Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K.R., I'm just borrowing it.

Author's note: I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews and favorites this story has received so far! I'm glad you're enjoying it. :) Just an apology in advance- this chapter is a little dull, but I needed it to start defining the relationships between characters. Please bear with me, I promise things will get more interesting soon.

Chapter Four

Severus woke early the next morning, out of force of habit. If a Death Eater didn't get up early enough, there was always a possibility of something violent and potentially fatal happening to them. The boy stretched slightly and pushed his hair out of his eyes. It was getting long now, and he figured he would have to cut it soon.

The former Potions master pulled back the hangings around his bed silently, pleased to note that none of the other boys were awake. The sun was just starting to rise, and Severus knew that it might be another few hours before they made it to breakfast. He gathered his shower things as quickly as possible and exited the dorm, closing the door quietly behind him.

He crept along the narrow corridor in the direction the pompous Prefect had indicated, noting the doors for other dorm rooms along the way. There were seven total, including the one the first years were staying in, and each of them contained somewhere between three and five boys. The last door at the end of the hall led to a large bathroom, much like the one found in the Slytherin dorms.

Severus poked his head in before entering, but it was completely empty. He snorted, not really surprised. Early to bed, early to rise, they say… he quoted to himself with a smirk. That explains a lot. He took care to leave his wand sitting next to where he'd hung his towel, just in case any of the Gryffindor boys tried anything stupid.

. . . . . .

A short while later, Severus emerged from the bathroom, fresh-scrubbed and ready to start his day. No one had bothered him yet, and he was hopeful to keep it that way. Tiptoeing back into his dormitory, he saw that Lupin was up and pulling his socks on, already dressed in his shabby robes and brand-new Gryffindor tie. Severus had put his own on rather reluctantly, as if simply touching the piece of cloth would contaminate him.

The sandy-haired boy glanced up upon seeing the door open, but his alarmed look faded to an awkward sort of smile when he recognized Severus. "I'm going to head down to breakfast, I think," he whispered as the dark-haired boy moved to put his things back in his trunk. "Do you want to come with me?"

Severus didn't really feel like going anywhere with Lupin, but he had enough manners not to refuse outright. "I think I'm going to wait for Lily," he replied quietly, turning away from the other boy's disappointment.

Good Godric, did he really think they were friends? They were acquaintances, but nothing more than that. Maybe allies against Potter and Black. Wasn't Lupin supposed to be part of their group, though? And why did he suddenly want to hang out with Severus, anyway? That would just make him even more of an outcast. Did all the Gryffindors wait to go to breakfast with each other? In Slytherin, everybody just kind of went at the own pace. Well, except for the boys with posses, like Lucius Malfoy.

The former Potions master thought his head was going to explode from trying to analyze Lupin's motives. Severus really wasn't a people-person.

"Oh, it's okay," Lupin replied with a halfhearted smile. "I suppose I'll just wait for these two to get up." He glanced at Sirius' and James' beds a little uncomfortably. "I've been meaning to get a head start in our Defense books, anyway," he added.

Severus nodded briefly, not really caring what Lupin was going to do. He'd take his somewhat new copy of Advanced Potion-Making to the common room to wait for Lily to come downstairs. He hadn't had much time the previous night to start fixing and improving recipes.

The boy picked up his book bag, which was already packed with his textbooks, and exited the dormitory again. Upon reaching the common room, he felt the same sensation of being overwhelmed by the redness. Only a few other students were awake, mostly girls and all older than Severus, and the group of them were just getting ready to leave for breakfast.

They glanced at Severus as he entered the common room, but they didn't pay much attention to him. He ignored them for the most part and took a seat in one of the armchairs by the fireplace. It appeared that the fire was left burning constantly, despite it being relatively warm outside.

Severus was able to get through four potion recipes and start on a fifth before Lily walked downstairs. Her clothes were straight and free of wrinkles and her hair had been brushed carefully, though her beautiful green eyes looked a bit sleepy still, Severus noted. He greeted her with a hesitant smile, putting his book away and standing up. However, he wasn't able to suppress a grin when she gave him a quick hug.

I could get used to this, he thought to himself happily. He had seven years ahead of him of waking up in the morning knowing that Lily was just around the corner- literally.

"So, how are you?" he asked her as the two of them made their way through the portrait hole and down the stairs.

"I'm absolutely wonderful right now," Lily replied with a bright smile. "I'm at Hogwarts, getting ready to learn about magic, and you're here with me. My roommates are really nice, too. Mary and Alice. What about yours? That Remus boy seemed nice, but the other two were pulling stupid pranks on the girls last night!"

Severus refrained from rolling his eyes, even though he desperately wanted to. Of course Potter and Black were already getting into trouble. They'd end up in detention within the first week, no doubt.

"They're a bit annoying, but I think I sorted them out," the boy replied loftily as they entered the Great Hall.

Lily giggled, then tugged on Severus' sleeve as he unconsciously turned to walk toward the Slytherin table. "Hey, where are you going?" she asked teasingly. "You're a Gryffindor, remember? At least, I hope so. Otherwise you'd look silly wearing all that red and gold!"

Severus fought back a grimace, knowing he probably looked odd in Gryffindor colors. He had purposely avoided the mirrors in the bathroom for that reason. Lily's word choice had also forced him to remember that she was still only eleven years old.

"Are you ready for classes and stuff?" he asked her, changing the subject as the two of them sat at the end of their new table, across from each other.

Those wonderful eyes light up with excitement. "Of course!" Lily replied eagerly. "I've already read through our course books. I think I'll like Charms best; Mr. Ollivander said my wand will be good for that."

Severus couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. She reminded him very much of Hermione Granger at that age, just less stuck-up and bossy. "Potions is my favorite," he told her, picking up an apple. "Mother let me read all of her books when I was young, so I already know quite a bit."

Lily nodded, though her eyes looked a bit dreamy. No doubt she was thinking about all the magic they would learn in the coming years. Suddenly, she snapped out of it.

"Hey, you can't only eat that for breakfast," she scolded Severus, gesturing to his apple with her fork. "I know you don't like breakfast food, but you need to eat more. I'm sure you don't get enough at home." Her eyes were filled with worry and some sort of protectiveness.

Severus sighed and gave in, picking up a couple pieces of toast. "There, happy?" he grumbled, though the fact that she was showing concern for him left a warm glow in his chest.

Lily simply nodded, giving the boy a cheeky smile, and continued eating her own breakfast. However, the comfortable silence between them was quickly interrupted.

"Hello there, Mister Snape," a familiar voice sounded right next to Severus' ear, and Potter dropped into the seat next to him.

"Yeah, what's up, Mister Snape?" Black sneered, sitting down on Severus' other side.

Severus was effectively trapped between his two biggest enemies, both of them wearing identical nasty smiles. He shot a dirty look at Lupin, who had quietly taken a seat next to Lily, but the sandy-haired boy merely gave him a helpless gesture.

Severus sighed. "Can you guys just leave me alone?" he asked irritably, speaking to the two black-haired boys on either side of him.

"No can do, Mister Snape," Sirius replied cheerily, as if the whole thing was a game to him.

Of course, he probably thinks it is, Severus thought to himself sourly. James simply looked sullen, filling his plate silently.

"We" -Sirius gestured to himself and James- "are here to convince you" -he pointed at Severus- "that you are no better than either of us: you're a slimy little git and you don't deserve to be in Gryffindor."

Severus squinted at his fellow first year skeptically. He had to be joking, right? The former Potions master glanced across the table for help, but Lily just looked confused and Lupin was wearing his trademark I'm-staying-out-of-it face.

"What are you talking about?" he asked Black, trying to make sense of what was going on. "I am better than you. I thought we covered this last night."

"Actually, you covered this last night," Potter replied angrily. "We never had our say, so we're going to take care of that."

Apparently he was still upset about Severus shoving him against the wall and explaining why he was inferior to the former Slytherin. Severus shrugged inwardly; he didn't really care what Potter thought.

"Jamesie here is quite unhappy about the way things turned out yesterday," Black informed Severus and a bemused Lily. "I'm just in it because A, I don't like you, and B, I think it would be funny to see you get shown up a couple times and finally admit we're better than you. And who eats dry toast, anyway? That's just weird."

The two Marauders stood up and moved farther down the table, Sirius with a mocking bow and James with a final, "You've been warned, Snape."

Lily's eyes lingered on the two boys for a few seconds, then she turned to face Severus, one eyebrow raised. "Well, that was… interesting," she stated plainly. "Would you care to explain?"

Severus sighed. He figured he would have to confront Potter and Black sometime, but this hadn't gone as he had hoped. "They were calling me names last night, so I basically told them to bugger off," he replied. "It looks like they're not done bothering me, though."

"You should have heard the things they were planning this morning," Lupin told Severus anxiously. "I think they're going to go to the library to look up hexes and stuff later."

The former Potions master smirked slightly. He knew that two untrained 11-year old boys were no match for him. "I'll be able to handle them," he told Lily and Remus. "Just… I don't want you guys getting involved. Please? They already hate me, they don't need to turn on you two, also."

Lily looked rather offended at this, but she appeared to understand the consequences of getting involved. "See, I told you they would be trouble-makers!" she said to Severus, hitting his arm.

Lupin let out a snort. "You should have seen them last night," he told Lily. "I thought James was going to explode when Severus started threatening him…" He trailed off a bit at the look Severus had given him, seeming to realize he was getting the other boy into trouble.

Lily let out an exasperated sound. "Sev, you can't just pull your wand out and start threatening to curse people!" she rebuked the boy. He tried to protest, but she cut him off. "What if they had gone to McGonagall or somebody? You could have gotten into serious trouble!"

"They didn't, though, so everything's good, right?" Severus said, trying to calm the girl down. He didn't want her to be upset with him. "Trust me, Lil, I can handle them." When she still looked skeptical, he sighed and added, "We won't even be around them that much. Only classes, but we can avoid them pretty easily."

"Erm…" Lupin broke in, causing the other two to glance at him in surprise. "Well, er, can I stick with you guys, then?" He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, as if trying to figure out what to say. "I mean, the other two don't really care what I do, but I don't want to get involved."

Typical Lupin, always trying to avoid conflict, Severus thought irritably. Still, it might be useful to have someone else around. And he won't go running off to help Potter and Black, either.

"Sure, I suppose," he replied slowly. "Just as long as you don't get too annoying or anything."

"Sev!" Lily chastised him gently. "Yes, that would be wonderful. After all, we're supposed to be making new friends here, right?"

Lupin nodded gratefully and turned his light brown gaze on Severus. "Friends?" he asked, holding out a hand.

The former Potions master looked at the offered hand and sighed. "Let's call it a mutually beneficial alliance," he replied. He wasn't quite ready to be 'friends' with one of the Marauders quite yet. "You share your chocolate, I'll help you with whatever work you need help with. And don't get all buddy-buddy on me."

Lupin grinned. "Deal," he said, and the two of them shook hands.

Lily smiled slightly, glancing between Severus and Remus. She's probably glad I'm finding people I don't hate, Severus thought to himself wryly.

"We should probably get going to class now," Lily informed the two boys, and all three of them stood up to go to the first class on their schedule, Transfiguration.

As they walked out of the Great Hall, leaving James and Sirius behind, Severus couldn't help but marvel at how different his life was becoming. One Marauder gone, one wants to be my friend, and only two of them hate me, he counted. I'm doing pretty well so far, and it's just my second day.