Chapter Two
Settling in to Hogwarts was easier than I had ever dreamed. Charlotte, Marlene, and I were incredibly close, like we had been destined to be friends. And I wasn't the only one to make new friends.
Dear Tuney,
Hogwarts sounds amazing! I can't wait until I'm there and we can go exploring together! Are there really moving staircases? And ghosts? Your friends sound lovely, but I'm still your bestest, right?
Do you remember that Snape boy? The one who lives in Spinner's End? Well, he's in my class this year, and he's a wizard! Can you believe it, Tuney? Somebody else with magic in our own town! He heard me accidentally say Hogwarts the other day, and he wanted to know how I knew about it. He's still a bit shy, but I'm determined to break him of it. It will be nice to know somebody else at school when I start.
I can't wait for Christmas! I know it's still so far away, but I miss you more than anything! When you come back we'll go sledding every day and we can make cocoa and biscuits with Mummy and we'll decorate the tree and make paper chains and have so much fun! And you can show me all the magic you've learned. That way I can be ahead of everybody in my year! Wouldn't that be fun? I miss you. Write back soon.
Love,
Lilly
Missing Lily and my parents was the only thing marring my first week. But early Monday morning the following week brought me up short.
We left the other girls in our year still sleepily getting ready, as Lottie was moaning loudly about how hungry she was and that she was going to eat someone if we didn't hurry up. So Marly and I simply shared a grin and headed out, grabbing our friend on our way to the door. We were still teasing her when we got to the stairs leading to the Great Hall. I started up in front of my friends when I was rudely shoved aside. "Out of my way, Mudblood," the blond snarled at me. Marly gasped at his words, but I didn't know what it meant. I did know that he was much older than me, at least a Fifth Year, and looking at me like I was something unpleasant he'd found under his shoe.
"Really, Lucius, there's no need to be so rude," the dark-haired girl next to him sighed.
"Andromeda, she doesn't belong here. I can't believe you would defend a Mudblood," he said in astonishment.
"Is there a problem here, Malfoy?" a deep voice asked, and everyone turned toward it.
"Of course not, McKinnon," Malfoy, apparently, sneered back at Marly's brother, Ollie. "Or, at least there won't be, once the little Mudblood moves out of the way."
Ollie's face darkened. "Tormenting First Years now, are we? Well, at least I'm in a position now to stop it. Ten points from Slytherin, and you can apologize to Miss Evans."
"That is never going to happen," Malfoy spat.
"Fine. Make it thirty points, and I'll be telling the Headmaster about this," Ollie said.
"You do that, Head Boy," Malfoy sneered. "Come along, Andromeda," he added, dragging the girl behind him.
"I'm so glad my brother's Head Boy," Marly sighed. "I take back every bad thing I ever said about it this summer."
Ollie grinned briefly, then turned to me. "Are you alright, Petunia?" He seemed very concerned about me, and I was merely his little sister's friend.
"I'm fine," I assured. "But I don't know what it was that he called me."
Both McKinnons looked a mixture of anger and discomfort. "It's nothing, Pet," Marly started, but Lottie cut her off.
"Mudblood," she spat, her normal sunny attitude darkened. "I've heard it often enough. It means dirty blood. To Purebloods like Malfoy, those like you or me who have Muggles for parents are second-class, not worthy to be in the same room as them. They think they're better than everybody else."
"But it's not true," Marly assured emphatically. "You two are just as good as that Malfoy, better, in fact. And you are going to prove it, too. Just be the absolute best in our year, and they'll see."
Ollie looked amused. And a little sad. "Well, that is a marvelous goal, and if you need any help with it, just let me know. Are you sure you're alright, Petunia?"
"Yes, thank you," I said, blushing under his intense scrutiny.
"Alright, then, why don't we head off to the Great Hall together, hm? I thought I heard someone grumbling about being hungry in the dormitory," he said, grinning impishly at Lottie, who also blushed.
That run-in with Lucius Malfoy typified most meetings with Slytherins. They found something to look down on us for, whether it was our blood status, or our House, or who we associated with. I wasn't so sure I wanted Lily to have to face this in two years, not that I really had a choice. But I most definitely didn't tell her about it in my letters home.
Her letters continued to come with a typical Lily regularity. Soon, they were filled with tales of Severus Snape. I was glad Lily was making a new friend, but somehow, there was a little feeling in the back of my mind that something was not quite right.
Dear Tuney,
Severus tripped Marcus Grant this morning, and he got hurt. Marcus, I mean, not Sev. But Sev did it because Marcus was teasing me.
Dear Tuney,
Steven in my class made fun of me for knowing all the answers, and Sev tied his shoe strings together, by magic.
Dear Tuney,
Susan fell off the swings today, right after she teased me about my hair. I asked Sev about it, and he said she deserved it. She was making fun of me, and he was just protecting me, like any friend would do. That's okay, right?
When I finally met Severus Snape during holiday, the little feeling exploded into full-on foreboding. Lily introduced us with excitement, her two favorite people finally really meeting, as she put it. I was polite and friendly, just like Mummy had always taught me to be, but he was sullen, almost bordering on rude. Then, he proceeded to tag along on nearly everything we did as a family. He never smiled, except at Lily, and hardly spoke. He stayed at our house all day, every day, but never really participated in whatever activity we were doing. And the only time he laughed was when I fell ice skating.
Two days before the new term, Mummy had a bad day, so I decided to stay at home with her. And before Lily could even say she wanted to stay, too, and I could tell she did, Severus had snatched her hand and dragged her outside, barely stopping to let her snag her coat and gloves on their way out. I watched them worriedly, but started when Mummy let out a sigh.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
"Oh, it's nothing, Pet," she tried to assure. "I'm just a little tired."
I looked at her, and I didn't believe her. "You're worried about Lily."
"No, I'm worried about Severus," she corrected. "He hasn't had an easy life, and I'm afraid he might not make the best choices. He tends to try to hurt those who hurt him, and that's no way to go through life. But if anyone can help him, it's our Lily," she added cheerfully.
Mummy's assurances aside, I still worried about Lily and her friendship with Severus. But my first day of classes in the new term soon took my mind off it, as I had something new to worry about.
"Good morning, class," Professor Slughorn boomed as he walked into the classroom. He smiled at our response of "Good morning, professor." Once he made it to the front of the classroom and set his briefcase on the desk, he turned to face us. "Professor Dumbledore has asked all of us teachers to try something new this term, and so we shall. We are aiming for a little more inter-House unity. Which means we will have new partners this term, assigned ones. And they will be with someone in a different House as yours. The names are on the board now." Here he flicked his wand behind him. "Hop to it!" he added, when no one moved.
I exchanged a mournful look with Lottie and Marly, then looked at the board. Not only had he paired a Hufflepuff with a Slytherin, but almost every pair was a boy with a girl. This was definitely not something I was looking forward to.
Finding my name was easy. Finding the person that went with the name next to mine wasn't. "Who's Nicolas Selwyn?" I hissed at Marly as she left our table. Sadly, she didn't hear me.
Someone else did, however. "You must be a muggleborn," an unpleasant voice to my left said. "I mean, if you don't know who I am."
"I'm guessing you're Nicolas Selwyn." I managed to keep a friendly tone, remembering Mummy's teachings, but it was rather difficult.
"Of course," he scoffed. "Why else would I be talking to someone like you?"
The rest of the lesson went rather like that. If he talked to me at all, it was in a condescending tone. He also refused to do any of the work, making me do everything. Since I liked Potions and was quite good at it, I didn't mind terribly. Well, I did, but I tried to not let it get me down.
And so it continued, week after week, Nicolas Selwyn looked down his nose at me for every little thing he could find to dislike about me. He harped on my looks, my heritage, my House. My clothes and mannerisms were also liable to be targets. The only things he didn't take an issue with were my Potion making abilities and essay writing.
"At least you're good for something," he mumbled, looking uninterestedly at the perfectly blue shade of our (my) cure for boils.
"You know what," I said, slamming my wooden spoon down on the table. "I am done. I am done letting you take credit for my work. Since we've been partners, you have yet to lift a single finger to help me with anything. So starting now, if you don't do half of the work, I am going straight to Professor Slughorn and telling him exactly what has been going on all term. And if you think he won't believe me, just remember how much he admired my work all last term. He never commented on your potions, did he?"
Selwyn had a shocked look on his face for a brief moment, before it turned rather shrewd. "Not bad, for a Hufflepuff," was all he said, before pulling the mortar and pestle to him and beginning to grind the snake fangs we needed.
From then on, Nicolas Selwyn treated me differently. I wasn't particularly proud of nearly blackmailing him into actually doing his work, but I couldn't argue with the results. He did his part of the work, even allowing me to correct him when he started doing something wrong. And slowly, no doubt due to my frequent chattering, he started to open up to me. But it wasn't until the last week of classes that I realized exactly how much our relationship had changed.
Cleaning up after potions-making wasn't my favorite thing, but it was my turn. Nic had taken our potion in its little vial to Slughorn, who had stopped him for a little chat. It was my turn at the water gargoyle when someone pushed me from behind, sending me flying into the water. The water was freezing, and my fall had upset our potion, dumping it all over me, as well. I was so surprised that all I could do was sit there in shock. Marly and Lottie flew toward me, but Nic somehow beat them to me. He pulled me up and attempted to brush the potion off me, but only succeeded in smearing it more. Then he turned to the person who'd been behind me in line. "Vanity, you did this, didn't you." It really wasn't a question. He practically growled it.
"You can't prove it, Selwyn," the small, brunette Slytherin sneered at him.
"I saw you. Don't ever touch Petunia Evans again."
I couldn't see Nic's face, but apparently Adam Vanity saw something in it that convinced him not to test Nic. Vanity swallowed, then went back to his work table, not bothering to wash out his cauldron.
"Oh, Miss Evans, did you have a spill?" Professor Slughorn came waddling over to me, waving his wand. The next thing I knew, my potion had disappeared from my clothes, as had the water soaking through my robes. "There, there, all better. Oh, except for that scrape there. You must have hit your head. You should go to the Hospital Wing," he fussed, wringing his hands distractedly.
"I'll take her, Sir," Nic offered, then practically dragged me out of the room.
We walked fairly quickly, Nic hustling me up stairs and through corridors. I'd never seen the look on his face before, and I couldn't deny that I was a bit unsettled. Finally, a corridor away from the Hospital Wing, I couldn't take anymore. "Nic, stop," I ordered, planting my feet firmly. Which made him jerk to a stop, too, seeing as he still had a hand on my arm. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, now we need to get that cut looked at," he said, trying to get me going again, but refusing to look me in the eye.
"Oh, posh, it's just a scratch," I scoffed. "Now, tell me what's wrong."
He didn't want to tell me, but I was persistent. After a few minutes of me silently looking at him, he gave in. "I just didn't like how he treated you, alright? Like you were something beneath him. And I don't like people hurting my friends," he finally confessed.
That confession made my now stinging eyebrow worth it. I beamed at him. "Okay. Now, let's go visit Madame Pomfrey."
AN: I am so sorry this is a week late! I've been busy with work and today was my first day off in a week. I am so sorry! But I appreciate all the support this story and its companion have received. I love all the favorites/follows/reviews. Especially reviews (wink,wink)!
Also, with this chapter, I feel like I need a disclaimer. I do not feel, nor did I mean to imply, that all Slytherins are evil. I actually wanted this chapter to show that there are good Slytherins. I love the headcannon where Slytherins and Hufflepuffs are best friends, and the Slytherin will hurt anyone who hurts their Hufflefriend.
Also, I adore any and all Marauder headcannons that I find, so they may find their way into this story :D
Thanks for reading!
P.S. I changed Lucius and Andromeda to being Sixth Years here, as well. But that was it!