A/N: Hello everyone, welcome to my story...reading the summary should have provided you with enough information to go on, though a note about shipping: while I am a Lily/Sev fan, I will probably let the reviewers decide who they want Lily to end up with in this story. I will provide hints for both ships (SSLE & JPLE) but it's up to you to decide, pretty much.
I'm not a huge fan of OCs, but I will tell you that there are two OCs (so far) in this story (one is Lucius's younger sister). Also, I should note that Narcissa is about four years younger than she is in canon, otherwise things are pretty unchanged. Enjoy~
"Oy James, was that you? I though we said none of that on the train!"
"That's not me mate, I think a stinkbug just walked by…Oy you!"
Severus turned around automatically; after all, "you" was his father's nickname for him for the last several years and he had grown quite accustomed to it…
"What?" he snapped at the voice as he fidgeted in his new Hogwarts robes. He was alone in the corridor aboard the Hogwarts Express; they were a mere hour away from their destination, so he had left his compartment to change into his oversized robes. Now, he was being called back to some stranger's compartment as though he were some Muggle's pet dog…
There were four boys in the compartment. The one who had called Severus back was sitting closest to the window; his messy black hair nearly covered his glasses as he peered up at Severus' appearance.
"My God, it just got worse!" the boy next to him roared with laughter as he pinched his nose and waved at the air.
"I don't smell anything," a calm boy retorted across from his wilder friends. His nose was buried in a book, but he looked up and noticed Severus for the first time. He gave the boy a small smile, but Severus scowled in return. He didn't come here to be laughed at.
He turned to leave without another word, but the messy-haired boy called him back.
"Hey you! You can at least tell us your name! We could be in the same house, you know," he winked playfully at his friends, making two of them laugh loudly, but the book-obsessed boy remained quiet.
"I dunno James, he looks a bit like the rest of my family," the handsome boy shuddered. "Slytherin, no doubt."
Severus nodded, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks. "I'm Severus Snape," he mumbled awkwardly as the rudest boy- James- prodded him further for a name.
"I'm sorry, but maybe I misheard you. Did you just say Snivellus?"
Once again, three out of the four erupted into a chorus of obnoxious laughter.
"Severus," he repeated loudly, trying to hide his humiliation.
"Okay sure thing, Snivellus…"
"Oy Sirius, I think we ought to give Snivellus here some of Kreacher's fragrances…he might smell a tad better," James snorted at his own joke.
"Sev?" a girl's voice came from behind him. Severus immediately whirled around, and was relieved to see Lily standing right next to him. She looked amazing, now that she had changed out of her Muggle clothes and into her new Hogwarts robes. The four boys peered curiously out of the compartment, wondering what female in her right mind knew such a foul being such as Snape.
"Awww, ickle Snivvykins, is this your girlfriend?" James sneered up at the two. "James Potter, at your service," he haughtily held out his hand to Lily, gazing up at her infuriated green slits with innocent, puppydog eyes.
"Lily Evans. Not interested," she snapped at him as she slammed the door, trapping his outstretched hand in between.
Awestruck by Lily's icy snub towards Potter, Severus followed her back to their compartment in silence. Behind them, Severus heard the boy swearing loudly as he managed to release his fingers from the middle of the door; his friends roared with laughter over his angry cursing.
"That was…you were…" Severus spluttered, clearly at a loss for words. Sitting back down onto the comfy seats, Lily grinned mischievously.
"I heard what they were saying to you, Sev…you didn't deserve that. I wish I could've given Potter a real piece of my mind…what a shame, besides Protego, I don't really know any real spells yet…"
"I do," Severus blurted out. He immediately covered his mouth, not wanting to sound conceited like Potter…
Lily just smiled, though. "Of course you do, Sev. You're the greatest wizard I know!"
"That's not saying much," he mumbled under his breath. Before he could say any more, however, he looked out at the night sky and noticed the silhouette of Hogwarts just a short distance away. In front of the castle, he saw the moonlight rippling on the surface of the quiet black lake, making it seem more enchanted than it really was.
"Lily, look," he whispered as he motioned her to the window. She climbed over their trunks and sat next to him, gazing out the window in breathless wonder.
"We're finally here."
xXxXxXxXx
"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor Minerva McGonagall greeted the anxious first years. "Before we begin the start-of-term banquet, each of you must first be Sorted into your houses…"
As McGonagall droned on, Severus darted a quick glance at Lily. She looked at him nervously; after all, this was her first full day immersed in the Wizarding world, and she wasn't sure how to take it all in.
How are you? Severus mouthed at her.
Overwhelmed, she mouthed back at once.
McGonagall ended her speech and disappeared momentarily, leaving the terrified first years alone in the corridor with the ghosts.
With a violent shiver, Severus realized a ghost was floating in the air right next to him. The silvery man's head seemed as though it was going to topple off any second, but it remained firmly attached. Hiding his initial disgust, Severus forced down the lump that was lodged in his throat. The ghost gave Severus a small, encouraging smile, which he did not return: that was Nearly Headless Nick. The Gryffindor ghost. He didn't want to get too friendly with him.
"Gryffindor all the way," Severus heard Potter's arrogant voice floating over the apprehensive murmurs amongst the students. Peeking in between the crowds, he saw him give his friend Sirius a high-five.
A little while later, McGonagall returned to lead the first years into the Great Hall. The unbelievably large hall was already packed with students, divided between four long tables. Several of them cheered as the youngest students entered; even the ghosts whistled for them as the group came in and stood next to a stool that had an old, dusty hat upon it. There were hundreds of candles floating in midair over the tables, though the ceiling seemed to capture the most attention. The teacher's table was off to the right, but the students had their eyes on the motionless hat.
Suddenly, it split open and it began to sing. It sang that it would read their minds, their hearts, even their very souls...and tell them whether they would be placed into Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. Confident that he would no doubt find himself in Slytherin, Severus ignored the hat's enchanting song and looked out at the older students. At Slytherin's table, he spotted a tall blonde boy with a prefect's badge looking incredibly bored. Next to him, Severus saw an angry-looking witch with frazzled black hair whispering something into his ear. Neither of them looked pleased to be there.
Once the hat finished its ridiculous song, Severus forced his attention back to the Sorting. McGonagall was going alphabetically down a list, starting with Avery. The first student was instantly Sorted into Slytherin.
Severus clapped unenthusiastically, but tensed when he felt a hand lightly grip his shoulder. It was Lily. She gave him another terrified smile; she was almost as worried as he was that they'd be in different houses. But no…that couldn't happen…it wouldn't happen…
Lily will be in Slytherin, Severus told himself firmly.
"Black, Narcissa!"
Severus watched curiously as a sullen, lanky blonde girl trudged her way up to the stool. Her eyes briefly gazed over the Slytherin's table, where there were only two people currently standing: the harsh black-haired girl and another, smaller girl whom Severus would have mistaken as the girl's twin had it not been for her brownish hair and kinder eyes.
"SLYTHERIN!" the hat's declaration echoed throughout the giant hall. The standing girls shrieked with delight, and hugged her as she walked over to the table. The blonde prefect stood to shake her hand; Severus noticed her face turn slightly pink by this.
"Black, Sirius!"
Black…? Brother and sister? Severus wondered curiously.
The Potter boy hooted obnoxiously from the ever-shrinking crowd of first years. Ignoring this, Severus saw that Narcissa Black and the two girls that had so exuberantly welcomed her to Slytherin were now scowling. The silence in the hall didn't last long, however, as the hat roared "GRYFFINDOR!"
Potter and his two friends erupted into a chorus of jubilant shouts, which were soon drowned out by the deafening roar from Gryffindor's table. After all, Black was the first new Gryffindor of the year…
"Chatsbine, Onjali" was Sorted into Ravenclaw, "Dimartino, Kertann" into Hufflepuff, and "Dontalam, Phaaria" into Gryffindor.
"Evans, Lily!" McGonagall called out a while later.
"Wish me luck," Lily whispered breathlessly as she walked up to the stool and sat down to be Sorted. The hat nearly covered her eyes, not that it mattered, since she closed them anyways.
"Interesting…" the hat spoke quietly to her after a few seconds' pause. "You want to be in Slytherin?"
"Yes," Lily breathed.
"Well, you are on your way to greatness…yes, yes, indeed…so much potential…" the hat trailed off and seemed to consider it for another moment before exclaiming "SLYTHERIN!"
Lily instantly jumped up and beamed at Severus. He was clapping wildly for her, perhaps louder than anyone in the Great Hall. He watched as she nearly skipped her way to the Slytherin table, where she was met with cheers and claps on the back. The prefect whom had greeted Narcissa stood once more to greet her as well.
So, they continued down the line. Unsurprisingly, Potter's quieter friend, Remus Lupin, was also Sorted into Gryffindor.
"Malfoy, Laika!"
Severus noticed the prefect at the Slytherin table stiffen at this name. With the exception of hair color (hers was several different shades of brown), the Malfoy girl looked exactly like the prefect; siblings, no doubt. The girl snootily strutted up to the hat and had the nerve to swipe off some of the hat's dust before placing it in her luxurious brunette hair. She watched her peers carefully from under the brim of the hat; Severus immediately discovered he didn't like the way she observed everyone with those cold, piercing hazel eyes…it gave him the feeling that his privacy was being invaded…
"SLYTHERIN!"
Oh well, it looked like he would just have to deal with the scarily observant girl. She would no doubt become Lily's friend, being in the same year and all, so Severus figured he would try to accept her anyways.
"Pettigrew, Peter!"
Severus saw the mousy-brown haired boy stumble over to the stool and slam the hat onto his head. He grinned greedily underneath its filthy hood, looking like an idiot as he waited for something to happen.
"Oh, definitely not Hufflepuff…" the hat muttered at once. "Not very bright either…noble and brave? Hardly…that has left me no choice but…SLYTHERIN!"
"What?!" Potter bellowed angrily next to Severus, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. Neither boy had heard what the hat had spoken to Peter, but neither of them liked the verdict. Potter wanted his friend to be in Gryffindor with him, while Severus didn't want that little freak near his house at all…
"Potter, James!"
James stomped up to the hat, feeling slightly mutinous as he carelessly slammed it over his head.
"Oh this is an easy one…" the hat told him before shouting "GRYFFINDOR!"
Finally, after what seemed like an entire lifetime, McGonagall ordered "Snape, Severus" to the stool. He tried appearing confident, but he felt queasy all of a sudden. He carefully closed his eyes as the dusty brim of the talking hat slipped over his head. The mass of young witches and wizards disappeared from his view, giving him the impression that he and the hat were the only beings in the world.
Please say Slytherin…why wouldn't I be in Slytherin? He thought, forgetting that the hat could hear every unspoken word in his mind. To boost his confidence, he briefly imagined Lily cheering loudly for him as the hat announced that he too was in Slytherin…
"Slytherin, eh? I'm not so sure about that…"
What? Why not? Severus demanded silently. My mum's entire family has always been in Slytherin…
Suddenly, he heard a voice, but it wasn't the hat speaking to him. It was a wistful, faraway voice that Severus didn't recognize…
"You are a braver man by far…you know, I sometimes think we Sort too soon…"
What the…?
Before Severus could interrupt, another, younger voice appeared out of nowhere, much to Severus's bewilderment.
"…he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."
Who's saying that? Severus asked the hat. Who are those people?
"Those who knew you better than you know yourself," the hat whispered mysteriously. "Therefore, it's only best if I place you in…GRYFFINDOR!"
A/N: Please review...Comments (praise or constructive criticism) would be wonderful if you could please spare me a few more seconds from your life to type one out ;)