Author's Note: Hi all! This is the prequel to My Last Breath. This is a series of drabbles dispersed throughout Alexis' Hogwarts years. I haven't done a huge amount of research - we're flying by the seat of our knickers!
I own nothing 'cept Lexie, Sam, Tiny Tina and Terrance.
"Hello," the white haired girl said. "I like your nose."
Severus looked at the blue eyes startlingly close to his face and took a step back. It was right before the Sorting Ceremony, the Ceremony which would dictate what house he would become a part of, and his peers, for the rest of his school life.
He blinked. The girl who addressed him had a grin fit to split her face in two and twinkling eyes. "I'm going to take you to the first ball I can," she said with a finality that scared him. Before Severus could get his vocal chords working to respond to either statements, she was flitting off into the crowd.
His next glimpse of her was when her name, "Baldwin, Alexis" was called and she walked out onto the stage. The Sorting Hat promptly yelled "Gryffindor" and a cheer erupted from the table, then she bobbed down into a sea of students. Her hair was a blue-white – so glaringly easy to spot.
It was a long waiting game, as his last name, 'Snape', put him near the end of the list of students.
The only other people of note were a slender girl with flaming red hair, "Evans, Lilly", and a cocky scruff-haired boy named "Potter, James", both of whom were sorted into Gryffindor.
His name was called - "Snape, Severus" - and he walked onto the stage. He sat on the stool and placed the hat on his head.
"Hello," the hat said to him, inside his mind. "Now you're an interesting one," it mused.
"Why am I interesting?" he asked.
The hat did not respond but hummed and haa'd and wiggled this way and that. The hat shouted "SLYTHERIN" and then, in a quieter voice for him alone "keep your eyes open, you never know what you might learn". He frowned, removed the hat from his head and tottered down to the Slytherin table. He caught the bright blue gaze from the Gryffindor table. She smiled at him and he allowed a ghost of a smile before sitting down and focusing on the rest of the ceremony.
He realised quickly that he was not to be included into any of the social groups. All the first years had integrated themselves into their own social groups, or into others, far too quickly. They excluded him. He was used to it. He preferred his books to socialising anyway. His first few classes were interesting enough, but when he stepped into his Potions class and saw white hair among the blonds and browns, he knew this class would be the highlight of his days.
His teacher was a very competent man of middling years, one Professor Slughorn, who promptly buddied everyone up and informed them this was going to be their buddy for the year, and possibly for the rest of their schooling years, and they'd better get on well enough to complete the potions because they were graded on their potions together.
Alexis' grin showed all her pearly teeth when Severus sat down beside her. "Hello, I didn't introduce myself before," she whispered, leaning into him slightly. "I'm Alexis."
"I'm Severus," he replied, and then focused his attention back to the teacher. She did the same, her grin subsiding into a slight smile. Yes, he thought. This class will definitely be fun.
AN: Reviews make me feel thoroughly inspired to write more :D