Be prepared for a long one folks! I certainly was on a roll with this one! I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 2 - The Nimbus

Severus folded back the covers of his bed, desperate to climb in and have a good night's rest. Everyone had only just been released from the start of term feast, and Severus couldn't be more ready for sleep with a stomach filled with steak, potatoes and pudding.

"Alright there Severus?" a boy with short blonde hair called over.

"Fine Avery." Severus barely looked at his friend as he shrugged into his pajamas.

"Not lost again in your thoughts are you? You sort of glazed over after Dumbledore mentioned Quidditch tryouts."

"I was just thinking…well you and Wilkes are on the team. I figure I'll try for it too."

"Seriously?" Avery froze with one leg in his bed, staring at Severus who stared back, biting his tongue as he awaited his friend's laughter. But laughter never came.

"I think it'd be wicked Severus!"

"Really?"

"Yea! We need a good seeker and a keeper. I'm positive you'd make a great seeker! You're awful quick."

"You have to be when you've got a nutter of an old man." Snape spat bitterly. Avery was the only friend, besides Lily, with whom he spoke openly about his father; Avery too had a father with a terrible temper and a wand that he did not mind using for punishments by means of the cruciatis curse.

"I mean it. You should really go for it. I think it's great you're doing something else and getting your nose out of those books. Sorry." He voiced his apology quickly after realizing his insult.

"I can help you practice before tryouts too. Emma Vanity is getting more anxious to win. This will be her last year you know, and Slytherin hasn't exactly had the best team." The boys extinguished their bedside lamps, crawling into their beds. From the darkness Severus heard Avery's voice whisper over. "Just imagine it Severus. We'll be the best team Slytherin has ever seen!"

The starting weeks of Hogwarts seemed to fly by exceptionally quickly, and Severus felt himself growing ever more nervous about the up-coming try-outs. Avery had indeed been a great help, teaching him exactly how the game was played out and with the use of a borrowed school broom, Severus discovered that he was actually quite a good flyer indeed. He also found that, with fourth year, he and Lily were in the library more often, hunched over long essays and piles of parchment. It was a particularly sunny day that found Lily and Snape treading across the grounds, set on having a quiet lunch near the lake, when they were stopped by a loud and obnoxious call from behind them.

"Oi! Snivellus! What's this I hear about you trying out for your team tomorrow?"

Severus brought himself to turn around and give a rather brave glare to James Potter.

"That's right, got a problem with that Potter?"

"Not at all! I was just making sure it's true so I know to bring snacks to watch the show. When you fall off your broom try and do it in front of where I'm sitting, would ya?" From either side of him, Sirius and Peter laughed aloud as Lupin stood to the side, standing resolute.

"You won't be laughing as hard when I'm seeker."

"Seeker!" Sirius let out a bark of a laugh as James folded his arms.

"What do you plan to do exactly Snape? Cast a spell on the snitch to come straight to you? Or do you just plan to hex everyone else off their brooms?"

"I'd think that hexing would be more your style James." Severus glared back to James who smirked at the retort.

"Hah, can you even grip to a broom, with all that grease dripping off of you? We'd best remind everyone below to bring their umbrellas. Of course, there's not much a chance of you dripping all over everyone if you can't stay on your broom." From behind him, Peter laughed shrilly as if it had been the funniest joke he had ever heard, which made James smile all the more.

"For your information Potter, Severus happens to be a fine flyer! Much better than you." Lily glared at James, whose face flashed from shock to anger and back again before resting once more on his smug smile.

"That a fact? Well then, I'll definitely be coming to watch tomorrow." With a final glare at the pair, James turned and stormed off, his friends following in his wake.

"You shouldn't have said that you know." Severus' voice was quiet as he turned and continued to walk towards the lake.

"Well why not? It's true isn't it? You're really great." Lily blushed as she hurried her walk. "That is to say…you really do fly well Sev."

"You shouldn't have told Potter that though. Now he'll be expecting me to be great. Or fall so that he can laugh even harder."

"Oh, just win a spot on the team tomorrow and show that old toerag that he's not as fabulous as he thinks he is."

Severus awoke the next morning feeling as if he had swallowed a large rock. He felt very lucky that it was a Saturday, which meant no lessons, but all the same meant his day would just drag on before the tryouts. The Great Hall was exceptionally quiet, as many of the students had chosen to sleep in, which meant that many of those students who had friends or family in other houses were congregated together in small groups. Lily was insistent the he at least eat something for breakfast, sliding over a plate of pancakes with a bacon smile and egg eyes. Severus could only manage a feeble smirk as he nibbled on the orange slice of a nose when the sound of many feathered wings rained through the Great Hall. He noticed the owl right away. It had been his own but, once his father refused to allow his mother to write to him, had been gifted to the Evans, as a means of keeping in contact with Lily. His mother would often sneak letters or small packages to Severus when she could manage the time or money. A small package and a letter were dropped in front of Lily, the owl taking off after taking a few long gulps of her pumpkin juice and a slice of toast. His disappointment of no mail for himself was short lived when another, much larger, owl swooped down and landed in front him, dropping a long wrapped package just in front of his plate.

"What's this?" he asked, looking to Lily who shrugged, attempting to a sly smile behind her letter as if it had become the most interesting thing in the world. He slowly peeled away the wrappings, and gasped as a brand new broom rolled out onto the table, its handle shining in the sunlight floating through the windows and the enchanted ceiling.

"But…this is the new nimbus! How?..." he looked to Lily who looked rather pleased with herself.

"Well…I wrote home telling Mum and Dad all about how you wanted to go for Quidditch…and well…they thought it only right that you have a brand new broom."

"But…Lily this must have cost a fortune."

"Don't be silly. Just call it a really late birthday present. Or a really early Christmas present. Or a good luck present."

"How'd they know which one to get?"

"Well, one of the girls in my dorm has a brother on the Gryffindor team, and she let me borrow his Which Broomstick…so I picked out a few that I liked, and sent my ideas and the catalogue home. The rest was all Mum and Dad." She was quite surprised when a pair of thin arms wrapped around her shoulders in a hug.

"Thank you, Lily." Severus' voice was quiet before he pulled away, leaving the two both blushing furiously, Severus more so than anything. He continued to ogle over his new broom when a voice broke him from his reverie.

"Why ! What have you there?"

"Hello Professor Slughorn." Lily smiled to her potions teacher and Severus' head of house as the man leaned over Severus' shoulder to admire the broom.

"Well! That is a fine broom lad. I hear you are making a try for our house team?"

"Yes sir." Severus said shakily, still not entirely 100% with his decision.

"Well then, good luck my boy! I trust I will see the two of you at my dinner party next week?"

"Yes sir. We look forward to it." Lily answered for the pair of them, as Severus had turned quite green looking as he stared at his broom.

"Very good. I will leave you two to it then. Good luck again ." Slughorn patted Severus' shoulder before walking off. Severus' gaze turned to watch him walk out; out of all those in Slytherin, and all of the stigma placed on Slytherin, Slughorn's personality deviated from the norm by far. He was definitely not one that found joy in hurting others for fun, nor did he seem to resent those who were not of "pure-blood." If anything, it would often seem that he favored Lily, one of his best potions students, over many his own pure-blooded Slytherin students. Severus' thoughts were re-directed once more as Avery and Wilkes rushed up to him, admiring his new broom.

At mid-afternoon Lily bade Severus good luck and headed up to find a seat in the stands. James, Sirius and Peter were already there, and James was already looking as arrogant as ever, surely confident that Severus would fall and make a fool of himself.

"With all that grease in his hair he'll be lucky to keep any sort of grip at all. He'll fall before he makes it a foot off the ground!" He snickered before turning to send a haughty smile towards Lily, who had taken a seat on the bench behind them. He pushed his hair back, ruffling it up as if he had just dismounted his own broom. "Alright there Evans? Come to support ol' grease ball have you?"

"Laugh while you still can Potter." Lily smiled, nodding towards the Quidditch pitch. She waved enthusiastically to Severus and smiled in deep satisfaction as James and Sirius realized exactly what it was that Severus was holding, their eyes following him as he mounted the broom, taking off into the air like a bullet. James' voice was close to a low growl as he frowned, his eyes turning to slits with his glare.

"Sirius…what is that in ol Snivellus' hands?"

"It…looks like the new nimbus mate." Sirius frowned himself, not exactly wanting to be the one to inform James that his enemy had a better broom than he did.

"You mean to tell me that that….greasy, slimy…he has a new nimbus! Where in the bloody hell would he get one of those!" His gaze turned back to Lily who was beaming brightly, her face red. James growled as he sunk back into his seat, crossing his arms. "Let's just hope he falls and breaks his neck."

Severus drifted above the Quidditch pit, wiping one sweaty palm on his robes before switching hands to treat the other. His nerves were high enough already and it didn't help any to have James and Sirius shouting insults from the stands. He had already had his try as Keeper, and had fared well enough; although every missed goal ushered more jeers from below. Now he was waiting for the captain Emma to release the snitch. She released the bludgers out of their box before zooming into the air, shouting for the other two chasers to begin. Severus watched as Wilkes swung a well aimed hit towards the bludger, sending it flying away. Emma shouted the signal and his eyes followed as the tiny golden ball zoomed from her hand and around the stands. Squinting in the sunlight, his eyes found the snitch and he leaned over the neck of his broom, shooting forward with a burst speed. The old school broom he had used was nowhere near as fast as this one, and he practically fell off from the burst of speed. He took a tighter grip as he urged the broom forward, straight for the snitch. He had a near grip on it before it turned and rushed off once again, getting lost in the glare of the sunlight. He did a few turns around the field, evading a bludger as it rushed towards him, spinning over in the air in his attempt to evade it. His eyes rushed about the field, when he quickly spotted the snitch it once more. It was close to one of the goal posts, flitting in and out of the hoops. He rushed after it, speeding through the middle hoop in his chase before doing a full loop backwards, and shot after it again. He was but inches from the snitch and the ground when he closed his fingers around the golden ball, his toes grazing the grass before he slowed to a stop, stumbling as his feet met the grass, but kept a tight grip on the wriggling snitch. All around him were loud cheers as the rest of the team surrounded him, Lily's own cheer echoing over from the stands.

"Well done there Snape!" Emma ran over, clapping him on the back. "Why, that's about the best I've seen in years! Where'd you learn to fly like that?"

Severus could barely get a word in, his shock was too great and everyone around him was talking too quickly.

"We have practice on Wednesday evening, make sure you're there, right?" she turned, one of her fellow chasers hurrying off with her. Emma's voice could be heard clearly as it carried over to Severus. "I can't believe it! A new seeker on a new nimbus! There's no way we'll lose this year!"

"That was brilliant flying." The voice came from behind and Severus turned, seeing what could only be described as a younger, less attractive version of Sirius. It was his younger brother, Regalus, who had tried for the spot of Keeper himself, and clearly won the spot. Severus gulped in a breath, still trying to catch it as he nodded his thanks.

"So I'll see you Wednesday then."

"Right…Wednesday." Severus waved to the boy who left the field, but not before shooting up a dark glare to Sirius. Severus made to leave the field himself and had all but reached the edge when he was nearly bowled over by Lily as she bounded into him so hard that the breath he had only just gotten back was knocked out of him again.

"You did it Sev! You did it! You were absolutely brilliant!" she giggled as she looked over his shoulder and he turned to see James stomping off in anger, Sirius and Peter close behind him.

"You sure showed that old toerag!" She looped her arm through one of his, leading Severus off the field, gabbing away about how brilliant his flying had been and how angry it had made Potter, making his face look something like an angry mandrake. Severus himself felt as if he were still flying along on his broom, and had to check to make sure that his feet were indeed still on the ground. In the span of a few short hours he had received a new broom, made a spot on his house team, thoroughly showed up Potter, and Lily thought that he was brilliant. Yes, this year certainly would be different from the others.

Haha you will probably all laugh, but I did some serious research for this chapter. Information that I found states only a few names for the Sytherin Quidditch team. It specifically stated the captain, Emma Vanity, and that Regalus Black was seeker in 1978 (which, unless I am thinking incorrectly, would be the year after Snape has graduated, making Black take over as seeker for him.). For this point in purpose, I made the choices that I did. (well hey, It's my story after all! Haha). Also, I just think it'd be quite a time having two rivals like James and Severus play against one another. As for any questions as to why I am having Severus act nicer and less dark, he is after all still a child. He's only 14 here. While he is quiet and closed off, he isn't as far into the dark arts as he would become in another year or two of school (according to JK anyway haha). And, as to any questions about why students might pop back and forth between tables that are not of their house, I figure that it is before the first wizarding war, and though there definitely is that animosty between houses, it is nowhere what it is around the second wizarding war. (and I mean hey, in a school that large, you can't expect people to NOT make friends with students in other houses, especially if JK can break up twins into separate houses). RxR and keep well friends!