As soon as Snape entered the Slytherin common room, a tall blond seventh year called him over.
"You, boy! Come here."
After pausing for a moment, staring blankly back at him, Snape approached the couch on which the older student and a girl much closer to his own age, Narcissa Black, were lounging.
"Eeeew! Don't come too close to me, Snape! Not after touching that Mudblood!" whined Narcissa Black as Severus slumped into the neighboring armchair.
Snape stared briefly into her blue eyes. She wasn't really bothered by his presence. But upon Snape's arrival, the older boy had directed his attention away from Narcissa. Her comment on his embarrassing Potions errand was merely to draw the seventh year's attention back to her.
Typical.
"Cissy, Cissy…where are your manners?" chided the boy as Narcissa stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. "You know Sluggy as well as I do. As clever as he may be, he has always idiotically expected his 'favorites' to like each other. All to further his own causes, I'm sure…"
Severus stared blankly at the older boy. A smug little smile had appeared on his face. The boy's tone was casual enough, but Snape knew that there was a genuine reason that he had been beckoned over in the first place. As if a seventh year would have anything to do with a first year otherwise.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy."
The smile vanished for a split second as Malfoy examined a passing thought. After a moment, however, he smirked confidently again. It was as if the slight frown of contemplation had never even existed in the first place. Whatever it was he was being asked, Severus was sure is was weighing heavily on the boy's conscience. No, not boy. He was nearly a man. Or he would be, anyways, once he had his seventeenth birthday.
"Snape.", Severus answered.
The young man frowned slightly again. "Is that your first or last name?"
Snape narrowed his eyes. "It is the name I would prefer to be called."
Narcissa gasped, but Malfoy laughed heartily. He didn't appear to be faking it either. After regaining his composure, Malfoy offered Snape his hand. "I like you. You've got the right attitude. Very well then. You can call me Lu." Ew. Snape refrained from wincing at the nickname with great difficulty. Luckily, "Lu" didn't notice. Severus made a mental note never to address Malfoy by any name if he could help it.
"What do you want with me?"
He didn't feel like wasting time. He hadn't had a good night sleep in weeks thanks to his illness. Even the wizarding world had yet to find a cure for the common cold.
Malfoy grinned.
"Narcissa. Would you be so kind as to leave Snape and I for a few minutes? I promise you'll see more of me later."
Narcissa exhaled sharply in annoyance but didn't argue. Within moments she had disappeared up the stairs to her dormitory. Most of the common room had cleared out, except for a black haired girl sleeping on the armchair in the corner of the room. Her snores and lop-sided posture indicated that she would not wake for a long while.
Having ascertained that this girl was truly asleep, Malfoy withdrew a very small package from within his robe pocket. Wrapped in plain brown paper, it crinkled slightly as Malfoy tossed towards Snape's face. Severus caught it.
"Place this near the grating of the north-side gate sometime after ten o'clock tonight, but before midnight."
Snape stared blankly back at him.
"What's in this for you? Connections, my friend. Entering Hogwarts as a kid without allies is like a mouse entering a house of cats. You get eaten."
Malfoy leaned closer.
"Accept, and I'll introduce you to someone who can really help you find your way in the world."
"A student?" Snape was skeptical.
Malfoy chuckled.
"No."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Author's Note:
I'm sooo sorry that I haven't updated in months! Please don't hate me:( Over the holidays I will try to add another chapter. Sorry this one's a bit short. I try. I really do. I hope this one turned out ok. As usual, read and review. Constructive criticism only, cause I can't use the other sort. :)