DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sad and upset because one senator in my country was COVID19 positive and yet he went to birthday parties and accompanied his family to hospital. Now, the nurses, doctors and other employees of the hospital he visited are required to undergo home quarantine. So stupid!

Anyway, I am fine. Thanks for the wonderful reviews! I truly appreciate them.

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Chapter 13:

September 1, 1971

(twenty-four years ago)

"I'm going to miss you, sweetheart," her mother said rather emotionally, hugging her tightly.

"I'm going to miss you too, Mum," she said against her chest.

"Write to me as often as you can, will you?" she sniffed.

Hermione nodded. "I will, Mum. I promise."

"Let her go, love," came her father's affectionate voice.

Her mother let her go. Mona pulled her to a hug and kissed her forehead. "Take care, Mione."

"Take care of Mum and Dad, okay?" she asked.

Mona released her and nodded. "I will. Have a good term."

"Severus, can I ask you to take care of Hermione? Make sure she eats on time and spends time outdoor?" her father asked.

Severus nodded politely, like a man. "I will, sir."

Dr. Puckle shook the boy's hand. "Thank you. We are fortunate that Hermione has you by her side."

"No, sir. I am fortunate because you accepted me in your family," he said with a small, yet grateful smile.

Mrs. Puckle couldn't stop herself from being emotional, so she pulled Severus to a motherly hug. "You'll always be a part of our family, Sev. Thank you for being Hermione's best friend."

Hermione saw Severus stiffly returned her mother's embrace. She knew that he wasn't used to being shown affections by his parents. But he seemed to soften around Hermione and her family.

"Off you go, children," her mother said. "Bob, can you help the children with their trunks?"

Hermione's father obliged with a smile. He carried the two trunks. Severus helped Hermione to hop on the train and took the lead to find an empty compartment. Once they settled, Dr. Puckle left them and the two children leaned on the window to wave at Hermione's family.

"Write to me, Hermione!" called Mona whose eyes were glassy.

"I will!" Hermione's voice croaked. Mona was her first best friend and they have been inseparable since childhood. It would be the first time Hermione would be apart from her family.

The train started running. Hermione waved to her parents and sister until she couldn't see them anymore. She felt Severus's comforting hand on the small of her back. He led her to sit and placed an arm around her. In return, she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I will miss them, Sev," she said emotionally.

"I know. I will miss them, too," he admitted.

She turned to meet his eyes. "Really?"

Severus nodded. "Of course. They are good people; your family."

Hermione smiled and rested her head again to his shoulder, when the compartment door swung open, revealing Lily Evans.

Severus's hold to her tightened and Hermione made no move to acknowledge the other girl. "Hello, Hermione. Mind if I sit here?" she asked politely, but was already sitting across from them even before she could answer.

Hermione sat up straight, but Sev's arm was still around her. She saw Lily frowned at Sev's arm. "Problem, Lily?" she asked her primary school classmate.

Lily looked down. "Tuney hates me," she said with tears in her eyes.

She frowned, suddenly feeling sorry for her former classmate. "Why?"

When Lily didn't say anything, Sev spoke. "' Cause she's a witch and the older girl isn't."

Lily glared at him and said nothing.

"How did you even know that?" she asked Sev casually.

"Heard them on the platform," he shrugged.

"You were spying on us!" Lily accused.

Sev scoffed. "Please. It wasn't hard to hear your sister while I was with Hermione and her family because you were practically shouting at each other."

"We were not!" replied Lily, looking annoyed.

"You were. Even heard that you scolded her for writing to Professor Dumbledore to allow her to study in Hogwarts."

Hermione was surprised but didn't show it. "Sev," she said with a warning.

Severus pressed his lips to a thin line and looked outside the window.

"Don't worry about Petunia, Lily," she said trying to comfort the girl. "She'll come around. Maybe she's just going to miss you."

Lily shook her head. "No. She's jealous because she can't perform magic."

Hermione sighed. She didn't want to argue with Lily. She had known her for six years and apart from her red hair and green eyes, Lily Evans was known for her pertinaciousness. Although, she could really believe what Lily said: Petunia was jealous. After all, the older Evans girl was also known for being pompous, according to Mona.

"Sev, can you get the book in my trunk, please?" she asked kindly. She decided to leave Lily with her thoughts and do something productive.

Severus smiled and nodded. He stood and reached for her trunk on the overhead bin. Hermione was once again impressed by his height. Sev was almost a foot taller than her and he could pass as a third or fourth year Hogwarts student with his height alone. "Which book?" he asked.

"'Hogwarts: A History'," she smiled.

Severus searched for the book in her trunk and handed it to her. Then, he also reached for his trunk to retrieve his copy of the Potions textbook. They sat beside each other again and read in silence.

They didn't notice that Lily left, until the compartment door opened and the redhead girl slumped on the chair, wiping her tears.

"What happened?" asked Hermione with genuine concern for the girl. They may not be friends, but Hermione respected Mrs. Evans, Lily's mother; Hermione's pre-school teacher. She was a very nice and kind woman. It was actually because of her former teacher that she could tolerate Lily and Petunia.

"A group of boys told me that I should go home because I don't belong to Hogwarts... they called me something nasty, about having dirty blood," Lily replied between her sobs.

Hermione reached to pat Lily's knee. "Do you know who they are?" she asked gently.

Lily shook her head. "They were already wearing school robes - green and silver."

"Slytherins," Severus said promptly.

Of course. They've read about Hogwarts Houses. Only the Slytherin House bore the colours green and silver. It was where Severus wanted to be in.

"Don't let their words affect you, Lily," she tried to comfort her. "Blood status doesn't define witches and wizards; it's their abilities and skills. I'm sure you will be able to prove yourself once the classes started."

Lily stopped crying and gave her a small smile. Hermione couldn't think of things to make Lily feel good, but thankfully, an old woman with a trolley of sweets knocked on their compartment door.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" the old woman asked.

Hermione nodded and stood up. She took a couple of everything- Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, Chocolate Frogs and many other sweets. She reached in her pockets to pay, but Severus was too quick to hand some Sickles and Knuts to the woman.

She frowned at him. "I have money, you know."

Severus smirked. "I know, but I want to pay for these," he said as he started taking a box of Chocolate Frog. "Grandfather Prince would never allow his money to be exchanged into British notes, so in the Muggle world, we don't have money. But in the wizarding community, at least, I can afford to buy something for my best friend whose family has been feeding me for the last two years," he whispered so no one would hear but her. She smiled, touched by his gesture.

"Thank you, Sev," she replied and gave him a side-hug before taking a Pumpkin Pasty. She noticed Lily still looking at the pair of them. "Have some, Lily," she offered and gestured to the sweets beside her.

Lily looked hesitant and turned to Severus, silently asking for his permission.

Sev shrugged. "They're Hermione's, too," he simply said before opening his Potions book again.

Lily smiled, tossed her hair and straightened her summer blue dress. "Thanks," she muttered before taking a Cauldron Cake.

Hermione and Lily were soon engaged in a conversation. The redhead girl asked her questions about Hogwarts Houses and Hermione gladly answered them. She told her what she read from her favourite book.

"Which House do you want to be in?" asked Lily who was nicer than earlier.

"I don't know. Maybe Ravenclaw," she admitted shyly.

"I think I want to be a Gryffindor," said Lily dreamily. "Professor McGonagall is the Gryffindor Head of House and she seems nice. I admire her."

Hermione nodded. "So, it's also Professor McGonagall who visited you, then?"

Lily nodded and turned to Severus. "How about you, Sev?" she asked.

Severus frowned. "It's Severus," he corrected and didn't answer Lily's question.

"Sev - I mean, Severus wishes to be Sorted to Slytherin. It was where his - "

Hermione wasn't able to finish because the two wizards appeared by the door (which was left open since the trolley woman left).

"Who wants to be in Slytherin?" A messy-haired boy with round spectacles sneered at her and Sev. "I'd rather be a Hufflepuff. What do you think?" he asked the boy standing next to him.

The other boy had black hair, too. Although it was curly, it wasn't messy. "Everyone in my family's Slytherin," replied the boy with a shrug.

The bespectacled boy raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm sorry." But he didn't look sorry, in Hermione's opinion.

"And you? Where do you think you'll be Sorted?" she asked with a challenging tone.

"Gryffindor, of course! The home of the brave!" he replied arrogantly.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Right. I hope you and I wouldn't be Sorted to the same House. Wouldn't want to be with someone so rude like you."

The bespectacled boy looked like he'd been slapped and glared daggers at her. Before he could say something, Hermione stood up. "Now, if you don't mind leaving our compartment? We'll be changing to our school robes."

The two black-haired boys stepped backward and Hermione took the opportunity to slide the door shut.

When she turned to Severus, he gave her an amused look and without saying anything, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder before turning back his attention to the book.

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Hogwarts was beautiful, Hermione thought. She couldn't help but fall in love with the castle as their boat neared the dock. She turned to Severus and she saw the twinkle in his eyes.

Soon, they were led by Professor McGonagall to the Great Hall, near the staff table for the Sorting Ceremony. They watched as the other first years were Sorted in different Houses. Lily Evans joined the boy with curly, black hair from the train earlier at the Gryffindor table.

"Hermione, we'll still be best friends, right?" Severus was gripping her hand, but it wasn't painful.

She beamed at him. "Of course, Sev. You'll always be my best friend."

"Puckle, Hermione!"

Hermione inhaled deeply when she heard her name was called by Professor McGonagall. She stepped forward and took her seat on the stool. The professor placed the Sorting Hat on her head. But before Professor McGonagall could release the Hat, she heard a loud voice.

"RAVENCLAW!"

She sighed in relief and got off the chair to join her new housemates, but not before giving Severus a quick hug.

She felt a bit of disappointment when Sev was Sorted to Slytherin. She somehow hoped that they would be in the same House; that he would be in Ravenclaw as well. But then, when she saw him smiling at her, the disappointment was replaced with security. She knew that Sev will always be friends with her.

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A/N II: Ooopppss! Sorry for the short chapter. There will be more, I promise! :)