This chapter does contain a few lines of dialogue from Order of the Phoenix. They are italicized. Thank you for reading!

Chapter One

Everything changed very quickly. Severus suddenly felt about four inches closer to the ground, the skin on his hands became taught and smooth, and his ears were filled with an odd rushing, pounding sensation. His fine silk robes had transformed into Hogwarts school robes, decorated with the Slytherin crest.

He had joined the scene on the grass, but the figures were still blurry and indistinguishable. Vaguely, he could feel his lips moving, his arms swinging, but he still had no clue what he was doing. The figures were gradually becoming clearer. Across from him were three distinct individuals, all definitely male and possibly around sixteen or seventeen years old. The one in the center was yelling something, he didn't know what, and gesturing wildly.

Severus felt his body contort. First, the scene flipped on its head; something had turned him upside down. A moment later and he was flat on his back, staring at the cloudless blue sky. Everything was still fuzzy, but now he recognized the voices were jeering, and several people were laughing in the background. Then something cut through the scene like a knife and tore it into unmistakable clarity.

"Take the curse off him, then!"

Severus could not breathe. Lily was here; he was hearing her voice for the first time in sixteen years. He knew where—when—he was. His arms and legged remained locked—he'd been cursed—and he could still only see the sky, but he knew the three figures across from him. He knew he only had a few seconds until everything changed.

"You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus—"

Struggling to his feet, Severus knew his next words. Out of the corner of his eye, his saw Mulciber and Avery. What would they say if he just let Lily help him? Gods, what would they say if he thanked her? They would never respect him; never look at him with anything other than contempt, for the rest of Hogwarts. He knew the words that would make them grin, make him their equal. Just one word, on the tip of his tongue…

He chanced a look at Lily. She was absolutely fearsome, her wand thrust straight into James Potter's face, but when Severus met her eye, her glare softened. Any anger died in his throat as he fell to his knees and retched into the grass.

"Just a concussion, see them all the time," said Madam Pomfrey briskly, offering Severus a cold compress. "Of course, we'll be keeping you overnight for observation. These kinds of things can turn quite nasty." She gave him one last look before sweeping over to another bed. Severus was not sure she had believed him when he told her he had fallen from a staircase earlier.

As soon as Pomfrey was out of earshot, Lily sat down indelicately on Severus's knees. He winced, but she didn't seem to notice.

"I am going to kill James Potter." Her face was still nearly as red as her hair. "You know that, right? If he bullies you one more time, I'm just going to—to push him out of Gryffindor Tower!"

Severus snorted, and his head gave a powerful throb. He didn't want to vomit in front of Lily—again—but if she made him laugh again…He rubbed at his temples, trying to alleviate his nausea.

"Oh, Sev," said Lily gently, pushing his hair away from his face. She looked in his eyes. "What are we going to do with you?"

She is going to kiss me, he thought. Oh, gods, Lily Evans is going to kiss me. His heart began pounding and his head started throbbing even worse and the room spun into a dizzying, technicolor swirl Lily is going to kiss me.

"Ahem." Lily quickly sat upright. Professor McGonagall had stepped in front of the bed, tugging James Potter along behind her and looking grim. "I believe we have something to discuss."

Potter's face was very red when he grumbled, "I'm sorry I attacked you," he added below his breath, "for being a worthless git."

Lily let out a small, indignant noise. McGonagall didn't seem to notice; she was too busy looking pointedly at Severus. He realized that she was expecting him to respond to Potter, so he muttered something that might be construed as an apology. McGonagall narrowed her eyes.

"Madam Pomfrey told me you will be well enough to leave by tomorrow morning," she said very coolly. "I expect both you and Potter in my office by noon to begin your week's detention."

The cacophonous explosion followed immediately.

"But we just finished O.W.L.s; I though term was over!"

"Severus didn't do anything—"

"Potter attacked me! He attacked me!"

"This was self-defense, Professor! You can't punish him for that!"

"I thought you were cool!"

A small smile flickered across McGonagall's face. "Potter, I have been teaching here for nearly twenty years. I have no interest in being—nor need to be—cool." Her attention drifted over to Lily. "And Miss Evans—"

"I don't care what Potter said," she interrupted icily, "I didn't throw one curse, and there were plenty of other students there who don't want to see me dragged down with him. I'm not interested in being a part of this." She suddenly smirked, "Though I will volunteer as a witness at Potter's inevitable criminal trial."

Professor McGonagall's smile had faded, and she was looking very stern. "I am aware, Miss Evans, that you did not 'throw' any curses. However, prefects are expected to stop fights, not whip out their wands and prepare to join them."

Before Severus knew it, the night had passed, and he was trudging from the Hospital Wing to McGonagall's office. He was already feeling quite lousy; his head was still pounding, and every so often he would come over dizzy. The absolute last thing he wanted to do was combine these feelings with Potter for the rest of the week. He could only hope that McGonagall set them to different tasks.

When he opened the door to her office, he realized he would not be so lucky. A small, wooden desk with two small, wooden chairs had been placed in the center of the room. Potter was already filling one of the seats, his face nearly as wooden as the chair itself.

"Have a seat, Snape," said McGonagall. Once again, she looked quite foreboding, with her spine as straight as a rule and her lips thin enough to have been drawn by a pencil. Severus wordlessly took the seat next to Potter. To his surprise, McGonagall sat down at her own desk, and looked at them both rather coldly.

"This is what I don't understand," she began. "Before me are two of the brightest students to ever step inside Hogwarts, two young men with the power to change our world, and yet whenever I see you, you're squabbling like children." Severus shifted in his chair. "I might expect this kind of behavior when you were first years, or perhaps some…less gifted students, but you two? Potter, you are one of the most talented Transfiguration students I have ever taught." Potter sat up a little straighter. "And Snape, Professor Slughorn says you have all the traits and talents necessary to be the next great Potions master." Severus felt himself flush. "So this must end. I don't care what you're fighting about, whether it's Houses or—or girls. I expect you both to shape up. Understand?"

Severus found himself staring very hard at the desk in front of him, doing all he could not to look at Potter or McGonagall. "Yes," he muttered at the same time as Potter. He expected him to add "prat" or "Snivellus," but he didn't.

"Good," said McGonagall. She waved her wand, and stacks of papers appeared in front of them. "Let's begin."