A/N: So, here is Chapter 7. I'm sorry for the wait, we've had birthdays and all sorts that have been distracting me.

Chapter 7

Lily and Severus had spent the six week holiday packing and repacking their trunks, reading their Hogwarts books and visiting their familiars who they had named after Greek goddesses – Severus' owl was named Iris after the Greek messenger goddess and Lily's kneazle had been christened Artemis after the Greek goddess of hunting and wildlife. Severus' grandmother had taken great care of them and they were to be taken straight to Hogwarts by her in time for the children's arrival.

The morning of September the first had dawned clear and bright. Severus had spent the summer trying to keep away from Tobias; unfortunately Tobias had come home after a particularly drunken night out last night and had beaten Eileen and Severus.

Severus woke up and when he realised what day it was had jumped out of bed a little too quickly for his bruised ribs and ran downstairs.

"Morning, Mum. Merlin, I hate him. I'm glad he's at work today."

"Severus, don't badmouth you father," retorted Eileen in a rather half-hearted manner. "Now, I've telephoned Mr. Evans and told him I'm not very well and asked him if he wouldn't mind taking you to Kings Cross for me. I have enough energy to Episkey your ribs and nose, but I won't have enough to maintain a glamour to cover my own bruises. He agreed and he'll be here at eight, so eat your toast."

Lily had woken very early and by the time she was knocking on Severus' door she was a bundle of excitement; so much so that she nearly knocked him off his feet when she hugged him fiercely.

"Oh, Sev, the day's finally arrived. How's your mum? Dad said she wasn't very well."

"She's upstairs, she's gone back to bed. I can owl her later to let her know I've got there okay."

The journey to London passed with Lily chattering excitedly away about everything she was looking forward to seeing and doing. Before long, the group had arrived at Kings Cross, the children had said goodbye to Lily's parents as they couldn't pass through the magical barrier to platform 9 ¾ to see them onto the train.

Severus secured a trolley for the trunks and they set off through the busy station to the wall between platforms 9 and 10.

"Are you ready, Lil? We'll go through together on the count of three…one…two…three…"
Lily closed her eyes and ran straight at the wall. When she opened them, she was stood on a busy, smoky platform in front of a magnificent, scarlet steam engine.

The children manoeuvred their trunks into an empty compartment and stowed them away under the seats and sat down.

It wasn't long before the train started to move off. After a short while a tall, handsome boy with white blond hair and a shiny Prefect badge entered their compartment.

"Ah, good morning," he said in his aristocratic sounding, clipped tones. "I'm Lucius Malfoy, seventh year Slytherin prefect. I have here two first years who do not have a compartment to sit in. Can they sit in here with you?"

"Yes, certainly," said Severus.

"Potter, Black, in here. Do try to behave yourselves for the rest of the journey," admonished Lucius before sitting the boys down, and placing their trunks for them using his 18" elm wand. As soon as he had shut the compartment door the boys launched into rowdy impressions of Lucius, complete with flicks of imaginary blond hair.

"Nice one, James. He's courting one of my cousins; I could end up related to him. What a fop!"

"Slytherins shouldn't be given positions of authority. I'm hoping to get into Gryffindor, 'where dwell the brave of heart!' What about you Sirius?"

"Yeah, I'm hoping for Gryffindor too, that'll really peeve my mum. What about you two?" He looked over at Lily and Severus.

"My mum's family have been Slytherin from the times of the founders, so I think I'd like to carry on the tradition."

"Oh no, Sirius, we're trapped on the train with a greasy snake!"

The taunts lasted the entire journey.

Severus and Lily felt relieved when the train pulled into Hogsmeade station. Lily was a little afraid of Hagrid at first but that soon passed. Severus made sure to choose a boat far away from Potter and Black for the journey across the lake into Hogwarts itself.

As they reached the shore, Severus held Lily's hand to steady her out of the boat and she held on to him all the way through the nerve-wracking wait with Professor McGonagall before the Sorting.

The children were led into the Great Hall and up to the front where they were sorted in alphabetical order. Severus felt relieved when Black was placed in Gryffindor, but his unease started to build as they progressed through the alphabet.

"Evans, Lily," called Professor McGonagall and Lily lightly squeezed Severus' hand and walked slowly up where the ragged Sorting Hat on her head. It only took a moment for Severus' heart to fall into his boots when the Sorting Hat announced Lily was to be placed in Gryffindor.

The rest of the Sorting passed in a blur. He neither heard nor cared where anyone else was sorted. When his own turn came up he squared off his shoulders and walked up to be Sorted in what he knew would be a house away from Lily.

He couldn't muster any excitement when the Sorting Hat placed him in Slytherin. He walked to the Slytherin house table and sat down next to Lucius Malfoy so he could be near to Lily. He chatted to them both during the feast.

On the way down to the dungeons, Lucius expressed an interest in Lily. Severus told him how they met and was assured that he "no longer needed to sully himself with mudbloods, he could find himself a nice pureblood girl." Severus felt too despondent to argue and just went to bed.

Little did he know that Lily felt just as sad as he did at their separation.

A/N: Sorry it's a bit depressing. What did you guys think of James & Sirius?