Story: The Prince of Midnight

Chapter 1: Hail

A/N: All right, I decided to go a different path with this story. Originally, I was going to make Severus and Remus become "cordial" with each other, but since then I decided against it. I'm still keeping James/Lily, but now there's a good chance of Severus/ Lily.

Great claps of thunder could be heard from the distance inside Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The sky outside the windows was a dark black and the ground below was filled with soft mud. The corridors were busier than usual, due to the fact that nobody wanted to study outside in the courtyard.

Making their way through a bustle of students was a pale and skinny boy. His uniform was wrinkled from the attempt to escape the crowd; his robes tattered at the end and his green and silver tie crooked. A group of second year girls flinched slightly as he shuffled past.

He didn't bother to notice their furtive glances and blushes of embarassment. His head was cast downward at the book in his hands and he seemed to be deeply intrigued by the contents.

Just as he was rounding a corner on the second floor the sound of a fellow sixth year stopped him short.

"Oh, Snivelly!"

Severus Snape managed to drop his book and pull out his wand in a matter of seconds.

"Now, now, Snivellus, there's no need to be violent," a handsome boy with curly black hair smirked. "We just wanted to wish you farewell before the holiday break. Wouldn't want our favorite Slytherin to think we'd forgotten all about him."

"Exp-"

"Locomotor Mortis!"

The spell was cast from behind Snape and immediately felt his legs freeze. He tried to move his feet forward but they stayed locked together and with a loud thud he fell, face first, onto the corridor floor.

"Good one, James!" the curly haired boy exclaimed, tears streaming from his eyes.

Severus screamed a few choice words, but his yells were muffled by the ground.

"C'mon, we're going to be late for Charms," another boy emerged from behind James. Unlike the other two, his mouth was in the shape of a frown.

"Oh, it won't matter. When has Flitwick ever given us detention? Besides, I'm not done with old Sev yet," Sirius chuckled, poking the enraged Snape with his foot.

The third boy shook his head. "You know, I could give you guys detention. I am a Prefect, after all."

James finally spoke. "You spoil everything, Remus. Keep this up and we might just have to ditch you."

Sounds from the other end of the walkway broke all the boys from their fun. Footsteps were becoming louder as a group of teenagers came into view.

"Let's go, I'm pretty sure I see some yellow on those guys' ties, and we all know how well they can keep a secret," Sirius grumbled. He stooped next to Sev, grinning maliciously. Without second warning his hand reached for the bag lying beside the Slytherin and found the opening. Never breaking his gaze, Sirius poured all the contents onto the floor, shattering ink bottles and sending heaps of paper everywhere.

The oncoming group had now reached the place where James was standing. They watched in silence, trying their hardest not to laugh. It was a common event to see the two most popular Gryffindor boys causing mayhem throughout the school, but it was a special treat to catch them in the act of tormenting the least liked boy of all.

Making sure to kick his schoolbooks as hard as possible, Sirius finally bent to pick up his own bag, stepping on as many quills as possible in the process. James had joined his side and both had begun to walk away. They had taken only a few steps when the shouts of a silky voice raged from behind.

Storming through the crowd of Hufflepuffs came a slender girl with fierce auburn hair and dazzling green eyes. She walked straight to James and Sirius, stopping only to un-lock Severus's legs. She came to halt inches from James's face and began to prod him furiously in the shoulder with her finger.

"James Potter, I swear, if you don't stop picking on innocent people I am going to haul your pathetic Quidditch playing butt straight to the headmaster!"

A sheepish expression had overcome the sixth year. His cheeks began to match the girl's hair and he tried his hardest to avoid her gaze.

"You know, I don't get you," Sirius chimed in from beside James. "How many times has that git called you dirty names, and yet you still make us out to be the bad guys."

"Lily-" James said hastily. A fire had flickered in the girl's green eyes as she turned her attention on Sirius. Pulling her away, they both turned to see Severus dashing about, madly trying to shove his belongings back into his bag.

The crowd had begun to grow larger as more and more students were arriving and trying to pass. Throwing a heated glance at James, Lily bent down and began to gather some loose paper that was still on the ground. The other kids, becoming impatient at the hold-up, were starting forward through the small group, mindless of where they were stepping. When a heavyset Ravenclaw left a muddy footprint on one of Severus's essays for Transfiguration, he let out an angered yell.

"Here, I think this is the last of them," Lily said softly, handing the boy several pieces of parchement. She noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that the other three had disapeared in the crowd.

"You didn't have to help me," Severus grunted, flinging the bag on his shoulder and standing up. Lily, following suit, narrowed her eyes.

"So you're telling me you would have been happy to re-do that entire History of Magic summary? Not to mention buy a whole new set of Ancient Runes books?"

Severus, who had been staring at the ground, looked up momentarily. Meeting the girl's eyes, his pale face seemed to become whiter. Dropping eye contact, he shrugged his shoulder silently.

"Well..." Lily paused, a strand of red hair falling in front of her eyes. Pushing it absentmindly behind her ear, she seemed to gain her nerve. "Have a good Christmas, Sev."

And without another word she turned in the opposite direction and began to walk away. Halfway down the hall she was overtaken by two other Gryffindor girls and became nothing more than a blur of black robes. Nevertheless, Severus continued to stare in that direction, his black eyes dancing.

The storm that seemed to carry on into the following morning, bringing with it sleets of rain and a biting wind. Sitting alone at the Slytherin table, Severus was surprised to see a sleek snowy owl fly into the Great Hall and land in front of his glass of pumpkin juice.

Receiving mail was a rare occasion for the boy. His mother used to make it a habit of writing once a month to keep in touch with her son, but eventually stopped when Severus entered his fourth year, mailing him only on his birthday and Christmas.

Unrolling the parchement tied to the bird's leg, Severus's black eyes roamed the page, wary.

S.S.

Meet at two o'clock in the Common Room.

L.M.

A wave of chills swam through the boy's body. His hands began to shake as he made to rip the paper into shreds and his pasty pale forehead had beads of sweat forming.

The boy tried to calm himself down, but his attempts were failing miserably. He watched as the few people who had stayed behind for the holidays were trickling out of the Great Hall until nobody was left but him.

Of course. This is the perfect moment. Everyone's gone, there's no chance of interruption.

Severus's mind was buzzing. Feeling as if he were going to be sick, the boy rushed to the nearest bathroom. Checking the stalls to make sure he was alone, he began to pace. His feet hit the tiles and soon picked up a rythmic melody, echoing off the white walls and drowning out all thoughts.

I can't do it.

I have to.

But I can't!

Hours seemed to pass before Severus stopped. His pitch black hair falling in front of his face, he suddenly thought of the previous day. Sirius's sarcasm. James's cruelty. Remus's cowardice.

And Lily.

Lily Evans. A muggle born girl. Saving him, trying to act brave and sincere.

I hate them all. Severus thought, his fists clenched.

Anger propelled the Slytherin out of the bathroom and in the direction of the dungeons. He allowed the fury to boil inside of him, to pulse through his veins, until he wanted nothing more than to reap vengence on the infamous Potter boy and his filthy friends.

Storming on, Severus knew he would be able to face the fire and all the monstrous news that it would bring. The hatred running through his veins propelled him to do what he knew he must.

Have a good Christmas, Sev.

The words made Severus pause. The image of Lily Evans flashing him a quick smile appeared in his mind.

No. She's a stupid mudblood.

But he couldn't shake the image. The harder he tried, the brighter her emerald eyes shown, the silkier her voice became.

Severus had completely stopped walking. What had driven him moments before seemed like a distant memory as he let the newest memory overcome him. He closed his eyes and saw her hair bounce on her shoulders as she turned, the light catching it and causing it to shine brighter than ever.

And then.

A boy was pulling Lily into a tight embrace. He was talling a joke in which she found hilarious, sending smooth chuckles through the hallways. She grabbed the boy's left hand with her right and they bounded off together, never breaking eye contact.

The anger that had surged through Severus minutes before had returned as if in a flash of white hot lightening. He lowered his eyes to the ground, using every bit of reserve in his body not to lash out and punch the wall beside him.

That boy holding Lily did not have his hair.

He did not have his large, black eyes.

That boy was not Severus.

It took an eternity for him to make it to the Slytherin dungeon. Collapsing into a hardbacked chair, Taking a few deep breaths and closing his eyes, Severus waited for two o'clock to arrive.