Disclaimer: Who's is it? JKR's! Who's is it not? Mine.

Apologies for the sheer lateness of this chapter, and also the length. I've been ridiculously busy with homework, and internals, and stuff, but I've got some of them out of the way, and had time to write. I know, this isn't very long, but I just decided to give you this now, and make the next one quite a bit longer. I hope. Forgive me?

Severus left Dumbledore's office, his mind reeling. He had so much to think about, he didn't know where to start. He headed up to the small alcove on the fifth floor, a place he always went when he wanted to be alone. Hoping that no one else used this spot, he sank down against the wall and brought his knees up to his chest.

He knew he was stuck. He knew that much. Of course, Dumbledore hadn't been overly helpful, either. He could have given him some vital information, such as who he was able to tolerate, who he hated, who he ignored. What was the Severus Snape that everyone knew here like? Who were his (Severus tried not to think 'my') friends? What was his personality? The same? Was he a wannabe Death Eater, or was he one of the indifferent Slytherins, like he was in the '90's?

The sound of footsteps running in his direction brought him back down to earth, and by the time be had looked up, he saw a red haired girl walking away from him. "Damn," he thought, "probably her spot. Too bad. I'm not moving. That's right. Leave."

Severus put his head down again and allowed his thoughts to turn to Hermione. Hermione. His little Gryffindor, the only one who could give him a run for his money academically, and the only girl he'd ever loved. Gone.

He sighed and got up. The life he knew had gone, and there was no use in dwelling on it.

He didn't know where to go. Was he expected to go to class, considering he'd supposedly just got out of hospital? Why was he in there, anyway? That brought him to another problem: what classes did he have, and when? Severus felt like yelling and throwing something.

He decided to head down to his dormitory, hoping that the sixth year boys were still in the same room. He arrived down in the Slytherin common room and tentatively opened the door to the dormitory. There was no one inside, and he walked in. He realised he had no way of knowing if this was the sixth year room, so he checked the names on the trunks under the beds. Black. Nope. Avery. Nope. Dolohov. Nope. Ah. Snape. Assuming he was the only Snape in Slytherin, he decided this must be him. 'Ah, well, at least he's tidy'. Judging by the state of the room, he figured the other boys weren't, although his tidiness could be due to house elves, considering this bed hadn't been slept in for three nights. He rummaged through the drawers next to the bed, hoping to find a copy of a timetable. Thankfully, he was in luck, and he settled back on the bed, inspecting it. His timetable was almost the same, with the same subjects. At least he wouldn't be behind. Potions, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Charms were at the same time as before, and Herbology and his free periods had switched, leaving Arithmancy in the same place. 'Easy enough to remember', he thought, as he checked the time. He was supposed to be in Potions right now.

He figured he may as well go, as he had nothing else to do. He grabbed a bag next to his bed, and looked inside quickly, and, seeing that everything he needed was in there, he left the room and made his way to the Potions classroom.

The door was open when he arrived, and he sidled in, walking up to the teacher's desk and muttering an apology to the teacher, who, incidentally, was the one that stopped him earlier. He looked around, and saw that the only available seat was the one next to a red headed Gryffindor girl. He sat down next to her, and didn't say anything, thinking that she'd be one of those Gryffindors that avoided Slytherins at all costs.

He was proved wrong, however, as she turned to him and said, smiling "Good to see you up and about, Severus." He must have looked shocked that they were apparently on first name terms, because she suddenly stopped smiling and said "Are you okay?"

He grimaced. "Yeah."

He pulled his stuff out of his bag and began copying down the stuff on the blackboard, writing quickly to catch up.

Severus paused when he'd finished, waiting for something else to happen. The girl next to him leaned over to him. "I saw you in your little spot, earlier. Are you sure you're okay, Sev?"

Sev? The only person who called him that wasn't born yet. He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

A ball of crumpled up paper was thrown at the girl, and she turned around. Severus turned around as well, looking to see who threw it. Of course. Potter. As much of a pain as his son.

"What, Potter?" she hissed.

He grinned, leaning back in his chair. "Go out with me, Evans?"

Evans glared at him. "How many times do I have to tell you, Potter? I. Will. Not. Go. Out. With. You. Catching me by surprise isn't going to make me accidentally say yes, either."

Potter stretched his arms up, still grinning. "I'll just have to keep trying. You can't say no forever, Lily Evans."

Lily? Evans? Oh, crap. He was sitting next to Potter's mother. He was on first name terms with Potter's mother? Oh. Bugger.

Meanwhile, Lily rolled her eyes and turned back to face the front, muttering "Yes, I can."

I know, not exactly the best place to stop, but too bad. I'm starting to get more into the story now, so it should flow a bit better from here on in. Well, that's the plan, anyway.
I'm also hoping to get a bit more regular with updates, so bear with me on that. Also, thanks to those of you who reviewed. I love you all.