Although Severus had always hoped to be in Slytherin, and knew that it was almost inevitable considering his mother's heritage, he still could not help wishing that the Sorting Hat had placed him in the same house as Lily -- even if it was Gryffindor.

As he plodded towards the Slytherin table, where the other students were clapping to welcome him, an older boy with long blonde hair moved over on the bench to make room for him, so he wordlessly sat down next to him. He felt himself being patted gently on the back.

"Congratulations on being chosen to Slytherin, the best house in Hogwarts!"

When Severus looked up, the boy was smiling kindly at him. On his chest was a silver prefect badge.

"Thank you."

When Severus answered rather glumly, the boy looked askance at him.

"Aren't you glad?"

"O--Of course, I'm glad, my mother was in Slytherin, too..."

"Ah! So you expected this."

"Yes."

Indeed, it was just as Severus had expected. The only thing unexpected was Lily's being Sorted into Gryffindor, Slytherin's mortal enemy. Since Severus had been eagerly looking forward to spending their school years together, he felt abandoned, as though he had been cast off to drift by himself, like one of the boats they had used to cross the lake earlier that night.

When the headmaster finished his simple greetings, a feast appeared on the tables, the likes of which Severus had never seen. All of the children began tucking in gleefully, and the great hall grew noisy with the sounds of their chatter and laughter. The only relatively quiet areas were the teachers' table and the head of the Slytherin table, where Severus was sitting. He intuitively sensed that the calm about him was due to the blonde boy sitting next to him, dining with elegance as he spoke to the other Slytherin students. He seemed to be in charge, welcoming each First Year graciously, and all of the older students spoke to him with respect.

"He must be from a great Pureblood family," thought Severus, as he took some food from the dishes in front of him and ate tentatively. He couldn't take his eyes off the older boy's hands, which moved with a fluid grace that somehow transformed the school dining hall into a much more sophisticated and luxurious place. It was an altogether foreign atmosphere to Severus.

"This must be the difference between Muggles and Purebloods," Severus decided, thinking of his own father, who was a Muggle and hated his mother's magic, and also hated the fact that Severus had been born a wizard. However, in Severus' eyes it was his father who was detestable, drinking every chance he had and often turning violent towards his wife and terrified son. As far back as he could remember, Severus had despised his father, and had sworn to himself over and over that he would never become like him. Watching the prefect sitting next to him, Severus heartily wished to be soon unfettered from the shackles of his miserable past.

Noticing Severus glancing at him, the blonde boy smiled knowingly and spoke to him.

"The roast beef isn't bad today. You should try some."

Without waiting for an answer, he placed a slice on Severus' plate, then added a spoonful of boiled potatoes, even pouring gravy on them.

"You're going to need your strength tomorrow. I expect all Slytherins to distinguish themselves above the other houses' students."

"Y--Yes, of course!"

Hastily answering what seemed to be a command, Severus stabbed the slice of beef with his fork. However, it needed to be cut before he could eat it, and in all of his life, there had never been a meal served in the Snape household that required the use of a knife. He glanced again at the boy next to him, and tried holding the knife in his right hand, switching the fork to his left, but found that the meat would not cut easily.

"Oh, the table is too high for you. Here, allow me."

Noticing that Severus was having a hard time, the blonde boy placed his hands over Severus' hands. Normally, when someone said, "Allow me," they meant you were to let go and allow them handle it, but Severus was so surprised that he continued to grip his knife and fork. The older boy suppressed a smile as he wrapped his long fingers around Severus' hands, and neatly cut the meat into bite-sized portions for him.

"Th--Thank you very much."

The boy sniggered ever so slightly at Severus, who was still staring at him.

"You're very welcome."

His overly polite response was almost teasing, and Severus felt his face flush deep red. The blonde boy was very handsome, even in Severus' critical eyes, and he was embarrassed at being so awkward in front of him. Knowing full well the effect he was having on Severus, the prefect could not help laughing inwardly.

"How adorable! He's such an innocent, and an ignoramus, I suppose I shall have to take charge of him. Yes, indeed, I think I must take him in hand..."

Watching Severus' downcast face, which he was trying to hide as he silently ate his dinner, the older boy came to a decision.

"My name is Lucius Malfoy. And you are?"

"Severus Snape."

"You mentioned your mother was in Slytherin, too. What was her name? I may know of her."

"Eileen Prince."

"Oh! Of course, the Princes are a long-standing Pureblood family. I know them well."

"You do? Really?!"

The boy nodded at Severus, whose face had suddenly lit up with gladness.

"Oh yes. It's a pity her name changed when she married. Anybody would know a Prince is a Pureblood, immediately."

"Oh, uh..."

Just as quickly, Severus looked despondent again.

"I... well, my father..."

"What is it?"

Severus looked up, almost fearfully, at Lucius, and saw that his blue eyes were smiling down kindly on him, so he took a deep breath and confessed.

"You see, my father... he's a Muggle."

In an instant, the smile on Lucius' face froze. Severus did not miss it.

"I knew it! A Pureblood would never want anything to do with me..."

His mother had told him to be prepared, ever since he'd received his notice of acceptance into Hogwarts. He knew better than to be disappointed, but for Severus' young heart, to be rejected again so soon after being separated from Lily was more than he could bear.

"What a shame... only a Halfblood! What a waste, too, for he's really a beautiful child."

Lucius conferred with himself for a moment, confronted by the sight of Severus, truly depressed and hanging his head in shame.

"Even for a pet, a Pureblood is preferable... but of all things to have a Muggle father! There'd be no objection to the Prince family, of course... but then again, it's not like our families would be publicly joined, and if ever it became inconvenient, I could always sever ties completely... Actually, the fact that he is only Halfblood may keep him on his toes, and make him more eager to obey..."

After releasing a small sigh, Lucius inhaled deeply again. He had decided to go through with his earlier decision.

"It's Severus, right? Although your parentage is unfortunate, I think it's really up to you, and how hard you try, as to how people will ultimately judge you. If you work hard at your studies here at Hogwarts, perhaps in seven years' time you will become a wizard worthy of the great name of Prince. If you give me your word of honour that you will study hard to that end, I will try to help you as much as I can."

Although his expression was more clouded than before, Lucius looked directly at Severus when he said this, leaving the younger boy speechless. However, Severus searched his face for any hint of falsehood, gazing deep into his eyes with such penetrating concentration that it startled Lucius, almost making him avert his eyes.

"This boy should learn Legilimency!" he thought, trying desperately not to flinch under that gaze.

Perhaps Severus already had a form of Legilimency in his powers, or perhaps it was intuition, but he was satisfied that Lucius was being honest with him. After a moment, his shoulders sagged visibly with relief. Then, remembering his manners, he stammered, "Th--Thank you! Very much!" With his pale cheeks turning scarlet, Severus looked down somewhere at Lucius' robe and promised, "I'll do my very best!"

He heard Lucius' reply come down gently from above.

"Of course. I expect nothing less."

All during the summer holidays, Lucius had received owls from various girls on a daily basis, and was sick to death of them. Of course he liked girls as well as any other teenage boy, but he was tired of the kind that thought he was madly in love with them just because he paid them a little attention. Others kept harassing him for dates, and the most audacious even asked him when he would introduce them to his family! Since he dated a large number of girls, there were over a dozen of just the bothersome kind. And he was tired of writing them back, thinking up plausible excuses to avoid them, or flattering them to keep them happy.

Of course his only purpose for dating them was physical gratification, so if one became too troublesome he would simply put an end to the arrangement. He was also concerned that, as he drew closer to coming of age, some of the girls might deliberately "forget" to use contraceptive charms, in an effort to get pregnant and blackmail him into marriage. Due to these factors, Lucius had just been debating whether he shouldn't start limiting his attentions to boys this term.

Then, as if on cue, this quiet, dark-haired boy had been Sorted into Slytherin. He was quite skinny, but Lucius knew he would quickly gain weight now that he was able to eat as much as he liked at Hogwarts. His clothes were second-hand and threadbare, barely held together with magic, but Lucius had more than enough cast-offs that were in far better shape than these, which would naturally elicit Severus' gratitude.

Most importantly, Severus was unused to kindness. One of Lucius' greatest strengths was the ability to find others' weaknesses, and to use them to his own advantage. He discerned this Achilles' heel in the younger boy from just their conversation at dinner. He knew immediately that if he was kind to Severus, the boy would trust and follow him blindly. Like a shark smelling the blood of its prey, Lucius had scented out the weakest point in Severus' heart -- the one attack for which the boy had no defense.