A Different Sort:
Summary: Lily Evans knew that no matter what house she'd be in, she wanted her best friend to be in the same house. When she isn't chosen for Slytherin, she wonders if there is any chance she will be with him after all. Severus Snape always wanted to be in Slytherin, just like his ancestors. However, when his best and only friend is sorted into a different house, he's not sure he wants to be in Slytherin anymore.
*This is a what-if or alternate universe scenario involving Severus Snape and Lily Evans from the Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling. It will go back and forth between their thoughts, feelings and interpretations of events as I pictured them. I do love the original stories as they are, but I have wondered, since I read the seventh book, what if things were different. Since it's a fictional story, what ifs are possible, right? It was mostly done for fun and to practice my writing skills while on summer break. I know where I want to go with the story and how I plan to have it end. I have every intention of finishing this story, but it may take time. I am a full-time college student taking a very full load. I did edit this story and look over it for grammar, punctuation, typos, etc., but no one is perfect. If you see something I missed, don't hesitate to mention it. Thanks for reading and enjoy the story.*
Chapter 1: The Train and the Ceremony
Snape looked sideways at Dumbledore's crooked-nosed profile. "Karkaroff intends to flee if the Mark burns."
"Does he?" said Dumbledore softly. "And you are tempted to join him?"
"No," said Snape. "I am not such a coward."
"No," agreed Dumbledore. "You are a braver man by far then Igor Karkaroff. You know, I sometimes think we Sort too soon."
-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows p.680
"The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows p.758
"You'd better be in Slytherin," said Snape, encouraged that she had brightened a little.
"Slytherin?" said one of the boys sharing the compartment, who had shown no interest at all in Lily or Severus until that point, looked around at the word, "Who wants to be in Slytherin?"
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows p.670
After Lily and Severus left the compartment, they walked around the halls, talking about the boys they had just met and how rude they were.
"They were talking about flying on brooms. I've never flown on a broom before, have you?" Lily asked nervously.
"No," Severus said, pondering about flying on a broom himself, "but I think they were just boasting. I doubt they can really fly that well. They think it makes them look better." She smiled at him.
"Yea, you're probably right." She sighed. "But they have probably have at least been on a broom since they have wizard parents. The only time I ever used a broom was to sweep the floors." He smiled at her. She smiled back and then let out a laugh. "Who knew brooms could fly? There's so much to learn still."
"Yea," He said and wondered in curiosity, "I wonder if we're almost there." A cart rolled up the hall at that moment. Severus got some every flavor beans with the little bit of money his mother had given him that morning. Lily got two chocolate frogs and pumpkin pastries, thought she did not eat them. She was too nervous and excited to eat.
"She said it will be a couple hours or so before we get there." He told her as she handed him a chocolate frog. "Look, it's Cornelius Fudge." Lily looked at the card.
"I love the moving pictures. It's so neat. I wish I could get one with my family, but since they are muggles, I don't think it'd work."
"I doubt it." He answered. "We better find a seat." She agreed. They spent the rest of the trip in a compartment with two different boys after retrieving their luggage without a word to James or Sirius. The boys called themselves Avery and Mulciber. They spoke of Slytherin, but they frightened Lily a little. Something about them seemed off. Snape, though slightly fascinated by their talk, felt unsure about the boys too.
"What about you too? What house are you looking at?"
"I think I'd like Slytherin." Severus said.
"And you, red head?" Severus frowned at them.
"Oh, um, I'm not sure. They all sound fine."
"They all sound fine?" Avery said, confused, then sniggered. "I bet you're a Mudblood, that's why you don't know anything."
"I bet you aren't as smart as you think you are." She retorted, but was curious. "What's a Mudblood?"
"It's what witches and wizards of muggle parents are called. Their blood is dirty. It lacks good quality wizard blood. They are a waste of space, in my opinion. I can't believe they let filth into the school." Before an angry Lily could say anything, Severus had jumped up, his face red with rage.
"Apologize!" He demanded.
"What?" Avery asked, startled by response.
"You apologize to her!" Severus felt his blood boiling as he pointed to Lily. A trunk overhead flew to the ground, hitting the knee of Mulciber and falling to the ground. He howled with pain and pulled out his wand.
"No! She's a mudblood and doesn't deserve to be apologized to!" Avery responded, his own face turning red with fury. Before Severus could do anything, the door opened.
"What is going on here?" A girl, much older than them with brown hair, asked. "I heard yelling. Who started it?" Mulciber put his wand down. Avery and Mulciber pointed to Lily and Severus as Severus and Lily pointed to Avery and Mulciber. Severus and Lily looked at them crossly.
"They were threatening us." Mulciber said, pretending to be frightened. This was a lie, but Severus was certainly considering threats. Lily was glad the girl, who claimed to be a prefect, had shown up. She was afraid the anger between Severus and herself might have caused something bad to happen.
"We were not! You asked what house I wanted to be in and then called me a Mudblood!"
"You called her a what?" The prefect glared at the boys with angry eyes. "That word is not allowed at our school! All of you get your robes on. We will be arriving soon." She left with one last threat. "I want to see better behavior from all of you. At Hogwarts, you may find yourself in detention and detention is never pleasant!" Severus and Lily left to change, neither wanting to be in the same room any longer with the boys. Lily could see Severus was angry, so was she, but she hoped the arrival would cheer them both up.
After they got changed, the train was slowing to a halt. Both lost their anger in the excitement, especially as they met the huge Hagrid and saw the Castle in the distance. They got in the same boat and stared in amazement as they crossed the lake. They had finally arrived.
Severus and Lily stood together, stomachs fluttering with nerves. The first people were called to the front by Professor McGonagall.
Avery was in Slytherin. This did not make Severus or Lily happy.
"Bishop, Rain" A girl walked to the front looking rather ill and sat on the stool. The hat was placed on her head.
"Ravenclaw!" The hat decided. The girl looked happy as she jumped off the seat and joined a table that was cheering. Lily was hardly paying attention because she was so nervous when Severus nudged her.
"Look who's next." He whispered. One of the boys from the train was now at the stool. The hat thought a moment. It was Sirius Black, whose entire family was in Slytherin.
"Gryffindor!" It shouted. The boy hoped down proudly and strode over to a different table. Lily waited patiently, but was eager to get a move on. Then, before she was ready, she was called.
"Evans, Lily." She gulped.
"Good Luck." Severus whispered, just as nervous as she was. He was crossing his fingers. Let us be in the same house, let us be in the same house. He prayed hard. It did not cross his mind to pray for her to be in Slytherin.
She walked up, taking a deep breath, but shaking inside. She did not turn back to Severus, fearing that if she opened her mouth or tried to smile, she might throw up. It seemed to decide where to place her the second it touched her head.
"Gryffindor!" Severus unlocked his fingers and groaned. She wasn't going to be in Slytherin, they weren't going to be in the same house. It was clear from talk on the train that the two houses were bitter rivals and he didn't want to be rivaled with Lily.
He looked over at her. She was sitting by the Black kid, but her arms were folded and her back was turned to him as if unhappy about her seating arrangement. She stole him a look and smiled. She looked a little sad too. Lily wondered what would happen now. She prayed in her mind. Please put us in the same house. Please let Severus be in Gryffindor. She prayed this over and over until he was sorted.
Severus felt disappointed. If he was going to be in Slytherin, the house he'd always wanted to be in, he wouldn't be with Lily. He never thought he wanted to be part of Gryffindor until now. Even Ravenclaw sounded better now. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor didn't appear to be such rivals, minus the Quidditch and House Cup. Before he could think more on this matter, he heard his name. He hadn't been paying any attention to the placements until then.
"Snape, Severus." He walked up to the stool, confusion and sadness whirling in him. The hat was placed on his head. He looked out to the Slytherin table. He no longer wanted to be in Slytherin if Lily wasn't there too. His heart was no longer in it. Now he hoped for Ravenclaw or Gryffindor as his house placement.
"Hmm," The hat said. "I see possible greatness from you. Slytherin would be a good fit. However, I also see intelligence. Ravenclaw might be suitable, but I also see great bravery in you." He didn't feel very brave just then. All he could think about was Lily. I wish I could be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. He thought to himself. "Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, Hmm, best be…"Severus held his breath. "Gryffindor!"
He was shocked. He looked at Lily as he got up. She looked surprised, but was beaming at the luck. The hat chose Gryffindor. He really wasn't meant to be in Slytherin? He thought he ought to feel disappointed, but instead he felt happy. He was going to be with Lily, in the same house. They would definitely have their classes together now and everything. Then, as he sat down, he realized who else was in Gryffindor besides the Black kid. James Potter, the other kid from the train, was sitting there. He sat down at the table and looked across it to where Lily as sitting. She was glowing with happiness.
"Wow, Sev!" She whispered. "Are you disappointed you aren't in Slytherin?" She asked, wondering if he was as happy as she was.
He thought about a second. "I feel like I should be, but I'm not. The hat said he saw great bravery in me!"
"I heard." She said back, but was grinning. "I think you are very brave, Sev." He smiled back genuinely and wanted to return the compliment, but before he could open his mouth to speak, Dumbledore arose and everyone got quiet. They looked up at him.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. To those who are new, we are excited to have you join us. To those returning, welcome back to a new year! Now let's dig in!" Food suddenly appeared out of nowhere on the table. They both were shocked, but dug in. It'd been awhile since both had eaten and now that they had arrived and were sorted into their houses, their appetites had come back. While Severus ate, he looked around the room and eyed the Slytherin table. The table he had envied, but now was grateful to not be sitting there. Once he noticed Avery and Mulciber at the table, he felt even better to be far away from them. He was still bitter about them calling Lily worthless. Minus Black and Potter, Gryffindor didn't seem so bad. Lily was with him, nothing else mattered. He turned back as a boy next to him was talking.
"What about you?"
"Huh?"
"What are your parents? Muggles or wizard or witch or what?"
"Oh, my mom's a witch. My dad's a muggle." He said. "So half and half."
"Me too." The boy said.
"My family is witches and wizards." James Potter spoke proudly. Severus suppressed to urge to roll his eyes and looked at Lily instead. She had rolled her eyes and looked bored at James, but then caught Severus eyeing her. She shook her head in an approving way as if to agree with the look Severus was giving her about James boasting.
"My family is "pure-blood" and quite overly proud of it too." Sirius Black said, rolling his eyes as he spoke. "I'm the first Gryffindor in the family. I wonder what my parents will think of that." He smirked.
A different boy spoke. "My parents are muggles. It was quite a shock to them.
"Mine are too. They always thought all that weird stuff I could made me mental. Now that they know I'm a wizard, "Another boy said with a smirk, "They know for sure I was mental." He sneered proudly. "How's being a wizard not, they said. Nothing normal about being a wizard, according to them. I disagree and think it is an honor." He puffed up his chest in self-importance.
The girls were talking about their parentage too. Two were half-bloods like Severus. Two others were of wizarding heritage and the other was a muggle-born like Lily. Despite the train incident, it seemed most people didn't care about parentage, at least not in Gryffindor.
"My brother is a squib, though. My parents are disappointed about it, but say it does happen sometimes." One of the girls with wizarding heritage said. "They were so happy I could do magic."
"What's a squib?" Lily asked as she ate some potatoes.
"It's a person who has wizard heritage, but is unable to perform magic like a muggle." The girl answered.
"That can happen?" Lily was curious about that. She didn't know people who were wizards and witches could have children who couldn't do magic.
"It's rare." The girl said to Lily's confusion. "But sometimes they just don't inherit the ability. Just like muggle children randomly get the ability without any idea why. Some wizards and witches marry muggles and most have children with magical ability, but sometimes the children are just muggles. It's like all genes, I guess." Lily pondered this. Muggles, Muggle-borns, Squibs, Half-bloods, Pure-bloods and the worst name of all, she'd learned on the train was being called a Mudblood. It meant dirty blood and was reserved for those who are muggle-born. It was a lot to take in.
Before both knew it, the plates magically disappeared and the headmaster was speaking again. He was talking about the forest being forbidden to all students and that magic was not to be done in the corridors, among other rules. Then they were all getting up and were being lead by prefects to their dormitories. Severus caught up to Lily.
When they were at the bottom of a staircase, the male prefect told them to watch the staircases because they like to change. After someone tripped into it, he mentioned the trick step and pulled the boy up.
Finally, they were at a portrait of a lady. "Carpe Diem." He said and the portrait opened. He led them through the hole into the common room.
"Boys dorms are on the left. The doors are marked by year. Girls are on the right, same thing. Good night." Severus and Lily waved to each other before parting.
Severus went up and found his trunk next to the bed closest to the door. He prayed that neither Black nor Potter would be next to him. Much to his pleasant surprise, they were both at the other end of the room. His bed was next to Eddie Metchamp, whose parents were muggles. Todd O'Brian and an empty bed also separated him from Sirius and James, thankfully. Severus assumed it must belong to the Lupin boy. A very pale and ill looking boy had showed up late to the sorting and left immediately afterward. As they were going to bed, only James and Sirius seemed to cause trouble. They seemed to find stupid nicknames for everyone already.
Sirius started on Eddie first, "Ed met a chump. Have you met a chump or are YOU the chump?" He laughed at his own joke despite the recipients being unable to find them humorous. James was the only one who seemed to find them funny. "Snivellus." He joked about Severus. Severus, who'd already heard the joke on the train, pretended to hear nothing except Eddie talk about his vacation to Greece. He also joked about "Todd a brain, get it; Toss a brain, Todd a brain." James and Sirius laughed about their new jokes until the lights went turned out by the head boy.
As he was lying awake in his four poster bed, he wondered how Lily was fairing and also wondered about living with James and Sirius for seven years. She was worth it. He also began to wonder why he was not picked for Slytherin. Bravery, the hat had said. He saw bravery in Severus and intelligence. He was startled by a roaring sound on his right. James was snoring and mumbling in his sleep. He sneered. Next time James mocked him, he might remind him of his loud snores and sleep-talking. Severus felt like he might not fall asleep at all in the confusion and excitement of the day, but somehow, he managed.
Lily tried to contain her excitement, but it was hard to sleep. So many things dwelled in her mind. What the classes would be like and how well she would do in them? She was sorted in a good house. She was with her best friend in the same house. She hoped Severus wasn't disappointed. He had spoken so highly of Slytherin and of his mother's family being in it. She also wondered how he was fairing since he had to share a room with James and Sirius, the jerks from the train. She wondered about the Sorting Hat's decisions. The hat said the brave and courageous were in Gryffindor. It must have thought she was brave, though she certainly didn't feel it at all. It saw bravery in Sev too. It must have seen some sort of bravery in the both of them. She rolled over in her four poster bed, feeling like she'd never fall asleep, but she somehow managed to anyway.
Coming Soon: Chapter 2: Potions and Charms