Centipede Flavoured Beans

As soon as Platform Nine and Three-Quarters disappeared from view, Severus and Lily rushed along the train, searching for an empty compartment. Severus passed several older students with identical badges emblazoned with the letter P on their robes, which he assumed were Prefects; a couple of girls giggling about something or other; a harried-looking boy who was stuck under his seat looking for something; and four boys who seemed to be getting along extremely well.

Severus stopped to observe the boys a bit more. One was showing off an extensive collection of Chocolate Frog cards, which were all tucked inside a small leather notebook he had. The boy was relatively well-dressed with dark brown eyes and hair which stuck upwards in a comical way, as if he were being electrocuted. The other three boys looked rather average – one had mousy brown hair and an anxious air about him; another had black hair which fell casually over his handsome grey eyes as he watched the first boy explain to him about his many Chocolate Frog cards. The third was much shorter, a little plump, and had shrunk into his seat, petting a small rat which was curled into his hand. That boy looked up and stared directly at Severus, who darted quickly out of sight before he could see. Hoping the boy hadn't seen him enough to fully register his facial features, Severus looked in the other direction, and noticed Lily sliding a door open to get into the compartment not so far away. "Hey, look, this one's empty, Sev!" she called to him. He hastily followed her and entered the compartment.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, watching the fields and plains pass by outside their window. Lily fiddled with the hair band on her wrist, and Severus thumbed through his much-abused copy of Moste Potente Potions for the umpteenth time.

"This is the first time I've been away from home," said Lily quietly, as she glanced up at him. Severus noticed she was not her normal self. Somehow, she seemed quite nervous, which was unusual for a person like her. "I'm going to miss my parents, won't you?" she continued in the same small voice.

Severus nodded mutely, though he knew his reply was a complete and utter
Iie. He didn't miss his parents, not even a little bit. He was looking forward to living at Hogwarts away from home, where he would be able to evade his father's abusive nature and his mother's constant depression looming over his head. "You'll get used to it," he said. "Besides, you have your owl to send letters to your parents."

Lily instantly brightened again. "Yes, of course!" She stood up, wobbled a bit from the train's constant motion, and took her owl's cage down from the shelf above her head. A tawny owl blinked sleepily as it gave a faint hoot, one eye opening just slightly to see what was going on. "Hello, Everette," she cooed. "Did you have a nice nap?" Everette stuck her beak out of the cage and nibbled her fingers gently in reply.

Severus gazed at Everette enviously. He longed to have an owl, or any familiar at all, of his own, but knew his parents wouldn't want to spare any money for one. His father had already complained about the price of the schoolbooks he had to buy at Diagon Alley ("Completely ripping us off, aren't they, those ruddy wizards?") and his mother merely shook her head behind him. He had gone to Diagon Alley with Lily and her parents (his father gave a noncommittal grunt when he asked if he could go with her, which he took as a yes) and had gotten everything he needed. When Lily's parents asked if he wanted a familiar, he had politely declined the offer. He abhorred the notion of being in debt to other people, least of all his best friend's parents. So he waited outside Eeylop's Owl Emporium while Lily and her parents entered the shop, and complimented on how pretty her owl was when she came back out, all the while gazing longingly at it.

"You can use my owl if you want to send any letters, too," Lily told him, as she fed Everette an Owl Treat. "Sure," replied Severus, looking back at her with gratitude. To be honest, he wouldn't be surprised if Lily turned to be a Hufflepuff, with all her kindness and willingness to help. He knew the owl wouldn't be very handy to him, since he was sure his parents wouldn't care about him sending letters back home, but his heart still warmed to Lily's caring offer.

They were just smiling at each other when the door to their compartment slid open. A buxom lady peeked round the edge of the door with a trolley filled to the brim with snacks next to her. "Pumpkin Pasties, anyone?" she said. "Chocolate Frogs? Bertie Bott's Beans?"

"No, thank you," Severus began to say, but he was interrupted by Lily's cry of, "Ooh, yes please! What are those?"

"Those are wizard sweets, Lily," said Severus tiredly, picking up a Chocolate Frog to examine it. "How much for one of these?"

In the end, Lily and Severus bought a Chocolate Frog each, a big box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and an assortment of sweets even Severus couldn't name. Lily opened her Chocolate Frog and jumped in surprise as she was greeted with a cheerful croak. The frog hopped out of its box and landed on the window. "Go on, catch it!" said Severus. Lily looked a little unsure at first, but reached out and grabbed the frog by the middle. The frog instantly froze, motionless in her hand, and Lily stared warily at it. "You can eat it now," said Severus. "It's only chocolate."

Lily cautiously looked at the frog again, as if she was afraid it would come to life and jump at her face, but she shrugged and took a bite. She shut her eyes tightly, looking as if she were bracing herself in case the frog happened to taste like something other than chocolate, but her eyes quickly opened again in delight and, with her mouth full, she exclaimed, "This is really good, Sev!"

Severus opened his Chocolate Frog too, which promptly landed on his head. Both of them began to laugh as Severus picked the frog off his greasy hair. He bit into it, savouring the sweet flavour only chocolate could possess, and took the card out of the box.

"What's that?" asked Lily, staring at the hexagonal card. "It's a collectible. Comes with the frog," said Severus, gesturing at it with his free hand. "Ooh," replied Lily, as she reached into her own box and took out another card. "I've got Merlin!" she pronounced in glee. "I know who that is!" She turned it over. "There's writing too! It says Merlin is the most famous wizard of all time… I knew that… and he's also known as the Prince of Enchanters. Sev, who've you got?" Lily almost fell out of her seat trying to get a better look at Severus' card, but caught herself in time.

"Me? I've got Salazar Slytherin," said Severus. At Lily's baffled look, he looked down at his card again and turned it over. "He's one of the four celebrated Founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," (Lily nodded as comprehension dawned on her face) "I think I've told you before. He was also one of the first recorded Parselmouths, an accomplished Legilimens, and a notorious champion of pureblood supremacy.'"

"What's a Parselmouth, and a Legilimens?"

"A Parselmouth is a person who can talk to snakes, and a Legilimens is someone who can see into your mind."

"Oh, cool! Can you learn how to do that?

"I think you can't with Parseltongue. You're born with it or something. You can learn how to do Legilimency, but I've read about it and it sounds really hard."

Lily nodded and grinned childishly at him. "I'm going to collect all the cards, every last one of them!" She slipped her card into her pocket, patting it as soon as it was safely inside. "Good luck with that," Severus quipped. "There are probably hundreds of them out there."

"Oh. In that case, never mind," she sighed. Swinging her legs onto the seat next to her, which was strewn with multicoloured sweet wrappers, she continued, "I wouldn't know what to do with the frogs, anyway. I'd get sick if I tried to eat them all!" She reached over to the Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean box, opened it, and looked inside. "How colourful," she commented. "I'm going to try a red one." She took the bright crimson bean out and popped it into her mouth. Severus leaned forward in anticipation, waiting for her reaction.

"Ugh!" said Lily, as she spat the bean back out. It whizzed past Severus' right ear and embedded itself in the gap between the two seats right next to him. Severus shook his head in amazement, as he was, once again, completely dumbfounded by what Lily could do. Lily looked up at Severus with an expression of pure disgust in her bright green eyes. "That tasted like... like... what was that?"

Huffing slightly, she took the box and looked at the back of it, a finger running down what Severus could only imagine to be a list of Bertie Bott's flavours. Lily looked back up at him again. "Sev, do wizards use natural flavours for these beans?" she asked nervously. "I don't know," he replied. "Why do you ask?"

Lily bit her lip and looked back at the box. "It says here that the bean I just ate was centipede..."