The Houses Competition

House: Slytherin

Class: Herbology

Prompt(s)Theme: Travel. Your story has to contain travel/traveling of some sorts for the better half of of travel could be, but are not limited to: flying, expedition, time, space… travel. (Character) Severus Snape

Word Count: 1418

Beta: Hope, Ash, Dhrish

Severus and Lily return to Hogwarts after Christmas holidays, where Lily gives Severus a late holiday gift.

Things You Don't Do

The wheels clashed on the 4-6-0 model steam engine, more commonly known as the Hogwarts Express, as it started to make its journey back to Hogwarts after the Christmas break. Dozens of students pushed their way through its narrow halls, their bags banging up against the compartment doors. In one of those compartments sat Severus Snape, a thirteen-year-old boy. It was an older compartment, closer to the back, to ensure he would be left alone by the other students. The seats in the compartment had rough, ragged coverings full of stains, dirt and quite a lot of holes with singed edges to prove it was burned at some point. Those little details which made Severus ponder what might have happened, a spell gone wrong perhaps?

The window was curtained with years of dust, proving that no one had sat in this compartment for quite awhile. Severus pulled down the sleeve of his oversized jumper to cover his hand and brushed off a section of condensation off the window as he sat back in his seat and stared outside.

Severus' gaze quickly fixated on the rolling hills and mountainscapes outside the window. Trees covered the landscape with a slight dusting of snow still covering the branches to show that winter had not completely gone.

Severus could no longer hear the chugging of the train wheels scraping up against the tracks. His focus was on the mountains, which reminded him what his Divination professor had told him just before Christmas break, that his latest symbols looked like a mountain.

Severus had gone to the library after class that day and looked up the meaning of mountains. Mountains were isolated and hard to reach, symbolizing loneliness or difficulty in achieving mental, spiritual, or emotional states. The book also went on to say that mountains were obstacles that heroes must overcome. Severus had scoffed at the description before slamming the book closed. The last thing he would ever want to be was a hero.

Severus let out a long breath as he turned away from the window and closed his eyes, allowing the motion of the train to carry him off to sleep...That was his plan until someone slammed open his compartment doors, causing the whole compartment to shake, jogging Severus out of his half-asleep state.

"There you are!" Lily exclaimed as she entered the compartment and sat down on the seat opposite him, allowing the doors to close on their own. "I have been looking for you for half an hour ever since the train took off. I was beginning to think you missed it. You do know there are nicer compartments?" Lily questioned with a smile as she brushed her long hair behind her ear.

"Those compartments are normally filled with people," Severus responded as he gave Lily a small smile in return while still keeping his eyes downcast.

"Right, I forgot that people are bad,'' Lily said before she started to dig through the bag, pulling out a bunch of different nicknacks.

"It's not like they're bad...I just prefer to be alone," Severus commented with a small shrug before the train gave a sharp turn and he ended up pressed against the window.

Lily gave a small chuckle as she pulled out a small package wrapped in green-and-red wrapping paper. "I know you prefer being alone. I just worry sometimes. Anyways, sorry I couldn't get this to you before the break, but it's better late than never," she said as she handed the present to Severus.

"For me?" Severus questioned, reaching out and taking the gift. "I thought you…"

"Forgot?" Lily cut Severus off. She bit her lower lip and said, "You know me better than that, at least I hope you do. Go on, open it."

Severus nodded as he tore open the wrappings to reveal an old and worn-out book titled 'Guide to Magickal Herbs by Sempronia Belisarius'

"Lily," Severus said with a gasp as he ran his hand over the pages. "However did you get this? It has been out of print for ages!"

"I found it in an old bookshop buried under a bunch of other books. Took me forever to pull it out," Lily explained. "I'm sorry it isn't in better condition."

"Don't be silly; this is amazing, and I love it. I just wish I got you something better now," Severus said.

"Now who is being silly? I love what you got me. Look, I'm wearing it right now," Lily said as she held up her wrist, showing a charm bracelet with all her favorite things. "I couldn't have asked for anything better."

"...Severus, you haven't looked at me since I came in. What's going on?" Lily asked after a few moments of silence.

She knew that Severus was shy and that it took a bit for him to warm up to people, but it had never taken this long for him to look up at her and she was starting to get a little worried.

"Nothing's going on. Everything is fine," Severus mumbled.

"Severus, you know I don't like it when you lie to me. I thought we promised to always be honest with each other?" Lily admonished.

Severus sighed as he slowly looked up from the floor, moving his hair out of his face to reveal a black eye to Lily, blues and purples mixing around his left eye.

Lily had to hold back her anger once she saw what Severus was hiding from her. "Was it your father again?"

Severus shrugged. "It doesn't matter," he said softly before quickly lowering his face back down to his lap, allowing his hair to fall over his eye.

"Of course it matters; he's hurting you," Lily argued.

"He was drunk...and...and I was in the way. I should have known better," Severus tried to explain.

"That's no excuse," Lily said angrily. "I think it's time you tell Dumbeldore. I'll even come with you. Once we arrive at Hogwarts, we can go straight to Dumbeldore together."

"No," Severus said sternly. "You don't know what might happen, and besides, I have been through all of this before. He will just get away with it again. There's no point in trying to fight."

"So I'm supposed to sit back and watch you get hurt?" Lily questioned. "If you won't fight, then I will."

"Please don't. I'm okay—I really am. I'm better than I've ever been," Severus said as he looked up at Lily and gave a small smile. "If you tell them, then I will be taken out of Hogwarts and I won't be able to see you."

"So you're staying for me?" Lily blushed a little.

"Who else would I stay for? You are my only friend; you are the only thing that makes Hogwarts bearable," Severus said as a blush dusted his cheeks.

Lily smiled as she moved over to sit next to Severus and wrapped her arms around him. "I will always be your friend Severus. Nothing can ever change that," she said as she lowered her arms and opened the front page of the book so Severus could read what she had written on the inside.

'To a dear friend, Merry Christmas.'

"You wrote in a two hundred-year-old book?" Severus questioned as he looked down at the scribbles Lily had made.

Lily pulled away from the hug as she looked down at the book. "I mean...just a little. What's the big deal?"

"The book is two hundred years old," Severus explained "You don't write in a two-hundred-year-old book...You...you just don't."

"Severus, it's just a book," Lily said with a little bit of an eye roll.

"It's not just a book!" Severus yelled.

For the rest of the train ride, Severus and Lily argued; Severus gave Lily a lecture on the proper way to deal with old books, and as the train ride got faster or would turn a sharp corner, the argument only progressed until they arrived at Hogwarts.

"I'll see you in the morning, you insane person," Lily yelled as she left the compartment.

"Ya? Try not to write in any more old books," Severus yelled down the hall at her before going back in the compartment and grabbing his stuff.

Grabbing the book from the seat, he flipped open the front page and read what she had written, a smile spreading across his face. "She's still insane," Severus mumbled to himself before placing the book in his bag carefully and exiting the train himself.