A/N: Probably not what you were hoping for. Eh. These things come as they decide to. Sorry.

BTW: Betrayed With a Kiss is the next story I will update. I've been missing that one.

Dead Boy's Ballet
Chapter One: Just Open Your Eyes and See That Life Is Beautiful

Another school year had come and a new batch of first years along with it. Years earlier, with the retirement of his predecessor, Albus Dumbledore had gained the post of Headmaster. The job was not without its perks, of course, but there were still times when he wished he had turned it down. Like now, for instance.

He resisted the urge to drop his head into his hands and refocused his gaze to the source of his discomfort. Standing together with the other first years was a dark haired boy and a redheaded girl. She was pretty, with her lovely hair carefully curled into ringlets and bright green eyes glittering like jewels. He was small and scrawny, with limp black hair and too pale skin. She was whispering nervously, focusing more on her friend than the Sorting before her. He shook his head and took her hand. She appeared quite a bit more relaxed after that.

It wasn't the interaction between the two children that bothered the old wizard. No, Albus was quite pleased to witness the solid relationship between two so markedly different youths. As "Evans, Lily" moved away from her male friend to place the Sorting Hat on her head, Dumbledore pondered what exactly about the young boy disturbed him so.

Then he caught the child's eye and knew. There was this odd expression on the boy's face when he wasn't looking at Lily. This terrible mixture of pain and anger and steely determination. He remembered where he had seen that expression once before. On another young dark haired boy who had been Sorted in this hall at eleven years old.

He was momentarily brought back to his last memory of that other child. Young Tom Riddle in his pool of blood with that empty journal. Dumbledore ripped his gaze away from "Snape, Severus" as he was called up to the Sorting Hat and tried not to shudder. It seemed that whatever god had witnessed Riddle's death was quite adamant that Albus not forget even the minutest detail regarding it.

And that god had sent Severus to ensure he didn't. The Sorting Hat pronounced Snape a Slytherin and Albus felt his stomach drop. When the boy met his eyes before moving over to his new housemates, the Headmaster couldn't hide his disappointment. Snape flinched and sat down next to an eager Malfoy.

Even years later, Dumbledore knew that the reason the Slytherin never met his eyes was not because the boy was afraid of what the Headmaster might see in his eyes, but what he would see in the older wizard's.

-.-

Since his first ride on the Hogwarts Express, Severus had become a sort of legend. Days afterward, he still wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing. Sure, he had gained several allies with this newfound popularity. But he had also garnered a few tenacious enemies. If they could be called that.

He had been sitting alone in a compartment, reading Cloak and Dagger: A Wizard's Guide to Fighting Duels to Win. He started when he heard the door slid open to admit two dark haired boys, one with messy hair and glasses and the other with a cavalier smile and silky hair nearly reaching his shoulders. Snape sighed.

"Oi, James!" the one boy said to his bespeckled friend, "looks like we have company."

"Hey, you!" James directed to Severus. "How about you find yourself another compartment and leave this here one to us."

Snape scowled. "No."

The other boy laughed heartily. "He must not realize who he's speaking to. Sirius Black is the name, kid, of the Ancient and Noble House of Blacks. This here's James Potter, of the Potter line. Get it?"

"Yeah," Potter chimed in with a bow and a grin, "we're pretty much royalty."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh that makes much more sense then." Severus then turned back to his book. "You are certainly free to share this compartment with me. But I will not leave, sorry."

The pair looked at him for a long moment, then sat down. After a moment they began to discuss Hogwarts. "Yeah, and everyone knows that Slytherin is where dark wizards go…" Sirius was saying just as Severus's patience reached its end, "So of course my mother wants me to be Sorted there."

"That's just a rumor, you know," Snape argued. "The other houses have turned out just as many dark wizards. I read it in an article in Arithmency Monthly over at Flourish and Blot's. The real numbers of wizards that have turned dark are quite close in each house, with no more than a five percent difference between any two."

Black let out a breath that sounded more like a hiss and Severus knew that he had said something wrong almost immediately. "I'm afraid I didn't read that one. Unlike pompous little arses such as yourself, I do not have time to read every scrap of literature that appears in my immediate vicinity."

"I-"

James was apparently angry as well. "You see, kid, we don't have to flaunt our knowledge to whatever person happens to be within earshot."

"I didn't mean to…"

"What's your name?" Black snapped.

"Severus. Severus Snape." His hands were shaking by now, so he tucked them into his lap to cover their shiver.

The boys started laughing cruelly. "Of course you're Snape," Potter sneered. "We've heard all about your poor stupid mother and her poor alcoholic muggle pet."

Snape slammed his book shut. "Now, that was uncalled for!" he snapped. "I didn't mean any harm by what I said! Get out of my compartment." He pointed to the door, proud to note that his hand wasn't shaking.

"Hit a nerve, Snape, what- you gunna cry?" Black taunted.

"Get out!" As the pair whipped out their wands, he slid his out of his sleeve and cried the first defensive spell he could think of. The pair was tossed against the compartment door so hard it whipped open and they were thrown into the hall. He deposited their trunks outside the door as well and slammed it in their face.

Apparently they had more pride than to try him again that day. But it had caused an all out war between the other boys (who went on to become Gryffindors) and him. And since their little spat had not gone unnoticed it had also earned him the respect and fear of quite a few others.

After Potter and Black had skulked away, his compartment door opened again. "Severus!" the redhead that entered his hideaway admonished. "I was just talking to a few other first years when I'd noticed you'd disappeared from right behind me! I've been looking for you for hours!"

"Lily." Severus smiled. "No, you haven't. You only just recently realized I was gone, just as I planned. You know I don't do well with crowds."

Lily laughed and sat down next to him.

The day hadn't been a total loss, he mused as he was eating breakfast the next morning. Before they had left for the train, Severus had been so afraid that Lily would abandon him when he wasn't the only wizard available to her. His fears were ridiculous he had learned. Even after she heard of his spat with those other boys and then had been Sorted with them, she still remained his best friend.

He felt almost lucky then. Unfortunately he was soon to learn that luck was the very last thing he had.

TBC

A/N: When I decided to go about this story, I wanted to write it in a way that I had not seen done before. This isn't a "who these people would be without Voldemort" kind of story. They would be the same people even without his influence.

I.e. Sirius's family didn't push the Dark Arts on him because of Voldemort. They did it because that was what THEY believed in.

And I don't hate Dumbledore. This isn't a let's bash Dumble's story. I hope this story paints him out as merely human. He's made mistakes and now he's gunna have to face up to them.

Next time: Things start to go bad for Severus as he realizes he's made a mistake in angering James and Sirius... and that for some strange reason the Headmaster seems to have it in for him.