Chapter Four: Try-Outs

When Severus Snape stepped onto the Platform 9 and ¾, it felt as if he had just arrived back from Hogwarts, and his summer holiday was yet to be had. But he could not mistake the weight of the (thankfully over) summer holidays hanging heavily on his shoulders. He could not believe it had been two weeks since he had received his OWL results. They were, of course, spectacular. Severus had managed to achieve an Outstanding in every subject, and he had been delighted. But one minute had not passed when Severus' father had snatched his results paper away from him and said, in a furious tone,

"What did I say about magic in this house?"

Severus had protested that they were only his examination results, and that he had actually done relatively well. But all in vain. It only aggravated Tobias Snape further. Tobias had delivered a rather well-needed slap, in his opinion, which left Severus with a red hand-mark across his left cheek. Severus was not fazed, however. He knew his wretched drunk of a father could do much worse.

Tobias had then proceeded to grab Severus by the collar to warn him that if he ever spoke of magic in his house ever again, he would not get off so lightly. Severus had been secretly raging in his head. He had never said anything about magic anyway! Was holding an examination results paper a crime?

Severus continued to pull his trunk along the platform when he thought to when he had revealed his results to Lily. She had offered her congratulations, and had, rather sourly, admitted she had achieved an Outstanding in every subject apart from one.

"Defence Against The Dark Arts is too hard! I'm not taking it at NEWT level anyway." She had said, in a dismissing tone.

Severus had been rather sad at this fact as he had hoped they could take the subject together. But he had already realised that him and Lily were quite different, and it was ridiculous, really, to expect her to do exactly as he did.

He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when the loud and cheerful voice of Mrs Evans greeted him.

"Severus Snape!" She yelled at him, and he had to look around frantically to see her waving sixty metres away.

Severus looked at Mr Evans who was standing beside her, who was smiling t him pleasantly. Severus smiled back before turning his gaze onto Lily who was having difficulty carrying her trunk.

"Tuney, if you could just help me!" He heard Lily say, and Severus then looked at Petunia, who he hadn't even realised was there.

"I don't want to help you. And don't call me 'Tuney'." Petunia replied angrily.

Severus then saw Mr Evans frown at Petunia, and went to whisper something in her ear to which she rolled her eyes.

"I know you don't want to be here-" Lily started, only to be interrupted by an annoyed Petunia.

"Of course I don't want to be here! I'd rather be hanging out with my mates, or watching the telly, or even staring at a blank ceiling! Anything but be here!" She exclaimed.

Even from the distance and with the crowd of people walking around, Severus could see the hurt in Lily's face.

"Your mates." Lily repeated. "You mean that stupid Vernon Dursley, don't you? You've been seeing him all summer!"

"So what if I have?" Petunia argued.

"He's vile!" Lily shot back, raising her voice slightly.

"Oh and what about your creepy friend over there? And he's not vile?" Petunia spat.

"Don't you dare say anything about Severus!"

"Oh, so that's his name…"

Severus never heard the rest of the conversation as Mrs Evans scolded her two daughters and went to go and kiss Lily goodbye. Severus watched the affair like an ant might watch two people dancing- having no clue what they were watching was like, or even comprehending it. Severus' goodbye to his parents had been very short, and was of few words. There had been no hugging or kissing involved, and certainly not from his father. His mother had just nodded at him and told him to be a good boy, but Severus could tell she was trying to be cautious in front of his father.

Soon after, both Severus and Lily had gotten onto the train and found a carriage to sit in. Luckily, they had managed to find an empty one and Lily was able to wave at her parents (Severus doubted she was waving at Petunia) one last time before the train set off. And so the journey had started.

Although Severus hated the first meal that was had in the Great Hall to celebrate the start of a new school year, he couldn't help but acknowledge how beautiful the large room really was. The small candles that floated around the room gave the room a warm glow, and the oblong tables were covered with bowls of steaming hot pasta, plates full of jacket potatoes and there were dozens of saucers filled with bread. The entire hall smelt delicious, and Severus knew everyone couldn't wait to tuck in.

The main reason Severus didn't like the event was because he was forced to sit at the Slytherin table, and hence not with Lily. It wasn't as fun without his best friend, and so he usually kept himself busy by stuffing himself with mouthfuls of food. He was rather lucky all the dishes were ravishing, that he knew very well. Back at home, he didn't have much to eat, and it was certainly not any food worth getting excited over. So he ate as much as he could whilst he was at Hogwarts, as it was only opportunity to fatten up. However stuffing his mouth to the brim came with a price- he tended not to engage with anyone on his table.

Hence why he was completely taken aback when someone went to sit next him. He even choked a bit on the spaghetti he was chewing, and had to gulp down all of his water.

"Are you alright?" Sophie Evergreen asked.

"Y-yes." Severus responded once he had finished swallowing the water.

He coughed a few times more until he could speak normally again. He watched Sophie start to pile some food on her plate and Severus was desperately wondering why she hadn't gone to sit with her friends. After all, no one sat next to Severus Snape unless they had the choice.

"I hope you've decided to try-out for the Quidditch team this year." Sophie said as she started to tuck in.

Severus was unable to respond as Dumbledore had started speaking. All eyes in the room turned to the headmaster who stood confidently in front of the tall podium.

"Welcome, students," he began, "to this school year at Hogwarts. I hope, as always, that it shall be one of achievement and celebrations. I have to congratulate our students who sat their OWLs and NEWTs last summer, as I am sure they have all been successful. We are very proud of all our students, and we hope that you will continue to work just as hard this year. Lastly, I implore you to tuck in to this great feast!"

Severus saw Professor McGonagall frowning at him from the teacher's table for having already started eating, and he could only look at her sheepishly in response.

"So are you?" Sophie asked him again, and this time Severus responded eagerly.

"Yes! Although I'm not sure I'll get in…" He laughed nervously.

"I think you will." Sophie smiled. "You'd be surprised, not many Slytherins even bother trying out. I suspect some think Quidditch is a stupid sport that ought not to be played by people of higher class and status."

"But that's ridiculous!" Severus said, surprised. "Surely they go and watch the Quidditch World Cup?"

Even if he hadn't been interested in sports, he always knew about the Quidditch World Cup as everyone always went on about it.

"They do." Sophie agreed. "Bunch of hypocrites."

She shook her head, and Severus suspected she was probably referring to someone close to her. Perhaps her father?

"Do your parents like Quidditch?" Severus asked, interested.

He wondered what her parents thought of her being a Quidditch player, as a girl. Severus knew the Wizarding World was much more equal in terms of gender than the Muggle World, but some of the older generation still disapproved of witches playing Quidditch. They thought it wasn't a very feminine sport.

"Not much." Sophie admitted. "They listen when I talk about it but…I don't think they care very much."

"Surely they know how good of a Keeper you are?" Severus asked her, making her smile a little.

"I'm not that good." Sophie sighed. "I'm still annoyed about that goal I let in from Potter."

"It's just one goal." Severus said.

"But that's ten points." Sophie responded, frustrated. "I practise so much, so it's really irritating when I let a goal in."

"You shouldn't worry about it. Has Gabriella Stone recovered well?" Severus asked, changing the subject.

"Oh yeah, she's okay now." Sophie relayed. "But I don't think she's interested in Quidditch anymore."

"What?! How come?" Severus enquired.

How could one become disinterested in Quidditch? It was an amazing sport! She just needed to read 'Quidditch Through The Ages' again, Severus thought. That book was bound to get her back into Quidditch.

"I'm not sure." Sophie said truthfully. "But after she recovered, she told everybody that she didn't want to play anymore. It was quite a bad accident, to be fair."

"What actually happened?" Severus hadn't really been told what had occurred that day the Slytherin went to practise for the match.

"She fell off her broom." Sophie replied. "And crashed into one of the stands. She broke her leg, and two ribs."

"And she's recovered already?" Severus said, astonished.

Broken bones didn't heal that fast!

"Severus, this isn't the Muggle World. It's easy to fix broken bones." Sophie giggled.

"Right." Severus responded.

He knew how easy it was for wizard doctors, but the efficiency of her recovery still astounded him.

"You would never have had that accident." Sophie told him. "Not with that great skill of yours."

"That was a stroke of luck." Severus said, modestly.

"No, it was a stroke of brilliance." Sophie grinned at him.

Severus had one of the best nights of sleep that he'd enjoyed in a while, and he lazily stretched his arms in his dormitory bed. Although he knew it was going to be bitterly cold once he got out of bed, he managed to force himself out and started getting changed. He'd always been an early riser, and he rather appreciated the mornings. He frequently used them as a means of getting ahead on schoolwork, and most of the time he had managed to get in a solid one or two hours of work in the library before breakfast.

He quickly got dressed, brushed his teeth and slung his satchel over his shoulders and made his way down the Slytherin Tower. Once he arrived at the Slytherin common room, a large poster that was pinned on the notice board caught his eye and he walked closer to read it.

QUIDDITCH TRY-OUTS!

Do you like Quidditch?

Fancy being a Seeker?

Think you'd be able to catch the Snitch?

Why not go to the Slytherin Quidditch try-outs this Thursday from 1.00pm – 2.00pm?

All years are welcome!

Severus couldn't help but smile as he read the large poster. Merlin, yes, he thought as he looked at the moving image of the Syrian Quidditch team who had won the Quidditch World Cup in 1974, two years ago. He hoped they would be able to offer him a broom, as he didn't have one. Surely they couldn't expect everyone to have their own broom? Especially first-years!

Severus then walked out of the common room and up to the library where he found Lily studying vigorously. This was rather surprising, as although Lily was very hardworking, she tended not to study early in the mornings. She liked to wake up at late as possible; after seven o'clock if possible.

"Hey." He greeted her with a nod. "How come you're up so early?"

"I'm really trying to get better grades this year." She confessed to him. "I'm even sacrificing my sleep."

"Lily, you don't have to do that." Severus told her. "You can study in the afternoons. You'll just make yourself more tired of you wake up early."

He knew that she wouldn't be able to keep up with it anyway. She liked sleeping too much, he smiled to himself.

"Do you not want me here, Sev?" Lily asked him jokingly.

He smiled back.

"You know that's not it. I just don't want you to burn yourself out." He warned her.

Lily nodded, in thought.

"Why can't I just get your grades without working?" She complained.

"Hey, I have to work hard too!" Severus reminded her.

"Not nearly as much." Lily huffed.

"That's what you think." Severus shook his head.

She had no idea how many hours he had spent laboriously reading over textbooks, whilst she was probably sleeping, or relaxing.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you." Severus said, realising he hadn't told her about the try-outs on Thursday. "I'm trying out for the Quidditch team this Thursday."

Lily frowned.

"Sev, are you sure that's a good idea?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Why not?" Severus questioned her.

"Well…it's just that you're doing so many subjects. You've got a lot of work to do. Do you really have the time to play Quidditch as well?"

"I probably won't even get in!" Severus laughed to try and relieve the tension in the atmosphere.

"I'm just saying you should focus on your studies." Lily said quietly.

"I know." Severus responded.

The subject was not brought up again, and they continued to study together until it was time to go and have breakfast.

Severus knew that Lily was trying to protect him. He knew that she didn't want him to get hurt, if he failed in the try-outs and was mocked by everybody. But she didn't understand. He loved Quidditch now. The idea of playing the sport excited him tremendously, and he didn't think he would be that devastated if he didn't get into the team. Besides, Sophie had been pretty adamant about him coming to the try-outs. She wouldn't have encouraged him if he didn't have some talent, would she?

He was standing in the boys' changing rooms, looking at himself in the mirror. He looked so strange in Quidditch robes. He wasn't used to seeing himself like that. But he liked how he looked more confident, and how the robes made him feel. Luckily, he had managed to find robes that actually fitted him. At least this time, he wouldn't look ridiculous.

Finding a good broom was another problem, however. Once again he was left with the old and battered broom that he had used for the one match he had played. Apparently he had been wrong and all the first years did in fact have their own brooms. The lucky rich bastards. But there was nothing he could do now. With the terrible broom in hand, he marched into the Quidditch pitch and saw the crowd of Slytherins listening to Mitchell Clearwater make a speech. There were quite a lot of them, which was surprising as Sophie had said usually not many people showed up. He quickened his pace and joined the group whilst Mitchell continued to talk.

"Since there's quite a few of you, this might take longer than expected. We're gonna sort you out into groups based on positions, so whoever wants to be a Keeper go over there, if you wanna be a Chaser go over there, Beaters over there and lastly Seekers over here."

The group of Slytherins dispersed and Severus soon found himself in the Seeker's group, that consisted of three people including himself. One of them was in second-year, although she seemed to be the most threatening out of the group.

"Let the try-outs begin!" Mitchell yelled.

Severus gulped.