A strong friendship was quickly forged between these two children, Lily was the light to his darkness breaking through the gloomy fog of his dreary existence. He told her all he knew about the magic of the wizarding world and in return, she showed him that even the muggle world could be magical if one only knew where to look and how to have fun.
For Severus, who had grown up being shunned by society, teased and mocked by the other children who recognised the signs of neglect and the mark of someone different. Now he finally had a friend and not just any friend but someone who was magical like him and who would share his journey.
Lily also discovered that she liked this strange awkward young boy. In spite of his strange appearance and lack of social skills, he was totally different from any of the other kids she knew and she found him totally entrancing when he talked about magic with a passion. He alone made her feel as though she was not only normal but that her gifts instead of being something freakish were something that made her special.
Both children were excited to receive their Hogwarts letters, Lily's parents were thrilled that their daughter was a witch even if her sister was not and Severus looked forward to leaving Cokesworth behind hoping that Hogwarts would provide him with a fresh start where he would finally find acceptance and possibly even friendship instead of being constantly overlooked and ignored.
Unfortunately, things were not destined to be so easy. Their first train ride was marred by meeting two young boys who would prove to be constant antagonists throughout their years as students, the embers of bitter rivalry were stoked as the future Slytherin and Gryffindors took an instant dislike to each other. It was to be the start of a long and bitter rivalry.
Things did not get any better when Lily was also sorted into Gryffindor. Faced with the disapproval of their housemates and the ever-present house rivalry that threatened to ruin their friendship, the two children were determined to remain friends and vowed to continue meeting in secret away from prying eyes and would use coded messages to communicate.
As they grew older Lily's friendship with several girls in her year and Severus's increasing interest in the dark arts and Slytherin house politics and hanging around with some of the more sadistic and violent students in his house caused them to drift apart and put a strain on their relationship even though they both refused to give up on each other.
The Marauder's constant attempts to harass and hex the young Slytherin and one particularly nasty and ill-thought-out prank caused increasing tension between all parties as the tension between Gryffindor and Slytherin continued to rise to boiling point.
It was a rivalry that would come to a head one fateful day at the end of their 5th year.
Reviews:
James Birdsong:
Thank you for the continued feedback, glad you're enjoying it
Author's Notes:
I've had someone contact me with some interesting feedback and questions. They asked me about whether his appearance was any different given that Tom Riddle/Voldemort is his father and pointed out his eyes changing colour and asked if that was a result of Voldemort changing his appearance.
In response to the first point I've decided that his appearance will be pretty much the same as in cannon as I reckon that he's got his looks mainly from his mother and other traits like his sharp mind, intellect and cunning and other mental abilities from Tom. Also, Voldemort wants him to be isolated and bitter and an outcast certainly in the muggle world so it would make sense that he'd still look the same either by nature or by Voldemort using glamours if he thought that he was showing signs of his good looks (not that I intended that to be part of the plot but it's another way it could work).
With regards to the eyes turning from brown to black it's basically showing visually the effect of the Horcrux is having on him as well as the changes in his temperament since it's evil I can imagine it being an inky presence and it also provides another different explanation for that aspect of his appearance.
