Temptation
Disclaimer: All the marauders are property of the wonderful, over imaginative JK Rowling
Lily Evans had known Severus Snape for most of her childhood. When her sister Petunia insisted on referring to him as "that creepy boy" who lived across the river, Lily was the first to come to his defense, even before they had become friends.
She often questioned why she had such an irrational attachment to this admittedly strange dark haired boy. She thought it might be the fact that he was different.
Different like her.
Lily had always known she was different. It wasn't just in the obvious ways - the striking red hair and intelligence far beyond her age - she also happened to be around when funny things occurred. Very funny things indeed. She was starting to question if it were only a coincidence that whenever she seemed to be in trouble something strange and unexpected would occur - anything from books flying rapidly across the room to teachers' hair turning violent shades of blue.
She didn't like being different. She asked Petunia if anything similar happened to her, her sister would wickedly laugh and threaten to tell her mother and father on Lily for telling tales. She took this as a no. this made Lily feel very alone.
Perhaps it was this reason that she confronted the boy from across the river. Maybe she thought that he looked so desperate in need of friends that he wouldn't dare call her weird or a freak. But most likely it was because she sensed he too was different.
It took her a while to find him in a place where he was alone, where they wouldn't be overhead. She found him down by the river, his clothes odd as always, but he seemed happier than she had seen him before, more relaxed.
She watched him curiously before she gained the courage to speak. He held a pouch that looked as if it hadn't been washed in a while. He was scurrying around picking up peculiar leaves and rocks to add into his pouch.
"Boy," she said at last. "What are you doing?"
He stood up suddenly, as if zapped by electricity. He glared at Lily with dark eyes and she couldn't help noticing the shadows beneath them. "Nothing," he said sharply. "And why were you watching me?"
She blushed, looking down at her feet. "I'm sorry. I was just curious."
The boy's expression changed. He didn't glare, but merely stared at the girl, wondering why she would bother talking to him. He eventually shrugged and went bent back down, continuing to collect pieces of nature for his small bag.
Lily didn't want to walk away, now that she had finally worked up the nerves to speak to him. He was very intimidating, but she pressed on regardless.
"I've watched you before, you know."
He didn't look up at her but Lily could see the surprise on his face. Still he said nothing.
"You're different."
He looked up at her, a smirk across his pale face. "I know."
"Do you mind? Being different?" she asked, confused by his reaction.
He shook his head. "it means I'm not like him," he spat.
Lily didn't ask who he meant. She was young, but she had tact. "I mind it sometimes. My sister doesn't like it."
A small frown creased the boy's forehead. "How are you different?" he asked.
"I make stuff happen," she whispered. "When I'm scared. I don't know how I do it… it's almost like… magic."
Much to Lily's surprise, the boy laughed. Loudly.
"Why are you laughing at me?" she demanded.
He stood up, with a small smile on his face. "Because it is magic."
She was taken aback. "There's no such thing as magic!"
He rolled his eyes. "Oh there's not is there? Well I'll see you at Hogwarts, muggle-born."
And with that he strolled up the river bank and disappeared. Lily sat there for a while, thinking that this boy was perhaps even weirder than her.
And what on earth was Hogwarts?
[x
Lily walked trudged back to her home, her mind so focused on her conversation with the Snape boy that she tripped over several times - once over her own feet.
When she made it inside, relatively unharmed - just a few scratches from where she had fallen - Petunia eyed her suspiciously. "Where have you been?" she questioned.
"Oh, um," she stammered. Lying had never been a strong point. And she didn't think that was such a bad thing - sometimes. "Just down to the river."
Petunia and Lily may not have been getting on very well lately, but Petunia still knew her sister well enough to know when she was not telling the truth. "What happened there?"
Lily blushed for the second time today. "I was talking with the Snape boy," she said quietly.
Petunia sniffed. "And what did he have to say for himself?"
"He's different, like me."
Petunia screwed up her face. "Like how?" she practically screeched.
"Well I'm not exactly sure," Lily admitted. "He said something about magic…"
"Magic!" Petunia scoffed. "There is absolutely no such thing, Lily."
Lily hung her head. "That's what I thought."
Lily was disappointed. She had almost been hoping - silly of her really - but Petunia was older and knew so much more than her, and if Petunia said there was no such thing it must be true.
"What's that?!" Petunia suddenly yelled, pointing to the window.
Lily's head snapped up. "It's an owl!" she cried.
She made a move towards the window, only to be chastised by Petunia. "Don't go near it, it might bite you!"
Regardless, Lily knew by the way it was fluttering at the window, that the owl wanted to get in. it seemed to be carrying some sort of letter and her curiosity was overwhelming.
Once she had lifted the window, in a matter of seconds the owl had flown in, dropped the letter on the nearest table and zoomed back out again.
"See, Petunia," Lily said happily. "It didn't want to hurt us."
Petunia didn't reply, but instead gave an incoherent grunt to show her disapproval.
Lily picked up the letter and examined it. The address was written carefully in green ink; "It's for me!" she cried, flipping it over. On the back of the envelope was a strange emblem with what appeared to be a badger, a snake, an eagle and a lion. Also printed was the word - Hogwarts.
Her fingers were now trembling as she opened the letter and removed the parchment from inside.
After a few moments Petunia's nosiness got the better of her and she said stiffly, "well, what does it say?"
Lily looked up from the letter, ginning. "There is such a thing as magic."
[x
She knew she would find him there the next day. He was again collecting random insignificant things for his little pouch. He looked up as soon as she arrived and she briefly wondered if he had expected she would come.
"So you got your letter?" he said before she could say anything.
"Yes," she replied and went and sat down on the cool earth beside him.
He looked startled by her closeness but didn't move away.
"Tell me," she whispered. "Tell me what it's like."
He surveyed her with those dark eyes, looking slightly intrigued. "Well what would you like to know?"
"Everything." she said simply, playing with a strand of her red hair.
He considered this for a moment and then seemed to relax beside her. "Well there are four houses. You will get sorted into one of the four according to your personality traits."
Lily sat in awe. He sounded so intelligent for someone who was only her age. "What are the four houses?" she asked.
"Ravenclaw for the wise and intelligent, Hufflepuff for the loyal and hardworking, Gryffindor," Lily noted a slight malice in his voice at the mention of the third house. "for the brave and Slytherin, for the ambitious."
This made sense to Lily. "What house do you think you'll be in?"
"Slytherin," he said, his voice emanating confidence.
"Oh." she breathed. They all sounded pretty good to her.
He eyed her thoughtfully. "You look like a Gryffindor."
"Do you think I'm brave?" she asked shyly.
"Well you talked to me. Not many people dare to do that," he laughed, but Lily detected some hurt behind his laughter.
"Severus?" she ventured.
"Yes, Lily?" he replied.
It was a sign of just how much they paid attention to each other, they knew each others name without introducing themselves.
"Are we friends?" She had to ask, because she wasn't sure.
His brow furrowed. He'd never had a friend before. But he thought that seeing as though this girl was going to Hogwarts, it couldn't do any harm.
"I guess so." he gave her a lopsided smile.
She beamed. "I hope I'm in Slytherin, so I'll have someone to talk to at Hogwarts."
He didn't know why, but this gave him a bad feeling. "Even if you're not, you'll make friends easily."
Her eyes were wide. "I don't make friends easily."
"Yes, but you've only ever been around muggles," he waved his hand dismissively.
"You seem to not like …muggles." she noted. She was smart enough to figure what he meant when he used that term, without having to ask.
It was true. But he didn't feel like telling her that. "It doesn't matter."
"why do you collect those things?' she pointed at his soiled pouch.
"I use them in potions. My mum gave me her old potions book, so I've been practicing." He explained.
Throughout the afternoon Severus further described Hogwarts and its many possibilities. By the end of it, Lily was positively ecstatic about becoming a witch.
This was not the only thing she was excited about. Lily Evans had made her first true friend.
[x
Today was the day, the first time she would travel to Hogwarts via platform 9 and ¾ and definitely not the last. She was lucky she had Severus, or she would never have found the train in time.
Her parents waved her farewell, their support obvious, while Petunia stubbornly ignored her younger sister. Lily knew she should have been upset about this but her excitement overpowered that emotion - She was finally going to the place she had been dreaming about for the last month!
She felt comfortable on the train. Everywhere she looked she saw people like her. It was exhilarating.
Snape had brought a book. He opened it and began reading as soon as the train started to progress along the country side, gradually gaining speed. He looked so engrossed Lily had to bite her tongue from asking the billion questions that were whirling around her brain. She instead stared out the window, completely in awe of the country side, green hills and blue sky. It was truly magical. She smiled at her pun.
She was so lost in thought she didn't notice when their cabin door slid open until a tall boy with a mess of black hair and glasses spoke to them.
"Hullo, I'm James Potter."
It appeared Severus hadn't heard the intruders enter either, far too engrossed in his book. He jumped slightly and looked up, his dark eyes flashing. "Severus Snape." he said shortly.
The messy-haired boy apparently called James looked at Snape's odd clothes and long hair with obvious distaste. He was accompanied by another boy who was rather handsome and had a wicked glint in his deep brown eyes.
"He wasn't talking to you mate," the second boy said. Lily thought he should apologize for his rudeness but all he did was turn to her and grin. "Sirius Black."
"Lily Evans," she said stiffly, turning her gaze back out the window to show her disinterest.
James looked about to say something more when Sirius cut him off. "Come on, James. I met this kid, a few cabins down. He offered me chocolate on the platform," he added.
Lily was thankful they were leaving.
James looked quite the opposite; struggling to argue in some way, giving up and shrugging his shoulders as he turned to leave. "Nice meeting you Lily."
When they were gone Severus looked unsettled.
"I didn't like them," Lily offered, half in truth, half trying to make her friend feel better.
He shrugged and tried to look as if the encounter hadn't bothered him.
Lily grinned. "Did you see that boy's hair? Apparently no one has ever showed him how to use a comb!"
And with this they began to giggle uncontrollably, the mood lightened. They spent the rest of the train ride joking and stuffing themselves with food from the trolley.
As they stepped off the train into the cool air Lily felt as though her legs were about to crumple beneath her. This was it. She was here. She made it. They were led to a vast, lake, so blue it was almost black. It twinkled on the surface, reflecting lights from the huge castle that loomed above them. She let out a gasp and grasped Severus's hand.
Her eyes sparkled. "It's beautiful!"
"Yes, it is quite magnificent." he replied.
Lily was silent for the boat ride. She was too much in awe of the giant castle to be able to think of any of the questions that had previously been on her mind.
Inside what the teacher had referred to as the Great Hall, the first years lined up restlessly, ready to be sorted into their according houses.
She was secretly happy her last name begun with E, as this meant the insufferable James Potter was halfway down the line from her. It also meant though, that she was close enough for Sirius Black to strike up a conversation with her.
"Lily, isn't it?" Sirius Black flashed a smile. Lily couldn't help notice that his teeth were perfectly straight and white.
"Yes," she said, looking around the room not particularly interested in furthering the conversation with the boy that had been so rude on the train.
"What house do you think you'll be in?" Apparently he didn't take a hint, Lily thought bitterly.
"I hope I'm in Slytherin." she said, finally turning to look at him.
"What?!" He barked. "What the hell would you want to be in there for?"
She frowned. "Because I have friends there," was her cold reply.
Suddenly comprehension dawned on his striking face. "You don't know much about Slytherin do you?"
Lily didn't answer. She wasn't about to tell him that he was right.
"Every bad wizard there ever was came from Slytherin," he continued.
"Are there bad wizards?" she asked, eyes wide.
Sirius chuckled. "Wizards are just like muggles. There are bad muggles aren't there?"
Her throat felt dry. She nodded.
He watched her carefully. "I'm going to have to keep an eye on you, kid." he said after a moment.
She was about to ask why when his name was called. He lumbered forward and placed the patched hat on top of his dark head. The hat sat there for quite sometime before it shouted -
"SLYTHERIN!"
Lily was confused. Hadn't this boy just expressed his disapproval in her wanting to be in Slytherin?
Sirius withdrew the hat, his face had visibly paled. It was clear that this was not what he had been expecting.
Soon it was her turn. She walked timidly up to the hat and slipped it over her copper hair. To her surprise, there was a small voice inside the hat, speaking to her.
"So you want to be in Slytherin ay?"
'Yes, please' Lily thought as hard as she could.
"Ah, but you have a great mind, you could do wonderful things in Ravenclaw… so be it… However just know that you wouldn't be there if you didn't have someone to look out for you. Make sure you watch yourself in …. SLYTHERIN!"
She yanked the hat off her head, relieved. She looked down at the line of remaining first years so she could see Severus's reaction. She hadn't expected him to look lightly anxious at this outcome. She couldn't help noticing James Potter's crestfallen face as she placed the hate back down on the stool.
She went and took a seat beside the boy of Black at the Slytherin table. He looked so furious she didn't dare ask him why he thought he had been sorted into Slytherin if he hated it so much. He was noticeably disappointed again when a boy with tattered robes and dark circles under his eyes called Remus Lupin was sorted into Gryffindor, his obvious house of choice. She watched the Potter boy get sorted into Gryffindor, which just made Sirius even more livid. Then it was Snape's turn. Hat barely on his head for more than a second, it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!" just as he had said it would.
