A/N: I know I haven't updated this in about a year but I was sitting on my bed the other day and this story came back to me like a slap in the face so I decided that I might as well post this chapter. I'm trying not to give up on it but it might happen if I don't get that many reviews or if they're not that good. Let me know what you think please!

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or places. Words in bold italics are strictly those of J.K. Rowling's from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". Plot however is mine. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: The Train Ride In

September 1st had arrived. Severus hadn't heard from Lily since the day before she had left. He awoke that morning feeling slightly nervous, but also very excited. It would be his first time away from home for a long period of time, but he was going to a castle; a castle where he would learn spells, just like his mum! Severus was also excited that he would be seeing Lily again soon. He hadn't seen her in nearly 3 weeks. Although she was away, he still visited "their spot" in the woods. He would lay there for hours just thinking about the days they spent there and how much more he wanted to tell her. Things at home weren't any better, if anything they had gotten worse. Sometimes, Severus would sit up in his room and wish that someone would come and take him and his mother away from all of the evil. His father began to drink more as September 1st drew closer and lashed out at everyone.

Finally, the day arrived when Severus would be able to leave. He entered King's Cross station with his trunk full of his robes and school books, and his mother by his side. His father had nearly drunk himself to death the night before and Severus was slightly disappointed that he had not succeeded.

"Hurry now, Severus. It's nearly 11." His mother said.

They hurried along, looking for the brick wall between platforms 9 and 10. He had asked his mother one day, while his father was out buying more booze, if there was a mistake written on his ticket. She had simply scoffed at the idea and told him that he was being ridiculous. Before Severus had experienced his abilities, he would've never believed in such a silly thing.

His mother stopped abruptly and looked around quickly, griping Severus's hand.

"I don't see Platform 9 ¾ mother." Severus stated.

"Don't be ridiculous, Severus. Of course it's not going to be in plain sight of muggles. Now, just stick close to me, it's right over there." She said, pointing to the brick column separating two platforms.

"You can't be serious." He said, laughing a bit.

"Of course I'm serious, now hurry along."

She pulled him along beside her quickly, glancing around and when she saw no one looking, pushed Severus through the wall and followed quickly behind him. He couldn't comprehend what had just happened. He was almost certain he had blacked out from being pushed into a brick wall, but then he felt the strangest sensation. Magic! It was everywhere! He could feel it. For once in his life, he felt like he belonged.

"Good luck, Severus." His mother said behind him. He had almost forgotten that she was there. He turned quickly and gave her the biggest hug he could manage.

"Goodbye mum. Be safe."

"You too sweetheart," she said, tears rolling softly down her cheeks. "Write me the first chance you have."

"I will mum, every chance I get. Promise." He assured her, letting her go. She bent down and gave him a quick kiss on the top of his head before he hurried off to board the train.

"Be safe my son." She silently whispered as Severus turned to give his mother a wave goodbye.

She couldn't help but smile at the silly grin that spread across his face. She hadn't smiled, let alone laughed, in ages, stuck with her horrible excuse for a husband. Seeing her only child so happy for once in his life was the breaking point. She finally knew what she had to do. She waved one last time as the train began to pull away.

Severus hurried quickly through the corridors of the train looking for an empty compartment and hopefully, Lily. He took the first opportunity he got to change into his robes, finally getting rid of that awful muggle shirt he was always wearing. He passed by a rather loud compartment with two rowdy boys and was about to continue his search before he caught a flash of fiery red hair. There was Lily, sitting next to the window, he face pressed up against the glass. He slid open the door and took the seat opposite her. She glanced up at him but turned away quickly, her eyes red and puffy, a sign that said that she had been crying.

"I don't want to talk to you," she said in a constricted voice.

"Why not?"

"Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore."

"So what?"

She threw him a look of deep dislike.

"So she's my sister!"

"She's only a –" He caught himself quickly; Lily, too busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed, did not hear him.

"But we're going!" he said, unable to suppress the exhilaration in his voice. "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!"

She nodding, mopping her eyes, but in spite of herself, she half smiled.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," said Snape, encouraged that she had brightened a little.

"Slytherin?"

"One of the boys sharing the compartment, who had shown no interest at all in Lily or Snape until that point, looked around at the word. A boy, slight, black-haired like Snape, but with that indefinable air of having been well-cared for, even adored, that Snape so conspicuously lacked, looked at the two.

"Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" the boy asked his friend lounging on the seats opposite him. He had shaggy, brown hair and did not smile.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," he said.

"Blimey," said the boy, named James Potter, "and I thought you seemed all right!"

The other boy, Sirius Black, grinned.

"Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James lifted an invisible sword.

"'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad."

Severus made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No," said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy-"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" interjected Sirius.

James roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Oooooo…"

James and Sirius imitated her lofty voice; James tried to trip Snape as he passed.

"See ya, Snivellus!" a voice called, as the compartment door slammed.

Severus and Lily continued down the narrow hallway of the train in silence. Most of the compartments had already been filled, but after walking nearly the entire train, they found one. Severus cautiously followed Lily into the compartment; he had felt the anger rolling off of her in waves since they had left the two boys. She flopped down into a seat by the window and was back on her feet the next second.

"How dare they!" she exclaimed loudly. "Mocking me and calling you names? They have some nerve, those prats. An absolute horror they are-"

"Lily…" Snape said softly.

"And then that one boy had to start spewing off about how he'd be in Gryffindor just like his "precious" father, I mean honestly-"

"Lily…" Snape repeated.

"Don't even get me started on the second boy! Thinking he's all high and noble, "changing traditions" within his family. I bet the rest of them love having him at home," she said sarcastically, "I mean, what's the big deal between Gryffindor and Slytherin? I just don't get it!"

"Lily!" Severus finally barked.

"What?!" she yelled back, her eyes blazing. They immediately became softer as he raised his hands in surrender.

"Finished?" he asked calmly, fixing her with a pointed look.

"I'm sorry, Sev. I didn't mean to yell at you."

"It's quite alright."

"There's just something about them that irks me to no end!"

"They're a bunch of pompous gits, Lily. Nothing for you to worry about, just let them be. They're not worth your time."

Lily sighed and sat back down across from Severus. She stared pointedly at the floor, her hands folded in her lap. Severus licked his dry lips several times trying to think of a way to break the silence. He hadn't expected her sudden angered outburst, and he certainly hadn't expected how scary she was when she was angry. He finally got his voice back as he looked up at her.

"H-how was your vacation?" he asked quietly.

Lily looked up at him and gave a warm, big smile before launching into her tale of what she had done while she was away. They shared stories of what their last few weeks of the summer had ben like, up until they reached the castle. They stared out of the window, admiring the place they had talked about for almost two months. It was even more beautiful than they had dreamed it would be. They departed the train at Hogsmeade station in an old wizarding village.

"Alright first years, follow me!" and old grumpy man said, carrying a lantern in one hand and a small kitten in the other.

"A bit intimidating with that kitten, isn't he?" Severus whispered to Lily as they followed the old man to several rowboats by the lake.

"Oh, definitely." Lily giggled back.

After carefully climbing into the boats and being magically rowed across the magnificent lake, they finally arrived at their destination. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry stood vastly before them, in all of its glory.

"Wow!" Severus heard Lily breathe and looked down at her. Her face was a look of disbelief and awe. She looked absolutely stunning in that moment. The beauty of the castle in front of them couldn't even compare to hers.

"Beautiful…" he whispered.

Lily looked up at him and smiled. She took his hand as they walked up the front steps of the castle and into the entrance hall to stand in front of the large double doors, which led, into what they knew to be, the Great Hall. The old doors began to creak open, and Severus gave Lily's hand a tight squeeze.

"Ready?" he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She replied.

They walked quietly up the center row of the hall taking in all of their surroundings. They reached the front of the hall and before them, stood a ratty, old hat, placed upon a stool. They all watched in awe as the brim of the hat opened wide and began to recite a poem about the four Hogwarts houses and it's sorting. Severus stood there in shock for a long time, but was brought back to reality when he heard Professor McGonagall say, "Evans, Lily!" He looked beside him and saw the slightly terrified look on the young girl's face. He gave her hand a tight squeeze before she walked forward on trembling legs. She sat down upon the old stool and shut her eyes tightly. Barely a second after the hat touched her head, it cried out the last word he wanted to hear at that moment, "Gryffindor!" He let out a small groan and watched as Lily ran off to the cheering table of Gryffindors, but before she sat down, she glanced back at him and gave him a sad smile. He gave her his own small smile in return that let her know it was fine. Lily smiled a little more at this and turned to the side to see the boy, Sirius, from the train, sliding up the bench to make room for her. She sat down forcefully, glared in his direction, folded her arms across her chest, and turned her back on him to watch the rest of the sorting.

Severus watched as the other boy from the train was sorted into Gryffindor. He glanced over at Lily, just in time to see her roll her eyes and pout. He chuckled quietly to himself but he stopped when he heard to old witch call, "Snape, Severus!" He walked up to the stool, his face blank of emotion. The hat was placed upon his head and no longer than three seconds later it cried, "Slytherin!" He took the old, tattered hat off of his head and smiled. He knew he would be placed in Slytherin, but a tiny part of him couldn't help but hope to be in Gryffindor with Lily. He walked blindly in sadness, his feet taking him to the other side of the hall, where the Slytherin sat, cheering. He sat down next to an older student, a prefect's badge, perfectly polished, sat upon the collar of his robes. He was brought out of his thoughts as the boy, Lucius Malfoy, patted him on the back.

"Congratulations," he said, "I hope you enjoy your time here in Slytherin." He smiled down at Severus, but it wasn't exactly friendly. Severus couldn't help but feel that the smile was almost, evil.

The rest of dinner passed in silence for him. His body moved mechanically. When food appeared on the table, his hands reached for it and placed it on his plate, where he continued to place small pieces of it into his mouth, not tasting, but simply chewing and swallowing. It continued like this through dessert and soon, there was no more food left on the table for him to grab. The boy beside him stood up and straightened his robes; a perfectly mastered sneer adorned his face.

"Time for bed," he called in an authoritative tone. "First years follow me, and keep up!"

He turned swiftly on his heel, his robes billowing behind him, as he strode out of the hall. He scrambled up from his seat and followed the boy out as other students crowded around. He followed the head of pale blonde hair. The Slytherins turned left once in the entrance hall and continued down into what he guessed was the dungeons. They finally reached a blank, stone wall and Lucius turned to face the timid first years.

"I am going to say this once, and only once so listen closely. Our common room lies behind this wall but you need a password to enter. This password is for your ears only and not for any students outside of our house. Do I make myself clear?" The first years, along with Severus, nodded their heads. "Good. Should you forget this password, you shall seek out an older student or wait for someone to either enter or exit the common room. Without further ado, our password is vipera, and it would do you good to remember it." With that said, the boy turned to the wall and repeated the password and they all watched as a door appeared in the wall. They all passed through into the common room as Lucius explained where their dorms were and how they would receive their class schedules during breakfast. Severus listened with half an ear as he walked up the staircase that led to the boy's dorms. He found his trunk at the foot of one of the beds and opened it to pull out his pajamas. He changed into them and after placing his wans underneath his pillow, he climbed into bed and let out a long breath that he wasn't aware he was holding. He lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering what Lily was doing. He was absolutely miserable. His best friend, and girl he liked, had been ripped away from him, so soon after getting her back. It was a while before he finally drifted off to sleep, hoping that he shared some classes with Lily and that he'd be able to talk to her again.

A/N: So like I said, please review! There might not be any more of this but if you would like me to write more, please let me know in a kind review of PM me. Also, if you're interested, or like Dramione stories, feel free to read and review my other story "Safe & Sound".

Much love!

~ToriLynn