Warnings: contain character death and slash in later chapters. Will not be OotP and/or HBP combatable.

Disclaimer: I own none of Potterverse. It's all owned by the wonderful Ms. J. K. Rowling

Feedback would be much appreciated as I'm a relatively new writer.

Chapter 5. A New Day

Severus woke up to Harry's voice. He was talking to the other first year in the dorm. As Severus looked around he could see four beds besides his own. Harry was already dressed and talking to a dark boy with a distinct foreign accent.

"Oh, you're awake. Good, I'd like you to meet Antonio Cassius." The boy smiled and nodded. The flash of white teeth on his dark face surprised Severus.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Severus asked.

"No, I was just going to wake you, when Antonio-" "Just call me Toni" "-sorry, Toni came back and we started talking. There so much to see here and the head boy, whose a Slytherin-""Alistair Moody" Toni intersected. "Yeah, him. He gave the other first years their timetables and we have Transfiguration first thing this morning with Ravenclaw and then we have…" Harry babbled on. Severus stopped listening after awhile and just dressed for classes.

Toni went with them to breakfast as the two boys couldn't remember which way was to the Great Hall.

James and Sirius were sitting by the Gryffindor table with two other boys, a small chipper boy and a startlingly pale boy. Harry dragged Severus with him to their table and started chattering to Sirius.

"So, we have Transfiguration with Ravenclaw, but Potions with you guys." Harry pointed out from his timetable. Sirius was nodding along with Harry and agreeing.

"Sirius, why are you talking to them?" James interrupted. He had been watching disapprovingly as Sirius and Harry chatted.

"What?" Sirius asked in surprise. He hadn't seen anything wrong with talking to Harry.

"They're Slytherin, they're evil. Don't you know that!" James asked frustrated.

"What do you mean Slytherins are evil?" Harry asked hurt.

"Everyone knows that. Don't play innocent." James spoke harshly.

"James, what are you saying?" Sirius asked angrily.

"We shouldn't be talking with them, they're the enemy!" James shouted.

"That's it we're leaving!" Severus snapped. He'd seen how James' words hurt Harry and was determined to protect the smaller youth.

He gripped Harrys hand and dragged him to the Slytherin table. As breakfast continued Severus noticed Harry eyes simmer with tears. It was then that Severus decided that James was an enemy.

He noticed that after their leaving Sirius and James continued bickering and shouting at each other. Finally Sirius yelled: "Are you saying that if I'd gone to Slytherin you'd have stopped being my friend! Well fine, be a git, but you're no friend of mine if you think Slytherins are evil." and stormed off.

The display was seen by the whole hall. James blushed bright red as he noticed all the angry glances from the Slytherin table and even some from the other tables including his own. He quickly grabbed his things and ran from the hall.

Severus finished his breakfast and stood up.

"Let's go before we're late for class." he reminded Harry. He'd noticed that the small boy hadn't eaten anything at the table and took an apple to give to Harry later.

They were almost late for Transfiguration, because of all the moving staircases. Severus could understand the strategist value of the stair cases movement, but cursed it just the same. A castle had to have some defensive measures after all. (He was a history buff in secret.)

They had gotten lost on the way and only Harrys asking the portraits for directions had gotten them to class on time. The Transfiguration teacher was Professor McGonagall. She demonstrated the art of transfiguration by turning a table in to a dog and back. It was clear that in her class there would be no carousing. She was a strict no nonsense-kind of teacher.

Severus enjoyed the class as transfiguration had a strict theory to its work. Science had always been Severus' favourite class in school and he believed in strict rules that governed any system. That had been a serious misgiving in magic, but now he could enjoy magic without breaking one of his beliefs. Next to him Harry was happily trying to turn a matchstick into a needle.

Potions class was situated in the dungeons a few turns and twists from their dormitory. Professor Slughorn taught the subject, to Severus' relief. A familiar face in all the first days' confusion. Professor Slughorn explained about all the effects different ingredients had with each other. They were given some potion supplies and told to experiment on how they interact. It was loads of fun.

Harry managed to make a potion explode in colour. Bright lights flew everywhere making Severus and Harry laugh.

James' silent disapproval did dampen Harry's fun in the beginning, but Severus' efforts soon made him forget about his future-father. Sirius had apologized for his friend and introduced the other Gryffindor boys. The small bubbly boy was Peter and the pale boy Remus. Harry had remarked on Remus' paleness and found out that he'd never really been outside because of overprotective parents.

All in all it had been a good first day.

TBC…

AN: This chapter is a reward to Suburban Panace for being the first to figure out what was the hidden in chapter four.