Chapter Two: Strange Little Girl
First Year- Start of term until December
"I did it all just for her
I did it all just for her
And love wants us dead
Just me and my poison girl."
-HIS INFERNAL MAJESTY, "Poison Girl", Razorblade Romance
Lily Evans looked around the Great Hall at Hogwarts, absolutely captivated. Everywhere, there was something to take in. The sorting hat, for one, actually sang, opening its brim wide. A singing hat! The annoying boys from the train were bobbing along as the Sorting Hat sang, waving their arms. At the staff table, a gigantic man with a black beard was sloshing around a goblet, bantering with a squat young woman in coveralls. The house tables were beautiful, with green, red, blue and yellow tablecloths brightening the hall. Several ghosts floated in through the side wall, complaining that they were late for yet another sorting. "I always do like to hear the songs that hat cooks up, "said a little friar ghost disappointedly. Candles floated in midair. There was so much to take in! Lily heard her name being called a few moments later, and snapped out of her observations. Lily ran up to the stool and hopped on, swinging her feet nervously as the professor leading the sorting ceremony placed the sorting hat upon her head. Her thoughts were riddled with all kinds of thoughts—what if she couldn't be sorted? What if none of the houses suited her? She knew Severus had his heart set on Slytherin for the pair of them, but she would be happy enough just to be accepted. Although Severus kept reassuring her that Dumbledore wouldn't have made a mistake, Lily wasn't so sure. After all, Petunia hadn't been accepted. Who was to say that Lily's magical talents were only fleeting? But all of these thoughts halted when the hat began to whisper into her ear.
"First generation witch!" the hat mused. "Welcome, welcome. Your head is brimming with knowledge! Yes sir, you'd do quite well anywhere you are placed. You're very loyal and trustworthy—that's clear… ah, but a clever and perceptive girl, too. Pleasant but also very aware. You've a strong talent for acceptance, and you're not afraid to do what's right. Yes—headstrong and bold when it comes to standing up for others. Well then, it's clear as glass!" There was a pause. "GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Lily grinned, and leapt off the stool but then it struck her that she was going to the precise house that Severus thought the lowest of. Still, it was better than nothing. Wasn't it?
Lily had Severus to thank for telling her she was a witch. She would have never imagined it in her wildest daydreams, even when she was doing peculiar things that she could not explain…
Lily had grown up first in London with her mother, father and sister Petunia who was one year older, whom they all lovingly called "Tuney" since Lily hadn't been able to pronounce her full name as a toddler. Life in London was much different. Lily and Petunia shared the same friends, girls who were their neighbors in the pretty apartment house they lived in with their parents. Petunia included Lily in activities with the older girls. Bike riding, painting their nails, playing with balls, that was the order of the day. "She's my little sister, but she's also my best friend so don't mess with her," Petunia once told a group of neighborhood boys haughtily. Petunia was more of a tomboy and a serious girl, playing sports and competing since she was a little girl while Lily preferred reading, playing pretend and inventing things. Lily's father encouraged her free spirit, helping her to create concoctions in the kitchen that no one wanted to eat. Their father was a banker with kind eyes and a wry sense of humor, who often complained about people on welfare and the state of the economy. Their mother stayed at home, though she volunteered with several women's organizations in town. Mother, looking flawless, would entertain ladies during her luncheons and teas. Petunia loved these gatherings, while Lily was happier outside jumping in mud puddles. "Tuney," Mother would say, "you should have been watching her, she's gone and ruined her best skirt." Petunia absolutely loved school, and brought home good grades, though teachers often complained about her being serious and too head strong. Lily, on the other hand, charmed her teachers with her creativity and bright smile.
For Christmas one year, the girls got matching doll sets. Petunia at once went to work pretending to change the baby's diaper, informing Lily that her husband was a very important man. Lily, who liked to play pretend but was at an age where this seemed like a very boring game, held her baby outside the window by its ankle and dropped it into the busy street. "Look," she said, "my baby can fly!" Petunia ran for Mother. Sometimes it was odd for their parents to see how they got on so well together. Their birthdays were a few days apart, so they had joint parties, always a strawberry cake for Lily and a vanilla one for Petunia, and they would link arms and blow their candles out. Their friends brought them presents in gorgeous boxes adorned with bows and ribbons. The family got along well—there were frequent vacations to Spain and the seaside, picnic lunches, play dates, homework help from tutors, and toys… Everything seemed perfect until bizarre things began to happen around their house.
Around age eight, Lily began realizing that if she thought long and hard enough about something, it happened. Her mother denied her ice cream since she hadn't eaten her vegetables, but the ice cream floated out of Mother's hands and was halfway to Lily when it fell on the floor with a thud. Petunia, Mother and Lily all screamed, and spent the evening gathered together in the kitchen, watching the ice cream melt on the floor until Father came home. "Oh, poppycock," he said," that can't have happened." But it was obvious to Lily and Petunia that he was concerned, too. The next day Lily was mad about Petunia using up her favorite markers, and the picture that Petunia had drawn ripped in half. "What in the blazes?" Dad cursed, turning white.
"It's obvious, isn't it, Albert?" their mother said later that night when they thought both girls were asleep in bed. "Our house—it's haunted—" Father sighed. "I never believed in all that rubbish," he said, "but you know, I'm not so sure. This flat was built over one hundred years ago, so maybe there's some bad energy here?" The waver in their voices scared the girls out of sleep for a few weeks. When Father got offered a job at a bank opening in Cokeworth, he took it immediately. The house that had given them so many happy memories now gave them all the chills. Crying, Lily and Petunia told their friends goodbye, and promised they'd visit as often as they could. Father was sure to find a newer home, and it ended up being a bargain because it was quite close to Spinner's End, a notoriously poverty-stricken neighborhood. Mother and Father made Tuney and Lily promise they'd never cross into Spinner's End. "And don't play in that river—it's filthy, and no doubt filled with trash, glass and I don't know what else!" Lily and Petunia always played just close enough to the river to catch glimpses of Spinner's End. Petunia seemed mortally offended by the way it looked, but Lily, ever fearless, was almost transfixed by the danger of it. Most of the houses had holes in the windows, and a dank smell hung in the air, no doubt a combination of the old deserted mill and the river, which often had rats swimming in it. Fights broke out that echoed across into the girls' neighborhood, men saying words that made Mother purse her lips and cover their ears.
It wasn't very long before strange things started happening at the new house, too. Lily began to have control over objects she touched. She couldn't explain how or why—she just did. She felt a sort of light, funny feeling when this happened, like a tickle. When she realized she could jump in the air and hold herself stationary, she showed her mother, who cried out before putting a hand over her mouth. Petunia watched in disbelief from the chaise lounge. "Albert," Mother cried into the phone, "We need you at home!" But when he got there, Lily could no longer do it. The ability had passed. Other things happened, though. A vase fell off the table, or more accurately, it slid itself quite a few centimeters before finally crashing off the side. Forks and spoons floated at the dinner table. Petunia shrieked, and their parents gazed, mystified. At the park, Lily jumped off the swing and floated in midair. "How are you doing that?" Mother called from the ground. "Stop it! Please, stop it!" She held out her arms, expecting her daughter to crash, but Lily floated back down as easily as she went up. The family was horrified. Lily tried to stop doing those things but it was becoming harder and harder. "The ghost followed us," Mother said to Father one late night in the parlor. "I wonder if it's your father, he never did want for us to get married…"
One night, Petunia snuck into her sister's room. She patted Lily's hair, telling her she'd be okay. "It isn't your fault, Lily-Lou," Petunia said affectionately. "Maybe it is, Tuney," Lily shrugged. Petunia stared. "It can't be." "Well, it's not a ghost," Lily told her. "What is it, then?" Lily was quiet for a while. "Something nice," she said. She wanted Petunia's dolls to float in the air, and they did. Petunia hid under the sheets, screaming. In ran their parents, and the dolls stayed where they were, floating above the dresser. "Good lord," Dad said and then facing the supposed phantom, he yelled, "Who are you? What are you? Get away from my daughters!"
Lily focused hard on the dolls, and made them sway from side to side. She giggled. "What's funny?" Mummy demanded, her face white. "Do you see the ghost? Oh, Albert, it said in the book I got that children can see them more easily—"
But Lily shook her head. "Mummy, it's me doing it! See!" She pointed at the dolls and dragged her finger down. The dolls followed, and fell onto the dresser. "I wanted them to fall and they did," she said.
The entire family stared in shock. Immediately, Lily's mother and father began bantering. Petunia stayed under the covers. Lily began to sob. It was a family emergency.
"Now sweetheart," Mother said the next morning, pouring orange juice into the girls' cereal bowls instead of porridge, her drooping eyelids a sign that she hadn't slept all night. "Daddy's gone and made you an appointment with a very nice doctor who we think might be able to help—"
"Help what?" Lily asked innocently.
"Your ah—your—problem," Mother said. "Now, there's nothing wrong with you. But if you can help it, please try your very hardest not to make anymore… Ah… Things happen…"
Lily nodded solemnly, but she had no intention of stopping the levitating. That was much too fun.
Around the house, Lily tried her best to contain her thoughts. But outside playing alone or with Petunia, she floated over the river, did tricks on the monkey bars and flew off the swings, much to Petunia's dismay. Petunia, ever the rule follower, was severely rattled by Lily's disobedience. But even more so, she wanted to learn how to do the same things as well so she promised not to tell their parents. Lily tried to teach her. "It's like… a good feeling you get, and when you can believe it will happen, it will!" Lily told her optimistically, but Petunia kept jumping off the swings or the monkey bars and scraping her knees. It was a week before Lily was supposed to meet with the "doctor", and she and Petunia were playing in the park by their house. Lily was trying to demonstrate to Petunia how she was making a flower open and close by simply focusing on it and "believing it would happen", when a very strange figure appeared out of the bushes.
Petunia screamed out loud, caught by surprise and no doubt afraid that a neighborhood child would spread around Lily's secret (they'd been trying to keep to themselves mostly for their parents' benefit). Lily jumped, not expecting him, but then stared at him quizzically. He was absolutely the weirdest child Lily had ever seen. He had to have been about Tuney's age—he was taller than Lily but was stooped over. She wondered if it was his eyes that made him look so weird—big like saucers and black as oil. He was wearing the most unsightly clothes: tattered, too-small trousers and a coat that Lily figured he'd borrowed from his father to play "grown-ups". He didn't seem to think it was weird that Lily had been making a flower move, and he admitted he'd been watching her for a while! His hair was black and long as a girl's, but very unkempt as though he did not brush it. Instinctively, Lily wrinkled her nose as he spoke. Lily looked back at Petunia, who seemed to be thinking the same thing: 'Ew.'
The sisters were joined in distaste for him, especially when he referred to Lily as a witch. But when he said that his own mother was a witch and he was a wizard, Lily began to regard him with more interest than dislike. Who was he? Was he lying? He didn't seem like he was telling a fib, but he also seemed suspiciously haughty, a funny thing for such a ridiculous-looking boy. He seemed like he was trying to appeal to her, but there was nothing polite or friendly about his tone as though he didn't know how to speak properly. He almost seemed desperate. He called Petunia a name Lily had never heard before, but it sounded silly and hateful. Lily wondered if it was an adult bad word she hadn't heard yet. Before Lily could figure out what he was even talking about, Petunia led her off.
"Don't pay him any mind, Lily. He won't tell anyone what you can do. He doesn't have any friends. Gloria told me he doesn't even go to regular school—his Mum teaches him at home because he's too…"she paused dramatically recalling the exact details of the neighborhood lore. "Creepy." Lily raised her eyebrows, throwing an interested glance back at the playground.
"What's creepy about him?" Lily asked in a whisper, her eyes wide. If there was one thing Lily loved, it was an unsavory story. She loved getting shivers down her spine.
"Don't look back at him!" Petunia hissed. She waited until they were far from the playground. "Gloria sees him when he's playing alone. He plays with rats and spiders. She says he chops them up and brings them home for his Mum to make dinner. And he's really mean and they told me he throws rocks at them except they can never prove it."
Lily breathed in slowly. "He chops up rats?"
"That's what they say."
"What does he mean, he's a wizard? Did Gloria tell you about that?"
Petunia snorted. "He's just being stupid. Wizards don't exist."
Lily nodded, though she was deep in thought. She decided that the first chance she got she needed to find that Snape boy and ask him why he wasn't shocked by her strange ability to make the flower move. She also wanted to ask if he really chopped up rats and ate them. Maybe that was what the poor people that lived in Spinner's End all ate for dinner… Or maybe his mum really was a witch. Lily wanted to see her.
Naturally, Lily set out to find the creepy Snape boy the very next afternoon. Father was at work, Tuney had a piano lesson, and Mother needed to run errands. Lily made up an excuse that she wanted to stay behind and rest because she felt sick, and explained that Tuney was old enough to stay by herself, so why shouldn't she be able to? Mother seemed to think that rest was a good idea—after all, it might cure whatever weirdness was going around, and for the first time, Lily was permitted to stay back at the house. She waited a few minutes before hurrying toward Spinner's End. She took the long way around the river, found the cobblestone road, and began to explore the neighborhood. It really was a ghastly sight compared to what she was used to. From windows, televisions blared and babies screamed. Litter lined the yellow grass in front of each house. She peered into the dirty side alleys behind each cluster of houses, but there was no sign of the Snape boy. She kept on down the road until she reached the very last house. The two windows were covered up with black, tattered curtains and the mailbox was broken and sitting in the yard. Lily perked up at the sight of the boy: he was sitting cross-legged in the yard reading a big book. His boots looked too-big for his feet and he had on mismatched socks that bulged over the shoes. He was mumbling to himself and flicking his fingers absent-mindedly. At once, Lily asked him about the day before, and what he had meant about her being a witch.
He told her to follow him, and once they were safe within the privacy of a small gathering of trees past his house, he showed her that he could make things move, too. Lily was delighted but also nervous. He introduced himself as Severus, a strange name Lily had never heard. He spoke in a quiet, stilted voice that contrasted heavily with his accent that was a bit more common than hers. She was unsure about being in his company until he told her about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He knew things that she needed to know. That is, as long as he wasn't lying.
Lily snuck out to meet Severus that entire weekend, even though she was still unsure about him. He asked her to meet him in the clearing, or the playground. Lily had decided she would tell her parents about him as soon she was certain she was a witch. In the meantime, she had a lot to learn from Severus. He was weird, all right, and very somber. But there was something mysterious and captivating about his knowledge of witches and wizards. If he was lying, he was very good at it. Within a few days of their budding friendship, Lily decided to see if Petunia was right about him.
"Severus," she said, twirling a twig between her fingers. She stopped twirling it, but it still spun around.
He eyed her hands as he spoke. "What?"
"Tuney heard from some of her friends that you do weird things."
"Who? What did they say?" he sat up, tearing his eyes away from her hands. "I told you, if they think I'm mean, it's their own fault. They hardly know me."
Lily nodded, flushing at his defensiveness. Her curiosity got the best of her. "She said that they said that you play with rats… Rats and spiders… And that you chop them up?"
Severus' eyes widened. "They say that, really? They're not completely right but…"
"But what?" Now Lily's eyes widened. "You don't, do you?" But it was obvious that she was highly interested. He gave a small smile.
"If you scream like your sister does," he said, "I'll laugh." And with that, he put out his hand and made a strange, whispering sound. He glanced up. "Sometimes if I focus really hard, animals will do what I want." Sure enough, a fat sewer rat ambled out from the path to the river.
Lily put her hand over her mouth—not out of fear, but of amazement. There was something thrilling about Severus' bleak appearance combined with his outstretched hand, beckoning the rat to them. The rat wandered over and when it was just several meters away, sniffing the air with its pointed nose, Severus mumbled a mixture of jumbled words. With a squeak, the rat fell on its side. "It's surprised," he explained, "not hurt. My mum taught me this one. It's useful for getting the fur of animals for potions, or anything, really. Sometimes it's just good fun to look at them close up. Come on." He crawled toward the immobilized rat, his oversized shirt rippling in a small breeze. Lily, thoroughly amazed, followed suit. Severus ran his fingers over the rat, and pulled at its tail. The tail fell right off, like a rubbery piece of pink yarn.
Lily gasped and Severus snickered. "How did you do that? Are you hurting him?"
"I told you I'm not." He muttered something else, and the tail reaffixed itself. "See? Good as new. It works when animals break their legs. Also if you need parts of them for potions and stuff—"
"So you DO cut them up!"
"No," Severus said stuffily, "we don't need to. We don't make potions much. At all, really. Dad doesn't want us to. I'd like to see his face if I brought a rat like this home." Severus' face warped into a far-off gaze. "Just imagine if someone bad were chasing you and you could just wish for their legs to fall off." He mumbled again, and the rat ran off, squeaking. "What if people who were mean to you could just disappear?" He smiled to himself.
Lily was silent, feeling a bit uncomfortable. It was the first time he had talked like this—the most personal he had gotten. She felt like changing the subject, and so she picked up the twig she'd dropped and practiced willing it to twirl.
Severus snapped out of his strange trance and scooted closer to her. After a second of silence like he was thinking hard about something, he reached for her hand and grabbed it gingerly. His fingernails were jagged like he'd bitten them. He held out her hand in his and moved her fingers apart. "Like this," he said, "give it more room." She followed his advice and the twig whirled in her open hand.
"Thanks, Severus!" Lily said, beaming.
He smiled, and then scooted back away from her at once.
After a bit of time had passed, Lily spilled everything to her parents. She did not want to see the doctor, after all, and after she had armed herself with knowledge from her new friend she felt more confident in talking to them. They seemed amused at first but when they saw that she had so much information, they were skeptical and annoyed.
"Who told you all of this?" asked Daddy.
Lily looked away from Petunia who was sitting, horrified, between their parents on the couch. "My new friend, Severus."
Petunia made a choking noise. "No! Lily! I told you not to speak with him! He's bad!"
Mother looked concerned. "A boy? You've been seeing a boy?"
"The WORST boy!" Petunia wailed. "He called her a witch on the playground—oh Lily, he was just fooling you about the magic, he's awful! He said he was watching you! Oh nooo… I didn't know, Mummy, I really didn't! I told her not to go—"
"Is that where you've been going? Meeting a boy?" Daddy asked, his voice raised.
"He lives in SPINNER'S END!" shouted Petunia, beside herself with emotion.
"Tuney, please stop screaming," Mother said. "Lily, you really should have told us. I'd rather we had met this boy—Petunia Evans, stop screaming, you're overreacting!"
"How old is he?" Dad asked.
"My age!" Lily said defiantly. "You can meet him, though there's nothing to worry about—"
"Don't tell us what to worry about and what to not worry about!" Mother said. "It's fine if you have a little friend, but I really would like to meet him—"
"He doesn't exactly like meeting most people. He says non-magical people are Muggles. He says I'm different and that I'm not stupid like other girls in this place—"
Petunia made a noise like she might scream again, but instead clapped her hand over her mouth.
"Muggles," chortled Daddy. "Interesting. This boy has a vivid imagination."
"It's real," Lily said, insulted. "He wouldn't lie."
Petunia laughed coldly. "He's wrong about you, Lily. I think you're being quite stupid." With that, she left the room.
That week, Lily invited Severus over for tea, where he was coerced into explaining Hogwarts and magic to Lily's parents. After much persuasion, Severus made a tea cup float in the air. Mother and Father did not have much to say after that.
Petunia was not impressed. She claimed that Severus was still lying. Lily tried to convince her sister, but nothing helped—especially the fact that Severus was just as rude to Tuney as she was to him. It was clear that at this point, Severus was the only person who really saw Lily for what she was. Slowly, Lily began to really look forward to seeing him, even if he had odd habits. It may have had to do something with deprivation from another social circle, but then it became quite real that she enjoyed Severus' dark humor and cynical way of viewing the world around them. There was something very right about it.
"Severus," Lily began, hesitating to ask what she figured might come off as an insulting question. But Lily's inquisitive nature usually trumped her desire to appear respectful. She had her hand over her face, shielding the light that was pouring through the trees. "If wizards and witches can do so many amazing spells, and your mother's a full witch, then why doesn't your mother just make you some more money and buy you a better house?"
She felt Severus shift by her side. He readjusted himself, his shoulder grazing her arm and then resting there, touching her lightly. "It doesn't work that way. Remember I told you about Gringotts? The bank? Wizards have their own money, and it's illegal to make money, just like it is for Muggles. It's an exception to some transfiguration law Mum told me about…" He paused. "Yes, I asked her the same question."
"I'm sorry, Severus," Lily said. "I shouldn't have asked—"
"Why not?" he said bluntly and she looked up to see him staring at her with a serious look on his face. "I like that you want to know about me." He suddenly became very red about the ears and settled back on his elbows.
"You're blushing," Lily said, laughing. "Why are you blushing?"
"No, I'm not. I never blush," he said dryly, and then promptly got up and ran off.
"Severus!" she called, and tried to chase after him but he was already way down the lane.
As soon as Lily turned eleven, she received a letter in the mail that explained to both her and her parents how she had been accepted to Hogwarts, and that both a professor and an official representative of the Ministry of Magic would come to her residence at a convenient time to have a sit down with her family. This visit happened a week later, and felt to Lily like being starving and having an appetizer but no dinner. Professor Flitwick, a tiny man with spectacles in a striped suit arrived and explained the school, its houses, the coursework, and what Lily's parents could expect in the seven years of her education.
Father and Mother were both apprehensive about the lack of maths and English, but Flitwick explained, to Lily's dismay, that all Hogwarts students would be expected to learn arithmetic and writing through their core courses. This would be monitored and would be vital to their magical learning. Once Flitwick explained that there were exams, finals, pop quizzes, reports, papers, a heavy reading load and severe rules at Hogwarts, Lily's parents were looking a lot merrier. Lily felt a bit glummer, in contrast.
A witch by the name of Raphody Quibblemott arrived late, apologizing profusely that her portkey had been misplaced. The Evans family blinked and gawked at her. She rattled off an explanation of portkeys until she realized she was only baffling them further, so she stopped and instead discussed the laws of the wizarding world with them. This, she said, was mostly for Lily's parents' benefit. "After all," she snickered, reminding Lily of Severus when he didn't really think something was very funny, "what parent would want their child to be bending rules they did not even know existed?" She gave the Evanses a pamphlet of information, had them sign security and secrecy forms, plugged their information into a Muggle tracking device, and informed them of how to get Lily's school things and safely send her off to Hogwarts. Lily was so caught up in it all that she didn't notice Petunia, who was hiding the entire time behind the kitchen door.
"You think you're so much better than me. You and your gross new friend," Petunia spat as soon as the meeting was over, pointing her finger at Lily.
"Severus isn't gross!" Lily squawked.
"Oh yeah? Well, then, why doesn't he ever wash his hair?"
Lily stared her sister down. "Don't be silly. Of course he washes his hair. And I don't think I'm better than you!"
"You and your special school!" Petunia yelled, cornering her between the dining room table and the kitchen counter. "You think you're so great that you get to go off and do magic! Well, see if I care!"
"Severus says you're jealous—"
"You can pass him a message from me. Tell him to get his big nose out of my business!"
"I will NOT say that! You're being so mean, Tuney—"
"Perfect Lily," simpered Petunia. "Perfect Lily with her special powers!"
"SHUT UP!" Lily yelled, and their mother's porcelain tea set fell off the counter and shattered.
Lily shook herself out of her thoughts. Her head was swimming with new information. She was a Gryffindor, she was at Hogwarts, she was surrounded by new people, she was in the biggest fight she'd ever had with her sister whom she loved dearly, and she was very far from her family. She felt excited and tired as she bounded over to the Gryffindor table, where the long haired annoying boy from the train made room for her. She made a face at him and turned the other way.
"Hi there, I'm Rosie Bagman," said a friendly, athletic looking girl with dark ringlets pulled back from her face. "I'm head girl and—" she looked Lily up and down. "You look graceful. Are you graceful? I need to train a new seeker at the end of this year… Ingrid's graduating."
"A what?" Lily asked.
"She's just told us how she's Quidditch captain as well," explained the long-haired boy from behind Lily. "The end of this year?" he inquired, raising his eyebrows. "Blimey, and I thought my mother was a perfectionist. I'm Sirius Black, though you seem to not care. Honestly, have a sense of humor! You do know what Quidditch is, don't you?"
"Oh yes, Severus leant me a magazine on it. And I'm Lily Evans," she said shortly, not wanting to be too rude but also showing no warmth to the boy.
"A magazine? You've never ridden a broom? You're Muggle born, aren't you!" Sirius exclaimed. "When did you find out you were magical?"
Lily watched his face to see if he was making fun of her, but he looked earnest. "I could fly off the swings, make my clothes change colors… My mum said there was something the matter with our house. She thought it was haunted. Then I met my friend Severus, and he told me about being a wizard. He already knew he was one."
"I found out by accident," squeaked a small, wiry dark-haired boy, peering over a collar that nearly covered the bottom half of his face to speak. "I made my pet fish float in the air! I was so scared! My name's Xing Chang. I'm still kind of scared… I've never met anyone else magical." Lily nodded knowingly, liking him instantly. They shook hands, and a toad crawled out of Xing's sleeve. "This is Mortimer," he explained. "I picked a toad because my brother's afraid of them—"
Xing was interrupted by a great burst of applause from all around them. A new Gryffindor, a flaxen haired fat boy, ran up and chose the seat next to Sirius, falling into it and nearly knocking the long-haired boy out of his seat. Sirius barked with laughter. "Talk about a crash landing!" he said appreciatively.
"S-sorry, oh dear, I'm P-peter Pettigrew," the little boy stuttered. "Hello everyone!" He seemed a little twitchy as he looked around at his fellow housemates.
"Gryffindor! WHOOPEE!" shouted the boy with glasses from the train who'd been cruel to Severus, sliding in on the other side of Lily. "Oh, you," he said, looking at her with a mischievous grin. "Why aren't you over there in Slytherin? Just kidding! WELCOME!" he boomed, pounding his fist in the air and then slamming Sirius on the back. Sirius put him in a headlock and Peter squeaked with laughter. Lily reddened in the face. If Petunia hated boys like Severus, then Lily was horrified to think about what Tuney's opinion on this lot would be.
Rosie threw back her head and laughed. "House pride all ready, I love it! A better welcome than I could give—"
"I'm James Potter," greeted the loud boy, grinning. "Everyone in my family's been a Gryffindor, save for my mum's Slytherin cousin Pandora but you can't hold that against me!"
"Welcome, James," said Rosie, introducing herself. They immediately got into a discussion about Quidditch, which James seemed quite keen on.
Thinking of Severus, Lily glanced back to the sorting ceremony. He was still waiting, and they caught eyes. She gave him a shrug. Who knew? Maybe he'd get into Gryffindor, though that would probably make him upset. Severus got grouchy over the smallest of things sometimes, though Lily supposed this house stuff wasn't small at all. Severus would snap at her if she ever suggested that. This would be where they'd live, the people they'd spend the next seven years with. She took in the faces excitedly. A lanky boy named Frank Longbottom settled in next to Rosie, immediately writing a note to his mother about how he'd made it into Gryffindor. "She worries," was his explanation. A tall boy with shaggy hair and dark circles underneath his eyes sat across from Lily and introduced himself as Remus Lupin. He kept glancing around at everyone and then staring down at his hands, apparently nervous.
"Snape, Severus!" called out the woman professor who was leading the ceremony. Snape flapped forward in his too-big robes and sat, stooped over. The hat fell over his face. It wasn't very long before—"SLYTHERIN!"
Lily clapped for him, though a few people at the Gryffindor table jeered, including Potter. Lily gave him an angry look and he grinned again.
"House duties," he said lightly. "Have a bit of fun."
Dinner was fantastic, and Lily loved the Headmaster at once. He was an old and kind man with an eccentric sense of humor. She instantly felt at home in Gryffindor. The common room was cheery, painted red and adorned with many moving paintings and banners. She sat as far away as possible from James Potter and his little crew of boys, and instead got to know her dorm mates: Mary Macdonald, Muruvi Paradigm, and Scarlet Abbott. Mary was a black-haired Halfblood from Leeds who seemed at once to enjoy gossiping, as she asked the girls quietly if they knew whether Sirius Black was single. Muruvi was a Pureblood with a quiet way of speaking whose long dark hair flowed past her bottom. She was the first person in her family to be sorted into a house other than Slytherin and she was worried about how they would react. Scarlet had dark brown ringlets, big teeth, and bright blue eyes, and came from an old Pureblood family in Scotland. All of the girls encouraged Lily that being Muggle-born meant nothing about her magical ability. Even Muruvi said that her family was accepting of Muggle-borns and that it was old-fashioned not to be.
Around three AM, the girls realized that they needed to be up by nine for breakfast in the Great Hall, and that they should probably get to sleep. The fears Lily had expressed to Severus prior to coming here were quickly subsiding when she discovered how easy it was to get along with everyone at Hogwarts. She almost felt silly that she'd been so worried.
The next morning, Severus was overjoyed to be able to hang out with Lily after their first class. She seemed to feel the same way, judging by the hug she gave him that nearly rendered him speechless. He patted her shoulder awkwardly and then broke away from her, his pale skin tinged with pink.
"Severus! I've been thinking about you! It's all so exciting! I just had my first class- Transfigurations! It was so great! I'm worried I won't understand quickly enough, but I turned my quill into a matchstick on the third try, still, I think that was nerves…" She paused. "And the common room has fire places and a spiral staircase, and everything is so amazing! This morning, my bed made itself! My roommates all told me it's all right to be a Muggle-born! Just like you said! And everyone is very nice, it's so… it's exciting! How is Slytherin?"
It irritated Severus that Lily was having a better time than he was so far, but he was happy that she was so bubbly. Anyone else acting like this would drive him insane but he truly enjoyed seeing how thrilled she was. "It's… it's all right. My common room is in the dungeons. It's really far beneath the main school. My bed is really comfortable, but all my roommates talked all night. I think I'll like my house a great deal, but being around so many people is hard to get used to."
Lily nodded empathetically. Nothing would spoil her good spirits, not even Severus' negativity. "I'm sure everything will get better. How are they? Your housemates?"
"The Slytherin Prefect Malfoy went on and on about his money for hours last night. Hardly anyone else can get a word in edgewise in the common room. Finally, this other prefect, Andromeda, asked him to please shut up. She was very polite about it. " He wore a hint of a smile but quickly frowned.
Lily giggled. "That sounds awful, Sev! Everyone in my house is fairly easy to get along with, save for those stupid boys in our year we met on the train."
"Well, it's fine," Severus huffed. "I'd rather have more time to spend on my homework than getting into stupid conversations with people I don't like."
"There's no one okay in Slytherin?" Lily raised her eyebrows at him.
He finally gave in. "Oh, yes, they're okay but some of them are kind of cracked. I had History of Magic this morning, which was all right. I think my hand is cramped from all the notes… " Snape trailed off, staring behind Lily's head where the two boys from the train were approaching. Severus had not been looking forward to interacting any more with them. He set his jaw and looked at the ground. Lily turned behind her to see what was wrong.
"Oy! Evans! EVANS!" called Sirius.
Lily rolled her eyes, immediately crossing her arms over her chest, the telltale sign she was annoyed beyond belief. "What?"
"Didn't you know it's a Hogwarts rule that you can't talk to people of other houses during break?" cried out James Potter. Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew followed behind the other two. Snape already had low expectations for Pettigrew. He'd had to instruct him on how to open the loo stall that morning after breakfast.
Lily suddenly got concerned, looking from Severus to James. "That's not true, is it, Sev? Are we going to get into trouble?"
"NO, it's not true," Snape snarled. "Stop trying to fool her!"
"Relax, mate, just having a bit of fun!" said Sirius boorishly.
"I'm not your mate, and I think it's rude of you to mess with Lily, just 'cause she's—" Snape stopped talking for a second, trying to find a better way of putting things. He wasn't keen on letting Lily know how wizards regarded Muggle-borns—it might break her spirit. Someone else could do it. "Anyway," he said gawkily," just quit it."
"Who asked you, Snivellus?" James snapped, his cheeks flushed, evidently irritated that neither Severus nor Lily found him amusing. "Honestly, don't you ever stop whining?"
"I don't whine!" Severus bellowed, his hands balled into fists at his sides. "You're just being—you're being—"
"You're b-b-being, you're b-b-being," mocked Sirius. James dissolved into laughter.
Lily frowned deeply. "Keep away from us," she said. "We didn't ask for you to come over here and act so rude!"
"Ooh," James said. "We're rude. Nice insult, Evans."
"Get out of here," Lily spat.
"You're definitely losing cool points," said Sirius. "Why are you even hanging out with that Snivelrin?" He broke out laughing, causing his mates to do so as well. "I tried to say Snivellus and Slytherin at the same time!"
"We're best friends," said Lily hotly, not amused. "We've been friends for two years and we're not going to stop because some silly boys want us to! COME ON, Severus!" With that, she pulled Snape away by his robes and they charged off across the walkway. Behind them, Sirius and James were making catcalls.
"Ugh!" Lily exclaimed, as they descended deeper into the courtyard. "I don't know what makes them think—"
"It's not your fault," Severus said quickly, embarrassed that yet again he'd been insulted in front of her. It really wasn't fair. "I'm sorrier for you having to put up with them more than I will!"
"Not if I can help it," Lily said, and they walked toward the lake, continuing their chat about Hogwarts.
"I asked my mother and father about your family," Lucius said to Severus a month into first term in the Great Hall over breakfast.
Severus stopped looking at the Gryffindor table, where James Potter was bewitching Sirius Black to make milk come out of his nose. "Oh," he said, instantly worried Lucius was going to spread all sorts of rumors around. He'd also done some digging—the Malfoys were an old Pureblood wizarding family with tons of Galleons and a grand estate in Wiltshire who traced back to Slytherin himself. Lucius' father Abraxas was a regular fixture in Warlock Times, a business paper.
"My father was too old to even know the name," Lucius snorted, as though it was sinful to be over a certain age," but Mother said my aunt was in the same class as your mother. Eileen Prince? She said your mother was quiet. Keen. How young is your Mum anyway?"
"Dunno!" Severus said. It was true. He didn't know. She was an adult.
"Did she get pregnant with you while she was at Hogwarts?" Lucius asked.
"Who's pregnant?" piped in Rita Skeeter. Dolores Umbridge made a little gesture at Bellatrix who glowered and made a slicing motion in the air with her butter knife.
Snape was confused. "What? I don't- why?"
Lucius smirked and shrugged. "Do the math. Maybe your mother needs to tell you something over next break. It's only a guess, though. Don't look so disturbed. She graduated, didn't she? Wipe that weird look off your face." Before Severus could even think about it, Lucius went on. "Who's your father anyway? When did he go to Hogwarts? If he's older than mine, I'll die."
"I have to go to the bathroom," Severus said. "Goodbye!"
As usual, this prompted Lucius and the others in earshot to laugh as Snape's awkward way of communicating. He heard of his dorm mates explain loudly that his father was dead. It was better that way, having them do it. That way, everyone would think he was simply awkward because he was upset about his dad, not that he was socially spastic.
He stood in the toilet wondering if what Malfoy said was true. He wished that his housemates didn't have such big mouths. And what was he supposed to do? Write an owl? Right. Severus glared at his reflection. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know.
"Double potions!" shouted Lily eagerly, waving her schedule. Severus nodded and beamed, forgetting he didn't like to show his crooked teeth. "Save me a seat, okay?" she said.
"Save me a seat!" mocked Sirius in a high-pitched tone to James as they strutted past.
"Of course, darling. I'll try not to get grease on it," James said back. They linked arms and skipped away. But because they were staring behind them to gauge Severus' reaction, they skipped straight into Lucius Malfoy, who was patrolling the hallway.
Lucius wheeled around, his grey eyes slits. "Potter. Black. What in the hell are you doing?" he hissed, and one calculating glance told him everything. "I don't take kindly to those who harass my residents. I'll be seeing Professor McGonagall about you. Expect points to be taken."
For once, James and Sirius actually looked scared. They scampered away in the opposite direction. Lucius smiled at Severus in that patronizing way, and then marched off to tell off some Ravenclaw boys.
"He's taking points just for that?" Lily said. "Isn't that sort of unfair?"
But Severus did not care. From then on, he saw Lucius Malfoy as a sort of mentor, albeit an annoying one.
"I got a letter!" Lily enthused, ripping open the envelope as Atticus nipped at the sleeve of her cloak. Mary stared over her shoulder. It was from her parents, sending their love and musing over the way Atticus had delivered a message from Lily. They were overjoyed she was having such a good time, they sent twenty pounds (which they must have forgotten was worthless to Lily during the school year but it was kind all the same), and they updated her that Petunia had gone out for sports in school and was doing well. Lily was sorry to see that this was the only information about Petunia. Her sister had not written any message. She hadn't even signed the letter.
Severus was walking toward the Slytherin common room after charms with his head buried in a book, when he realized that he was being taunted from behind.
"Hey Snivelly! Where's your Prefect hero now?"
"We lost ten points for nothing! You little snitch!"
Snape turned back to see James, Sirius, and Peter trailing after him. Peter seemed to be there mostly to carry the others' bags, but he was laughing greatly.
"Look at his robes! They're so oversized, he's like a flapping bird—"
"A bat," Peter said triumphantly," he's like a big black bat!"
"Good one, Peter, you're right!" Sirius said.
"A great greasy bat," James added. "Hey Snivelly! I thought bats were nocturnal! You should probably go to bed!"
"Ha ha," said Severus dryly. "You're so hilarious."
"Lassio," Sirius said, pointing his wand at Snape's feet. At once, his laces tied together and he tripped over his too-big shoes, falling on his face. The boys behind him shouted with laughter, as did several others who were watching. Mortified, Severus realized that they were the boys from his dormitory—Vincent Mulciber and Samuel Avery.
"Brilliant," James complimented Sirius, "you'll have to teach me that one."
Severus had no idea what the counter curse was, so he simply pulled off his shoes and carried them with his books, running down the hallway.
"Hello James," said Lily curtly, standing behind him at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. James nearly spat out his steak in surprise.
"Hey Lily, all right? Peter, make room for Evans."
"Oh. That's okay. I was just coming to say that my friend told me what you did to him and I think you owe him an apology."
"Friend?" James thought for a second and then his brow furrowed. "Oh, Snivellus? It's only a laugh."
"I think you're mean," Lily said, "and you too, Sirius."
Sirius mockingly wiped a tear from his eye but then smiled in a friendly way. "Calm down, Evans and sit with us. What do you see in that Snape anyway?"
But Lily stayed rooted to the spot. "He taught me about magic and told me all about going to Hogwarts when I had no idea it existed. He told me I was normal—" (to this Sirius chortled "Hardly!") "and he's quite clever. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have known about Hogwarts until much later. He took a lot of time telling me all about it and answering my questions. His mum is a witch so he knew all of it all ready and we like to study and help each other-"
"Sounds like loads of fun," James said, but on the contrary he was looking sort of irritated. "Now can you sit?"
"Well… all right. But only if you all promise to be nice about Severus," said Lily cautiously. She knew that Snape would be outraged, so she only spoke directly to Remus the entire meal. He was all right, anyway though looking a little pale in the face. "You should get some rest," she told him cheerfully and he looked doubtful.
The boys' promise only lasted throughout that evening, for the next day was double Potions and they spent the entire class hooting about the way Snape held his quill ("like he's going to break it!"), the amount of notes he took ("Is he writing a novel? Bloody show-off!"), the size of his nose ("Gigantic!"), and his "weird shirt" that was visible when he leant over his chemistry set. Lily was nearly shaking with rage and refused to look at them or speak to them, so they began to mock her haughty expressions ("I think her knickers are too tight!"), the way she and Snape bantered agreeably ("Wacky, the two of them!") , and her bright red hair ("Oy! Evans! I think you've got something on your head!"). Luckily, Professor Slughorn, the head of Slytherin house, was a jolly buffer between the two camps. He took time to shake each student's hand and was quite good at remembering their names, even better at recognizing if they had talent.
For their first assignment, they set off to brew up a cure for dandruff that was supposed to smell like mint and glow white when properly mixed. Severus waited for Lily to be distracted, and while James was talking to a Gryffindor named Frank Longbottom, he dropped an extra handful of stinging nettles into the boy's cauldron. As his own potion bubbled up, smelling fresh, James' exploded into a stinking cloud of smog.
"Ho ho ho!" Slughorn chuckled. "So glad I didn't put that on my head! Not that I'd need to, of course! Careful there, er—Potter, wasn't it? Snape, yours is looking quite fit, quite fit."
James caught Severus sneering, but said nothing.
"All good marks so far!" cried Lily, skipping over to Severus and joining him at their usual meeting place in the library, the good couches near the books on Alchemy.
"What'd you think?" Severus said, a little smile on his face. "Of course you got good marks, they'd be mad not to give you a good grade." He held out his own winter term report, where he also had almost all Outstandings, save for a Meets Expectations in broom flying. "I never really cared for it much, anyway," he said disdainfully," I can get around okay."
Lily didn't react much to his negative comment for she was still beaming over her excellent grades. "I'm just so happy," she said, grabbing his hand. He instantly reddened and his shoulders gave a little jolt. She released his hand, sensing his discomfort. "All right, I've brought Slughorn's prompt for our winter final. Let's get going on it, shall we?" Severus nodded slowly, his face still red. He wasn't used to being touched in this way, and every time Lily hugged him, squeezed his hand or poked him, he felt warm and a bit lightheaded. But Lily's family hugged all the time; Severus had seen them. He figured he could get used to it, as funny as it felt.
"Hello Lily!" greeted Remus, the quiet friend of Sirius and James who always had dark circles under his eyes. "Hi Sni—" he caught himself. "Snape." Giving a little wave, he sat down across from them in an armchair. "How did you do on your grades, Lily?"
She smiled. "Really well! Did you? You can't gotten any bad marks—you're always studying-"
Remus shrugged. "I did fine, I think, though grades make me nervous. I really need to work on Potions. I don't really get it naturally, like you two seem to do."
Lily looked over at Severus, who was sitting in silence. "Well… you could always study with us! That's okay, right Severus?"
He was gritting his teeth, not sure why he was so annoyed. Lupin seemed all right, despite keeping terrible company. But Snape found himself suddenly judging the boy. Was he really as nice as he acted? What if behind Severus' back, he was making fun just like the others were? He probably was, Severus decided. And he didn't like the way Lily had praised Remus for studying all the time- Severus studied all the time, but she'd never praised him for it. Severus did not know why he was thinking all of these things, so he merely shrugged that it was okay, though the glower on his face said otherwise.
Remus Lupin studied with them a few times over the course of the year before he stopped. Whether this was because he sensed tension from Snape, or he just didn't want to meet with them anymore Severus never knew but he was secretly glad.
"What are you looking at?" snapped Bellatrix, who was smashing ornaments from the Slytherin house Christmas tree in the common room by tossing them up in the air and hexing them.
Snape wondered why it wasn't obvious but merely shrugged and kept reading, knowing that Bellatrix was a time bomb he did not want to tempt.
"Snape," she began, "Isn't that little Gryffindor witch you're always hurrying to hang out with a Mudblood?" She drew out the last word like she was writing on a blackboard with chalk.
He grimaced, although he had expected someone would find out sooner or later. Several people turned to look. Lucius watched, sneering, from the best armchair by the fire. Snape searched his mind for a viable excuse. If there was one thing that would distance him any more from his peers, this was it. Being a halfblood was bad enough but at least Snape had sense enough to know that Muggles and Muggle-borns were lesser human beings. He'd seen enough from his father and the people in town. Lily was different, but her hoity, distrustful sister and snobby awestruck parents were ordinary as the others he'd seen. Severus spoke quietly. "Yes… but she didn't tell me she was when we first met. When we became friends I had the impression that she was—" he struggled for the right words—"like us." It was a lie, but a necessary one. "I've tried to shake her, but I can't."
Bellatrix looked at him as though she thought it sounded a little fishy. "Well, if you need any help shaking her…" she said darkly.
"Now, now," Lucius said with a smile that reminded Snape distinctly of a hungry crocodile. "Let's not talk that way, shall we? Hate speech among students is not allowed—that's straight from Headmaster Dumbledore."
"Oh right. Sorry," said Bellatrix, to the amusement of the others in the room. She eyed Snape skeptically but said nothing more.
Later, Lucius took Severus aside. "Bellatrix is right, you know? It's a bit strange you're so connected to a dirty blood like her. It may start making you look bad." He gave Severus a look that clearly said, And you don't need any more help in that area.
"I—" Snape protested and then fell silent for a moment. Beyond all things, Severus did not want to "look bad" and lose any chance of ever being at least a little well-regarded in Slytherin. He needed Lucius as his ally; that much was obvious. Lucius made fun of everyone, not only Snape, and he often sought out Potter and Black to take points away from them. And although several Slytherins were picking up on the nickname "Snivellus", Lucius refused to use it, saying in his hoity voice that he "preferred to use people's proper names". "I really didn't know!" Severus cried out defensively, and he suddenly felt very upset.
A strange sort of expression took hold of Lucius' normally cool gaze, and he patted Severus on the shoulder tentatively as though touching a small animal rather than an eleven year old child. "I don't know what the story is, Severus, but I really must discourage it. Sure, some of us make errors in judgment, but it's not something that Salazar Slytherin would readily forgive. Next you'll be having house elves down for tea," Lucius said with a smirk.
Severus did not laugh. "It's just—when I go back for holidays, she'll be the only witch I know, save for my Mum. The rest of the people in town, they're Muggles—I don't get along with non-magic people, I don't like them and, it's just—I thought she was a Pureblood, so—"
"A Mudblood is hardly anything more than a Muggle, Severus. You'll come to find that your little friend is just about as magical as a doorknob. She got lucky, that's all. Lucky that she was allowed into Hogwarts, lucky that she was gifted with—" he sneered contemptuously—" whatever mediocre talent for magic she so accidentally possesses."
Severus was torn. He wanted Lucius and the other purebloods to accept him into their crowd, but he couldn't stand hearing Lily bashed like that when he knew she was such a great student. Severus thought about what to say. He wondered if he should just outright defend Lily, but that might make him into Lucius' mortal enemy, being that no matter what the issue, the prefect always wanted to be right. He thought about saying nothing, and simply meeting with Lily anyway. But before he could really decide, he spoke: "She and I really aren't that close. It's more like she depends on me for answers and stuff." His pale face tinged with pink.
Lucius nodded. "They tend to act like that," he said. "Tripping over themselves trying desperately to make up for what they obviously lack." His nostrils flared as though smelling something rank. "You'd do yourself well to put that girl in her place, Severus. But I can understand if you want to have some fun with her in the meantime. Personally, I always tell the Mudbloods I meet first off that there's a seventh year course of study in which Muggle-borns are used as curse practice. If they don't drop out before then, they certainly live in fear for a few years." Lucius winked.
Severus excused himself to go work on Charms, but back in his room he simply stared at the ceiling until he fell into a restless sleep.
Lily read along in her 1,000 Magical Herbs and Fungi guide, taking notes in her Potions handbook. "I think we should take the advice here, and gnash these pellets instead of cutting them, don't you? Severus—don't you?" She nudged Snape, who had been pointing his wand behind them at Sirius and James' work station. "What are you doing?" she asked.
Snape went a little pale and turned around. "Nothing," he said. But a nasty spark shot out of James' cauldron like a firework—it snapped in mid-air, making quite a few students scream.
"YOU!" shouted James, pointing at Severus. "I ought to melt your ancient cauldron to the ground, Snivellus!"
"I didn't do anything," sulked Snape, balling his hands into fists. Slughorn intervened, doing a charm to clean up the mess.
"Just because you're all careful-like to look like teacher's pet doesn't mean we don't know it's you!" James continued, obviously upset.
"Is this true, Snape?" Slughorn asked nervously. He hated conflict, particularly when the students he felt were promising got involved. He clearly wanted Snape to be in the right. "You know, in Slytherin, though competition is one of our favorite pastimes, cheating is heavily discouraged."
"I wouldn't cheat," Severus retorted instantly. "I wouldn't. Ask Potter to prove it!"
"Prove it?" James yelled. "PROVE it? You're always snaking around, it's obvious you've been messing with my work nearly every day!"
"Prove it," repeated Severus, curling his lip. James opened his mouth and then shut it.
Slughorn seemed satisfied.
"Severus," Lily whispered in his ear, "did you really do that? You can tell me." It wouldn't be the first time Severus had done something spiteful. She had sworn he'd made Petunia's favorite sweater shrink, though he denied it. Once he'd made a branch fall that cracked Petunia on the shoulder. He told her how he used to will pebbles to hit the neighborhood kids on the face. And nearly every Potions class, something happened odd happened at James and Sirius' station, either making them late for the deadline or failing them. She wasn't sure though because James didn't really study, preferring to hound Rosie Bagman about when he could get on the team, shadowing her at every Quidditch practice and meet.
As usual, Severus shook his head, stooping over to write a note in his own Potions handbook.
"Good, because if you did I'd be really upset," Lily said, studying him. He finished his notes, an ink mark clearly visible where he'd paused to listen to her warning.
"People keep asking me why we hang out," said Lily, looking up from a study sheet she and Severus had made. "Honestly, can't wizards make friends with different types of people?"
Severus wanted to explain that lineage, the history of Gryffindor and Slytherin, and magical background was very important but he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Instead, he merely shrugged.
"When people ask me, I say it's because you're smart and we get along great. Do you get asked?"
"Sometimes," said Snape slowly, thinking of Lucius and Bellatrix.
"What do you say?" asked Lily.
"I say the same thing as you do," Snape said. "That you're smart and we're good mates." He hoped Lily couldn't read his guilty facial expression.