The HP Prequels

THE MARAUDERS, FIRST YEAR

SNAPE'S POV

An 11 year old Severus Snape hurried down the corridor of the Hogwarts express. He had already changed into school robes. This was probably his first opportunity to wear some clothing that wasn't Muggle related, and also a chance for him to wear something smart for a change.

He finally stopped outside a compartment in which a group of rowdy boys were talking. Hunched in a corner seat beside the train window was Lily Evans herself, her face pressed against the windowpane. Snape slid open the compartment door and sat down opposite Lily. She glanced at him and then looked back out of the window. She had been crying.

"I don't want to talk to you," she said in a constricted voice.

"Why not?"

"Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore." Lily sniffed, not looking at him.

Snape looked incredulously at Lily. "So what?" He asked, in a loud voice.

She threw him a look of deep dislike. "So she's my sister!"

"She's only a—" He caught himself quickly. Lily, thank goodness, was too busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed by anyone else. And she did not hear him.

"But we're going!" said Snape, unable to suppress the exhilaration in his voice. "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!"

She nodded, wiping her eyes lightly, but in spite of herself, she half smiled.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," said Snape, encouraged that she had brightened a little.

"Slytherin?" Came another voice.

The voice had come from one of the rowdy boys sharing the compartment with them. He'd taken no interest in Lily and Snape earlier, but he looked at them now with an air of slight mockery. The boy had messy, tousled hair that was jet-black in colour and stuck up everywhere. He had on a pair of round black glasses that were perched on his nose, and you could see his eyes clearly through the glass; They were a dark hazel, which were quite dull compared to Lily's bright green ones, although they were still bright with a keen enthusiasm and wonder. Unlike Snape, this boy looked well cared for. Perhaps slightly spoilt even. And now he looked at his friend beside him, feigning a look of surprise.

"Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" The boy asked in a voice loud enough for both Snape and Lily to hear.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," Said the boy's friend, coldly. He was rather tall, and had long, curly, brown hair that covered the back of his neck. His eyes were grey, and like his friend's, they contained a mischievous sort of troublemaker gleam. His expression was that of a bored one as he lounged back on the train couch.

"Blimey," exclaimed the boy with the glasses, "and I thought you seemed all right!"

The long haired boy grinned. "Maybe I'll break the tradition." He said, thoughtfully. "Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

His friend raised his hand in the air, lifting an invisible sword. "'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!'" He cried aloud, "Like my dad."

Opposite him, Snape made a small, disparaging noise. The boy with the glasses turned on him, scoffing. "Got a problem with that?"

"No," said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy—"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" interjected the long haired boy.

The two boys roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from one to the other boy with a condemning expression. "Come on, Severus," She said, loftily, getting up. "Let's find another compartment."

The two boys 'oooo'ed behind them as they got out of the compartment. One of them attempted to trip Snape up as he passed. "See ya, Snivellus!" He yelled, as the door slammed.

"I'm sorry." Lily said, in a small voice, as they walked back down the corridor of the Hogwart's Express. "That was all my fault."

"No it wasn't." Said Snape, awkwardly, and then changed the subject. "How do those two know my name anyways?"

Lily gave an annoyed huff. "I told them our names when I went in." she replied, and marched across the corridor so that Snape had to jog to keep up. "That boy with the glasses, he's called James. The other one's called Sirius

the Hogwart's Express. "That was all my fault."

"It wasn't." Said Snape, without looking at her. And then decided to change the subject: "How do those two even know my name, anyways?"

"I told them our names when I came in." Lily replied bitterly. She began to march across the hallway, so that Snape had to jog to keep up. "That boy with the glasses, his name's James Potter. He's a bit arrogant, really. And the one with the long hair is Sirius. I didn't hear his last name."

Snape looked taken abacked.

"Sirius? James Potter?" He repeated, in such awe that it surprised Lily. "You don't mean Sirius Black? And the actual James Potter?"

"I don't know. Who cares?"

"Sirius Black!" Snape said again. "D'you know about him? I haven't told you, have I?"

Lily shook her head.

"The Blacks and the Potters are pure blood families!" Snape blurted, and they went inside an empty compartment, sitting down opposite each other. "That means everyone in their family has pure wizard blood! There's no Muggle Borns in their family. Well, the Potters are lesser known. But the house of Black… everyone there's been in Slytherin!"

"Sirius said he might go to Gryffindor."

"That's why he's a git." Snape's lip curled. "You don't want to be in Gryffindor. They're all a big bunch of dunderheads who don't know anything."

Lily folded her arms. "I don't think so."

"What?"

"I know Gryffindor's known for bravery." She pursed her lips. "But that doesn't mean it's a bad house exactly. I mean, they're all good enough. Even Hufflepuff. They work hard."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Said Snape, exasperatedly.

"Oh yes I do." Lily put in. "And you can think what you like, but I'm not agreeing."

"Well, whatever floats your boat." Snape growled, and faced the window.