PART I

Chapter 5: The Half Blood Prince

Severus waited nearly two weeks before the next time he saw Lily Evans. After their encounter in Diagon Alley, he returned to the rundown industrial town that had been his home for nearly two months. Eileen had purchased a small, inconspicuous house with some Muggle money she obtained by selling some of the more conventional Prince family heirlooms to a local pawnshop.

At first, Severus hated the house on Spinner's End. He found it to be cold, scary, and empty; however, shortly after moving in, he began to appreciate how much happier his mother was without having his father lurking around spitting insults and criticizing her behavior. He noticed that she regularly used magic to perform basic household chores, and had begun filling out job applications in response to ads in the Daily Prophet. Eileen decorated the shabby house with furniture purchased at a resale shop and lined the walls with an obscene amount of books from the Prince family library. Every night she would read to Severus about the wizarding world until his eyelids became heavy and he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of his future at Hogwarts where he would learn to be a powerful wizard. He told himself he would learn to be strong enough to protect his mother one day as she had protected him.

In early September, Severus found Lily sitting by herself in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, a large leather-bound book spread on her lap. He thought the new scarlet robes she was wearing made her look like a particularly pretty witch. He heaved the glass door open, grinning widely, and struggled to lift his trunk onto the overhead luggage rack.

"Sev!" cried Lily. She was the only person who ever referred to him using anything other than his given name. He liked the nickname, seeing it as a special term coined just for the two of them. "Did you find your way to the platform all right?"

Severus lowered himself carefully into the seat opposite Lily. "Yes, my mum remembered how to do it from when she was in school."

"That's nice," Lily giggled. "My parents nearly fainted when they saw me run through that wall."

Severus laughed dryly, and looked at Lily expectantly. When the two of them were together, she usually directed the topic of conversation and Severus followed her train of thought loyally. Her mind took him to places he would never think to go himself.

"Have you practiced any magic over the summer?" she asked excitedly.

"Just the usual," Severus said slyly. After their first conversation about the wizarding world, Severus would frequently accompany Lily to her room where he would demonstrate the more entertaining spells his mother had taught him. Lily could even do a few simple charms already, but Severus was much more experienced even for a young wizard.

"Well, I have already read through the book you gave me," Lily said lifting the book on her lap to reveal the title: Hogwarts: A History. "It's so interesting, but there's so much to learn. I feel like I am going to be so behind. Everyone else has grown up knowing these things their entire life and I am just going to have to catch up. Thank goodness I know you, Sev!"

Severus blushed. "You'll be fine, Lily. None of this stuff is too difficult and you can ask me about anything."

Lily looked around the compartment as though searching for somewhere to start. "What do you know about the sorting ceremony and the four houses?"

"Well," said Severus astutely as if beginning a lecture, "my mother told me that all the first year students are sorted into one of the houses that belonged the four founders of Hogwarts. Each student wears this special hat and it assigns you to a house based on your characteristics and personality. My mum was in Gryffindor. That is Godric Gryffindor's house, and the Sorting Hat tends to put brave wizards there." Severus shifted in his seat. "I think it chose correctly for her."

"And what are the other houses?" asked Lily eagerly.

"There is Ravenclaw, a house for wizards who are exceptionally intelligent. Hufflepuff is where loyal and friendly wizards are sorted. And then there is Slytherin." Severus fiddled with the sleeves of his robes a bit. "Most dark wizards have been sorted into the house of Salazaar Slytherin."

"Dark wizards?" Lily asked looking at him inquisitively with her stunning green eyes.

"I am sure you read the chapter about the subject of Defense Against the Dark Arts in the book I gave you. The reason why we take such a course is that there are many wizards who choose to focus on particularly dark magic, like the spells listed in the Appendix."

"Really?" Lily looked shocked. "People still do those things?"

"Yes," Severus said uncomfortably turning his head to look out the window. "Even though the field has very negative reputation, the Dark Arts can be particularly useful in certain situations." Lily looked curious, and he decided it would be best to change the subject. "Would you like me to teach you a wizarding game? I brought a deck of cards for Exploding Snap."

"I'll have plenty of time to catch up on all the latest wizarding games this year. Why don't we have one last game of Muggle cards?" She reached into her newly purchased robes and procured a package of regular playing cards. "How about Gin?"

Severus nodded and Lily turned down the foldable table and began dealing. Severus had fanned out his cards and was beginning to plan his first move when the door slid open roughly revealing a tall handsome boy with long blonde hair and aristocratic facial features. Two stocky fellows stood on either side of him. The one on the right had sandy hair and a face that resembled that of a bulldog. The one on the left was slightly taller, but also appeared a bit dimwitted. Severus noticed the shiny gold prefect's badge on the blond boy's expensive-looking robes.

"Ahhh, what do we have here?" asked the blond eyeing the card game on the table. "Playing Muggle games are we? First years I assume?"

Severus nodded defensively. "Who are you?"

"I am Lucius Malfoy," the boy replied lazily. "I am a prefect and it is my duty to ensure that everyone on the train is following the rules. I see we have a problem here"

"I didn't read anything about card games being against school rules," said Lily smartly.

Lucius glared at the little girl. "There are some unwritten rules at this school that those of us who care about the future of our kind go out of our way to enforce," he snapped. "Where did you get these cards?"

"My mother and father," said Lily scowling.

"Muggle born, I see. And you?' he turned to Severus. "I assume you also come from undesirable parentage?"

Severus was fuming, but many years of bullying at school had taught him to control his temper in order to avoid unnecessary injuries. "My mother is Eileen Prince," said Severus through gritted teeth. "And my father—"

"Ahhh, Prince," interrupted Lucius, "an old and respectable wizarding family. I believe my grandfather did business with a Prince some years ago. I suggest you do a better job selecting your friends, Mr. Prince." Lucius sneered at Lily and turned to his left. "Goyle, confiscate these filthy Muggle playthings from the Mudblood."

The taller boy reached forward to scoop up the cards and no one noticed Severus reach into his robes, point his wand at the boy, and whisper an incantation. Golye dropped the cards and stumbled over in pain. The palms of his hands were bright red and beginning to blister. Lily looked shocked, but Lucius was staring at Severus with an intrigued expression.

"Perhaps we can let this one slide," Lucius concluded continuing to stare Severus down with his pale gray eyes. "What is your name, young man?"

"Severus Snape," he spat still clutching his wand.

"Well, Severus, I do hope to see you more of you at school this year." Lucius turned to his henchmen. "Crabbe, Goyle, lets go." Goyle looked like he wanted to beat Severus silly, but he obeyed his leader and shuffled out of the compartment with the other two, slamming the door behind him.

"Thanks," Lily said relaxing a bit. "What an idiot. I can't believe he decided to start treating you like a person just because he thinks you're from some prestigious wizarding family."

"Some people just assume things," Snape said. "He obviously thinks I am pureblood just because my mother is a Prince."

"That's funny," Lily said jokingly. "Little does he know you are actually a half blood prince. Severus smiled at Lily thoughtfully, but he noticed she suddenly looked distant as if she had just realized something.

"Severus" Lily stammered. "What was that spell you used?"

"Ummmm…Infernoate," he answered, unable to lie to his best friend.

"Severus," Lily whispered. "That spell was in the book you gave me. It was in the Appendix…of Dark Magic."

"I know, but I had to," Severus mumbled as he turned to look out the window. It had just begun to rain. "He called you a Mudblood. I had to protect you."

Lily looked flattered, but confused. "But I thought only Dark Wizards used—"

Their conversation was interrupted by the snack trolley which had just arrived outside their compartment.

"It's not that simple," Severus said quickly. Lily assumed that there must be many things about the wizarding world that she didn't yet understand. "Come on, let me buy you a Pumpkin Pasty."

The two soon-to-be first years used all of the Galleons Severus had on him to stock up on treats according to Severus' recommendations based on his brief experiences with wizard sweets. Shortly after finishing their feast, Lily fell asleep, but Severus stayed awake and watched her sleep, resting his hea against the rain soaked window.