Chapter 6
The First Day
Severus awoke early the following morning and did not hesitate to find Lily. After he washed up and put on his school robes (now also with green in them to represent his House), he hurried out of the Common Room and to the Great Hall for breakfast. To his great delight, he found Lily sitting by herself at the Gryffindor table. Severus, who didn't even bother to look at his own House table, hurried to Lily and sat next to her. Lily grinned as soon as she saw him and gave him a tight hug.
"Oh Sev, I'm so glad I got to see you! Have you got your schedule yet? I hope we have classes together!"
Before Severus could reply, a tidal wave of owls flew into the Great Hall, some landing rather clumsily on the table, others dropping packages, mostly full with things the students left at home by mistake. Lily and Severus both received a letter, which Severus assumed was their class schedule. Lily looked at Severus.
"Let's open them at the same time!" she exclaimed.
Severus counted to three and together they both tore into their letters. Lily withdrew hers first and immediately began to read.
"Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Potions for today, then tomorrow: Herbology, Potions and Charms. What've you got Sev?"
Severus read his schedule and to his great relief had all of his classes with Lily.
"I've got the same!" he exclaimed.
Severus was then nearly thrown off of his seat by the forcefulness of Lily's hug. He hugged her back tightly.
"I think you're sitting at the wrong table, Snivellus." A voice stated.
With dread crushing his good mood, Severus looked up to see James Potter sit down right in front of him.
"What's that you're reading? A letter from Mummy?"
Lily scowled at him.
"Shove off Potter; if Severus wants to sit with me then he is most welcome to!"
James ignored her and before Severus even realized it, snatched his schedule from his hands. James frowned as he read over it. Sirius and the shabby boy had appeared as well and took their seats on either side of James. They both looked a little perplexed to see Severus sitting with them.
"Blimey, have you guys read the schedules?" James asked as he tossed it to Sirius. Sirius read over it and raised his eyebrows.
"Appears like we'll have everything with Slytherin…great." He said in an undertone.
Lily looked at them and shook her head.
"What's so bad about having classes with Slytherin?"
James once again looked completely aghast as she stated this. Instead of him saying anything, the shabby boy cut in.
"Well, Slytherins aren't known for being the friendliest lot." He stated.
James nodded.
"What's even worse is we'll have to sit through all of them with dear old Snivellus here!" he exclaimed.
Severus looked down at the porridge in front of him. Suddenly he didn't feel very hungry. He noticed Lily start to say something, but Sirius said his bit first.
"What I'm dreading is having to face all of them. Me getting into Gryffindor didn't go unnoticed. That I'm sure of."
"I think it's pretty cool you got into Gryffindor." Severus said softly.
The others looked at him. He looked up at Sirius and shrugged.
"I mean, you beat the odds didn't you? That just goes to show you that it doesn't matter if you're entire family is in one House, you still have the chance of getting Sorted somewhere else, you know?"
Lily smiled.
"I agree!" she said.
James looked at him, then to Sirius.
"Did you ask for Snivellus's opinion, Sirius?"
Sirius didn't say anything. James stood.
"I think I've lost my appetite after looking at his greasy hair. Come on you guys, let's go."
Sirius and the other boy sadly looked at their full plates, but stood and followed James. For some reason, James went around so he could walk on the other side of the table. Severus didn't know why until he was face-first in his porridge. James laughed loudly and said,
"Smell ya later, Snivellus!"
Lily looked appalled at what had just happened. She shot a livid look at James before helping Severus wipe all of the porridge off of his face.
"I. Can't. Stand. That. Little. Prat!" Lily exclaimed angrily as she continued to wipe porridge off of the front of Severus's robes.
"You did absolutely nothing to him and then he goes and, I am so sorry Sev. Maybe I should sit with you tomorrow."
Severus didn't say anything because he was quite sure Lily would be treated quite worse than what he was. The bell for the first class rang and Severus and Lily grabbed their bags and hurried off to Transfiguration together. Severus continued to listen to Lily rant about James. Hearing how much she disliked him lifted his spirits quite a bit. They stepped through a classroom door and found themselves in a spacious classroom filled up with tables and chairs. Severus and Lily made sure they sat together, but to Severus's disappointment James and Sirius just had to sit behind them.
"Oh cripes him again, and here I thought my nostrils could catch a break from smelling him!" James whispered loudly for the few remaining at the door to hear him. They giggled before taking their seats. Severus was sure his face was probably as red as Lily's hair. Once all the students had taken their seats, Professor McGonagall emerged from her office, casting a stern look at all the scared and nervous faces staring at her. Her look, Severus could tell, was daring any of them to talk. McGonagall moved toward the front of her class and stopped when she stood in front of her desk.
"Welcome to Transfiguration. I am your professor for this class, Minerva McGonagall. I have taught at Hogwarts for about twenty-five years. Here are a few rules to abide by while in my presence. Please refrain from idle chat while I am talking. You have the opportunity to chat with your partner while you are working on your spells. Do not make me take that away from you, I have in other classes in the past. Also, I do not like to take points from my own House, Gryffindor, but I will if provoked. Now…I think that's everything, let's begin. Open up your books to page five, and follow along with me as I read…"
Severus paid sharp attention to everything that Professor McGonagall had to say, not wanting to miss out on anything. She seemed like the kind of teacher that would undoubtedly spring up a pop quiz their next class. They didn't learn any spells that day, but she told them that next class they would work on wand movements, then if they were acceptable, they would work on transfiguring a match into a needle. Charms went pretty much the same way, except since Professor Flitwick was so tiny, James took to throwing bits of paper at the back of Severus's head since he was quite sure the professor would not notice. They were given a brief history on the subject and then commenced into wand movements. Severus noticed that Lily had quite an aptitude for Charms, just as Ollivander had predicted since her wand was made for the subject. She was the first (and only student of the day) to receive a feather to practice the charm on. After about three tries, she had it and was awarded five points to her House. Much to Severus's liking, the shabby boy, who Lily told him was Remus Lupin, accidentally poked James in the ear with his wand, and nearly set his hair up in flames. Every class they shared, Lily made sure she and Severus were never separated. Severus noted that they got quite a few odd looks from the older students (and some their age as well.) After all, it was rather peculiar for a Gryffindor and a Slytherin to be getting along so well. Lily seemed not to notice. Defense Against the Dark Arts was quite boring, they practiced no spell work and were told to read through the introduction and first chapter again that night. Potions, the last class of the day, had finally surfaced and Lily and Severus headed down to the dungeons.
"So, how are you enjoying your first day?" Severus asked.
Lily smiled.
"I love it Sev! I'm so glad we have our classes together…I don't know what I would do if I were without you!"
Severus blushed and wasn't paying attention. James, who had appeared out of no where, took this as a great opportunity to stick out his foot. Severus tripped over it and fell to the cold dungeon floor in one long, black swoop. His books, quill, and parchment flopped down and away from him as Lily turned sharply to glare at James.
"What is wrong with you?" she hissed.
James shrugged.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Snivellus just can't keep his eyes off of you and tripped on his own two feet obviously."
He walked off, smirking and laughing along with Sirius and Remus. Lily helped Severus off of the floor and also assisted him in gathering up his things. They made it into the classroom just before the final call and took a table in the back, thankfully away from James. A short, plump man emerged from a side door and beamed at all of them.
"Well good afternoon to you all! I am Professor Slughorn, Potions Master! I hope all of you have had a fantastic first day! If you would please open your text books and read the introduction, we will then start to talk about the uses of potions and how they come in handy!"
Severus opened his book and began to read. He was quite surprised to find out how interesting the subject actually was. He and Lily were the first finished with reading and patiently waited for everyone else. Once Slughorn guessed that everyone was finished or close to it, he grinned.
"Well done, now we will be brewing a potion today! I hope you all are ready! Gather your cauldrons on the back wall there and we'll start brewing the Boil-Cure Potion!"
Severus and Lily joined the rest of the class as they moved to the back to grab a cauldron off of the back shelves.
"You'll be working in pairs, so only one cauldron per table please!"
Severus grabbed the cauldron and he and Lily walked back to their table. Lily read out the instructions as Severus began to brew the potion. He added in all sorts of ingredients…and it looked as if their potion was coming along nicely! James's on the other hand…
"Dear boy what did you do?" Slughorn asked.
James shrugged as he stared glumly into his cauldron.
"Isn't that what it's supposed to look like? All muddy and bubbly?"
Severus and Lily looked at each other and smiled. They knew, if brewed correctly that the potion would not be very think but rather loose liquid of a pale green. Slughorn raised his eyebrows as he stared into James's cauldron and shook his head.
"Oh dear…it appears you have brewed a Boil Potion…"
James frowned as he looked at Lupin.
"You were supposed to be reading me the ingredients!" he exclaimed.
Lupin looked at him disdainfully.
"Obviously you added too much of something!" he retorted.
The bell rang signifying the end of class. Lily scooped up a flask of their potion just as Slughorn had suggested so that it could be graded. Severus cleaned up their mess and soon rejoined Lily into filing out of the classroom. Lily yawned as they climbed the staircase and looked at Severus.
"I'd say we did quite well in Potions!" she exclaimed.
Severus grinned and nodded.
"I agree…did you see Potter's?"
Lily giggled.
"It looked like mud! I'm starving! Let's hurry to the Great Hall!"
And they did. They took their seats at the Gryffindor table again and began to pile up their plates for dinner. Unfortunately once again Potter had to show up before Severus could even enjoy his meal. James sat in front of him and frowned.
"You again? Why don't you go eat with your own lot for once. I'd like to be able to eat without smelling you, you know."
Severus swallowed and frowned.
"No one's making you sit in front of me." He stated.
James looked a little shocked to have gotten a response for him.
"Excuse me?" he replied.
Severus raised his brows.
"No one's making you sit in front of me. There are plenty of other places to sit at to eat at this table, it's quite long."
James blinked. Severus could tell he was racking his brain hard for a come back. Lily smiled triumphantly at Severus as James finally stood and stalked away.
"Good for you Sev! Tell him off!"
Severus smiled.
"I'd jinx him if I could, but I guess that'll have to wait till we're older."
Severus went to bed that night quite proud of himself for standing up to James. But also knew that James was probably already thinking of how to get him back at that very moment.
