Potions class.
Severus smiled to himself. He stood outside the door of Potions, the one class in which he seemed to really belong. Being a fairly naturally antisocial person, he preferred the classes that allowed him to work and depend only on himself, which were tragically few. Oh, he had his few hangers-on that were the children of his parents friends in the first few weeks of classes, but he found them particularly easy to shake once they realized that there would be no real benefit to becoming Severus' friend other than the occasional withering glare and request to leave him alone, please.
Really, it was better this way, he had almost convinced himself. He had almost managed to shut everyone out of his life entirely, except for his mother's neighbor's snot-nosed first year son, and Lily. Lily must have constant wax in her ears to not hear the things people would say when they saw the pair of them walking down the halls. Severus was mostly joking when he suggested that to her, but she refused to leave him alone. He was quietly, secretly grateful, but he tried his best to never acknowledge that fact to himself, let alone to her.
Was he her pet project? Charity case? Did he remind her of a friend back home? Severus shuddered to himself. She should have friends that were more fun and happier than him. He was meant to do great things, and great people worked alone. They had underlings not friends. The fact that he had difficulty making and maintaining personal relationships coincided nicely with that fact.
Still, it was nice to have a partner during the times that the Gryffindors and the Slytherins had Potions together. It was even nicer to be away from his house for a few minutes, the Slytherin house alternated between sucking up to him and talking about each other, and him, behind everyone else's back. Severus had no interest in inter-house politics, and he was lumped into a class of status-grubbing kids that would just as soon shank as smile at you, whichever benefited them more at the time.
Oh. He had stopped paying attention, wandering off in thought as he was liable to do from time to time. Lily was pushing puffer-fish eyes into his hand in order to complete their draught of swelling solution, and a shiver like a bolt of lightning ran down his spine for the first time in his cold, distant life. He shuddered reflexively.
"Sorry...I should have warned you, they were cold."
"Someday I'll forgive you."
She laughed. He shuddered. They continued to work quietly together for the rest of the period.
