I'm going to actually make this one day into 2 chapters. I don't want to leave anything behind!
September 1st, 1971
The first day of Hogwarts steadfast approached from the moment they received their letters. Severus and Lily spent countless days in the summer talking about what she had read in Hogwarts: A History and he had read tales to her from the book he had given her for her birthday. They spent the twilight sitting by the river aimlessly looking up at the clouded sky, Lily pointed at one significant shape that looked like a cauldron and Severus chuckled, his usual pale emotionless face careened with a small smirk.
"So we're going to get our supplies soon?" Lily's eyes remained focused on the sky.
"Yeah, we're going to Diagon Alley by Floo Powder," Lily turned her attention towards her friend "you'll see how it works in an hour." Severus explained.
"Do you want to help me pack? I tried asking my parents but they kept bursting into tears." She said glumly. Without a word, Severus lifted himself off the wet grass and held out a hand for Lily. Her fingers slipped seamlessly into his and Severus felt the warmth of her grip. Boy, she had delicate hands, he thought. They made their way to the Evans' household and into Lily's room. Her walls were painted a delicate white and had smelt of freshly cut flowers. Lily fell onto her knees and grabbed her luggage from underneath her mattress and lay it open on her bed. Snape was still looking around the room in complete awe. "Sev, can you hand over a few of my books on the bookshelf?" she asked, burying her nose into her luggage. Snape shook his head and wordlessly grabbed a few interesting novels and of course the two books she received for her birthday. As he handed them over, he noticed the present Mrs. Evans' had given to her daughter and walked over to it quickly. He lifted it up and rested it on his palm thoroughly examining it.
"She looks like you," he looked at Lily from the corner of his eye then back at the figurine and continued, "Will you be taking this with you?"
Lily was pressing down hard against the clothes she was stuffing into her luggage leaving a crease between her brows until she finally zipped it closed. "Nah, I'll leave that here, just in case it breaks if I take it with me," she panted. Snape gave a disapproving look and picked up the Hogwarts letter that Lily received and turned it over.
"You didn't even open your letter Lily, for someone who was so excited to go..."
"You're a curious one aren't you Sev?" she interrupted, a crooked smile etched on her face as she blew a piece of hair away from her eyes. "I'm going to open it now, so I know what to get at Diagon Alley, I like a bit of a surprise," she concluded. Snape handed Lily the letter and she pocketed it in her coat.
"My parents are allowed to come, right Sev?" She leaned on her luggage coming eerily close to her friend's face.
Snape took a step back. "Yes, they're allowed to come. I don't know if it would be a good idea if your sister came though, seeing as though she begged Dumbledore to go to Hogwarts." He never liked Petunia and it was more than obvious it was a mutual feeling.
Lily raised her eyebrow, "don't bring that up to Petunia, she'll hate that we found that letter." Lily picked up her luggage and waited in front of her door, giving her room a last look.
"Of course," Snape snarled and followed behind her. Snape took Lily's luggage down the stairs and opened the entrance door. "Uh, I have to warn my mom your family is coming, just meet me in front of my house when you are all ready. I'll take your luggage with me so you won't have to carry anything." With a little wave, Severus quickly made his way home. Unlike Lily, Severus had packed weeks prior and stuffed as many books as possible into his tattered luggage which was handed down from his mother.
"Severus," Mrs. Snape started, "is Lily coming over now? It's getting quite late; we must rush and buy your supplies." She seemed to be in a calm mood since her husband was not home and Severus was extremely thankful for.
"Yes and her family will be coming also to see her off." He grabbed both of the luggage and placed it close to the fireplace which was dusty and looked like it had not been used or cleaned in years. His mother went inside and grabbed a tea pot and placed it on the mantle.
"I have enough floo powder, it should be fine. Thank goodness your father is not home." Someone had knocked on the door instantly. Severus' mother went to answer and was greeted by the family of four, one of the daughters with her nose up in the air and coughed rudely.
"Hello there, Eileen!" Mrs. Evans said politely lowering Petunia's hand from her face. Mrs. Snape welcomed them into her home and ushered them to the fireplace, Mr. Evans now holding the hand of his youngest daughter. Petunia glared at Severus the whole time, which he reciprocated.
"Now, the rules are quite simple, I will light the fireplace and you all will grab a handful of the powder from the teapot and throw it into the fire. The flame will turn an emerald green. Once so, you must say the words Diagon Alley clearly and walk into the flame. Severus and Lily will be the first to go through, followed by you three," she jerked her head at the rest of the Evans family, "and I will come up last." With a curt nod Severus took a palm full of the greyish powder and threw it into the fire her mother conjured. The flame turned a bright green and he looked beside him at the gaping mouth of Lily Evans and saw that her eyes matched beautifully with the fire, almost identical. He reached for Lily's hand shyly, a bit embarrassed in front of his mother but did not look back at her.
"Diagon Alley!" he shouted as both students walked into the fire in unison. A few seconds later, they found themselves on a cobbled streets being pushed and shoved by people in cloaks and wizarding hats. Lily grabbed hold of Severus' hand and pulled him back and their backs leaned on a stone wall. They both looked up in awe and great fascination, their eyes twinkling in desire to run into every store. A few moments later, the rest of their family caught up with them, Eileen being the least impressed out of all since she had been here many times before. Petunia's eyes had sparkled for a mere moment before intense anger etched onto her face, folding her arms and looking at the wizards and witches whizzing by in disgust.
"Severus, you have your list of supplies you have one hour to get them all, take Lily and you may go, meet us all back here in one hour. I will take care of the Evans family and whatever you do, do not go into Knockturn Alley." Her face showed much seriousness. Severus took out his parchment and looked at all the supplies he needed to buy. Lily looked back at her parents, Mr. Evans' glasses looked lop-sided and his hair was dishevelled, she managed a small laugh and walked next to Severus letting him lead the way.
"Robes first, since they are the lightest to carry!" he tried to make his voice heard as he swerved through bustling wizards. Lily tried to keep up as much as possible however; she wished she had more sets of eyes to intake all the shops that they were passing. They finally stopped in front of a sign that read: Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and stepped into the store.
"Come in dears, come in! Many last-minute students again, I don't have all day!" Madam Malkin said hurriedly, shoving them both in a corner. She waved her wand and measuring tape flew out of nowhere and started measuring them from head to toe. She seemed like a kind woman but pressed for time. She was taking measurements of ten other students at the same time, measuring tape whizzing by their heads, almost knocking Severus. "Your robes are ready, head to the front of the shop to pay!" Madam Malkin yelled making her way to the register. Severus and Lily stared at each other and took out the letter that Professor McGonagall had written for them, exempting them from payment and showed it to the white-haired witch. "Alright then," she looked at the parchment briskly "you may go." Severus and Lily quickly grabbed their all their robes and before they left the store, made an itinerary of where to head next.
Severus eyed his supply list, "we'll head next to Potage's Cauldron Shop for our cauldrons." Lily wish she had read her letter a while back, she felt rushed and disoriented by the number of people who were passing by. They finally reached the store which had piles and piles of different cauldrons stacked up on one another. They got their standard size two cauldron at hand and decided to go to Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment for their telescope and other equipment. They were quickly pushed out of the store after they had bought their supplies by returning students who like them, were shopping at the last minute. Severus led Lily next for the course books at Flourish and Blotts. The sign featured two feathered quills and looked much more appealing to look at from outside. They walked in and the manager of the store raised his eyebrow and stared at them both.
"First years I take it?" he said, now focusing on reaching up for some heavy books on the top shelf.
"Yes sir" they said in unison.
"Here, catch" he started throwing some heavy books down at them as Severus tried his best to balance everything however, the weight was unbearable and knocked him to the floor and Lily silently giggled helping her friend up. He brushed himself off and glared at the manager. "At least these books don't bite," he said matter-of factly "I don't understand teachers sometimes, they assign books that are deadly to open, but you don't have to worry about that this year." He winked and made his way down. They showed the letter to the manager and left the store, with heavy supplies in hand.
"Last stop, Ollivander's." Snape said, he kept the best for last. They passed by Eyelops Owl Emporium and Lily grabbed Severus' oversized coat by the shoulder to hold him back. She pressed her nose and hands against the window and flashed the brightest smile.
"WOW! Owls!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, owls, feathery, messy, like every other animal." He said unimpressed. "You can have these as pets, an owl, a cat or a toad." Lily ignored what her friend had said and continued to stare brilliantly at one owl in specific which had a tint of red to his feathers and golden eyes.
"I like that one!" she pointed.
"Yes, very...cute." Severus said sarcastically and made a face of disapproval.
"Look that one looks like you!" She started laughing extremely hard. Severus looked at the black and white screech owl and realized it was glaring back at him as if he were scowling. "C'mon, we're getting those two!" she exclaimed excitedly grabbing Severus and pulling him into the store. Severus was the first one out of the store reluctantly holding onto the bird cage, as if the animal was diseased. Lily came out holding her cage delicately as if it were her child. "Yours looks like he bites." She tried to put her finger into the cage and the owl snapped and tried to peck at her.
"I can't believe you made me get a vicious owl." Severus shook his head.
"Well don't treat it like a vicious animal; I'm sure it will be useful sometimes." She winked at Severus and petted her owl through the cage warmly and she accepted the affection. Severus blushed and headed into Ollivander's with Lily trailing behind him. Oddly enough, there was nobody but those two in the store. The shop was tiny and lined up with thousands of narrow boxes from floor to ceiling. It seemed like the shop had collected a fine layer of dust and was deserted except for a spindly chair in the corner of the room.
"Well, well, another Prince." Ollivander appeared from the corner, examining the narrow boxes carefully and moving along the rows, until he found a particular one. He grabbed a box and headed towards the tall, skinny boy and opened the box. Severus eyed it peculiarly and Lily looked bright in wonder. "Thirteen inches, Blackthorn and Dragon Heartstring, give it a flick." Severus slowly took the wand into his hand and it blew the spindly chair into a row of wands causing them to fall. Lily's eyes bulged. "I guess not." Severus placed back the wand carefully and watched Ollivander mutter words under his breath. "Shouldn't take too long," he said calmly as he reached up for a dusty black box. He made his way back to Snape and eyed him carefully. "Ebony and Thestral Hair, fourteen and a quarter inches." Snape looked at the box and tried to open it, however it took some force. "Shy, aren't we?" Ollivander asked. "The wand that picks you shows your true personality." Snape ignored Ollivander's comment, looked down at the finally opened box and liked the intricate design of the wand. He carefully picked it up as Lily peered from his shoulder; he flicked it and jets of gold emitted from it causing Lily to bounce back. "Wonderful! Simply wonderful! Second time's the charm." A smirk lay across Severus' face as he kept the wand in his hand. Severus waited in the corner with his arms folded and eyes closed whilst leaning on a wall.
Lily stood there gawking at the silver-haired man. "I-It's my turn, right?" Ollivander completely ignored her comment, spun around and headed to another section of wands. He was holding a few black boxes in his hand and handed then one by one to Lily when he returned.
"A first-timer, I assume your parents never carried a wand? Holly and dragon heartstring, eleven inches." He handed the wand which looked completely different from Snape's and hers was quite plain, compared to his. Before she even touched it the wand, squirmed away from her hand and Ollivander quickly closed the box. "No, not that one, it would have caused great damage to my store. Here take this one, Cherry and Thestral Hair, nine and three quarter inches." This time the wand had let her pick it up however; it had retaliated with it blowing ash into her face. Severus finally opened his eyes as Lily quickly put the wand back in the box. She turned her head back and looked at Severus and his eyes lit up as if forcing back a laugh.
"That's a nice look on you. You'll probably be getting that more often, from now on."
"Oh quiet, we will see who does better in classes, you already may know a lot of spells but I'll catch up." She replied non-defiantly, turning her attention back to Ollivander.
"Hm, I think this will do," Ollivander muttered, "willow and unicorn hair, ten and a quarter inches." Lily glanced at it for a mere second before the wand propped up into her hand by itself. "Ah yes, an achiever aren't we. You go after the things you want, it seems." Lily held the wand and a burst of heat entered her body and caused her to mildly glow. Severus noticed her bright red hair moving with the wind her wand had produced, an aura of gold surrounding her body. He had turned his head once more to look outside the window. "Perfect, the wand is swishy, great for Charms work, I say. Make good use of it." The students bid their goodbyes and made their way to where Severus' mom was waiting with the Evans family. They were waiting in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and Mr. Evans was gleefully licking a cone, while his wife shot him a worried look, holding the hand of her eldest who kept the same disgusted face.
"It's about ten-thirty; we have no time to dawdle. King's Cross Station is next." Mrs. Snape hurriedly said as she started to pace, staring at the owl that her son was holding. "It looks like you." She chuckled. For the first time in years, Severus watched her mother laugh. "It'll be hard to bring that home because of your father, but I'll talk to him." Her face rendered back to being serious. She moved on ahead leading them all to the train station.
Part 2 of this day will be uploaded soon! Remember to review and leave me some feedback. Thanks!