"I can't believe you were sorted into Gryffindor! It just doesn't make sense!" Severus said to Lily as they filed out of the Great Hall together.
"Why not?" Lily asked, confused. Severus had lately been showing a lot of dislike toward Gryffindor, even before they had been sorted, and Lily finally decided to figure out why.
"Because Gryffindor is for gits! That's why! Gryffindors are stupid, you're smart! They're conceited and pompous about everything, and you're the most humble person I know." He stopped dead in his tracks as Lily listened intently.
"What's wrong, Sev?" she asked, stopping beside him, as he stared straight ahead with a look of fear and loathing in his eyes.
"Lily, do you want to know the worst thing about Gryffindor house?" he asked, not looking at her. He seemed to shrink into himself at that moment, as if he were a turtle retreating into its shell.
"Yes, I do. What?" Lily asked.
"Those two are in it." Severus said, pointing to two approaching figures; James Potter and Sirius Black.
"Oh, those are the prats we met on the train! And the one with the long hair was next to me during the feast! I can't say I disagree with you about that though, Sev, those two are a disgrace to Gryffindor."
But Severus wasn't really listening to her. He was thinking about the nickname the two male Gryffindors had already come up with for him; Snivellus. He rolled the name around in his brain and tried to find something good about it, but he couldn't. And he hadn't even really done anything to deserve it.
"Going somewhere, Snivellus?" James Potter said when he saw Severus standing completely still, unable to move. Sirius Black smirked and folded his arms across his chest.
"Away from you." Severus snarled, and he finally got his legs to move.
"Ooooh, not very friendly!" Potter smirked in a way not unlike Black. Two boys were behind Potter and Black, one with old robes and worry lines etched on his face, and the other with a round face and beady eyes. They were watching the scene, but only one of them seemed to disagree with Potter's behavior.
Severus tried to push by the four boys, and Lily followed with a scowl on her face, but not before James noticed that she was, again, walking with Severus Snape.
"Evans, what are you doing with this git anyway? Do you see something behind that greasy hair that's worth while?" James asked Lily. Two of the other boys laughed maliciously, while the fourth was still looking somewhat uncomfortable. After hearing this snide remark, Lily turned on her heel and stared straight up at this arrogant Potter with hate in her sparkling green eyes. Severus stood at her side, not sure what to do.
"This 'git', as you feel it is your right to call him, is my friend, and I happen to see a lot of good things about him that you don't see! Furthermore, I would rather have greasy hair than stupid-looking windblown hair like yours any day!" Lily said to James, and with that, she took off walking, Severus right beside her.
"I swear, if they ever call you 'Snivellus' again, I'll...I'll..." Lily stammered. She and Severus had both snuck out their common rooms that evening so they could talk, but Lily was doing most of the talking.
"I mean, that Potter's known you for, what, a few hours? And now he thinks its his prerogative to bully you like that?" she continued.
Severus just sat in the corridor next to her, nodding, but not saying a word. Because he had never in his eleven years of life been stuck up for the way Lily had stuck up for him that day. Instead of being angry about the attack by Potter and Black, he was simply happy that Lily had been there and said the things she had. He watched her shiny red hair swing back and forth as she paced in the corridor, mumbling about what stupid prats the two Gryffindors were.
"Lily!" he finally said, looking up at her. She stopped pacing and looked at him.
"What?" she asked, looking like she had just woken from a bad dream.
"Thanks. For what you said today." He gave her a small smile. She sighed and smiled back, then sat down beside him. To Severus' shock, she reached over and hugged him tightly. He stiffened and began to feel a little dizzy. Her hair tickled his cheek. He smiled and awkwardly put his arms around her waist, hugging her back.
While Severus was trying to fall asleep that night, he tried desperately to remember the last time he had been embraced like that. But he couldn't remember, because he hadn't ever been embraced like that. Not by his mother, his father, or his friends in elementary school.
He fell asleep that night thinking about Lily, and he dreamt about her long red hair in his face.