Disclaimer: The usual disclaimers apply.
Chapter 9
When Eileen got home from St. Mungo's Severus explained what had happened with Lucius Malfoy. "I didn't handle it well at all, Mum. Instead of using my common sense I let my stupid temper get the best of me, but when he threatened Lily …" He shook his head. "I lost it."
"I'll go over right now and put the wards up around the Evans home," Eileen assured him.
"Maybe you should owl Robert and tell him to do the same, just in case," Severus suggested.
Eileen nodded. "I'll do that." She wrote a short note, summoned Horatio, gave him the note, and sent him off with it."
"Mum, I need to go with you to see Professor Dumbledore. He needs to know You-Know-Who has a spy either in Hogwarts or on the board of governors. How else would Malfoy know my exact OWL scores? Nobody saw them except Lily and I had wards on my room so nobody could get in there except me or Slughorn."
"Yes, I agree you need to talk to Professor Dumbledore, Sev." Eileen said. They walked over to Lily's home. Hal, Rose, and Petunia were waiting for her. She sat down with them and explained what she was going to do and how it would affect them. "Anybody currently in this house will be able to get through the wards, as will owls, and people such as the postman, milkman and so forth, but anybody else will have to be taken through by a family member or they will be unable to get in." Lily stood beside Severus. She pulled on his hand and nodded towards the kitchen. He followed her. "Sev, why does my home suddenly need wards?" Lily demanded.
Severus dropped into a chair and ducked his head so that his hair was covering his face. "This is my fault. I thoroughly pissed Malfoy off."
"What do you mean? What happened?"
Severus realized he couldn't hide what had happened with Malfoy from her or lie about it so he told her the entire scenario. "If I'd just kept my temper and played along with him, it would have been fine, but when he threatened you, I blew a gasket."
"Sev, I'm so sorry."
Severus took a deep breath then said, "Lily, maybe we should break up … we could have a big fight in the Great Hall. You could yell at me that you're fed up with my Death Eater sympathies. Avery, Rosier or the Lestranges will sure to take the news back to Malfoy …"
Lily suddenly exploded yelling, "Severus Tiberius Snape! You-Know-Who's destroyed enough lives and I'm not going to let him destroy ours, too!" She buried her face in his shoulder, crying heartbrokenly.
Severus' felt his eyes starting to water and buried his face in Lily's hair. "I'm sorry, Lily," He whispered. "I don't want to do it either, but it'd be a knife in my heart me if anything happened to you or your family. I don't mean to hurt you. I just want you to be safe. I love you!"
Lily lifted her head and looked him straight in the eyes. "And I love you! How do you think I'd feel if something happened to you, Sev? I'm not leaving you and I don't want to hear anymore about it!"
"Okay," Severus agreed. He smiled slightly. His Lily was a fighter and when she got her back up about something – watch out!
They were interrupted by an owl tapping at the closed kitchen window. Lily opened it and the owl flew in. It headed straight for the living room where Petunia was. Severus and Lily followed it in. It landed beside Petunia, who gave a frightened squeak, then stuck out its leg. "Lily, how do I get the note off?"
Lily showed her how to detach the note from the owl's leg without hurting him. While Petunia read her note, the owl sat patiently waiting. "Why doesn't …" She looked at the note again. "Aries fly away again?"
"He's been told to wait for a reply," Severus explained.
"Oh!" Petunia smiled. "I guess I'd better get him his answer so he can be on his way." She rushed upstairs with Lily at her heels.
Eileen looked questioningly at Severus who shook his head, indicating he'd tell her about it when they got home again. Petunia and Lily came back downstairs, talking, and giggling; Lily showed her how to attach the note to Aries's leg. He took off out the kitchen window.
"Dad and Mum, can we please go back to Diagon Alley tomorrow so we can get Tuney her own owl?" Lily pleaded.
"I don't think that will be a problem," Hal said with a smile.
Rose and Hal invited Severus and Eileen to stay for dinner. They accepted and after dinner as soon as it got dark, Eileen put up strong wards around the Evan's home. Severus felt more relaxed as he and his mother walked home that night. At least Lily and her family would be protected if any Death Eaters came round with harmful intentions.
Horatio was waiting for Eileen with a note when they got home. She took the note from him and read it quickly. "Robert said he already has wards around his home because he's a registered Occlumens and Legilimens and not to worry about him." She assured Severus.
"Yeah, I'm sure You-Know-Who had one of his spies at the Ministry check that list."
"Now what's going on with Petunia? I noticed she wasn't wearing her engagement ring."
Severus chuckled and explained about Liam Hollywell. "He's a seventh year Ravenclaw I tutored in Potions last year. I did tell him Petunia wasn't a witch and that she was engaged, but he wanted to meet her anyway. I noticed Petunia ditched her engagement ring in her purse. She seems interested in Liam and he seems like a nice guy."
"Well, I couldn't help but notice she looked like a different person all of a sudden, and then when the owl came I couldn't believe she was interested in a wizard."
"I hope things work out there," Severus said. "Even though Tuney is sometimes mean to Lily and makes her cry, and Merlin knows I don't always get along with her, but I wouldn't want to see her hurt."
"It's good she may have an opportunity for a different life rather than the miserable one she'd most likely have with that Dursley boy." Eileen said.
Severus yawned and decided to go to bed. He gave his mum a kiss and thanked for putting up the wards to protect Lily and her family. He went upstairs to his bedroom and wrote out a short note to Lily telling her he was going with his mum to see Dumbledore then sent Aesculapius off with it. Lily sent a note back, inviting him to go with them to Diagon Alley tomorrow to help Petunia buy an owl. He wrote back accepting her invitation and gave it to his owl. "Take this to Lily and you needn't wait for a reply." He scratched the owl's head and he flew out the window.
The next morning after breakfast, Severus accompanied Lily and her family to Diagon Alley. He scanned the area around them. He'd stopped briefly at Ollivander's and purchased a wand holster that he wore on his left forearm so he could now have his wand out in seconds. No more being caught without it or having it falling out of his pocket and out of his reach.
It didn't take Petunia long to find an owl she liked at Eeylops. She was a female barn owl that seemed to have a placid personality. "What are you going to call her, Tuney?" Lily asked.
"I think I'll call her Cassiopeia," Petunia decided.
"That's a good name for her," Severus said. They brought some owl treats for her. "They hunt their own food so there's no need to buy that, but it's good to give her a treat for delivering the mail." Severus explained
"Now you'll be able to owl me at school and I can owl you back," Lily said excitedly.
They flooed home and Severus was relieved that he'd had no more run-ins with Death Eaters. He and his mother went to Hogwarts, later in the week, to see Professor Dumbledore. Hagrid met them at the gate. "Mrs. Snape, Sevrus," He said and nodded. "Prfessor Dumbledore asked me to meet ya and escort ya up to his office."
"Thank you, Hagrid." Eileen said. They followed him upstairs. He gave the password to the Gargoyle and they swung out of the way. He knocked on the door of Dumbledore's office.
"Enter," Dumbledore called.
"Prfessor Dumbledore, Mrs. Snape and Sevrus to see ya."
"Thank you, Hagrid."
He motioned for them to it in the chairs in front of his desk. "Lemon drop?" He offered. They both politely refused his offer. Dumbledore was as usual garishly dressed in a bright purple robe decorated with magical symbols in emerald green. Severus had to wonder who his tailor was. They both must be color-blind.
Eileen spoke first and told Dumbledore about Severus' rhinoplasty.
"I did notice there was something different about you, my boy," He replied, his twinkling blue eyes closely examining Severus' face. "It looks good."
"Professor Dumbledore, I do not want to see Severus' new nose damaged by Potter and his cronies. I spoke with the Potters, Blacks and Pettigrew's this summer, but I don't believe they plan to do anything to control their sons."
"I'll keep a close eye on things, Eileen. There are going to be some major changes this year and I believe Professor Slughorn has some changes planned for Slytherin house also."
"What kind of changes, Professor?" Severus asked curiously.
Dumbledore smiled broadly. "Those, Severus, will be announced at the Welcoming Feast."
"Also, Professor, I'm going to need to take Severus to see Dr. Lockwood at least once a month which means he might be gone for a morning or an afternoon, depending. I don't know when he'll finally release Severus from his care, but it may not be until December at the earliest."
That's fine, Eileen. You can owl Professor Slughorn and I to let us know when Severus will need to be gone."
"There's something I need to tell you, Sir," Severus said speaking up. Dumbledore nodded and Severus explained about what had happened with Lucius Malfoy. "I don't know how he knew what my scores were because I was very careful not to let anybody of that persuasion know and I had wards on my room so nobody can get in except me and Professor Slughorn."
"So Mr. Malfoy tried to recruit you? We did have information that Voldemort is interested in you as you are the brightest potion student we've had in years and Tom Riddle, as I recall, was only average in Potions in spite of being Head Boy." Dumbledore did not explain who the "we" he mentioned was.
"Tom Riddle?"
"Yes, Severus, before he styled himself as Lord Voldemort, his name was Tom Marvolo Riddle."
"I guess not very many people know that," Severus ventured.
"I think a lot of people who did know have forgotten it in the wake of all the notoriety of Lord Voldemort. I will make sure none of his spies have any further access to student records."
"Sir, not to change the subject, but what do you know about Liam Hollywell? I know he's a Ravenclaw because I tutored him last year in Potions, but I don't really know anything about him. He's taken a fancy to Lily's sister, Petunia, and I just want to make sure he's okay … not a follower of Lord Voldemort's."
You don't have to worry. Liam's Muggleborn and I believe his father is a barrister and they live in London. In fact, I'm guessing you'll be having a lot more interaction with Mr. Hollywell this year, Severus." Dumbledore replied, popping a lemon drop into his mouth.
Eileen and Severus left and apparated home. "Why the hell does he have to be so mysterious all the time?" Severus complained.
"I'm upset that he knew You-Know-Who might be interested in you and didn't tell us," Eileen snapped.
"Me, too," Severus admitted with a shiver. The thought was not pleasant at all.
Before he went to bed that night, Eileen gave him three potion vials. "Sev, these are contraceptive potions. The one with the pink stopper is Lily's and the other is yours." She handed him a book entitled The Modern Wizard and Witches Guide to Contraceptive Potions. "The brewing instructions are in here and also how to take it."
"Okay, so what's this third vial for?"
"This is a morning-after potion should you forget these," Eileen replied. "Lily would need to take it. The brewing instructions for that are in there also."
Mum, you know we're not planning …" Severus began.
"I know, Sev, but I also remember what being almost-seventeen is like." She smiled.
"Thanks Mum for looking out for us. A lot of parents would stick their heads in sand and not even bring the subject up until it was too late."
Sunday morning Severus was up early. He made sure all the last things minute things were packed into his trunk and put his school robes on the very top because he would need to change into them as soon as he got on the train and checked to make sure the Prefect's badge was pinned on it. He straightened up his room then took his trunk downstairs. He went back upstairs to get Aesculapius and set him on top of his trunk.
"Are you ready, Sev? The Evans will be here any minute." She gave her tall son an admiring glance then hugged him. "I'm going to miss you dreadfully, Sev."
"I'm going to miss you, too, Mum." He smiled then said. "You know I was thinking last night that you should take Robert to the cinema. I'll bet he's never seen a movie and he'd probably enjoy it."
"I may do that," Eileen replied as they heard a honk outside.
Hal was parked at the curb. He helped Severus load his trunk into the boot then got back in the front seat. Eileen surveyed the car. Both Petunia and Lily were sitting in the backseat and Lily had her owl cage on her lap. There was simply no room for two more people and another owl cage. "Hal, would you mind if I changed the inside of your car a bit?"
"No, because we're going to be packed like sardines otherwise and it's a long drive."
Eileen looked around to make sure no other Muggles were present then quickly cast an enlarging spell over the car. Although it looked no different on the outside, it was now roomier and would fit her, Severus, and their owl cages comfortably. They climbed into the backseat and Hal pulled away from the curb. They arrived at King's Cross and Hal parked the car while Severus and Lily went to get trolleys for their trunks. When everyone was ready, they went through the barrier onto Platform 9 and three quarters. Petunia looked around for Liam while Severus and Lily got on the train, found a compartment, stowed their trunks and owls then changed into their robes. They got off again into the melee of shouting students, squawking owls, meowing cats, and parents calling to their children. They spotted Lily's parents with Eileen and saw the back of Liam who was talking to Petunia. As Lily and Severus approached, Liam turned around to greet them and they saw the Head Boy badge pinned to his robe. "So that's why Dumbledore told me I'd be having a lot more interaction with Liam," Severus muttered to Lily.
"I see you've already changed and are ready for your assignments," Liam remarked crisply. "We'll be meeting in the Head carriage as soon as we get underway."
"Okay," Severus nodded. He wrapped his arm around Lily. "Let's see if we can find Remus, Frank, or Alice." The smoke from the engine made it hard to see, but they heard somebody shout, "Sev, Lily, back here." They turned and saw Remus, Alice, and Frank pushing their trolleys.
"We were just looking for you guys," Lily said. She gave a squeal and hugged Remus as she caught sight of the Prefect badge pinned to his robe. "I was hoping you'd get sixth year Prefect and not Potter or Black!"
"The Head Boy is a Ravenclaw, Liam Hollywell, but we don't know who the Head Girl is yet." Severus said. "We're meeting in the Head's compartment once we're underway."
Remus nodded. "I'll just get my trunk stowed."
"Lily, why don't you take them to our compartment and I'll wait out here," Severus said. He went to stand by his mum and Lily's parents. He saw Liam give Petunia a brief kiss then hurry over to the first carriage and get in. Petunia came over to where her parents stood. "Liam wants me to owl him," She said, her eyes sparkling. Severus couldn't recall her eyes ever sparkling like that with Dursley. She'd just looked manic with him.
Lily came up to him and took his hand. "We'd better get on the train, Sev."
Severus gave his mother a kiss and said goodbye to Lily's parents. Lily kissed her parents, Eileen and lastly Petunia and made her promise to owl her. Severus helped her get on the train then got on himself. As the train started moving out of the station, Severus and Lily waved until everybody was out of sight then they settled into the first carriage. Chea Chedewick, the other sixth year Slytherin Prefect came into the carriage. She nodded at Severus then suddenly she looked at him more closely. Remus came into the carriage and sat down. "Better watch yourself, Sev. James, Sirius, and Peter are on the warpath."
Severus sighed. "When are they not, Remus? What are they mad about now?"
"They think James should have been made a Prefect this year and captain of the Gryffindor team."
"They obviously forgot about that stack of detention cards in McGonagall's office," Severus remarked.
Remus studied him and commented, "Your nose looks pretty good today."
"Yeah, I must've slept right last night. It's hardly swollen today. Dr. Lockwood said it would probably be December before I'll be able to see what it's going to look like permanently."
Chea looked up and said, "I knew there was something different about you, but I couldn't pinpoint what it was."
Soon the carriage was full of both fifth, sixth, and seventh year Perfects. Liam called everybody to attention and introduced himself and the Head Girl, Julie Harris of Hufflepuff. He gave out their assignments and reminded them that they could always come to either him or Julie if they had any problems or questions.
Once they were done with their assigned patrolling, Severus, Lily and Remus went back to their compartment where Alice and Frank were waiting. Severus flopped down on the seat and stretched out his long legs, loosening his tie.
Lily slid down into the seat next Severus and kicked off her shoes with a groan then put her feet up into his lap. He reached down and picked up one of her shoes. "Why on earth would you want to wear these …what do you call this style?"
"Platform," Alice supplied.
"Right. They must be hideously uncomfortable." Severus began massaging her feet and Lily gave a deep sigh. "I wear them because they make me taller." She sighed again. "That feels really good, Sev."
Frank grinned and said to Severus, "You know mum really enjoyed having your mum over for tea. She thinks your mum is outstanding."
"Mum enjoyed it, too. She said she thought your mum was intelligent and her own person. She enjoyed being able to discuss current events with her."
"Well she's definitely her own person," Frank laughed. "I wonder who we'll have for Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. The teachers never last more than a year for some strange reason and it's a wonder we've been able to learn what were supposed to learn with a different teacher every year."
"No idea, but I expect Professor Dumbledore will announce it at the feast tonight along with his other planned changes."
"What other changes?" Remus asked.
Severus explained what Dumbledore had said to him earlier in the week. "He said Professor Slughorn had some changes for Slytherin house, too."
"Maybe he's finally going to do something about those Death Eater wanabees," Frank said.
"Possibly, but I'm not holding my breath," Severus replied.
"Did you buy your dress for the Yule Ball?" Alice said to Lily.
"Yup, it's right there," Lily said, pointing to the vinyl zippered bag hanging underneath her trunk.
"I got mine, too. Mum shrunk it for me so I could fit it inside my trunk."
Severus pointed at Lily's shoes. "I think I'd put on different shoes were I you, Lily, not that I mind massaging your feet and all."
"You're probably right, Sev," Lily said frowning at her shoes. "Will you get my trunk down for me?"
"Sure," Severus said. Although Lily's trunk looked the same size as all the trunks on the outside, Severus knew she'd had his mum cast an enlarging spell over it so she could fit all her shoes into it. "Accio Lily's trunk." He floated it down on the seat.
"Thanks, Sev." She smiled, unlocked it, and dug around until she found a pair of low-heeled pumps. She put them on then smiled. "Definitely more comfortable." She put the other shoes back in then shrank the vinyl zippered bag, containing her Yule Ball dress, and put that in her trunk. "Okay, Sev, you can put it back on the rack."
"Mobilitrunk," Severus said maneuvering her trunk back on top of the rack then said, "Accio Severus' trunk." He floated his down, opened it, and got out the new potions book he's bought then relocked and floated his trunk back up to the rack.
"What's that, Sev?" Lily asked pointing at his book.
"It's a new potion's book I bought in Flourish & Blotts last week. I wonder if Slughorn might let us brew some of these potions. It'd be good practice for us."
"The Almanac of Medicinal Potions 1977," Lily read aloud. "I'm sure he'd let us. We are his best potions student after all and it would be good practice for after Hogwarts."
"It's got all the newest potions. Mum buys a copy of this every year."
"You mean for Potions College and healer training?" Alice asked.
"Yes," Severus replied with a nod of his head. "I've decided after I'm a certified Potions Master I want to work in the Potion's Research department at St. Mungo's."
"Eileen friend, Robert Saxon who's a Master Healer at St. Mungo's was telling me about the course of studies to become a Master Healer," Lily said.
"Is he a romantic friend?" Alice asked.
"No, they're more like companion friends for now. Mum wants to take it slow and be careful …"
"She'd better be," Potter's voice said. He, Black and Pettigrew crowded into the compartment. "We certainly don't want any other greasy little Snivellus' running around!" Black and Pettigrew crowed with laughter.
"Damn!" Lily muttered. "I forgot to charm the door so they couldn't get in."
"You're lucky I'm a Prefect and have to set an example for the younger students or else you'd be a smelly pile of crap right now." Severus sneered. "Of course it wouldn't take much, you're halfway there already."
Well, I'm not a Prefect so there's nothing stopping me from turning the three of you into piles of crap. The only problem is you'd stink so bad we'd probably all die from the smell!" Frank said, pulling out his wand. He grinned at Severus. "Consider yourself lucky you're in Slytherin and have never been in the middle of one of their fart letting contests."
Remus rolled his eyes. "Merlin! I thought I was going to throw up that last time!"
"Eww! Gross!" Lily and Alice both exclaimed.
James cast an angry look at Frank. "Did Snivellus introduce you to You-Know-Who over the summer? Maybe, you're ready to join up with him, too."
"Going to try hexing me, Frank?" Sirius sneered.
"And me," Peter peeked out from behind Sirius.
"I don't know You-Know-Who so I can't very well introduce him to anybody, Potter," Severus said in a bored tone, glancing up from his book. "Why don't you go find somebody else to bother?"
Lily stormed past them to the door and threw it open. "Get out of here and leave us alone, Potter!"
"See you later, Evans!" James smirked, slouching out with Sirius and Peter following him.
"Not if I can help it!" Lily snapped angrily and slammed the door shut so hard the glass shook. She cast a charm on the door so they'd be unable to come back in. "Stupid arrogant toerags!" She sat down again close to Severus.
"Don't let them wind you up, Lily, they're not worth it," Severus said, pulling her close to him and gently rubbing her shoulders.
"I know," She said then grinned. "I wish I'd thought to ask them how they liked cleaning toilets all summer without magic."
They spent the rest of the journey, between patrols, playing exploding snap, eating chocolate frogs and trading the cards. It had been raining when they got off the train at the Hogsmeade station and was chilly, drippy, and windy.
"First yrs!" Hagrid's voice called out of the gloom. "All first yrs over here to me!"
"Let's find a carriage, Sev." Lily said, shivering a bit in the wind. "I pity those poor first years having to come across by boats in this weather."
As they looked for an empty carriage, James Potter stuck his head out the window of one and yelled, "Hey Evans, you're welcome to share this carriage, but Snivellus can share a carriage with his Death Eater buddies."
"I'd rather swim across the lake to Hogwarts than share a carriage with you, Potter!" Lily snapped. They found a carriage up from Potter's that was empty and scrambled into it and were joined shortly by Frank, Alice and Remus and Missy LeClair, the sixth year Ravenclaw Prefect, Remus' friend, and his partner in Potions.
Lily was so glad when they arrived at the castle. She kissed Severus at the door of the Great Hall then she, Remus, Frank, and Alice headed to the Gryffindor table while Severus went to the Slytherin table and Missy headed to the Ravenclaw table.
Severus sat down at a place at the end of the table nearest the High Table. He had a good view of Lily from where she sat at the Gryffindor table. He opened his potions book and began to read. Suddenly he felt someone shove him hard in the back and Avery leaned down and whispered menacingly, "Lucius sends his regards."
"I'm shaking in my boots," Severus sneered.
"You will be!" Avery threatened. He noticed Professor Dumbledore had seated himself at the High Table and might overhear him so he left and seated him by Rosier, Lestrange, Crabbe, and Goyle. Great! Not only did he have to deal with the three stooges this year, but a bunch of arsehole would-be Death Eaters, too!
"No Potter I will not go to Hogsmeade, the Yule Ball or anywhere else with you!" Lily yelled suddenly. The whole room quieted down. "I like my men tall, dark, sexy, and intelligent and you don't qualify on any of those four counts!"
Severus quickly ducked his head so nobody could see he was laughing. Lily had just humiliated Potter in front of the entire school!
Luckily, the doors to the Great Hall swung open at that moment, providing a distraction, as the first years, led by McGonagall, walked in. Hagrid came in behind them and took his place at the High Table.
Severus estimated there were at least sixty first-years. He listened as Professor McGonagall explained how they would be sorted into their houses then she began calling their names. By the time the sorting was done, Slytherin house had gained fifteen new members. He didn't recognize any of the names so they weren't from pureblood families or families that publicly followed Voldemort. He reasoned that most of them were probably Halfbloods or Muggleborns. While that would a crimp in the Voldemort recruitment attempts, it would mean a lot of possible hexing by Avery and his buddies.
His attention was turned back to the High Table when Dumbledore said, "Now that you're all happily sorted in to your houses; let the feast began!"
Mountains of food appeared on each table and Severus suspected Madam Pomfrey would be administering a lot of stomach soothers later on to first-years who had over-eaten. He remembered his first feast and he'd done exactly that. He filled his plate and returned to reading his potions book, one hand propped under his chin. When the desserts appeared on the table, he took a slice of chocolate cake.
Once the desserts had disappeared, Professor Dumbledore stepped up to a podium that had suddenly appeared in front of the High Table. "Now that we're all adequately fed and watered I have a few announces to make."
All the talking in hall ceased and the majority of the students gave their full attention to Professor Dumbledore.
"First off I'd like to welcome our newest students. You are beginning one of the most exciting adventures in your lives and we wish you all good luck!" Everybody clapped. "I'd also like to welcome back our returning students and hope they've made room in their heads this summer for all the things they'll be learning this year." He paused then continued. "I'd like to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Gregory Gorshawk."
Professor Gorshawk stood up and gave a slight bow then seated himself again. Everybody clapped to welcome him.
Next I liked to introduce our Head Boy and Head Girl for this school year, Mr. Liam Hollywell of Ravenclaw, and Miss Julie Harris of Hufflepuff." There was a spate of polite clapping as they both stood up.
"I have some beginning of term notices. The dark forest is banned to all students. The only exception will be sixth and seventh year potion students, but only if their accompanied by Professor Slughorn, Professor Gorshawk, Professor Flitwick, Hagrid, or myself." Professor Dumbledore paused then continued, "All products from Zonko's Joke Shop are banned. Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has a list of banned objects on his office door should you wish to know what they are." He paused again then muttered, "Evanesco," and the podium vanished. Dumbledore walked down and stood directly in front of the four house tables. "Over the summer I've decided on some new policies. In light of the wizard who styles himself as Lord Voldemort …"
There were frightened gasps and exclamations from the students and some very loud, threatening hisses from the Slytherin table. Dumbledore held up his hand and continued, "He styles himself as Lord Voldemort, but his real name is Tom Riddle and from now on when I speak of him that is how I will refer to him!" Again, there was loud chatter, exclamations and hissing and again Dumbledore held up his hand for silence. When the hall quieted down again he said, "Riddle has a gift for splitting people up, for turning them against one another and I will not allow that to happen at Hogwarts. Starting tomorrow morning, there will no longer be house tables. Students may sit wherever they please." There were gasps, exclamations, hisses and some loud boos which appeared to be coming from the Gryffindor table. "In addition," Dumbledore said loudly, "We've never had a Parents Day and the parents of the Muggleborn students have never been able to visit Hogwarts. This will change this year. I haven't worked out all the details, but I will let you know when I have. There were loud hisses at that announcement that came from the Slytherin table. "Finally, in previous year's, students who were dating people outside of Hogwarts have asked me if they could be invited to the Yule Ball and I have had to regretfully refuse their requests, but this year they will be able to invite them, and speaking of the Yule Ball, it will be held on December 18th this year." He looked around then said, "Now, it's time for everybody to slip into their warm beds, and get a good night's sleep so you're ready to work hard tomorrow. Mr. Snape, Miss Evans, if you would stay for moment, please."
Lily looked across the room at Severus who shrugged. She noticed Potter was walking very slowly as he left the hall. It was obvious he wanted to know what Dumbledore wanted with them. They both walked up front and waited for Dumbledore to finish talking to Professor Slughorn and Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore escorted them into an antechamber off the Great Hall.
"Are we in trouble, Professor?" Lily asked worriedly.
"Nothing of the sort, Miss Evans. I have an assignment for you and Mr. Snape. Madam Pomfrey is constantly complaining to me that she's short of the medicinal potions and salves that she needs to properly care for the students. Professor Slughorn does not like to brew them as often as she feels he should. You two are our top Potion students and what I'm proposing is that under Professor Slughorn's supervision, you will brew whatever salves and potions Madam Pomfrey requires. You will get extra credit for it and will be paid for it; how does two gallons each a week sound?"
"Sounds fine to me," Severus said. "Lily?" She nodded.
"I'll tell Madam Pomfrey to expect you tomorrow. She'll provide you with the list of her medicinal requirements."
Severus and Lily walked down the hall to the main staircase. "This isn't going to leave us a lot of time to be together," Severus said.
"I know, Sev." Lily replied, squeezing his hand. "We'll just have make time is all."
At the bottom of the staircase, they kissed passionately for a moment then broke apart as they heard someone coming. "See you tomorrow, Lily." He headed down to the dungeon, wondering if Slughorn's meeting was about the changes Dumbledore mentioned. All the rest of house was sitting in the common room when Severus came through the entrance.
"Severus, my boy," Slughorn called jollily. "We can get started now." Slughorn began to explain about the new policy he'd devised where sixth and seventh year Slytherin's were going to be mentoring the first year members. Slughorn called out one first year name then a sixth or seventh year name. Severus got a first year named Paul Reisdorph. He couldn't help but notice none of the Death Eater wanabees were assigned a first year.
"No political discussions of any kind will be permitted in the common room. No name-calling will be permitted. Anybody having a discussion or bothering anybody else about their politics will be given detention, and unless you enjoy scrubbing out cauldrons, I suggest you heed these new rules. You may, however, still discuss them among yourselves in your dorm rooms." Slughorn explained. Severus glanced around the common room and noticed for the first time that it had been redecorated. It was now painted a lighter green, the skulls, formerly decorating the room, were gone, and the lighting had been vastly improved so that it no longer seemed dark and forbidding. Severus abruptly realized Slughorn had finished talking.
"Professor, if you don't mind, could have the Prefects and the first years stay for a few minutes more, please." Marc Taylor, the seventh year Prefect requested.
"Certainly, my boy; the floor is yours." He turned. "Everybody else may go."
"Okay, thanks Professor." Marc said. He turned to the first years. "I'm Marc Taylor and this is Sarah Clarke. We're your seventh year Prefects. On my right are Severus Snape and Chea Chedewick, your sixth year Prefects. On my left are Edwin Bathe and Gwendolyn Ainsworth who are your fifth year Prefects. If you have any problems at all you can come to any of us for assistance or if you feel more comfortable going to Professor Slughorn, that fine, too. You don't have to put up with anybody bullying you, or threatening you. There are, unfortunately, older students who think it's funny to hex first years. If anybody's doing that to you don't try to handle yourself, let us know and we'll put a stop to it." He dismissed them so they could find their rooms, get unpacked, and get to bed.
Severus was pleased to see he had the same room he'd had the previous year. Paul was already there, unpacking his trunk. He was blond with blue eyes, fair skin with pink cheeks and a bit on the chubby side. He reminded Severus of a picture of cherubs he'd once seen. "So where are you from, Paul?"
"Southampton, Severus," He replied.
"Call me, Sev. Only the professors call me Severus. I'm from around Manchester. My mum's a witch, but my father was a Muggle."
"My parents are both non-magical. My dad's a postman and my mum's a teacher. They were ever so surprised when Professor Flitwick delivered my Hogwarts letter, but they always knew I could do unusual things."
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
I'm the oldest, but I have two younger sisters who are eight and six. What about you, Sev?"
"I'm an only child." Severus answered as he got up. "Paul, I'm putting wards up in this room to keep certain kinds of people out, but you'll be able to get through them without any problems."
"You mean like those five guys who were sitting in the back of the room during the meeting; the ones that hissed at Professor Dumbledore?"
"Those would be the ones," Severus replied. "They took offense to me because I don't want to join in with their big buddy, Tom Riddle."
They're dangerous, huh?" Paul asked wide-eyed. "And they probably don't like Muggleborns."
"Yes to both. I'd stay as far away from them as possible."
They got ready for bed. "Nox," Severus said using his wand to extinguish the lights. He fell asleep, but suddenly he was awake and he didn't know why. He looked around the room, but didn't see anything. It was then he heard sniffling coming from the other bed. "Lumos," He said and waved his wand to bring up the lights, got out of bed, drawing on his robe as he did so.
"Paul, are you okay?" He was worried that he might be suffering from an upset stomach from overeating. "Are you feeling sick?"
"No … I'm not sick, Sev."
"Ah! Homesick, I'll bet."
"A little," He admitted shamefully.
"Don't worry. I think probably every first year that's ever gone here has suffered from homesickness the first weeks." He never had; he'd just felt relieved that his father couldn't beat the crap out of him with his belt whenever the mood struck him.
"Sev, what if I can't find my way to my classes. What if I can't learn what they're teaching me?"
"You'll be fine, Paul. The teachers know the castle's huge and it takes time to learn your way around it. They won't take away house points or give you detention for being late to class and everybody gets lost at least once during the first weeks. If you do get lost, you can always ask one of the ghosts for help. Sir Nicholas, the Gryffindor ghost and the Fat Friar, the Hufflepuff ghost are particularly helpful to first years. Our ghost, the Bloody Baron, spends most of his time moaning and rattling his chains around the Astronomy Tower. Bit of a bloody bore that one. Don't ask Peeves for anything. Even for a poltergeist he's a complete arse." Severus said with a laugh. "As for classes, if you're having problems with any subjects, let me know and I'll be happy to help you or I'll find somebody who can."
Paul took a deep breath and smiled then said, "I feel a lot better, Sev, thanks."
You're welcome, Paul. Goodnight." Severus replied then whispered, "Nox," to extinguished the lights with his wand and quickly fell asleep again.
