boy!” Someone let out an irritated sigh.

Severus looked past the woman to see a teenage boy with short blond hair identical to his fathers looking at her exasperatedly. Severus was pleased to note that although his dark green robes were pleated, they were nowhere near as formal-looking as the man beside him.

“Well, we’ll just have to feed you a little something before you two set off,” the woman said, ignoring her son and tucking her arm around Severus.

“I’m Lucretia Malfoy.” The woman said as she scuttled Severus out of the large room. “You’ll be accompanying my son, Lucius, to the train Hogwarts,” Mrs. Malfoy rattled on, “but you don’t need to leave for a while yet. Plenty of time for a snack!”

Severus’ eyes tried to take in as much of his surroundings as he could without looking pie-eyed. Half of the small house on Spinner’s End could have fit in this enormous room. The dark wood paneling tried to give it a sense of comfort, but the furniture looked as if no one ever used it. There were no frayed edges, the cushions on the black velvet chairs looked stiff, and there were no bum prints to be seen anywhere. The wood floor had been polished to such a shine Severus wondered if it was coated in something.

They proceeded down a long wood-paneled hallway decorated with large portraits of stern-looking, light-haired people in decorative gold frames. One portrait raised an eyebrow as they passed and Severus gasped at it.

Severus noticed the men of the family trailed behind Mrs. Malfoy in a resigned fashion as she marched through the house, but they didn’t look put out, they looked as if they were used to this sort of thing.

Severus was bustled into a large dining room with an impossibly long, dark wooden table and at least twenty hand-carved matching chairs around it, their seats generously padded and covered with a brown and gold brocade.

This room seemed to have been designed to be the perfect size to give a sense of hospitality to the room, in spite of the long table. Severus’ mother mentioned spells like this whenever she noted that he’d be outgrowing his attic room soon, but his father had growled that there would be no alterations and Severus could just learn to sleep somewhere else in the small house.

Each of the four walls around the table had a tapestry mounted on it:

The one behind Severus’ seat featured a serpentine Asian dragon, frolicking in a field of wheat, it’s white scales seeming to glint in the fabric sunlight. A wizard sat astride it, waving his blue pointy hat. The picture was so detailed Severus wondered if it was a photograph at first, or something magical, but as he walked by it to seat himself he saw the tiny stitches that created it and he realized the tapestry was the result of incredible patience and talent.

The tapestry that was on display at the foot of the long table was a large brown oak tree with what looked like words written on the multi-colored leaves, but it was so far away it was impossible for Severus to make any of them out.

The tapestry across the table from Severus depicted a white-haired wizard in armor standing atop what looked like some sort of mossy hill; he had a silver helm with a purple ostrich plume tucked under one arm and was holding a wand aloft with his opposite hand. People dressed like peasants seemed to be gathering at the foot of the hill and getting to their knees; their thin arms raised up to the wizard.

The one that sat behind the head of the table was a field of hundreds of different kinds of flowers, each bloom more bright and beautiful than the next. Severus didn’t recognize a single flower on the tapestry. He wondered if they were all magical.

The floor of the dining room was covered in a plush burgundy carpet, so deep Severus felt like his feet were sinking into it. To his relief, the plain white table settings were clustered at one end of the table rather than spread out over the immense table.

Mr. Malfoy settled in at the end of the table. With Lucius on his left and Mrs. Malfoy on his right. Severus sat down gingerly at the setting next to her, remembering to drape the thick linen napkin across his lap like his mother had shown him. Upon sitting, he became instantly afraid of breaking anything or tipping anything over. What he had thought were plain white plates were now revealed to be paper thin porcelain and the silver tableware gleamed so brightly Severus didn’t want to put his fingerprints on it. Where his mug would normally be at home, a tall crystal goblet sat full of crystal clear water.

Mrs. Malfoy beamed down at Severus as she picked up a small silver bell near her goblet and shook it, causing a high pitched tinkle to ring out.

Severus jumped as a small, dirty creature with large, floppy ears and a long, thin nose popped into existence near him. It was wearing a rag that once might have been a pot holder and it looked as if it hadn’t bathed in days.

“Polly, our young guest is famished,” Mrs. Malfoy said with a sad shake of her head that caused her blond curls to bounce around her round face. “Please bring us something that will fill him up properly.”

Severus couldn’t imagine why she was talking to this thing so nicely, it surely didn’t belong in a place like this. It seemed like it was wrong somehow, but the small creature snapped it’s fingers and disappeared as quick as it had appeared. Severus tried not to look as bewildered as he felt.

“Now, tell me what your mother has been up to,” Mrs. Malfoy said as she smiled down at Severus, here blue eyes dancing with mischief, as if she were being let in on a secret. “She always was such a clever witch.”

Mr. Malfoy cleared his throat and she threw him a dirty look over her shoulder.

“My dear, seeing as we are taking the boy to Hogwarts I’d say she doesn’t do much witchery anymore.” He tilted his chin down and gave her a pointed look.

She turned back to Severus with a look of shock on her face as she examined his guilty expression. “Is this true?”

“Well, after the books were gone she didn’t have much to read anymore.” Severus said uncomfortably and he tried not to wince at the sudden change in her expression from concern to stunned disbelief.

“Her books? Gone? How could that have happened? She loved those books! They had all sorts of protections on them!” She glanced back at her husband who was listening on, expressionless.

“Father lost his temper one day and destroyed them,” Severus said and he jumped as food began to appear on his plate. He stared at the piles of sausage, eggs, and potatoes, and fought back the urge to grab his fork and begin stuffing his face.

More plates of delicious looking and smelling food started appearing on the table as he continued to stare at it all. Wide crystal platters were piled with different sorts of fruits, some Severus didn’t recognize. Large silver bowls held various breakfast meats; jars of marmalades and jams scattered over the table and a clay bowl brimming with different types of breads sat near him.

Severus felt his mouth water. He had never seen so much food on one table in his life.

When he realized there was a stony silence at the table he tore his eyes away from the food to look at the people around him.

Lucius looked shocked, Mrs. Malfoy looked horrified, but Mr Malfoy, Mr. Malfoy looked furious.

“Eat, darling,” Mrs. Malfoy managed to force out with a smile that looked more like a grimace.

She glanced at Mr. Malfoy and as Severus’ dark eyes eyes met Mr. Malfoy’s bright blue ones, he felt almost like he had a headache coming on. Then his brain started to feel an uncomfortable flickering sensation.

He tried to stop it, but couldn’t. Scenes from his life began flashing before his eyes and he began seeing things he wished he had been able to forget.

His father’s fury when Severus had tripped over the iron grate in the street and had dropped the marbles he had received for his birthday. Severus remembered the feeling of helplessness he had experienced as he had watched the marbles, glittering like the paste jewels they used in the annual pantomime, rolled away from his scrabbling fingers and disappeared down the grate.

The whipping that had followed for not respecting the things his father had worked so hard for. Severus couldn’t sit or lay down without pain for a whole day, even after his mother had applied her special salve.

The night he had caught his mother healing her broken nose in the bathroom. After she was done she had waved her wand to clean up the blood: a motion done so easily it was obvious this wasn’t the first time and wouldn’t be the last.

A very small Severus crying a corner with a sprained wrist, his parents arguing over him. His mother pulling out her wand and the fear and rage in his father’s face. “You will NOT hurt my boy, Tobias!”

Severus laying in his bed at night, hearing his mother cry as she waited for Tobias to come home the first night he didn’t.

Severus’ flight from Spinner’s End this morning.

Suddenly, as fast as it had happened, the visions stopped. Severus felt slightly dizzy.

Mr. Malfoy rose from the table, a strange look on his face. “I apologize, but there’s something important I must attend to.” He gave his wife a small nod and she said nothing as he bent at the waist to give her a short bow before he retreated from the room.

She had a worried look on his face as he left, but turned back to Severus and tried to soften her expression. “Would you rather have some fruit, dear?”

“Oh, no!” Severus said quickly as he picked up his heavy silver fork. “This looks go good, I don’t know where to start!”

He licked his lips and speared a bit of potato onto his fork.

She gave him a satisfied look as he popped it into his mouth and then she rubbed his back for a moment.

Severus looked up at Lucius as he chewed and the other boy was watching him curiously.

Severus tried not to stare back at Lucius as the boy watched him eat. Lucius just watched him and picked at a small plate of fruit. Severus supposed they had already eaten a proper meal earlier in the morning and he felt uncomfortable at the idea that all this fuss was just for him. He thought that maybe Lucius was annoyed at him for popping in and making himself a burden. Surely the older boy had better things to do besides watch a first year.

Severus decided that if they had gone to any trouble it would only be proper to show he was grateful. Severus tucked in, not knowing when his next meal was going to be. He knew Hogwarts would give him dinner, but he wasn’t sure about anything in between. When he was done filling himself he burped heartily.

Mrs. Malfoy chuckled at this and gave a look Severus couldn’t decipher to Lucius, though she didn’t seem to be repulsed by the burp.

“Excuse me,” Severus said embarrassedly. He felt his cheeks burn.

“Nonsense,” Mrs. Malfoy said warmly and he knew she meant it. “You’ve just eaten enough for five boys your size. If you didn’t burp I’d wonder if you were going to explode later.”

Lucius chuckled and shook his head. “And if you didn’t eat that much she’d try to shovel it in anyway.”

Mrs. Malfoy ignored her son and rose from her seat. “Now that you’ve been properly fed, I suggest you and Lucius take a walk around the estate for the remainder of the hour so your food can settle properly. He can explain some things about Hogwarts to you before you leave. It wouldn’t do to have you arrive at the school completely clueless.”

“Of course, Mother,” Lucius said politely as he stood and gave his mother a short bow.

Severus stood as well, remembering to take his napkin off his lap before it fell to the floor. He also gave a bow, not knowing if that was what he was supposed to do, but thinking ‘better safe than sorry.’ “Thank you for the food. It was very good!”

“Of course, dear,” Mrs. Malfoy said with a smile that tried to look reassuring, but Severus got the sense that everyone had been a bit shaken by learning about Severus’ home life. “You may come any time you like. And your mother as well. I’d like to see her again. She doesn’t write as often as she should.”

“I’ll tell her right away!” Severus said excitedly. If witches and wizards started calling on his mother maybe his father would be less inclined to have any of his tantrums. “As soon as I can write to her!”

Mrs. Malfoy chuckled and glanced at Lucius. “The rose garden is blooming. I’m sure Severus would like to see it before he leaves.”

“Of course,” Lucius said politely with a look that suggested that no one was interested in the rose garden besides her. “Come on, Severus. Time to get your last breath of freedom before school starts.”

Severus felt like laughing. Going to school was the biggest taste of freedom he had ever had.

Mrs. Malfoy gave Severus another suffocating hug before releasing him to Lucius, allowing the boys to leave the dining room and down another long hallway with moving portraits of witches and wizards in antique robes on one side and large picture windows on the other.

“Do they all move?” Severus asked Lucius as a picture of a large blond lady in white fur-trimmed robes and a diamond and emerald tiara looked down her long, pinched nose at him. The small brown dog she was holding silently barked at him.

“Most of them,” said Lucius with a snort. “They usually talk as well, but father’s hit most of them with a muting spell. He was tired of unwanted opinions.”

Severus spied a lush rose bush with large, fat pink blooms out of one of the windows as they passed it. He assumed they’d be going out the heavy wooden door nearby, but he turned out to be wrong as Lucius strode by it, his shoes clicking on the hardwood as he went.

Severus followed him curiously as Lucius continued down the hall and made a left when it ended at the corner of the building.

“Where are we going?” Severus finally asked as they passed an open door. He looked inside to see a cozy-looking den with dark brown leather furniture arranged around a small stone fireplace and large wooden bookshelves full of heavy-looking books with leather spines.

Lucius turned quickly and smirked at the younger boy as he came up short and nearly stumbled. “Why wander about in the garden when we can get in a game of Quidditch before we leave?”

“What’s ‘Quidditch?'” Severus asked.

Lucius examined Severus with narrowed eyes. “What did you just say?”

“Er…” Severus shrugged apologetically at Lucius. Apparently he had said something wrong. “I’ve never heard of it. What is it?”

“It’s only the best Wizarding sport in the world!” Lucius said haughtily. “Do you mean to say you’ve never even heard of it?”

“That’s what I just said.” Severus drew himself up and crossed his arms defensively. “How do you play it?”

“Well, first you have to have the proper equipment.” Lucius frowned at the small boy. “And a good broomstick, of course.”

“Like curling?” Severus began to laugh. “You’ve got to be joking!”

“No!” Lucius snapped as if he had been insulted. He walked over to the wall and pointed at a portrait. “Like this! On the backs of broomsticks, not on ice!”

Severus looked at the portrait in wonderment and blinked at the men zipping about on broomsticks. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“So you don’t even know how to fly?” Lucius rolled his eyes. “Well, we’ll have to fix that. It wouldn’t do to have you fall on your face your first time out.”

Lucius started off down the hall again, Severus nearly having to jog to keep up with Lucius’ long-legged stride.

Finally, after several twists and turns through the Manor, the older boy opened a heavy wooden door leading outside and Severus blinked as the bright sun blinded him.

Lucius walked through the door and strode across the lush green lawn that hugged the foundation of the Manor, the sunlight glinting off his white-blond hair. Severus followed the older boy as he made his way to a small green shed with a red tin roof that sat near the edge of the lawn, under an oak tree.

Lucius unlatched and pulled open the old wooden door before walking into the shed. Severus peered in after him and found Lucius and staring at a row of broomsticks, all mounted and labeled on the wall. He finally selected one and turned to face Severus, handing him a light broom with black pointed bristles and a tan handle.

“You probably won’t get the basics down, but at least I can teach you how not to kill yourself,” Lucius sighed and shook his head in disbelief as he left the shed. The boys walked to the center of the lawn and Lucius showed Severus how to mount his broom properly. “Now get a good grip. It’s not going to hold onto you, you know.”

Severus was shaky at first, but he managed to hold on as Lucius taught him, and slowly rose into the air.

“You’re a fast learner,” Lucius said coolly as he watched Severus shakily touch down for the third time in a row. “There might be some hope for you.”

“Gee, thanks.” Severus scowled as he got off the broomstick, his feet sinking into the soft grass.

“Have you given any thought to what House you think you’ll be sorted into?” Lucius asked, trying to sound casual and failing miserably.

Severus thought he sounded a bit like Mrs. Perkins, the busybody of Spinner’s End and alarm bells went off in the back of his head. Mrs. Malfoy might be his mother’s friend, but Severus knew nothing about Lucius and wasn’t sure if he should be trusted. It seemed like he had already said enough about his home life.

“Mother says I’ll probably be a Slytherin because that’s what House she was in.” Severus carefully said as they walked back to the green shed to put the brooms away. “But I usually do very well in my lessons so she thinks I have a slim chance of being in Ravenclaw. Apparently one of my great-grandfathers was sorted there as well..”

“There’s more to it than just family line,” Lucius snorted as he unlatched and pulled the shed door open to return the broom. “The Sorting Hat looks into your head to see who your really are. The face you never show to the world.”

Severus eyed Lucius warily as the older boy placed the broom back into it’s mount on the wall. What was that supposed to mean? “Is it ever wrong?”

“I doubt it.” Lucius snorted as he turned around and walked out of the shed, stopping to latch the door tightly shut. “There’s not much to it. Ravenclaws tend to be scholars, Gryffindors are idealists, Slytherins make things happen, and Hufflepuffs get in the way.”

Severus found himself growing very nervous. What if he was sorted into Hufflepuff?

“Do you usually do well in your classes?” Lucius asked as they walked across the lawn.

“In regular school, yes.” Severus shrugged. “My charms are all right. I hate potions, though. I never get it right.”

“Well, Professor Slughorn is an excellent teacher,” Lucius reassured Severus as they approached the manor. “I’m sure he’ll be able to help you out with that.”

As Lucius and Severus wound their way through the halls of the Manor and up the steep marble stairs to Lucius’ room, Lucius barraged Severus with questions about his opinions about politics, which Severus knew nothing about; athletic accomplishments, where it was decided that Severus could climb a tree faster than anyone in his neighborhood; what types of books did he read (far east mysteries and westerns); and other seemingly meaningless things that Severus was sure weren’t as meaningless as Lucius wanted them to appear to be.

The finally reached a door with a decorative “L” carved and inlaid with silver upon it. When Lucius opened the door, to Severus’ surprise, the room wasn’t nearly as lavish as he had expected.

The room was large with a high ceiling, but mostly empty. The gray walls reminded Severus of the institution his mother had worked in when he was younger and he shivered. The iron bed was nearly identical to his own, but Severus noted how new and solid it looked. It probably didn’t squeak when Lucius rolled over or poked him in the back with springs. The bedding that neatly covered it was stark white and looked warm. A small white nightstand sat near the bed, a large leather-bound bible sitting on top of it. The floor had a plain gray carpet laid out on it, but it was just as plush and lavish as the one in the dining room had been.

A white desk had been pushed up against the wall, under a small window that overlooked the rose garden and a white wooden chair was tucked away neatly underneath it. A squat bookshelf sat to the left of the desk, but instead of being full of books as Severus had expected it would be, it only had three books on it’s shelves and they were thin volumes at best. On the opposite side of the room a small, wardrobe fashioned of bare wood was nestled into a corner.

“This is your room?” Severus asked, bewildered, then he blushed at his rudeness.

“Father doesn’t think it’s healthy to have distractions when one is studying,” Lucius said, a hint of bitterness to his voice.

“I know what you mean.” Severus snorted. His father used the same excuse to lock him up in the attic with a book when he didn’t want to bother with him.

Lucius studied Severus for a moment before he bent down to pull a black leather trunk with a large silver “M” embellished on it. When he undid the locks and opened it, Severus could swear there was a pit inside.

“What’s that?” Severus asked in awe as he stepped up to the trunk. He looked in and couldn’t see the bottom.

“You’ve never seen and Undetectable Extension Charm before?” Lucius asked haughtily, an amused look on his face. He pulled a long, slender wand out of his sleeve and waved it at the wardrobe. The doors swung open, revealing what looked like a small room filled with clothes, books, odds and ends, and all the normal sorts of things one would find in the room of a teenage boy.

“No,” Severus said as he stepped back. He wasn’t sure he wanted to stand that close to the trunk. “How big is it?”

“As big as I need it to be.” Lucius waved his wand again and several pairs of trousers whipped out of the wardrobe and folded themselves before flying into the trunk. “I won’t keep it this big. Once everything is inside, I’ll shrink it up to fit.”

Several white shirts came dancing out of the wardrobe and disappeared into the trunk, followed by a parade of robes of all sorts of designs and colors. Lucius paused and turned to look at Severus, his eyebrows furrowed. “You have all your things in a Muggle trunk?”

“How many things do I really need?” Severus asked, bewildered. “I know my books and things are going to be sent to the school so I just packed some clothes and… stuff.”

He saw no reason Lucius needed to know about his tiger.

“Ah,” Lucius said as he flicked his wand once more. Cardboard shoe boxes and hat boxes flew through the air, followed by some smaller wooden boxes, brushes, scarves and underthings. “Well, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Severus felt uneasy as Lucius shrunk the inside of the trunk to a more reasonable space. Severus could see the top of pile of neatly packed things now. Lucius was taking so much it made Severus feel as if he were completely unprepared for the school year.

There was a noise in the hallway and Lucius gave a sigh of frustration as his mother bustled into the room.

“You’re just packing now?”

“It only takes a minute.” Lucius rolled his eyes as his mother strode up to him and started fussing with his robes. She let go of Lucius and eyed Severus critically. Lucius gave his mother a look as Severus gave a little start at the glint in her eye. “Mother, stop it!”

“Well, he’s going to a wizarding school! He should be in robes!” Mrs. Malfoy ignored her son and reached for the white, twisted wand hanging at her side.

Lucius put his hand on his mother’s arm. “Don’t.”

Severus didn’t understand the exchange of expressions that followed, but in the end, Mrs. Malfoy had lowered her hand and scowled at her son. “He doesn’t have to show up looking like a Muggle.”

“We’ll be changing soon enough and even pure-bloods show up in Muggle clothing for the train ride,” Lucius said exasperatedly.

“Not anyone from any decent families, I hope,” Mrs. Malfoy’s left cheek twitched as if the very idea unnerved her.

“It’s the style, mother,” Lucius sighed. “Must I remind you of the ridiculous haircut you wore when you were at school?”

“It’s not the same thing!” Mrs. Malfoy snapped.

“It certainly is!” Lucius father interjected from the hall way. “You looked silly with that hair and I thought I told you to leave him alone!”

Mrs. Malfoy looked from her husband in the door frame to Severus to her son. She glared at Lucius for a moment before letting out a growl in frustration and storming from the room, pushing past Lucius’ father. “Victory rolls weren’t silly! We had just won the war, if you don’t remember!”

“Well, the enormous scar on my leg does remind me now and again,” Mr. Malfoy said hotly as their voices faded as they walked away and back down the hallway. “And most people’s rolls weren’t half as tall as they were!”

She said something back to him in a snippy tone they couldn’t quite make out and Lucius snorted and shook his head. When Severus turned to look at him their eyes met and Severus couldn’t contain himself anymore. He started giggling.

Lucius tried to look annoyed, but was soon chuckling as well and shaking head.

“Do they do that all the time?” Severus asked as Lucius opened a drawer in the desk. He reached in up to his shoulder and started rummaging around.

“They’re on their best behavior today, if you can believe it.” Lucius seemed to have found what he was looking for and was trying to maneuver it out from under everything else.

“How are we getting to the school, anyway?” Severus asked as Lucius pulled what looked like a black wooden cigar box out of the drawer.

“We take a train.” Lucius opened the box and smiled at it’s contents before tucking it inside his trunk.

“What kind of a train?” Severus asked suspiciously.

Lucius laughed as he walked back to the desk. “It’s not a Muggle train, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s clean and the snacks are good.”

“The snacks are free?” Severus asked hopefully.

“Sorry, no,” Lucius shook his head and frowned as he rummaged around in the desk again. This time he came up with a black leather book bag which he tossed into the trunk before closing it.

“Ah,” Severus said as Lucius waved his wand and the trunk rose in the air.

“You’ll be fine.” Lucius reassured him. “I’ll loan you a Galleon. You can pay me back whenever.”

“Thanks.” Severus felt relieved, even though he had no idea what on earth a Galleon was.

They left the shelter of Lucius’ room and wound their way back around the Manor to the room Severus had arrived in where Mr and Mrs. Malfoy were waiting for them.

“Now, here’s some money to get you through the year,” Mrs. Malfoy bustled over to them as soon as they entered the room, her wide eyes full of worry. Mr. Malfoy rolled his eyes and shook his head behind her back.

Mrs. Malfoy pressed a small silk bag into Lucius’ hand, but instead of thanking her, he furrowed his brows when his mother handed Severus a much larger bag.

“What’s that?”

“Well, we’ve missed his last ten birthdays,” Mrs. Malfoy said innocently, startling Severus with the revelation that she had been around for at least one of them. “I had to make up for time.”

“There’s fifty bloody Galleons in there?” Lucius was incredulous.

“Watch your mouth!” Mr. Malfoy said sharply.

“It’s probably more than he has in the world, so you shut it!” Mrs. Malfoy snapped at her son who seemed to know when it was a good idea to do so. Her expression softened as she looked back at Severus. “This should be enough to get you all the things you find you might want when you get to Hogwarts. Now take out a few and then tuck it away into your trunk for safekeeping.”

“Er-” Severus didn’t know what to say. This was probably more money than his parents had. If he could only figure out a way of getting it to his mother without his father knowing about it. He really didn’t have words for what he felt so he said: “Thank you very much. You’re very generous.”

He had heard his mother use those words when one of their neighbors had brought by a basket of baked goods for the holidays. The neighbor had been very happy at the response and they had eaten like kings for a week.

Mrs. Malfoy seemed pleased and gave Severus another of her stifling hugs. This time he was prepared and he turned his head so he could breathe a bit.

When she released him she grabbed hold of Lucius and held him tight, tears in her eyes. Severus took the moment to take a breath and to bustle away to his trunk and away from Mrs. Malfoy’s abundant bosom.

“Oh good grief, mother! I’ll be back for Christmas!” Mrs Malfoy sniffled and nodded before she released Lucius who immediately started smoothing down his now rumpled robes.

“Of course you will, dear.” She looked like she was going to pounce again, but Mr. Malfoy came up behind her and put a hand on her back and she took a step back. Instead she took a steadying breath. “We’ll be sure to miss you.”

“Try not to get into too much trouble this year,” Mr. Malfoy warned sternly. “I don’t want any more owls from the Headmaster.

“It was that stupid Hufflepuff’s fault,” Lucius grumbled. Severus gave Lucius an interested look since he was behind Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy so they couldn’t see him.

“I don’t care who’s fault it was,” Mr Malfoy said sternly as he seemed to get a firm grip of the fabric at the shoulders of Mrs. Malfoy’s robes. “I care that you’re the one that took the blame for it. Be more responsible in the future, Lucius.

“Yes, sir.” Lucius sighed, but his father seemed to have been placated.

“Now, look after Severus,” Mrs. Malfoy said as she reached into her robes and pulled out two red bags. She turned around to look at Severus and Mr. Malfoy let go of her robes, presumably because he didn’t think she was going to attempt to smother anyone again. “Owl me if you need anything, and here’s some lunch for the train. I don’t think it’s good to eat from that cart. It’s nothing but garbage.”

“Yes, Mother,” Lucius said with another sigh, but this one seemed to be far more content as he took the bag she was holding out to him.

She reached up and bent him down so she could kiss his forehead and she patted his cheek before moving on to Severus. “The same goes for you, young man.”

“Yes, mum,” Severus said obediently as he put the bag of Galleons into his trunk and re-buckled it. “Thank you for everything.”

“It was nothing, dear. Write whenever you want.” Mrs. Malfoy kissed him gently on his forehead as she handed him his own bag of food, which Severus immediately tied to the belt loop of his dungarees.

“Study hard,” Mr. Malfoy instructed firmly to both of the boys. “We’ll be seeing you before you know it.”

Lucius and Severus assured him they would and then managed to jam themselves and their trunks into the fireplace, Severus crouched atop his to save space.

“We don’t normally Floo with this much.” Mr. Malfoy said as he held a bowl of Floo powder out to Lucius, and the older boy held onto Severus shoulder before taking a handful. “Next time we’ll get the big fireplace hooked up to the network.”

Severus goggled for a moment. This wasn’t the biggest fireplace in the immense Manor?

“The Leaky Cauldron!” Lucius announced as he dropped the powder, and they were off in a burst of green flame.

Spiraling and spinning through space, Severus caught glimpses of the views from other fireplaces. Children playing with what looked like marbles, a witch humming as she made herself a cup of tea, what looked like a basement. He felt secure feeling Lucius gripping him firmly, more than he had the other times he had traveled by Floo. The few times he had done it with his mother she had instructed him to hold onto her skirts and he was always worried he would lose his grip.

With a thump and a jolt forward, Lucius and Severus found themselves in the large fireplace of a cheerful pub. Witches and wizards, more than Severus had ever seen in his life, were talking and laughing while seated at round wooden tables, basking in the golden light emanating from lanterns with amber panels . A middle-aged man with light hair that once may have been red polished a silver goblet behind the bar.

“I think we should get a couple pints before going off, don’t you?” Lucius asked Severus who was dizzily climbing down from his trunk. “After all that I know I could use one.”

“I’m not old enough,” Severus reminded Lucius, taken aback at the boys’ suggestion. What type of trouble could they get into in the Wizarding World? His mother had told him about Azkaban, but he didn’t think they’d toss you away for a pint. Could he get expelled before the year even started?

“That’s gotten about easily.” Lucius snorted. “Someone’s probably ordered for us already. Come on.”

They wound their way through the crowd and around the back of the pub to a small booth that was occupied by two boys about Lucius’ age. The area was mostly concealed and the booth had several empty chairs pulled up to it as if several other people had been there but were now gone.

“Malfoy!” A cheerful voice rang out.

“Gentlemen,” Lucius bowed and the boys laughed.

Severus thought they appeared to be quite merry. They had a pitcher in front of them and several pint glasses scattered about. It looked

“Who’s this, then?” A stocky boy with with thick, curly blond hair and light blue robes gave Severus an appraising look, taking in everything from Severus’ shirt to his dungarees to the lingering gaze at his worn shoes.

“Severus,” Lucius said as he sat down in an empty seat. “Taking him to Hogwarts. Our mother’s were friends.”

“Oh, right-o!” The other boy, a cheerful-looking, thin lad with short brown hair, a long nose, and thick gray robes nodded vigorously as he poured out two amber pints from the pitcher and set them down in front of Lucius and Severus.

Lucius took a long drink before he set it down and wiped the foam from his upper lip.

“Mother give you one of her famous send-offs?” The blond chuckled as he looked at the receding level of Lucius’ glass.

“Both of us.” Lucius let out a sound like he had a pain. “No one was granted mercy.”

“Drink up.” The dark-haired boy gestured at Severus’ glass. “After that you deserve it.”

Severus tentatively took a sip from the glass. He made a face. This was what his father spent his time drinking? This was where the food money disappeared to?

Severus was heartily irritated. If something was going to cause this much trouble it should taste good.

“Not to your taste?” The older boys exchanged grins with each other.

Severus shrugged noncommittally. For some reason he wanted these boys to like him. Perhaps their mothers knew his as well. “Given a choice, I probably wouldn’t take it.”

“Well, the boy knows what he likes.” The blond was gazing at the backside of a red-haired young witch who was scrubbing a nearby table.

“I’ll go get a Butterbeer.” The brown haired boy smirked and shook his head at the blond before rustling around in the pockets of his robes and getting to his feet.

“I don’t mean to be any trouble.” Severus shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He wondered if he should have pretended to like it.

“No problem at all.” Lucius said as he returned a wave across the pub to a young girl with a long brown plait down her back. “Rabastan owes me enough money that he can afford to get a Butterbeer or two.” He looked at his blond friend. “Where’s Rodolphus, by the way?”

“Coming in with Antonin Dolohov. They’ve been working on some project the past few weeks and they rented a flat in London.” He shrugged. “Something to do with a new Reducio potion.”

Lucius put his palm to his forehead as if something pained him. “Didn’t we tell them that using Reducio for acne is a bad idea?”

“Of course we did. One shrunken chin and two shrunken noses should have stopped them, but it didn’t.” The blond chuckled and took a drink from his pint.

Lucius rolled his eyes. “They’re lucky they haven’t shrunken their brains by now.”

The brown-haired boy, who Severus now knew was Rabastan, returned to the table with a tall amber bottle in his hand, which he placed in front of Severus. “Drink up. Thor lived on the stuff until his fifth year.”

“I did not.” The blond boy snorted. Severus wondered why Lucius had given his name, but hadn’t introduced him to the others.

“You would have if you could have,” Rabastan chuckled as he picked his pint glass up again and took a swig.

“Maybe.” Thor grinned at him.

Severus took a small sip with some trepidation and was pleased with the buttery warm sensation that came from the bottle. His eyebrows went up and he took a bigger drink.

“Told you.” Rabastan smirked into his glass.

“So, Severus, tell us about your family.” Thor said in a laid back tone. Rabastan perked up and it didn’t escape Severus’ notice.

Lucius cleared his throat and the other boys looked at him. “Severus is a half-blood, but his mother was a Prince.”

The other boys made noises of recognition, which put Severus at ease, but he was even more relieved when they soared off into a conversation about Quidditch and it’s World Cup which had just happened the week before. He would have hated to try to make conversation with older boys he felt the need to impress without knowing more about their culture.

He took another long drink from his bottle and began to relax a little as the older boys’ conversation rattled on. It wasn’t as if he were going off to Hogwarts alone, he reasoned with himself. Lily would be there and Lucius had been told to look after him.

Severus furrowed his brows at the thought. He was eleven, a year younger than his father had been when he had started working to support his parents. That was practically grown. He didn’t really need looking after. Someone to answer questions for him, sure, but to say he was so helpless he needed looking after was just insulting.

“What’s wrong, kid?” Rabastan was looking at Severus curiously.

Severus ground his teeth for a moment before looking at Lucius and frowning. “I don’t need looking after. I’m not a dunderhead.”

Thor snickered as Lucius raised his eyebrows and looked amused. Rabastan blinked before he snorted into his drink.

“What?” Severus asked, suddenly self-conscious.

“Looks like you’re a bit sensitive to the stuff,” Lucius nodded at the bottle.

“Like a house-elf.” Thor chuckled as he picked up his pint glass.

“And surly.” Lucius looked amused. “I know you don’t need looking after. Mother’s just-”

“There aren’t any words for your mother,” Thor laughed, his blue eyes twinkling. “Last time I left she tried to smuggle me a tin of biscuits.”

“It’ll wear off soon,” Rabastan reassured Severus. “You’re pretty small so we should have known better. Have you eaten?”

“He was at my house, that’s a stupid question,” Lucius snorted as he lifted his glass to his lips and took a deep drink that left only a few inches of brew in the bottom of the glass. “And she packed us lunches.”

“Well, at least you won’t get sick, then,” Rabastan shook his head as he poured more amber liquid into his pint glass. “It wouldn’t do to get us docked House points before the year’s even started.”

Thor shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“You can get sick from this?” Severus frowned at the bottle.

“Well, if you’re sensitive you never can tell, but if you got sick they’d come looking for us and we’ve probably had a few too many,” Thor explained.

“That’s the part where getting docked House points comes in.” Rabastan sighed as if defeated.

“We should get going,” Lucius said as he examined a silver filigree pocket watch. “You two have had quite enough and I want to get there in time to get a good compartment. Thor, will you get Tom to call us a car?”

Thor left the table and Severus finished his bottle of Butterbeer quickly, noticing Rabastan was looking at him thoughtfully. After a moment, Thor hurried back to the table. “One of the cars is on it’s way back from the train station. If we hurry to the curb we can claim it.”

“Well, go!” Lucius waved him off. “We’ll get your things.”

Thor grabbed his pint glass and swallowed what was left in it in one long gulp before hurrying off through the crowd, avoiding several collisions and managing to pinch the bottom of the red-haired barmaid on his way out the door.

Lucius and Rodolphus gulped down the rest of their pints quickly before gathering their things. Rodolphus pulled a short brown wand out of his robe sleeve and pointed it at their trunks. They quavered for a moment before stacking themselves and levitating a few inches off the floor, ready to float behind them as they made their way through the busy pub. When they got to the door, Lucius had to transfigure wheels on the bottom trunk so they could get them out to the curb without being too obvious to Muggles.

When Severus opened the door of the pub for the older boys (he figured it was the least he could do for not having to haul his trunk anywhere) he noticed there was a long black car already waiting at the curb for them. Thor was already inside and waving merrily.

“Everyone goes to the train station like this?” Severus goggled at the car. He’d never seen anything like it close up and had certainly never thought he’d ever get to ride in anything like it.

“Most people take the Knight Bus or a Muggle taxi,” Rodolphus explained as the driver, a older man with scraggly gray hair and a face like a dried apple, struggled to get the trunks into the boot of the car. “But Thor can use his family’s account to pay for a car so we usually get one.”

“Ah,” Severus said somewhat uncomfortably. Were all wizards rich? Was it just Muggle-borns that weren’t?

Severus noticed the boot had been transformed into a quite large area, much like the things in Lucius’ room. He suddenly wondered exactly how inconspicuous they were, standing on the street in wizarding robes, piling in far more items than any compartment on a car had any right to have in it.

“Come on!” Thor grinned from the back of the car. “We can throw fire crackers at Muggles on the way there!”

“Not out of my car, you won’t!” the craggy-faced driver scowled. “I know it’s not Muggle baiting, but it’s close enough to get me a fine and I’m not doing it! You can’t behave yourselves, you can walk. I don’t care who your fathers are!”

“Don’t press your luck,” Lucius said warningly to Thor as boys piled in the backseat.

Severus scooted over and tried to caress the buttery, white leather upholstery without being too obvious. When he had settled in next to Thor, Rabastan on his other side, he found his short legs barely allowed his toes to brush the plush carpeting on the floorboard. He liked the way that even the tips of the fibers slowed down the swinging of his feet, as if they had no wear on them at all.

The driver helped them put their bags on metal trolleys once they had departed the car, Severus leaving somewhat reluctantly, and soon the boys were strolling through the bustling station and on their way.

“Can you imagine walking through here with an owl?” Rabastan snickered and pointed out a small red-haired boy in Muggle clothing with a pretty woman Severus assumed was his mother. They had a his trunk on a trolley, just like Severus, but balanced on top of the trunk was a large brass cage with a brown owl inside.

Severus looked at Lucius and the others, getting looks of their own as they strode through the station in their robes, and tried not to snicker.

“Did your mother tell you how to get to the train?” Thor asked as they approached Platform 6.

“No,” Severus said, somewhat embarrassed that his father had thrown the letter into the fire as soon as he had seen it. “I saw Lily’s letter, but it seemed all wrong.”

“How so?” Rabastan smirked as they passed a group of giggling girls in Muggle school uniforms.

“Who’s Lily?” Lucius asked a little too quickly.

“Lily lives near me, and her letter said Platform 9 ¾,” Severus said warily. He watched for Lucius’ reaction.

“Is she from Wizarding stock?” Thor asked as he narrowly avoided running over a little old lady wearing a lavender cardigan and a hat heavily laden with enormous silk flowers.

“Her parents are Muggles, if that’s what you’re asking,” Severus said defensively as they walked past Platform 7, not garnering as many stares as they had before. Perhaps these people were getting used to seeing people in robes walk by the closer they got to their destination.

“Ah,” said Rabastan lightly. “So we wouldn’t know her parents.”

“No.” Severus felt a bit ashamed of himself. He needed to stop being so defensive. Rabastan hadn’t meant anything by it.

“Well, her instructions weren’t wrong,” Lucius cut in as they approached the area they should be going. “It’s a platform just for the school train. You can only get to it if you know how.”

“How do you get through if you don’t know any wizards?” Severus asked curiously as he looked around to see if he could spot Lily.

“I don’t know, but I hear they make some sort of arrangement for them,” Lucius said as the boys began lining their carts up. “Now, watch as Thor does it.”

The older boys tried to appear casual, but Severus watched as Thor peered about nonchalantly before heading straight for the brick barrier between Platforms 9 and 10. He expected the boy to crash his trolley, but instead he disappeared.

“What?” squawked Severus. “How am I supposed to do that?”

“It’s easier if you close your eyes the first time,” Rabastan suggested as a small boy in blue robes zipped up and through the barrier.

“I have a better idea,” Lucius suggested. “We can put my trunk on top of his and he can hold onto the back of my robes as we go through.”

“But your trunk is bigger,” Rodolphus protested.

“But mine has a lightweight charm on it and his doesn’t,” Lucius said under his breath. “Which one do you want to lift?”

Rabastan grumbled, but helped Lucius move the black trunk on top of Severus’. “I’ll go after you two. In case something goes wrong I’ll still be on this side.”

“There’s nothing to it,” Lucius reassured Severus, who was feeling very nervous. “Gather up the back of my robes so you don’t step on them. Then close your eyes.” Severus gripped the heavy material at the back of Lucius’ robes and closed his eyes tight as he felt Lucius shift his grip on the trolley they now shared. “Now just walk behind me.”

They walked forward, Lucius leading and Severus following blindly behind when Severus suddenly heard a shift in sound, as if he had gone from one room to another.

“You can open them now.”

Severus opened his eyes and was stunned at the sight before him. Witches and wizards of all sizes and ages were bustling about on the platform: children saying goodbye to their parents, old friends meeting up with each other after the summer holidays, the occasional parent lecturing someone about future behavior and grade expectations, but all of that was ignored by Severus as he stared at the sight before him.

He knew they would be taking the train to Hogwarts, but what a train.

Severus had always loved trains. The tracks near his house had lulled him to sleep as a baby with their click-clack sound and he had learned to tell the time of day by the pitch of the whistle he could hear in the distance when he was playing with Lily.

But this was like a train like no other he had ever seen. It sat gleaming on the tracks ahead, it’s red paneling cleaned to a shine and the brass fittings were polished so bright they seemed to be slivers of sunlight set into the incredible mechanical beast. It looked like something that should be in a museum, not something in use.

But a working train it was, and Severus would get to ride in it today. He felt positively giddy.

“Do you like trains?” Lucius asked, chuckling at Severus’ goggle-eyed expression. “I was so excited to ride it the first time I thought I was going to burst.”

Severus chuckled and they began to walk towards Thor, who was standing next to the girl with a long brown braid that Lucius had waved to in the Leaky Cauldron. Rabastan came through the barrier next and as they approached, the girl said her good byes to Thor and scuttled away.

“What was that?” Rabastan asked Thor with a chuckle.

“Nothing.” Thor blushed but the other boys didn’t press him. “Let’s get our trunks where they need to go.”

Severus followed the others to an area where people were dropping off their belongings and he helped Lucius unload the trolley, nearly getting smashed by his own trunk. When they were done, Severus stopped a moment to watch the men in robes that matched the train load trunks onto a baggage car with a flick of their wands.

“Well, we’re off to find a compartment for ourselves,” Lucius told Severus as Thor and Rabastan scanned the crowd for faces they knew. “Go exploring if you want to. We’ll probably be in the same place for the whole trip.”

“Except for you,” Thor teased.

“That’s just at the very end.” Lucius rolled his eyes and Severus wished he knew what the others were talking about, but he didn’t want to appear as clueless as he felt. “That doesn’t count.”

“At the end of the trip, the first years are gathered together so they can cross the lake in boats,” Rabastan explained. “So we can’t go with you, but after the sorting we may see you in the Great Hall… or not.”

Thor and Rabastan started snickering to each other as if they were in on some sort of secret joke, but an icy stare from Lucius stopped them cold.

“I’m sure if my mother was friends with his, the Sorting Hat will sort him accordingly.” Lucius said with a tone of warning in his voice.

“Of course it will,” Thor said innocently.

“Well, I’m going to try to find Lily,” Severus said, not sure he was liking the way the conversation was going, but recognizing the fact that Lucius was sticking up for him. “But I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Undoubtedly,” Lucius said as he nodded to a black-haired boy in scarlet robes. “I’ll be checking on the first years so if you don’t catch up with us on the train I’ll see you later.”

“All right,” Severus agreed. “Thanks for everything!”

They said their goodbyes and the older boys waved Severus off as he wandered down the platform to get a better look at the train. It didn’t have the smell the other trains seemed to put out and Severus wondered what made it go. When he made it up to the front of the train he was disappointed to discover there was no way of telling since the engine was completely covered.

“Severus!”

He turned at the sound of a familiar female voice and grinned. Lily was barreling down the platform to get to him, her fiery red hair dancing behind her and her pink skirt flaring as she ran.

Severus began to wave at her, but was stopped as she crashed into him, hugging him with all her might. He could smell the familiar scent of her mother’s laundry detergent still clinging to her white blouse. “I thought you couldn’t come!”

“Mum snuck me out this morning,” Severus wheezed as he tried to regain his breath. “Been at a friend of hers.”

“Well, that’s lucky then!” Lily grinned. “Now we won’t be alone!”

“I’ve met a couple people,” Severus admitted. “The guy I came with and a few of his mates, but they’re a lot older than us.”

“Are they nice?” Lily asked.

“They’re a bit snooty, honestly.” Severus rolled his eyes. “And that dumb kind of snooty where they think you’re clueless.”

“I wonder if Hogwarts has a snooker table,” Lily said evilly. “I’ll show them stupid.”

Severus chuckled. “I’m not sure they allow pool sharks in the school, but I’ll be sure to ask.”

“Snooker isn’t pool,” Lily said hotly.

“I don’t think anyone will care after you clean them out.” Severus snorted as they turned to walk back down the platform. Suddenly he looked around. “Where are your parents?”

“They’re taking care of some last minute things with the Muggle relations representative from the Ministry.” Lily shrugged as tabby cat trotted by, a small blond girl in pink robes scrambling after it. “Things are a little confusing for them right now. It’s a lot to take in.”

Lily wanted to stay on the platform and wait for her parents, but Severus convinced her to go with him in search of a compartment while they were still available. Lucius made it sound as if they were going to be snatched up soon and students were starting to fill the platform.

“You can still still see the platform from the window,” Severus reassured her as they boarded the train. “When we see your parents we’ll just yell for them and they can walk up to the window.”

They nervously boarded the train and began exploring for an empty compartment to settle into. Thankfully, the people that had boarded seemed to be crowding into compartments in groups, so there was more room left than Severus thought there would be.

“What about this one?” Lily gestured to an open compartment, a cozy place with two cushioned bench seats and a pull down table if they wanted to use one.

“Looks as good as any,” Severus agreed. When he got into the compartment he looked out the window and laughed. “No wonder you wanted this one, we can see your parents from here.”

Mrs. Evans, a small woman with blond hair scanning the platform for her daughter while Mr. Evans was involved in what looked like a very serious discussion with a white-haired wizard in green robes and a tall pointed hat.

Severus and Lily called out and waved furiously until they caught her eye. She turned towards them with a look of pure relief.

“Oh, Severus!” Mrs. Evans called out as she bustled over to them through the growing number of people, her husband’s eyes following her path and giving the children a small wave as he continued talking to the wizard. “You made it! I’m so glad you’re able to go, I feel so much better about Lily going off to school if she has someone she knows with her.”

“What’s dad talking to that man about?” Lily asked as if she were afraid to know the answer.

“How to go about getting an owl,” Mrs. Evans said casually as she rifled around for something in her handbag.

Lily groaned. “I said we should look into them when we were at Diagon Alley.”

“Not for you, for us,” Mrs. Evans said testily as she was jostled by a group of giggling girls.

“For you?” Lily looked surprised. “Why do you need an owl?”

“Because if we wait for you to write we might hear from you before Christmas,” Mrs. Evans chuckled as she came out with her wallet. “We want to be able to write to you without waiting for a school owl to arrive.”

“That makes a lot of sense,” Severus interjected before Lily could say anything. “Especially if you want to send any packages or anything.”

He nudged Lily with the toe of his shoe and she gave him a funny look, but stayed silent.

Mr. Evans soon approached the train, wiping his forehead and looking as if he were under a lot of stress. “I think we finally have some sort of arrangement. We’ll be getting some sort of communication within the week.”

“Well, thats a great deal of worry gone,” Mrs. Evans said, but her husband didn’t look as if he had stopped worrying at all. She opened the coin purse on the back of her wallet and pulled out a few gold coins. “Now, here are a few Galleons. I know most of your things will be provided for, but you might need some money.”

“It should hold you over until Christmas, at least.” Mr. Evans chuckled as Lily took the Galleons and tucked them inside a pocket on her skirt.

“Thanks,” Lily said. Then she looked at her mother’s face. “Oh, mum. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Mrs. Evans had started sniffling and her husband rolled his eyes as he put an arm around her.

“She’ll be fine,” Mr. Evans consoled his wife. “Severus will be looking after her and he’s sure to let us know if anythings wrong.”

Mrs. Evans looked up at Severus and he nodded at her reassuringly.

“If you get too worried you could always go talk to my mum,” Severus said awkwardly.

Usually he didn’t want his friends’ parents to meet his, but with all the time he spent with Lily the meeting of their mothers was inevitable. It had gone well, as far as meetings had gone. At least Severus’ father had been off to the pub so there hadn’t been any unpleasantness.

Severus did note that Mrs. Evan’s eyes had lingered on the bruise on Eileen’s face when she wasn’t looking. That was when she had started asking Severus over for supper more often.

“That’s a very good idea,” Mrs. Evans said, her smile turning a bit stiff. “Maybe I should.”

The whistle for the train blew and the platform suddenly became a flurry of activity with students throwing their trunks in the community pile that was getting smaller by the moment as the wizards packing them away started moving considerably faster; parents giving teary good-byes; students rushing to get on the train (ah, this was when people started scrambling for compartments); and the sound of people on the train and the platform shouting last minute things back and forth to each other.

The conductor stood on a small platform near the engine and called for everyone to board and Severus felt his heart leap into his throat. He was actually going to get to ride a train! And not just any train, quite possibly the greatest train ever made. He wondered if he was very polite to someone in charge perhaps they’d let him up in the forward cabin to see how it worked.

After more good-byes and a mad scramble to get on the train, the whistle blew twice and they started to move.

Severus and Lily waved furiously at Lily’s parents, her mother bursting into tears as they pulled away and Mr. Evans wrapping his arms around her and whispering soothing words. Severus thought it a strange thing to do from someone who wasn’t a mother, but Severus could tell she had been comforted by the way she leaned into him.

He and Lily stopped waving as they got further away and finally Severus closed up the window and latched it as Lily sat down.

He turned to look at her and she appeared to be turning green.

“What’s wrong?” Severus asked nervously. “Did you eat an enchanted candy? Is the train making you ill?”

“What?” Lily asked, her voice confused and cracking a bit.

Severus gave her a look of understanding and locked the compartment door and pulled the privacy shade down. Then he sat beside her and took her hand. “I’m probably the only one on this train happy to get away from home.” He let out a cynical bark of a laugh that sounded far beyond his years.

“I sincerely doubt it,” Lily said, to Severus’ surprise as she wiped the stray tears away that had been forming in her eyes. “Not everyone was so understanding when they got that letter, I’ll bet.”

Severus was quiet for a moment. He had it bad at home, he wasn’t doubting that, but he had never thought of others like him. How Hogwarts was a haven for those that needed to escape.

“What are you looking so serious about?” Lily asked him.

“Nothing.” Severus shook the thought out of his head. “Hey, Mrs. Malfoy packed me a lunch. Want to see what’s in it?”

“Sure,” Lily said, perking up a bit. “I was so nervous this morning I couldn’t eat much.”

Severus untied the red bag from his belt loop and peered inside it. “Blimey!”

“What is it?” Lily asked as she leaned over to see what he was making so much fuss over. Her mouth formed an ‘o’ shape as she goggled at the contents of the bag.

Mrs. Malfoy must have truly thought Severus was starving if the contents of the bag was any clue. There were containers, bottles, small packages, assorted fruits, and something that looked as if it may be a ham.

The bag contained more food than his parent’s pantry did in a month.

“How did all that get in there?” Lily whispered in wonderment.

“Some sort of space-altering charm. They seem to be popular.” Severus reached in the bag and brought out something bundled up in linen. He squeezed it and frowned. “This doesn’t feel like food.”

“Open it up,” Lily encouraged.

Severus did so and let out an exasperated laugh.

“What is it?” Lily asked as she tilted her head to the side.

“Robes.” Severus started giggling. “Mrs. Malfoy didn’t think it was proper to leave for a wizarding school wearing Muggle clothes.”

“But there were plenty of kids wearing Muggle clothes on the platform.” Lily frowned.

“I know,” Severus folded the soft gray robes neatly and placed them on the seat next to him. “Nice lady, but she seems a bit old-fashioned.”

Lily tentatively reached into the bag and came out with another parcel, this time wrapped in waxed paper. “This could be food.”

They opened it and were pleased to find a corned beef sandwich slathered with mustard and with fresh, crisp lettuce.

“This is incredible.” Lily said as she took half the sandwich and took a bite. “How did she get it together so fast? You’re never going to be able to eat all the food in there!” Lily peered in the bag once again and shrugged. “Maybe there’s a place to put food once we get to the school. Like a refrigerator in the dorm or something.”

“There’s no electricity at Hogwarts,” Severus said as he opened the sandwich too see if anything else was on it. Once it had passed inspection he started eating it.

“What do you mean there’s no electricity?” Lily asked, a horrified look on her face."What do they use for lights?”

“There are candles and torches and other magical ways of lighting areas,” Severus said, quickly reassuring her. “It’s not going to be dark, don’t worry.”

She gave him a rueful smile. “What are we going to do if we’re in different Houses?”

“That won’t happen.” Severus snorted. “We’re too much alike.”

There was a rattle at the door and Severus stood up and unlatched it. He opened it to see an older boy in green robes looking at his quizzically. He looked like a taller, thinner, red-haired Rabastan. A tall dark-skinned boy with oiled black hair, a neatly trimmed black goatee and heavy-lidded brown eyes lined by dark, thick eyelashes peered over his shoulder.

“Oh, sorry. Thought you might have been someone else,” the red-haired boy said casually as he looked at Severus and Lily appraisingly. “What are you doing in there, anyway?”

“Eating lunch. Are we not allowed to have the door locked?” Lily asked innocently.

The older boy peered at Lily and his eyes narrowed as he saw the red bag. “Where did you get that?”

Severus felt his spine stiffen. He wasn’t going to let a bully have his way before they had even got to the school. This was his lunch and he was sharing it with Lily! “Mrs. Malfoy gave it to me. What of it?”

“You know the Malfoys?” The dark-haired boy looked surprised..

“I came with Lucius.” Severus said. “Are you Rabastan’s brother? I think they may have been looking for you.”

“Yes, I’m Rodolphus Lestrange and this is Antonin Dolohov,” Rodolphus said with a hint of surprise to his voice. “Have we met before?”

“No,” Severus said. “You just look alike. I’m Severus Snape and this is Lily Evans. My mother was a Prince.” Severus thought he sounded completely stupid for saying that, but it seemed to be the way people knew each other in the Wizarding World.

“Pardon me?” Antonin looked confused.

“The Prince family. Remember? Offshoot of the Black family,” Rabastan rolled his eyes as if Antonin should know this

“Hmmm…” Antonin looked a if he were trying to recall something but failing. He shook his head. “I’ll probably place it later.”

“Well, off to find Lucius and that infuriating brother of mine. They’re probably not far from each other.” Rabastan looked down the corridor and nodded a greeting to someone Severus couldn’t see from his place in the compartment. “Hope to see you both in Slytherin.”

Severus and Lily gave somewhat bewildered good-byes as Rabastan took off down the corridor, Antonin trailing along behind him.

Severus closed the door and relocked it.

“What was all that about?” Lily asked as she opened the bag, rummaged around for a bit, and came up with a green glass bottle. She squinted at the level of liquid in it and then set it down on the seat next to her.

“I have no idea. They all talk to each other like they’re nobs.” Severus shrugged as he sat down next to her and pulled a small round wooden container tied with twine. “But mum never mentioned her family being well off. You think that’d be the type of thing she’d mention.”

Lily snorted. “Why would she?”

Severus looked surprised. “What?”

“Well, she left this life behind to be with your da, didn’t she?” Lily said as if Severus were daft.

Severus was silent as he undid the twine and opened the container. He would usually be delighted to find potato salad, cold and creamy, with a small silver fork fastened to the inside of the lid, but Lily was right.

He unfastened the fork and took a bite of the potato salad before picking his sandwich up again. If he’d made a mistake as like his mother had, he’d hardly want to dwell on things. “I guess she did. But Mrs. Malfoy acted like she’d been around for at least one of my birthdays.”

“That’s funny.” Lily shrugged as she polished off her half a sandwich and balled up the waxed paper. “Well, maybe they fell out of touch later. You don’t know.”

Severus chewed thoughtfully as Lily pulled the cork from the green bottle and had a drink.

“You should try some of this. It’s really good lemonade,” Lily said as she handed the bottle to Severus so she could dig around in the bag of food.

“Hungry?” Severus laughed as she came up with a peach, which was strangely unbruised for being in a sack with so many other things.

“I’m sorry,” she said guiltily. “I shouldn’t be pawing through your lunch.”

Severus snorted as he set the bottle down. “There’s probably enough to feed us for a month in there. Go ahead.”

Lily took a bite from the peach and grinned at him as juice ran down her chin. She laughed as he scrambled for the bag.

“I don’t see her as the type not to pack a napkin,” Severus chuckled as he rummaged around in the bag, noting a parcel of oranges and what looked like a tin of biscuits before he found what he was looking for.

“Thanks,” Lily giggled as he handed her the napkin. She started wiping her face and hands ans she got an odd look on her face.

“What?” Severus asked.

“I’m not sticky anymore.” Lily frowned as she looked at the linen napkin. “It’s like it did more than just wipe the juice away.”

“It probably did,” Severus said excitedly. “I bet we’re going to see a lot more things like that from now on!”

Lily grinned at him widely as she handed him the peach so he could take a bite from it as well. She wiped herself clean as he sunk his teeth into the ripe fruit.

“Oh, this is so good!” Severus exclaimed, his mouth full of sticky sweet juice. “How do you think they did it?”

“Did what?” Lily asked.

“Get fruit without brown spots?” Severus asked.

Lily was strangely quiet for a moment. “Maybe they grow them at home and they don’t have time to get banged around in a cart.”

“That’s probably it.” Severus nodded as he took another bite before handing it back to her.

There was another knock and Severus took the napkin and wiped himself clean before rolling his eyes and getting up to open the door again.

“Who is it?” Severus asked in a funny voice, causing Lily to giggle at him.

“I’m sorry, is this a private compartment?” A muffled voice came through the door at them.

Severus looked back at Lily and she shrugged. He opened the door to find a boy not much bigger than he was with mousy brown hair and a faint white scar across one cheek standing in front of him.

Severus eyed him coolly before stepping aside to let him in.

“Thanks,” the boy said, his voice full of sincere gratitude. “The other compartments seem to all be crowded.”

“Yea, we got tipped off so we snagged one.” Lily grinned at the boy as Severus relocked the door and sat back down. “I’m Lily Evans and this is Severus Snape.”

“Remus Lupin.” The boy ran a hand through his scruffy hair. “What year are you?”

“We’re first years,” Lily said as Severus finished the peach. “Are you?”

“Yes.” Remus looked intensely relieved. “I didn’t even know if I was going to get to come at all.”

“Me neither,” Severus said, surprising Lily with his candor. “I don’t even know what I’m going to do for books.”

“Really?” Remus looked mildly surprised. “I had books, at least. My mother was going to use them for instruction if I had ended up being home-schooled.”

“So your mother’s a witch?” Lily changed the subject from books quickly as Severus took a drink from the bottle of lemonade.

“Both my parents went to Hogwarts,” Remus said proudly. “They were Ravenclaws.”

“My mum was a Slytherin,” Severus said as he glanced at the passing countryside out of the window. He blinked in surprise as he saw a cow go by.

“My parents are Muggles.” Lily shrugged as Severus got up to look out of the window..

“My dad told me just being from a magical family doesn’t mean you get a step up,” Remus said reassuringly as he looked at the red bag curiously. “Is that a Lunchbag?”

“Well, it does have food in it,” Lily said hesitantly

Remus tried to stifle a chuckle and got to his feet to better look at the bag. “It is! You can keep loads of food in there and it’ll stay good for a long time!”

“What are you looking at?” Lily asked Severus, who was staring out the window.

“Cows.” Severus said with a shake of his head and a strange smile.

“Cows?” Remus looked confused.

“Look at them. They’re all just walking around. And this field is huge.” Severus shook his head in amazement. “It’s not like there’s any big house out there or anything.”

“Is he alright?” Remus asked Lily out of the corner of his mouth.

“He’s never been out of the city before.” Lily giggled.

“Ah.” Remus nodded in understanding. “My father said the trip is quite relaxing if you get bored. I think that means he used to sleep on the way.”

They all scooted towards the window, pulling down the small table between the bench seats and putting the Lunchbag and their wands on it before settling in to watch the scenery pass by.

“How many wands do you think there are?” Lily asked suddenly; after they had managed to count five cows, thirteen birds, and endless sheep.

“What, in the world? I dunno,” Severus said, peeling his eyes from the window and looking at her. She had the three wands lined up on the table and was examining them. “As many as there are wizards and witches and then enough to stock a shop.”

Remus barked out a laugh. “That’s probably a good estimate for Britain, but there are other wand makers in the world.”

“There are?” Lily asked, her eyes wide with wonderment.

“Sure there are!” Remus exclaimed. “Did you think all the wizards in the world came to Diagon Alley to get their wands?”

Lily looked to Severus, who shrugged at her before pressing his face to the window again.

“I never really thought about it.” Severus said. “Mother says there are other schools as well, but Hogwarts is the best.”

“Yours is neat,” Lily said, examining Remus’s wand. “I mean, they’re all neat, but yours is different.”

“Different how?” Remus frowned as he leaned over to look at the wands.

“It has something in the handle.” Lily pointed to a small spot on his dull brown wand.

“Oh, yea.” Remus looked a little uncomfortable. “It think it’s a piece of bone or something.”

“I wish I had something pretty on my wand.” Lily remarked as she looked at her own, light colored wand. “It’s just plain and white.”

“Well, white isn’t very common, is it?” Remus pointed out.

“It isn’t?” Lily looked surprised.

“I haven’t seen very many of them, and I’ve seen a lot of wands.” Remus said a little proudly.

“What about you, Severus?” Lily asked. “Have you seen many wands?”

“Just that one.” Severus said, finally pulling himself away from the window to sit beside Lily.

“Your mum didn’t have a wand?” Remus looked surprised.

“Of course she did,” Severus scowled at Remus. “This is hers.”

“Oh, an heirloom wand!” Remus said in recognition. “They can be tricky, but they’re supposed to be something else.”

“What do you mean?” Lily asked.

“Well, our wands are new, so they’re like new workbooks. We have to do all the exercises. His is like the answer key. It already knows the spells, he just needs to catch up with his wand in terms of learning.” Remus nodded at Severus’ wand. “If it’s more than a few generations old they can get really powerful. Too unpredictable for a beginner.”

“Well, it’s only been through my mum,” Severus said as he picked his wand up. “I’m pretty sure it’s safe.”

“Well, I doubt she’d give you a dangerous one,” Lily said with a chuckle. “She seems to like you enough to not try to blow you up your first time away from home.”

“Gee, thanks.” Severus smirked.

“You knew each other before you got your letters?” Remus furrowed his brows.

“We live near enough to each other,” Lily said vaguely. Severus was thankful she didn’t point out she was from a nice neighborhood and he was practically in the slums. “Severus is the one who told me I was a witch.”

“Well, that must’ve been a surprise!” Remus laughed.

“Well, I could already do some things,” Lily admitted. “But I didn’t know why.”

“Scaring the other kids, were you?” Remus asked with a sly smile.

“Mostly her sister.” Severus snorted as he opened the Lunchbag again and poked around.

“Are you the only one in your family, then?” Remus asked. “A lot of times even if the family’s all Muggle, siblings will all be able to do magic.”

“Not in ours.” Lily said firmly.

“Hey, do either of you play Exploding Snap?” Remus asked as he began digging around in his robes

What’s that?” Lily asked nervously as Remus pulled out a pack of cards and slid them out of their colorful box.

“It’s like regular Snap, mostly,” Severus explained reassuringly. She always was nervous if she felt she weren’t prepared for something. “The rules are the same, but the cards are enchanted for effect.”

“Oh, good!” Lily instantly cheered up.

Remus doled out the cards as the train ran through the countryside and they played on until there was a rap at the door and a voice called out offering drinks and food at affordable rates.

Lily and Severus declined, but Remus pulled a pouch from his robes and went to the door to haggle over prices.

“It’s a shame you’ve never seen any Wizarding treats,” Remus said as he returned to the table, opening his arms and spilling all sorts of treats over the hard surface.

Colorful packages offered up treats Lily and Severus had never heard of before: Chocolate Frogs, Licorice Wands, and cauldron cakes; Every-Flavor Beans, Caramel Knuts, Marshmallow Mice, hot ginger candy that promised to make the eater breathe ginger scented smoke for a short period of time, and many others.

Lily thanked Remus profusely as she opened the corner of a box of Marshmallow Mice to peer in at them; then shrieked in surprise as a white candy mouse poked it’s nose out at her.

Remus slammed his hand on the top of the box quickly. “If you let them get out we’ll be chasing them all over.”

“What? Really?” Severus ripped open a packet of chocolate frogs and deftly caught it as it leaped out. He examined the frog. “They keep moving like they’re alive even when you’re eating them? Gross!”

“No!” Remus laughed, but then turned thoughtful. “Well, I bet they would if you ate them fast enough; but they only have one good scurry or jump in them. If they get away and get under the seats I don’t want to go looking for them.”

“Good point,” Severus agreed as he bit the head off his now non-wriggling Chocolate Frog and examined the card of Ptolemy inside.

Remus showed Lily how to release a single candy mouse and catch it without letting the whole box go while Severus poked through the pile of candy taking an inventory of what Lucretia Malfoy considered to be junk food.

He decided she was probably right and mused over this as he waved a licorice wand curiously, wondering if it would do anything and shrugging when it didn’t.

Lily held up the Marshmallow Mouse to examine it once it had stopped moving. It was a marshmallow the size and shape of a mouse, dusted in powdered sugar, with two blue bits of crystallized sugar for eyes and a small pink crunchy bit for a nose. She examined it before she bit into it, revealing a bit of strawberry jelly inside.

Severus and Remus laughed at her expression.

“Oh, that’s disgusting,” Lily tried to scowl, but it was clear she thought it was funny as well.

“But they taste good, don’t they?” Remus asked with a wide grin as he offered one to Severus.

They sampled other candies; devising a rating system as they went: licorice wands were ‘nice, yet normal’; Bernie Bott’s Every-Flavor Beans were ‘downright hazardous’; Strawberry Sphinxes, a candy that made the person solve a riddle before the box would open, were ‘more trouble than they’re worth’ until Severus realized you could just tear open the opposite side of the box.

By the time they had each taken a Fizzing Whizbee they had started hearing the noises of people out in the corridor exploring compartments and greeting other students they knew. Once or twice someone rattled the compartment door, but continued on upon finding it locked.

“We’re lucky we got a spot early,” Severus remarked as they looked out of the window to make out a small town in the distance, the church steeple standing out white against rolling green hills behind it near the edge of the heavier wooded area that they seemed to be entering.

“Do you think we should open the door?” Lily asked in a worried voice. “Maybe some people don’t have seats at all.”

“I doubt it,” Remus shook his head and the brown fringe dusted his forehead. “Mum made it sound as if the train would be able to make more room if it really needed to.”

“How does that work?” Severus asked as he turned to look at Remus.

“Not sure,” Remus grinned widely as he folded his arms behind his head. “As long as I don’t have to set the enchantments I don’t really care.”

Lily had laughed and Severus had chortled. The children spent the rest of their trip discussing the different types of wands they had seen; rules of Quidditch; and what little Remus and Lily remembered of their schoolbooks over several games of games of Snap.

After some time, there was an authoritative rapping at the door that made them all sit up straighter on impulse. Remus hopped to his feet and unlocked and opened the door.

Lucius was standing there, his black robes resplendent on his well-formed body and one perfect blond eyebrow arched with suspicion at Remus.

“Hi!” Severus called out and Lucius coolly looked past Remus to Severus where his expression changed to one of recognition.

“Oh, there you are. I was starting to wonder where you’d gotten off to.” Lucius’ eyes darted back to Remus where he looked him up and down. “I don’t believe I know your friends.”

“Remus Lupin.” Remus held a hand out to Lucius and Lucius took it somewhat stiffly.

The older boy smiled but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Lupin. Yes, I do believe I do know of your family. It’s good to see you, quite good indeed. I’ll be interested in seeing where the Sorting puts you. Hope to see you in Slytherin!”

Remus looked pleased, but somewhat taken aback. “Thanks. Both my parents were Ravenclaws but you never know where you’ll end up, I suppose.”

“Of course.” This time the small smile he allowed himself softened Lucius’ face and he released Remus’s hand to look at Lily. “And this is?” He looked as if he were bracing himself for a bad smell.

“Lily Evans,” Severus said quickly. “I told you about her.”

“Of course,” Lucius said with a short bow in Lily’s direction. “Miss Evans.”

Lily blushed furiously and glanced at Severus quickly.

“Well, we’ll be stopping soon. Everyone else will be getting to the castle by carriage, but you’re going to go up separately,” Lucius instructed them. “When you get to the castle your things will be waiting and you’ll be given an area to change into your school robes. If you aren’t used to changing clothes in public, I’d suggest you get used to it quickly.”

“What, together?” Severus blurted out, his cheeks turning hot as Remus shifted uncomfortably.

Sure, he’d been swimming with Lily before, down at the public pool. That was almost like changing, he supposed, but there was something quite different between swim trunks and underpants.

“There are separate arrangements for boys and girls.” Lucius chuckled. “Don’t be so nervous.”

Severus let out a little nervous laugh and Remus a sigh of relief as Lucius backed out of the compartment.

“Well, I’ll be seeing all of you up at the school,” Lucius said cordially. “We’re always curious about where the first years are sorted. Good luck.”

The compartment door slid shut and relocked itself, to everyone’s surprise.

“No wonder no one cared it was locked if anyone can open and shut it,” Remus chuckled as he returned to the seat.

There were a pounding of feet outside as students raced around trying to find each other. Sometimes people shook the door to their compartment and shouted out names the three of them didn’t recognize, but they just called out that the person that they were looking for wasn’t there and they were left alone.

The sky was starting to grow dark and the three of them watched the forest go by as the train whisked through it. Remus said he thought he saw something out in the thickness of the trees, but as hard as they might try, neither Lily or Severus was able to see anything besides the canopy of leaves and shadow.

An inviable loudspeaker signaled a five minute warning in the conductors voice and Remus suggested they join the others out in the corridors.

Lily looked at Severus and he nodded at her as he took a deep breath. As he slid across the seat he felt thankful for her. She understood him. Knew how hard it was for him to be in that close contact with people and she let him decide for himself if he was ready to do something like pack himself into a corridor with hundreds of excited people.

They made their way out, Lily squeezing Severus’ hand in excitement as they felt the train slow down and Severus found himself grinning. He found he didn’t even mind the crush of people much as the doors opened and they spilled out onto a wooden platform, as long as Lily was holding his hand.

They followed a call for the first year students and they found themselves standing in front of a giant of a man with wild black hair and full beard, waving a lantern and grinning merrily at them. His long brown coat looked like it was made of pockets and his shoes were the size of skateboards.

“C’mon now! Firs’ years this way!” The man’s voice thundered over the bustle of the students as he made his way to a steep path that led away from the platform.

Severus felt Lily squeeze his hand tight as they made their way down the path and he held onto her firmly. He felt her pat the hand holding hers gently and he knew she felt comforted by him in the darkness.

They came around a turn and Severus and Lily both gasped as the path opened up they saw Hogwarts for the first time across an ebony lake that seemed to sparkle in the moonlight.

The castle rose out of the blackness like something out of a fairy tale, it’s towers shooting up to meet the sky and the many windows glowing with a warm golden light.

“See, I told you it’d be well lit,” Severus whispered in Lily’s ear and she giggled and squeezed his hand in excitement.

“Now, don’ yeh be getting’ carried away!” The man said warningly. “No more ‘n four in a boat or you’re in fer trouble!”

Severus and Lily scrambled for a boat and were joined by a tall, black-haired boy with a daisy pinned to his robes; and a petite girl with long blond hair that fell in ringlets down the back of her robes and a small, pixie-like nose.

A command was barked and the tiny boats left the shore and began to make their way across the vast lake to the castle.

Severus tried not to laugh as Lily periodically grabbed his arm and shook him in excitement as the castle drew nearer. Finally they made it to the face of the cliff Hogwarts was perched upon and they ducked under a curtain of creeping vines as their path wove them through a tunnel underneath Hogwarts itself.

“Where are they taking us, the dungeons?” Lily joked in a shaky voice and Severus chuckled at her in an evil tone.

He knew she was trying to be brave and he thought she was doing a very good job of it. He wondered if this was one of the tests to find out if you were brave.

Finally, they reached their destination and they struggled to leave their little boats without getting their feet wet as they gathered on the rocky shore. Remus rejoined them as they were led up a path and finally they came out onto a grassy area near the base of the castle where they paused to wait for everyone to catch up.

After they had regrouped, and after what Severus thought was a pause for dramatic effect, they were led around the side of the castle to an immense set of wooden doors with heavy black hinges and large iron knockers fashioned in the shape of matching gargoyles on each of them.

The giant man knocked and the door swung open easier than a door that size had any right to. A tall, slender, black-haired witch in dark robes and a rigid, pointed hat stood there to greet them.

“Welcome to Hogwarts!” She reminded Severus of his old school librarian, a stern woman that brooked with no nonsense. “Come in, come in!”

They clamored into the entry hall and Severus felt his face break into a smile as he took it all in to the sound of other student’s gasps.

The immense room had a bare stone floor, the flagstones so tightly fitted together it only could have been done by a master mason or by magic. Large brass torches set into the walls burned brightly and illuminated the room in a warm glow. The ceiling was so high it had been swallowed up by the darkness above and the sound of the other students in a room off of the entry way echoed around them. A wide staircase led up and Severus couldn’t help but wonder how people saw their way around at night since the light didn’t seem to follow the stairs.

“Now before we go in to join the other students, I will go over some of the things you should expect. Before you take your seats, you will take part in the Sorting Ceremony, a tradition that has gone on since the school was first founded.”

Several people fidgeted and looked nervous under the appraising gaze of the dark-haired witch, while others smirked as if they thought the process was trivial.

As the witch went on to describe the House system and how points effected one’s standing with the House Cup, Lily leaned over to Severus and whispered frantically: “What if we’re not in the same House?”

Severus shrugged. “Then we only have some classes together instead of all of them.”

Lily pouted. “But I want to live with you. It would almost be like we had our own place or something.”

Severus chuckled at her as the witch went on about the Houses and he heard someone whisper that everyone in their family had been a Ravenclaw and they’d be damned if a manky old hat was going to tell them otherwise.

Soon they were divided up by the sexes and shown to two small rooms where their luggage was waiting for them and they were instructed to change into their school robes.

Severus and Remus stayed back somewhat and looked at each other as they realized they couldn’t get around changing in front of the other students. Remus was the first of them to take a deep breath and proceed forward bravely into the room with the other boys.

To their relief, none of the others seemed thrilled about the arrangement either and seemed to be trying to look anywhere but each other.

Severus changed as quickly as he could, trying to use his trunk to block himself from the view of the rest of the room, but he couldn’t help glancing at Remus. His eyes quickly darted away, but he couldn’t help but notice the long white scars that crisscrossed the whole of Remus’s body.

Severus was horrified. His father’s beatings were brutal, but they had never left scars like this. He wondered what horrors the other boy was escaping by coming to Hogwarts.

This place truly was a haven.

Soon they were rejoining back in the small room with the girls and then they were proceeding into the Great Hall, ready to be Sorted and join the rest of their classmates.

They all wanted to seem confident as they entered the Hall and the Sorting began, but it was hard to appear cool when everyone was staring at the ceiling , or rather the lack thereof and murmuring to each other in wonderment. Severus thought there had to be a ceiling, but part of him wondered if they were sitting in a courtyard that had an invisible repelling dome over it.

“Is it real?” Severus felt Lily’s breath brush his ear as she whispered to him and her fingers clutched at his arm.

“It’s all real,” he whispered back. “We’re really here.”

They were led to the front to the room, up onto a raised platform that had a wooden stool with an old brown wizard’s hat on it set up in the center of the platform. Behind the stool was a long table where witches and wizards Severus knew must make up the staff of Hogwarts were sitting, their eyes sizing up the crop of new students.

Then they all jumped as the Sorting Hat started talking:

As summer starts to die, and winter starts to grow,

The students come, to fill their heads,

Where knowledge doth now flow.

Brave Gryffindors learn loyalty, the stronger they will be;

Smart Ravenclaws will study hard, in this we all agree;

Fair Hufflepuffs know teamwork well, nestled deep within their dens;

Ambitious Slytherins truly learn what darkness lurks in the heart of men.

And as the coldness overtakes us, and we retreat inside,

We always should remember, not all have a place to hide.

The wind will whistle louder, the howling wolves creep close,

The common man does shiver, while the nobles share a toast.

So study hard, and learn what’s best,

Build your Houses well,

Prepare for the winter, brace for the cold,

And pray for the spring, for you never can tell.

There was murmuring throughout the hall as the hat fell silent and the wizened old wizard sitting at the center of the long table, in the chair with the highest back, looked grim.

“What was that?” Lily asked Severus who shrugged in return

“I don’t know.” Severus was worried. “I’m not sure it was supposed to do that.”

“Well, it wasn’t the best song, was it?” A tall boy with tight black curls and a turned-up nose sniffed. “My father said in his day it remarked on each House’s Quidditch teams and then everyone lost all their money when it turned out to be wrong.”

“'Doth now?'” A short, fat girl with a severe-looking blond bob sniffed haughtily. “What on earth was that about?”

The stern-looking woman frowned at the hat for a moment before glancing at the old wizard. He looked very serious, but gave her a small nod and she turned to face the students and cleared her throat as she picked up the old hat. “Addicus Abbot!”

A tall, thin boy with lank black hair began walking toward the witch and the Hat that would determine each of their fates. He moved a little slower than Severus would have expected by his over-long limbs, but when he sat on the stool, he clearly had a nervous look on his face.

The boy sat there silently for a few moments before a split near the brim of the Hat opened and it announced: “Ravenclaw!”

Applause broke out in the Hall, but none was louder than the boys and girls seated at a long table decorated with a blue table runner trimmed in bronze.

The witch lifted the Sorting Hat off they boy’s head and he grinned widely as he made his way to the Ravenclaw table, his cheeks blushing a deep shade of red.

“Matthias Able!”

Lily clutched at Severus’ hand and they made excited noises as Matthias Able was sorted into Hufflepuff, followed by Helga Adams into Slytherin and James Addison into Hufflepuff again. When a small brown-haired boy, Kerry Beaker, was placed under the hat it seemed to take quite a while for the hat to decide before it called out: Gryffindor!

“Do you even think you’ll be able to sleep tonight?” Lily whispered to Severus as a roar filled the hall.

“Not a wink.” Severus smiled at her widely, an action that made his face sore, as if he didn’t do it as often as he had today.

They giggled and whispered their excitement to each other, but soon enough they heard, “Lily Evans” and Lily let go of Severus’ hand to walk forward to the stool and the Hat.

She sat on it nervously and looked up and the witch lowered it onto her head, but she managed to glance at Severus before it fell over her eyes.

The Sorting Hat took a moment deciding where to put her and Severus found himself holding his breath in anticipation.

“Gryffindor!”

The Hat was removed and Lily leaped to her feet, grinning at Severus before practically running to the table with a burgundy table runner trimmed in gold.

It seemed like ages waiting as the Hat made it’s way through the other students, but finally it called out: “Severus Snape!”

Severus could hear his heart pounding as he walked across the stage to the stool. He felt a little faint as he sat down and felt the Hat being placed on his head. It slipped so far down he felt as if he were being nearly engulfed by it.

Hmmm…

Severus tried not to jump as he heard a voice in his head.

Smart, but you’ll hardly fit in with Ravenclaw, will you?

Severus frowned at the Hat’s words. He didn’t want to be in Ravenclaw anyway.

I know your heart lies in Gryffindor, but I think you would go even further in Hufflepuff. The Sorting Hat’s words echoed in Severus’ head.

“You’re joking! I don’t get in the way!” Severus whispered urgently as he heard Lucius’ words echo in his head and his heart sank. The hat seemed to feel the same way about him that his father did."I want to go with her! I’m brave, too, aren’t I?”

Indeed you are. But you are also more loyal than you could ever imagine. The hat seemed to mull things over. You’re also very smart. I can see that. You also take great risks for the sake of others. You possess a great well of bravery within you, but it hasn’t been fully examined yet. However, you also have a trait that most Gryffindors do not possess. Something that makes you stand apart from them.

“And what’s that?”

The ability to avoid getting caught.

Severus had to chuckle at this. It was always Lily that was getting caught when they were doing things they weren’t supposed to.

The hat chose this moment to sort Severus while he wasn’t arguing with it: “SLYTHERIN!”

“What?” Severus squeaked as booming applause thundered through the Great Hall.

This was your first lesson in how to take advantage of an opportunity. The Sorting Hat chuckled as Professor McGonagall lifted it off Severus’ head and the boy sat there with a shocked expression.

He looked to Lily at her position at the Gryffindor table. She was smiling and clapping as enthusiastically as the Slytherins: her red hair reflecting the light from the floating candles lighting the Hall and her green eyes twinkling at him.

Severus grinned at her and jumped off the stool the Slytherin table where Lucius had made a space for him. He was suddenly glad he hadn’t been sorted into Ravenclaw like his mother thought he might have been. At least in Slytherin he was with someone he knew.

Severus flinched at the pats he received on the back as he sat at the table. Strange people touching him always made him nervous. His mother and Mrs. Malfoy were different. They were mothers. Thats what they did.

“It looks like you have something in you after all, Snape,” Lucius whispered into Severus’ ear as he settled in. “You’ve found your place and it’s with us. We’ll have to keep an eye on you.”

Severus beamed at Lucius and the older boy looked proud of him. “I hope I’ll be able to do well.”

“Don’t worry,” Lucius reassured him as another first year approached the wooden stool to get sorted. “I’m sure you will. You belong with us and I can already see you have great potential.”

“Really?” Severus asked as the newest Hufflepuff jumped off the stool to thunderous applause.

“Absolutely,” Lucius smiled widely, the candlelight glinting off his perfect white teeth. “Just stick with us and you’ll see just how far you can go.”

The sorting was soon over and the last student had finally been seated when the Headmaster, an old, cheerful looking wizard with a long gray beard, came out and gave them a start of term speech explaining the rules of the school and what the glass hourglasses at the back of the Hall meant to them.

When the feast started and the food began appearing on the tables throughout the hall, Severus felt his face go slack. He had never seen so much food in his life: bowls of apples, peaches, and pears; pots of different kinds of butters and jams; mountains of assorted breads and rolls; vegetables and meats and potato dishes of all kinds ran down the length of the table.

Severus doubted the small grocer near his house had ever had that much food stocked, even during the holidays.

In spite of having eaten at the Malfoys and on the train, Severus found himself reaching out for an orange to munch on.

As everyone else dug in, he sat back and looked around the Hall. The older students were catching up on what they did over the summer; the teachers were eating at the head table, gesturing to the full tables and eating merrily among themselves; Lily was talking to a blond girl that looked a few years older than they were; and for the first time in his life, people seemed pleased to have him on their team and had unquestioningly accepted him as one of their own.

Maybe his mother was right. This was where he was meant to be. Among his own kind and with Lily nearby.

For the first time in his life, Severus Snape was completely content.

Mulling Things Over

Dear Mother,

My first week at Hogwarts has been amazing! I was sorted into Slytherin and Lucius Malfoy is looking after me as his mother told him to. She thinks we should come to visit her more often. She is very nice and stuffed me full of food.

The meals here are unbelievable! All sorts of meats and all the vegetables are fresh with no soft bits!

“Are you planning to talk about anything besides food?”

Severus looked over his shoulder and scowled at Lucius. “What’s it to you?”

It was Friday night, right after the evening meal. The students in Slytherin House had eaten their fill and had wound their way through the corridors and down to the dungeons, into their dim common room with its black and green couches and spooky green lights. Severus had tucked himself into a corner and was writing on a small black desk with pewter skulls on the drawer pulls.

Lucius chuckled. “She wants to know about your classes. That’s all they ever want to hear about.”

Severus snorted as he turned back to his letter. “Not my father. If he’d had it his way I wouldn’t even be here.”

Lucius watched curiously, as Severus hastily finished his letter and stuffed it into an envelope. “What is your father like?”

“Stupid,” Severus spat out without hesitation as he tucked the letter into his robes. “He hates me, he hates mum, and he hates magic-”

“Muggles can be like that,” Lucius interrupted. “It’s in their nature to be cautious when confronted by people who are obviously, naturally superior.”

Severus shook his head. “It’d be the same even if we weren’t magical.”

Lucius seemed to weigh Severus’ statement before speaking. “You will never know that.”

Severus looked up: his beetle-black eyes meeting Lucius’ ice blue.

“Do you think so? What if you had been cut into his image instead of hers? Without magic?” Lucius asked, one eyebrow raised.

Severus stayed silent, knowing the answer.

Severus had been born early: small and weak. His features slowly started to take shape and his mother had often remarked how much he resembled his grandfather.

Severus thought if he had been just like his father, old Tobias Snape would have been down at the pub every night singing the praises of his son: how good he was at football: how Tobias would have gone pro himself, had he not injured his knee working at the docks. The neighborhood girls would all think Tobias’ prodigy was so adorable: how he’d be able to have his pick of them all, just like his old man had back in the day before his knee had been injured.

Nothing like Severus was: clumsy, shy, and blessed with his grandfather’s honker of a nose.

Tobias wouldn’t have cared one whit about anything as long as Severus had been born in his image.

But that wasn’t the way fate would have it.

Then came the day his father had arrived home from work early, his cap clenched in his hand and an angry, embarrassed look on his face. He had taken Severus’ mother nearly out of earshot, Severus had made out the words ‘doctor’, and ‘London’ when he strained his ears and concentrated very hard.

His mother had gone white, and the next day his father took another day off and had glumly watched him while his mother visited the doctor herself. It was one of the few days he remembered his father actually playing with him.

He even let his father win at marbles.

When Eileen returned in the evening she looked grief stricken. She took his father aside and Severus strained as hard as he could and he was able to make out ‘St. Mungo’s’ and ‘only child.’

His father had stormed from the house and his mother had cried herself to sleep that night. That was the night Tobias disappeared and didn’t return until the following evening, smelling strongly of drink and vomit.

“You should have gone to a real doctor!” Tobias had raged, weaving as he pointed accusingly at his wife.

“And you should be able to control yourself down at the docks! You brought this plague to our family and you’ve no one to blame but yourself!” Eileen had snapped at him, her arms crossed and her dark eyes furious. “If you wanted babies you should have been doing it at home, anyway!”

Tobias had slapped her hard before turning on his heel and leaving the house again.

Severus had sincerely hoped he would never come back. But he had, several days later.

“Maybe you’re right,” Severus said sharply to Lucius. “But there’s nothing to do about it, is there?”

“You should join out little group near the fire, Severus,” Lucius said with a tone of finality. “I think you’d learn quite a bit.”

Severus felt his eyebrows go up, but nodded and followed Lucius to a group of older boys that had claimed two couches near the fire the very first night they had been at Hogwarts.

“Everyone, you remember Severus Snape,” Lucius said as they approached the cozy group. “Our mothers were both in Slytherin when they attended Hogwarts.”

Oh?” Rodolphus seemed to be sizing up Severus, his eyes lingering on the scuffed shoes that were poking out from under his too-long robes. His face slid into an easy smirk. “And what’s your specialty, Severus? Charms? Magical animals?”

“Well, mostly I do defensive spells,” Severus said awkwardly. He knew all of the boys seated here were years ahead of him in their magical skills.

“Oh, good show!” Thor looked cheerful at this. “We could use more in the dueling club! Do you have a signature spell yet? What’s your favorite?”

“Well, I’m really good at the Crucio spell,” Severus said happily, feeling a flutter in his chest that he usually only felt when he was around Lily. “But I’ve been working on the Body-Bind!”

The faces around the fire went slack and Severus couldn’t help but notice some of the others in the room had gone silent as well. A faint buzzing of whispers started. He suddenly felt cold creep over him. What had he said?

“"You don’t say.” Rodolphus smiled widely. Severus noticed he had large white teeth that looked almost menacing when he smiled like that. The older boy rose and offered his hand to Severus. “Why don’t you sit with us, Severus?”

“Thank you,” Severus said politely. It seemed strange, shaking hands with schoolmates, and he tried to shake off his discomfort.

“The pleasure is all ours, Severus,” Thor said. “Undoubtedly. So, tell us about what other types of spells you know.”

Severus made his way to the Great Hall for breakfast with Lucius and Thor. Lucius kept smirking as Thor peppered Severus with questions about ‘defensive’ spells and facing larger opponents.

As they walked through the enormous room to the Slytherin table, the voices around them dropped to whispers.

“News travels fast,” Lucius remarked to Thor with a smirk.

Severus looked at him quizzically as Thor just chuckled.

They sat at the Slytherin table and Severus began salivating at the plates of food that lay waiting for them.

His eyes automatically went to the Gryffindor table and he saw Lily rise and start towards him. He smiled at her, but her face was serious.

The whispers started again as she approached the Slytherin table and sat across from the three Slytherin boys.

“Can we help you?” Lucius asked coldly.

“This is Lily,” Severus said happily. “She’s my best friend from the neighborhood.”

“Oh, indeed,” Thor gave Lucius a sideways smirk. “And what have we done to deserve this honor?”

“Severus, you need to keep your trap shut,” Lily snapped. “You’ve got the whole castle buzzing that you’re a dark wizard.”

“What?” Severus blustered. “What are you talking about?”

“Those defensive spells your mother taught you are illegal!” Lilly whispered urgently.

“They are?” Severus’ jaw dropped in astonishment.

“Yes, and they’re really bad ones, too!” Lily hissed.

“But I didn’t know that!” Severus spluttered.

“Mr. Snape?”

Severus turned around to see Professor Dumbledore standing behind him.

“Yes, professor?” Severus asked in a very small voice. They couldn’t just chuck him out for a rule he didn’t know he had broken, could they? Was he going to be arrested?

“Follow me to my office, please,” the Headmaster said levelly.

Severus swallowed hard and rose from the table, his eyes darting from Lucius to Thor and back to Lily who looked as if she had swallowed something that had made her ill.

“Miss Evans, how nice to see you’re already working on your skills with inter-House relations,” Professor Dumbledore remarked as Severus struggled to get off the bench in his too-long robes. “I wish the other students would share in your enthusiasm.

“Er…” Lily fumbled as Lucius and Thor struggled to look cordial. “Thank you, sir.”

Severus followed Dumbledore out of the Great Hall and through the long, twisted corridors of Hogwarts. After some time, they finally stopped at an ugly stone gargoyle.

“Ice mice!”

Severus frowned at the password as the stone gargoyle jumped to the side and a staircase leading up was revealed.

Severus reluctantly followed the Headmaster up the stairs and through a thick, wooden door into the Headmaster’s Office.

Severus tried not to stare at everything in the office. There were so many cabinets and books and shiny objects he couldn’t identify, he didn’t know where to look first.

“You are not here because of the rumors, Mr. Snape,” Dumbledore said as he turned around to face the small boy. “I think it’s become fairly self-explanatory as to why you knew those curses and you know now that you are not to ever do them in the future.”

Severus felt relief wash over him as he nodded with wide eyes at his Headmaster.

Dumbledore reached over to pick up a small blue bowl with a domed glass lid. “Lemon drop?”

Severus shrugged and took a lemon drop. He didn’t particularly like them, but his mother did and they reminded him of her. It clacked against his teeth as the sugar coating melted in his mouth.

“Sit down,” Dumbledore said invitingly as he gestured to two comfortable looking brown leather chairs.

Severus sat down and Dumbledore sat across from him.

“Severus, I’m afraid I have something very difficult to tell you…”

A Death in the Family

Lucius was sitting in the courtyard of the castle with Thor and Rodolphus; laughing over the seizure of Severus.

“And he looked so stunned, you’d think he really had no idea,” Thor chuckled.

“You know, I don’t think he did,” Lucius said thoughtfully. “He was raised among Muggles.”

“No wonder he can pull off a Crucio so well,” Rodolphus snickered.

Lucius frowned and looked down to his prefect’s badge. It was vibrating.

“I’m being summoned to the Headmaster’s Office,” Lucius said with a twitch to his eyebrow. “This should be interesting.”

Lucius lazily made his way to the stone gargoyle, stopping for a moment to casually flirt with a group of second year Slytherin girls. They giggled and shooed him off, but he left knowing they found him charming and would remember it in later life when it would be beneficial to him.

As he opened the thick, wooden door he knew instantly he had made an error by dawdling.

The Headmaster sat calmly in a chair as Severus sobbed out great bellowing howls.

Lucius face was stricken as he rushed to the chair and looked Severus over. It didn’t look like he had been affected by the Cruciatus Curse. He quickly looked at Dumbledore.

“Mr. Snape has had a death in the family,” Dumbledore said calmly.

“He murdered her!” Snape howled. “Because I came here and she gave me her wand and if she’d had had it she wouldn’t be dead!”

“Severus, this is not your fault,” Dumbledore said firmly, going to his knees and kneeling in front of the boy’s chair; putting his hands on the boy’s thin shoulders.

Severus continued to cry, his face twisted in an expression of crushing grief.

“Your mother was a trained witch. She could cast with anything as a focus point, even a wooden spoon. Does your mother have any wooden spoons?”

Severus nodded through his tears. He was trying to breathe normally, but his chest and throat felt so tight.

“Then she was armed,” Dumbledore said, trying to meet the boy’s eyes. “It happened anyway, Severus. There was nothing you could have done.”

Severus cast his red-rimmed eyes up at Lucius and the older boy looked aghast, his jaw open in shock.

“Mr. Malfoy, I will be taking Severus to the hospital wing for a calming draught. I would like you to follow us and stay with him until he is ready to go back to your common room.” Dumbledore looked very grave.

“Of course, professor,” Lucius said quickly.

Severus and Lucius had eaten their dinner in silence in the hospital wing, waiting to see if Severus needed to take another draught. He kept vomiting them up until Madame Pomfrey gave him an anti-nausea potion. She said if he could keep down dinner, she’d try it again.

Severus wasn’t hungry, but he ate the sandwich Lucius had placed in front of him when it appeared on the magical platter.

A short time after the meal, Madame Pomfrey came back and Severus finally was able to keep down the potion she gave him.

Lucius noticed the constant leaking from Severus’s eyes had stopped and he nodded at healer.

“Well, let him sit there for a bit. When you decide to leave, I’ll give you a sleeping potion for tonight. I would suggest you keep to your common room.” She gave Lucius a serious look.

“Absolutely,” Lucius agreed. “No nonsense.”

Madame Pomfrey snorted. “A likely story, but at least keep it to a minimum.”

“Are you ready to go?” Lucius asked Severus gently.

Severus nodded, his face looking bleak.

“Bring him back before breakfast,” Madame Pomfrey instructed Lucius as she handed him a small red bottle. “I’ll give him another before he starts his day. At least this happened on a weekend.”

Lucius nodded as Severus slid off the bed and stood near him.

“Come along, Severus,” Lucius said softly, yet in a commanding tone. “We’ll get you back to the common room.

Lucius led Severus through Hogwarts and down into the dungeons. When they arrived in the common room, the few students that had been milling about looked shocked at Severus’ tear-stained, expressionless face.

“Go to your room and rest, Severus,” Lucius commanded. The boy was unlikely to recognize anything but concise directions at this point. “I’ll fetch you before dinner and I’ll be out here if you need me.”

Severus nodded blankly and slowly went to the stairwell that led to his sleeping area.

Lucius sat on one of the empty couches his little group usually occupied, his brow furrowed with thought.

He heard the portal open behind him and the familiar shuffle of people he knew.

“What’s going on, Lucius?” Thor asked curiously.

“Snape’s mother is dead.” Lucius stared into the empty fireplace and nibbled on a cuticle.

“How?” Rodolphus asked sharply.

“His Muggle father apparently killed her for sending him here,” Lucius frowned.

“Are you serious?” Thor snarled.

“Yes.” Lucius turned around to face the other boys. “I think we need to write to our fathers of this. I promised my mother I’d look after him. She was quite fond of Snape’s mother. She was a Slytherin herself.”

“I’ll have a letter prepared before evening.” Thor looked darkly serious.

“Yes, I will as well.” Rodolphus nodded. “This is an offense against not only our House, but against the Wizarding World as a whole.”

“I’ll have to agree with you.” Lucius took a deep breath as he ran his fingers through his short blond hair. “I’m sure it will be taken care of.”

Severus lay in his bed, starting at the dark fabric canopy bottom above him. The potion he had taken made him feel light-headed and seemed to dry out his eyes.

He felt the envelope in his robes feel even heavier than it was. He was going to mail it out today. She never even got to hear about him getting here and how he was doing.

She died to get him here and he couldn’t have written her sooner? What type of horrible son was he?

Maybe his grandmother and father were right. Evil and sin did flow through his veins. The evidence seemed to be pointing in that direction.

He heard the door to the room open and he pulled the black curtain around his bed closed. He didn’t want anyone to give him any grief about the curses or his mother right now.

“Severus?”

Severus blinked at the sound of a female voice. He pulled the curtain back a little and peered out.

She looked like an angel; her white-blond hair fell in waves about her face and down her back and her pretty face was free from blemishes. Her bottom lip was pink and pouty and the look on her face was a deep concern.

“I’m Narcissa Black. Lucius sent me to check in on you. He’s getting the others together to talk about the charges against your father tonight.”

“Charges?” Severus blinked and pulled the curtain back. “What charges?”

“Severus, justice will be done.” She sat on the bed next to him and pulled him close to her.

Severus didn’t want to hang onto this girl he hardly knew, to feel like he was invading her space, but after her arms went around him and he felt her protective, warm embrace; felt her heartbeat in his ear, he found he never wanted to let her go.

Even the potion wasn’t enough to calm this wave of abject grief. He held onto her tightly and sobbed. She stroked his hair gently and made soothing noises as his small fingers clenched at her robes and his tears poured out onto the fabric.

He cried until he couldn’t cry anymore, his fingers cramped from holding onto her so hard.

Narcissa pulled her wand out of her sleeve and waved it, cleaning the both of them. Severus suddenly felt less bad about messing her up with his emotional breakdown.

“You need something to drink.” She said as she pushed a wisp of black hair out of his face. She pulled a bottle out of her other sleeve. “It’s water.”

“What else do you have in there?” Severus gave a shaky laugh.

“You sound like Lucius.” Narcissa snorted.

“What?” Severus asked, confused.

“Nothing. Never mind.” Narcissa sighed as he took a drink from the bottle.

The water was clean and cold and Severus found himself downing the whole bottle. He removed it from his mouth and burped.

Narcissa laughed and patted him on the back, as he turned red from embarrassment.

“You are to stay here until tomorrow morning,” Narcissa told him sternly. “You may go out into the common room, but you are not to leave the Slytherin area.”

Severus nodded miserably. He suddenly wanted Lily.

“You missed lunch, but they sent someone down to the kitchens to fetch something for you,” Narcissa said softly.

“People keep trying to feed me,” Severus said grumpily.

“Maybe it’s because they care about you and know you need to keep your strength up,” Narcissa said with a raised eyebrow.

“But I don’t know anyone here, hardly.” Severus shrugged. “Lily, but she’s in another House; and Lucius, but only because our mothers are friends.”

“And all of the rest of us because we’re Housemates,” Narcissa gently chided him. “Don’t forget the rest of us. We’re your family now.”

Severus took a long shaky breath and Narcissa reached out to rub his back. “I know it’s a lot to take in. Try to get a little sleep. You must be exhausted by now. We’ll watch over you so you won’t be alone when you wake up.”

Severus nodded and didn’t even blink when she waved her wand and he found himself out of his school robes and dressed in a long gray nightshirt.

“In you go,” Narcissa encouraged him and he crawled into bed, too emotionally exhausted to be embarrassed.

He didn’t have it in him to argue right now. Especially when someone was being so nice to him.

She tucked him in and kissed his forehead before pulling the heavy curtain around his bed shut, leaving him in darkness.

He heard her softly leave the room and after a few moments, another set of footsteps come in. A bed near him creaked and he heard the sound of someone pulling books out of a book bag and the crack of someone breaking the spine of a new book.

Severus let out a relieved breath. He wasn’t putting anyone out. They just came up here to study instead of the common room.

He finally snuggled down under his covers, taking deep breaths to calm himself. The sound of turning pages was soothing and soon he drifted off to sleep.

Aftershock

“Wake up, kid. Come on, now.”

Severus was gently shaken and he blinked in the candlelight that let his dormitory at night. A large brown-haired boy about a year older than him loomed over him.

Severus started and the boy stood aside and motioned to a small table with a platter of food on it: cold chicken, dinner rolls, a bowl of apples, cold boiled carrots, a large slice of yellow cake with white frosting.

“Blimey, who got robbed?” Severus exclaimed as he saw the pile of food.

“Elves in the kitchen,” the large boy snorted. “We’ll show you where it is later.”

Severus swung his feet over the edge of his bed and winced as his feet hit the cold floor.

Since the Slytherin common room was under the lake, and the dormitories were under that, it never stopped being cold, something most of the Slytherins were thankful for on hot days.

“I’m getting Lucius,” the boy grunted at Severus. “Eat.”

Severus sighed as the large boy lumbered out of the room. He hadn’t ever eaten this much in his life, why did everyone keep thinking he was going to starve to death. He rose and walked to the table. He picked up a fork and speared the cake with it, breaking off a chunk and eating it.

The door opened and Lucius stood there with Narcissa.

“Well, he must be feeling better if he’s going for the cake first.” Narcissa chuckled.

“Of course he is,” Lucius remarked with a smirk. “He’s a smart lad.”

Severus found himself smiling wryly, in spite of himself.

“I see Goyle got you to try something,” Lucius said. “Owls have been sent off to our families to see what we could do to help with your situation. We should be hearing from them by tomorrow or the next day.”

Severus nodded sadly. “Thanks.”

Try some chicken,” Narcissa encouraged. “Just a little. You’ll have to take your sleeping potion soon and you want something in your stomach.”

Severus gave her a little smile and gave the meat a poke with his fork.

No one noticed the small group of men walking through the broken-down Muggle neighborhood. They wore black macs and beat up hats, much like most of the men from the area did.

It didn’t even raise eyebrows that they were walking about long after the sun had gone down and the pubs were closed. The factories had been having so much trouble lately that many of the neighborhood men were working odd hours these days.

So, when the men got to the house they were looking for no one noticed that they went around to the back of the house, rather than up to the front door.

Severus opened his eyes and winced as a sliver of green light found its way to him. The sun was up and was shining through the waters of the lake, down to the small portals Salazar Slytherin had designed so many years ago.

The sleeping potion had worked on Severus well. He had gone through the night without waking and free from nightmares.

He rubbed his eyes and looked about the room. His year-mates were still sleeping. He let out a breath of relief and quietly slipped out of his bed, wincing as his feet hit the cold stone floor.

He knew he was supposed to stay in the common room, but it was early Sunday morning and he figured no one would be up this early.

He slid out of his nightclothes, the cool air making his pale skin prickle. He pulled on a pair of dark trousers and a dark, too-large button-up shirt before slipping his shoes on.

He tiptoed out of the room, grabbing a cloth bag and pausing as he heard someone roll over. He let out his breath and started climbing the stairs to the common room.

When he got to the top of the stairs, he was startled to see several house-elves straightening up the common room.

They continued about their jobs silently as Severus slowly made his way out into the castle. He wasn’t sure whether they would stop him or not, but they went on as if he wasn’t there.

When he was finally out in a corridor, he took in a deep breath of the damp, drafty air of the dungeons. He liked it down here, so many tunnels to explore and places to hide.

He felt a pang of guilt over the idea that he never had the chance to tell his mother how much he liked it here.

He slowly made his way up to the hospital wing and wondered vaguely if Madame Pomfrey would even be awake yet, but when he got there, she was indeed awake.

She was still in her robe, and her long brown hair wasn’t wound up and around the crown of her head like it usually was, it lay in a heavy braid over one shoulder. She was making a cup of tea with bleary eyes, and Severus noticed an open door he hadn’t noticed the last time he was up here. It led into what looked like a bedroom. A white cat slept on an unmade bed with a pink coverlet.

“What are you doing up?” Madame Pomfrey looked at him suspiciously. “Where is Mr. Malfoy?”

“Sleeping,” Severus said as he fought back a yawn. “I gave them the slip. Figured no one would be up this early.”

“Well,” Madame Pomfrey said as she shook her head, “don’t dawdle. Just get some fresh air and something to eat. Then right back to your common room.”

Severus nodded. He hated being told what to do, but he really didn’t want to talk to anyone, either.

She walked over to a large wooden cabinet and opened it. Severus could see rows and rows of bottles made of clay, glass, wood, and stone.

She finally selected a small red bottle and handed it to him, which he downed obediently.

“Now, go get some food in you or you’ll get a bit dippy.” Madame Pomfrey warned. “If you think you need another for tonight come back after evening meal.

Severus thanked her before leaving the hospital wing and making his way towards the Great Hall.

To his relief, the tables were already laden with breakfast foods. He hurried up to the Slytherin table and his eyes drank in the sight of the piles of bacon, muffins, eggs, ham, kippers, toast, and much, much more.

He decided the messier things should stay out of the bag and he started packing away muffins, wrapping each in a napkin before tucking it into a bag. He grabbed a few hard-boiled eggs; thankful they were still in their shells and dropped them in the bag on top of the muffins.

Someone cleared their voice behind him and Severus whirled around to see Lily.

Her face was a mask of compassion and sadness and Severus felt emotions rush over him. He flung himself into her arms and sobbed against her shoulder.

She had been caught off balance but she managed to keep them upright, her arms encircling him tightly as he cried against her.

“I’m so sorry,” Lily whispered into his hair. “I’m so, so sorry.”

They both looked up at a noise, but neither of them saw anything.

“Come on, make a plate,” Lily said, one of her hands smoothing down his hair. “Let’s get out of here.”

Severus nodded and he quickly finished stuffing the bag full of food.

He turned around to see Lily standing there, two plates in her hands full of eggs, bacon, buttered toast, kippers, and fruit.

“What, we’re going to just take that with us?” Severus asked, bewildered. “Outside?”

“Why not?” Lily said, sniffing. “It’s a nice enough morning for a picnic.”

Severus chuckled in spite of himself; he figured the potion must be kicking in, as he poured pumpkin juice into two goblets and grabbed extra napkins and silverware.

They ended up leaving the confines of the castle and walked down to the lake shore, balancing the food and drink as they went. They found a sunny place on a fallen tree and began eating their breakfast.

“So what’s going to happen now?” Lily asked. “Will he make you go home? What about the funeral?”

“I have no idea,” Severus said glumly.

He hadn’t thought about his father demanding he return home. Then he remembered that his father had no idea how to contact anyone at the school besides by owl, and if he never sent a letter to his father, Tobias would have no owl to send any demands back.

He told this to Lily, but instead of being happy, she cringed. “Not write to any of your family at all? Don’t you still have your grandmother staying with you?”

Severus took a deep breath and looked out at the lake. The giant squid was swimming near the surface of the water and Severus watched the tentacles flip out of the water as the beast changed direction. “Yes. I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing at all.”

He felt a tightness in his chest, but the potion made it possible for him to hold back his tears.

“Then don’t do anything,” Lily said with a tone of finality. “No one will expect you to be able to do anything for awhile. Take advantage of it while you can.”

Severus nodded and they ate their breakfast in silence.

After they were done eating, their conversation turned to how their first week had gone. Lily was enjoying potions while Severus was still having trouble.

“It’s just like following a recipe,” Lily said patiently. “You need to measure things precisely, and not be afraid to experiment a little once you know what you’re doing.”

“How do you know what you’re doing?” Severus demanded.

“I got my books weeks ago and yours were delivered to you after you got here,” Lily said sympathetically. “It’s not your fault I was able to go over the texts and you weren’t.”

“I suppose not.” Severus sighed. “I just wish we could team up together in Potions.”

Lily snorted. “That’s just because Slughorn wants to pit us against each other for his own entertainment.”

Severus snickered. “I’ll give him that.”

“It’s not funny,” Lily said, making a face at him. “I’d rather be teamed up with you.”

“I’d probably be able to learn something if you were my partner,” Severus admitted.

That Carrow girl not to your liking?” Lily chortled.

Severus threw her a dirty look. Where he was poor in potions, Alecto Carrow was completely abysmal.

“I’m probably going to flunk because of her.” Severus shook his head. “Otherwise, I might be able to flounder into a passing grade.”

“Next assignment, pick someone else as your partner,” Lily suggested. “Try to get to know someone who’s got a decent idea of how things work.”

“Why aren’t you a Slytherin, again?” Severus joked.

“I get a better view from my room in Gryffindor.” Lily smirked back at him. “Listen, I hear he only does that for the first week or so just to test how the Houses measure up against each other. Then we can switch to whoever we want. Normally no one does because they’re already used to their partner, but I’m sure we can do it.”

They both turned at a rustle behind them and they turned to see Lucius Malfoy and Rodolphus Lestrange approaching. They had stern looks on their faces.

“Uh oh.” Lily grinned at Severus. “Looks like you’ve done it now.”

“Severus! You were under healer’s orders not to leave the common room!” Lucius chided.

“I know,” Severus said ruefully. “But I figured no one was up yet and I went directly to Madame Pomfrey to take my potion like she said.”

Lucius sighed and Rodolphus rolled his eyes.

“But you hardly came back to the common room like you told Madame Pomfrey you would,” Lucius explained patiently. “It wouldn’t do to have you wandering about the castle with your senses muddled by a potion.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Severus said, looking guilty. “But I ran into Lily and we decided to have breakfast before I headed back.”

Lucius looked down at Severus’ empty plate. A fly landed on it briefly and took off again. Lucius had to bite back a look of disgust. Filthy Muggle-borns. They didn’t even cast simple repelling charms when they were eating outside.

“Thank you, Miss Evans, for looking after our Severus,” Lucius gave Lily a slight bow, his eyes flashing. “Five points to Gryffindor.”

“Severus is my friend,” Lily said with a tilt to her head and a small, false smile on her face. “You can keep your points.”

Lucius blinked in outrage. Did that little Mudblood brat really just tell him to stuff his points? Who did she think she was?

However, it wouldn’t do to lose his temper in front of Severus. They might lose him at this delicate time if they weren’t careful.

“Nevertheless, you have our thanks,” Lucius said, inclining his head towards her. He turned his eyes to Severus. “Madame Pomfrey will have me flogged if I don’t get you back to the common room.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Lily,” Severus said reluctantly.

She put her arms around him in a quick hug before he joined the Slytherin boys, leaving her to take the empty goblets and plates back to the Great Hall.

“She’s a pretty thing, isn’t she?” Rodolphus remarked as the boys climbed a small grassy incline that led to the castle. He looked at Lucius, who smirked.

“She’s from my neighborhood.” Severus shrugged, his pink cheeks speaking volumes.

“What type of family is she from?” Rodolphus asked curiously, as Severus paid unusual attention to the terrain. “Does she have a sister?”

“You just want to get out of your pending engagement.” Lucius chuckled, trying to keep the conversation light while they interrogated Severus about Lily.

“She has a sister, but she’s annoying,” Severus said with a snort. “And she can’t do magic. Lily’s the only one in her family that can.”

“That must be quite difficult for her,” Rodolphus prompted.

“Nah,” Severus said with a wave of his hand as they walked into a side door of the castle. “They’re mostly a jolly lot. They have me around their house for dinner sometimes.”

“I imagine that must be quite the thing to see,” Rodolphus bit back a laugh.

Lucius looked at him sharply and Rodolphus schooled his expression.

“Well, it’s nice to see you have someone that loyal to you,” Lucius said, giving Rodolphus a meaningful look. “Someone that trusts you.”

“Yea and I trust her, too,” Severus said with a sniff. He was trying not to think of the neighborhood because then he thought about his mother.

Lucius frowned at this, but glad Severus was still looking down and didn’t see it.

When they got to a door in the side of the castle, Rodolphus waved his wand and it opened for them. They filed into a long stone hallway and began the trek to the stairs that led down to the dungeons.

They passed a group of Ravenclaw girls who whispered among themselves and glanced at Severus as they walked by.

Severus didn’t notice, but Lucius and Rodolphus did.

The First Fight

“Come on, get up.”

Severus woke from a deep sleep Monday morning to a hand shaking his shoulder. He grumbled and burrowed deeper under his covers.

“Up and out. You can’t stay in there forever.”

The covers were gently pulled back and Severus cracked one of his eyes to see Lucius standing over him.

“It wouldn’t be done to let you mope around down here,” Lucius said in a commanding tone. “You need to go to the Hall to eat.”

“Do I have to?” Severus asked, trying to burrow himself deeper in the bedding.

“You most certainly do,” Lucius said firmly. “Slytherins do not hide from the world.”

Severus pulled his covers down and scowled at Lucius.

“You can’t stay in here forever. Your professors won’t expect much from you, but you need to get out. Here, I have another calming potion for you.” Lucius held a small green glass bottle out to Severus.

Severus sat up and took the bottle from Lucius. He took the cork out of the bottle and sniffed it. “This isn’t like the other one.”

“It’s something Thor’s been working on. He’s going to be a Healer, you know.” Lucius encouraged Severus to drink the potion.

Severus drank the contents of the bottle and made a face at the bitter liquid pouring down his throat. “It’s not dangerous, is it?”

“Not that we know of,” Lucius said with a smirk. When Severus started to look concerned Lucius chuckled and added, “Madame Pomfrey oversees all his work. It’s fine.”

Severus looked relieved as he tossed his covers off and handed Lucius the small bottle.

Lucius regarded Severus’ old nightshirt with a measure of disdain as Severus slid off his bed and started rummaging in his trunk for his tie. He knew he should have put it in a smarter place.

Severus finally found his tie under his tiger and slowly dressed himself, taking extra care to flatten down his flyaway black hair.

Lucius looked him up and down and frowned. He waved his wand at Severus and the smaller boy felt his clothing tighten up, neatly tailoring it to his form.

“There. Can’t have you looking common, can we?” Lucius gave Severus a satisfactory look.

Severus looked down at his robes, the ones that had been his mother’s and swallowed. They did fit him much better. It really wasn’t dishonoring her memory, was it?

He decided it did not because if his clothes fit better, they would last longer and now he didn’t have to worry about replacing them.

They were a bit old-fashioned, perhaps, but he did like the cut much better than modern robes. They billowed out at the back like a superhero’s cape. Occasionally, when he was alone, he strode through the dungeons, humming the theme to Batman and pretending he was on his way to the Bat Cave.

He followed Lucius through the common room, picking up Thorfinn and Rodolphus along the way, and walking out of the portal into the common areas of the castle.

They walked silently through the dungeons and climbed the stairs to the ground floor when Lucius suddenly stopped.

Severus, who had up until now been studying his shoes (maybe Lucius knew a repairing and polishing spell, too), looked up to see what had caused Lucius to take pause.

Lily Evans was sitting on a stone bench across the hall from the stairwell, reading her Potions textbook. She looked up at the movement in front of her and smiled at Severus.

Severus sighed deeply. No matter how things got, he could always depend on Lily to be there for him.

“I, um…” She faltered under the stares of the older boys. “I thought you might like to go to the lake for breakfast again.”

Severus looked at Lucius questioningly.

“I suppose it would be alright.” Lucius pursed his lips.

“I already had the elves pack us something,” Lily said, waving a red drawstring bag. “So we wouldn’t have to double back.”

“You know where the kitchens are already?” Thor asked sharply.

“Yea, I asked a seventh year,” Lily shrugged.

Rodolphus rolled his eyes and gave Thor an unimpressed look.

Severus walked away from the group of Slytherins to join Lily.

“I’ll make sure he gets to his class,” Lily promised.

“See that you do,” Lucius said with a cocked eyebrow.

Lily and Severus left the castle and down to the lake: their bags jingling and thumping, their robes swishing through the tall grass as they trotted down the small, overgrown incline to the water.

They found the fallen tree they had sat on the last time they had dined outside and settled in.

“Why do you have that silly smirk on your face?” Lily asked as she passed Severus an apple. “Is it your new robes?”

“They’re just transfigured,” Severus admitted. “And they gave me some experimental potion. I don’t know all it does.”

“It must have a touch of a Cheering Charm integrated into it.” Lily giggled. “You look funny.”

“Well, you’re not supposed to take potions on an empty stomach,” Severus reasoned as he turned the shiny red apple in his hands, looking for flaws. It always amazed him there were never any rotten bits. “Maybe it’s some sort of side effect. So, where are the kitchens?”

Lily explained him where to find the passageway and how to open it.

Severus nodded, smiling politely, all the while dreaming about having unlimited food of all kinds whenever he wanted.

“Look! There he is!”

Severus and Lily looked up to see a couple of Gryffindor boys approaching: a skinny one with dark ruffled hair and glasses, and a stockier, scruffy one with almond-shaped eyes and wild, thick black hair.

“What do you want?” Lily asked, a sneer on her face.

Severus looked at her with a surprised expression. Lily normally got along with everyone, even that dolt of a sister of hers.

“Why are you hanging around a Dark Wizard, Evans?” The boy with glasses glared at her, his hands on his hips.

“I can ‘hang out’ with whomever I wish, Potter,” Lily said, giving him a scathing look. “And he’s not a Dark Wizard, so push off.”

“Then why does he know Unforgivables?” The other boy asked; his arms crossed.

Lily stayed silent for this and Severus was thankful she wasn’t bringing up his parents.

“Why is it any of your business?” Severus asked angrily.

“Because I’m going to be an Auror one day, Slytherin,” Potter spat. “It’ll be my job, hunting down scum like you and your family.”

“Don’t you dare talk about my family,” Severus said in a low, quavering tone.

“I’ll say anything I want.” Potter snickered and glanced at the scruffier boy, who was chuckling.

Severus suddenly propelled himself off the log and punched the boy with glasses in the nose. He heard a snap as the plastic frames broke.

“Stop it!” Lily squealed as she scrambled to stand on the fallen tree to look down on the scuffling boys. “Stop it! You’ll lose us all House points!”

“Is all you can think about? House points?” The scruffy boy blustered at her as he winced at the brawling boys, not knowing whether to step in or not.

“This is all your fault, you idiot!” Lily yelled at the stocky boy as Potter rolled Severus onto his back and got a few good punches in. “You iknew/i something like this was bound to happen and you just came wandering over anyway!”

“So what if we did! We were only concerned about you!”

Lily growled. She looked furious, her red hair whipping around her head dangerously in the wind. She snarled at Black and he took a step back from the girl that was now looming over a meter above him. “I can take care of myself, Sirius Black! You useless lump of-”

“How well do you really know him?” Sirius inturrupted her, in a completely frustrated tone of voice.

The Slytherin boy had tossed the Gryffindor boy off, but had immediately pounced again, slamming him to the ground hard enough that it caused the both of them to emit a groan. “Did you see his expression? He’s smiling about it!”

“I’ve known him since we were six; and well enough for mum to have him around for tea every Saturday!” Lily screeched, pulling her wand out and pointing it at Sirius.

He took a step back, tripping over the fighting boys as they rolled around on the ground, trying to bash each other’s heads in.

“Mr. Potter! Mr. Snape! Mr. Black! Miss Evans! Stop this at once!”

The boys were blown apart with a sudden flash of pink light and they looked with up surprised expressions to see the scowling face of Professor Slughorn.

The heavy, middle-aged man’s breath came in hard puffs as he jogged to them. His round, red face was perspiring profusely when he got to the foursome. “What on earth is going on?”

“They came here just to pick a fight with Severus!” Lily said, accusingly.

“He’s a Dark Wizard!” Potter said defensively. “And he broke my glasses.”

Professor Slughorn sighed as he waved his wand and fixed the broken glasses Potter was holding out as evidence. “I see. Well, I expect your Head of House will be talking to you later. For now, you are to stay away from Mr. Snape.”

“What?” James blustered. “Are you joking?”

“Not in the least, Mr. Potter,” Slughorn said with a hint of warning to his voice as he mopped his face with a white handkerchief. “Now, I suggest you head up to the hospital wing to get some ice for your nose. Mr. Black, go with him.”

The two Gryffindor boys scowled at Severus and Lily as they walked back to the castle, Professor Slughorn watching them every step of the way.

“And what do you think you were going to do with that?” Slughorn asked Lily, one eyebrow raised at her.

“Wingardium Leviosa.” Lily said sheepishly.

“You think you’re strong enough to levitate a person?” Slughorn asked curiously.

“No, but I’m strong enough to yank their hair,” Lily said, a pleased look on her face.

“You were going to pull us apart by our hair?” Severus asked incredulously. “Remind me to never tick you off.”

Professor Slughorn chuckled. “I’m not quite sure it works like that, but it was a good idea. It would certainly require less force than actually pulling them off each other.” He seemed to mull this over as he sized up Lily. “Very clever, indeed.”

Severus snorted and crossed his arms.

“Miss Evans, I’m afraid your Head of House requires you. Please go to her office, you’ll find her waiting for you.” Slughorn said warmly. “But I believe I’ll be having a little get together later in the week. A cozy little gathering of a few people. Would you be interested?”

“Um… sure.” Lily looked surprised that her misbehavior had garnered her a party invitation.

“Excellent!” Slughorn beamed at her. “I’ll let you know when plans are more solid. You’re to come as well, Snape. I hear you’ve already got quite the reputation.”

Lily thanked him and Severus winced at his words, but agreed to attend. She bade her goodbyes and began to make her way back up to the castle, leaving Severus alone with his Head of House.

Severus looked at Slughorn sheepishly. He knew he hadn’t made the best impression since his arrival and he wondered if they could just toss him out or if there was a procedure that would bide him a few more weeks. He knew Slughorn wanted to see him at his little party, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t expel him on Monday.

Slughorn sighed and shook his head at him. “What are we going to do with you?”

Severus started to feel panic before Slughorn chuckled and motioned for him to sit back up on the log.

“Eat your breakfast. God only knows you need to keep your strength up.”

Severus did so and to his surprise, Professor Slughorn clamored his ungainly form up the side of the fallen tree to sit with him.

“You’ve been through a lot since you’ve arrived here. I daresay, quite a bit more than anyone should have to endure regardless of age.” Slughorn mopped his forehead with his handkerchief and pocketed it before peeking into the bag of food. He reached in and brought out a piece of toast. “One fight isn’t going to affect your standing here.”

Severus felt intensely relieved.

“If you begin getting in fights on a regular basis, we’ll have a problem.” Slughorn looked at Severus seriously. “Do you think we’ll have a problem?”

“No, sir,” Severus assured him quickly.

“Good lad.” Slughorn bit into the toast and chewed thoughtfully. “I wish I could say I was just out for a morning walk, but I was looking for you.”

Severus looked at Slughorn, surprised. Was he really that behind in Potions?

Slughorn sighed and put the toast down. “Unfortunately, I have come to give you some very grave news…

Recouping Losses

Lucius, Thor, and Rodolphus were in the hospital wing after dinner, sitting on the edges of a couple cots tucked away in the corner of the infirmary, waiting for Severus to wake up.

“I can’t believe he fell off the log and knocked himself out.” Rodolphus shook his head in disbelief.

“He’s lost his whole family, Ra. Cut him a little slack.” Thor kicked Rodolphus in the shin.

“Don’t call me Ra!” Rodolphus scowled.

“Why not? Your ma does!”

“Stop it! Both of you!” Lucius hissed as Rodolphus pulled back a fist to punch Thor. “Pomfrey will throw us out if we’re too loud. Severus is in shock, you know what that means, you idiot. You know, he’s lucky all of them died. He’d probably be pulled from the school if he had any family left.”

“What’s the story on what happened?” Thor whispered.

“The official one?” Lucius snorted with a shake of his head. “His father hung himself in holding and his grandmother turned the gas on when she was notified.”

“Do you think our das had anything to do with it?” Rodolphus whispered excitedly.

“I would suspect as much.” Lucius sniffed. “They aren’t likely to stand by when a witch and young wizard are held at the mercy of some filthy Muggles.”

“I wonder what his mum saw in the bastard in the first place,” Thor mused.

“My mother said he was good-looking, rode a motorbike, and her father nearly went mad when he found out his daughter was seeing a Muggle.” Lucius scoffed. “Then she got herself knocked up to keep her Muggle, only to get disinherited from her old man.”

“Why are girls so dumb?” Rodolphus shook his head. “Everyone knows you marry who your parents tell you to, and then do whatever you want.”

“Not everyone does that.” Thor scowled at the red-haired boy.

“Not all of us are betrothed to Carolyn Douglas,” Rodolphus snorted.

“Even the prettiest girl can get tedious if you don’t like each other when you’ve gotten old and fat,” Lucius said, a bored look on his face.

“Who says I’m going to get fat?” Thor frowned.

“Boys!”

The three Slytherins turned to look at Madame Pomfrey sheepishly, but instead of chiding them, she motioned for them to come to her.

Severus was lying in a bed, curtained off from the rest of the ward: a boy with a broken arm from tripping down some steps, and a sprained ankle: the result of a failed dismount during a flying lesson.

“Now, I’ve given him a Dreamless Sleep Potion and put him on a levitating stretcher. Do you think you can get him to your common room without incident?” Madame Pomfrey peered at them suspiciously.

“Yes, Miss,” Rodolphus said politely and bowed slightly.

“Well, then.” She looked at them as if she certainly did inot/i think they were capable of such a simple chore without strict supervision. “I suppose it will be alright.”

“I thought we’d be walking him back to the common room, not pushing him,” Thor said with a snort that earned him an elbow from Lucius.

“In my opinion, it would be best for the boy if he sleep until tomorrow morning. He spent the afternoon crying his eyes out and he’s been taking far too many potions lately, although the one he had this morning seems to have a few kinks to work out.” She narrowed her eyes at Thor.

His pale face turned red and he nodded regretfully as she shook her head at him.

The boys thanked her and began the task of pushing the stretcher back to their common room.

It wasn’t that hard to get around undisturbed after dinner. Most of the students had retired to their respective common rooms and the only person of note that they ran into was the caretaker, Pringle, and his cat, Muffin.

Thor paused to scratch the large, white cat behind the ears and had to jog to catch up to the other boys.

“I don’t know why you like that cat so much.” Rodolphus glared at Thor as his eyes started to puff up.

“You’d like her too, if you could stand to be around her.” Thor chuckled. “I have an allergy potion in the case I brought up this afternoon. You can have it as soon as I get back.”

“After this morning?” Rodolphus snorted. “Unlikely.”

They turned a corner and stopped suddenly as they saw that Lily Evans was sitting on the bench in front of the stairs that led down to the dungeon.

“Determined, isn’t she?” Lucius said under his breath.

Lily looked up and her face went pale at the sight of Severus on the floating stretcher.

“He’s had a sleeping potion,” Thor explained quickly. “Just to get him through until tomorrow.”

Lily nodded, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Miss Evans, Mr. Snape is not the first student to lose family while in Hogwarts and he won’t be the last,” Lucius said, sighing. “Slytherin is his family now. We shall look out for him.”

Lily’s eyes narrowed at this and she looked at him calculatedly. “He has more than that,” she said, a challenging look in her eye.

“Of course he does,” said Lucius silkily.

“We’d better get him back,” Thor interrupted. “If we dawdle, Madame Pomfrey will have our heads.”

“Well, we can’t have that, can we?” Lucius said airily. “Good day, Miss Evans. I’m sure Severus will call on you when he is feeling better.”

“I’m sure he will.”

Exploring the Dungeons

Severus woke early and did his best not to stir. Sometimes he did that. Practiced being as small and quiet as he could, even to the point that he couldn’t hear his own breath.

His mother was dead.

She had loved him deeply, sacrificed everything to get him to Hogwarts. He would inot/i disappoint her.

His father would never bother anyone ever again.

He nearly let out a sigh of relief over this, but remembered quickly that he was trying to be completely quiet.

He finally gave up when something tickled his nose and he sneezed.

He knew Lucius was supposed to be looking after him, but he didn’t want to be around anyone today. He suspected no one would miss him in his classes, so he dressed quickly and slipped out of his dorm room up to the Slytherin common room.

He had almost made it to the portal when he heard a polite cough behind him that nearly made him jump out of skin.

“Where are you going?”

Severus whirled around to see Narcissa looking at him curiously.

“I’m not going to class,” Severus said defiantly.

“I guessed as much.” Narcissa gave him an amused look. “So where are you going?”

“I was going to get some food and then explore the dungeons. The deeper parts.” Severus shrugged.

“Do you have chalk to mark your way?” Narcissa asked, folding her arms and quirking an eyebrow at him.

“I always keep it in my pocket,” Severus assured her.

“All right. Off with you then.”

Severus left the Slytherin common room surprised. He didn’t think she’d let him go anywhere, but he got the impression that she wouldn’t let Lucius run after him.

Not that he didn’t appreciate the concern, but it was getting a bit tiring, having someone with him all the time.

Severus made his way to the portrait of a bowl of fruit and reached out, carefully, to tickle the pear.

The passageway opened and Severus’ eyes grew large at the sight before him.

A large stove with innumerable burners and doors on it sat in the middle of a large, dark, smoky room. House-elves bustled about with baskets and bowls of different foods and batters.

“Can we help you, sir?” A small house-elf with floppy ears and a round nose had trotted up to Severus and was wringing his hands with what looked like worry.

“Yes. I would like enough food to last me until dinner and a container of water, please,” Severus said, hoping politeness would get him somewhere.

“Oh! That is an easy request, sir!” The elf stopped wringing his hands and eyed Severus suspiciously. “You will not be eating in the Great Hall for your meals?”

“My family is dead. I’m not going to classes today.” Severus straightened his spine and tried to give the elf an icy glare, even though tears were threatening to fall from his eyes.

“Oh!” The elf exclaimed. “You’re the Prince boy!”

“What?” Severus blinked. The tears fell anyway and he swiped at them with the sleeves of his robes.

“Your mother was Eileen Prince.” The little elf peered at Severus. “You look very much like her.”

“Did you know her?” Severus found himself asking.

“Yes.” The elf gave Severus a once over and turned on his heel and walking quickly, deeper into the kitchens. “Pocky will get your previsions, sir! Just one minute.”

It was actually nearly three minutes before the elf returned to Severus with a drawstring bag and a glass bottle in loose netting with handles so he could carry it easier.

“Your mother was always very tidy,” the little elf told Severus, as if it was something he should be proud of. “She always put her dirty things in her hamper.”

“Er… yes,” Severus stammered, taken aback by the bizarre compliment. “She was very good at that.”

Severus was also given a small red pouch that the elf said was a magically compressed blanket before he left the kitchens and set off to explore the deeper parts of the castle.

He snuck past the Slytherin Common room as he backtracked through the dungeons, but he only encountered a stray black rat on his journey.

He wound his way down to the furthest point he had ever been: near a portrait of Elizabeth Nottingham: Inventor of the Self-Cleaning Potato Bin.

Elizabeth was still asleep, occasionally snorting and rubbing her nose, her pointed hat slipping over her eyes, but Severus supposed it was quite dusty down here.

He tiptoed past her frame and put a small chalk mark on the floor, close to the wall.

He took great care to mark his path clearly. It wouldn’t do to get lost and he didn’t know how long it would be until they started looking for him if he did manage to get himself disoriented.

At first, his quest was disappointing, mostly old classrooms full of dust and old desks, but as he made his way deeper into the dungeons things started getting interesting.

He found an empty room, the only decoration thousands of preserved butterflies pinned to the walls with bronze pins. Some of them slowly moved their wings as if the charm on them was wearing off.

There was a door that had been completely bricked over, thick yellow cement oozing out from between the red bricks. It had a small iron plaque reading: Do Not Open Until 4036.

Down another hallway, he discovered a small door no higher than his waist, decorated in shiny silver stars. He could almost swear he heard hear faint singing behind it, but when he tried, it wouldn’t open for him.

As he wound his way down, he noticed the air was becoming increasingly damp and the enchantments more creative. He marveled at the small torches that lit and extinguished themselves as he progressed through the halls, a small dust cloth that climbed the walls and seemed to eat spider webs, and a broom sweeping the hall as if by invisible hands.

He felt his stomach rumble and he decided to find a good place to tuck in. He opened a door and the torches in the room flared to life, incinerating small wisps of cobwebs. He reasoned that the dungeons were a large place and the dust cloth probably had regular hunting grounds.

Severus’ eyes roamed over the empty classroom. It was old-fashioned: long benches with tilted tables sitting in front of them. A series of book-sized boxes were stacked against one wall. When Severus took a closer look at them, he realized they were trays with some sort of coating inside them. A dusty brown, squat clay cup sat next to the trays with what looked like unpainted pencils without erasers in it. When Severus took one, he frowned when he realized they were just sharpened pieces of wood.

He put it back and looked at the rest of the classroom. There was a heavy, dusty desk in one corner, obviously meant for whoever was the teacher.

Severus walked over to the desk and pointed his mother’s wand at it. It was the first time he had used it since he had learned of her death and he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

He used a simple spell his mother had taught him and he cleaned off the top of the desk with small puffs of air from the tip of his wand. When he was satisfied, he opened the small red pouch, pulled the blanket out, and flung it over the desk.

He climbed on top of the desk and found the blanket had some enchantment on it that made the person on it feel as if they were on a soft mattress. He got comfortable and opened the bag of food. He looked in and was astonished, though he probably shouldn’t have been.

There were sandwiches and pasties, jars and items wrapped in brown paper of all shapes and sizes, smaller drawstring sacks of different colors.

“Did they think I was going to get lost for weeks?” Severus muttered, an insulted look on his face.

He pulled out some items at random and, after unwrapping everything, began enjoying his lunch of roast beef sandwiches, boiled eggs, and an apple.

He gently laid his wand on the red blanket and looked at it as he ate. It was black and crooked with embellishments gently curling around it. It always reminded Severus of water, but his father had insisted that it looked like ‘some dark, vile, twisted thing.’

He had always dreamed of running away from home. His parents had been happy before he came along and Severus reasoned they would find happiness again once he had gone.

Now he really was on his own and he didn’t know what to do with himself. Once he had heard of his mother’s death he had planned to take revenge on his father one day, but it looked like that wasn’t possible anymore. Even his grandmother was gone.

He uncorked the bottle the elf had given to him and took a swig. It tasted like it had a bit of lemon in it and it was very cold, even after all his wandering. He burped and sighed pleasantly.

He wondered where his mother would be buried and if his father would be placed beside her. He knew they had spots in the family plot reserved years ago, but under the circumstances, it seemed wrong. Maybe his father would be buried somewhere else. Maybe he’d be cremated and put wherever it was they put criminals with no families.

Dumbledore would know. It seemed like Dumbledore must know everything. Even if he didn’t know, he could find out for Severus.

Severus thought he heard a soft scratching and he paused in his chewing for a moment. He didn’t hear anything so he went back to his thoughts.

He wondered what was going to happen to him after the year was over. Would he go to an orphanage? Would he go home to an empty house? How would he pay the bills?

He tried not to panic. He would be talking to Dumbledore soon and after that he could panic.

He heard the scratching again. It sounded like it was coming from under him. He frowned and peered over the edge of the desk. He didn’t see anything and the scratching had stopped.

He opened the bag of food and poked around some more. He was delighted to find several bars of chocolate tied with a blue ribbon.

He heard the scratching again and he hopped off the desk. He peered under it and saw nothing. He started to wonder if his ears were playing tricks on him when he heard it again.

He had some trepidation about opening the drawers, but his curiosity won and he started searching the desk.

Unfortunately, he was disappointed when he realized he had worked himself up over two ancient, nibbled upon candies, a slingshot, and a notebook.

He shrugged, figuring he had frightened away some small creature and pocketed the notebook and slingshot.

He smiled as he realized all the Slytherins must have left the common room by now. If he went back, he would probably have the whole place to himself for hours.

He wound his way back, carefully checking for his marks as he went. He didn’t go down as far as he thought he would and he was disappointed, but he reasoned he could follow his marks back to where he left off at a later time.

He was surprised to see Lucius waiting for him in the common room, reading a book in a place by the fire.

“I- I’m sorry,” Severus blurted out upon seeing Lucius.

“For what?” Lucius asked. He looked confused.

“Weren’t you waiting for me?” Severus asked cautiously.

“As a matter of fact, I was.” Lucius closed his book and looked at Severus. “But you’re not in any kind of trouble.”

Severus felt relieved. “Then why are you waiting for me?”

“Dumbledore’s orders,” Lucius said as he smirked. “One of us is to be here at all times in case you need any assistance.”

“Oh,” Severus said in a small voice.

“Don’t feel bad!” Lucius looked mildly surprised. “You got me out of Binn’s class. I should buy you a treat next Hogsmeade Weekend.”

“What’s Hogsmeade?” Severus asked, crossing the common room and flopping on the couch opposite Lucius.

“It’s the village just outside the gates of the school,” Lucius explained. “Unfortunately, you have to be at least a third year before you can go.”

“What’s so special about it?”

“Well, there’s a pub where you can get Wizarding drinks, a candy shop, a tearoom, you know, the usual things.” Lucius gave a heavy-lidded smile to Severus.

“Oh.” Severus said in a disappointed voice. “So you have to have money.”

“You don’t have anything?” Lucius asked, a look of shock on his face.

“Well, mum packed some notes in with my things, but I think it was supposed to be for an emergency and- and I don’t know where I’m going after term and I thought-” Severus paused to blink back angry tears.

This was all his father’s fault. He always had to ruin everything. Even his death meant trouble for Severus.

“You needn’t worry about that,” Lucius said with a flip of his hand. “No brothers and sisters? You’ll get everything.”

“I don’t even know what that is.” Severus’ shoulders drooped as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Can’t be much.”

“Don’t you worry,” Lucius said, reaching out to pat Severus on the knee. “It’ll all be sorted out and no one will expect anything outrageous out of you.”

Severus took a deep breath. “I need to talk to Dumbledore. About where they should be buried.”

Lucius raised his eyebrows and inclined his head towards Severus. “Of course.”

Figuring Things Out

In the next few days, Severus voiced his concerns to Dumbledore, who had arranged a meeting with a mild-mannered Ministry representative with short brown hair and a neat mustache. He insisted that he would do his best to make sure Severus’ father would be interned nowhere near his mother. He also had some Muggle legal papers for Severus to sign so he could claim his inheritance, what little there was.

Both the Ministry representative and the Headmaster asked Severus if he wanted to leave school for a small period of time, asked him if he had any other family he wanted to contact.

When he said there was no one else, and if he went anywhere else it would probably be an orphanage, the men exchanged glances.

Dumbledore reassured Severus that Hogwarts would always have a place for him and arrangements for his out-of-school lodgings would be made before end of year. Severus had not been the only student to lose their family while at the school, he had learned, and there was protocol. In a way, Severus had felt relieved knowing he was not the only person to go through this.

He had been excused from classes for a short time, but instead of spending it down in the dungeons, he spent the next few days exploring the library and the grounds down near the lake.

He found the small amount of homework he was given rather simple, except for potions, of which he had the immovable belief that he would never be anything more than abysmal in. This gave him plenty of spare time to browse books on subjects he’d never even heard of before.

The first book he chose was one on Quidditch. He felt he needed a better understanding of the sport his new Slytherin friends loved so much. The moving pictures gave him a much better understanding of what they had been telling him and he found himself looking forward to the first match of the year.

The second had been a book on dragons. When he saw the moving picture of a Welsh Green, he nearly cried with relief. He had seen one! When he was much younger, the image was so clear: he was picnicking in the countryside with his parents, one of the rare days where everything went well, when a small green head poked out of a hedge and had snuffled Severus.

Severus had let out a cry of surprise and the creature had pulled its head back in the hedge and presumably ran off. When Severus told his father what he had seen, he had gotten a thrashing for making up stories.

Over the years, he had begun it wonder if he had made it up, but he hadn’t! He wasn’t a liar or mad! They existed and the book proclaimed they were curious in foundling stage and don’t get aggressive until they begin to reach maturation! HA!

He still had a smug look on his face when he checked out his next book: Defensive Spells for Young Wizards.

“This book is normally used by fifth year students,” the librarian had cautioned, with a raise of a single ginger eyebrow.

“I’m just going to look it over,” Severus had assured her. “I… understand I was getting some things wrong.”

The woman gave him an appraising look before bending over and motioning him to come closer. He did and she whispered in his ear: “You mum was a good girl. She was in my House. If she taught you those spells it was for good reason. Don’t you let anyone tell you otherwise.”

She straightened up and handed the book to a surprised looking Severus. “Is that all, Mr. Snape?”

“I think so,” Severus said, composing himself. “See you tomorrow!” And with that, he scampered out into the empty halls. He found he liked moving from one place to the other when the other students were cloistered away in their classes. It made him feel like a ninja.

He slipped past a Charms lesson, crouching over as he crept, trying to move as silently as he could.

He probably shouldn’t have crouched so low because even perfectly tailored robes are easy to trip over when one is dragging them along the floor near one’s feet.

The wind was knocked out of him as he hit the floor, but thankfully, no one in the class noticed as they tried to pick up small bells, ring them, and set them down. Every time there was a misfire Severus heard them all laugh as they had to duck.

He embarrassedly picked himself up and scuttled down to the lake. The fallen tree he and Lily had claimed as their own was sunny, but he didn’t want people from the castle to see him. They might get annoyed he was out and about while they were in classes and he didn’t want any more trouble.

He found a little cove, hidden by a group of trees and a large, flat rock he could sit on.

He had kept the picnic blanket the elves had given him and he found it made the most uncomfortable surfaces tolerable.

He started reading the book, but quickly found himself flipping to the index and looking up the spells his mother had taught him.

He turned pale as he read them.

What was she thinking? He looked at thickness of the book. There were dozens of other things she could have taught him, and now she was gone and he couldn’t ask her why.

He closed the book and ran his hands through his hair. He stared at the water, lapping at the edge of the rock and he contemplated dipping his feet in it, although he knew it must be cold.

He heard the sound of something moving over some of the nearby tall grass and he turned his head quickly to see Professor Dumbledore casually strolling in his direction.

“Hello, Professor,” Severus said sullenly.

“Hello, Mr. Snape,” Dumbledore said, a cheerful look on his face. “It’s an excellent day to get out of the castle, don’t you think?”

“Yes,” Severus said, feeling wary. He wondered if he was in some sort of trouble.

“I see the elves gave you one of their coveted cushioning blankets,” Dumbledore said appraisingly. “And a preservation sack. It looks as if you have everything you need.”

Severus snorted and instantly felt guilty. Dumbledore smiled gently at him. “What book have you chosen today?”

Severus hesitated before he said, “Defensive spells.”

“I see,” Dumbledore said. He picked up a flat rock and skipped it across the water. “Have you learned anything interesting?”

“I know bad spells,” Severus said sullenly. “The whole school thinks I’m going to go bonkers and kill them all.”

Dumbledore chuckled. “Oh, I don’t think they’re all thinking that.”

“Feels like it,” Severus mumbled.

“It seems like Miss Potter, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Rowle, Miss Black and Mr. Lestrange seem to be fond of you,” Dumbledore pointed out as he rustled through fallen leaves to pick up another stone. “That seems to be a good start.”

“Yea,” Severus admitted. “I guess so.”

“I’m willing to guess there are more students that wouldn’t mind getting to know you,” Dumbledore said as he skipped another stone.

Severus snorted as he looked out over the water. His mother would have been horrified at his rudeness, but he felt angry with her at the moment and didn’t care.

Dumbledore wasn’t saying anything, but when Severus glanced at him guiltily, the old man was smiling. “I think you will find that this will pass with time, Severus. While they may not forget about it, they’ll soon have some other scandal to occupy themselves with.”

“Why couldn’t she have at least, warned me?” Severus asked, his voice cracking.

“That, I cannot tell you, but I can tell you that she cared for you very much. So much that she taught you the most powerful spells she knew to defend yourself.” Dumbledore looked at Severus over the top of his glasses as he bent down to pick up another smooth rock. “Her decision to send you to the school was last minute. I’m sure she would have instructed you further if she had planned things out. If she had had the opportunity to plan, she would have at least altered your robes herself. I’m sure you noticed it could be done in a moment.”

Severus was silent as he turned this over in his head.

“She would have also wanted you to do well,” Dumbledore said with an arch of his eyebrow. “I know it is difficult to carry on, but you shouldn’t fall too far behind in your classes. You’ve missed quite a bit.”

Severus took a deep breath. “Monday?”

“That would be fine,” Dumbledore gave Severus a satisfied look as he skipped the rock.

“Wingardium Leviosa!”

A pale-skinned second year girl with a long brown braid and glasses shrieked and ducked as a black velvet pillow shot across the Slytherin common room.

“I thought you were aiming for the rock.” Rodolphus frowned.

“I was,” Severus said sheepishly.

“Then we’re lucky it was a pillow,” Lucius said firmly, his lips pressed into a hard line.

Saturday mornings in the Slytherin common room were pleasant: small gatherings of students planning out their days, older students trying experimental spells and boasting about their mastery of one thing or another, the different clothing the students wore on the weekends. A pair of Muggle-raised witches sighed with admiration at the blue, frilly robes of a year mate; while a fifth year boy goggled at the jean clad backside of a seventh year girl.

“I don’t think you’re ready to handle a rock if that’s what you do when you’re off. Most people can’t move the object if the spell fails; not fling it across the room.” Thor was looking at the pillow (now the possession of an amused fourth year that was using it as an excuse to hit his friend in the head) with a worried expression. “Outside might be our best choice.”

“Agreed.” Lucius shook his head.

“Don’t you worry.” Rodolphus patted Severus on the shoulder. “You have the power, you’re just lacking control.”

Thor snorted. “I wonder why.”

The older boys exchanged glances. Severus looked at them quizzically, but they said nothing.

“I think taking a walk is an excellent idea!”

The boys turned to see Narcissa smiling at them, her fingers entwined and resting prettily under her chin as she leaned over the back of the couch she had been sitting on.

Severus let out a sigh of relief. He was worried about being behind in his classes, but Narcissa had a talent for making him feel better.

“Where will we go?” Severus asked her.

“Let’s try to bring you up in your flying lessons,” Narcissa said with a wry smile. “We can work on lifting things later.”

“I agree,” Thor said quickly. “You can use my broom.”

Lucius snorted. “A Shooting Star? He could just use one of the school brooms if he wanted to settle.”

“Well, it’s all I’ve got.” Thor curled his lip at Lucius.

“After what you did to your father’s Oakshaft 79, I don’t wonder why he took away your Cleansweep,” Rodolphus chuckled.

“He what?” Narcissa looked stunned and sat up taller.

“I took it for a turn and there was an unfortunate accident,” Thor mumbled.

“I don’t know who was angrier. Your father for wrecking his broom; or your mother for wrecking her prize gooseberry bush.” Lucius looked amused.

“Oh, you didn’t!” Narcissa looked horrified.

“Sort of.” Thor coughed politely.

“And now he only has a Shooting Star and I think our Severus is deserving of better,” Lucius said with a tone of finality.

“I think your Nimbus is a bit too much broom for a beginner,” Narcissa cautioned.

“Nonsense. I gave him a go at the Manor and he did fine,” Lucius said, raising his eyebrow at her.

“Well, if you think he’ll be safe,” Narcissa said, a hint of worry to her voice.

“He’ll be fine,” Rodolphus waved her off. “Come and watch if you don’t believe us.”

“I think I will,” Narcissa announced. “Someone has to keep an eye on you.”

A Normal Day, For Once

“Ow!”

Tears welled up in Severus’ eyes as Madame Pomfrey gently pressed a cold pack to his face.

“There, there,” she said gently. “It’s just a broken nose. The worst part is over.”

Severus took a shaky breath. The charm had been quite painful, but the worst was over now and all they were doing was keeping the swelling down.

Madame Pomfrey looked over at Narcissa, Thor, Lucius, and Rodolphus and shook her head as they tried to look anywhere but in her direction. She turned back to Severus. “You’re lucky Miss Black was quick enough to soften the bleachers. It could have been much worse.”

Severus would have nodded if he could have. The broomstick had shot off with him clinging to it, sending him barreling into the seats in the Quidditch field. Narcissa had thrown a spell that had made the hard wood into a substance much like rubber, but unfortunately, Severus had bounced off them and had broken his nose as he fell to the hard Quidditch pitch.

“I thought it would be best to bring him here,” Thor mumbled, embarrassed.

“I think you could have mended him on your own,” Madame Pomfrey said as she showed Severus how to hold the compress to his face properly. “You’re much better than you were before.”

Thor shrugged, but still looked embarrassed.

“I think you’re well enough to go,” Madame Pomfrey told Severus with a smile and a raised eyebrow. “And this time I don’t want to see you back until after Christmas.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Severus said obediently as he hopped off the edge of the bed.

“And next time use a Shooting Star for practice. At least until you get the basics down.”

Narcissa elbowed Lucius hard and he grunted as all of the older students nodded at Madame Pomfrey.

Narcissa put a hand on Severus’ shoulder as they left the infirmary. “I think she’s right.”

“I knew it wasn’t a good idea to get me in the air after what I did with that pillow,” Severus muttered.

“You managed to stay on, and that’s the important part,” Lucius insisted. “Control will come, but you’ve got an iron grip!”

Severus saw Thor roll his eyes behind Lucius.

“You know, Potions isn’t a subject you need to use magic for,” Rodolphus suggested.

Severus groaned.

“What was that noise for?” Narcissa asked him with an amused look on her face.

“I stink at potions,” Severus complained. “Everything I touch turns to muck.

“Narcissa is an excellent tutor,” Lucius said firmly. “You will have nothing to worry about.”

“Yea, if she managed to get him a passing grade, she can teach anybody,” Thor piped up.

Lucius shot the blond boy a furious look, but Thor just grinned at him.

“I can help you, if you like,” Narcissa told Severus comfortingly. “I know it’s confusing at first, but I think we can make the best of things.”

Severus nodded miserably.

“But as for the rest of today,” Narcissa said, her voice rising to get the others attention, “I think we’re done with the studying and it’s time for a game of gobstones.”

Rodolphus snorted, but Thor perked up. “Excellent idea! I’ll go get my lucky stones!” He rushed ahead of the others in the direction of the common room.

“What are gobstones?” Severus asked.

“Wizarding marbles,” Lucius said, arching an eyebrow at Narcissa. “Anyone can play. It doesn’t require a lot of skill.”

“We could always play a game of croquet, Lucius,” Narcissa said sweetly. “This time you might even score.”

Lucius let out a small growl and stormed off in the direction of the common room.

“Why is he mad?” Severus asked.

“Because he’s supposed to be looking after you and you’re breaking the school record for ‘Trips to the Infirmary during the First Month of School.'” Narcissa giggled.

Severus snorted. “Well, it isn’t like it’s my goal or anything.”

“Don’t worry, kid,” Rodolphus said with a smirk. “We’ll look after you.”

Severus sighed and relaxed a little.

“Severus!”

They turned to see Lily running up to them.

“I heard you were back in the infirmary! What happened this time?” She was out of breath and was breathing heavy.

“Broken nose.” Severus grinned at her shocked expression. “Fell off a broom.”

To the other Slytherin’s surprise, Lily laughed. “Just like your first time on my bike!”

Severus blushed a deep red as Narcissa looked down at him in amusement. “Did you, now?”

“He did!” Lily nodded firmly. “And he looked so surprised when he went over the handlebars!”

Severus glared at Lily and Rodolphus had to bite back a laugh. Why hadn’t this girl been sorted into Slytherin? He knew Slughorn had taken note of her already so she had to be clever. What a waste. “Well, this was much more exciting. He bounced pretty high.”

“And I missed it!” Lily pouted prettily.

“Maybe next time,” Narcissa said noncommittally.

“I’ve been taking notes for you in all the classes,” Lily assured Severus. “And Potions isn’t that hard. “We start out slow and Slughorn is really patient.”

Severus took a deep breath. “Good. There may be hope for me, yet.”

Rodolphus chuckled, but Narcissa stiffened. “No Slytherin has ever flunked Potions and no one is going to start now. It’s what we’re known for, you know.”

“Really?” Lily looked interested. “What subject is Gryffindor known for?”

“Transfigurations,” Rodolphus cut in. “Everyone knows that. Even Dumbledore was a Transfigurations professor.”

“Was he a Gryffindor?” Lily mused. “I had him pegged for Ravenclaw.”

“Why is that?” Narcissa asked curiously, her stance relaxing slightly.

“Well, he’s supposed to be an extremely talented wizard. To me, that would put him in Ravenclaw. Is he known for being brave?” Lily seemed to be completely ignoring Narcissa’s possessiveness over Severus.

“Well, he did put Grindlewald away,” Rodolphus shrugged. “One could argue that apprehending one of the most powerful dark wizards of the time should count for something.”

“Oh, did he?” Lilly asked, astonished. “There are so many things I don’t know.”

“I’m sure we’ll get the hang of it,” Severus reassured her. “The year’s barely started.”

“Well, I’m going to watch the Quidditch team practice-” Lily started.

“What? Gryffindor?” Rodolphus frowned. “This early?”

“Yea, they haven’t even had tryouts yet, but one of the sixth years said something about finally getting some move right and now they’re all going out to see it.” Lily shrugged. “I just figured it was something to do.”

“You know, Severus,” Rodolphus said slowly, “it might do you some good to get some fresh air with your friend. We’ll see you later.”

“But what about gobstones?” Severus asked.

“We can play in the common room after dinner,” Rodolphus said with a wave of his hand. “There is only going to be so much sunlight. Go.”

“All right!” Severus cheerfully agreed. “I’ll see you both later, then.”

Severus and Lily trotted off and Narcissa turned to Rodolphus.

“What are you up to?”

“I want to know what the Gryffindors have up their sleeve,” Rodolphus said under his breath. “They were acting far too cocky this morning.”

“That was far too easy.” Lily laughed as she and Severus ran down the hill to the lakeshore.

“What are we going to do when I get back and haven’t seen any special moves?” Severus asked her as he jumped over a rock that was sticking out of the ground, his robes flapping behind him.

“We just say we saw James on the way there and had to make a detour,” Lily said simply as she slowed down and trotted over to a tree. She placed both her hands against the rough bark and smiled at Severus. “I won!”

“I didn’t know we were racing!” Severus protested as he slid to a halt at the end of the incline, under the cover of the trees. He put his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath.

“Neither did I until I realized I was going to get here first,” Lily laughed as she took deep breaths of air.

“Well, that’s hardly fair!” Severus chuckled in spite of himself as he tried to push his too-long black hair out of his face, but it had the habit of falling wherever it wanted.

It was so nice to be able to run with the knowledge that he wasn’t going to trip over pants that were too long for him. The shoes were a bit slippery after Narcissa had so nicely repaired them for him, but he had been trying to scuff them on the stone floors of Hogwarts in an attempt to make them less so.

“Tough!” Lily laughed as she sprinted off again, dodging behind a tree.

“Where are we going?” Severus panted as he tried to keep up with her.

“Somewhere else where I’ll win!” Lily shrieked in delight as she headed for the small grove of trees and the flat rock Severus last spoke with Dumbledore.

“Does it count if I know where we’re going?” Severus laughed as he followed her. He rounded a tree and found her standing on the flat rock, panting as she tried to catch her breath.

“I dunno.” she laughed as she sat on the rock and took her shoes and socks off. “Maybe.”

“That’s going to be freezing, you know,” Severus pointed out.

Lily pointed her wand at the water and uttered something under her breath. A wave of gold light passed through the water and she dipped her feet in. “Feels fine to me!”

“How did you do that?” Severus lost his balance as he tripped slightly over a tree root as he made his way to Lily.

“Something a second year taught me in the baths. It’s good for when the water gets too cold.” She lifted one of her feet, warm water dripping off her pale skin.

“I’m just happy to have a working bath.” Severus sat near her and started rolling up his trousers. He then took off his shoes and socks and slid his feet into the warm water. “Oh, that’s nice.”

“Told you.” Lily smirked.

They sat back to back on the rock, looking up through the trees and making out objects in the leaf formations and shadows as sunlight passed through the foliage.

“Have I really missed a lot?” Severus asked abruptly, after Lily had pointed out what looked like a kitten if you squinted and tilted your head just so.

“I doubt it,” Lily shook her head. “So far we’ve tried to levitate things, but the class is pretty even on who can do it and who can’t.”

Severus let out a sigh of relief.

“You need to stop worrying about so much,” Lily said sternly. “You have enough on your mind as it is without you going nutty about classes. I’m telling you, it’s much easier than you think. So far, in potions we’re still learning how to chop things up properly and it’s a lot like cooking. Not like your mom’s ‘Chunky, but just a bit more’ directions.

Severus laughed in spite of himself. He loved his mother, but she really was a terrible teacher unless, apparently, it came to dark magic.

“Too bad it wasn’t just your dad that went,” Lily said wistfully.

Severus felt something in his chest he had never felt before. It felt tight, but like it was struggling to be free, relief and guilt flooded over him in a complicated pattern.

“I know what you mean,” he said back, trying to blink back a tear. This time he succeeded and he felt as if this were a big step.

She had finally said what he never could.

He would have kissed her if it wasn’t so gross.