You probably know by now that I'm huge fan of Severus/Lily ships. I decided to write a one-shot about Severus' first looking at Lily's son at the Sorting at Hogwarts in Harry's first year.
* means that it fits my other stories. Go check them out. (:
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own 'Harry Potter'. No copyright infringement intended.
When the great doors opened and the first one of the new students walked into the Great Hall Severus' fists clenched together. He didn't dare to look into Albus Dumbledore's challenging eyes and so he kept his eyes straight ahead at the other wall of the Hall.
Professor Quirrel, the new Defense Teacher, started talking to him and Severus noticed that he turned his head right around, away from the students, and something inside of him told him that he should be careful around Quirrel.
He ignored his colleague and finally managed to glance at the new students. Right at the front he saw a blabbering girl with very bushy hair, pointing at the teachers and the different House tables. The girl she was talking to had red hair and looked very shy and Severus got angry at the bushy-haired girl at once for scaring another girl like that.
Right behind her was a tall boy with red hair and for a moment Severus thought it was her hair, it was her son, and he was the person Severus would have to protect from now. But when he looked closer he saw no resemblance to her, not even to him.
To his surprise he sighed in relief. He didn't want the boy to look like her; he didn't want to have to like him. He wanted to loathe that boy, the boy who stole her from him.
He went on looking and then he found himself staring at a person he had believed to never have to see again.
He had ruffled black hair and wore glasses. He grinned at the red-haired boy and the way he was talking was so familiar Severus had to swallow hard. But this couldn't be James Potter. It couldn't be. And there were some things that proved that.
First, the boy was thin, thinner Potter had ever been. Also, his grin wasn't that arrogant; he looked impressed and even a little bit nervous.
And then there were his eyes. There were an emerald color and for a moment Severus remembered Lily on her first day of school. She was standing in front of him, waiting to be called and be Sorted, and he told her about the four Founders and tried to convince her that Slytherin wasn't so bad, that it was actually the best House…
And he remembered her eyes. Her beautiful green eyes, sparkling in the light of the candles that were floating everywhere in the Great Hall.
And then the boy looked over at him and their eyes met. Severus stared at him and the boy stared back. For a moment it was as though they were linked. Then that moment had past and the boy looked away, tapping his new friend's shoulder and asking him something.
Severus glanced at Dumbledore and found the old man smiling at him. Severus didn't smile back. Albus Dumbledore nodded slightly and Severus shot him a dark look.
He watched Minerva McGonagall carrying the stool with that stupid Hat into the middle of the front Hall. He watched as Hannah Abbott, Seamus Finnigan and Hermione Granger were Sorted. He watched as McGonagall called out: "Potter, Harry." Everyone gasped and Severus smacked his tongue. Oh yes, the boy looked too much like his father. Severus just had to loathe him.
But what would he do when he looked at him with those green eyes?
He would stay calm and remember what she did to him. She had ignored him after his… mistake. She had said nothing when James Potter called him a coward. She hadn't wanted to talk to him at her wedding.*
And she had been his only real friend. The only one he could trust, the only one who looked up to him. Or had looked up to him, until he called her a… no.
He would never say that word ever again. And he would never let anyone say it again.
For a moment Severus wondered what would happen if the Boy-Who-Lived got Sorted into Slytherin. The savior of the wizarding world, being in the same House the Dark Lord himself had been in.
But he wasn't. He was Sorted into Gryffindor, like his parents were. Severus watched him laughing happily at the cheers of the table.
Severus waited desperately for the end of the ceremony and when it finally ended he hurried out of the Hall, only to meet Albus Dumbledore's sparkling blue eyes in the corridor.
"So", the old man said. "What do you think?"
"What?" Severus snapped. "What do you want, Dumbledore? I'd like to…"
"Severus." The headmaster's voice was soft but firm. "You promised to protect the boy. Please don't be too hard on him."
"I won't", Severus said bitterly. "Trust me."
"Oh, I really would like to", Dumbledore said with a sad smile. "But you still have to earn my trust. Protect Lily Evans' son. Do it for her."
Severus' throat was suddenly dry. "I… it's only… her eyes…"
"Oh", Dumbledore said lightly. "I wondered if you noticed. His eyes are spectacularly like hers, aren't they? I believe you doubted it when I first told you about it?"
Severus shook his head in desperation. "What am I supposed to do? Quirrel, what's up with him? You know it, don't you?"
Dumbledore noticed that he tried to change the topic. "I am not sure enough to tell you yet. But I will when I am."
He took Severus' arm in a firm grip. "And don't be too hard on yourself, Severus."
Then he left, leaving Severus on the edge of tears. He would protect that boy. For her. For himself. And he would do whatever it took.
Thanks for reading. Please review. Thanks. (: