I don't own Harry Potter, JKR does.  Get it through your head.

+ + +

It's the first time I've felt this lonely

Wish someone would curse this pain

It's funny when you think it's gonna work out

Till you choose weed over me your so lame!

I thought you were cool until the point

Up until the point you didn't call me when you said you would

Finally figured out you're all the same

Always coming up with some kind of story

+ + +

"Sevi. Sevi, wake up."

Severus stirred lightly as a hand shook his shoulder and a warm female voice spoke in his ear.

"Sevi, c'mon. We're here."

Severus' eyes fluttered then opened and he looked into Molly's smiling face.

"There you are. C'mon. You have to get your robes on."

"We're here?" A slight wave of nervous panic shot through Severus as he spoke these words.

"Yep," said Arthur as he entered the cab straightening his gold and scarlet tie. "Up and a'tem, Sev."

Severus sat up and rubbed his eyes. Molly meanwhile dragged out his trunk and found his robes, tossing them at him. She didn't know why but this boy just seemed to need some kind of maternal care.

"Just put those on over your clothes. Its much simpler and it really doesn't matter what you wear under them."

"Molly!"

"Oh, hush, Arthur. You know I'm right."

Arthur gave a disapproving 'huff' and picked up Severus' black tie. He looped it around the boy's head and tied it.

"There we go, you're all set," said Molly with a smile. As Severus leaned down to get his trunk, she said quickly, "Oh, leave that here. It'll be brought up to the castle."

Severus blinked then followed the two older students out onto the platform where a giant of a man with a bushy black beard and small bright eyes swung a lantern in one hand and yelled, "Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"

Molly leaned down and said, "That's Hagrid, the gamekeeper. He'll take you up to the castle."

Severus looked at her in confusion and asked, "How are you getting up there?"

"You'll find out next year," replied the girl with a mischievous grin. "Get on now. I'll see you up at the castle."

With that she took Arthur by the arm and they walked up a hill, vanishing from sight when they walked behind a tree. Severus looked after them, wishing he could go with them, after a moment he turned and walked over to where the first years were gathered around Hagrid.

"Everyone 'ere? Right then, lets go!"

The massive man lumbered off and they followed him. Severus ended up walking behind two boys who kept goofing off. One of them had unruly black hair and chocolate brown eyes framed by round, black glasses and the other had straight black hair the same length as Severus' and blue eyes. Severus had the feeling he wouldn't like them too much. They reminded him of two boys at the orphanage who constantly picked on him.

"Hello. Are you as lost as I am?"

Severus blinked and turned to find himself staring into a pair of brilliant green eyes framed by dark red hair. He blinked again and moved back a step so he could actually see the girl talking to him.

"Er…"

"What's wrong?" asked the girl. "Can't talk?"

"I can talk fine." Severus said with a bit of a scowl.

"Oooo, he can speak!"

Severus rolled his eyes and the girl grinned, holding out a hand.

"Lilliane Evans. Just call me Lily."

Severus took her hand and said, "Severus Snape."

Lily giggled and said, "Weird name. I like it."

Severus blinked and pulled his hand back when it was released from her grip. This girl was weird.

"Your very strange."

"Yeah, I know. My sister tells me that all the time."

"That your strange?"

"Yep."

"That's rude." Severus had often had manners literally beaten into his head by the matron at the orphanage.

Lily nodded. "Yeah, I know. Petunia doesn't care though. Mum and Dad let her get away with everything because she's older than me."

Severus could sympathize with that. The matron at the orphanage had her favorites too and she let them do whatever they wanted. Most of the time that consisted of their favorite game: Beat-Up-Snape. He winced and grumbled, "I know what you mean."

"Really?" said Lily. "Your sister does that?"

Severus shook his head slowly, an unmistakable longing look in his eyes. "The boys at the orphanage."

Lily looked horrified suddenly and Severus felt a surge of anger. He hated it when people pitied him because he lived in an orphanage.

"Didn't anyone stop them?"

"No. They're the matron's favorites and she lets them do anything," replied Severus sullenly.

"That's horrible."

"Hmmm, tell me about it." said Severus, turning his attention to the castle that suddenly loomed up ahead of him.

"Oh my God," breathed Lily, eyes popping.

Hagrid gestured at several boats bobbing in the lake in front of them and said, "Everybody in! Four ter a boat!"

Severus scrambled into the closest boat, finding himself paired with Lily, a pale, sickly looking boy with light brown hair, and a smug-faced boy with slicked back blond hair and steel colored eyes. He turned his attention quickly back to the slowly approaching castle and sighed.

Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, he thought, his nervous thoughts suddenly turning to those of excitement.


/ * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * /

"In a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But first, you must be Sorted. There are four Houses, each with their own history and customs. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Come along."

The first-years followed the stern looking professor into the Great Hall, where nearly every head turned to watch them. Severus found himself walking beside Lily again and the girl smiled nervously at him, unconsciously moving over closer to him. Their hands bumped against each other as they walked. He looked at her and tried smiled reassuringly. It probably didn't go off well, as he was now nervous too.

He spotted Arthur at the table to his right and waved. The red-haired boy returned the gesture and grinned. Severus looked for Molly but couldn't find her at the table. He frowned, then turned back to face the stern professor, who had brought out a four-legged stool and a battered old hat, which she placed on top of the stool. She stood aside and waited, a moment later a tear in the hat began to speak. Severus was amazed but he had learned not to show such emotions on his face. Lily however had not and she nearly knocked Severus over when she jumped in shock. After a moment she recovered from her shock but now her face was as red as her hair with embarrassment. Severus couldn't help but smirk at the girl's reaction. After the hat had finished it's poem the stern teacher walked over to it and picked it up by the tip, she then pulled out a scroll and said loudly, "When I call your name, you will sit on the stool and I will place the sorting hat on your head. Amika, Robert!"

A scrawny looking boy with dirty blond hair inched forward and sidled onto the stool. The professor plunked the hat on his head and a few moments later the hat shouted out …

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Axle, Thomas!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Black, Sirius!"

The black-haired boy Severus had been walking behind earlier stepped forward, blue eyes bright.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The scarlet table cheered and Severus spotted Arthur applauding. He spaced slightly through the sorting, staring up at the ceiling, until Lily's name was called.

"Evans, Lilliane!"

Lily jumped and stared around wide-eyed. Severus gave her a gentle shove forward towards the stool. She eyed him until the Sorting Hat fell over her eyes.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily leapt off the stool and skittered over to the scarlet table, smiling widely at Severus as she went. Severus quietly pondered over if he could consider her a friend then spaced again.

"Hamble, Samuel!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Jacobs, Michael!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Lupin, Remus!"

This was the pale, sickly looking boy that had been in Severus' boat.

"RAVENCLAW!

"Malfoy, Lucius!"

The steel eyed boy who had been in Severus' boat stepped forward, still looking smug. The hat barely touched his head before it screamed out the name of his house.

"SLYTHERIN!"

He was the first Slytherin of the night.

"Pettigrew, Peter!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Potter, James!"

The unruly haired boy that Severus had labeled trouble along with Sirius Black stepped forward with a grin. He quickly joined his companion.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Severus spaced again until he heard his name called.

"Snape, Severus!"

Mutters went up about the room as he crept through the dwindling group of first-years. He had only moments to see people's staring faces until the hat fell down over his eyes. A voice spoke in his ear a moment later.

"Well, well. Severus Snape. A proud family, the Snape's. Now, let's see what we have here."

Severus frowned. How on earth did this hat know about his family? He didn't even know anything about his family except for one member of it.

"Smart, aren't you? But Ravenclaw's not for you. Not Hufflepuff either… Hmm. You've got a good bit of courage. You could easily be a Gryffindor…"

Severus listened patiently.

"But then there's that cunning. Famous for that, you Snape's are. Only one House for you, dear boy, and that is…"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Severus slipped off the stool and walked over to the cheering green table. He was only the second Slytherin of the night.

"Severus! Down here!"

Severus blinked and stared at Molly's waving hand. He wandered over to the seventh year and sat down in the empty seat beside her. Judging from the sixth and seventh years sitting around him, she had saved the seat for him.

"Welcome to Slytherin, Severus. I was hoping you would be sorted into Slytherin."

"Molly?"

Molly grinned and said, "Look like her, don't I?"

"Er…yeah."

"There's your answer then."

Severus blinked.

"Too hyper for you?"

"Um, just a little."

"Okay, I'll calm down. What do you think?"

Severus looked up and down the table and shrugged.

"Its okay, I guess. Anything's better than…" His voice trailed off and he ducked his head. He was heavily ashamed of living in an orphanage.

Molly frowned and placed a hand on his arm. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothin'."

"You sure?"

"Yeah…"

"Okay, Sevi. Any questions? As a prefect I feel it is my job to introduce you to Hogwarts. Merlin, that sounded far too much like Gideon Laurel."

"Who?"

"Idiotic Head Boy. You don't know him and will probably never meet him, so don't worry about it."

Severus looked pensive for a moment then asked, "Why was everyone staring at me?"

Molly frowned and chewed on her lip for a moment before replying. "I'll answer that later. Right now, let's eat!"

/ * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * /

"Welcome to Slytherin." Said a cool aristocratic voice.

Severus looked up into the steel colored eyes of Lucius Malfoy and mumbled, "Thanks." He wasn't really paying much attention to anything besides where he was walking, which was to the Slytherin dormitory in the dungeons. Molly had told him to wait for her in the common room, as she'd just be a moment. Dumbledore apparently wanted to talk to the prefects and the Head Boy and Girl, so as she was one, she had to go.

"So, you're a Snape."

"Yeah," said Severus dully.

"Imagine that. You don't look like much," sneered Lucius at the small thin boy in front of him. Severus looked up at him and glared, which really didn't suit him as he could be classified as 'cute' with his large almond shaped eyes and dark hair. But it made Lucius' eyes widen.

"Perhaps I should halt my first impression and wait till I know you better," mused Lucius. He held out his hand and said, "Lucius Malfoy."

Severus looked down at Lucius' hand but didn't take it. He didn't trust this boy. He'd always had a sense for who he could and could not trust. Malfoy was definitely classified in the could not category. Severus had the feeling that Malfoy could only be trusted to give you a knife in the back.

Looking back up into the slightly taller boy's face, he said, "Severus Snape. Excuse me." With that Severus pushed his way forward into the crowd, not catching the impressed look that came over Lucius' face.

"Sev. Sev, will you wake up?"

Severus lifted his head groggily from where he had laid it on the chair arm.

"Eh?"

"Merlin, you sleep like a rock. Wake up, sunshine. You want to hear why everyone was staring at you, don't you?"

"In the mornin'," grumbled Severus as he rolled over and ended up falling out of the chair onto the floor with a 'whuff' of expelled breath. When he opened his eyes he saw Molly leaning over him, eyes glittering with amusement.

"Was that fun?"

Severus snarled in response and sat up, running a hand through his hair.

"Oh, you are a morning person, aren't you?"

"Sod off."

"You want to hear or not?"

Severus sighed and dragged himself back up into his chair. He crossed his arms and glared sullenly at Molly before grumbling, "Alright…"

Molly dragged a small footstool up beside him and settled onto it before speaking.

"Well, the Snape's are an old pureblood family. Older than Arthur's and his is pretty old, which you would think would earn them some respect, even though blood purity doesn't really matter in my opinion, but still most people look down on them." All this came out in one long rant that left Molly breathless for a moment.

"Why?" asked Severus sleepily.

"Something about an ancestor of his swindling money. But we're not talking about Arthur's family, are we? We're talking about yours."

"Eh…."

"Boring you?"

Severus made a snoring sound.

"Alright, alright, I'll get to the point. But if you go to sleep before I finish, I'll hex you."

"Yes, Mother."

Molly rolled her eyes but smiled good-naturedly and continued speaking. "Anyway, like I said, the Snape's are an old pureblood family. Even older than the Malfoy's, who have been around since the Founder's time. Most Snape's were known to be Dark Wizards and to ally themselves to the Dark Wizards who have popped up from time to time. I heard once that a Snape married one of Salazar Slytherin's great-granddaughter's."

"Mmm-hmmm."

"Boring you?"

"Oh, no, not at all."

"Sarcasm. How lovely."

"Just continue."

"Fine, Mr. I-Want-To-Go-To-Bed-As-Quickly-As-Possible."

Severus glowered at her, though the effect was lost when he yawned. Molly laughed and got a scowl in response.

"You're cute when you do that."

Severus growled under his breath.

"Okay, okay. So, the Snape's are very famous among the wizarding world. Very well known and respected, even if a few of them were Dark Wizards. Supposedly the last remaining Snape's – a Sadiron and Amara Snape – had a son but he disappeared years ago. Unfortunately, both of them were killed a few years ago so there's no one to say if you're their son or not."

"So, I could be or I couldn't be."

"That's basically it."

"Okay. That all?"

"Yep."

"So can I go to sleep now?"

Molly rolled her eyes at the pleading tone in his voice and grimaced when Severus gave her a 'puppy look'. She sighed, giving in.

"Alright. Bed."

"Yay!"

Molly laughed then rose, pushing the stool back into place with her foot. She walked off towards the girl's dormitories, saying, "Good night, Sevi," over her shoulder. A sleepy "G'nigh'," answered her and she grinned before vanishing through the door and closing it behind her.

Severus wandered into the first year boy's dorms and collapsed onto his bed, asleep before his head hit the pillow.

+ + +

Catch your breath hit the wall

Scream out loud as you start to crawl

Back in your cage the only place where they will leave you alone

'Cause the weak will seek the weaker until they've broken them

Could you get it back again

Would it be the same

+ + +

The first song is Too Much To Ask by Avril Lavigne and the second is Simon by Lifehouse.

Has anyone ever noticed that Slytherin is mentioned last? Is it because we have so many Dark Wizards? *shakes fist* We Slythies are not evil! We are MISUNDERSTOOD!!

Or maybe it's just listed in alphabetical order… abcdefGHijklmnopqRStuvwxyz. Oh look! Gryff and Huffle are together and so are Slyth and Raven. Weird…

Also, this branches a little into the Snape family history from the Snake and Wolf Series.