An assignment for one of my class. I could not resist! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me.
The 9 ¾ platform only received this kind of bustle one time of year. School children ran around the station, dodging trunks and cages full of owls and greeting both new and old friends. Mothers held their 10-year-olds tight, realizing their imminent departure. It was time again for Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to reopen for the fall term. A lone boy stood apart from the group.
Draped in old hand-me-down cloak, his slight frame drowned in the clothing. The boy's dark stringy hair starkly contracted with his pale features, making his overall presence rather sorry looking. A short distance away, a sallow and straight-faced woman, whose appearance was remarkably similar to the boy, watched him apathetically. The disassociation between the two had no effect on the dark haired boy. Instead, the dark hair boy's focus was drawn to four figures further down the platform.
The group consisted of a man, woman, and two girls. The man, the woman, and one of the girls dressed in muggle clothing. The second girl stood apart in her distinctly wizard-esque clothing. Her fiery red hair popped against her black robe. A smile gracing her small features, and green eyes twinkling, she hopped around the platform, taking in every sight. The man and woman mirrored her expression, while the other young girl had a pinched look on her thin face. Watching the girl made a smile tug on the corners of the boy's mouth. It slowly faded, as the thin faced girl lashed out at the red haired girl.
"Well, go on. Leave before these looney kids disturb us normal people," the girl ordered.
"Tuney, don't say that!" the other girl exclaimed. "I am sure if I talk with Headmaster Dumbledore, he would let you join us." Tuney shook her head.
"Why would I ever want to go to a silly school filled with harebrained professors and mad students?!" Tuney retorted. The girl's face darkened.
"Then why would you beg the Headmaster to enroll in my silly school." She calmly stated, green eyes drilling into Tuney's muddy brown ones. Tuney turned her head, blushing hotly.
"I didn't beg! And it wasn't safe for me to go to that school. It's full of freaks like you!" The boy couldn't take it anymore. Strutting over to where the two girls had separated themselves from the man and woman, he stepped in between them.
"That's enough," commanded the boy, looking at both girls. Tuney stepped back.
"See what I mean. Freaks! The whole lot of you," she screeched, turning away from the two other children. The red head made a move as if to stop her, but the boy shot her a warning look. The train whistled, signaling its imminent departure.
"Come on Lily, forget Petunia. We cannot let the Hogwarts' Express leave without us." The boy stated as he directed the red head, Lily, towards the train.
"But Severus, she is my sister! She can't say that about me. About you!" Lily exclaimed. The boy, Severus, shook his head, his face turning a light pink at the mention of his name.
"Oh, do not pay attention to her. She wishes she were special like you. I mean like us. Wizards and witches." Severus explained as they boarded the train.
Inside the train, there was a narrow hallway with windows lining one side and compartments on the other. They shuffled down the row, searching for an empty compartment, having barely any room for their trunks which were scraping the floor behind them. Each little room contained up to six of their future school mates. After lugging their things past numerous partitions, they finally found a room to themselves. With a huff, Lily dropped her luggage in the room and plopped herself face first into the booth-like seat.
"You don't understand Severus," Lily began as Severus brought his things in behind her, setting himself up across from the girl. "If she thinks I am a freak, doesn't that mean something?"
"What if she starts hating me, because of her being at home and me being at Hogwarts?" her eyes welled up ever so slightly as she continued.
"So what?" asked Severus.
"So what? Petunia is my sister, my only sister. I care about what she thinks."
"But she is only…" He started, but seeing her hastily wipe at her eyes, thought better not.
"Well, we are off though! To Hogwarts." Uncontained excitement coated his voice. "After talking about it for so long, we are finally going to be students, able to practice magic, learn spells, and be around similar people." This sentence brought a small smile to her face, causing Severus to grin broadly. It disapparated quickly as the door to Lilly and Severus' compartment slid open. Two boys gallivanted into the space, trunks thunking along behind them.
"Are these seats open? I thought so." The lead boy spoke, as he took the seat next to Lily and the other boy the one next to Severus. The boy who spoke had dark hair and glasses with a circular rim and had a look of a well-cared for and loved boy. "Well Sirius, looks like we stumbled across a rather odd pair, a pretty girl and a ragged toad." The other boy, Sirius, shook with laughter, with his long, mangy, curly brown hair bouncing along with him.
"Quite an odd pair indeed, James," he echoed. Lily prickled at their comments.
"Odd, huh? At least this odd pair has manners!" She retorted, poking the boy named James. He swatted her hand away.
"Feisty now? You will probably be sorted into Gryffindor," James stated matter-of-factly. "Anyone brave with a heart of a lion goes there. My dad was one and I will be one too." Severus snorted. James turned to him, "What?"
"Nothing," Severus responded. "That is if you value brawn over brains." Lily giggled beside James. The outspoken boy flushed.
"Gryffindor is the best house and everyone knows it." Sirius asserted, coming to his friend's aid. "Speaking as someone whose family has never been sorted into Gryffindor, it is the house which wields the most power at Hogwarts. The Sorting Hat will definitely make an exception for me."
"I am sure they will, mate!" encouraged James. Severus rolled his eyes.
"Please, the best house is," he began, but Lily cut him off by stating, "You boys can say whatever you want, but the only reason you are so 'brave' is because you both are incredibly pigheaded. Come Severus. Let's not waste our time with these so-called 'lionhearted' boys." Quickly, Severus gathered his things and left with the fiery eyed Lily, hoping to not incur her harsh words leftover from her exchange with the boys.
The rest of the ride to Hogwarts consisted of Lily ranting about the rudeness of James and Sirius. Severus halfheartedly listened to his best friend. Staring out the window at the fast moving landscape, he could not help but think about his own choice for housing. Slytherin was the house he was expected to join. There has never been another option for him. But what if James was right and Lily was sorted into Gryffindor? How would he survive the next seven years of school without her by his side?
Suddenly, the train stopped abruptly, shaking Severus from his reverie. Lily halted her rambling and gathered her things.
"Severus, we are here!" She announced grandly, prompting Severus to get up and mime her actions.
As they stepped out onto the platform, they both looked up into the distance. Ahead there was the most magnificent castle either of them could have imagined. As they stared, they were jostled by other students making their way towards the moving horseless carriages. Not wanting to be left behind, Severus and Lily weaved their ways towards Hogwarts.
When they made it to the castle, all of the first years were segregated from the rest of the students. A woman stood in front of the group. Dark hair speckled with grey swept up into a bun with a stern look on her face, her eyes roved over the new students.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor. When you enter the Great Hall before you sit down, you will each go to the front of the room one at a time in alphabetical order. There you will have the Sorting Hat placed on top of your head. After examining your thoughts, it will decide which house you join for the rest of your time at Hogwarts. Then you will sit with your assigned house. The heads of each of the houses will be your guides and implement rules which you must follow. More of this will be explained though with your houses when dinner is over tonight. Enjoy your first meal at Hogwarts." With that, she opened the doors behind her and led the students into the Great Hall.
When Severus first laid eyes on the Great Hall, he could not believe the size of the room. The ceilings arched towards the sky, at least four stories tall, and the weather outside was mirrored in the rafters. Students lined long tables, stretching from one end of the room to the other. The tables were lined with platters of food and goblets filled to the brim of all sorts of drinks. Voices floated around the room, making the whole scene almost overwhelming by the sheer volume of noise. In the front, there was another long table, but instead of students, it held various adults, most likely professors, Severus rationalized. What caught Severus's attention, however, was a stool in front of the professors' table. On that stool was a wizard hat, old and worn, the Sorting Hat.
After making her way to the front, Professor McGonagall began calling students up to her. Sirius was one of the first called and, as he predicted, was sorted into Gryffindor. Before Severus knew it, she called, "Evans, Lily."
His heart thudded as he watch her walking towards the front of the room. Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on Lily's head when she hopped on the stool. Severus's breath caught as the Sorting Hat announced, "Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindor table erupted in applause as Lily made her way over to them. The distraught boy could not believe he and his friend would be separated. As the students progressed forward, James joined both Sirius and Lily at the Gryffindor table. Soon enough, Professor McGonagall called, "Snape, Severus."
Taking a deep breath, Severus walked towards the professor. He felt as if every eye was pointed at him. In response, he straightened his back. No way was Severus Snape going to let anyone make him feel like he was nothing again. The bravado faded as he hopped up on the stool. As the professor put the Sorting Hat upon his head, Severus thought over and over again, 'I have to be with Lily. I have to be with Lily.'
To his astonishment, the Sorting Hat spoke directly into his mind, "Why must you be with this girl? She is a Gryffindor, you want to be a Slytherin." Severus shook his head vehemently.
"No, I do not want to be in Slytherin without her. She is my friend. I need to look after her. She does not know much about the wizarding world. She needs me." He explained. The Sorting Hat probed, "But you yourself have little knowledge about the wizarding world. How are you more qualified than any other wizard or witch here?"
"It does not matter if I do not know everything about being a wizard. I will learn. I will help her. She is my friend. I would do anything for her," answered Severus.
"That doesn't mean you belong in Gryffindor. You are smart, cunning, and have a troubled past. Would you not agree that you should be in Slytherin?"
"No," he stated quickly. "No, I am smart, but Gryffindors can be smart as well. I belong where I can redeem my past. I belong somewhere where I can be the best version of the person I am meant to be. I belong with my friend." A pause ensued. After what felt like eternity to him, which was merely seconds to everyone else, the Sorting Hat let out a bellow.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
For a moment, the whole hall lapsed into a stark silence. Severus paled and stayed plastered to his seat. What had he done? Then a clapping came from the Gryffindor table. Lily stood up from her seat, smiling brightly and eyes twinkling. Slowly, everyone around her joined in with her enthusiasm. Professor McGonagall tapped Severus on the shoulder, breaking him from this thoughts.
"Go on," she commanded firmly, but softly. "Go join your house." He scrambled up, looking at Lily and the rest of Gryffindor, then back to the professor.
"Thank you ma'am." She nodded.
"Good luck Mr. Snape. I look forward to seeing what you will become in Gryffindor." Severus bowed his head ever so slightly, and turned towards the rest of the hall. Head high, he made his way to Lily. The smile never leaving her face, she greeted him with a hug as he stopped beside her.
"This is so great Sev! We are in the same house!" She pronounced, bouncing up and down. He grinned at her reaction, thrilled that he could make her so happy.
"Oh great, either the Sorting Hat made a mistake or Gryffindor is seriously lacking in its entrance standards." Came a voice to his left. The pair turned to the see the person who spoke.
"I completely agree with your observation, James." Lily retorted. "It obviously made a lapse of judgment to allow an arrogant boy like yourself into this house." James expression morphed into a sneer.
"At least I have a backbone, unlike the person beside you. What about you Snivellus? Do you always let a girl fight your battles?" He challenged. Severus opened his mouth to answer, when Lily cut him off.
"Don't answer that Severus. You, James Potter, are an extremely rude little boy. Severus is too much of a gentleman to answer to your accusations." Lily asserted, green eyes flashing. James took a step forward, Sirius falling in behind him. He taunted, "See Sirius? We both know who holds the wand in this pair!" Sirius laughed with his friend, while Lily growled in indignation. Before it could escalate any further, a voice echoed across the dining hall.
"Quiet down everyone. You may congratulate your new house mates after dinner is over; but for now, let me welcome, both new and old, students and faculty back to for this upcoming term," spoke a long grey haired wizard in front of the hall where the Sorting Hat used to be. "For those who do not know, I am Headmaster Albus Dumbledore," The wizard introduced himself and then went on to introduce the rest of the professors.
"After dinner, you will be escorted to your houses by the prefects. The head of your house will join you and lay out expectations for the rest of the semester. Enjoy the rest of your meal. Here's to the start of a new semester!"
Thankfully for Severus, the food kept the teasing at bay for the rest of dinner. Multiple people around the table greeted Lily and Severus and introduced themselves. Subconsciously, the boy had begun to relax. Maybe he was supposed to be in Gryffindor. The rest of the day went smoothly and so did the next several weeks. Classes were challenging and rewarding. He did exceptionally well with Potions and Defense against the Dark Arts. In fact, inspired by his professors, he created his own way of making potions and his own spells. Though his quiet nature made a bit of an oddity in Gryffindor, no one treated him poorly.
Lily, on the other hand, shone as bright as a star among her peers. Fierce and outspoken, she drew the rest of the house to her side. Even with all of the attention, she spent the majority of her time with Severus, studying in the library, watching the stars at night underneath a tree, and exploring the castle. Studying the library was the foremost activity for them. Lily did not have the knack for spells and potions that Severus did. With a dose of patience, Severus would continuously run through the motions with Lily, until she would master the formula or wordage. These times, though trying due to Lily's frustration over not getting something at first, were times that Severus most enjoyed, because of being with his friend. Before the boy knew it, the term was almost over.
During Transfigurations class a few weeks before the end of the term, Severus and Lily were trying to replicate Professor McGonagall's spell for the day. The given task was to switch the sand in an hourglass with water. So far, no one in the class was having much luck. James, Sirius, and their posse, which consisted of Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin, successfully blew up one hourglass, got the sand out of the second and then accidently added the sand to a third. Remus sat with the last intact one in front of him. The three others crowded around him, bickering over the best tactic to take.
Severus snickered to himself seeing the discord between them. However, Lily was having the same struggle with her hourglass. Growling in frustration, she threw her hands up in the air.
"This is impossible! What first year could do a spell like this?" Severus frowned a little. Trying to comfort her, he stated, "Come on Lily. It is not that bad. Watch this." Lifting his wand the boy quickly preformed the spell. Lily gaped in astonishment.
"Of course you would get it! Why am I surprised? You are naturally just good at spells." He blushed slightly under her praise, feeling pleased with himself.
"Oh, would you look at that? Snivellus got his spell to work," James pointed out to his group. "What did you do? Show it your face to make the sand jump out and the water jump in away from you?" This brought a huge round of laughter from James and the other boys. Before Severus could react, Lily rocketed out of her seat and marched towards the group of boys.
"Take that back," she commanded, waving her wand in their direction. The group of boys watched her advance towards them, still laughing, heightening her anger further. However, Professor McGonagall stopped Lily dead in her tracks.
"That's enough, all of you. 50 points deducted from Gryffindor, 10 for each of you." Lily and the boys groaned.
"But they started it Professor!" Lily began. "No," James contradicted. "Snape started it. He,"
"He what, Mr. Potter?" questioned Professor McGonagall. "Completed the assigned classroom task in a timely and correct manner, where as you and your friends ruined three hourglasses and continue making noise to disrupt my class?" James paled.
"No, not at all." He stammered.
"Well that is what it looks like Mr. Potter. If you continue this conversation, I will have no choice but to deduct another 10 points from Gryffindor and send you to detention." The professor threated. "Do you understand me, Mr. Potter?" James emphatically nodded his head. "Good, now everyone get back to work." She commanded the rest of the class, who stopped their own attempts to complete the project to watch the confrontation. Lily walked back over to Severus, both fuming over losing points for the house and satisfied about James even worse punishment.
"Can you believe James? I mean, it's like he can't stand your success in any shape or form." She observed. Severus shook his head and answered, "I know Lily, but that is between James and me, not James, you, and me." She opened her mouth to cut him off, but he put his hand up to stop her. "James Potter is just a silly boy as you have pointed out numerous times. I can handle him." Noticing her slightly wounded look he continued, "Thank you for having my back though Lily. I really don't know what I would do without you." A wave of relief passed through him as Lily smiled slightly.
"You are right Sev. I just don't like how they treat you sometimes." She noted softly. Responding with a smile, he stated, "And that is why you are my friend Lily." Sharing a look, they turned back to the assigned task, wanting to avoid the wrath of the professor.
Later that day, when Lily was with other girls from Gryffindor, Severus spread his homework out in the courtyard, trying more advanced spells from his Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Focused on the enchantment on the page in front of him, he did not hear the footsteps coming towards him. Suddenly, Severus was knocked forward, landing on his book. He flipped over to see Sirius and James with Peter and Remus keeping guard behind him. James lumbered over to the fallen boy.
"You caused me to lose points for Gryffindor today, you little twit." Severus stared James in the eyes. "What? Not going to say anything because your body guard isn't here to protect you? How pathetic is it to be so weak that you have to be protected by a girl?" James sneered.
"No," Severus answered. "I just realize a worthless cause when I see one." James jerked out his wand. He growled, "I'm not worthless. I am a true Gryffindor. You are just a wolf in sheep's clothing. Everyone knows you don't belong here." Severus got up slowly, careful not to provoke any action from James or his posse.
"Listen Potter, I do not care what you think, or what anyone else thinks. I am here for a reason and either you need to accept it or you need to go focus on something else. Nothing you can do will change anything." Severus explained, choosing his words carefully. James scowled further.
"Actually, there is something I can do," he spoke deadly calm, lifting his wand. "Everte-"
"Expelliarmus!" Severus chanted quickly, knocking James' wand from his hand. All the boys froze for a second, not believing what the pale boy had done.
"You, you used a spell on me!" James utter incredulously. Severus subtly nodded. "How could you do that? You are just Snivellus." Severus looked into James' eyes.
"Just because I do not travel in a pack of friends to make myself feel big and strong, doesn't make me weak. Lily is worth more than your group combined. I listen to her ideas and treat her as my equal and not minions. With her I am at my strongest, but even without her, I am as strong as any Gryffindor." Walking forward, Severus stopped in front of James. "So listen to me, you can mess with me all you want, but if you do, I will push back, especially if you mess with Lily." Giving the boys one final stare, Severus collected his things and left.