Second chapter! :)
Thanks to generous assistance from A.O. (Guest), I can confirm that Dumbledore was headmaster when Snape and Lily went to Hogwarts :)
Enjoy!
He was already waiting there when she skipped down the path, a smile rising on her face. "Hello again," she said, pulling him over to the grass beside the path. They'd been meeting like this for a few months now, on and off, and she awaited it more each day. She loved the stories that Severus told her about a world within her own—a world with magic and wizardry and everything she'd ever dreamed of.
No matter what anyone else said, she liked Severus. She had other mates, too—there were lots of girls in Cokeworth that she played with on occasion—but talking to Severus was different. It was like looking into the eyes of a child and seeing an adult there. When they were together, friend to friend, she felt powerful. Confident. She almost forgot the merciless taunts of her sister—and that she'd had to move into the guest bedroom because Petunia simply refused to sleep in the same room as "that magical freak".
She grinned and waited for his storytelling to begin. "So, what are you going to tell me about today? The warlock's hairy heart? I liked that story." She lay back on the grass so that her hair splayed out around her like an aura. "Or that street with shops on it—Dragon Alley?"
"Diagon," he corrected her, though he was still smiling.
"Right. Or—Oh, I've got it! Tell me about what it's like at this school. Once I say goodbye to Mum and Dad and Petunia—Oh, I hope she'll come and see me off, I hope she'll do that much—and reach this big castle, what then?"
"The Sorting," Severus whispered, his voice barely audible over the rush of the wind.
"What's the sorting?" Lily drew closer, eagerness written all over her face.
"All the students—the first-years, the newest batch—go into the Great Hall. My mum says it's huge, and stars glow in the sky even though there's a ceiling."
"Magic," Lily whispered.
"Yeah. But at Hogwarts, there are these four houses. They're like these groups—and all the students get sorted into them."
"How?"
"The Sorting Hat."
"A hat?" Lily giggled. "Is the hat magic, too?"
"Yeah." Severus smiled wanly. "The hat looks into your mind—sees what your personality's like. Then, it puts you in a house. You stay with your house all seven years at Hogwarts, and you help them earn points for a big trophy at the end of each year."
"Do the houses have names?" Lily couldn't believe how much of the world there was left to see. A few months earlier, she'd thought herself the only one with the power to do… things. Now, she knew and accepted that she was one of many—and she couldn't wait to meet other wizards.
"Yeah, they do." He took a deep breath. "They're called Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin."
Lily's hands were shaking with excitement. "So tell me about the houses. Start with that funny-sounding one…the one with the puffs?"
"Hufflepuff. Their symbol is the badger. Well, my mum says that all the people in Hufflepuff are really loyal, hardworking…" He laughed. "Honestly, I'm not so sure I'd like to be one. Then there's Ravenclaw—the eagles. They're the wise ones—if you're smart, witty, and intelligent, chances are you'll end up there."
"Okay…" Lily thought hard about where she thought she fit. "What about the other two?"
"Gryffindor. They're known for bravery. The Gryffindor symbol is the lion, and all the students with dominating courage are sorted there."
"Oh, wow." Lily's eyes bulged. "That sounds brilliant. I'd love to make it into Gryffindor. Wouldn't you, Severus?"
He sighed. "I suppose."
"Let's cross our fingers. What's the last one, then? Slitheen?"
"Slytherin. They… they're all about cunning. Cunning, ambition, and victory… their symbol is the snake. Some of the Slytherins got into Dark Magic, too, while they were at Hogwarts."
Lily bit her lip. "They don't sound very nice." She waved her arms and legs up and down on the grass as if etching a snow angel into the dirt. "I hope we both get Gryffindor. Don't you?"
Severus nodded, though for some reason his heart wasn't truly in it.
"What house was your mum in?"
"Slytherin. But she didn't go into Dark Magic," he replied defensively. "She's great, she is. I promise. She's not evil, or a dark witch, or—"
"Severus," Lily said softly. "I believe you."
I believe you. For some reason, those were the words that he needed to hear. After spending days, weeks, years in his house, being told he was nothing or being ignored completely, after being questioned and doubted and hit and kicked out and forgotten, he knew that there was someone in the world that trusted him. For what it was worth, it was something.
…
Lily said her goodbyes to Severus and walked back up the path, humming a song to herself. Her mind still swarmed with the words that her friend had said to her—Sorting. Hufflepuff, Great Hall, Hogwarts, Gryffindor. She smiled at the thought of being put into Gryffindor, of being admired for her bravery. She'd never thought of herself as brave—she'd never actually had the chance to prove that she had courage, if she did have any at all. But if she could, she knew she would.
Only time would tell. But for now, she was content with crossing her fingers.
She let herself in through the front door, which was unlocked, and looked around the house for her parents. "Mum! I'm hungry! Where are you?"
Lily gasped at the sight at not her mum, but Petunia racing down the stairs. She fixed Lily with a withering glare. "I've seen what you do outside," she accused. "Messing around with that boy. Who is he, anyway? Looks like you plucked him straight from the dump."
"Stop it, Petunia," Lily said fiercely. Wizard or not, she was prepared to defend her friend. "You don't know him. You haven't even talked to him."
"Well, I've seen everything I wanted to see. He's like you, isn't he? A weirdo? He looks like it. And I didn't think you could stoop any lower."
"Leave him alone. I'll choose my own friends, and you choose yours."
"I'm telling Mum," Petunia scoffed, crossing her arms. "I'm telling Mum that you're making friends with the garbage and then…maybe she won't let you go to that school either and you'll be stuck here…"
Petunia ran back up the stairs, her footsteps echoing on the floor below. Lily sighed, trying to ignore the lump in her chest that had throbbed ever since Petunia had found out about Lily's magic and…
Wait.
Lily had never said anything to Petunia about Hogwarts, or that there was a magical school at all…
Before she could register her actions, she was running, running to the kitchen table and nearly screaming at the top of her lungs when she saw the crisp pieces of parchment waiting there. The envelope was already open, though Lily didn't know if the job had been her parents' or Petunia's, but its intent was clear.
MS L. EVANS
THE GUEST BEDROOM
COKEWORTH, ENGLAND
Her heart skipped a beat as she opened the letter and read what awaited her there.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Dear Miss Evans,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…
All the stories that Snape had told her were true. (Not that she'd ever doubted him, of course, but a confirmation was nice.) Soon, she'd be going to Hogwarts with all sorts of magical people and learn how to cast spells, make potions... She wondered what the Wizarding World was like—how much was truth and how much legend?
It was only a matter of time before she found out. Gryffindor or Slytherin? Cover Petunia in boils or warts? She almost laughed at the thought before stopping herself. It wasn't Petunia's fault she wasn't a witch. But was it her, Lily's, fault that she was?
…
He smiled at the feel of the paper in his hands. He'd yanked the letter off the table the moment he'd spied it—his parents were fighting downstairs and his mother hadn't even given it a second glance. Severus grinned at the mention of the headmaster—Albus Dumbledore—and of the beginning of the term. Soon, he'd be free from Spinner's End, from his parents, and from this dreary life.
Lily must've gotten her letter too—he was sure of it. He wondered how she was feeling now, swept with elation and anticipation. He thought about showing his mother the letter, maybe even asking her if they could plan a trip to the Diagon Alley she'd told him so much about, but he thought better of it. He'd tell her later, when they could be alone and talk everything out. He hadn't told either of his parents about Lily, partly because they hadn't had time for him these past months and partly because he didn't want to let anyone else in on her. Lily was his secret, his treasure that he wanted to keep under lock and key. Their friendship was something precious he didn't want to ruin.
He hoped that, even at Hogwarts, they'd stay friends. Some small part of him did hope he'd be sorted into Gryffindor, so that he could be with Lily (because he was convinced that she'd find herself there, of course), but he knew somehow that his path would stray from hers.
Severus could only cross his fingers, like Lily had, but for a different reason.
In hopes that their friendship would endure.
…
