A/N: I actually wrote this quite a while ago but I've never been game enough to upload it. But my awesome friends Melina and Nadia compelled me to finally post it because they believed it had potential. So thanks guys!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OC. Everything else is from the mastermind JK Rowling.

Severus sat in his usual seat in the dank potions class down in the dungeons. He had arrived early to class and was able to dwell upon last year's events that still haunted him. Nothing had caused him to be this miserable in his entire life, not even witnessing his parents' violence. He had now lost his one and only friend, Lily Evans, the beautiful redhead who had been a part of his life since he was ten. Severus missed staring into her piercing green eyes and feeling as though he would never be lonely again. This would be his first year at Hogwarts in which she wouldn't be there to comfort him while the Marauder's played their dirty pranks on him.

And it was all because of one word; Mudblood. The word that changed it all, the reason why he sat alone at his table that morning. The memory of their falling apart came flooding through his mind again ...

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not interested."

"I'm sorry!"

"Save your breath," said Lily, angrily, arms folded and standing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady in her dressing gown, "I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here."

"I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just –"

"Slipped out?" The present Snape winced at her harsh tone. "It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends – you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"

He opened his mouth, but closed it without speaking. The present Snape kicked himself for not coming up with anything to say.

"I can't pretend anymore. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine."

"No – listen, I didn't mean –"

"- to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?"

He struggled on the verge of speech, but with a contemptuous look, she turned and climbed back trough the portrait hole ... The present Snape once again sighed in exasperation at his feeble attempt to win her back.

However, he came back to his senses as several students walked into the room. Among them was Potter, his untidy black hair sticking up at the back as he joked with Black while Lupin followed. Obviously, Pettigrew didn't make it to N.E.W.T. standard potions. They made their way to a table on the other side of the room.

Just then, a flicker of dark red hair caught his eye. Lily had arrived to class, and although Severus wasn't surprised to see her not walking towards his table, he was still shocked to see her make her way towards ...

Potter, the arrogant toerag and his army of smarmy trolls. Anger surged through his body as she sat down at their table. Severus could just hear their conversation.

"Lily! What are you doing here?!" a shocked Potter asked.

"Ask me that one more time, and I'll slap you and move away to another table," replied Lily.

Severus smiled at her wit, but then wiped the grin off his face almost immediately once he realised that she wasn't his friend anymore, and it was all because of him.

No, it was Potter's fault. Potter had provoked him. Potter knew that he would say something stupid once he was hanging upside down in the air, graying underpants showing ...

The only way Severus would feel better, is if he gained power. Lots of power, like the Dark Lord. But this was one of the reasons why Lily had left him. He mustn't take the wrong path. But Lily was out of the question. Nobody was there to stop him now.

Severus was snapped out of his thoughts once again when Evanna Prewett, a Gryffindor student and friend of Lily's, took her seat at his table.

"Radford away?" she asked politely, referring to the lanky Hufflepuff boy who usually sat with them and Lily.

Severus grunted and nodded stiffly.

At that moment, Professor Slughorn entered the class, his belly preceding him through the door.

"Oho, my young potion-makers! Congratulations all, for making it to N.E.W.T. level potions. And since you are all so advanced in this subject, we'll start straight away on the tough potions. This lesson, we shall be brewing the Draught of Living Death, page 10. So, chop, chop. Off to work!

Severus set to work at once, gathering all the ingredients he needed from the store cupboard. He was first to arrive back to his cauldron at the back of the room, and he began cutting up his valerian roots straight away. A few minutes later, Slughorn, made his way around the classroom, occasionally stopping to comment on a few students' progress.

"Going well, MacDonald," he said to a Gryffindor girl, but scrunched up his face when he looked into her friend's cauldron. He then passed the table where Potter's gang and Lily sat. He simply nodded at Potter's, Black's and Lupin's, ready to be astounded by Lily's potion. However, his face fell when he peered into her cauldron.

"Not up to your usual standard today, Lily," Slughorn said, a little disappointed. Severus sneered. She could no longer depend on his extraordinary skills at potions. "Not to worry, not to worry. You're probably still in holiday mode."

By the time Slughorn reached Severus' table, his potion had already turned a deep blackcurrant colour, the ideal halfway stage.

"Marvellous, Severus! You're certainly not still in holiday mode!" exclaimed Slughorn, "Whizzing through yet another potion. Well done, well done."

Slughorn moved on to Evanna's cauldron and frowned slightly.

"I'm sorry Miss Prewett, but you'll have to work harder if you wish to become a famous Auror like your parents."

Severus looked up.

"Yes, sir," said a helpless, upset Evanna.

"I'll help her, Professor," Severus said, speaking up for the first time.

"Thank you, Severus," replied Slughorn, as he walked off.

"Hand me your sopophorous beans. I'll cut them for you."

Evanna slid them across the table and Severus began crushing them with the flat side of his silver dagger.

"Why are you doing that? She asked, alarmed.

"It releases the juices better."

"Really?"

"Yes. Here, you try," he said, dropping the crushed beans into her cauldron while he slid the rest of them back to her.

Severus continued to help her throughout the lesson and almost forgot that he had his own potion to brew. As he was adding new notes to his Advanced Potion Making book, Evanna unexpectedly said, "Lily's a git."

"What?" said a dumbfounded Severus.

"She's angry with you for no apparent reason."

"Are you kidding?" he hissed, "I called her a mudblood. She has every right to be angry with me."

"You were being humiliated in front of half the school! What choice did you have? Let a girl stand up for you, and show everyone how weak you were, or stand up for yourself? And obviously, if you're hanging upside down," with your underpants exposed she thought to herself, "you're not going to be able to think straight."

Severus was taken aback. Could it be that there was someone who understood the ways of Severus Snape?

"But still," said Severus, "I called her a mudblood. There's no excuse for that."

"And it's not something that you would never speak to a person again for," Evanna interrupted.

Severus lowered his gaze. "I suppose," was all he could manage to say before-

"And time's up, everyone!" Slughorn boomed, "Collect some of your potion in a glass vial and bring it to the front to be marked."

Severus quickly added the last ingredient to his potion, gave it two clockwise stirs and then an anti-clockwise stir, which made it turn a light shade of lilac. He then gave his vial to Slughorn, and wandered back to his seat to fetch his schoolbag.

"Thank you so much for your help, Severus."

Severus turned around to see Evanna standing behind him. "Anytime," he replied.

"Really?" she said, face lighting up, "Because I was thinking that maybe I need a tutor for Potions since Slughorn keeps going on about how good my parents were. It sort of diminishes my self-esteem, you know, and seeing as you're best in the class at potions, I would be very grateful if you could help me ... Only if you want to, that is," she added, quickly.

"Of course," he agreed, and Evanna beamed.

A/N: Reviews are kindly welcome. If you have any constructive critisism, please let me know. I'm always looking for ways in which I can improve.