"Oh Petunia!" Lily cried, hugging her sister as she teared up. Severus watched them with enormous interest, truly curious as to how Lily seemed to be able to embrace her sister so warmly when she knew what her reaction would be after the hug. It had been repeating, the same thing for the past six years. He was beginning to get bored of it, honestly.
As if on cue, Petunia's claw like hands wiggled away from her sister's reach, her half size eyes widening with pure disgust and dislike. "Shut up, Lily!" She yelped, brushing off invisible dirt on her hideous pink dress. "Please, don't bring any more attention to us," she begged, her eyes darting back and fourth as if someone other than himself had the slightest interest in their goodbyes.
But Lily, being the darling girl she was simply rolled her eyes at her sister and brought her hands to her hips, a smile on her face. "I'll miss you too, Tuny," she whispered before waving goodbye to her parents. They embraced their daughter in one last hug, tears in their eyes as they kissed the top of her head. "I'm going to miss you, Mum and Dad," she said, biting down on her lip.
"We'll miss you too, sweetie," Mrs. Evans answered, ruffling her daughter's ginger hair, which caused her hand to be swatted away as Lily tried to adjust it back to it's normal positioning.
"Take care of her, will you, Severus?" He heard Mr. Evans say, and his black eyes quickly shot upward. "Of course, sir," he answered politely. As if he would ever let anything vile happen to Lily Evans while he was alive. They did not, however, know of his passion behind that.
"Good," he answered, giving his daughter one last squeeze on the shoulder before giving her a slight push toward the train. "Have a good year, kids!" He called out as he grabbed his wife's hand and dissolved back into the Platform. Petunia gave them one last look of anger and envy before she followed her parents into the world of muggles.
"Let's go, Sev," Lily said brightly, eyeing the train with interest and want. He chuckled at her expression, it was something a child might have if presented with sweets. He knew, however, how much love she had for Hogwarts, and thus didn't blame her for it. How could he blame her for anything? "Let's," he answered, following her along the platform and onto the ruby red Hogwarts Express.
"Where shall we sit?" She asked him, bringing her bag up alongside her. For a moment it crossed his mind to offer to carry her bags, but he quickly extracted the thought from his mind, realizing that if he did suggest it, and if she did agree he was in no way strong enough to carry a load that large and look impressive doing so. Might as well save him from the embarrassment.
"Wherever you like," he replied, only half listening. There was a loud, obnoxious sounding voice coming from the compartment beside them, followed by a muffled laughter he could identify from the depths of his worst nightmares.
"Evans!" The voice shouted after a compartment door was swiftly swung open. Severus turned his head to the side, his face twisting in disgust as he saw who it had come from. His assumptions had been painfully correct.
It was James Potter, one of the notorious Gryffindor Marauder's. The Marauder's were a gang of four Gryffindor boys, including Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. They ruled the school, and walked around the campus as if they owned the place. Girls swooned in their presence and boys envied to be them, all but him, of course. Much to his dismay, Lily was one of their biggest fans.
"James!" Lily screamed, flinging her bags to the floor as she rushed over to envelope him in a hug. Severus stood still, exchanging his weight from one foot to the other, hoping he would not be noticed. It was, however, a failed attempt.
"Snivellus!" Sirius called, pushing James and Lily to the side with a crude smirk on his face as he stood on the doorway, eyeing him with a look a hungry lion might give to his prey.
However, he answered their calls by looking down at the floor and pretending they weren't there, he had learned from past experiences that that was the only way to deal with them.
"Don't ignore me, Snape," he spat, walking toward him and clasping his large hand on his shoulder. He pushed him, causing Severus to fly back onto the door of another compartment and make a loud crash. His head hit the door with a thunk and he felt a large bump being to swell there, tears of pain were forming in his eyes. He knew better than to cry in their presence, however. It would only make the situation worst, and possibly prove to Lily that he was in fact the pathetic ninny James constantly nagged about. No, he instead took it like a man by pulling himself steadily off the ground and turning to face Sirius.
"Sorry, Black," he told him before waving goodbye to her and disappearing down the walk way. He could perfectly imagine Lily clutching to Potter's chest, mid hug as she watched him fly back into the door, her mouth open with comments to say, to defend him with. But of course she wouldn't say them, why should she after he had so stupidly insulted her last year with the term mudblood. It was a miracle she was even speaking to him after such actions. A miracle he thanked her for each and every day before he went to sleep, even if she never knew.
The toward the Slytherin compartments was rather dull, not so much as a squeak from an overly amused first year nor the muffled moans that could only be coming from a snog. Once he approached the compartments, however, the atmosphere changed completely. The doors were swung completely open, and fellow Slytherins were waving at each other, casting spells as they practiced. He raised an eyebrow as he continued to pass through, in search of an empty one. He wasn't in the mood to communicate with his usual Death Eater friends, though he would have to respond to their calls eventually. They'd been trying to reach to him all through summer, but ever since Lily had forgiven him for his disrespectful outburst she had made him swear that he wouldn't be as close to them as he typically was. Not to be rude, but not to be very buddy buddy with them. He had, of course, agreed with her at the moment, but looking at it now made him feel even more alone than ever. During the school year he could only talk to her so much, since she was in Gryffindor and he was in Slytherin. Also, during the year she was always surrounded by those damn Marauders, which gave him absolutely no opportunity to talk to her unless he wanted to be ridiculed.
By now, he had reached the end of the walkway, and the very end of the train. The compartment to his left was filled with his Death Eater friends, Avery, Mulciber, Wilkes, and Bellatrix. Once their eyes landed on him they proceeded to tap the glass and wave, gesturing for him to enter and sit with them. But Severus just shook his head and motioned toward the other compartment, which he assumed was empty. He didn't want to be near anyone right now, especially not them. Why strain his relationship with Lily even more? All he ever wanted to do ever an encounter with the Marauders was curl up alone, but that was one of the many things he would never admit to anyone. He would never let anyone know how deeply they got under his skin.
Looking over his shoulder, he saw that his friends had already slumped back into their seats and resumed their conversation, all okay with the fact that he wanted to be alone. All except Bella, who was eyeing him so hardly he felt like she was stabbing him with knives. Blushing, he turned his head away and slid his hand onto the door before sliding it open and stepping inside, his face turned against the window.
"Hello there," he heard someone call, causing him to jump up and drop the bag he had been carrying. He thought the compartment was empty. Walking past it had been so quiet, so silent. Not even a breath had been heard. Slytherins usually didn't keep to themselves, beside him, of course.
"Hi," he answered, his voice hushed. He had chosen this compartment assuming it would be empty, because he wanted it to be empty. Now he couldn't exactly ask this person to leave, because he was the one trespassing. Things just never seemed to work out for him, he thought as he bent over and plucked up the bag he had dropped. Lifting his head back up he only managed to have carried his bag for about fifteen seconds before it slipped from his hands again.
On the compartment seats sat a pale, white blonde female dressed in the muggle attire you would see if prancing through London in the middle of the night. Black lace covered her snow white legs in see through stockings, exposing every inch of skin. It was a bit contrary to the point of stockings, in his opinion. Traveling upward you would find a black dress that stopped mid lacy thigh, and resembled the dresses Bella wore during fancy occasions, the kind that heaved the bosoms upward. Her feet were wrapped in white, dirt covered trainers that would have completely thrown her outfit out of focus, had she not been looking as confident and sure of herself as she did. Then, if you finally made the long journey up to her face, which even he'll admit wasn't his first priority, you'll soak into large, almost house elf like grey eyes, full, rather plump pale pink lips, and a would be perfect nose, had their not been the bump at the tip that could be recognized on many ancient pure blood families. It was obvious this female came from power, but which family he was not sure of.
"Don't just stand there, have a seat," she said urgently, as if they were on the risk of being attacked.
The tone of her voice had taken him by surprise, but he nevertheless obliged. Setting his bag at his feet, he slumped in the seat across from her, looking directly into her eyes and quickly regretted it afterward. They were so deep that he felt as if she were sucking his soul out, as if she were a dementor giving him a long deserved kiss. His own dark brown, practically black eyes darted around the compartment in search of something else to stare at, though it was difficult considering her eyes were the most alluring thing in the room. Finally he was defeated, and resorted to staring at her ears, perhaps she would think he was looking at her face.
"I'm Severus," he said awkwardly, hoping to break the silence. They had been quiet for the past few moments, and it was beginning to freak him out. He'd never seen a female sit so still for so long. "Severus Snape," he repeated, his gaze falling back onto her eyes. It was hard not to.
"Hello, Severus," she said, and he then noticed how deep her voice was for a girl. It was so opposite to Lily's, whose voice was actually quite high pitched and girly. This woman's voice was still feminine, but husky at the same time. "I'm Vail Malfoy."
There we go! She was from the Malfoy tribe. How could he not have recognized her before? Those deep grey eyes, that white blonde hair, and the pointed nose. It now seemed obvious. "Lucius's little sister, right?" He asked, his eyebrows raised.
She nodded, sliding her pale hands onto her lap. Severus noticed that her nails were long and painted a bloody red. He watched as she pulled her hand back through her hair, which had been tucked into her dress, probably from the uncomfortable seats. The blonde locks fell to her waist, only making her legs look even longer.
"Did Lucius ever talk about me?" She asked abruptly, waking him up from his trance.
"Who? Lucius? I'm not sure, to be honest with you...we never really talked much," he told her truthfully. He had been a first year when Lucius was a fifth, and a third year when he graduated. They hadn't exactly had many heart to hearts, but Lucius was never mean to him, which must have meant something. "Nice guy though, your brother," he said, shaking his head slowly. Dark hair had fallen into his eyes. He silently cursed himself for not listening to his mother when she begged him to get a haircut during the summer.
"Yeah, a real sweetheart," she replied, her voice oozing with sarcasm. Severus was quick to pick it up, mostly because he was very gifted in the art of sarcasm. "Mummy and Daddy's little favorite." She made a fist with her hands, and he could hear a cracking noise coming from her knuckles. Instinctively, he leaned back into his seat, somewhat frightened.
"I'm sure they love you just the same," he assured her before he even realized what he was saying. He was also very gifted in the art of abusive parents, though he doubted that would be a considerable art.
"What do you know?" She spat, her voice cold. "You've never seen the way they treat him, the way they always kiss his arse, and the way he constantly kissed theirs back. It's repulsive," her face wrinkled in disgust.
He stood from his seat, his hand edging toward his bag. "I'm sorry to offend you, Vail, I'll be leaving now," he whispered silently, wishing he hadn't even stepped foot in the compartment in the first place. He would just have to sit in one of the first year compartments, that way he would be defying Lily's wishes.
"Wait!" She screamed, jumping out from her seat and grabbing his arm. This also manage to scare him shitless, causing him to drop his bag once more and collapse onto the seat. She sat down on the one beside him and leaned over, her eyes now centimeters from his. "I'm sorry for being a git, I'm just in a bad mood," she mumbled, her gaze dropping to the floor.
Without thinking, he took her hand from where it rested on her thigh and placed it in his, rubbing it soothingly. It's what he would have done had it had been Lily, and at the moment he was in that mind frame. He seemed to only notice the fact that it wasn't Lily when he eyed the hand in his and noticed the paleness of it, causing him to quickly drop it, the blood rushing to his cheeks. "It's okay.." he mumbled, looking toward the door.
But Vail had gripped his head in her hands, her red nails scrapping against his skin. "Why'd you let go of my hand, Severus?"