Severus walked confidently past the barrier onto Platform 9 3/4. He could see other first years gawping at the train and the wizarding fashion, and even the pureblood children seemed to be in awe, knowing they were finally going to the famous school.
Severus was entirely unaffected.
Hogwarts had dominated his life for decades, and the experience had, on the whole, been uncomfortable and unpleasant. The promise of things to come held no charm for him.
"Hey, wait up!" Lily called out from behind him.
Severus turned and arched an eyebrow at his once and never friend. She had the decency to blush and overt her eyes. "You seem to know where you're going, since you've been raised all special and magical. I don't want to get lost."
Severus couldn't help it; his heart lurched in his chest at the hope that this bridge could still be mended. He wasn't about to bend over backwards for her, though. "As you wish."
She trailed behind him as he stowed his trunk and boarded the train. Finding an empty compartment, he sank onto one of the bench seats and settled in for the long journey.
Lily sat down next to him.
"You can't get lost on the train, you know," Severus commented dryly.
Lily glared at him. "I don't know anyone else."
"You don't know me, either, do you? You rather made a point of not getting to know me, in fact."
"Well, you have to admit that you're a little weird. You cleaned up nice for today, but normally you look so..."
"Poor?" Severus snapped. "Neglected? Disfigured? I happen to be all of those things. Your sister was nice enough to see past that, but you never have."
"I never made fun of you," Lily claimed. "It was my friends..."
"Yes, you have a lovely taste in friends. You don't have to be mean if the other popular girls can do it for you. You can be one of them and still be the 'nice girl', right?"
"It's not that easy, you know! Being friends with the popular girls is hard work."
"And worth the little people you have to trample along the way?"
"Oh, don't play the victim. You've never tried to fit in at school. You were always happy that you were different, like it made you better than everyone else... which it doesn't, by the way!"
Severus blinked. That... had not occurred to him.
The muggle children at the local school were inconsequential to his life and to the fate of the world. He was an adult, not actually their age, and had nothing in common with them. It had made sense to maintain a level of separation from them. He hadn't realized how that aloofness had looked to people like Lily, though.
"I... I'm sorry for being distant. That was not my intention."
Lily gave him a long look, smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress. It was a very Petunia-like gesture, and Severus could not remember if she had done it in her last life or not. "I suppose I'm sorry, too. I should have told my friends to be nicer to you."
"Apology accepted," Severus said, hoping this line of conversation would die. He had been busy surviving and preparing for the future. He couldn't feel bad about not taking the time to befriend a gaggle of children.
Then it happened.
The compartment door slid open, and Sirius Black and James Potter strolled in.
"Mind if we sit here?" Black asked with a sickeningly charming smile and a casual shrug.
Lily leaned forward immediately. Black winked at her.
"Of course you can!" Lily said, appearing to regret her decision to sit next to Severus as Black took a seat on the opposite bench. Potter followed behind, his hair just as impractically messy as his son's.
"What's up with your eye, Mate?" Black asked, looking closely at Severus' face.
Severus gave Black a look and purposefully leaned back into an exaggerated slouch. "I got a magical eye infection a few years back. The healers were at a loss."
Black looked at Severus suspiciously. "Were you messing around with dark magic or something?"
Severus scoffed. "Certainly not on purpose. I live in a muggle neighborhood, and mum scoured the house for anything dangerous after the diagnosis. Never found a thing.""Muggle, huh?"
Severus shrugged. "I'm a half-blood. Evans here is a muggleborn. That's not a problem, is it?"
"No, no," Black quickly backpedalled. "No problem at all. The blood purists can shove it up their arses as far as I'm concerned. I'm just curious. Haven't had much contact with muggle culture."
"I could help explain some things to you," Lily offered eagerly.
Severus rolled his eyes, then noticed Potter doing the same. He froze and Potter smiled at him.
"Sirius and I are both purebloods, but we think magic should be open to everyone, no matter who their parents are."
"That's right," Sirius said smugly, as if this magnanimous attitude qualified him for sainthood. "That's why I'm going to be a Gryffindor, even though I'm a Black. Less dark-magic-obsessed blood purists there than in Slytherin."
"I want to be a Gryffindor too," Lily said immediately, coyly tucking her hair behind her ear.
Merlin save Severus from prepubescent flirting.
"What house do you want?" Potter asked, looking at Severus and still smiling. It was disconcerting.
Severus smirked. "I'm afraid you won't like my answer. I think I could be brave, but I've never really been tested, you know? I like to learn, but always with a purpose behind it. I'm hardworking, but so I can get ahead in life. I want to prove to my mother's pureblood family that I'm worthy of them, despite having a muggle father. No, that my blood purity has nothing to do with my skills one way or the other. I'm very ambitious about proving myself worthy to people who would otherwise write me off without giving me a chance. So, you see, there's a decent chance that I'll become a Slytherin, surrounded by 'dark-magic-obsessed blood purists', but I can't help myself. I don't want to settle for scraps from the old families."
Black gave him a considering look.
Severus braced himself for the inevitable fight. This was how it had started last time, after all… house loyalty and affiliation with dark magic. That had been all it took to mark Severus as the enemy.
"That actually makes a lot of sense," Black mused. "If I sorted Slytherin, I'd be proving the stereotype. If you sort Slytherin, you'd be breaking it. Just promise you won't start picking on muggleborns or learning the unforgivable and we'll be cool."
Severus was stunned. How had this been so easy? Was Severus' confidence and casual openness really that much of a pacifier?
"What about you?" Severus asked, throwing the question back at Potter. He needed a moment to think.
"Potter grinned impishly. I'd be fine with Gryffindor or Slytherin, honestly."
Severus choked, and Black shot him a betrayed look.
"What?" Potter asked. "The Potters are always Gryffindors. If you two want to make a point with where you're sorted, then I can too. Besides, our new friend here could probably use some backup in the Den of Snakes, dontcha think?"
"It's Severus," Severus said mechanically, while his mind was still in absolute denial. How was this happening? Potter was surely bluffing, right? Was this a prank? "Severus Prince-Snape, Probationary Heir of the House of Prince."
"To yours be the glory," Black deadpanned, reciting the Prince family motto. "I'm Sirius Black, Heir to the House of Black, toujours pur, and this is James Potter, Heir to the House of Potter, morally righteous but not twats about it."
Potter rolled his eyes. "It's 'accepting friendship's embrace' actually."
"Yeah, but those weird house words, Mate."
"Better than 'racist, inbred, and proud of it'."
"Touché."
"I'm Lily. Lily Evans. My family doesn't have any fancy words."
"Most wizarding families don't either," Black said, flashing her a smile. "Only the old, pretentious ones."
"As fascinating as this is," Severus drawled, "why don't we talk about something more cheerful, like the Chudley Cannons season prospects."
Black and Potter roared with laughter, while Lily looked lost and annoyed at being excluded.
That hadn't been Severus' intention; he'd just been searching for some common ground with the two boys, to hopefully keep them off his back.
She huffed as she stood. "I'm going to go find some girls to talk to. Watch my stuff, Snape. And it was nice to meet you Sirius!"
"Likewise, Evans!" Black loudly called after her as she left.
Potter didn't even spare her a glance. He hadn't, Severus realized, paid her much attention at all the entire time he'd been there.
Merlin, what now? Severus had been toyed with by Fate enough lately. He didn't need any other big changes.
Potter switched seats to sit next to Severus.
"So," he said, leaning close. "What was it like growing up in the muggle world? Did they realize your eye was magical? It looks awesome, by the way. What's your favorite quidditch team?"