-Chapter Two-
Severus stood beside a tall white-haired man on the platform next to a brilliant scarlet train engine. He held the handle on the end of a small brown trunk in one hand. The man, Severus's grandfather, scanned the groups of children and parents with the air of someone sizing up the players in a particularly important game. His gaze landed on a circle of adults who were talking to each other and casting their eyes around the platform in much the same way as he was. He jabbed Severus sharply with his elbow.
"There they are. You know the Lestranges already. Crabbe's son will be starting his third year and Goyle's son, his second, today. Avery, Rosier and Wilkes all have sons that'll be starting with you, and one of the Black boys too. Watch out for Rosier, he's likely to try and use you as well as he can, if he's his father's son. And I hear the Blacks have been having problems with their older boy, so best to steer clear of him."
Several of the adults in the circle had noticed Severus's grandfather watching them and offered him a nod of acknowledgement. He returned the nod and then broke his attention from them to glare down at Severus.
"Stick to Lucius and keep your mouth shut. Stay out of trouble. Remember your duty."
And without another word, he walked away toward the other adults. Severus did not pause to watch him. He turned and hefted the trunk into the train, deftly weaving between the clusters of children who were standing in the cramped hallway. He slouched past compartment after compartment with barely a glance inside until he came to one near the end of the train that was empty. Pushing the door open, he pulled his trunk inside, hoisted it up into the luggage rack and sank roughly onto the seat beneath it.
Minutes later, the door opened again and a large black steamer trunk floated halfway into the compartment before it managed to wedge itself in the doorway. There was a shove from the other end and the trunk scraped through the door, landing in the compartment with a loud thud. Following close behind the trunk was Lucius, his wand out. He pointed it at the trunk, muttered, "Wingardium leviosa," and the trunk rose from the floor and drifted over to settle beside Severus's in the luggage rack. Lucius looked down at Severus then, and was just about to speak to him when a high, indignant voice rang out behind him.
"I'm not sitting in here with him."
Craning her head around her older brother to get a look inside the compartment, Florence had spied Severus sitting next to the window. Lucius let out the breath he'd taken in to speak to Severus with a loud, exasperated sigh.
"Florence—" he began in a monitory tone.
"Fine." She brushed past her brother, gesturing to someone behind her. Two more girls followed her into the compartment. Florence shot Severus a disdainful glare as the three of them sat on the opposite seat, and one of the girls began to speak excitedly.
"They said he constantly fights with his parents. He is always sending owls to people he shouldn't be talking to and they can't figure out how he gets away with it. He must be really sneaky."
"So maybe he will go to Slytherin," said the other girl.
"It takes more than the ability to pull a fast one on your parents to be a Slytherin," said Lucius imperiously. He was still standing in the middle of the compartment, and the reason became clear when he spoke again.
"Well, as much as I'd like to hang around with my baby sister and her friends, I think I'll go find my own."
"Good, you can take him with you," said Florence quickly, superfluously jabbing a finger in Severus's direction. Lucius's eyes rolled heavenward.
"Florence—" he began again.
"Fine," Florence repeated hotly. She waited for her brother to close the compartment door behind him and then leaned in toward Severus.
"Right. If we have to be stuck in here with you, this is how it's going to be. You're not going to move. You're not going to speak. You're not even going to look at us, for the entire trip. Until we get to Hogwarts, you're going to pretend that you don't even exist. Not even one glance or you'll be sorry."
Without waiting for his response, she turned back to her friends and the three of them struck up their previous conversation as if there had been no interruption. Severus complied with her commands, training a murderous stare on a spot of carpet next to his shoes. He suffered hours of idle gossip, speculation and other topics that might've been interesting had they not been spewing rapidly from the mouths of preadolescent girls. He was almost grateful when Florence finally banished him to the corridor so she and her friends could change into their school robes.
He stood in the narrow corridor, peering through the glass to the windows where the rocky hills and lakes flecked with pink and orange from the setting sun flashed past. Several minutes had passed when his silent musings were suddenly disrupted by a piercing chorus of laughter from one of the compartments in the next car, the last on the train. For a moment, Severus's curiosity battled his good judgment; following the sound of laughter had never served him very well before. His curiosity proved especially stubborn that evening. He slid open the car door, slipped through and tread quietly down the corridor until, craning his neck, he could see partially inside the end compartment.
Another group of girls was chatting animatedly, some of them still wriggling into black robes bearing the Hogwarts crest. Their attentions were focused on a girl with dark red hair and green eyes who was gesturing wildly and obviously telling an amusing story, as evidenced by the expressions on her companions' faces. The red-haired girl's hands worked a kind of pantomime as Severus watched her. She extended an index finger and ran it in circles around an invisible object with an exaggerated shrewd look on her face. Then she raised an invisible cup to her lips and took a large swallow, immediately grasping her throat with both hands and puffing up her cheeks as though she was about to be sick.
The compartment erupted in another fit of laughter, which Severus realized too late had been masking the sound of footsteps that were approaching his position. He looked around in vain for somewhere to slip away. He could hear a boy's voice, loud and assertive, advancing along with the footsteps. Whoever was coming would not be alone. Finding no hiding place, Severus folded his arms, pressed his back against the glass and hoped he would be ignored.
"That'll be her. I reckon she's got to be the prettiest—" the boy was saying when the car door slid open. Severus dared a quick glance at the intruders and saw two unfamiliar boys about his own age staring at him as if he'd interrupted their conversation in some extremely rude fashion.
"Get out," said the boy in the lead. He had fair skin, short dark hair, and brown eyes. The boy next to him had olive skin and black hair just long enough to fall over his pale grey eyes. They regarded Severus with matching expressions of mingled irritation and smugness. Severus disliked them both immediately. He didn't respond, other than to turn his face away from them and fold his arms closer across his chest.
"Oi," said the grey-eyed boy, stepping nearer. Severus's wand hand twitched. "You deaf? Clear off. Now."
"Guess he's not gonna move," said the other when Severus still did not acknowledge them. He heaved a mock sigh. "We'll have to do it for him, then."
"Try it," muttered Severus, eyeing them disdainfully through a thin curtain of hair.
"Uh oh, sounded like a threat to me, mate," said the grey-eyed boy to his friend.
"Not a very smart thing to do, that," said the first boy as he came nearer. "Making enemies on your first day at school."
"Too right," said the grey-eyed boy, coming shoulder-to-shoulder with the other. "We only asked him to leave, and he threatens us. Not very smart at all."
"Poor sot, obviously has no idea who he's threatening," said the first boy, folding his arms in a taunting imitation of Severus's posture. At this, Severus let out a loud, derisive snort. The boy's eyes narrowed.
"Think you know better, eh? What's your name?"
Severus debated with himself whether or not to answer. Finally, he muttered, "Snape."
The boy turned to his grey-eyed friend. "You know a Snape?"
The grey-eyed boy shook his head. "I don't pay attention to my parents' friends. He looks the sort, though. He'd fit right in at home."
Something his grandfather had said sprang to Severus's mind, and he took another look at the grey-eyed boy. His lips pulled into a subtle sneer. "Black," he murmured, barely above a whisper. The grey-eyed boy's expression changed abruptly from a priggish smirk to unmitigated rage. He made to lunge at Severus, but stopped short when he found Severus's wand aimed squarely at his chest. The grey-eyed boy's face contorted in anger and he looked over at his friend, who had drawn his own wand and was pointing it at Severus's head.
"He's definitely one of them, James," the grey-eyed boy growled furiously.
"So we'll sort him out early," said James, feigning a scoff at Severus's wand for all that he was watching it warily. Severus's sneer deepened.
"Sort me out? Go ahead, try it. I've been wanting to try out a few things."
They stood like that for several long moments before the door to the red-haired girl's compartment slid open and a number of heads peeked out into the corridor.
"What's going on?" demanded the red-haired girl.
"Oh, hey. All right?" answered James, watching Severus intently as he slowly lowered his wand. He looked at the girl and arranged his posture into an unconcerned kind of swagger. "I'm James Potter, and this is Sirius Black."
The red-haired girl looked all three boys over, her lovely face tightening in a look of disapproval. "I didn't ask who you are, I asked what you're doing. Why are your wands out?"
"Oh, you know. Some people have such bad manners that they'll draw on you for making a simple request. No matter, we've cleared it up, haven't we?" he asked, training a fierce look on Severus.
Severus had lowered his wand slightly along with James. He returned the glare, the dislike he'd felt before blossoming quickly into all-out loathing. Without another word, he stuffed his wand back inside his robes and moved toward the car door. James didn't spare him another glance, brushing past him as he approached the girls' compartment. But when Severus drew next to Sirius, he heard a low, harsh hiss.
"Better watch your back, slimy prick."
Sirius shoved past him and joined James, who was standing just outside the girls' compartment. Severus continued on to the car door, thrust it open, and head through to the next car without a backward glance. He paced the corridors for the rest of the trip, his hand clenched tightly around his concealed wand and his ears on alert for the sound of approaching footsteps.
A/N: Many thanks to everyone who continues to stick around for this story. 'Tis a pretty busy time for me, and the writing is going very slowly. There's more to come, albeit at a snail's pace. Thanks also for the reviews! I find them inspiring. (hint, hint)