1971-1972: The Hogwarts Express

Seuthes felt his mother's grip on his shoulder tighten. And then everything went black and he felt as though pistons were pushing against him from every direction. His head began to spin and then, just as unexpectedly as it had started, the pressure disappeared. His vision still blurred, his hearing still muffled and his face turned a sickly green colour, the only thing he knew - he was once again on hard ground. When the world finally stopped spinning and the boy felt confident enough to stand on his two feet, he managed to take a look around.

An abandoned house. The very few windows were boarded up. The room was empty, safe for the few broken chairs left behind. Shattered glass was scattered all over the floor and Seuthes could only wonder how he'd managed not to cut himself already. Really, the place looked worse than Spinner's End and that was the worst insult Seuthes could think of when it came to housing. Then again, it might have been for the fact that not a single soul had lived here for more than ten years.

"Seuthes," Eileen called, startling him from his bitter thoughts, and he turned to look at her. Or more precisely - at the thing she was just extracting from the pocket of her coat. As it turned out, the thing was the trunk he and Russ had gotten as a birthday present and, if he had to be honest, he'd completely forgotten about it until two weeks ago when their mother had started repeating the plan to get to King's Cross and the billions of instructions on how they were to act at Hogwarts. Really, she must have repeated the same words about a thousand times by now. "Are you ready?"

Seuthes nodded and took a step toward the now full-sized trunk. Then, completely unexpectedly, his mother stepped closer and hugged him. And as if that hadn't been enough - she kissed him on the cheek, making him blush more furiously than even Lily could make him, and whispered, "Stay safe, son. Good luck!"

She took a step backwards, still holding his shoulders, and for a few long seconds just stared at his face. Then turned and with a simple flick of her wand the lid of the second compartment flew open.

"Goodbye, Mum," Seuthes called and climbed down the trunk.

It was a small room furnished with a single bed, a nightstand and a bookshelf. With joint efforts the twins and their mother had managed to move the desk and chair from their room to here as well. The dim light was coming from a few candles floating unsupported in the middle of the room. Seuthes sincerely hoped they'd get an actual lamp soon. For now though, he'd use his wand. He sat on the bed and relaxed his head on the wall, preparing for the long wait. He'd probably stay here until the students were ordered to bed after the feast. So that meant... God! Probably twelve hours! Little did he know, this was nothing compared to his future experiences.

Just a few metres away (though the boy didn't know that) Eileen had placed a thin fragile hand on the lid of the now-closed trunk. A thousand different scenarios were running through her head, each worse than the previous one, and with only great effort did she manage to finally stand up.

"Good luck, Seuthes," she whispered again, so low even she couldn't quite hear the words, and took a few steps from the trunk. Taking a deep breath and righting her dress, she spun on her heel and apparated back home.

Severus was sitting patiently on the couch, exactly where she'd told him to. Well, patiently really was quite exaggerated. She could practically feel the excitement radiating off of him.

"You remember everything?" she inquired.

"Yeah." Eileen raised an eyebrow and her son elaborated, "Keep scars hidden. Never keep eye contact with professors for too long. Practice Occlumency. Keep well away from the matron and doon't teell anyone about the second compaartment," he dragged the last words as though he'd said them so many times the practice had now become trying. Which was probably true but still didn't spare him the stern look sent his way. "Sorry," he apologised quickly and cast his eyes down. "It's important, it's important. Don't tell anyone about the second compartment."

Mostly satisfied with that response, Eileen nodded curtly and gestured for the boy to come closer. Then put one hand on his shoulder, the other on his upper arm and the two apparated back to the abandoned place. It had been a beautiful place once upon a time when she and Toby had come to London from time to time and rented it from its now-late owner. Now the only good thing about it was its location — close to King's Cross.

Soon, two black-haired figures appeared just between platforms nine and ten but while the taller one just stood patiently a bit to the side, the shorter one did something quite strange. Pushing a wooden trunk in front of him the boy to whom the figure belonged walked confidently - his head high and his chest up - toward what seemed to be a... a solid wall. And then, just as the loud sound of him crashing against it was about to be heard, the boy just disappeared. The other figure eyed carefully the others on the platform, and once assured no-one was paying her any attention, she too disappeared in thin air where she should have hit the wall. That, of course, went unnoticed by the dozens of oblivious muggles standing nearby.

As soon as they walked through the barrier Severus caught a glimpse of red hair and his attention was immediately on the four people he recognised from his hometown. Lily and that awful Petunia girl she had for a sister were obviously arguing while Mr and Mrs Evans stood a short distance away admiring the train station and staring at the colourful robes of the hundreds of witches and wizards sending their children off to Hogwarts.

The boy strained his ears but try as he might, he couldn't quite make out what the girls were saying. What he did know, Petunia was obviously angry and stomping her feet, while Lily appeared to be in that comforting state of hers that would sometimes irritate him to no end. And then Petunia said something that brought tears to Lily's eyes. A half-glance in Severus' direction let him know they were talking about him, and he quickly looked away and focused his gaze on the train.

"Severus," his mother called him and he snapped his head to her. She nodded toward the trunk in his feet, "I want you to check on your luggage. We cannot afford mistakes." The boy nodded and she continued, "If everything is clear, go before all the compartments are full."

She spread her arms and a weak smile that Severus hardly ever saw crossed her features. He stepped closer and leaned in her embrace, allowing himself to fall - if only for a second - in that dream-like state when he'd dream about Hogwarts and what was awaiting him... them... there. "Bye, Mum," he breathed as he pulled away from the tight hug.

"Take care of yourself... and..." she trailed off and let go of his arm.

Severus looked her in the eyes as if in one last attempt to reassure her that it was all going to be fine, then turned toward the Express, dragging the wooden trunk behind him.

Most of the compartments were empty so he headed for the end of the train where he hoped less people would bother him. He settled in one of the last compartments, closing the door behind him as well as the curtains so that he could change in peace. It wouldn't do for everyone to see him in his fourthhand muggle clothing that didn't even fit him. He'd wait for the train to start moving and go search for Lily in case she hadn't found him until then. For now though, he set on putting great effort in lifting the trunk with his brother inside on the shelf above the seats.

"Is it free here?" a voice startled him. His head snapped up to meat the gaze of a tall black-haired girl he mentally placed in fourth or fifth year.

"Er... Yeah," he mumbled. No sooner had the words left his mouth than a group of five filed inside the compartment.

They didn't pay him much attention, but began chatting between themselves and Severus fixed his eyes somewhere out the window, completely blocking the sound of their voices. Soon, there was a whistle outside and the train began to move. And so, the boy quickly excused himself (though he rather thought there wasn't really need for that), and left in search for Lily.

It took him at least fifteen minutes to find her. As it turned out, he'd actually passed by her compartment without noticing her. She sat hunched beside the window with two boys sitting closer to the door, partly hiding her from view. Severus slid the door open and slipped in the seat opposite Lily.

She only glanced at him before quickly looking away but it was enough for the boy to see her reddened eyes and the traces of tears.

"I don't want to talk to you," said Lily in a constricted voice.

"Why not?"

"Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore."

Really... Of all the reasons! Why did it always have to be that stupid muggle that did everything in her power to pull Lily away from him.

"So what?"

She threw him a look that painfully reminded him of that first time he'd spoken to her in the playground.

"So she's my sister!" she shouted.

"She's only a-" he started to say but quickly caught himself. Thankfully, Lily was too busy trying to wipe her eyes to hear what he'd said. Their loud voices had caught the attention of the two boys beside them. "But we're going," he said in an attempt to defuse the situation. "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!"

It worked, for a smile graced Lily's face.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," said Severus, hoping that changing the subject would make Lily forget her current dislike.

"Slytherin?" one of the boys asked and his voice was coloured with so much mockery it reminded Severus of his time in the stupid muggle school. The boy had messy black hair and wore glasses entirely too big for his face. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" he turned to the other boy.

Both wore the disgusting pampered expressions he'd come to associate with people who had too much power for someone with less brain cells than the temperature during winter. The second boy, howerer, did not smile.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin."

"Blimey, and I thought you seemed all right!"

"Maybe I'll break the tradition," the other one grinned. "Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

The boy with glasses lifted his hand in a laughingly bad representation of someone lifting a sword. He really must have no idea how to use one.

"'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad."

Severus made a small, disparaging noise. The boy turned on him, "Got a problem with that?"

"No," said Severus. He'd rather not make enemies before he'd even arrived, but he didn't quite manage to hide his sneer. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy —"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" interjected the taller boy. He had long curly hair and judging by his clothes, he must have come from one of those old pureblood families.

A disgusting laughter filled the compartment. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from one to the other in dislike.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Oooooo..."

One of the boys extended his leg in an attempt to trip the visibly smaller and weaker soon-to-be Slytherin. Severus, quite experienced in these things as it was, didn't fall for it.

"See ya, Snivellus!" a voice called, as the compartment door slammed behind the two departing friends.

"Don't think about them," Lily turned to him once they were a safe distance away. "Stupid little toerags!" she muttered, more to herself than anyone else. Then, a bit louder, she asked, "Where are your things?"

"Uhm... here." Severus pointed at a door a few metres away.

The two slipped inside. The group that had entered earlier had changed their clothes in the meantime and now green and blue colours were wrapped around their necks. They only nodded in acknowledgement and continued with whatever they'd been talking about before the two kids had interrupted them.

Severus and Lily, on the other hand, didn't have much to talk about, so they seated themselves beside the window and watched as the hills rolled outside and the fields slowly turned to forests, mountains and back to fields.

About halfway through the trip someone slid open the door, and Severus turned to face the intruder - a short smiling woman with a mountain of different sweets next to her.

"Anything off the cart?" she asked.

The group sharing their compartment bought quite a substantial amount of pastries and Chocolate Frogs while Lily leaned forward with wide eyes and grabbed a few Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes and a Chocolate Frog (her curiosity having been spiked up by the others' obvious interest in them). Severus, however, stayed put in his seat with his ears flushed pink and his mouth filled with saliva.

Lily flopped back on her seat and began unwrapping the sweets in her hands, oblivious to anything that was happening around her and it took for one of the girls in the compartment to complain loudly to wake her from her trance. "Not Cliodna again!" the girl had dragged in exasperation. In one hand she was holding a Chocolate Frog Card. Lily turned curiously to look at the picture but said nothing. Then turned and noticed her friend staring at the card as well and trying (rather unsuccessfully) to hide his jealousy.

"Severus," she addressed him and his eyes jumped to hers. "Do you want some?" she pointed at the cakes next to her.

In that moment, Severus wished he was at least a thousand kilometres away. "No, I... 'm not hungry."

"Oh, come on!" Lily lifted her hands in the air as if in exasperation, and pushed a sweet in his hand, practically forcing him to take it.

"Thank you," he muttered. He could feel the calculating looks of the older kids next to him but thankfully they didn't comment.

Opposite of him Lily unwrapped the single Chocolate Frog she'd bought. This picked Severus' interest and, he noticed, the others' as well. Everyone watched as the girl turned the card over to reveal the name of Ptolemy.

"No way!" Severus heard someone gasp next to him. A tall Ravenclaw with dark skin and curly black hair was staring at the card, his mouth open so wide Severus could've easily fit his fist inside. Lily too turned to look at him, her head slightly tilted to the side. "Which ones are you missing?" the boy asked once he'd managed to find his voice.

"All of them," Lily laughed and looked back at the card. Ptolemy was smiling lightly and waving at the girl holding the card. "You never told me the pictures moved," she turned to her friend in a mocking accusation.

"I'd only heard about them... Never really saw one," Severus explained.

One of the Slytherins seemed to smirk at them, but Severus chose to ignore him. He might have tried to hide his muggle origin, had his name not been proof enough of that. Everyone knew who the pureblood families were, and the Snapes were not one of them.

"Hey, I can trade you two cards for this one," the black boy offered. "Say, Dumbledore and Circe?"

The trade done with, the group went back to discussing something between themselves, while Lily and Severus shared their excitement with each other and each told the other about their trip to Diagon Alley.

Soon, patches of snow began to appear outside, and not long after one of the prefects knocked on the door and slid it to the side, informing them that they would arrive shortly and better change if they hadn't done so already. Thus, Lily went to find her luggage and returned a few minutes later in the recognizable Hogwarts robes.

The sky had become a dark purple colour by now and the view outside changed to spiky peeks and deep forests.

A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Slowly, the train approached a tiny platform and came to a stop. Excited chatter filled the air as the students began to file out.

Severus and Lily being in one of the compartment, they were the last to get off the train, and a group of a few dozen students was already waiting for them.

"There ya are!" they heard a booming voice call as soon as they stepped on the platform. The voice belonged to a giant man whose face was completely covered by bushy hair, beard and a moustache. The man was at least thrice as tall as Severus himself, and easily five times wider than him. But the black eyes shining under enormous eyebrows didn't look threatening. He might have even described them as oddly jovial. "Com'ere!" he gestured with his huge hand. Then turned toward a narrow path the Severus would've completely missed had it not been for the giant. "Firs' years follow me!"

The group of first-years lined behind him and started walking down the steep path. Severus noticed the two black-haired boys from the train grinning at him unpleasantly, and sneered at them in turn, but otherwise ignored them. About a hundred 'Ooooh'-s notified him a minute later that something was happening, and he lifted his gaze to find they had reached the edge of a big lake. On the other side of the lake, on top of a high mountain stood the magnificent castle he'd dreamt of for so long. The towers, the sparkling windows, the light breeze and the shivering leaves of the trees around it, Severus' eyes were glued to the magical building.

"Ove' here!" the giant pointed at a few little boats floating above the water near the shore. "Only four on a boat!"

Severus sought out his friend, and pushed his way toward her. The two climbed into a boat with two girls.

"Everyone in?" they heard the giant shout, and the boats began to move all at once. Everyone was silent and staring at the castle as they moved closer and closer to the cliff.

The trip felt mostly like a daze from which Severus first woke when they reached the gates. Behind them stood a tall woman in emerald-green robes whose black hair and stern expression greatly reminded the boy of his own mother.

"Professor McGonagall," the giant greeted her and with a nod of his head stepped slightly to the side so that the first-years could actually go through the door without it being blocked by the man's huge body.

"Thank you, Hagrid," the woman responded and gestured for the children to come closer. "Now follow me, and we'll join the ceremony shortly."

She opened the door to reveal a hall so big they could've easily held the ceremony inside it. McGonagall - as Severus now knew the woman to be called - led them around a huge marble staircase and in a small room to the side. Smaller than he would've preferred as now he was forced to stay uncomfortably close to the other kids.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," greeted Professor McGonagall and everyone turned to look at her. She then went on on a long-winded speech about the four Houses, and left with instructions for each of them to stay put until she returned.

Naturally, as soon as she was out the door excited voices filled the room.

"So how does it work?" one of the girls from the boat asked no-one in particular.

"They put a hat on your head and it tells you which House you're in," Lily explained and Severus smiled to himself.

Some students disagreed and shared their own theories, but Lily stayed true to her beliefs, trusting fully what her friend had told her.

"Alright, I want you to form a line," came McGonagall's voice and everyone rushed to obey. "Now, follow me."

The students filed out, a bit too quickly for Severus' short legs. Though, looking around, most kids were quite a bit taller than him and definitely less skinny. They entered a huge room - probably the Great Hall - where around four long tables were seated a few hundred students. The first-years walked between the Ravenclaw and the Hufflepuff tables, and came to a halt a few metres short of where the professors sat.

They watched in silence as McGonagall placed a short stool in front of them and an old hat on top of it. The hat seemed to split in two and the two parts formed something that looked much more like a mouth than it had any right looking. Then, it began to sing:

Beware future Hogwarts students

I may not look that prudent,

But trust me when I say I'd find

The place where you will best be suited.

So put me on and wait as I

Watch what you've done and why.

But fear me not, just hold on tight,

It might just take a while.

So...

You can be in Gryffindor -

The House of red and gold

Where bravery is valued

Above the makings all.

Or you can be in Hufflepuff

The path there might be rough

But loyalty and kindness

Will get you far enough.

The next House is of Ravenclaw

It's good for know-it-all-s.

Here wisdom and intelligence

Will help you down the road.

And lastly - there is Slytherin

Come if you've always been

Among the cunning and ambitious.

This House can help you win.

Thus goes the old tradition,

Put on the Sorting Hat.

I'll make a good decision

and you'll leave after that.

The Hall burst with loud applause and the Hat bowed to each table before becoming still once more. McGonagall stepped closer to it, and a long parchment appeared in her hand. "I will read each name and you will sit and put the Hat on," she instructed. Then lifted the parchment, straightened her glasses and read the first name, "Avery, Marcus."

A fit boy with dirty blond hair stepped forward. His haughty gait and sleek hair told Severus the boy was going to be a Slytherin even before the Hat confirmed his assumption by shouting, "SLYTHERIN!"

"Black, Sirius."

It was the boy from the train, the one with long hair, and Severus held his breath until Hat pronounced him a Gryffindor.

Next followed a few kids he didn't recognize. Two Hufflepuffs, one Ravenclaw and one Gryffindor.

"Evans, Lily."

Severus sucked in a breath. The time seemed to slow down. Lily walked to the stool and put the Hat on her head. An eternity passed. An eternity during which the boy didn't dare breathe. "GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat cried out and a stone fell on Severus' heart. Lily took the Hat and handed it back to McGonagall, then hurried toward the Gryffindor table with one sad smile in Severus' direction. He could only stare after her. The next few names didn't reach his ears.

"MacDougle, Chareen" was the first name he heard when he finally came to his senses, and it turned out to be one of the girls from the boat. She joined her friend in Ravenclaw.

'Mulciber, Ruchbah' - a burly tall boy - and 'Nawler, Katherine' - a short brunette with sharp features - both were sorted into Slytherin. 'Midgen, Etna' went to Hufflepuff, while 'Palmina, Odgor' joined the Ravenclaws.

"Pettigrew, Peter."

The short boy with blond hair was sorted into Gryffindor and sat opposite Lily.

"Potter, James."

It was the other boy from the train. Ah, and his father had said that he and James might become friends. Now that he looked at it, Potter really had taken after his father. To Severus' horror the boy sat right between Lily and Black.

Now there were only a few people left.

'Rickells, Quentin' and 'Smith, Elijah' both joined Hufflepuff.

"Snape, Severus."