Sev woke up on his first morning at Hogwarts and stared around him in confusion for a minute before remembering the last night, he smiled as he realised that he was really at Hogwarts and that he'd been sorted into Ravenclaw, he'd have to write to his Mum soon and tell her the good news, he hoped she'd be proud of him and just as happy as he was sure that Lily's parents would be when they heard where they'd both been sorted.

He made quick work of getting up and getting clean and showered, something which was much easier since Lily's Mum had been working with him and showing him how to wash and comb his hair and eventually convincing him to get it cut slightly shorter so it was more manageable, he had to admit that he did like it now he was a bit more confident as it framed his face nicely without hanging in his eyes. He changed into his new uniform and stopped to admire his reflection, Lily was right he really was beginning to look like a proper wizard he thought as he made his way down to the common room eager to see if any of the other first-years were up yet, he couldn't wait to start learning and find out what classes they had today.

He wasn't waiting long before he was joined by some of the boys from his dorm and they were soon chatting and wondering what their first lessons would be. Sev was quite content to sit on the sidelines, nodding and occasionally offering his own thoughts. Lily was not far behind and soon came bounding down the steps from the girl's dormitory chatting happily with some of the other girls but she immediately gave him a big smile when she saw him and introduced him to her new friends while they waited for one of the prefects to show them the way down to the great hall.

They spotted Scott and Remus on their way down, who seemed to be amongst the first of the Gryffindor first years up and waved in greeting to them, they both smiled and seemed happy to see them before continuing their animated discussion. They were pleased to see that the table was laid with porridge, toast, eggs, bacon, sausages and a variety of cereals and jams and spreads as well as pitchers of different juice and milk for people to help themselves to.

More students drifted in as they were eating and when most of the students had arrived Professor Flitwick came round cheerfully greeting his students and handing out timetables and maps of the school. Flitwick stopped at Severus's place and asked him if he could come up to his office at the end of the day, he nodded his agreement as the professor left him pondering why he could possibly want to see him so soon well for once he was confident that he hadn't got into trouble yet.

Lily and Sev eagerly looked over their timetables and discovered that they had Charms first followed by Defence Against The Dark Arts and Transfiguration. They were excited about this as they already knew Professor McGonagall and were eager to see what they'd be learning and one of the prefects had told them that their head of house taught Charms and was very knowledgeable, it looked as though it was going to be an interesting start to the week.

One of the prefects gathered up all the first years and showed them the way up to the third floor and pointed out where the charms classroom was. Professor Flitwick greeted them all before launching into a short speech introducing the subject and explaining some of the charms they would be learning. They exchanged an excited glance when they heard that the charms they'd be learning included a fire-making charm and ice jinx, locking and unlocking charms, and wand lighting charm.

He amused the class by demonstrating how to make a pineapple tap-dance across his desk before showing them all a simple levitation charm, he went through the precise swish and flick wand movements and pronunciation before demonstrating by levitating a feather and setting them to practise in pairs.

Lily, it turned out, was a natural at charms and managed to make her feather float on virtually the first attempt, much to their professor's delight as he let out a squeak of excitement and awarded her 5 points, as it turned out that not only was she good at charms but also had the makings of a good teacher. Far from being smug, she patiently helped Sev and some of the other students who were having trouble, slowly demonstrating the wand movement and the incantation "wingardium leviosa". With her help, it wasn't long before Sev had also managed to float his feather much to his delight and Lily was thrilled for him as well that he'd managed to pick it up so quickly.

After charms, they had time for a quick break and decided to sit out in the courtyard and have a look through their books. They had Defence Against The Dark Arts next and a perfect again showed them the way to the DADA class on the third floor where they waited eagerly, Sev for one couldn't wait to see what they'd be learning. Unfortunately, the lesson turned out to be a letdown, this year's teacher seemed to be focused mainly on teaching the theory with a lecture delivered in a dry monotone that sent most people to sleep, he and Lily agreed that if this was going to be an indication for the rest of the year they would have to do a lot of self-study. By the time they were done, they were more than ready for some lunch.

They were given directions and managed to navigate their way to the Transfiguration classroom. Everyone was chattering excitedly as they entered and sat down wondering where their teacher was when to everyone's surprise a grey tabby with ring-like markings like glasses jumped up onto the teacher's desk. Several students cooed over the cat as they all watched wondering what was going to happen next, suddenly the cat leapt down and vanished in a grey whirlwind out of which emerged Professor McGonagall much to the shock of the students. Sev couldn't help whispering excitedly to Lily that this meant that she was an animagus earning him a disapproving frown, he looked sheepish and gave her his most apologetic smile.

She soon launched into lecture mode explaining about some of the types of Transfiguration they would learn. She explained that this subject was more of an exact science than charms as they were transforming one object to another, there was much more potential for things to go wrong and making it clear that anyone who messed about in her classroom would be leaving and not coming back, it was clear that she was a much stricter teacher than Professor Flitwick.

She told them that Transfiguration could be dated back to ancient times with a notable example being the Greek goddess and enchantress Circes who was known for turning her enemies into animals, including turning the crew of the Odysseus into pigs. She then demonstrated turning her desk into a pig and back again, Sev and Lily had already seen it but it was still just as impressive the second time around. She then set them to studying the Transfiguration alphabet and formula that was necessary for all transformations.

Sev remembered that Flitwick had asked to see him after class and made his excuses, telling Lily he'd meet her in the Great Hall before making his way up to his office. He knocked and entered after Professor Flitwick had told him to come in and take a seat.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?" he asked nervously.

"Ah yes, I trust you've been settling in and enjoying your lessons?" he asked jovially as he put aside some marking he'd been doing.

"Yes Sir, very much, I really enjoyed your lesson earlier, it was very interesting and a lot of fun. Transfiguration was uh challenging. I'm really looking forward to potions" he said.

He laughed good-heartedly "Good that's what I like to hear, yes I hear that a lot Transfiguration is certainly more technical but stick with it and I'm sure you'll pick it up in no time. Professor Slughorn will be glad to hear that you are passionate about potions"

He blushed slightly "my mother taught me all about potions and how to identify and harvest plants for them"

Professor Flitwick looked through his file "ah yes Miss Prince I believe she was a good student, no doubt you'll do well in Herbology as well in that case" he said smiling.

"I hope so. Uh, I was just wondering what you wanted to see me about, I'm not in trouble am I?" he asked tentatively.

"Oh right, of course, I didn't really explain earlier, did I. No, you're not in trouble, Professor McGonagall happened to share some of your history with me since I'm your head of house and we agreed that it would be a good idea for you to see the school nurse for a check-up to make sure that you're healthy and not in need of any treatment, it shouldn't take long"

"Oh" he replied not entirely sure how to feel about this news.

Professor Flitwick apparently picked up on his reluctance as he quickly tried to reassure him "now there's nothing to worry about, it sounds like your new family's been doing a very good job treating you so hopefully this should be just a formality just to check that we can't be doing anything else for you and our nurse Madam Pomfrey is very good and knows what she's doing so you'll be in safe hands. Right then shall we go and get it over so you can head back down and rejoin your friends?" He said, smiling reassuringly at him and patting his hand with one of his small ones.

Seve looked up and attempted to smile at him, it didn't sound so bad he supposed he could give it a go "ok"

"That's the ticket, come on, I'll tell you some of my anecdotes on the way" he said smiling kindly at him.

They soon arrived at the hospital wing and Flitwick introduced him to the matron, a woman with a kind face and an old-fashioned nurse's uniform. He could tell when she turned to him that she wouldn't take any nonsense.

"Ah good Mr Snape now if you'll just take a seat on one of those beds then I'll just run some tests" she said before muttering a spell and running her wand up and down him before a parchment popped out of nowhere. She took a moment to examine whatever information it contained before nodding, apparently satisfied.

"Very good. While the scan does indicate a long history of abuse and malnourishment, the more recent results and doctor's reports they sent over are much more positive, indicating a good deal of healing and weight within a normal range. Am I correct in hearing that you started living with a new family recently?"

"Yes ma'am, Lily's family the Evans took me in a bit over a year ago"

"They're muggles, correct?" he nodded "they treated you well?" another nod "did they take you to see a doctor?"

"Yes ma'am, it was the first time I'd seen one. They treated me after my father beat me and the doctor prescribed some treatments as well and some special cream for my skin and shampoo for my hair"

"Good, it appears they have done a good job, you are very lucky there is not much that I need to do. However some scars cannot be treated exclusively with muggle methods and your nutrient levels are still not quite what they should be, I will prescribe you nutrient potions for the time being to have with your meals. I can also run some spells and give you some creams that will help get rid of most of that scarring. If you would be so good as to slip on one of those gowns for me so I can get a proper look"

He obliged, watching her as she worked. To his surprise, he didn't feel particularly nervous now that he'd had some experience of Doctor's and he peered curiously over her shoulder to try and get a good look at the creams she was using "what kind of salve is that?" he asked as she started rubbing one into the scars on his back.

"It's a special one that Professor Slughorn makes for me. It's called Star Gras salve and is very soothing. These ones contain dittany and murtlap essence which are good for sensitive skin and encourage healing. Are you interested in potions then?"

"Yes very much so, my mother taught me a lot about potions and Mrs Evans taught me and Lily some of the home remedies passed down from her mother. What was that spell you used earlier?"

She told him, demonstrating the movements "are you interested in healing then?"

He thought about this, he supposed he was somewhat now that he'd learnt that doctors and nurses were not as scary as he'd first thought, he wanted to be able to help people so no one would have to endure the pain he did and expressed this to the nurse.

"Well, I can always use an extra pair of hands if you're hardworking and willing to learn that's all I ask. There you are all done, they're already looking much better, some of them may require a further application but they should soon disappear altogether over the next few days"

Meanwhile, Lily had gone up to the common room and was getting a bit concerned wondering what was taking her friend so long as it was approaching dinner time so she decided to approach one of the prefects asking if they'd seen him.

They looked thoughtful "hm I think I saw them heading off in the direction of the hospital wing earlier." one of them replied.

"The hospital wing?!" she replied worriedly wondering what could have happened for him to be heading there already.

"Yes it looked that way, he looked fine though, probably just going for a check-up with the nurse" the girl reassured her.

"Oh" she sighed with relief "still I might go and wait for him just in case, do you know how to get there?" he gave her directions and she quickly headed off in that direction until she encountered her head of house who had returned to check on his student.

"Ah, Miss Evans, are you alright?" he asked with some slight concern.

"Oh yes Sir, I just heard my friend had been brought here and I wanted to check he was ok, he's not hurt is he?"

"Oh, you must mean Mr Snape, yes he's quite fine, just a standard check-up given his history, if you'll just wait here I'm sure he'll be out in a minute" she thanked him and waited patiently for her friend.

He emerged a few minutes later with Professor Flitwick "Sev are you ok? I was worried wondering where you were" she said rushing over to him.

"Oh hi, I'm fine Lily really. Madam Pomfrey just prescribed me some treatments to fade my scars. I've been asking her lots of questions and she says I'm welcome to come down and help if I'd like, she even recommended some products to stop my hair from getting greasy and tangled"

"That's great, I'm happy for you, it'll make things much easier" she said happily knowing how he'd been worried about people seeing his scars and managing his hair so it wouldn't turn horrible and greasy again, he nodded smiling his agreement.

They went down to the great hall after that and discussed their first lessons, most of the students agreed that Transfiguration was going to be quite interesting but hard work and Sev thought he might even have a slight headache. Some of the older students overheard them discussing their teachers and Professor McGonagall's grand entrance and said that it was a standard trick that she liked to perform on all first-year students. Some of the older students explained that there had been having trouble finding a DADA teacher who lasted more than a year and as a consequence, it was always a guessing game whether they'd get anyone who was any good at teaching.

After dinner one of the prefects showed them the way to the library joking that he was sure that they'd be spending a lot of time here since they were in Ravenclaw and he stayed with some of his year mates to oversee their study session as they made a start on their first homework also pointed out some books that would assist them in their DADA studies.

The next day they had another Transfiguration session where they practised turning matches into needles and found that it was very technical and frustratingly a lot harder than it looked, Sev glowered at his match and tried to figure out if it looked slightly more shiny than it had before. Looking around the room he was relieved to realise he was not the only one who had not had much luck at Transfiguration.

History Of Magic was next, it was a mixed class and the first time they'd had a class with Scott and the rest of the Gryffindors. James and Sirius decided to sit at the back and Lily and Sev decided to join them with Scott and Remus sitting close by and as far away from the Slytherins who were either ignoring them or giving them evil looks. They wondered what it would be like having a ghost for a teacher thinking that it could be quite an interesting class. Unfortunately, the most exciting part seemed to be his not-so-spectacular entrance floating through the blackboard before Professor Binns launched into a lecture on the Golbin Wars.

Before too long most of the students were asleep or messing about and even Sev was finding it hard to stay focused, for that matter even the teacher seemed to be struggling not to nod off and was oblivious to his student's boredom. Sirus got bored fairly quickly and rolled his eyes at James and they started discussing pranks while looking across at the Slytherins, he had a feeling this wasn't going to end well. Sev decided to take advantage of the chance to catch up with his friends and exchange notes on their first lessons since they clearly weren't going to learn much interesting.

They all agreed that Transfiguration was the hardest class so far, although James had had some luck with transforming his match, Charms was Lily's favourite so far and Herbology was Scott's perhaps unsurprisingly, Remus said that Professor Sprout had praised him for his good work and said that he had a natural affinity with plants but Scott flushed with colour and muttered saying that it was nothing really. They all agreed that the DADA teacher was rubbish and agreed that it would be a good idea to set up a study group consisting of them and any other interested students so they could actually learn some defence and help each other with the classes that they were weak at.

After lunch, Lily and Sev were again shown the way down to Greenhouse 1 where the first-year Herbology classes took place. They were greeted by Professor Sprout who was a plump rosy-cheeked woman dressed practically in sturdy robes that were already covered in many dark stains. She introduced them to the topic going over some basic health and safety and covering the protective gear they'd be using and some of the plants they'd be studying. There would apparently be a lot of lectures and demonstrations at first with some practical work as many of the plants were either very dangerous or delicate. She also introduced them to Wormwood, a bitter herb with fine silver leaves which Sev knew was used in several potions including the Draught Of Living Death and the Elixir To Induce Euphoria, his extensive knowledge impressed his teacher and earned him 10 house points for Ravenclaw, Lily also pointed out that it was used in the Shrinking Solution earning them more points. Finally, they finished off by trying their hand at potting on some young Wormwood plants. Sev chatted animatedly to Lily on their way out explaining that it had many medicinal uses and that like many plants the Latin name of Artemisia came from Greek mythology and it was named after the Goddess of the hunt Artemis.

Friday was the day that Sev had been most eagerly looking forward to as this would be the day that they would have their first potions class, a subject that was close to his heart as his mother had introduced him to early on, it was one of the few things he'd been able to practise before starting Hogwarts. He'd instantly fallen in love with the subject, and he had as much of a natural affinity for it as Lily did for Charms and Scott did for Herbology.

They eagerly entered the classroom. It was quite different from any of the other classrooms which were normally bright spaces flooded by natural light or the DADA class which was somewhat more creepy with all the artefacts and creature skeletons hung from the ceiling. This classroom was a cavernous space that appeared to be carved out of stone with high ceilings and archways with shelves of ingredients and words inscribed in Latin upon them. It felt cold compared with the warmer classrooms upstairs and was set up with multiple workstations and a door leading off to another room or storage cupboard on the far side.

He and Lily selected seats near the front and listened intently to the Professor took a position at the front of the class, and told them all the basics of potion making and what potions they'd be covering that year, he already knew much of the information but still hung off his every word.

Professor Slughorn was a rotund man of considerable girth with thinning straw-like hair. He was well dressed in old-fashioned velvet robes and a fancy waistcoat that appeared to be straining at the seams with the buttons looking ready to pop. The man himself was jovial while addressing the class and soon set them to make one of the simplest potions a Cure For Boils potion in pairs.

Severus was familiar with almost all of the first-year potions, having enthusiastically leafed through his mother's old books many times, and memorised the text and so went to fetch the ingredients, while Lilly familiarised herself with the recipe and set up the equipment they'd need.

They made a good pair and worked efficiently through the steps, weighing and preparing the ingredients first so they wouldn't have to worry about doing so while brewing. They then took turns stirring and keeping an eye on the cauldron. Sev had learnt some handy tips and shortcuts from his mother and helped demonstrate the techniques to Lily, finding she was also a natural.

He couldn't help but look up as they were working and noticed Professor Slughorn going around the class observing his students, offering advice and correcting mistakes. It appeared to him that he spent considerably more time chatting with certain students, notably those that he thought were purebloods whilst virtually ignoring other students who were less confident or able.

They were almost finished with their potion by the time their teacher waddled his way over to them and Lily was dying up their workspace as he was finishing off the potion. Slughorn's eyes were immediately drawn to Lily and he peered into their cauldron before lavishing his praises on his friend, much to her embarrassment "I say is this your first time brewing? This is a marvellous effort, the colour and consistency is just right a perfect example, it appears we've got quite the talented young brewer here" he continued.

Sev sighed and tried to ignore him while Lily blushed at being singled out "thank you professor but you see it was actually my friend Severus who did most of the work. You see his mother was very good at potions and she taught him everything she knew and he's been teaching me so I would be prepared for classes" she said when she was finally able to get a word in edgeways to the astonished professor. Sev for his part kept his head down and tried to hide a smirk at Lily's intervention.

Slughorn finally got his wits about him and turned his gaze from the beautiful and charismatic young muggle girl to her much shyer and more unassuming dark-haired young friend, feeling somewhat embarrassed he blustered an apology towards her before addressing the boy "of course my dear my apologies. Mr Snape isn't it? May I ask who taught you how to brew like that?" he asked curious as to who the boy's mother was as he certainly wasn't a pureblood with a name like Snape, and not a muggleborn if his mother had taught him, which meant he must be a half-blood.

He raised his head to look directly at his teacher and addressed him politely "yes Sir, it was my mother Eileen Prince she taught me to appreciate the fine art of potion-making and the beauty of a softly simmering cauldron" he said smiling innocently as he enjoyed watching the realisation dawn on his face.

Well, that was a surprise that this boy was descended from the noble prince line he thought, it would explain a lot as nobody had heard much from the young daughter Eileen since she'd graduated from Hogwarts, it had been as though she'd disappeared entirely. It would certainly explain the boy's natural brewing talent, and his look had a certain air of the Prince line, he'd inherited the dark hair, eyes and fine bone structure common to the Prince males he thought as he tried to compose himself. "ah I see of course Miss Prince was a very talented student, you know I taught her how to brew like that. Hopefully, you've inherited her talent for brewing eh? Well, I'll be expecting great things from the two of you in the future" he said smiling genially at them before waddling away. Lily and Sev couldn't help but exchange a sly grin at the encounter as they tried to stifle their laughter.

Their final lesson for the day was Flying class, a lesson which they were both somewhat nervous about as neither of them had ever flown before. Their teacher Madam Hooch, a stern-looking woman with spiky grey hair and strange amber eyes, instructed them to pick a broom and form two lines.

Trevor and some of their other housemates who had flown before pointed out the better brooms with a good head of even lengthed twigs and they both picked one and stood together.

Madam Hooch instructed them to call the brooms to their hands with a sharp, clear command of up. Lily quickly got her broom to obey and Sev concentrated and soon after his broom jumped into his hands, he looked around it seemed to be an even split between those holding a broom and those whose brooms obstinately refused to budge.

Eventually, everyone had hold of a broom and she instructed the class to mount their brooms and hover. Sev did so with a feeling of trepidation hoping he would be able to balance on the broom without falling off, he felt somewhat nervous as his broom lifted gently off the ground and he tried to find his centre of balance before sighing in relief as he managed to maintain a hover, satisfied he looked around at his friends who were managing with varying degrees of success, at least he wasn't a total clutz so far.

Once everyone was reasonably happy and hovering successfully their teacher gave them further instructions, demonstrating the basics of how to steer their brooms before allowing them to practise for themselves and instructing them not to fly any higher than the walls of the training ground.

While Madam Hooch was going round and giving out more individual help to those students who were struggling, Sev started to copy her with some trepidation. He leaned forward gripping the broom tightly and managed to get the broom going at a reasonable speed before practising turning, it actually felt quite liberating flying, it made him feel free of all the burdens of his past he thought as he returned to where Trevor was giving Lily some instruction, they smiled and complimented him on his first time flying.

On the way back they saw a group of first-year Gryffindors coming back from their lessons and called over to them, Scott and Remus saw them and waited as they made their way over. They decided that since it was the last lesson of the day that they would go out and sit by the lake to catch up

"So you just had your first flying lesson, what did you think?" Remus asked.

"It was good, really liberating" Sev said eagerly.

"It was alright" Lily agreed nonchalantly smiling "what about you?"

"It was uh" Remus paused as though searching for the right word "interesting"

"Oh?" "It was good except for those Slytherins we met were trying to cause trouble and Potter and Black couldn't resist showing off and taunting them as though they were on stage, I swear Potter acts as though he's already a professional Quidditch player. Madam Hooch was getting quite irritated with them" Scott explained.

"I take it you're not a fan of theirs?" Sev asked.

"I'm worried they're going to do something foolish, the way they were going at it I'm surprised they didn't break their necks. I swear they would have hexed each other if there hadn't been a teacher present" he snorted in irritation.

"You were flying quite well yourself" Remus pointed out.

"Yes, but I wasn't showing off and risking my neck doing it" Scott pointed out.

Author's Notes:

So finally after a long wait working and writing on different things I finally feel as though I've got a few short chapters ready to add to the story. It's by no means a complete continuation of the story but it's a starting point.