Disclaimer: One ring may rule them all but JK Rowling rules owns them all.

Written for The Sherlock Competition: "You just wrote 'still has trust issues'." John doesn't trust easily – Write about somebody who doesn't make friends that easily

(Quality over Quantity)

Severus had never been good at making friends. Unless you counted the potion ingredients he said sorry to before he chopped and boiled them up. So when his fellow Slytherin house-mates (not friends) told him he could be part of their 'circle' if he would do one thing to prove himself, he agreed immediately. After all, friendship was all about giving and taking, right?

Sure, it would be a risk. But Lily would understand. But even if she wouldn't forgive him, Severus supposed he would be able to live with it. Since he would be friends with ten people at the price of losing one. It made sense.

"I'll do it," said Severus, determination shining in his eyes. Mulciber smirked maliciously, his teeth-baring into a frightening smile. He could almost smell the pain and shame that would soon follow when Severus went through with his task. He bent over and whispered what he wanted Severus to do in his ear. Severus' eyes widened and he hesitated for few seconds before nodding.

"Do it now."

"Now?" said Severus, frowning. He had planned to tell Lily first, so that she knew he didn't really mean it.

Mulciber seemed to have anticipated this. "Yes now. You don't want to be Snivellus for another moment, do you?"

Severus scowled at the horrible nickname James Potter gave him. Oh, how he hated it! The name caught on like wildfire and even a few Hufflepuffs called him that. Hufflepuffs!

Avery caught the look of contempt on Severus' face and patted him on the back consolingly. "If you join us, we'll make sure he never calls you that again," he said. Avery gave Severus a bright smile, his lip quivering to show a little vulnerability.

Uh-oh. Now Severus had to do it. Else, he'd exploit Avery's vulnerability and that wasn't the way to make friends, was it? Severus looked over to Lily, who'd been chatted animatedly with her potions partner.

James—the vermin, caught Severus staring at Lily and immediately jeered at him.

"Ew, Snivellus' staring! Watch out, looks like he has a crush on you, Evans!" James hooted. Peter looked up from his chopping and turned to see how Remus would react to the James' comment. Remus shook his head, attempting to pull James down by his robe. He put a mortar and pestle in James' hand and ordered for him to shut up and crush the earwigs. Peter then turned to face his partner, Sirius. A serious expression replaced the usual levity in his face. Peter frowned, he thought Sirius would be the first to jump up and back his best friend.

Undeterred, James paraded around the class. "Everyone, Snivellus is checking Evans out!"

"Potter, stop it!" Lily said, getting annoyed at James' antics. He never acted this badly when it came to anybody else. But when it came to Severus, his jerk-with-a-heart-of-jerk persona completely took over. Why couldn't they just leave Severus and her alone?

"I was not!" objected Severus, he could feel his face heating up.

"Yes, you were," James sang in a sing-song voice.

Poor Peter looked back and forth at his mates, trying to gauge the situation. He didn't know whether to discourage James or join him. James needed someone to back him up, or else he'd end up looking like an idiot. But the glare Remus shot at him scared Peter more than his monthly 'problem'. Remus didn't approved of James' taunts and he never joined in. Remus knew how it felt to be bullied. Peter knew too, but he was just glad he wasn't on the wrong side any more and would do anything for it to stay that way. Sirius normally joined in James' tirade immediately, but today he kept a tight-lipped silence.

"Padfoot, you all right there?" Peter whispered, hoping his friend would confide him.

"Yeah," Sirus said, giving a brisk nod.

Peter sighed. Without Sirius, Peter didn't have the guts the join James' taunting and eventually, without the support of his fellow Marauders, the boy stopped. The class turned back to finishing off their potions and Slughorn never stirred from his sleep.

When everyone stopped looking and gave their undivided attention to their work, Siruis got out of his seat and walked over to Severus. He placed a hand on the Slytherin's shoulder. "Snivellus," he said in a reprimanding manner. The class all turned to face the pair. Sirius cast a lazy look to Lily. "Evans. None of that until you're eighteen."

The class roared with laughter.

"Black!"

"Padfoot, knew you'd have my back!"

Peter took this as a cue to join in on the fun. He sidled up beside Severus and sung in his ears, soft enough so as to not wake Slughorn, but loud enough for the class to hear. Peter really put an effort to wind Severus up. "Snievllus and Evans up the tree. K-I-S-"

"I don't like her like that!" yelled Severus, shoving the boy away.

"Oh yeah," challenged Siruis. "Prove it!"

And that was how the future changed. One small alteration in a large deterministic and non-linear system such as life resulted in large differences in the future.

"I don't love her," said Severus quietly. He turned to Mulciber and nodded to him. The boy gave him a gleeful grin. "She's a m-mudblood."

The room fell silent and no one dared to breathe. The sound of their bubbling concoctions and the rattling of their cauldrons filled their ears. Severus usually considered the clanging pewter handles against the cauldron soothing and therapeutic. Right now it sounded frightfully ominous.

"Lily, I—" Snape started to say.

"Just don't speak to me right now," said Lily. She gathered her books and charmed the flame under her cauldron away. "Tell Slughorn I'm not feel well." she said in a strangled voice. Her partner nodded mutedly as Lily fled the classroom.

"Why the hell did you say that to Evans?" James spat, looking disgustedly at Severus.

"Yeah!" Peter chimed in. "That's the worst thing you could possibly say to her!"

Mulciber slapped Severus hard on the back and spoke behind him. "Welcome to our circle."

Avery gave him a nod and returned chopping up the rest of his ingredients to his potions.

That was when Severus realized, joining someone's 'circle' didn't mean he'd be friends with them.

And in the next few days, Severus learnt that while Lily may be a kind and sweet girl, she would never forgive someone who called her a 'mudblood'. Or maybe it was because she never received a proper apology from him. Whenever Severus tried approaching Lily, James and his gang of Gyffindors formed a ring around her, refusing to let him see her.

Exactly one year later, after he spent the day cowering in the library—he found out the 'circle' actually meant becoming one of Voldemort's followers... they wanted him to get a tattoo on his arm! Serverus noted:

While he had never been good at making friends, he was awfully good at losing them.

A/N: Even though Peter is the character I dislike the most in the books, but I ended up writing about him a lot here. Hope you enjoyed it! :)