Author's note: So I didn't get any reviews for my last chapter, but I noticed over 20 people hit the story. Hmm. Anyways, I hope that even though there were no reviews that SOMEONE liked the chapter.
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The summer sped by, bringing Hogwarts closer and closer to me. I was excited and frightened at the same time. I couldn't wait to leave my house, and Tobias, to become part of a new family. But I was frightened because it was unknown.
Lily and I would spend hours discussing what the classes would be like, what the teachers might be like and who the students were. I knew some wizarding families, such as the Blacks, from a time when my mother wasn't completely ruled by her husband and I told her about them. She didn't seem to think much about them but kept her comments quiet. I could tell by the look on her face that she didn't approve of some of things their ancestors had done or why I would admire them, so I stopped talking about them.
When the day came for us to leave, Lily's parents along with her sister, drove us to the train station. My mother had "suddenly come down with a fever and could barely get out of bed". When Mrs. Evans asked why my father wasn't taking me, I shrugged and muttered something about work.
We grabbed a trolley each and placed our bags on it before finding out way to platform 9 ¾. My mom had told me the directions this morning while Tobias was in the loo. The barrier whooshed passed us as we entered and the train stood in front of my eyes, large and incredible. I observed every dent and every colour, my heart thumping loudly in my chest with anticipation. I looked over at Lily and saw that her eyes held the same awe as mine did.
I saw some students that I recognized from my childhood walking around, talking to their parents or hanging their heads out of the windows to call out last messages. None of them noticed me, or if they did, didn't show that they knew who I was. I lugged my bags towards the train, letting Lily have a moment with her family. Once my luggage was safely tucked away, I found Lily again and helped her with her own bags. We boarded the train together, trying to find an empty compartment.
As we walked around, I told her about wanting to be in Slytherin, and that if she wanted to be in with me, she just had to be confident. A snigger suddenly sounded behind us. We turned around and in front of me were two boys, both with black hair. One of them looked like Sirius Black, but it had been a while since I had seen him so I wasn't sure. The other boy though was a complete strange to me, and I looked at them blankly.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"Why are you trying to convince this lovely red-head she would do well in Slytherin? She doesn't seem the type," said the boy with glasses.
I sneered at him, although I didn't mean too. "And what you would know?"
"Pretty girls don't usually end up in Slytherin."
"Are you a first year?"
"Yes."
"Then again, how would you know?"
"Because the type that get into that house are from… well, let's just say families that aren't that great."
"Yeah, that's for sure," Sirius Black said. He looked at me with a funny eye and said "Aren't you something Snape?"
"Severus," I said quickly, although I regretted it immediately.
"Hm. Thought so."
"And you're Sirius Black. If your family knew you were hanging with this," I gave another sneer towards the bespectacled boy, "self-righteous Gryffindor-type, they wouldn't be too happy."
A big smile erupted on Black's face. "Perfect! Exactly the reaction I want!"
I was confused but didn't let it on. The boy with the glasses was making googly eyes towards Lily who was pointedly looking away. I could tell he thought the same thing as I did: that she was beautiful. I felt suddenly possessive and I wanted to whisk her away.
"James, I think that Snevelly here is trying to intimidate us." He looked over at his friend and when he noticed his gaze rolled his eyes. "I know she's pretty, mate, but stop staring."
So his name was James. A closer inspection triggered my mind with something. Could he be James Potter? His family, from what I could remember, was different from other Pure Blood families. They respected Muggles and didn't practice dark arts. I wondered suddenly if his parents loved each other and him. Probably, but I pushed the thoughts from my head.
"Lily, let's go," I told her, taking her soft hand in my own. I saw Potter cringe but didn't say anything. A satisfied smirk rose on my face as I pulled her in the direction we were originally headed.
Behind us, I heard Potter mutter her name softly under his breath. Curse him if he was going to be infatuated with Lily. She was mine.
--
Before we reached the school station we were instructed to put on our robes. That was a great relief, and not just because it made me feel more wizardly. Nobody could see that, under the robes, I was wearing hand-me-downs and Potter was dressed in the latest fashions. We looked like equals.
We got to the school right on time and all the first years were separated from the rest of the group. I tried to steer Lily away from the two boys, but they seemed to be following. I was glad when she and I got into one of the boats with another boy and girl I didn't know. Lily instantly chattered with them, while I glumly looked ahead. I wanted her to be chatting with me, not whoever those people were. I was glad when the shore came into sight and we disembarked. A big oaf named Hagrid brought us to the entrance and told us to go up the stairs. Lily walked beside me and talked about how beautiful everything seemed. My mood lifted as soon as I saw her green eyes and I wondered how I could ever be sour.
A teacher who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall told us that we were going to be sorted shortly and that we were to sit at our house tables. She prattled on for a few minutes about respecting our houses and the fellow students, even if they weren't in our houses. I watched Lily's eyes go wide with interest and I couldn't help but smile.
We got called into the Great Hall and we lined up in two rows to get between the tables. Lily's green eyes seemed to go even wider than they had previously been and she was trying to look at everything at once. The group stopped in front of a stool upon which an old hat was seated. It was brown and tattered and I wondered what it was doing there.
It suddenly began shaking and burst into life. A song erupted from its lips and we stood there awkwardly as the song continued. Finally, when the hat settled down again, McGonagall stood up and was holding a piece of parchment. She suddenly began calling the name of a student and a girl from the group went to the front. She sat on the stool, looking as if she was going to cry. The teacher placed the hat on her head and it yelled out "Ravenclaw!"
The whole group seemed to un-tense now that they knew what to expect. Names were being called and I saw Black go up only to have the hat called out "Gryffindor!" A wide grin spread over his face and I noticed some shocked looks on his cousins' faces. I bet they weren't expecting that one.
Lily, being an Evans, came early in the alphabet. When Lily's name was called, she gave me a smile that she probably hoped was reassuring. She was scared, that was obvious, but I smiled back to help her. She made her way through the crowd and sat on the stool. The hat came down on her red hair and her eyes got slightly rounder for a moment. The hat suddenly called "Gryffindor" and a sad smile grew on her face.
My heart dropped at this. Lily, my Lily, was in Gryffindor? There was no way I was going to get into that house. I was lucky enough if the hat thought I was worthy enough to be in Slytherin. She went over to the table that was cheering for her. I saw Potter and Black exchange a look and I wanted to hex Potter.
No way was he going to get my Lily.
Eventually they reached the latter half of the alphabet. Potter was called and he made his way up to the stool. It was obvious what the hat was going to call out, and when it did, the Gryffindor table roared with cheering. Black especially, but I wasn't paying attention to him. I could see Lily cheering half-heartedly, looking around the crowd for me. Her green eyes roamed but before they could land on me, a girl to her right began chatting with her. Lily's attention was diverted and she stopped looking for me. My heart sank slightly but I took a deep breath to calm myself. I was getting worked up for nothing. Obviously she was allowed to talk to other people.
I suddenly heard my name being called and I didn't have to push my way through that many people. The letter S was pretty far down the alphabet and most of the other students had already been sorted. I sat on the stool, knowing what my fate was beforehand. As I predicted, the hat shout out "SLYTHERIN". The table cheered for me, but I felt like screaming.
Lily and I were separated. We could never be friends. It wasn't going to be allowed.
--
Lily quickly made friends with some other Gryffindor girls, and they seemed almost inseparable. I was happy for her, but I also felt a twinge of jealousy. I wanted her to talk to me, smile at me, and laugh at my jokes. But the time for us to be friends seemed to be long gone.
I tried talking to her a few times, but her friends would either whisk her away or something else would get in my way.
I had to admit, I was scared of some of the other Slytherins. Lucius Malfoy, who had basically took me under his wing, made me inwardly cringe. He was the type of wizard that believed "pure bloods" were better than everyone else, muggle-borns especially. He introduced me to some of his friends, all who had the same attitude as he, and I found myself suddenly having a big group of wizards who were my 'friends'. Just why they accepted me, with a Muggle father, was not clear to me. I got the vague impression that, even if you didn't have pure blood, you could be "Purified". They regarded me as Purified.
It didn't stop me from wishing I could still be with Lily. I knew my fate though: I wasn't allowed to love Lily and we could never be together if she loved me back.
One evening, as I was sitting in the common room of the dungeon, Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Black came slinking up beside me. They sat down, on either sides, and I closed my book. "We were thinking of going for a walk. Want to come?"
I eyed them carefully and quickly glanced outside. "We'll have to be careful. We wouldn't want Filch to catch us in the halls."
Big grins grew over their taut faces and I couldn't help the one that was twitching on my lips. "That's the spirit. Come on." I put my book down on the table and leaped up from where I was sitting. I noticed a few other Slytherins waiting by the door and we joined them. I recognized a few and remembered only half of their names.
We set out and I followed the group wondering what was going on. Was it some sort of initiation thing? I hoped not.
The grounds came into sight as we snuck out of the castle and a sudden thrill coursed through my veins. We walked farther out, the line of the forest looming in sight. A rustle in the bush to my right startled me, but it was only another Slytherin joining our party. It was an older one that I had not talked to yet and didn't know his name. Avery leaned over and whispered "Where are we going?"
I looked at him and realised that there were some of us who didn't know what was going on. It made me feel better, but I didn't say so. I shrugged and said "I dunno." Avery's troubled look didn't leave his face but he turned back towards the tree line.
We passed into the dark forest, any remaining light that might have been filtering through was gone. It was for only a moment that we were in darkness before students began lighting their wands. I muttered the Lumos spell as well and a small glowing erupted from my wand. A few first years, those next to me, turned to stare. We had barely even begun spell casting, and already I knew probably as much as any 7th year. They were probably jealous and I felt proud of myself for a moment. Maybe that's why I was Purified.
The group suddenly stopped, and we first years in the back had to watch that we didn't bump into anyone. I caught a glimpse of some people in the front but all I could see were dark cloths. Hoods covered their heads and there were interesting masks covering their faces. I knew I should be scared but I was feeling strangely calm, as if I was supposed to be here.
The circle of black clothes parted and we joined the circle. I noticed Avery was shaking slightly and I wanted to laugh because he was scared. I held my tongue though because there was someone taking a step forward. All the sounds of the forest were silent, as if they too were waiting to see what the speaker had to say.
"Brothers and sisters alike," the deep voice said, "you are here for a reason." Whoever it was that was talking, I was positive it was a bloke because of his deep voice, waited a moment to continue. "You and I are similar in our beliefs. Our world is special, unique. Magic belong with wizards, am I right?"
A chorus of agreements rose in the air before being silent again. I stood there, unsure of what was going on. Was this some sort of cult? I hoped I was being dragged to some sort of sacrificing. It was silly that thought, so I ignored it right away.
The man continued though so I didn't have to think that much more about it. "Why should we have to share out powers with Mudbloods? Only Pure-Bloods should have access to such great power. It's what divides us from them. The weak from the strong."
Another chorus of agreement rose from the crowd. This time, it did not go silent as fast. The man waited for everyone to settle down. "For our newcomers," he glanced in my direction but because I couldn't see his eyes, I did not know if he even saw me, "you will soon learn our ways. We have to know that you are trustworthy enough to be a part of our group. So, for a month, you will have a Slytherin shadow you. You will not know where they will be or when they are watching you. We do not accept just anyone. We need members that we know can be trusted with special missions."
My heart was racing and I tried to soothe it, to no avail. This would mean I couldn't talk to Lily anymore. I could feel my heart contracting slightly and I gulped. Luckily there was a slight murmur going through the crowd and my gulp was not heard.
People started flittering out of the clearing and I saw Lucius nod to us. It was our cue to leave as well and we shuffled out, walking between the trees.
Avery came up to me and gave me a strange look. "What was that?"
"I think we have been invited to join a cult," I said, trying to make it seem like a joke, but in fact it sounded more like the truth than anything else.
"Oh," was all he said and stopped talking.
Good, I thought, because I wanted to be left alone.
--
The morning after, I wrote a quick note to Lily asking her to avoid me for a few weeks because other Slytherins weren't keen on me being friends with Muggles and Gryffindors, especially if they belonged to both those categories.
When I saw her in the halls, she gave me a pleading look, and I wanted to go back on my word. But, I took a deep breath and set my face. I wanted to be accepted, especially with people who were like me. Lily, as much as she accepted me, would never understand. I needed this.
--
It was only in the springtime when the group met again. I found it strange that such an enormous time gap would be between the two meetings, but I just assumed that they needed to find a time where we could actually get into the forest by foot. The time and place was the same though, and there were still people in creepy masks.
I had, during those months that nothing new was being said, tried looking up who these people were. I had searched the library's many books, going as far back as I could possibly, looking at any books that might have any sort of cultic reference. All of this was in vain though and I was stumped. It was obviously out of the question to ask a teacher, because I had a feeling that this wasn't what the professors would consider extra-curricular activities.
The deep voiced person took to the middle of the circle again and began speaking. "I am proud to say that not only has everyone passed the trust test, but also, we have our great Lord here tonight wishing to speak to our newcomers. Everyone bow to Lord Voldemort."
Everyone bowed low and I followed their example. I watched for when everyone got up and when they did, I did was well. A man took the masked one's place, his dark robes quite a contrast to his pale skin. His dark hair also added a contrast and I wondered who this Lord guy was. I hadn't heard of him.
"Although some of you might not know who I am, you will soon find out. As Marcus said, I am Lord Voldemort. We are meeting in secret because my ideas seem radical to the others. Muggles and Muggle-loving folks do not understand my point of view; but I know you do. Each and every one of you here because you believe in the same thing I do."
Voldemort continued talking for a while, saying how much he appreciated the support of us, his followers. He also added that he was doing what he planned on doing for the good of wizarding kind. He didn't actually reveal what his plans were, but by the tone of his voice and the excitement from the older members, I could tell it was something major.
Lord Voldemort left the circle and the deep-voiced Marcus came back. "We will not have the opportunity to speak again until next September, obviously due to the secrecy and the time frame. That is when we will have our swearing in ceremony. We will begin filtering the next batch in after that."
There was no specific 'good-bye', or if there was one, I did not notice because all of a sudden, people began leaving. We left after a nod from Lucius and this time, I walked beside him.
"So Snape, what do you think of Lord Voldemort?"
"Well, to be truthful, I wasn't too sure what he was talking about."
Lucius laughed. "Don't worry, everything will soon be clear."
--
I didn't hear anything about the meetings for the rest of the school year. Classes blurred and before I knew it, exams were looming. I only skimmed over the material because I didn't need to study. The days left until school was done were mocking me. I was planning on talking to Lily over the summer and telling her most of what happened. I wanted her to understand and say that it was all right, she got it. I wanted her to say that no matter what happened, she would always be my friend.
But most of all, I wanted to say to her that I was sorry for more or less ignoring her. Smiles in the hall and a "Hi, how are you?" randomly when we sat close to each other in a class wasn't enough.
Exams went and came and I was confident that I did well. I was sure Lily did too, and that was something else to look forward to over the summer. Maybe things could be like they were last summer, just the two of us, away from Lucius Malfoy and James Potter.
But when I got on the train, she didn't even look at me as I passed her. She brought her friends to a compartment and slammed the door shut. I felt strange inside as I sat with Avery and Mulciber, another Slytherin that I had seen at the meetings, and we talked about school.
The thing with Lily bugged me though, and I couldn't shake the feeling that nothing was ever going to be the same.
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Author's note: I got no reviews for the last chapter. How am I supposed to know people like this story of there's no feedback?
