It was hard growing up in the 60s in the faded northern industrial town of Cokesworth. Severus Snape had an even rougher time than most children for you see Severus was not like other children. Severus was magical. More than that, Severus was a girl but nobody knew that.
The dark haired child grew up wearing her mother's shirts and rolled up men's work pants as her family was not very well off. Her father was a drunk who continuously lost jobs at the local mill and her mother was a princess. At least that's what she told her young child.
Eileen Prince was from a well known wizarding family that had spread the original tale of the "Prince Charming" who would save princesses and damsels in family was also well known for being clever and quick to solve problems. As such, she expected Severus to be the wise son that was worthy of her family despite having been kicked out by her father.
Severus thought being a magical prince sounded brilliant. What child wouldn't want to live out a real life fantasy tale? The only part she wanted to protest was the "prince" part, but she could hardly bring such things up to her parents. They wouldn't understand. From what she had learned in her eight years of life, her father was rather derogatory toward anything that could bring trouble to his life. Her mother wasn't much better. She was willing to accept more since a lot was possible with magic, but how could she understand something like this? A boy wanting to be a girl? No, much better to keep quiet and perhaps Severus would find more information that could help her later, maybe even when she went to Hogwarts.
The next year, she met two young girls in the town park. One with blonde hair and the other with flame colored hair, each with locks trailing down their backs. She didn't pay much attention to them except when the red haired girl leapt from the highest point on the swings and floated down as gently as a feather.
Severus's eyes went wide. Could there really be another magical person so close to her? She decided to confront the girl and tell her she was magical too. Her mother had taught her about how blood purity worked in the wizarding world and she didn't think that she was less of a witch for being a halfblood so why would a muggleborn witch be any different?
The next day, Severus was glad he had talked to Lily, the red haired girl she had met, her older sister Petunia was a bit much though. She learned the girls lived two streets over and their dad was the chief of the firefighter department. Their mother stayed at home mostly although she was frequently featured in the county paper for her gardening and cooking. She met Lily and Petunia in the park again to tell them more about the wizarding world.
Lily and Severus grew to be great friends, often playing in the park or attempting potions and cookie baking at the Evans's house. Lily would sometimes give Severus an odd look any time she suggested they try activities like baking or making flower crowns but she never said anything to the other child.
Severus stole nail polish from Lily only once but treasured the lilac color. She painted her toenails since they were less likely to be noticed and every time she noticed the color chipping she would redo them, scraping off the old polish with her fingernails.
Finally they had reached the final summer before they would start Hogwarts and learn to really be magical. Severus's mother agreed to take them both to Diagon Alley with coming along as well. The girls ran from store to store, unable to believe that such a wonderful place existed since Severus had never been allowed to join her mother on her trips to the alley to buy ingredients for the simple health potions and salves she made to sell as herbal remedies.
The mothers smiled exasperatedly at the children and led them to the stores they needed to go to until the only thing left was to get their wands. Lily went first, trying a few different woods until Ollivander settled on a rosewood with unicorn hair. She smiled at Severus and nudged her friend forward.
The dark haired girl stood awkwardly in front of the old man as he seemed to stare through her. He looked at her and smiled.
" I know just the type." He stepped back among the shelves and came back with a pale wooden stick. "This is an ebony and phoenix feather. Good for transformation and rebirth."
Her jaw wanted to drop. How did this man know the one thing that nobody else knew? Hesitantly she reached out to hold the wand and felt a rush of warmth run through her. It was like being held by a summer wind. She lowered the wand and looked at Ollivander with amazement. Her mother quickly stepped forward and paid for the wand before shuffling the children back out into the alley.
A few weeks later, the girls were sitting in the one class they could sit together in, Potions. Professor Slughorn tended to approve of interhouse unity so he didn't say anything to them. Being the best in the class probably helped too.
The only problem they had was James Potter and Sirius Black. The boys had decided that since Severus was a Slytherin, Severus must be their enemy. They would do small things to her like tripping her in the hallways and hexing her shoelaces to tangle.
She tried not to let it bother her but in addition to everybody at the school calling her by her birth gender, school was getting stressful. Lily could tell there was something bothering her friend but Severus never brought it up and Lily didnt want to intrude. Being in separate houses wasn't helping their friendship but they would meet in the library and in between classes.
One day while Severus was waiting on Lily in the library, she decided to look at transformation and glamour potions. She found that there wasn't a specific potion for people in her situation and she knew from earlier reading that there was no spell either. She decided then and there that she was going to make something to help herself and people like her. She couldn't believe that she was the only person to ever feel like this. The real question though was did she feel comfortable telling somebody. Would Lily or Professor Slughorn understand? Would they help her?