***I own nothing. All Hail Our Queen!***
**A couple of chunks straight from cannon**
Harry was awoken by a pain searing through his scar. He pressed his hand tightly to his forehead, not sure how else to stop the it, but the pain quickly faded. He felt like he'd had a nightmare but all he could remember was a flash of green light. He laid there for a moment, eyes closed, trying to remember but a pressure on his bed made him open his eyes.
His still unnamed owl fluttered from her position at his feet to his bed side table for a more stable place to perch. The morning light streaming through the windows hit her white feathers and for a moment Harry just stared at her.
"Oi, I didn't think owls were allowed in the dorms."
Harry turned to see a dark boy in the bed across from his. Looking back at his owl, Harry noticed she was presenting her leg to have a slip of paper removed. He recognized the pale green stationary and chuckled to himself. If it was against the rules to send owls to the dorms his mother wouldn't pay it any mind.
He stroked the owl's head and she nipped him affectionately before flying back out of the window next to his bed.
"Where do the owls stay?" he asked the boy.
"In an owlry, I asked the prefect last night because I've got an owl too. He says they can't stay in the dorms because they eat the rats."
Ron's rat popped his head out from the covers and scampered under the bed. Harry and the new boy laughed. Ron, Seamus, and Neville stirred.
"I'm Dean Thomas."
"Harry Potter," said Harry, pulling himself out of bed to sort through his trunk.
"I heard a lot about you last night at the banquet. Bit of a shock, all this."
Harry nodded and noticed a West Ham football sticker on the boy's trunk. "Muggle born?"
"Maybe. Don't really know. My dad left when I was little but my mum supposes he was a wizard. Raised completely muggle though. It's pretty intense getting the letter, seeing the shops, and now the castle. You've even got wands and pointy hats," he laughed. "It's cool though."
There was a knock at their door and Percy walked in.
"Alright first years we'll leave for the great hall in about twenty minutes. Normally you'll go down to breakfast alone but I'll walk you down today so you don't get lost. First day of classes today so wear your full school uniform. You'll get your schedule at breakfast from our head of house, Professor McGonagall. So, every one up! Bathroom is down the stairs and across the common room, it's the one on your right. See you in twenty."
The five boys sat on the couches and chairs nearest to the door. They were soon joined by the first year girls. They all introduced themselves and a short red-headed girl named Alice immediately began discussing football with Dean.
Hermione started shooting questions at Neville and Ron about wizarding traditions, religion, and politics. The two pure-bloods struggled to answer as fast or as thoroughly as the bushy haired girl would have liked and were glad to be interrupted by Percy and the female prefect Audrey.
The two prefects carefully inspected the uniforms of the first years before leading them down to the Great Hall.
More awake now, the new students were left slack jawed by their surroundings. The stair cases did in fact move and the portraits, which Harry had been very excited about seeing, shouted out to them. Some characters even leaving their own portraits completely in favor of following the group to continue talking.
Harry stopped in the doorway of the Great Hall. The sky above him was now a clear blue and the candles had disappeared. His mother looked at him questioningly from the table at the front of the hall. He remembered the note in his pocket. He tugged it out as he hurried to catch up with the others. Sitting next to Ron, he read:
Meet after classes?
We can have tea in the dungeon!
Love you!
Mum
He looked up and nodded at Lily. It had only been a day but he had so much to ask her. Harry watched his mother smile at her son before returning to her conversation with the dark man, Professor Snape. When he turned back to his friends their plates had been filled and Fred and George were telling Seamus about a ghost teacher who had retired the year before. Apparently years ago he'd died in his chair, got up as a ghost, and continued teaching. When some first years tried to exorcise him before exams, Dumbledore had finally told him the truth and he'd retired. Hermione wanted to know what happened to retired ghosts but no one had a clue.
Professor McGonagall started down the Gryffindor table handing out schedules. Harry read his with a sense of wonder. He was here, but sometimes he had to wait a moment to really wrap his head around the fact that all of this was real. He was holding his schedule to his first year at a wizarding school.
"Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts, then?" noted Ron, examining his piece of parchment. "Could be worse. Think yer mum'll be hard?"
"I don't know. I don't really know how much she knows about potions. She's a terrible cook without magic. We've got that with Slytherins and Defense with Ravenclaw. Better go grab books."
They started up the stairs back toward Gryffindor tower but there had to be over a hundred stair cases, some with missing stairs, and quite a few that moved if you weren't fast enough. They ended up getting on the wrong side of a thin, dirty looking man named Mr. Filch on their first morning.
They were trying to find a bathroom for Neville and ended up in the corridor that they'd been forbidden to enter. Mr. Filch and his dust colored cat, Mrs. Norris, glared the boys down as they tried to explain. Thankfully, Professor Quirrell was wandering by and sent the boys off in the right direction after hearing their story.
They met an excited looking Hermione outside the potions room. Finding the door open, they made their way over to a table near the front. They each sat behind a pewter cauldron, the tools of potion making were already set out in front of them. Hermione began informing them about ghosts and the extremely complicated magic it took for them to move on, apparently she'd found the library.
The door creaked closed as in walked Lily Potter.
~'*'~
Lily felt as if she might be sick. She tried calming herself. She'd faced death eaters, vampires, and Lord Voldemort himself but the thought of teaching terrified her. She and Sev had spent most of the morning going over her lesson but she was still nervous. Straightening her lilac hat, she stepped through the door way.
The murmurs ceased as she entered and Lily smiled. The green and red clad students sat on opposite sides of the room but that was to be expected. She spotted Harry and Ron in the second row and reminded herself of her friend's advice, teach to Harry.
Turning toward the black board she wrote:
Professor Potter
First Year Potions
Cup of Kindness
She wrote the first few ingredients and stopped. "You might want to write this down," she said with a chuckle.
The first years scrambled for parchment and began copying the words from the board. She finished the potion instructions and waited as one-by-one the first years put down their quills and looked up at her. Two bigger Slytherins were the last to finish, they looked around embarrassed, and Lily gave them her most encouraging smile.
"Now the name is pretty self-explanatory but who can tell me what this potion does and its most common uses?"
Only the bushy haired girl sitting next to Ron raised her hand.
She nodded at her and the girl grinned and began reciting from memory the exact explanation listed in the text book.
Lily raised her eyebrows, impressed.
"Ten points to Gryffindor," the Sytherins moaned, "if you can repeat that in your own words Miss-?"
"Granger. Hermione Granger. Well it's similar to a pepper up potion in a way isn't it? Instead of giving you the energy you need to complete your tasks it enables you to be kind even to those who would normally frustrate you. It's used a lot by ministry workers and, well, by professors to deal with students."
"And how would you use it Miss Granger?"
Hermione looked a tad taken aback and thought for a moment before answering.
"I suppose in the library," a few of the other first years snickered and Lily gave them a sharp silencing look.
"Why?"
"I can come off a bit rude when people interrupt my reading."
Only a pale blonde boy snickered this time.
"We can all see that you would need it when dealing with your more studious peers Mr-?" Lily said darkly.
"Malfoy. Sorry Professor."
Lily's heart stopped for a moment. This must be Narcissa's boy. His resemblance to Lucius was almost as uncanny as Harry's to James.
"Ten points to Gryffindor." Hermione smiled and Ron nudged her, grinning. "And it's fine Mr. Malfoy, you've simply brought us to the first and most important rule of this class." Lily stepped forward and looked each student in the eye as she spoke. "When you walk through the door into my classroom you will no longer be from different houses. After today a charm will be placed on the door that will removed all color from your clothing while in this room. I know that I can not force you to set aside the differences that are encouraged outside of this room but potions favors no student and no student of mine will treat another cruelly in my presence. When I award or deduct points it will be according to the student, not their house. Now the magic of the school will put those points into your house cup but I have also created this." She motioned to a set of jars lining the shelves across one wall.
Each jar was labeled with a students' name but only Hermione's had anything in it.
"I don't have the gems to fill the jar with rubies or emeralds but at the end of the year, the person who has attained the most points will not have take the final exam."
A wave of whispering washed through the classroom but stopped when Lily began to speak again.
"This is one of the most important subjects you will ever study. I can teach you how to become stronger, braver, more intelligent, and more lucky. With potions a person may choose to change his destiny. All of you, equally, deserve the right to learn. I want to encourage you to succeed for yourself, not for another's approval, well, besides mine."
Lily smiled at her students, ignoring the hint of distaste in the young Malfoy's eyes.
"Now, if you'll all look at the tools in front of you, I'll explain their names and proper uses."
~'*'~
"No offense mate but your mum's barking mad if she thinks changing our robes will change our minds about the Slytherins. You saw them on the train! Malfoy and his lot are all goons," Ron griped on their way up to Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"I think it's brilliant," said Hermione. "A lot of great wizards have come out of Slytherin and it would be good to know them. Besides, nearly all of them are pure-bloods which means they could answer a ton of my questions on wizarding traditions."
"Oi, Neville and I are pure-bloods!"
"Yes, but you can hardly answer my questions about your holidays. Most pure-bloods are Christian and the whole idea fascinates me!"
The group of four pushed open the classroom door and were hit by the stench of garlic. Strings of it ran across the walls and hung above the desks.
The boys had really been looking forward to the class and were a bit depressed to find that it was mostly Professor Quirrell stuttering out stories about his adventures. Apparently he'd had some bad run-ins with vampires in Amsterdam and was keeping the garlic around to discourage them from following him.
At lunch Hermione and the twins scoffed at the lies that the professor had pushed on the first years. They were certain that vampires would never get past the school's wards and even if they did, their slight distaste for garlic wouldn't keep them from Quirrell, if their coven's leader had demanded his death. Fred and George laughed at the man's story about his turban. Professor Quirrell had told the third years it was a present from an Arabian prince for banishing a frightful zombie. The twins said it smelled awful and was probably filled with more garlic.
Harry joined in the laughter but the headache he'd developed during class took most of his attention. Getting more pain pills from his mother was about all he could focus on.
~'*'~
"It was great Sev," Lily smiled to Snape.
Their relationship was still fragile but they'd spent the last evening in her room, Lily accusing and Snape apologizing and explaining. After hours of anger, a few dodged curses, and a few singed doilies they had started to heal one of the earliest friendships either of them had had. The potions master was still walking on egg shells but he knew her acknowledgment of his existence was more than he deserved, so he gladly accepted the hesitant friendship she offered.
"Have you seen the bushy haired girl who sits with Harry?"
Snape nodded, "Rather large front teeth?"
"That's the one! She's absolutely brilliant, possibly a prodigy. Well, might have been a prodigy if she wasn't muggle born. She won't have to worry about that though. The wizarding world is changing, pure-blood families are dying out. She could be the next Dumbledore."
"Expectations might be a little high there Lily," the man replied carefully.
"Wait till you meet her! I know you won't have her in class for a few years but I guarantee she makes it in, even with your ridiculous standards." Lily smiled and got up as the kettle started to whistle.
A small knock came at the door.
"Come in Goose!" shouted Lily.
"Wasn't sure I was in the right hall until I saw the flower pots out side," he said, smiling as he entered.
Snape stood and stared at the boy. Lily had forced the man to wear his gray robes. She said in all black he looked like a bat, to which he'd replied that green made her look a bit like a leprechaun and he hadn't made her change. Never the less he stood there in gray, looking down at Jame's child and tried to look friendly.
Harry found Professor Snape even more frightening with raised eye brows and what was possibly an attempt at a smile. He stepped forward and grasped the teacher's outstretched hand.
"Harry, this is Severus Snape," said Lily, bringing over a tray of tea and biscuits. "Severus was the first wizard I ever met."
They all sat down in Lily's makeshift parlor, the males feeling extremely awkward.
"So how do you like Hogwarts Mr. Potter?" asked Snape.
"It's fantastic! Professor Quirrell's a bit odd, but my dorm mates are brilliant and it's even more, well, magical than I expected."
The tea poured itself, the pot asking each person if they'd like milk or sugar. Harry was extremely entertained and Severus looked questioningly at Lily at the extremely feminine voice of her teapot.
"It was a welcoming gift from Poppy, she's the school nurse Harry, along with the many doilies around the room." Lily laughed. "The flowers are from Pomona, she's your Herbology Professor. It's funny to me that they're trying so hard to make me feel at home, they should know that Hogwarts feels like home to me whether I want it to or not," she finished with a sad smile.
"I think that it has that effect on all of its residents," Snape quietly replied.
"Did you go here then?" asked Harry.
"Yes, your mother and I were in the same year."
"So did you know my dad?"
The room went quiet for a moment and Harry looked between the adults confused. Lily looked at Snape's pained expression and turned to her son.
"Snape and your father never really got on. He and Sirius and some other boys were absolutely horrid during their first couple of years. I wouldn't even speak to him," she smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "Severus was my best friend back then."
"But he changed, right? When he got older?"
"Yes," said Severus, surprising Lily. "When he got older he became much kinder. Your mother does that to people, she makes them better."
"Yeah, I've noticed that," said Harry smiling. "What was Hogwarts like back then?" he asked, turning toward Snape.
The three of them chatted till dinner about a past they couldn't change and a future they couldn't know. Harry forgot the pain in his head, Lily forgot the distrust in her heart, and Snape forgot the memories that tortured his soul. For a few hours the three sat untouched by the pains that followed them.
***Sorry it's so short. Next chapter is our first big branch out from cannon so I wanted to get this stuff down separately. A million billion thanks to Majerus for sticking it out till VERY late night, with a time change, to get this to me. Since it's short you might have some spare time on your hands, go read Jean it's vonderbar! Alright lovelies I'm off to tap away and get you the crazy you've been looking for ;)***