"The Tale of a Broken Man"

By: PsychoHaired

Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable characters… now leave my lawyers alone!

A/N- Hello everybody! I'm back! I hope everyone had lovely holidays! I got back a few days ago from Florida and I'm so glad to be home and be able to write. I'd like to thank all of those who read and/or reviewed this story. I hope you're all enjoying yourselves. Now in this chapter we begin Severus and Lily's second year at Hogwarts. So, without much further ado… here's chapter nine! Enjoy!

Chapter 9:

The train whistle blew through the air, white steam billowing out of the deep red smoke stack. The platform was crowded with excited chatter, laughter and hooting owls. Severus tucked a chunk of hair behind his ear (it had grown quite fast throughout the summer holidays) as he beheld the familiar sight. He craned his neck trying to catch a glint of red amongst the vast multitude of mostly black and brown haired students. No such luck, Severus cast his eyes downwards, walked through the noisy throng of people and stepped onto the train.

He secured his luggage among the others and walked all the way to the farthest empty compartment like he'd done last year. He slid the door open and sat next to the window, watching everybody going about. His roommate, Eric DuBois, was talking animatedly with a girl Severus assumed was his older sister, they seemed to be laughing at some joke. Severus spotted another one of his roommates, Judas Avery speaking with Rodolphus Lestrange and Evan Rosier whom was holding a long box in his hands, presumably a broomstick. Severus glanced at the barrier; an upperclassman that Severus had heard to be named 'Lucius Malfoy' stepped through, closely followed by his parents.

Severus turned his attention to "The Ambitious Brewer's Pocket Guide: Ingredients, Potions and Helpful Hints" and opened the page he had marked earlier. He leaned back against the window, book propped up against his bent leg, arm lazily hanging on the edge of his armrest. Every so often he would chuckle at the stupid mistakes people often made while brewing. 'One of the most common mistakes, for example, is bottling a potion while it's still hot. Not only will it condense and ruin it's consistency, but it's also really hot and could burn your fingers off…' He heard footsteps and looked up, just some students running by… he lowered his sight to the book once again '…to keep cauldrons from rusting, try using lemon juice once a month, it's weak acidity gets into the tough dried potion and dissolves it, plus, it gives a potion an extra kick!'

"Interesting…" he muttered and flipped the page.

He heard footsteps approaching and the compartment door sliding open, a red haired girl peeked her head in and grinned.

"There you are!" Lily strode over to Severus and flopped down next to him. "Hi!" she said merrily.

"Hey, how are you?" he smirked, glad to see her again.

"I'm great! I'm so happy to be back, I missed you guys!" she hugged him.

Severus received it awkwardly.

"I see your hair is back to normal"

Severus thought he heard a hint of disappointment in her voice but shrugged it off.

"Yes, I had so much fun watching it grow" he tugged at one of the ends.

"Dull summer?"

He shrugged "Pretty much, yes"

The compartment door slid open again, they both looked up, it was one of Lily's friends, Alice.

"Lily?" she looked inside "Hey there! How was your summer? Oh! Hello Snape."

"Alice" he nodded.

"Did you see Cornelia yet?" Alice asked her excitedly.

"No, why?"

"You are NOT going to believe this" she grinned.

"What?"

"She cut her hair up to here!" she motioned towards her chin.

Lily gasped in disbelief "No!"

"Yes!"

"I've GOT to see this!" she stood up abruptly and turned around "I'll see you later Severus, ok?"

He nodded and watched her leave. She was a good five or six centimetres taller than him this year, and noticed, much to his surprise, that she'd begun to develop into a fine young woman, so to speak. Severus shifted uncomfortably as the painfully obvious fact hit him, Lily was a girl, girls would eventually grow up and he knew it… it just seemed so bizarre to think of her as a… her that he sometimes forgot she was, in fact, a girl.

He looked out the window feeling slightly flushed and pressed his forehead against the cool glass window, they had started to move a while ago and the Hogwarts Express was now speeding along the country-side. He furrowed his brow, since when did Lily act so girly? Severus wondered lazily as he nodded off, Lily still fresh in his thoughts.

-o-

Severus awoke to the dull tinkling of bells, the door slid open.

"Anything from the trolley dear?"

Severus blinked confusedly

"Anything from the trolley?" she repeated a bit more sternly.

"Umm, a packet of chocolate frogs and iced mice please" he yawned as he dug some gold from his pocket.

"That'll be nine sickles and three knuts"

Severus paid for his sweets and thanked her. He sat down to eat one of his chocolate frogs that was trying to jump away. He tried to recall his dream… he had a strange feeling of uneasiness. He bit the frog's head off, trying to work out the details in his head, but all he could remember was something about a snake and a bird's nest… he felt a strange feeling of déjà vu. He swallowed uncertainly and shrugged it off.

-o-

Severus sat at the Slytherin table the next morning eating breakfast with Silas Montague and Eric DuBois.

"Oho! Good to see you again Mr. Snape, DuBois, Montague" Slughorn patted each on the back "I trust you all had a good summer?" They nodded.

"Here are your turntables, see you this afternoon!" he moved along the rest of the table handing out schedules.

Severus eyed the agenda; his first class was Herbology with the Ravenclaws, then Transfiguration with Gryffindor. After that was a short break, then Defence against the Dark Arts with Gryffindor, Charms with Ravenclaw, History of Magic with Ravenclaw and finally Double Potions with the Gryffindors, except on Thursdays when he had Astronomy with the whole second year.

-o-

"Good Morning class, and welcome back. This year we will be working in Greenhouses number two and three with more dangerous and useful plants" Professor Hiedra explained. "Now, please put on your dragon hide gloves, as we will be working with a rather nasty specimen; the Rosal de Fuego" he opened the door to Greenhouse number three and the students filed in in awe. The place looked surreal, filled with plants of all shapes, colours and sizes, it had the feel of a tropical rainforest.

"Now, who can tell me where Rosal de Fuego originates from?"

A few students raised their hands.

"Ah yes, Benson" Professor Hiedra smiled.

"Mexico sir, it means 'rosebush of fire'"

"Very good! Ten points to Ravenclaw. Now, as Mr. Benson explained, Rosal de Fuego or 'Rosebush of Fire' is indeed from Mexico, from southern Mexico to be exact, and it's name… is quite obvious" He revealed a normal-looking rosebush with violently orange roses and yellow thorns. "This may look like your standard-bog rosebush but" he pulled on the dragon hide gloves "When one touches it, like so…" he prodded the Rosal de Fuego and the plant hissed and lashed at his arm with what looked like a fiery whip. "Well, you get the picture" Professor Hiedra stepped away from the plant. "Now, The Rosal de Fuego is very commonly used for potions such as warming draughts and pepper-up potions, the flower in itself is useless, what we want" he paused and broke off a yellow thorn, causing the plant to lash out again "…is this, the yellow thorn, which contains Rosal de Fuego's magical properties." Professor Hiedra led the students to a spot crowded with rosebushes "Whichever house collects the most thorns by the end of the class will be awarded 50 house points, remember your gloves. You may begin— he looked at his watch "Now!"

Severus pulled on his gloves and joined his Slytherin classmates whom where also pulling on their gloves. He strode over towards the nearest rosebush and looked at it hesitantly, he made to grab a thorn and the plant hissed and lashed out, singeing his hair in the process.

"Bloody plant" he glowered and gathered his hair with a ribbon he kept in his pocket for just cases like this. He went for it again, wrestling one of its whips until he finally was able to remove one of its thorns. Severus placed it in his specimen bowl and tackled the plant again.

By the end of the class, Slytherin only had seventy-three, whereas Ravenclaw had collected eighty-five thorns and thus winning the fifty house points. The class exited the hot and humid greenhouse exhausted and nursing several burns and a few cuts. They were all glad to be met by a rush of cool air as they marched off to the castle for their next class. Severus untied his hair and stood in queue outside the transfiguration classroom.

'This is going to be a long day' he thought as the Marauders approached the vicinity.

"Stop it James!" Lily walked briskly, Potter close behind her, pulling one of her scarlet braids.

"Aww, come on Evans! We're just having a bit of fun" Black grinned and swept back his hair, causing a few giggles from nearby girls. Peter was laughing gleefully while Lupin stood there looking uncomfortable.

Lily turned around wielding her wand dangerously "Stop it or I'll hex you into next week!"

"James" Lupin spoke for the first time, putting a hand on James and Sirius's shoulders "Sirius, that's enough, leave her alone"

"Your such a spoilsport Remus" Sirius crossed his arms pouting dramatically.

Lily rolled her eyes and continued into the Transfiguration classroom, sitting next to her friend Alice. Severus had watched the whole thing, annoyance etched all over his face. The only reason he hadn't stepped in was because he had learned the hard way that Lily was quite capable of defending herself. She liked to fight her own battles… much like him. Severus settled down on a desk near the back of the room next to Evan Rosier.

"Good morning, and welcome back" Professor McGonagall greeted. "This year we will be focusing on turning more complex animals, such as amphibians and reptiles, into something of a considerably different size" She paced the room "For example," she tapped a frog three times and enunciated the incantation. The frog quickly morphed into a rather large alarm clock.

After a few minutes, the class began practicing on newts. Severus gave his poor creature a frustrated jab on its side, which caused his newt to turn really fat and emit ticking noises. Rosier wasn't too far ahead either, although his large newt had two bells sticking out of the side of its head.

Potter had turned his into an alarm clock a few minutes ago and was now trying to turn it back successfully. Sirius had inexplicably managed to turn his newt into a large grandfather clock, McGonagall staring at him with an impressed look on her face. Several students were glaring in their general direction. Meanwhile, Lily had been having trouble with hers, Potter had noticed and walked up to her table.

Severus jabbed his newt violently as he watched him, causing his newt to ring sporadically.

Potter stood behind her and helped her position her wand correctly.

Severus fumed, poking the newt repeatedly with the tip of his wand. Lily had got it right and smiled at James, Severus noticed his newt's tail had caught on fire and subsequently charred his sleeve.

-o-

The rest of the day, Severus was in a sour mood and even managed to set his potion on fire (although he had a sneaking suspicion Black had something to do with it).

After having dinner, Severus stomped off towards the library to try and finish the huge pile of homework he'd been sent. On his way though, he was shoved aside by none other that Potter himself.

"Careful slime ball, might slip and fall" Potter jeered.

"Piss off Potter. I've no time to deal with idiots such as yourself"

" A wee bit touchy today aren't we?" he smirked pulling out his wand "Careful. Wouldn't want to use my wand on you, eh?"

"Ha! Your aim is so pathetic I'd be more worried if you aimed towards your own back!" Severus sneered; this was a lie of course. He'd seen Potter tormenting other students and his aim was impeccable.

Potter raised an eyebrow in amusement "RICTUSEMPRA!"

"Protego!" he lifted a shield quickly. A crowd had started to form around the pair. "REDUCTO!" Severus shot.

"Impedimenta!" Potter dodged.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" They both yelled and flew simultaneously backwards as they both got hit and lost their wands.

Potter was livid, and charged towards Severus who did the same. The crowd, which had gotten progressively bigger, began to chant "Fight! Fight!"

Severus punched James's eye whom staggered and backwards, James tackled Severus to the floor, punching his lip. Severus kicked him off and punched every inch of flesh he could reach. James punched him hard on the side of his head, grabbed him by his shirt collar and slammed him against the wall. Severus tripped him on the floor and punched him in the face until someone began yelling.

"POTTER! SNAPE!" Professor McGonagall screamed "Petrificus Totalus!" They both fell on the floor, frozen. Severus was bleeding profusely from his nose and heard a faint ringing in his ear. James was bruised all over, his lip was split and swollen and was sporting a black eye. "Just what in Merlin's beard do you think you two were doing?" she asked shrilly "This is unacceptable! Ennervate! Potter I am very disappointed in you! And as for you Snape! I didn't expect such behaviour from you!" she pulled them both by their ears and dragged them off into her office. As she did so, the crowd began murmuring excitedly. Severus looked back, he spotted Lily staring at the pair; she looked enraged. McGonagall wordlessly opened the door, pulled them in and sat glaring at the pair.

"Sit!" she ordered. They sat down shooting death glares at each other. "Have a biscuit!" she shoved them a tray filled with ginger snaps. Severus eyed the tray confusedly but took one anyway; he didn't dare not to. McGonagall snapped her fingers and a dirty-looking house elf appeared with a resounding 'Crack!'

"Whimmy, please fetch Professor Slughorn" Whimmy bowed and disappeared with the same resounding 'Crack!' A few moments later Professor Slughorn came in and looked at the pair of students in alarm "Merlin's beard! What happened to these two?"

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Snape here were fighting in the hall like a pair of wild animals!" her nostrils flared in rage.

Slughorn stared at Severus inquisitively "Is this true Severus?"

"Yes Professor" he mumbled.

"I'm deeply disappointed in you, I do not tolerate theses kinds of behaviour in my house!"

"He provoked me!" she said acidly, pointing at James.

"And as an intelligent Slytherin such as yourself, you should have ignored him! I'm afraid it's two weeks of detention for you! Plus fifty points off"

"Same goes for you James, plus you are banned from Quidditch try-outs this year"

"That's not fair! There's a spot open for a seeker!"

"You should've thought of that before acting like a common hoodlum!"

"But!"

"No more 'but's out of you!"

"However!"

"Do you want any more point taken off your own house?"

"No mam…" he mumbled.

"Good. Now you too go to the infirmary!" she added sternly, guiding them out through the door. Lily was waiting outside.

"Ah, Miss Evans, please escort these two to the infirmary… and make sure they don't kill each other on the way there" Professor Slughorn added as he exited McGonagall's office.

"What were you two thinking?" she glared "You berks!"

"He started it!" Severus pointed at James childishly.

"I don't care who started it!" she glared again. "I didn't expect this from either of you! Honestly! You could've been expelled!" she kept on lecturing them until they reached the Hospital Wing. She wordlessly escorted them in and walked briskly outside without glancing back.

-o-

His first week went by as horrible as his first day. The Marauders had an actual grudge against him for laying his hands on their precious leader. Lily refused to talk to either of them, plus, he was serving two week's worth of detention in the Forbidden Forest with Potter.

"Bloody Brilliant…" Severus muttered to himself as he settled for bed "Just bloody perfect" he spat.

To Be Continued…

A/N- That's it! Wow… this was a long chapter! I hadn't noticed… it's one in the morning right now! Well I better get reviews then! I hope you enjoyed this one!