It all started on the day of my first train ride to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I was ten years old, having been accepted earlier than most for my intelligence and skill in Potions and Dark Arts. I had always been an ugly child, with sallow skin and a too-prominent nose. But it had never mattered to me. I was too obsessed with learning, with reading every book I could get my hands on. And I was so naïve. I honestly thought that Hogwarts would be just like home; I would be able to continue my studies with no distraction. I never thought about the social aspect of going to a boarding school. I never thought of the other children, and how they would view me, how they would judge me without even getting to know me.
I had boarded the train, found an empty compartment, and settled down with (name of book), one of my favorites at the time. I was engrossed as usual. That was when the compartment door busted open, and my life was changed forever. In walked a group of boys. One was tall, with black messy hair and bright hazel eyes. Another had dark brown hair and gray eyes, and the last boy was short and rather fat, and wore a timid expression on his face.
"Hey," said the one with black messy hair, "I'm James Potter, who are you?" I looked up from my book briefly. "Severus Snape," I said quietly, then returned to my reading. Potter wrinkled his nose. "I've never heard that surname." "Mmmm," I replied, eyes still on my book. "This is Sirius Black, and this," he indicated the fat boy "is Peter. Peter Pettigrew." This time I looked up.
"Sirius Black? My mum and yours are friends, I think." He frowned, then looked at James. "Oh," was all he could say.
I raised an eyebrow. I didn't understand why he'd reacted that way. Not then, at any rate. But I would understand later, in years to come, that he hated his family and anything connected to them in any way.
"So…what are you reading?" inquired Potter. I turned the book towards him so that he could see the title. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh," he said. "Well, what House are you going for?"
"Slytherin, naturally. They're the best house of all of them." I answered calmly.
"Slytherin? But they're evil! Grindelwald was a Slytherin! Why would you ever want to be in that House…" Pettigrew trailed off as Black elbowed him in the ribs.
"It's what my parents would want, I suppose." Was it my imagination, or did Black's eyes suddenly fill with empathy? It didn't matter to me. I went back to my book. "If you wouldn't mind, I want to read."
Black nodded. "It's fine, Snape. We understand," he said firmly, ushering Pettigrew and Potter out of the compartment. "See you around," he called as he closed the door. Left alone, I put down my book and pondered over what had happened. I didn't think I cared for Pettigrew or that Potter, but Black was all right. I hoped he would be Sorted into Slytherin, where I knew I was going. My parents had firmly drilled the necessity of being Sorted there for a week before my coming. I didn't mind; Slytherin was said to be a House of ambition and cunning, and I had quite a bit of both.
I was staring at the wall, thinking things over, when the compartment door opened again. I looked up, expecting the cart lady, but instead found myself staring into a pair of the most gorgeous green eyes I had ever beheld. After a moment, I realized that the eyes were attached to a rather attractive face, and that the face was attached to a tall, slender body.
"Hi," the girl said. "I'm Lily Evans, mind if I sit here?" I managed to stop staring at her long enough to stutter, "S-sure. I'm S-Severus Snape, by the way."
"Nice to meet you Severus," she smiled. She took a seat across from me. I couldn't stop looking at her blood red, wavy hair. Everything about her seemed perfect. I know it's a cliché, but it was love at first sight – for me, at least.
"I'm so nervous!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide as she looked at me.
"Why would you be nervous? It's just Hogwarts, after all. Surely you've known for a long time that you'd be coming here eventually."
She shook her head rapidly. "I didn't, actually. I'm Muggle-born, and I didn't know that the wizarding world existed, let alone that it had a school, until my letter came."
No doubt I had turned pale, as she was looking at me puzzledly, one eyebrow raised. "Is something wrong, Severus?"
I couldn't speak; I was in too deep a shock. This was one of the Mudbloods my father had warned me about since I was a child? This beautiful girl? No, it wasn't possible; Father had told me that Mudbloods and Muggles were all filthy, selfish, unnatural creatures, which this girl, Lily was obviously not.
"You're – you're Muggle-born?" I asked again.
"Yes, is that something unusual around here? I bet it is – are you sure there's nothing wrong, you're pale as a ghost!"
"No, it's – I'm fine. So what house do you want to be Sorted into?"
"Um," she said nervously, twisting a lock of red hair around her finger, "I'm not really sure. I don't know anything about the four houses, so I'm afraid I'm rather lost."
"Well, I'll explain it to you if you want. The four houses are Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff is the house for the complete dullards, the really 'loyal' ones; they'll believe anything at all. Ravenclaw is a pretty good House, it's for all the intellects. Slytherin is the best out of the four and the one I'm going for; it's good for those who are cunning and have a lot of ambition. I'd leave if they put me in Gryffindor. It's really where all the brave, show-offy fools are put – "
"I'll try not to get put in Gryffindor, then," she interrupted, smiling at me. My heart leapt. "Well, Slytherin and Ravenclaw sound best out of the four."
"Well, you couldn't get into Slytherin," I blurted without thinking. "Why not? I have plenty of cunning and ambition, thank you very much." I shook my head. "What? Don't believe me? Well I'll have you know, Severus Snape, that – "
"It's not because of that. It's because you're a Mud – Muggleborn." I said, slightly embarrassed at having to be the one to tell her this.
"What?"
"Well, Slytherin doesn't accept M-Muggleborns…If you had one wizarding parent, or even a grandparent, you'd qualify…"
"Oh…why won't they let people like me in?"
"You have to have pure wizarding blood," I said quietly.
"Well, that's ridiculous!" She exclaimed angrily.
I raised an eyebrow. "I guess so," I acknowledged. I'd never thought about it all from the perspective of a Mud-Muggleborn; this was all entirely new to me. I'd only just met the girl and already she was changing my perspective, the way I thought.