Arriving at the train platform made Lily feel small, and she was once again grateful that she and Severus had made up. Most of the other students seemed to know exactly where they were going, and it was all the two of them could do to prevent themselves being swept away in the chaos of the noisy crowd. Even the students that they assumed to be also first years seemed to be comfortable and self-assured, greeting each other and the older students as if there was nothing particularly exciting or intimidating about the day. The sun was starting to set, throwing shadow across the scene and adding an air of mystery.

A large man stood head and shoulders above the crowd, looming over them like Lily imagined a giant would, his face almost entirely covered by a thick black beard. He was calling for the first years in a booming voice, so the two of them did their best to fight their way across the platform towards him. Lily took Severus's hand, in an effort not to be separated as it appeared the other years were all heading in a different direction. For a brief moment she thought he might shake her off, but he squeezed her hand gladly.

The giant of a man was shepherding the first years onto a fleet of small boats, and the two of them found themselves sitting on a wooden bench of one of them along with the most bored blonde girl Lily had ever seen in her life and a slightly plump girl who was ignoring her surroundings in favour of reading a thick book about something called Quidditch. The blonde gave the two of them an unimpressed glance as they boarded the boat, before turning her gaze to stare with blank disinterest at the waters of the lake. The other girl did not even react to the slight rocking of the boat that their boarding had caused, entirely engrossed in her book. The complete lack of interest from both girls continued even once the fleet of boats started to drift across the lake. In start contrast, Lily and Severus shared looks of pure delight as they both realised that the boats were being moved by magic, and that they were heading towards their first sighting of Hogwarts.

The manner in which the two girls ignored them also meant that Lily felt no particular embarrassment at keeping her hand firmly grasped in Severus's, and given the way that he returned the hold she felt reassured that neither did he. They both gasped in awe at their first sight of the castle, standing tall and looking like something out of a wild fantasy with the flaming red sky of the sunset oozing its radiant colours across the turrets. Lily glanced across at Severus, whose eyes were oddly bright and fixed on the sight before them, before returning her gaze to the castle. She almost didn't notice when the boat arrived at the shore and they were ushered, along with the rest of the first years, into the castle. The blonde still appeared to be bored beyond belief and the Quidditch girl only reluctantly put her book into her satchel for the walk. Almost reluctantly, Lily let go of Severus's hand.

The other students were already in the Great Hall when the first years entered, the whole place seeming to be majestic with candles floating in the air, so that Lily and Severus failed to pay full attention to the rather fat old man who was placing a tatty old hat on a chair on the dais of the hall. Lily was vaguely aware that the Hat had started to sing, but the exact details of what it was singing washed over her as at that moment Severus had nudged her and hissed, "Look at the ceiling!"

She gazed up in wonderment, awestruck at the sight above her. The ceiling looked all the world as if it was the actual sky she had seen just outside. No one else seemed to be as spellbound as her and Severus, the other first years appearing to be entirely oblivious to the marvel of the world around them. Their reverie was broken by the realisation that something was happening as the fat old man called the first of the first years up to the chair, placing the hat on her head. It was the slightly plump girl who had ignored her surroundings in favour of her Quidditch book. The two of them watched with amazement as after a few moments the hat declared in a loud voice, "HUFFLEPUFF," and she headed towards the table in the middle of the hall that was decked out in yellow and black where she proceeded to read her book.

They were, Lily quickly realised, being sorted into Houses by the Hat, and in alphabetical order. She shared a glance with Severus. She would be called up before him, as Snape would undoubtably be one of the last few names. Up early, however, was one of the boys they'd met on the train, named "Black, Sirius,"

The Hat appeared to give him some consideration before declaring him to be a Gryffindor, which sent him swaggering toward the red and gold table on the far side of the room. This received a more mixed and uncertain reaction than the Hufflepuff girl had received. For her, there had been some polite claps and cheers, but this pronouncement seemed to be causing a number of the older years to mutter to each other rather than clap. Gryffindor was probably a House to avoid then, Lily thought, if she couldn't be placed in Slytherin for some reason. She wondered what criteria the strange animated Hat was using to make it's decisions.

Before she knew it, her name was called and with a final frightened glance at Severus, she found herself walking up to the chair in front of the whole school. Please Slytherin like Sev Lily thought desperately as the Sorting Hat fell down over her head, blocking the Hall from view.

…Slytherin? That wouldn't be my first choice… the Hat murmured into her mind, to Lily's shock, You seem more the Gryffindor type to me…

No, please no, not that she begged with all her heart, I just want to be in Slytherin with Sev.

I haven't even sorted this Sev yet, the Hat huffed in annoyance.

Slytherin with Sev… Lily continued hoping

Fine, I supposed bullheaded stubbornness and incomprehensible ambitions can be considered a Slytherin trait at times the Hat capitulated and spoke for the whole Hall to hear "SLYTHERIN!"

Lily sighed with relief as the Hat was plucked from her head. She turned and gave Severus a quick smile before turning her gaze to the green and silver table. She hesitated, suddenly uncertain as she struggled to see a place for her to sit, until a blonde boy, clearly one of the upper years gave her a sharp gesture towards the slight gap by him. Relieved, she scurried towards him and gratefully sat down, flashing him a thankful smile.

She watched the rest of the Sorting with a vague sense of distraction, flickering her eyes between whoever the Deputy Headmaster had called out and Severus. He didn't appear to have any interest in the others in their year as he seemed to be mostly looking at her.

She was rather glad to notice that the other obnoxious boy from the train had joined his friend in Gryffindor, far away from her. The tables were on opposite sides of the room, with the Houses named Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff between them. She was still nervous of course, feeling restless and unable to relax until Severus too was sorted into Slytherin with her. So far she had been enchanted with the magical world, but she didn't really like this idea of sorting them out like this. She couldn't imagine anything good becoming of her and Severus being separated.

Finally "Snape, Severus," was called and he walked to the stool. He paid no attention to the teachers or other students, keeping his eyes fixed on Lily as the Hat was dropped unceremoniously on his head.

Slytherin Severus thought, the whole idea consuming his consciousness entirely. His eyes were hidden now by the giant hat, but they remained fixed on where Lily had been, the sight of her waiting anxiously at the Slytherin table burned into his mind.

The Hat didn't bother pointing out that he had the brains of a Ravenclaw, or that no matter how hard he might hide it, deep within he had the courage to put any Gryffindor to shame. The Hat, having already been browbeaten by the first uncooperative first year didn't even bother pointing out that his wholehearted desire to be with his best friend could actually be considered a rather Hufflepuff show of loyalty. It would probably have chosen Slytherin for him anyway, all things being equal. The Sorting Hat had run out of patience for dealing with uncooperative children who firmly believed themselves to know best, and was somewhat unused to being shown this level of disrespect for what was ultimately its only purpose for existing, so it shouted "SLYTHERIN!" with very little hesitation.

The Hat was raised from his head and he beamed at her. Lily gestured at him to come join her, wriggling inelegantly to open up a space between her and the kind blonde boy beside her. The blonde boy gave her a slightly indignant look, which Lily was entirely oblivious to as her attention was taken up by Severus taking his seat between the two of them. With silent excitement, they watched the rest of the sorting. Having both ended up in the same House, they were now far more at ease and willing to pay attention to the remaining few that followed alphabetically on from Snape.

Once all the first years had been sent to their various Houses by the Hat, the stool and Hat were removed from the hall with a wave of the fat man's wand. From the table on the dais, a man who looked to be the living embodiment of the word wizard stood up. He was wiry, with a long white beard. Unlike the plain black robes the students wore, his robes were a bright magenta, covered in sparkling silver stars.

"Welcome, students, both new and old, to Hogwarts," he said as the blonde girl besides Lily gave a surprisingly elegant snort of disgust, his voice carrying easily despite the size of the hall, "Ahead of you lies a year of learning. I hope you will study hard and behave well. But first, we have more important things to attend to - the feast!" With his words, a banquet of food appeared on each of the tables. Lily and Severus both gasped in astonishment, sharing a delighted look. It seemed that so far everything about Hogwarts was amazing them. It was nice at least to have someone to share their excitement with.

Lily hesitated briefly, a disloyal thought striking her. She had never seen Severus eat with a knife and fork. Sitting next to him, she had a brief moment of fear, unsure of his manners. It was never something she had considered to be important before, but somehow playing by dirty rivers and discussing magic beneath canopied trees was different from the sensation of being watched and judged by a school. She wondered with a hint of fear if what was polite and acceptable in the wizarding world might be different from the muggle world, if all the manners her parents had instilled in her might prove to be wrong.

She glanced surreptitiously to her left, considering the blonde girl. She was relieved to notice that the way she was holding her cutlery and helping herself to the food in front of them seemed to match up to Lily's concept of table manners. Just because the castle looked to be from ancient times it did not appear to mean that the social manners were as well. Severus, she noticed, was very carefully copying the blonde boy in his cutlery use. He met her eyes and winced slightly. It was, she realised, the slowest she'd ever seen him eat anything.

The food proved to be the focus of the meal for most of the hall, with the students of all four Houses gratefully eating the food on offer with the panache of starving teenagers. It was a sublime spread, of impressively high quality. It was definitely far superior to the school dinners she had previously had, the observation of which she murmured quietly to Severus. He nodded his agreement, declaring it to be the best food he'd ever encountered in his life.

The blondes either side of them seemed to be watching them. The boy had a slightly curious air, though the girl beside Lily appeared to be glaring at the blonde boy. Opposite them were two large, dark haired boys who looked to be impressively muscular. It occurred Lily that she had ended up sitting in amongst the upper years, with the other first years being further down the table, which consequently had drawn Severus into the same circumstance. Over their heads, the senior students talked about their summer.

As the food, which had initially looked to Lily to be an extravagant amount, dwindled towards empty plates, the blonde boy abruptly returned his attention to the two first years sandwiched between him and the blonde girl.

"My name is Lucius Malfoy," he informed them, and they could tell from his tone of voice it was clear that this information was important and that they should probably be rather awed by it, "I am a sixth year prefect. These two," he gestured across the table, "are fifth years, Dominic Goyle and Robert Crabbe,"

Lily and Severus nodded, carefully remembering the names. Lucius continued, his attention switching to the blonde girl, "This is Narcissa Black,"

Narcissa bowed her head slightly to acknowledge the introduction, before asking in a slightly condescending tone of voice that seemed almost to hint at a reluctance to receive an answer, "What are your parents?"

The question confused Lily slightly, so she answered uncertainly, "My dad's an accountant and my mum's a housewife?"

"Muggles," Severus said quietly, and Lily realised he was answering for her, that he'd picked up on what Narcissa was actually asking. Narcissa shifted slightly, opening a little more distance between her and Lily, sending Lucius a dirty look that spoke of great annoyance. Lily looked at Severus in confusion and slight concern, he had after all reassured her that her parents being muggles wouldn't matter in the slightest once they got to Hogwarts, but he was looking at the cakes that had replaced the main meal of the feast, a strange, thoughtful frown on his face. It was as if he was reasoning through evidence she couldn't see and drawing a conclusion she didn't understand.

Pausing, she gave some thought to his words before speaking up suddenly, interrupting whatever Goyle had been starting to say with, "His mother's a witch,"

Narcissa raised an elegant eyebrow at this interruption, clearly unimpressed. Interrupting probably wasn't polite, and Narcissa seemed to Lily to be the type of person who cared about good manners.

"Oh," Narcisssa said, and Lily had never before heard so much pure scorn in one syllable. If it hadn't been directed toward her, she would almost be impressed. She fell silent, joining Severus in eating the cakes on offer and letting the upper years talk over their heads. They seemed to be discussing the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, who was apparently new, and how long he would last. She had no opinion on this topic, and was now a little shy about voicing it had she had one. In contrast, it seemed much safer to eat French fancies and Battenberg cake in silence with Severus. She'd never seen French fancies or Battenberg in green and silver before, but was happy to discover that they tasted the same as normal cakes.

"I wonder if the other Houses also have cakes in their colours," Severus whispered to her and Lily desperately wanted to sneak round and see what was on offer on the other tables. To her disappointment, when the feast was finished and all the students stood up the remaining cakes all disappeared so as they walked past the other tables they didn't get to see if they had been coordinated to the House colours.

The whole House walked together, the upper years shepherding the first years through the candle-lit corridors. Lily shivered slightly, certain that she would get lost, feeling a slight chill as they headed down into the dungeons. She was grateful that Severus was beside her, and appreciated him slipping his hand into hers as they walked through the darkened passageways. Just as the view of the castle over the lake and the Great Hall had been magical, images straight out of a fantasy book, the flickering shadows of the dungeons were as ominous as the settings of a horror film.

Luckily, once they entered the Slytherin Common Room it proved to be warm and well-lit. The whole room was bathed in a gentle greenish light, making it look as if they'd stepped into another world. There was something mystical about it, almost as if spells and enchantments lurked in every corner. Despite being in the dungeons, a significant portion of the walls were taken up with large windows, only rather than looking out onto the grounds of the castle both Lily and Severus were delighted to realise that they showed the depths of the lake.

The other years dispersed, clearly familiar with the Common Room, leaving the first years to be presented with their timetables by a prefect who instructed them clearly that they were expected to be on time and well-behaved for all their classes. Taking the proffered parchment almost absentmindedly, Lily and Severus drifted towards one of the windows, gazing in wonder as colourful fish flittered through the green waters.

"Oh Sev," Lily breathed, "This is amazing,"

He shared a wonderstruck smile with her, before returning his attention to the sight before them. It had been a long day, and not everything had been strictly speaking pleasant, but the idea of living somewhere where the windows showed the depths of a lake filled with all sorts of mystical, magical creatures made him happy. He didn't want to think too much about anything else, just focus on the joys of standing with Lily watching the fish swim by. Lily was just as happy to let the strange light wash over her and enjoy the beauty of her new home.

It was into this relaxed feeling of being pleasantly full and almost ready to head up the stairs to her new bed that Lily overheard Narcissa hissing just within her hearing, "What was all that about?"

She sounded angry, the irritated edge that had been present in her tone for the entire feast was now front and centre. Lily shivered slightly, edging closer to Severus and continuing to gaze in wonder at the depths of the lake before them.

"Narcissa…" Lucius appealed gently, sounding awkward.

"Is this some kind of desperate ploy to be Head Boy?" she continued, and Lily could see from the her reflection in the window stalking closer to where Lucius was sitting languidly, bringing their conversation into better range of her hearing.

"It was a small gesture, nothing more. I will not allow Dumbledore to look down on the Malfoys or Slytherin," Lucius fired back, his tone proud, "To shame them in front of the school would have shamed us, surely you can see that?"

Narcissa did not sound to be appeased by this, continuing, "The mudblood can't help it, poor girl. She and her parents weren't to know what a disgusting affront to nature they had birthed, living in ignorant muggle filth. She deserves pity for her existence, though nothing more," Lily realised like a blade to the heart that they were talking about her, her and Severus, "But the boy Lucius. A halfblood. Not just one whose blood has been polluted by interbreeding with mudbloods, but an actual halfblood. An abomination of the natural order of things. Unlike her brainless parents, his mother was a witch. A pureblood witch. A pureblood witch who chose to defile herself by lying with a muggle. A pureblood witch who had so little pride, so little respect for our world, for our traditions that she bore a child with a muggle. He should have been drowned at birth, put down like the animal he is. Her I can almost accept, being lost in the ignorant muggle world until it was too late. She can have a use, no doubt. Out of sight, out of mind. Somewhere she does not come into contact with proper people. But he should never even have existed. His mother has shamed us all by having carnal knowledge with something as bestial as a muggle, to bearing it's child and to allowing it to live. He is an affront to everything that is good. An affront to the years of tradition and magic that we all hold dear. He is everything wrong with the world, and we need a solution. That solution is not to allow them to sit with us, to touch us. What filth might we have contracted?"

Lily felt tears welling up in her eyes. She glanced across at Severus, hoping that he was too focused on the magic around them and the mermaid who had appeared curiously before them to have heard what the older students were saying. He didn't seem to be paying any attention to anything other than the glorious vision in front of them, but it was always hard to tell from his face. She continued listening, each word cutting deep.

"We are Slytherins," Lucius was saying calmly, "Regardless of the fact that they are mudbloods, we cannot reject them. Malfoys have been Slytherins for as long as records exist. We value family tradition, and that includes the importance of the House. You know that Dumbledore dislikes us, the muggle-loving fool. To reject them outright in front of all the school will bring nothing but condemnation and yes, interfere with my ambitions for Head Boy. Slytherins stand together as a united front, as we always have done. We hold the traditions of this school in greater standing than the other Houses. I will not let the House be fractured before the world,"

Narcissa did not seem impressed, angrily expelling her breath to continue, "The Blacks are as old as the Malfoys, and we hold the importance of blood purity to be sacred above all other traditions," she informed him angrily, "And now not only have you associated with those two mudbloods, you have made me publicly associate with them too. The shame…"

She turned on her heel and flounced away sharply towards the direction of what was clearly her dormitory. Lucius remained where he was, and Lily could see a stubborn yet pensive expression on his face reflected in the window. He didn't seem to be happy with the outcome of the argument, yet he was simultaneously clearly unwilling to back down.

"We should go to bed," Severus said, breaking through her thoughts. She nodded, unwilling to meet his eyes, and they separated to go to their new beds for their first night as students of Hogwarts.