The Untold Story

Chapter 6: Afraid of heights? Me? Naw….

September 2, 1971

Lucius's words rang through Severus's mind as he listened to Professor Sprout's lecture. He's right, Severus thought as he pursed his lips. If I don't start acting like a Slytherin, bad things could happen. I have to at least interact with the other first years, no matter how unpleasant they might be. With that in mind, he decided that he'd try to talk to the others during lunch. Herbology passed by pretty quickly, but Severus couldn't help but find the class a bit boring. He mentally sighed as he gathered his books, at least we didn't get any homework he thought as he followed his classmates to the Great Hall.

"Sev!" a familiar blur of red stopped in front of him. "You were wrong! I suck at Transfiguration!" she wailed. He blinked before remembering what he told her.

"Give it a few days Lils, it's only the first day. Talent doesn't just magically appear you know," he said laughing.

"Yeah? Tell that to Mr. I'm-So-Good-At-Everything." she said before directing a glare at Potter. "It's only the first day and I've already figured out that he's an insufferable arrogant prick." She muttered darkly. Severus frowned.

"Tell me something I don't know." Lily turned back to him and sighed.

"Give it a few days Sev, I mean, it's only the first day." She said with a small teasing smile. He rolled his eyes. Lily frowned as she looked at the Slytherin table, he turned to find his classmates and Lucius staring at him disapprovingly. "Did something happen that I need to know about?" she asked him as she stared at them.

"No." Severus lied. "I'll take care of it." he muttered before walking to the Slytherin table. Lily frowned after her friend, something wasn't right. She watched as he silently sat down next to the blonde man.

"You should really be careful." A voice said next to her. She jumped and spun around to find a tall redhead standing next to her.

"And who might you be to offer unsolicited advice?" Lily asked bluntly.

"Fabian Prewett at your service. Unsolicited but necessary advice. Slytherins are unwelcoming of outsiders..."

"If you think I am just going to stop being friends with Sev because he is a Slytherin then you are absolutely wrong." Lily interrupted.

Sighing Fabian shook his head, "No, you don't understand. Slytherins value unity. They do not tolerate oddballs in their company, and your friend is an oddball."

"Sev is not an oddball!" Lily said storming off to the Gryffindor common room. Fabian shrugged and walked back to the Gryffindor table.

"What did you do to make Lily so angry Fab?" Alice asked as he took a seat diagonal from her.

"I was just warning her about making things hard for her Slytherin friend. Malfoy is already giving him bad looks. She obviously didn't understand my point. You should talk to her." Prewett replied.

"Well, she is a muggleborn and is new to wizarding culture and politics. I can try to explain…" Alice trailed off.

Sirius, who had been sitting a few seats to the left of Alice, was eavesdropping on Fabian and Alice's conversation. He had quickly zoned out from James, who had started explaining Quidditch and his many flying adventures to Peter. Sirius tried to squash the pity he felt for Severus. Slytherin politics were a hell hole and Malfoy was just a slimy stompable snake, he thought as he remembered Malfoy's interest in Cissa.

"Sirius, let's go, we have flying." Remus said laying his hand on Sirius's shoulder, giving it a slight shake.

The four roommates headed out to the Quidditch field where they had their flying lessons with the Slytherins.

During Lunch at the Slytherin Table…

Severus took a seat next to a frowning Lucius.

"Your friends determine your social standing." Lucius said.

"Friends? There are only allies." Severus retorted.

"Are you forming a charity alliance with mudbloods? Maybe you deserved to be a Hufflepuff."

Mudblood. Severus disliked that word, but this was his chance to build his connections in Slytherin. Severus knew Lucius was testing him, so with a slight pause he replied, "Well, my fellow Slytherins treat me as if I am a mudblood." He felt a small pinch of self-loathing as he watched Lucius study him with cold blue eyes.

"Well then prove that you are not one and you may have an ally."

The rest of their lunch passed by in silence as Severus pondered how to talk to Lily about his Slytherin peers. Not to mention, how would he get the Slytherins to trust him?

"Welcome to your first flying lesson!" A thin, athletic woman made her way across the field towards them. The groups of chattering eleven year olds fell silent. "I'm Madam Hooch, and I'll be your instructor." She looked over at them all and they stared back.

Flying! Sirius thought. He eagerly bounced on the balls of his feet. This was going to be great. Severus, on the other hand, stared blankly at the broom on the grass. Flying, he thought numbly, this is going to be… interesting?

"Psst…" Severus looked up and Lily smiled at him before giving him a discrete thumbs up. "You'll be fine." she mouthed encouragingly. He gave her a weak smile in return.

"Okay. Step up next to your broom, hold out your dominant hand, and say 'up!' Ready… on my whistle. One. Two. Three." A chorus of ups followed as Madam Hooch blew her whistle.

Severus looked down in shock as the broom shot into his hand. Wide-eyed he looked up at Lily. She looked up, her broom in her hand, and grinned proudly. "Yes." she pumped her fist.

"Beat you to it." James teased Sirius, the two boys held their brooms.

"Yeah, right." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"It's not working!" Peter panicked. Wringing his hands he stared up at his three friends.

"Maybe try to say it with more confidence." Remus suggested kindly.

"Yeah, without your voice shaking so much." James added. Peter looked at the broom before trying again.

"Up!" he squeaked. The broom wiggled on the floor.

"That was…" Sirius trailed off.

"Very good for your second try." Remus said, giving Sirius a warning look.

"What did I do?" Sirius muttered. James shrugged as Remus continued to coach Peter.

"Now, I want all of you to mount your brooms, kick off, and hover for a moment." Madam Hooch said. "Ready. One. Two. Three!"

No thanks, Severus thought as he reluctantly sat on his broom. Why would anyone want to fly on these fragile twigs used for cleaning? One was literally begging for death! Cautiously, he kicked off, slightly wobbling as he closed his eyes. Not good. Not good. Not…

"You're doing great!" Lily encouraged. Severus slowly opened his eyes, and stared right at her. "Just don't look at the ground." she advised. He nodded keeping his eyes firmly on Lily.

"Higher!" Madam Hooch commanded.

He watched as two familiar boys immediately shot up into the air behind Lily. Lily followed his gaze and rolled her eyes. "Show offs." Severus nodded offhandedly watching them as they completely disregarded Madam Hooch's instructions. She shouted after them, but was cut by the first years cheering around her, as the two Gryffindors did a few tricks in the air. Incredible, Severus thought, their movements looked effortless. "What idiots." Lily shook her head disapprovingly. "They're going to lose us House points!"

Severus grinned. "That's good for me though." Lily scowled. The two boys landed, and after having an earful from Madam Hooch, Sirius and James decided to follow directions.

The rest of class passed by quickly, and Severus finally relaxed after he had his feet firmly on the ground. Flying he supposed was a beautiful art, but he just hated broomsticks and heights. He wished he could fly quickly, lightly like the blowing wind. Like them, he thought wistfully, before shaking his head. You have more important things to do he reminded himself as he stared at the group of silver and green through his peripheral vision.

AN: Sorry for the late post. I was very busy yesterday and was giving me issues uploading the chapter.