AN: Hope you enjoy reading this fic as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Please review to let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

I woke up feeling thoroughly well-rested and sighed in contentment, snuggling deeper into the emerald green bed sheets.

"Ana, are you awake?" one of my roommates, Helene Abbott, whispered.

I sat up and pulled back the hangings of my bed, revealing Helene. She was already up and dressed, nervously fiddling with her long blonde ponytail.

I smiled at her and stretched, "what time is it?" I asked.

"7.15, I couldn't stay in bed, the first day always sets me so on edge!" she said with a soft self-deprecating chuckle.

I laughed a long with her a little, "well, I'll have a shower and then we can go for an early breakfast."

By the time I was showered and dressed, our other two roommates, Mina Flint and Persephone Runcorn, were getting ready. Taking pity on Helene, I told them to meet us up at breakfast, to which they both rolled their eyes knowingly.

It wasn't quite 8am yet, but as I ascended the staircases leading from the dormitories up into the common room, I saw a couple of younger students meeting up to go to breakfast too.

We made our way up to the Great Hall in companionable silence, Helene was mostly rather sensible, and since we hadn't had a chance to catch up properly the previous evening, she'd correctly anticipated that I'd prefer to wait for all of our dorm mates to make it to breakfast before revealing our gossip.

As we sat down at the Slytherin table, I glanced up at the high table, laughing quickly at the expression on Professor Kettleburn's face as Professor Slughorn, my head of house, boisterously told him a story.

There weren't many students in the Hall yet, and I started tucking into some melon. I entertained myself idly wondering what Professor Dumbledore might have been discussing with Filch, and watching the Hufflepuff first years pile obscene amounts of food on their plates, seemingly worried that the supply would run out.

Eventually, Persephone and Mina joined us, and by this time most of the students had arrived at breakfast, the buzz of conversation pleasantly increasing anticipation of the day.

"Evan Rosier suits his haircut," Mina observed, "he looks so much more grown up like that."

I tilted my head in consideration, he really did look much better this year, and I told the girls so. Typically, he caught me staring and shot me a smirk, to which I responded with an awkward jig of the head, much to Persephone's amusement.

"Sturgis Podmore is staring at you, Mina," Helene leant forward to whisper.

Mina and I immediately whipped our heads round to look at the Hufflepuff table, where Sturgis Podmore was indeed staring.

"Ugh," I exclaimed, "Podmore gets around as much as Black, Mina, I do hope you wouldn't be tempted!"

She laughed heartily, dark hooded eyes twinkling, "I don't think that will be a problem, Ana, but thanks for your concern."

I saw Slughorn making his way up our table, handing out timetables, and sat up straighter.

Persephone groaned, "I really do not want to be doing NEWTs! The OWLs were bad enough; my skin has only just recovered from that stress-induced acne!"

"Relax, Sephi, we won't have to take the exams for another two years!"

"Oh Helene, don't be so naïve, the exams are on two years' worth of content, not to mention all the coursework! Nope, this is it for freedom," Mina dramatically bowed her head.

I couldn't help but laugh, "Now now, Mina, we're all going to be fine! Sephi, we're taking less subjects this year, so there'll be less stress. But Helene, although it's true our exams aren't until next year, you'd still benefit from staying on top of your workload now."

"O ho! Miss Dearborn, truer words were never spoken."

Professor Slughorn had reached us, "attitudes like that are all in the making of Head Girl, you know?" he winked conspirationally, patting his belly.

"Now, I was pleased enough with your results over the summer, girls, but do please try and commit yourselves this year!"

We all glanced at each other; Helene blushed profusely, whereas Mina just scoffed.

"Timetables, timetables…" Slughorn muttered, shuffling through the stack in his hand.

"Aha! Miss Runcorn, there you are. I'm surprised Flitwick is allowing you to continue on with Charms actually, I wouldn't have an Acceptable student in my class, not at all! But never mind that… Miss Flint, here you go, I expect you to keep me informed on your brother's progress in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures…"

Mina nodded along whilst perusing her timetable, comparing it to Persephone's, as Slughorn passed Helene hers with no comment.

"Might I just say, Miss Dearborn, it certainly is a relief that one of you girls," at this he stared meaningfully at my dorm mates, "achieved the required Exceeds Expectations to continue the noble study of Potions! It shall be my delight to have you in the NEWT lesson!"

"As it shall be my delight to be in your NEWT lesson, sir!" Professor Slughorn had always been easy to endear myself to.

"Well, you have double Potions with me after breakfast! You're in for a treat today, a real treat indeed!" Somehow I doubted that, in all honesty I did not consider Potions a delight.

At this he continued his way down the table, and I turned to the girls.

"I can't believe you're continuing with potions, Ana, you resent the subject!" Helene exclaimed.

I shrugged, "I may hate the subject, but I imagine it'll be fortuitous to remain one of Slughorn's favourite students."

"Honestly, Ana, I know Slytherin's are renowned for their ambition, but sometimes I can't help but wonder if maybe you're a little too ambitious. You don't need a NEWT in Potions!"

Mina wasn't overly interested in her academic achievements, which I suppose I understood. It was unlikely she'd ever work, her parents just wanted her to marry well – meaning of course to marry a pure-blood – and I think that that's all she wanted as well. She did, of course, want to make sure she'd be the wife to someone of influence.

"What other subjects are you taking, Ana?" Persephone asked, given that she'd already read Mina and Helene's timetables.

"Charms, Transfiguration, Defence, and Astronomy, what about you?"

"Charms, Defence, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Divination," Persephone read off her timetable.

"Mina?"

"Divination, Astronomy, Charms, Transfiguration and Herbology," Mina replied.

Helene beamed, "at least we all have Charms and Transfiguration together! I'm taking Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures too, I'm hoping Kettleburn will be able to find Unicorns this year, he couldn't get any for our OWLs…" she drifted off in speculation.

"Well," I said with false cheer, "I best head off for Potions, all alone! Enjoy your free period, girls." They all murmured their condolences with laughter, refilling their glasses with pumpkin juice as I departed for the dungeons.

I reluctantly entered Slughorn's classroom wondering who in Merlin's name I was going to sit with. I'd sat with Mina for the last five years for Potions! I was also a little late as I'd gone to my dormitory to ditch the books I wouldn't need today after all.

I must have been the last to arrive, and I cursed myself for not getting here early to choose a seat at my own leisure. Glancing around, I surveyed my options.

Lily was sat at the front with Marlene Mckinnon, another Gryffindor, which was a first. She always used to sit with Snape. Emmeline Vance and Benjy Fenwick of Ravenclaw were sat with each other, as were Tonius Hopkirk, Gordon Bletchley, Florence Hyperley and Isodora Stepham of Hufflepuff. Rosier and Avery smiled at me in greeting before turning back to a magazine, and then I noticed Snape.

He was the only one sat at a desk by himself, and although it was entirely unnecessary to have a partner in Potions, it'd be painfully obvious if I chose not to sit next to my housemate. Plus, I felt kind of bad that his only true friend had entirely deserted him… even if she felt it was justified.

"Good morning, Snape," I said, forcing politeness as I deftly slipped onto the stool next to his.

His black eyes stared into my brown ones, betraying no emotion. I held his stare until he nodded slightly, which I took to mean he was grateful, though it might have meant anything.

I busied myself getting out my copy of Advanced Potion Making and some parchment, neatly arranging my quill and ink pot, as Slughorn bustled into the room, checking on a potion he had brewing at the front.

"Righto, righto!" Slughorn started, before frowning around at the class, "oh, I was expecting-"

"Sluggy! Good of you to wait for us, my dear man!"

Of course, in came the Marauders, dramatic as always. I rolled my eyes and saw Snape glower next to me.

Slughorn let out a hearty chuckle, "to your seats please boys, quietly now, quietly…"

The four Gryffindors selected the desks in the middle of the classroom, accompanied by the loud screeching of stools dragging on the flagstone floor.

"Excellent, now then. NEWTs! Firstly, congratulations on your OWL results, and many thanks for continuing on with this noble art! The next two years will push your potion-making skills and understanding of the theory and alchemical processes further than ever before. Your other teachers will no doubt give you further instruction, however from now on in your studies it would be advised for you to always attempt any spells non-verbally. As the extent of your wandwork in potions is just adjusting the flames of your cauldrons, this should prove a simple task!

Now, as for today, I figured we'd jump straight in with a fun Potion, just to shake out the dust from those brains of yours!"

Slughorn beamed and with a dramatic flourish removed the lid from his cauldron at the front to reveal a bright yellow potion happily simmering away.

"Any guesses what this might be?"

Lily Evans' hand shot up, and as Slughorn had already been watching her with an expectant smile, she answered his question immediately.

"The bright sunshine-yellow colour and dancing rising steam is indicative of the Elixir to Induce Euphoria, sir."

"Right you are my dear girl, right you are! Now if you could all please turn to page 86 of your copy of Advanced Potion Making and just make a start, then in our next lesson we'll evaluate each other's potions, before analysing some of the techniques which you'll find transfer rather well to many of the other NEWT level potions. Rest assured, you will get another attempt at brewing this Elixir later in the year!"

Snape rose from his stool at the same time as me and we glanced at each other quickly, "I don't mind grabbing your ingredients too," he mumbled, leaving for the ingredients store cupboard before I could even respond.

I shrugged to myself, sitting back down and reading the potions' instructions. There weren't too many steps to it, but they were very precise, and I read them through twice before Snape returned.

He nudged my ingredients across the desk without looking at me properly and I picked up the porcupine quills, all of them were of equal length. Knowing Snape's ardour for potions, I sincerely doubted it was a coincidence, and smiled gratefully at him, to which he just shrugged in response.

I couldn't help but wonder about Snape, if maybe he wasn't incapable of making friends.

The chatter and laughter soon died down as the entire class focused on their potion, and soon there was a thin haze filling the classroom. I noticed Slughorn had spent most of the lesson talking to Lily Evans, presumably singing her praises. Referring to the textbook, I noticed hers looked almost perfect… Mine was not.

Sighing in frustration, I threw in the wormwood and starting stirring absently.

Snape quickly lunged forward to grab my wrist.

"Salazar's sake, Dearborn! You're supposed to let it simmer for 11 minutes and then stir it six times anti-clockwise! Honestly, how you got an E confounds me, you bumble around that cauldron like a pygmy puff on Ogden's!"

I sat back in shock, surrendering my potion to whatever fate my premature stirring had set in motion.

I let out a frustrated sigh and considered the boy beside me, "why do you even care about the quality of my potion?"

"Well in case you hadn't noticed, we're in rather close proximity. I'd rather it didn't blow up."

"Oh…" Okay, that was reasonable, and embarrassing. I heard Rosier laugh in front of me, and looked away from Snape to see him watching us.

"Don't be embarrassed Ana, it's not like you even need these NEWTs," he quipped, sending me what I presumed he thought to be a charming smile, before turning back to his potion, Avery nudging him.

I noticed Snape stiffen at his words, and to my dismay he didn't say anything else to me for the rest of the lesson, not even an 'I told you so' when Slughorn correctly identified where I'd gone wrong in my potion for it to end up black instead of yellow.

When Slughorn dismissed the class, after a reminder to reflect on our work today, I very slowly packed my stuff up to avoid encountering Snape on the way out. This had the added bonus of also avoiding the Marauders, as they'd bolted immediately.

I started to make my way up to charms when I heard hushed voices around the corner. I slowed down, my curiosity piqued.

"Lily please, this summer was torture! You know I didn't mean what I said-"

"And yet you still said it Sev, why can't you just be brave enough to choose your own friends? Mulciber, Avery, Rosier… they're toxic Sev! I know you know that, even better than I do."

"Please-"

"No, Sev. I'm done, please stop following me around, it's for the best."

I heard Snape growl, "bravery, that's the issue isn't it?! It's Potter, Lily, he's trying to manipulate you with- with- his whole, ugh, Gryffindor-ishness!"

I winced, that would not go down well. Lily's voice was cold when she responded.

"I'm a Gryffindor, Sev. And Potter," she spat his name, "had nothing to do with me!"

I heard her storm off, and bracing myself for an encounter I was already trying to avoid, I stepped round the corner to reveal myself to Snape.

His face was twisted in anguish, and I felt a pang of sympathy for the boy. He glared up at me, and I erased the show of pity from my face.

"Ironic, don't you think?" I started, feeling slight amusement at the flicker of confusion that crossed his features.

"You pretended to hate the one person I think you actually like in this school, just because she's a mu-"

"Don't say that word, Dearborn," Snape's fierce growl amused me.

"Muggle-born," I continued, "you of all people should know that not everyone in Slytherin uses that word, Snape," I reprimanded.

"But the really interesting thing is that actually, I think a part of you hates me, because I'm a pure-blood. You also hate Mulciber, and Avery, and Rosier too I reckon… hmmm and Potter, and of course the Blacks… I understand it must be hard for you, being in Slytherin."

He visibly balked at my words, but I powered through what I wanted to say, "Lily won't forgive you, Snape. But it's not too late to make other friends… I know you detest that, as Rosier pointed out today, it doesn't matter how I do in school, but you don't have to detest me. I guess, what I'm trying to say is, you don't have to pick a side to have friends. I'm not stupid, I know what most of the boys in our House are getting themselves into, but they're not actually getting themselves into it. It's their families! You've dodged a bullet, you don't have to commit like them, Snape."

The look of pure loathing he gave me sent a shiver down my spine, "that's the precise reason I do need to commit. I don't have a family to fall back on; I have to make my own way. I'm a Slytherin too you know, I have ambitions and desires equal to yours. I'm a powerful wizard, Dearborn."

He let out a frustrated growl and I stepped back, "I know you are. I know…" I trailed off weakly.

"Don't try and protect me, you'll only make it worse for me." He stalked off down the corridor, leaving me to my morose thoughts.

I needed to play this year carefully.


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