Severus marched all the way from the classroom to the Slytherin Common Room without stopping. It wasn't a particularly long walk, considering both were in the dungeons, and when he arrived he was no less enraged than he had been when he set off.

How dare Black talk to him that way? Severus was the better wizard by far, he knew that for a fact, yet Black thought he could treat him like dirt! Called him some horrible term – Snivelly or something – and said he'd pitied him! Severus would show him, alright. He wondered how sorry for him Black would feel when he'd hexed him with every curse Lucius had taught him. Him and Potter! The two were as bad as each other. As thick as Muggles, and nearly twice as spiteful. Just wait until he gave them a piece of his mind!

He stormed though the passageway and into the Common Room. The noise caused several people to look round at his furious entry, but upon seeing his expression, no one dared say a word. Angrily, he slammed his things down on a table and threw himself into an armchair, glaring at no one in particular.

Truthfully, it wasn't the offensive comments that bothered him most. Sirius Black wasn't the first person from another house to talk down to him because he was a Slytherin. All the houses did it. No one seemed like the Slytherins much, just on principle. No, what had really upset him – really hurt him – was that he'd liked Sirius. He'd truly, genuinely liked and trusted him. In a way that was reserved for precious few right now – only Lily and Lucius, really. And Lucius didn't count; he was more a mentor than a friend. But with Sirius... he'd thought he had a chance at a true friend, for once someone who wasn't Lily, then had it thrown back in his face. Well screw him. He had more than a few prospective friends in Slytherin and he didn't need any stupid Gryffindor to fill the void.

"Forgive me if I'm wrong, Severus, the signs are oh-so-very subtle, but I get the impression something has perturbed you?" a nearby voice drawled.

Severus looked up. His look relaxed slightly, though only a little. "Lucius."

Lucius Malfoy swept himself into a chair nearby. With a lazy flick of his wand, he conjured a platter of tea and sweets on the table. "Come now Severus. Do tell Uncle Lucius what has gotten my favourite first year so wound up." He said, his expression remaining apathetic.

Severus sighed. "Sirius Black."

Lucius' eyebrow rose. "The blood traitor, Black?" He leaned forward, for the first time allowing something like interest to pass his face. "I can understand the brute frustrating anyone, I must admit, but what could he have possibly done that's had you take such a personal interest?"

"Nothing. He's just a prat."

Lucius did not look like that came even close to answering his question, but he pushed the matter no further. "I do think, Severus, you would do good to remember who your friends are. Someone like Black, who has foolishly turned his back on true greatness, is not worth your time. No, someone of your... calibre does not need to pay heed to brutes and savages. Remember that Severus, and you may find such events trouble you less in future." And with that, he rose, and was gone as quick as he came.


Sirius burst into the dorm.

"Remus, I need your opinion on someth - Woah, you okay, man?"

Remus Lupin was a sight to behold, indeed. He lay, curled up in his bunk like a baby, his face even whiter than usual, wet with perspiration and his breath heavy. Sirius was stunned to see his friend in this state. And – was that...? His sheets were soaked through!

At his voice, however, Remus straightened upright, and - with some difficulty, apparently – composed himself. "I'm fine," he said. "Really, Sirius," he added, seeing his friend's blatant doubt.

"You don't look fine. Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing or – "

"No!" Remus barked, with more aggression than he'd meant. He calmed himself. "I'm honestly fine Sirius. This happens sometimes...it's a recurring illness of mine. Don't worry about it. What did you want to ask me about?"

"Well..." Sirius proceeded hestitantly, reluctant to leave the topic of Remus' health behind, "It's Sna- Severus. The Slytherin kid."

Remus coughed and pushed himself to his feet. "What about him?"

"I think I'm being too hard on him. Well, maybe. I'm not sure." Sirius rubbed the back of his neck uncertainly. "James hates him, I know that much. He thinks he's not worth talking to, and I'm inclined to agree, to be honest. I've met loads of Slytherins in my life and there wasn't a single one I liked, not a single one who wasn't a grade-O arse, so why should this one any different?"

Remus nodded, "But...?"

Sirius shifted his stance. "But... I don't know. I could be wrong. Technically, and I mean 'technically' in the strictest sense of the word, he hasn't actually done anything bad yet. He wants to be friends with me." Wanted, he mentally corrected himself. "I told him to go stuff himself. Now I'm thinking that might have been a bit too cruel."

"Why are you asking me?" Remus asked, genuinely curious. He was flattered that Sirius came to him for advice, but didn't understand why he wasn't consulting James instead.

"Because James wouldn't listen. Not right now, anyway, while I'm so unsure what I think. He's honest as anything, but he's not good at seeing two sides of an argument. He'd just try to convince me I did the right thing, no matter what I said. But you Remus...you're good at seeing things impartially. I feel like I can trust you're not just going to give me the answer I want to hear."

Remus felt a shot of pride at the words. He'd been so worried he wouldn't make any friends at Hogwarts – hell, so worried he wouldn't get there in the first place – but here was a friend who trusted him! Respected his opinion and come to him for advice! He considered the matter, hoping to give a balanced answer, worthy of Sirius' trust in him.

"Well Sirius, you're aware my impression of Slytherin is just as bad as yours. Given the choice, it's certainly not where I'd choose to pick my friends from. But... you did get yourself into this, and now that you have, I don't think I could ever approve condemning someone – a person who's come to you asking for honest friendship, no less – based on prejudice alone. That's really not fair, is it? How is that any better than what they do? I think you owe it to Severus to give him a second chance."

Sirius groaned. Mostly, because he knew Remus was right.


Lily wandered down into the Gryffindor Common Room, still in her dressing gown, completely unaware of the schism that had erupted between her friends.

She'd woken up that morning feeling absolutely dreadful. Clear flu symptoms. Probably not a surprise, seeing as winter was approaching and she'd been spending a lot of time swimming in the ever-colder lake. She supposed there was probably a magical cure for flu – but she hadn't had the strength to get up and find out.

Now though, she was feeling slightly better, and felt fit enough to journey down to the common room, where other first years were returning from a day full of lessons. Among them she caught Sirius and tried to draw his attention. He didn't see her smile, however, and drove straight up the stairs to the boy's dorm without even looking round. How curious.

Following shortly behind him, James Potter sauntered into the room much more casually. As usual, he was surrounded by a group of friends. He was talking very loudly, telling them all about some Slytherin who'd been humiliated in some fashion or another and everyone was laughing at the story.

" – and then he marched out the room, gosh, he looked furious, you wouldn't believe it! Honestly, at the sight you might have thought poor little Snape had feelings..."

Lily felt her blood boil. They were talking about Sev!

Without a moment's hesitation, she marched straight up to James Potter, who hadn't yet noticed her presence, and slapped him across the face.

James was stunned. It took him a moment to regain himself, rubbing his face where she hit him, before he responded. "What the hell was that, Evans?"

"Don't talk about Sev that way! He doesn't deserve it!"

He frowned. "You know, I really don't get it with you, Evans. I honestly don't. He's a smarmy git who barely talks to anyone, has no sense of humour, and just glares at everyone all the time. Remind me again why you like him?"

"Because he's ten times the boy you'll ever be, James Potter," she responded coldly. There were a few 'OooOoooh!'s from the crowd that had gathered to watch their confrontation. "At least he doesn't bully people for fun!"

"I didn't do anything to him. It was all Sirius..."

"Sirius?" Lily responded, confused.

"Yeah?" Sirius replied, appearing at the bottom of the stairs again. "You called?"

Lily rounded on him. "What did you do to Sev?"

His gaze dropped. "Oh. That."

"Yes, that. What did you do?"

Seeing his reluctance to answer, James jumped in for him. "Just told him the truth, didn't you Sirius? Told him what a little snake he was and that he shouldn't come slithering round us Gryffindors again."

"You what?" Lily couldn't believe what he was hearing. Potter she expected this of...but not Sirius. She liked Sirius.

"No! I mean...Yes, that's what happened. But I was wrong!"

"What?" It was James' turn now. "But you said – "

"I know what I said James. But I was wrong. I shouldn't have said what I did to Severus. I'm going to go apologise."

The look of dumbfounded confusion on James' face would have been comical, had the atmosphere in the Common Room not been so tense. The majority of people in the room had no idea what was going on, they didn't know who 'Severus' was, or why he was so important, but they all watched with fascination anyway.

"Bloody hell, mate, you've finally cracked."

"No, James." Sirius shook his head. "I think I've finally seen sense. I'm going to go apologise and put everything right," he said, determined, his eyes challenging James to disagree.

James merely shrugged. "Your funeral."

Lily felt dizzy. She'd only wanted to come down for a cup of tea beside the fire! She was far too ill for all this upset. Clutching her dressing gown tighter, she glared at Sirius. "Make sure you do apologise, Black. Sev is my best friend and I'm certainly not going to tolerate anyone treating him badly." With that, she turned on her heel and marched straight back up to the girls' dorm, exhausted already.


Sirius stuffed another slice of toast in his mouth.

He sat with James, Remus and Peter, all four enthusiastically tucking into breakfast in the Great Hall. Lily wasn't present. Still sick, he supposed. It was just as well, really. She was still angry with him. He supposed that was reasonable, he still hadn't apologised to Severus.

To be fair though, it wasn't his fault. He had tried, but Severus hadn't been in the Great Hall last night, nor this morning. He'd even gone all the way to the Slytherin dungeon to ask for him, but he'd just received a very frosty reception and been told, in no uncertain terms, to go and stick himself. Out of ideas, he wasn't sure what else he could do for now.

Enjoy some bloody smashing food, that's what.

Sirius was just getting started on his fourth pancake, when he was interrupted by an exceptionally rude owl dropping a letter right on top of his butter. Frowning, and with crumbs still falling from his mouth, he wiped his hands on the tablecloth and picked the letter up to examine it. A frown creased his brow as he recognized the handwriting, but his expression was soon replaced with a grin. He nudged the boy beside him.

"Oi! James, get a load of this. It's from my parents. First letter they've sent me since I was put in Gryffindor! They must be raging. I bet it's full of curses." His eyes lit up with glee. "Maybe it's a Howler!" he looked positively delighted at the prospect.

Eagerly he ripped the envelope open. To his disappointment, nothing erupted out at him. No curses, no booming voice, not even a poxy Bat-Bogey hex. Merlin, his parents could be boring when they wanted to.

With one hand, he shook out the letter and read. James leaned in over his shoulder.

Suddenly, Sirius felt himself going rather pale.

"What? No, this can't be right..." He flipped over the letter, hoping to see some kind of explanation on the other side. There was none.

James squinted for a better look.

Remus peered across the table, desperate for a read, but too polite to ask for someone else's mail. Peter had no such qualms, however. "Give it here, Sirius! Blimey, you look like you've seen a ghost...well, figuratively of course. What did they say? Threatening to send you to the Malfoys' over summer?"

Sirius weakly handed over the letter. He looked at James with a nervous expression. James looked perplexed.

"Dear our beloved Sirius,

We were most pleased to find you've been sorted into Gryffindor House. A break from tradition, of course, but we have no doubt you will do well there. Hope your studies are going well and you are still planning to return home for the Christmas Holidays. Regulus misses you terribly.

Much love,
Your Mother and Father."

Peter shrugged, tossing the letter back across the table. "It's a bit short I guess, but they seem happy for you. Don't see why you're so shaken up about it. I thought you said your parents were horrible, Sirius?"

Sirius shook his head. "No...Peter...you don't understand. They are. This - " he looked again at James, as if hoping he could provide him with answers, then again at the letter. "This isn't right. They should be furious... threatening to disown me... If you'd heard the way they talk, you'd know...There's something very wrong here." He gulped. For once his cocky attitude had vanished and he felt like a small child again.

James had heard Sirius talk about his parents far more than anyone else at the table, and thought he understood the worries running through his head right then. In truth, the letter bothered him as well. Something didn't add up. He had no idea what to do about it, however, and saw no other course but to reassure his friend. "Don't worry, mate, I'm sure it's nothing. They're just trying to make sure you come home again for the holidays, that's all. Don't want to scare you off."

Sirius slowly nodded, not reassured at all.


It was the next morning before he got his chance to talk to Severus. Again, the Slytherin boy was nowhere to be seen at breakfast, but Lily, returning from her absence, had suggested he sometimes went down to the lake early in the morning. Thanking her for the information, Sirius took off at a brisk pace.

Once outside, Severus was easy to spot. Not many people bothered with the lake this early. Sirius wondered in passing if that was why Severus liked it so much.

He took great care to approach him quietly. He had a strong suspicion Severus would leave immediately if he saw who was coming to talk to him. Succeeding to reach the boy unnoticed, he dropped down on the ground beside the Slytherin.

Severus turned at the sound. He smiled because he thought Lily had come to meet him, like she sometimes did, but at the sight of Sirius Black his expression turned first to shock, anger, then finally a sneer. "Piss off, Black."

Sirius didn't move. He sat, gaze downward, pulling at the grass. He was trying to figure out what the right words were to say that wouldn't make everything worse.

"What are you, deaf as well as stupid? I said piss – "

"I'm sorry, Severus."

Severus, paused, surprised for a moment, before he scoffed. "Oh, sorry are you? Yes, I'm sure you are. Well, suppose that's alright then. We'll just be friends again then, won't we? Oh – wait – you don't make friends with Slytherins, do you?"

"No, really, I am sorry. I was a complete and utter arse to you in Potions. I was angry at my family – listened too much to James – and I tried to take it out on you. There's no excuse for that. So I'm genuinely sorry."

Severus was silent for a while, his gaze fixed on the ground, but contorted into a frown. "Is that it?"

Sirius looked up. He tried to read Severus' face, but he found the expression impossible to decipher. "Yeah...I guess so." Severus looked distinctly unsatisfied with his apology. He searched his brain, trying to think of some other crime he had committed.

"So what about the weeks before that, where you completely ignored me? What about the jokes you make with Potter at my expense? What about the day we met, when you lied to my face and pretended you actually wanted to make friends with me. When, in reality, I was just some self-serving social experiment of yours? Do I get an apology for that, Sirius?"

"I – I..." Sirius blanked, lost for words.

"I don't give a damn about what you said to me in Potions. I have tough skin, and believe me, I've heard far worse. What disgusts me – is that you treated me like an equal! You treated me like an equal in a way that no one else outside Slytherin ever seems to do, then promptly took it straight back as soon as you found out I wasn't going to bend to your will, like some dog of yours." His eyes met Sirius' in a fierce glare. "You Gryffindors are so bloody arrogant! Everyone's beneath you, aren't they? You think you have all the answers. Oh look at the kind, noble Sirius Black, ready stoop down to the level of the foolish little boy who wanted to be in Slytherin and share all his great wisdom! Isn't he so self-sacrificing? Going out to save the souls of all those misguided little kids. My, don't the mothers love him on his shining, white horse!" He clasped his hands together and swayed mockingly.

"It...No! It wasn't like that!"

"Oh really?" Severus spat, hands falling back down to his side. "What was the phrase you used? You 'pitied' me, I think it was. Well, hell with that Black. I don't need your pity. I wanted to be in Slytherin. I didn't need your 'saving' then and I sure as hell don't need it now. We both know you've already decided I'm a lost cause. So I'd appreciate if you didn't come to me with these half-arsed apologies just so you can feel better about failing with your little project."

His anger voiced, Severus rose and marched back towards the castle, leaving Sirius alone, with a gobsmacked expression upon his face.


"Did you do it?" Lily asked in a hurried whisper as Sirius entered the Charms classroom.

Still somewhat shaken, Sirius nodded.

Lily beamed. "Great. I'm so glad. That's was really decent of you. Thank you, Sirius."

"I wouldn't go thanking me just yet, Lily. It didn't go well."

"What? Why not? What did he - " She was cut off by the Professor's call for silence in the classroom. Frustrated that she wouldn't get answers straight away, Lily frowned at the interruption.

Sirius, however, was relieved. It gave him some more time to think about exactly what he was going to say. What was he going to say? That her best friend now despised him? Probably always would? Sirius couldn't fathom how quickly it had all gone wrong. Only a couple of days ago Severus had been waving enthusiastically at him at every opportunity, now he wouldn't even speak to him. With a pang of guilt – Sirius realised he wouldn't be in this situation if he had only returned those waves.

The end of the lesson came round, and Lily was on him before he'd had a chance even to pick up any of his things.

"So what happened?"

Sirius shrugged. "He didn't accept my apology. Just made him angrier, I think. Long story. The things he said kinda made me realise I'd been an even bigger git than I thought, truth be told. He said he didn't want to ever speak to me again. Or, at least, that's definitely the message I got."

Lily's face fell. "Oh he didn't! Oh no...Sev..." she groaned.

Eventually, an idea came to her and she forced a smile. "Don't worry about this Sirius, I'll talk to him."

Sirius was skeptical. "Look Lily, I know you're his friend and all, but I really don't see you making any difference, not with this... I think I hurt him pretty bad. I really can't imagine him changing his mind about me any now. He's really pissed off too..I certainly wouldn't want to see him take it out on you."

She laughed, as if the thought of Severus taking any anger out on her was a funny joke. "Don't worry Sirius. I know just how Sev works. You wait and see!" she winked.


AN: MademoiselleDOG - thank you so much for your comments! :) Sirius and Severus are two of my favourite characters too. (And never fear, I have plenty of plans for the two of them yet ;) ) I'm so glad you're enjoying it so far, and I hope you like what to come as well! (Though I don't want to give away any surprises!)