It had been two years since Severus had begun living with the Evans Family, and it had been much different than what he had first thought it would be like. Lily's parents treated him like their own child, and Severus would be lying if he said he didn't like it. Lily's father especially liked him, perhaps because there was finally another guy in the house.
The only one who wasn't happy with the arrangement was Lily's sister, Petunia, whose dislike of the magical only rivaled Severus's late father. It was almost scary how similar her views were.
And with the time for them to head to Hogwarts fast approaching, today was the day that someone from the school would be here to pick up Lily and take her to get her supplies. Severus would also be going along, since he no longer had anyone to take him after the death of his mother.
He listened to Lily chattering excitedly beside him, and tried to get her to calm down slightly. Luckily, a crack resounded through the air and a woman was standing in front of them. Her eyes held a confused glance in them when she saw Severus, but he quickly told her his name.
"So you must be the one who told Ms. Evans so much about the magical world." The woman's tone was not condescending, she was just stating a fact. "Saved me some trouble, I suppose. Now then, my name is Minerva McGonagall. I am one of the professors at Hogwarts, and will be helping you to gather your supplies."
The professor then told the two to hold on to her left arm, and she held her wand in her right. Once Severus and Lily had grabbed hold, she waved the wand. Instantly Severus felt like he needed a trash bag. It felt like he was spinning violently, or was that just an illusion. He didn't dare open his eyes to figure out. Soon the horrible feeling stopped and the three of them were standing in an alley.
He saw the pitying look on Professor McGonagall's face as Lily fell to the ground. "I forgot how hard apparating can be on a person for their first time."
Severus was wishing they had taken a different route here. Even his memories of his first shunshin weren't this bad, and Severus almost found himself releasing the contents of his stomach onto the ground. He had heard about apparating, and had even occasionally seen his mother use it, but how did people stand it?
Professor McGonagall waited for Lily and Severus to regain their ability to walk straight, and then she led them into a nearby brick wall. She took out her wand and tapped a certain brick. Almost instantly, the wall seemed to disappear, and they walked into an area filled with dozens of shops. Many people were milling about, and it was obvious that they were magical if their clothes were anything to go by.
Without pausing, Professor McGonagall took them into a large marble building that towered over all the other shops. Inside, she took Lily to one of the many goblins sitting at a desk. After a few minutes, as the goblin counted the Muggle money spread in front of him, Lily walked away with enough knuts, sickles, and galleons to buy her supplies. Before leaving, Severus also grabbed some money from his mother's vault. It was a good thing that he had remembered to grab the key two years ago. The three then exited the wizard bank, to begin their actual shopping.
The professor then dropped Severus and Lily off at Madam Malkin's to get their robes, meanwhile she went to collect their cauldrons. Severus and Lily stood on stools as Madam Malkin measured them and began work. It wasn't really that bad other than the few times that Severus's nose began to itch.
When Professor McGonagall returned a bit later, Severus and Lily had their robes and hats ready. Then with cauldrons in hand they went to grab their school books and potion supplies. While looking for their books Severus and Lily ran across a peculiar named one.
"'Dangerous Creatures for the Insane and Suicidal.' That's a weird name," Lily said. Severus nodded in agreement, noticing many other books with similarly disturbing titles.
They were soon pulled from that store and began heading to their next stop, the shop where they could buy their wands.
The building was very… antique, with a sign that read, "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since A.D. 382." The inside was very much the same as the outside, very old and it had a strange smell. Standing next to a single chair was an old man with white hair and pale eyes.
"Oh yes, more first years coming to get their wands. One of the many reasons I love this time of the year," the man, who Severus assumed was Ollivander, said eccentrically, before walking over to them. He inspected the two of them closely, discerning eyes digging into them.
He turned to Severus. "I remember your mother very clearly. She was a difficult customer, went through quite a few wands before choosing one. Or perhaps I should say, before one chose her. After all the wand chooses the wizard. Now, which hand is your wand hand."
Severus held up his right hand, and Ollivander thrust a wand into his hand before Severus even knew what was happening. At the man's command, Severus gave it a quick wave. Nothing happened and Ollivander brought another one out. This time, the wand gave off a shower of sparks. Ollivander smiled and said,
"Thirteen inch Cedar wand with a dragon heartstring core. Not very many people have Ceder wands. They are extremely loyal to their owners. I know that you will do great things with that wand."
Next was Lily's turn. After being told what a wand hand was, she held out her hand and got her wand on the first try. This one spilled some kind of liquid with a strange smell shot from the tip.
"Um... Does this always happen?" Lily asked, the wand starting to slow down its liquid production. Ollivander chuckled.
"Yes, differents wands will do different things. Let's see... Willow, ten inches, unicorn tail hair core. This kind of wand will excel in charms," He said. "Now that will be seven galleons a piece."
They forked over the coins and walked out of the shop with their new wands in hand. Lily waved hers around a little bit before it began to spew out more liquid again, and she began to panic. The liquid traveled down the wand, covering her hands and dripping to the ground, occasionally hitting her feet/
"Professor, please help. Sev, stop laughing, it's not funny!" Professor McGonagall waved her wand, and the liquid disappeared. Lily sighed in relief. "Thank you. I hope that doesn't happen again." She turned to glare at a chuckling Severus.
"Once you get used to your wand, things like that won't happen like that unless you want them to,'" Professor McGonagall informed. "You two should have just enough to get something else. Students at Hogwarts are allowed to bring an owl, a cat, or a toad with them."
A few minutes later the three were walking out of their final shop. Lily was carrying an extremely fat -or fluffy. Severus couldn't tell- black furred cat. They had stopped at the owl emporium right before that and Severus had picked up a great horned owl. The bird sat in a cage and was sleeping despite the racket.
They were now currently standing in the Leaky Cauldron, waiting for Professor McGonagall to grab a few final things. Lily scratched her cat, which had recently been named Sparta, behind the ear.
"So what are you going to name her?" She asked, gesturing to the owl.
Severus thought about it, he hadn't really decided on a name. He turned to look at the owl, who was still fast asleep. He wanted a name that meant something to him, something to both parts of him.
"Mikoto," he whispered low enough so only Lily could hear. "It means nobility. A name fitting for an owl belonging to the great Half-Blood Prince." He saw Lily smile at the joke on his nickname, but she would never know the other connotations of why he chose that name. For even in this new life, Itachi was still unable to escape from the guilt of killing his parents.
A few minutes later, Professor McGonagall returned and apparated the two back inside their home, making the two drop to the ground because of the fact that still weren't used to the feeling.
"Deep breath in, deep breath out," Severus muttered under his breath, while Lily lied on the ground while clutching her eyes shut.
After a quick goodbye, Professor McGonagall left, probably to avoid facing the annoyance of the children once they recovered.
"Please tell me that all magic isn't going to make me feel like this," Lily moaned, holding a hand over her stomach.
"I have no clue," Severus replied, slightly recovered from the sickness.
When the time came for Lily and Severus to board the Hogwarts Express, the farewell was filled with many tears from Lily's parents, and none from Petunia whatsoever. Severus was surprised she had even come to see them off.
Then the train whistle blew and Severus and Lily climbed aboard. When they found a compartment, Lily immediately rushed to the window and began wildly waving to her family. Severus sat down opposite of Lily and began flipping through one of his textbooks, figuring that it was better to be overprepared than underprepared. So far, Severus found potions to seem the most interesting, but he also like the concept of transfiguration. He wondered if it was anything like genjutsu.
The train was mostly peaceful, Lily reading a book she had brought with her, while Severus would occasionally get up to find the food cart and get a snack for both of them.
That silence, however, was broken when what sounded like a herd of charging antelope approached their door and two boys clambered in.
"Hey, mind if we hide here?" The first one said, a kid with unruly black hair and glasses.
"Thanks," the second one, who also had black hair, said without giving Severus and Lily a chance to reply. The two then ran in and each climbed under a seat, as if they were trying to hide. Severus's question of why was soon answered.
An older girl slammed opened the door and seeing what she looked like made even Severus's eyes widen. Her skin was orange, not tanned, literally orange. Her hair was colored green and stuck up like grass. But the most shocking feature were her caterpillar eyebrows, and they were actual caterpillars attached to her forehead. Luckily her hair wasn't a bowl cut and she wasn't wearing a green spandex suit, otherwise… Yeesh, Severus still had the images of Might Guy and Rock Lee imprinted in his mind.
"Have you two seen a couple of little brats around?" She asked. "I'm gonna make sure to make them pay for this."
Severus was about to reply about the two hiding under the seats, but Lily beat him to the punch. With a barely straight face, she said, "Sorry, we haven't seen anything, but we heard someone running towards the back of the train."
The girl said a quick thanks and ran off that way, leaving three out of the four in the compartment to let out the laughs they had been holding in. Severus looked over to Lily with a questioning glance as the two climbed up out from underneath the seat .
"Why did you lie? I thought you didn't approve of things like that."
"I don't, but I figured that it would be better than a fight breaking out," she answered, Severus conceded with that, and went back to his book.
"Thanks for that, by the way," the boy with glasses said. "My name's James. James Potter. And this is Sirius Black."
"I'm Lily, and this is Severus, my sibling in all but blood. It's nice to meet you," Lily replied, gesturing over to Severus with her right hand. Severus glanced up from his book and waved lightly before continuing his reading.
Then another boy with light brown hair opened the door. "James, Sirius, the ghost is clear."
"Hey, Remus, come on in. We can stay in here just in case that crazy prefect decides to return to our compartment to wait us out."
Remus came in and introductions were made. Severus continued his studying while the other four conversed. A few hours later, the five were told to go ahead and change into their robes by one of the older students.
Severus glanced up at her from his book, amazed that they were already getting closer to Hogwarts. It hadn't seemed like too long since they had left the station in the Hogwarts Express. Of course, that could have been his excitement making the time pass quicker.
And then his mind finally got to thinking about what the person had just said. One little detail picked at his brain.
"How?" he asked the other four. "All the other compartments are taken, and I doubt that any of us want to see each other changing."
It was Lily who came up with an idea...
"Why did I let her change first, she always takes forever with normal clothes," Severus muttered. He was waiting outside of the compartment with James, Sirius, and Remus. The door was closed and light shuffling sounds coming from underneath the door. Lily had suggested that the person not changing would wait outside and make sure no one accidentally walked inside, and as a gentlemen, Severus had suggested that Lily should change first. A decision he was now regretting.
"It's a fact of life, my friend, that women take a reeeeaaalllyyy long time to change," Sirius said while slinging an arm around Severus's shoulder. (AN: These views do not reflect the author's opinion, and are completely the thoughts of Sirius Black.)
"I heard that," she replied with a tone of annoyance. "I'm almost done, but these robes aren't exactly the easiest things to slip into."
After about thirty more seconds of waiting the door creaked open. Lily stepped out, clad in the black robes of Hogwarts. She was still pulling at the sleeves, but stepped out of the door and into the hallway, allowing Severus to enter. Before closing the door, he gave her a stern stare.
"And no peeking." He heard her spluttering protests and the muffled snickers of Sirius and James as he closed the door.
"That was one time, and it was an accident!"
Had Severus been slightly less mature he might have followed James and Sirius's footsteps and snickered. However, he did allow a small smile to spread across his face.
He pulled his robes out of his bags and began to get dressed, noticing how Lily was right when she said these things weren't easy to put on. But after a while it would become nothing more than muscle memory.
Eventually, everyone was dressed in their robes, and they entered the compartment to wait out the last leg of the trip. Most of the time, Lily stared out the window, looking at the passing scenery. Without turning from the view she said to Severus,
"Can you believe that it's finally time. Ever since we first met I've been waiting for this moment. I always thought that I was the only person with weird abilities, but then you came along and told me that there was an entire civilization of people like me, with their own unique culture.
"When I learned that I would be going to a school to help me learn more about magic, I was excited, but I was also a little scared. I wondered if I wouldn't be good enough and that they would just ignore me. So the day that my letter arrived was one of the happiest days of my life, and the only thing that made it better was the fact that the two of us would be going together.
"I have a feeling that these next few years are going to be a lot of fun."
Seeing the smile on Lily's face and the happiness in her eyes, Severus made a promise. No matter what, he would always protect her happiness, even if it cost him his own life.
"So how long have you two known each other?" Remus asked, looking between the two.
"Only a couple years, but he's my best friend. The two of us will stick together forever. "
James reached his hands behind his head and grinned widely. "Okay, after getting to know the two of you a bit, I've decided! Welcome to the ranks of the Marauders!"
"The Marauders?"
When the train finally arrived at the station, James, Remus, and Sirius rushed out ahead while Severus and Lily both grabbed their hats. Severus put his on and stepped into the hallway. Turning around, he saw Lily trying to get her hat on, but it seemed like it was size or two too large. It kept falling down her head, covering everything from her eyes up. She eventually managed to get it to stay still on the top of her head.
The two caught up with their newly made acquaintances- although Lily was already calling them friends, Severus wasn't quite so comfortable with that yet. From the train, a hulking mountain of a man led them from the station to the shores of a lake. Once everyone had piled into the boats waiting for them, they set off for the Hogwarts castle standing tall on the far side of the lake. Looking down into the water, Severus could have sworn that he saw people swimming around down there, which made him curious as to what exactly was living underneath the surface of the lake.
Once they reached the castle, they were led inside by Mrs. McGonagall. After a few more minutes, they were brought into the absolutely massive great hall, where the students of the various houses were sitting at the various tables. Then a strange talking hat was brought out and sang a strange song about the school and its houses. After this, the sorting into the houses began.
Feeling the gaze of the dozens of older students stabbing into his back, Severus was feeling anxious as he waited for his name to be called. Lily had already been called and sorted into Gryffindor, along with Sirius Black. Then a bit later Remus was called up and also placed into Gryffindor, to Severus's surprised. Based on the interactions he had had with him on the train, Severus would have guessed that Remus would have been put into Ravenclaw.
Soon enough, Severus's own name was called. Severus approached the stool and felt the hat being placed on his head. Soon after, a voice rang out in his head.
"Hmm... It's been awhile since I've sorted someone like you," the hat said. Severus wondered what the hat meant by that. Although he had a few other questions that were more important to him.
"How do you work? What kind of spell was used to animate you?" Severus questioned, his curious mind trying to figure out how the hat worked. And since the creator was dead, the only source would logically be the hat itself.
"Those are questions I cannot answer, so settle down and let me have a look through your memories," the hat replied, and Severus thought he could hear an exasperated tone in its voice. "Now, let's see. You are surely brave, but you do not have the reckless abandon of a Gryffindor. You are very wise, but the pursuit of wisdom is not the most important thing to you. You are very cunning, and have great ambitions. You would do well in Slytherin...
"However, in my opinion, your loyalty outshines everything else, perhaps it's an effect of your life as Itachi."
"You're probably right. Despite the fact that I'm in a new body, I still have all those memories. It makes me wonder what life would have been like had I been born without being able to recall anything about Itachi. What kind of person would I have been? I may not ever find the answers to these questions, but instead I will strive to be the best person I can be by using the experience I have gained as Itachi."
"Very wise, I believe that you can accomplish your goals. But in the meantime, I think you should go to..." and then the hat yelled out to the whole room, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
Silence was all that met the hat's declaration, until the Hufflepuff table erupted in a hurricane of cheers and applause. Then the other houses joined in, although a majority of Slytherin seemed forced with their cheers.
Severus thanked the hat as it was being removed before walking off to join his new house. He felt quite a few hands pat him on the back as the rest of the students were sorted into their houses, of which James got sorted into Gryffindor.
After that, the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, outlined a few rules for the school year. Severus could tell that those rules would be quickly broken by James and Sirius if their first meeting was anything to go by. It would be like dealing with two Narutos, except these two had access to magic. Severus could already feel a headache coming on.
After the speech, Dumbledore sat back down and the once empty plates filled with food. Severus hadn't realized how hungry until just now. His stomach was calling out for food and he quickly began to sate his hunger. He also couldn't help but notice that there were quite a few Gryffindors who were taking the medieval theme very seriously with their table manners compared to the other three houses.
One of the older Hufflepuff students seemed to notice what Severus was staring at.
"Don't worry, they're normally not like that. They just get really excited at the beginning of the year. I think part of it has to do with how eccentric some of the Gryffindor ghosts are."
Severus hoped that that was true, he wouldn't be able to stand if the Gryffindors always were nearly jumping on their tables for each meal.
Once everyone had had their fill, each of the houses were led off to their dorms. Severus smiled at Lily as he passed her on the way out, and she waved back while James loudly called out goodnight.
Severus tried to stay close to the front of the group as the Hufflepuffs were lead towards their common room. According to some of the older years they were actually in an area close to the kitchen. With everyone waiting, a prefect at the front walked over to a shadowy corner where barrels were piled up and tapped one of the barrels in a very specific rhythm that Severus made sure to memorize. It then opened to reveal the doorway into the common room.
Severus had very little time to admire the common room, although he could make out the earthy nature of it. The same prefect who had opened the way pointed the first years to the dorms, and soon Severus was lying down in bed thinking about what his first day would be like.
FIIIINNNNAAAALLLLLYYYYY! After a ton of procrastination and getting distracted by video games, I finally finished the redone chapter. This one is actually two chapters from the original combined, because I wasn't happy with the original and decided to just put both together. Now onto a few notes(Notes covered in the original will not be put here. If you want to see those then go check the original.):
Severus and Lily's relationship: As of right now, they are pretty much siblings as stated by Lily in this chapter. It won't be until later that Severus begins to have feelings for her. And by then, Severus will have a new place to stay so that things won't be awkward… Although, I suppose there could be quite a few hilarious scenes with an oblivious Lily and Severus with a crush. I'll have to mull that over.
The Marauders: I hope I did these three's introduction justice. I honestly can't remember if Pettigrew was part of the group from the start, but if it is, I have changed it in this one. In this version of the story, I have also decided to start the Marauders, Severus, and Lily off on friendly terms, and now the two are actually a part of the group. Severus and James will still have a friendly rivalry, though.
Hufflepuff common room: I would like to thank those who pointed out the fact that I was wrong with my previous description of the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room. In the original story, I had wrote that part late at night and had decided to do no research whatsoever and just put in the Gryffindor's entrance. People, especially me, do stupid things when they're tired. (I say that though I'm currently writing this at midnight.)
And… I think that's it!