Disclaimer:
Some of the things being said and thought by Severus, regarding the sorting and his stance on inter-house promoting are copied(out of context) for the artistic flair.
Severus was also the first to jump out of the boat, and helped his fellow passengers.
They where led inside the school, where Minerva McGonagall was waiting for them.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be Sorted into your houses."
After they made pairs(Severus with Lily, and Remus with Marlene), they where immediately ushered towards the great hall.
The first years all looked up to the enchanted ceiling, Severus included. Though more out of nostalgia: It had been some years since he last saw Hogwarts.
The sorting had begun. "Evans, Lily."- It was time to separate once again. "Good luck." He whispered.
Lily braced herself.
"You too." She whispered back.
"GRYFFINDOR!" Severus politely clapped.
"Lupin, Remus."- Being on the supportive friend track, he clapped Remus on the shoulder when he passed by. "Good luck, mate."
Remus gratefully smiled at him. "Thanks, you too!"
"GRYFFINDOR!" Severus politely clapped again.
"McKinnon, Marlene."- Marlene hesitatingly moved forward. He hurriedly spoke up, "Good luck."
Marlene turned around, her face brightening. "You too!"
"GRYFFINDOR!" Severus politely clapped yet again. He inwardly sighed. What did he get into this time.
"Prince, Severus."- He almost forget how much earlier his sorting would be with his name change. He walked to the sorting hat.
He tried his hardest not to look at the Gryffindor table, where, undoubtedly, Lily would sit between James and Sirius again. Wait- he looked again. There, next to Lily, sat Remus. It almost made him laugh.
The hat got placed on his head.
"Hmm... Slytherin...Definitely. But you could also be in another house... If you so choose... What would you rather be?"
The opportunity to be able to choose startled Severus somewhat. He almost took into account that he would not be able to change houses.
Whichever house he would choose, Voldemort would be interested in him, as he would stand out eventually.
Gryffindor- He could be with Lily in the same house. And Remus and Marlene where not that bad... On the other hand, would he really want to be in the same house as the marauders?
Or he could go to Ravenclaw, and live peacefully for the next seven years. That was more preferable.
But Slytherin was his house, during all of the time he spent at Hogwarts previously. He even had taken the time to learn Parseltongue from someone outside of Britain, to raise his credibility even more. He would have to be on guard the whole time in Slytherin. Would that be what he needed? Or would his constant vigilance keep him from happiness again? His roommates would be future dead eaters. Not the company he wanted to keep for the next seven years...
Allowing himself to be sorted into Slytherin—the house everyone hates, the house with the negative reputation—would, ironically, have been the more courageous choice. He had the chance to buck tradition and centuries-long assumptions.
If he didn't choose soon he would end up a hat stall. Then, he would choose...
"SLYTHERIN!"
He had learned Parseltongue anyway.
When he walked to the Slytherin table, he heard clapping sounds come from the Gryffindor table.
When he looked up, he saw it where indeed the trio he shared a boat with. 'Ah, who cares.' He thought, and gave a quick wave back from the Slytherin table. He sat down, and politely clapped for everyone that got sorted next.
"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
"Thank you!"
He helped himself to dinner and forced himself to politely introduce himself to the other Slytherins. He remembered Wilkes, Avery and Mulciber as his former roommates. Lucius and Narcissa sat towards the other end of the table. He knew Lucius would soon approach him, like he did the last time. Lucius and him did end up as friends, but his live as a death eater was over, so he needed to keep a polite distance. If possible.
"Prince is a pure blood name, right?" He got asked.
"It is."
"I heard you produced a patronus."
"...Yes."
He busied himself with eating, and if possible nodding or giving back short answers.
He heard people trying to get his attention with flattery over producing a patronus at such a young age.
When they got back to the common room, Horace wanted to talk to him.
"Just for a quick talk, nothing to worry about! Mr Prince, is it? Is it true you are capable of producing a patronus?"
He took out his wand and produced his patronus. "Oh my. And it's a corporal one too! At this age! Would you mind if I got the newspapers involved? You see, this must be the youngest anyone has ever produced one!"
"Sure."
"Splendid. Oh, did you by any change hear about the slug club? You see- More talking ensured.
"Yes, I see. Can I go now, professor? I want to get an early rest."
After Slughorn's talk, he tried to flee to his dormitory but got stopped by Lucius.
"Lucius Malfoy, pleasure to make our acquaintance. I hope you will like it here, in Slytherin."
"Severus Prince. Thanks for the introduction. I hope I will like it here, too." After the firm handshake and introduction, he gave Lucius a nod and promptly headed to his dormitory."
When he arrived, the other students had already picked out their beds. He took the last bed and effortlessly used charms to quickly unpack and organize his possessions. Then warding them. He noticed Wilkes, Avery and Mulciber look at him with awe. Severus noticed they didn't come far with their unpacking. Right. Pure bloods where used to house elves, after all. He grabbed his nightwear and toiletries, and went to the bathroom. He placed a barrier to not get interrupted.
After taking a shower and brushing his teeth, he placed his toiletries on a shelf and warding these possessions too he came out with his nightwear on.
Ignoring the rest of the dormitory, he set a magical alarm, warded his curtains again, and went to sleep.
He woke up at 7, the next morning. He checked the date, Thursday 2 September 1971. Two days until the weekend. And three days before Remus' next transformation. Since the wolfsbane potion had to be taken for a week prior to the upcoming full moon, it would be too late for the next transformation. But he wished he could 'find out' as soon as possible about Remus condition.
He did some quick exercises until 10 minutes before breakfast.
Severus was one of the first ones at breakfast. He saw mostly Ravenclaws. After the timetables where shared, he went straight to the Gryffindor table.
"Ey, Slytherin, what are you doing here?!" he heard James say. He ignored him. "Want to compare time tables?" He asked Lily.
"Sod of, Potter!" said Lily. -"Come sit down, Sev." Severus sat down. He nodded at Remus and Marlene. "Morning." - "Morning." They greeted him back.
He had DADA first in the morning, followed by transfiguration, Herbology, and Flying. He sighed.
"We've only got flying together today." Lily glanced at his time table.
"And we don't share classes til Tuesday!" She exclaimed. Severus nodded. "Do you want to pair up with flying?" He asked." She nodded. "I can't believe we only have one class together today!"
Severus shook his head. He grabbed his timetable. "In my opinion, flying doesn't count." She sighed. "I know."
"You want to study together after school then? Maybe with some other classmates, like Remus and Marlene, or anyone else who wants to study? We can meet in the library after classes." Severus suggested.
Lily brightened up. "That would be brilliant!"
"Great. Then I'll see you at flying."
He went to his dorm to pack his class materials for the day.
Defense against the dark arts. He just sat up in the front, while putting a protective boundary around him. Should be simple. All classes should be.
It started out quite boring, with an introduction in the DADA only. Professor Bagswort, just another defense teacher (who had lasted at least till the end of the school year, the last time).
Then the teacher wanted him to demonstrate the patronus charm. "50 points to Slytherin! That's quite an advanced spell! Very well done!"
"Next, you're going to form pairs of two, and practice the disarming charm Expelliarmus!" Maybe the unexpected news of having a first year in his class producing a patronus, had made the teacher more motivated then the last time he remembered.
He was asked to pair up by Avery, which he answered with a nod.
"You go first." Avery said, and when Bagswort gave the signal to start, Avery fired of a disarming charm.
Avery kept on firing disarming charm after disarming charm. But Severus wand didn't move.
Bagswort signaled them to switch. Severus immediately disarmed Avery.
Transfiguration. McGonagall asked them to try to change a match into a needle. He did it on his first try, which made McGonnagall very pleased.
"10 points for Slytherin!" He then asked if he could start making his homeworkin in class. She happily agreed, after which he quickly tried to pen down the essay that would be due next monday.
Lunch. He started eating, when he got interrupted by Slughorn. He immediately stood up. "Where will the interview be professor?" -"Just follow me, Mr Prince!"
He was led into an empty classroom, where a witch asked him questions. He answered that he read about it in a book and learned it wandlessly, because he wanted to protect himself and others against creatures such as dementors and lethifolds.
He got asked if they could photograph him, doing the patronus charm.
When they showed him his picture, he saw an objectively very good looking boy, performing a wandless patronus, while charmingly smiling at the onlookers.
'Merlin. That doesn't even look like me.'
He sighed. Even though Hermione tried to explain the importance of lookism, he still found it superficial nonsense. But he would use almost any means, to accomplish his goals.
He made it just in time for History of magic. Or if he was late, Binns didn't seem to care. He just made notes for chapter one. And had a start on his homework. Most of the class was asleep.
After that, it was time for flying lessons.
After learning unsupported flight, which was still one of the hardest thing to master as a wizard, flying with a broom was easy.
He found Lily talking to Remus and Marlene. They waved at him.
"Hello." He greeted them. "Are you nervous?"
"A little."- Remus. "Some."- Marlene. "Only a bit."-Lily.
"Well, everything will be alright. It's just a beginners lesson, you know? Its-"
"Hey Slytherin, what are you doing with our Gryffindors? -James, of course. With Sirius and Pettigrew on foot.
"I'm promoting Inter-house relationships. If we improve our Inter-house relationships, we essentially quadruple our likelihood of connecting and improve our chances of survival and success outside of school because we are meeting four times as many people who we will make into our lifelong friends, mentors, and supporters." He took out a chocolate frog. "Here." He stuffed it in James hand. "For you."
James looked startled. "Wha-"
"Everyone gets a chocolate frog!" He stuffed one in Sirius' hand. "Happy first flying lesson day!" Then in Pettigrew's. "Happy first flying lesson day!"
Gryffindors and Slytherins alike came running for the chocolate treat.
"But I already learned how to fly!" James exclaimed as some sort of retort. He ate the chocolate anyway.
"I meant the official day."
Luckily it was easy for Severus to duplicate one chocolate frog multiple times, because he gave them out to people, regardless how many they had already taken. What resulted in everyone coming back for more. Especially James and Sirius. Who tried to get as many chocolate frogs as possible. 'So easily bribed.'
When madam Hooch came on the field, everyone was eating chocolate frogs.
"Why in Merlin's name are you eating chocolate frogs at the training grounds?!"
Sirius, biting down on his own chocolate frog: "Something to do with Inter-house relationships, professor."
After everyone was done eating their goods, madam Hooch told them to position themselves on the left side of it the broom, reach out with their right hand and say, "with feeling" the word "Up!".
She demonstrated that the broom should jump up to their hand.
Severus made a point to be the first to do so. Then he started helping others, while James was proudly telling everyone how good he was with a broom.
The same with mounting the broom. While madam Hooch made her rounds, he gave the one's around him tips, while James and Sirius looked like they couldn't wait to fly.
Then they got instructed to kick off from the ground hard and rise a few feet in the air while keeping their brooms steady, and then proceed to come straight back down on the ground by leaning forward slightly. The people who he saw got problems, or looked insecure, and didn't yet get help from Madame Hooch yet, he just told some simple instructions.
Meanwhile, James and Sirius where circling each other, daring the other to do tricks.
"Mr Potter and Mr Black, come back here!" After madam Hooch chased after the duo, she couldn't see Peter Pettigrew, who was dangerously close to falling of his broom. "Help!" He exclaimed. He couldn't control his broom properly. Severus sighed. He knew last time Pettigrew got injured for the same reason. Pettigrew was 10 feet away from him. He quickly flew the 10 feet that separated them, grabbed him of his broom, and swung Pettigrew on his own old broom. All the while being completely calm throughout the experience. He found he trusted more in himself then his broom while flying, which is why he was using unsupported flight. He slowly flew down. "are you okay?"He asked. (He couldn't treat people for things they hadn't done yet. Things that wouldn't happen, if he had a say in it.)
"Y-yeah. T-thank you." Peter answered, sounding somewhat out of breath. Severus noticed madam Hooch flying back with the two troublemakers.
"Well done, prince. Are you injured in any way, Mr Pettigrew?" She started inspecting him. "N-no I-I'm fine. Only shaken up a bit." Peter answered the teacher.
"Let me bring you to the Hospital wing for some calming draught-" said madam Hooch. "I'll do it, professor. I know where the Hospital wing is." Severus spoke up. "Accio Peter Pettigrew's backpack. Accio Severus Prince's backpack." Two (wandless and wordless) featherweight charms later, he put two schoolbags over one shoulder. Peter, still shaken up, didn't even notice him summoning their backpacks, so Severus steered him away in the direction of the castle.
He was so done with these flying lessons. Even quidditch would be better. Maybe he'd go for tryouts. Only for a year or so, after that flying wouldn't be mandatory anymore.
He walked with Peter to the castle. Peter stopped when they where out of sight. He looked to have regained some senses. "Ehrm, sorry, but... Do you really know where the Hospital wing is?" -He could also just ditch Peter here...
"Yes, come on. We are going to the Hospital wing , whether you like it or not." He was a teacher, for Merlin's sake. Or was. He had some principals!
"O-okay." Peter answered. Severus sighed. He stuck out a chocolate frog. "Here." Severus grabbed Peter's shoulder and proceeded to walk straight to the Hospital wing on the first floor. "The Hospital wing. Not so hard to find." He looked around for madam Pomfrey, all the while still holding Peter in his grasp. He spotted her. "Madam Pomfrey!" He tried to get her attention. She approached them. He pushed Peter to lay down on one of the Hospital beds.
Madam Pomfrey, can you take a look at Peter? He almost fell from his broom. Even though he is probably not physically injured, can he get some calming draught.?"
"Let me take a look." She ran some diagnostics. "You seem fine."
Madam Pomfrey then went to potions closet. "Here." She offered the potion to Peter. "This will help you calm down."
Peter looked queasily at the potion. "No thank you." Severus had enough of this. He checked the potion, then said: "I'm good at potions, this potion has not been tempered with, and it's of good quality. It will only make you calm. Nothing more." He tried doing it the easy way, but Peter was still hesitating. Severus took the stopper of the bottle."Peter looked hesitantly between him and the potion.
He then held Peter down, and fed him the potion. "Swallow." Peter reluctantly swallowed the Potion. "Blegh." He gave Peter another chocolate frog. Peter quickly stuffed it in his mouth.
Severus handed madam Pomfrey the empty bottle. She took it away. "Well, since classes are almost over, I guess you can go back to your dorms."
Severus looked at Peter. "Let's go." Peter stood up.
Out of the hospital wing, Severus decided to give Peter some advice. "When you need help in finding the way when you're alone, ask the portraits. When you need help, because you're injured or someone attacks you, or you see someone get attacked, ask the portraits to notify the closest person that can help you. Ask for them to get McGonnagal or Dumbledore when it gets really bad. You understand?"
Peter nodded. "Where are we going?"
"I'm going to bring you to your dorm, and then I'm going to the library to finish my homework. I agreed to meet with Lily, and possibly Remus and Marlene, too."
"Aren't those all Gryffindors?" 'Sweet Merlin.'
"Yes, they are. Would you like to join our study session?" Peter scrunched up his nose. "Okay."
"You need to be serious with studying, and if you need help, you can ask others." "Okay."