This fic is a SPOOOOIIILER for those who still haven't read Deathly Hallows. Kind of. It's a what-if. I just needed to do this, I know I'm supposed to be writing something else, but I just couldn't resist! One plot bunny jumped into my head and I've never met any as insisting or annoying! Please note that I'm not English, with a not so perfect English therefore. And I am quite sure this is not the first nor last fic like this here, but I don't know, I haven't been very active in reading SS/LE, mostly because they're too angsty for my tastes. But, bon apetit! (Or however you write it).
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He wanted to be with Lily, but he still wanted to be in Slytherin. But the Hat would of course choose for him. It would, so he didn't have to worry. All he had to do was sit down and have a nice time. Ah, there went Lily. Where would she go? Oh. Gryffindor. He really couldn't be in Gryffindor, could he? He would never… but still, Lily was there and he wanted to be with her.

"Snape, Severus!" called the woman. McGonagall. He walked hesitantly up to the Sorting Hat. She put in on his head and waited.

"Well, you certainly got some courage," the Sorting Hat whispered into his ear. Or was it in his head?

"I… I don't want to be in Gryffindor!" Snape thought quickly.
"Are you sure?"

"No," answered Snape.

"You are a very clever, young man, Severus Snape. Slytherin or Ravenclaw are always a possibility, you know. What do you think?"

"I… I want to be with Lily."

"I thought so." And he called out loud "GRYFFINDOR!"

Snape stood up and walked on shaky feet to Lily.

"I thought you didn't want to be in Gryffindor," she said grinning. He shrugged helplessly and sat gingerly beside her.

"I just… uhm…" he didn't know what to say.

"Ah, doesn't matter how you ended up here. I think it's great to have you with me, now I won't be alone," she said and hugged him. Yes, he thought, it was quite worth it being in Gryffindor if he could still be with Lily. Some older Gryffindors also shook his hand.

"I thought you had to be brave to get here," said one of the boys from the train, the one with the messy mop as hair.

"He IS brave! Leave him alone!" said Lily angrily. Snape looked up. Before him sat another boy who looked just as scared as him at being there. He had brown hair and pale skin and looked very frail. HE didn't look brave, why didn't they pick on him? The sorting ended and the headmaster stood up. He looked kind and Severus felt a bit better when he spread out his arms and smiled to them all. He welcomed all of them and held a short speech. Then dinner was served, appearing magically out of thin air!

"This is amazing," said Lily and gaped. Severus smiled.

"You know, I really thought you were joking the first time you said I was a witch," she said and began to eat.

"I noticed. And I felt so proud telling you what you were and you were insulted," said Severus, now beginning to feel better while eating. Lily noticed the scared boy in front of them and held out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Lily Evans," she said smiling. The boy shook her hand hesitantly.

"Remus Lupin," he muttered. Severus also held out his hand.

"Severus Snape," he said. They shook hands and the boy, Remus, seemed to gain confidence. At least he didn't look as troubled and began to eat properly.

"Aw, you're going to share a dorm," said Lily. It seemed that this night was perfect for her, she just couldn't stop grinning.

"You're observant Lily, really observant," said Severus and hid a grin behind his cup. Pumpkin juice, he had never tasted it before.

"Stop it," she said and hit his shoulder. He choked slightly on the juice.

"Sorry," said Lily apologetically and patted him on the back. Then she turned back to Remus.

"Are you from a wizarding family? All my family are muggles and Severus has a muggle-father."

"My dad's a wizard but mom's a muggle," muttered Remus, not looking at them but concentrating on his meat.

"Oh." Then Lily looked at Severus, "Sev, try to be some help here, I'm trying to strike up a conversation! You're boys; you must have some mutual interests."

"Uhm…" They were saved from that when dessert appeared. Lily began to gape again.

"I adore being a witch," she whispered and looked around. Severus and Remus grinned at each other, glad to have a reason to be silent. If continued like that, they'd make wonderful friends!

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Dinner ended and the prefects called for first years to follow them. Severus, Lily and Remus made sure to be close to each other. They were so tired that they didn't even notice how beautiful the Gryffindor common room was and were glad to be able to go to sleep. Severus waved Lily goodnight as they walked up the stairs. Luckily, Severus slept at the edge of the row with Remus between him and the rest.

And so, Severus Snape became a Gryffindor but not a Slytherin, for his heart was truly a brave one and full of love. He actually did become friends with the others and was the first one to find out what Remus Lupin was. He and Sirius Black enjoyed to bicker but it was never anything serious. He also became an animagus so they could stay with Remus during his full moons. His form was an elegant panther. James Potter and him never properly liked each other but tolerated each other perfectly well, especially for the sake of one Lily Evans, whom they both loved. Peter Pettigrew continued to be sidekick. At the beginning of 5th year, Severus finally got the courage to ask Lily out for a date in Hogsmeade, which ended with a beautiful kiss in the snow. After that you could barely separate them from each other and they were without any doubt the favourites of Slughorn. At their graduation, Sirius introduced his little niece, Nymphadora Tonks, to his friends, and she charmed them all with her humour. (Andromeda and Ted had come to represent his family at the graduation). Remus and Severus became very good friends, although their first months were only spent studying together, but that was quite enough for them. Remus was glad that anyone liked him and Severus was happy to finally gain another friend than Lily. After all, you can't tell a girl friend everything you tell a boy friend!


Severus father, Tobias, died shortly before he began his 7th year at Hogwarts. It was generally thought he had choked on a chicken bone, but some suspected poisoning, plotted by his own son and wife. It was never proven, but as Lily said few years later:
"It's not a coincidence my husband is the greatest Potions master in Europe."

It was James Potter that became envious of Snape and began, although only after school, to be in bad company. Eventually, he became a Death Eater, but couldn't bear to see Lily die, so he turned to Dumbledore for help. Severus and Lily had a son that had his parents pale skin, his mother's green eyes, his father's black hair (although not greasy, but it had the same curves as Lily's) and his nose. But it did suit him, somehow he managed to look good with it. Mostly because of his smiles that were pure expression from Lily. James became a Quidditch-teacher in Hogwarts and behaved almost as bad as Severus Snape, but the Hogwart-years are another story for another time.