Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

11 years later-

"Come now Severus," Eileen called out as she made her way off the bus and onto the busy London streets, behind her was he son. A tall boy, he wore oversized clothes, grew his hair out long and messy, and a pair of black orbs were accompanied with a long hooked nose. He dragged his old trunk into the sea of people heading towards King's Cross station. The duo had commuted for an hour, with the current time being ten-thirty, Eileen noted that they had to be at the station by eleven. But why on Merlin's name did it feel like all of London was out today?

Eileen pushed passed a collective of tourists as she led her son down towards the designated platform, behind her Severus' eyes darted around in interest. Severus had dreamed of this moment since as far back as he could remember, he felt more excitement for Hogwarts that most kids did for Christmas, Halloween and all other holidays combined. But the excitement didn't seem to top it as he slowly followed mother through the crowd, for him it was a chance, a chance to finally develop his magical knowledge, become someone he had always thought he could and show his skill in potions. In Severus' eyes potions were his way out of Knockturn ally, if he were able to develop skill then maybe he could enroll in one of the high-end potion academies that ran overseas, or maybe be part of the ministry 's taskforce for potion development.

The fact that his mother had taken over the potion shop after Mr. Hudson's retirement aided the young wizard, it gave him a place to develop skills and became more savory pastime than the petty theft that Severus was known for. Severus slithered through the crowd with eagerness and his mother slowly trudged ahead of him. Finally, he had reached it, platform nine and three-quarters stood right in front of him and Severus stared in wonder.

"Enough gawking," Eileen said sternly as she knelt down to meet her son. "Listen to me Severus, I can't stay to see you off. But I want you to know that I'm proud of you and that I expect you to give your work everything" Eileen pulled in her son for a tight hug before realizing him and placing out her hand.

Severus gave a lopsided sided smile as he placed his hand deep into his pockets before pulling out an old brown leather wallet and handing it over to his mother. "I swear, I found it," He muttered as his mother took the wallet and frowned.

"Stay out of trouble," Eileen muttered as she rose. Severus gave his mother a final smile before trudging towards the platform nine pillars, each step causing Severus to speed up before finally phasing through the pillar and stepping foot upon the platform beyond. A mesmerizing sight beheld the boy as he stepped onto the platform, his dark eyes were greeted by the sight of a red steam engine that blew out clouds of smoke, along with the red engine there was a sea of witches and wizards, children, and parents.

All bidding each other goodbye, but as Severus gathered himself and pulled his trunk he noticed a small girl standing not too far from him. Her hair was red and was pulled back into a ponytail, her face was filled with freckles and her eyes were a bright shade a green. She was alone, Severus realizing that she was probably a muggle-born girl and wondered if she would be alright. He shook his head, it was not his problem Severus thought before boarding the train.

Within the train a thin corridor was lined with compartments, taking a few minutes to compose himself, Severus moved down the compartments before finding an empty one near the rear of the train. Severus placed his trunk within the storage compartment above before taking a seat beside the window. Severus lay in wait as the final students waved their parents goodbye, he decided to take out a small potions book that he had nabbed from his mother and used it as a means to pass the time. But his reading was disturbed when the compartment door was slid open. Standing at the threshold was that red-haired girl that Severus had spotted upon the platform, her lips formed an uneasy smile filled with unease.

"Hey…" She began.

"Hey," Severus answered, his brow lifted at the girl.

"Is anyone sitting there?" She asked as she pointed to the seat facing Severus and the boy shrugged in response before muttering that she could sit there if she wished. The girl thanked him before placing her own trunk away and sitting. An awkward silence settled between the two and while Severus occupied himself with his mother's book while the red-haired girl fidgeted within her seat. Several minutes passed and the layer of awkwardness thickened, it was almost maddening and Severus finally attempted to end it.

"You got a name Red?" Severus asked from behind his book. He noticed the girl shift in her seat, whether it was caused by the surprise of his voice or the manner of his question, Severus was not sure.

"Lily," The girl said. "Lily Evans."

"Pretty bland," Severus muttered causing a confused looked to appear on the girl's face.

"What's bland?"

Severus shut his book. "Your name," He answered, his eyes fixated on the girl's face. He sized her up, something taught to him by old Jenkins during his time on the streets. The girl kept her confused look but her brows furrowed.

"Yeah?" She hissed. "Well…I bet it's better than your name."

Severus smiled. "Maybe it is," He retorted as he reopened his book, though his eyes stayed fixated on the girls face a little longer. He enjoyed the mix of confusion and annoyance upon the girl's face, she had obviously expected him to retort or be offended when in truth Severus didn't really care. He had long come to disregard his name, a name that held so much to his mother, but one that held so few by her son.

"What's your name?" The girl named Lily finally said. "Elvendork?"

"I like that," Severus said chuckling.

But the conversation was cut short as the doors of the compartment slid open to reveal two boys. The first was a thin boy with glasses and odd hair, beside his was a curly-haired boy in black. The boy with the glasses was the first to speak.

"Hey, is it ok if we join you," A boy with glasses asked as he and another boy joined the compartment. The entrance of the duo caused Severus to lose track of what he was going to say, he quickly composed himself before turning back to the potion book in his lap. "I'm James by the way, James Potter," The boy glasses said. "He's Sirius, Black"

"Lily Evans," The redhead answered before quickly turning to Severus. Something told the young wizard that this girl was still too eager to know his name. He smiled at her before turning to the boys.

"Severus Prince," He muttered from behind his book, the answer had caused the boy named Sirius to frown.

"Are you part of the House of Prince?" Sirius asked in a sour tone.

"Something like that," Severus answered, his attention staying upon the pages of the book. The two boys had settled themselves and Severus head the faint sounds of a wrapper as one of the boys pulled out a bag of every flavour beans, he proceeded to offer everyone a bean. Severus turned down the offer.

So, which houses do you think you'll be in?" James asked as he shoved some sweets into his mouth. "I hope I get put into Gryffindor, just like my dad. The house of the brave"

Lily smiled at this before shrugging. "I'm not so sure, I'll be happy in whatever house really." Severus doubted that from there short time together he envisioned her as a either a Hufflepuff or Gryffindor.

"Slytherin," Severus said from behind his book.

"Slytherin?" James said in disgust. "Who would want to be in that house? If I was placed there, I would leave,"

It was at that moment that Sirius decided to speak. "My whole family was in Slytherin," He said in a tone that was dead and the boy with glasses brows rose in shock.

"Shame, I thought you were alright," The boy with the glasses muttered and Severus watched as the other boy shrugged his shoulders and muttered something about breaking tradition. An hour seemed to pass a lot quicker with the addition of the two boys as Severus listened to their stories, he shared no insight into his own life, instead choosing to listen to Sirius vent his frustration with his family or James discussing quidditch, or Lily asking questions.

As time passed, Severus found himself staring out into the darkness as the train grew ever closer to Hogwarts. And after what felt like forever the train had finally come to a halt, the children were instructed by older students, that wore a "P" badge, to leave their trunks within the train and ensure that they were wearing their uniforms before stepping out onto the platform. The boys decided to change in a different compartment and soon came across one that held a thin sandy-haired boy named Remus and his friend Peter.

Severus found himself enjoying the company of Remus, as he did not say as much as the other boys. Peter seemed to latch onto James and Sirius at an alarming speed, laughing at their terrible jokes and agreeing with them on everything. A few minutes later, Severus was walked out of the compartment with his normal clothes folded in his arms. Being in the uniform meant that he had finally made it, he was no longer simply Severus of Knockturn ally, but Severus the boy with a brighter future.

The fresh air was a blessing after being on the train for so long, Severus hopped off the train and onto the platform before taking in the sight around. A horde of first years had been formed at one side of the station, in the middle stood a giant of a man with a lamp. The man was wearing a long brown coat, his face held a large beard and a pleasant smile. He cried out for first years to follow and Severus slowly found himself walking towards the direction of the giant, several minutes of walking resulted in the first years coming across a large lack with a cluster of boats docked on the edge.

Severus found himself being shuffled into one of these many boats with two other boys, one was a dark-haired boy with grey eyes while his friend was a brown-haired boy with hazel eyes. They introduced themselves Richard Mulciber and Bailey Rosier, and Severus introduced himself as only Severus. Choosing to keep his affiliation with the princes to a minimum and not draw attention to his status. The boats made their way across the dark lake on their own and once on the other side, the students were shuffled onto a pathway that led to a gate. Passing through the large gate, they went on foot into a large hallway, where they waited to enter the great hall. The sounds of students could be heard from the other side.

They were met with a tall witch wearing a dark dress with what seemed to be the Gryffindor crest sewed onto it, atop her head sat a large hat. "Welcome first years," The witch began. "I am Professor McGonagall and soon I will be leading you to the castle where you will be entering the great hall for your sorting. So, if you all get into a neat line, then I shall lead you."

A small moment of commotion passed as the children shuffled themselves into a line, Severus found himself shoved between a short blond-haired girl and Mulciber. Professor McGonagall quickly scanned the students before ordering them to follower her into the hall. Everyone did as they were told and filled into the large hall that held four long tables filled with students. The ceiling was decorated to look like the night sky and candles were charmed to float among the tables.

The students made a stop at the table filled with Professors, in the middle sat a stool with an old patched hat. Severus watched out of curiosity as the Professor made her way towards the hat before calling out to the first years.

"I shall call your names out, once called you will come and sit on the stool where you will be sorted," McGonagall explained before pulling out a long piece of parchment, her sharp eyes drifted down the parchment before calling out the first name. "Abbott Anthony!"

A boy with black hair walked up and took a seat on the stool, the hat being placed upon him soon after. Severus watched in surprise as the hat came to live and yelled.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

A table to the far right gave a loud cheer and the boy made his way over as the next few names were called. As Severus watched more students were sorted, taking their seats in their designated house soon after.

"Black, Sirius!" Professor McGonagall called out and Severus watched as Sirius Black made his way up to the stool. The hat was soon placed upon his head and the sense of tension grew, Severus had already figured out that the boy would not go to Slytherin but it was satisfying to be proven right anyway as he watched the hat yell.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The boy grinned and Severus took note of how the Slytherin table deflated at the announcement, it seemed that they had expected the boy to join, even leaving a space next to a blond hair girl. This amused Severus a little.

Time passed and Severus watched as Lily was placed into Gryffindor along with the rest of the boys he had met on the train, finally after several minutes, the inevitable happened.

"Prince, Severus,"

A loud whispering was heard among the houses as Severus made his way up, he has no doubt that the students of pureblood status were telling those around them of the boy, of the bastard child of the noble and ancient house of Prince. Sitting on the stool, he eyed the tables but stopped at Slytherin, most of the table was split into sections. Those closes to the professors were those of the pureblood families, those with lower status sat in the middle of the table, and those that were outcasted sat at the far end.

The hat on Severus seemed to be talking, but he ignored it until it finally yelled out. "SLYTHERIN!" Severus let out a sigh before hurrying towards the table where he took a seat at the far end of the table, placing himself with a few first years that greeted him with a small smile.

"Hey," A small boy to Severus' right muttered. "I'm Marcus Adams,"

"Severus,"

"It's good to meet you," Marcus replied, producing an awkward smile. The boy next to Marcus was sitting silently, eagerly looking at all of them. He was tall and thin, with little dark eyes and jet-black hair. At first glance, Severus did not think much of him, but Marcus noticed him staring and decided to introduce the other boy.

"This is Thomas Reed," Marcus introduced. "We met at the station, pretty solid guy."

Thomas responded to the introduction by giving a small nod. "Hey," He said before turning away, the last few names on the list were called up to be sorted. Before the students settled, Severus caught the eye of a large boy further down the table, the older boy sneered at him, no doubt knowing who Severus was. Looking away, Severus frowned. It was going to be a tough first year.