First Year
Lily Evans didn’t think she’d start off what she would assume to be the most exciting day of her life in tears. Yet here she was, crying into Severus’s shoulders over her sister.
“Lily, she’s a wench that doesn’t know what she’s talking about!” He kept saying similar comments in an effort to cheer her up, but nothing helped soothe Lily’s mind.
“Don’t call her that! I knew spending time with you was making her mad, but I couldn’t have known it was because she felt left out.” Severus kept trying to calm her down, finding it rather hard as Lily was never one to cry in front of him. It was usually the person she was crying about that helped with that sort of thing.
“It is not your fault about how she feels. She should have communicated to you before yelling at you about being a so-called ‘freak.’” Before the effects of bringing up the word came to hit Severus in the face, the door in their cart opened to reveal a boy with a top of messy black hair and round glasses decorating his face. In his arms was a bag of sweets, more than likely for the Sirius fellow he was trying to find his way back to.
“I found the trolley lady, Sir- You lot aren’t Sirius.” The boy said, looking between the two of them. “I’m so sorry! I thought this was my cart. All these doors look the same and it doesn’t help that it’s our first time here, right?” The boy’s nervous rambling was a result of embarrassment from interrupting them and seeing a girl cry for the first time.
Unfortunately, Lily and Severus both took it as an opportunity to talk to the boy at the same time, with different messages for each of them.
For Lily, she was sure to say “It’s quite alright, mistakes happen.”
For Severus, he was sure to say “Only a fool would make that mistake!”
James was taken aback by Severus’s harsh words, narrowing his eyes at him for a moment before turning his attention to the nicer of the two.
“Thank you. Not to be too forward, but why is a nice lady like yourself crying on her way to the most magical place in the world?” Lily sniffled a little as she looked up at the boy.
“Oh, it’s alright. I’m just homesick already and a bit scared.” The lie came easy to Lily as it wasn’t much of a lie. She did miss her home and almost wished she was back. Almost.
“I don’t think it’s silly. We all miss the place we feel the most loved. But don’t be scared! If you’re scared, you won’t be put in the best house there is: Gryffindor!” At this, Severus scoffed. Lily looked at him questioningly.
“Don’t listen to him! The best house to get anywhere in life is Slytherin. That's where I’m going and if you have any sense Lily, you will too.” As Severus raised his nose and closed his eyes in an effort to show his point, Lily looked back to James who was mimicking what Severus was saying. Even though she did swat him to get him to stop, she couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, causing him to beam at her.
“See, we got a smile out of you, er, Lily right?” She nodded and before she could ask for his name, their door opened once more to reveal a short, brown-haired boy who looked relieved to see them. ”Hi, Pete.”
“James hurry, Sirius is getting unbearable!” With that, they made a haste exit, but not before the boy- James- gave her a wink and threw her something from his bag- a chocolate frog, according to the package.
“See you later Lily!” She felt her face heat up at the attention he gave her, but her joy was short-lived by Severus’s scoff.
“Honestly, you’d think they’d have more class with the school we’re going to. Just like any would-be Gryffindor to act in such a manner. While Lily was usually inclined to side with Severus on all things magical, she felt the need to defend the boy who helped her.
“Maybe, but he did make me forget about Tunia and stop crying.” Realizing James did what Severus was unable to achieve, they sat in the cart in silence for the rest of the trip there. Fortunately for Lily, she had a chocolate frog to eat and a card to read.
—-
“Oh Sev, isn’t it exciting?” Lily turned to her friend as the tables filled with first years chatting excitedly amongst themselves. Dumbledore just welcomed them to the school and the sorting hat ceremony was about to begin.
“I suppose,” was all Severus had to say but Lily knew her friend enough to know he was just as excited as she was even if he didn’t show it. He was also still mad about James coming in to cheer Lily up, which didn’t help when he gave her a small wave from a few tables down and wished her luck. He was sat with three other boys, one who she recognized as the boys that retrieved James for Sirius (who she could only assume was one of his other friends).
Yet she couldn’t bother herself with worrying about Snape’s jealousy as her nerves were clouding her thoughts. What if she was a freak amongst freaks and didn’t get sorted anywhere? She was, after all, a daughter of two non-wizards.
“Sirius Black”
She came out of her thoughts when she saw one of the boys James was sitting next to get up at the mention of his name. Oh goodness, they’re at B’s already! As the boy sat down and the hat was placed upon his head, it took the longest to place the boy compared to all the previous students. But when it did, the whole room fell silent.
“GRYFFINDOR!!!” Shocked would be the only way to describe it, including to the boy in question if his face had anything to say. But the teacher just smiled encouragingly at him as she directed him to the table decked out in Gold and Maroon.
“What was so wrong about his sorting?” Lily asked Severus next to her, who also reacted in a similar fashion to those around him.
“The Black family is one of the oldest and most respected families of wizards in the wizarding world. They’ve only been sorted into Slytherin in the past. The reaction might have been out of pity as most purebloods know that Slytherin is the only place to be.” Lily was aware of Severus’s bias towards Slytherin due to his comment towards James earlier. Yet before she could ask what a “pureblood” was, she was interrupted by the ceremony once more.
“Lily Evans.” She took a deep breath as she got up, her nerves trying to overwhelm her but she refused to let it get the better of her. As she sat down and looked out into the sea of her fellow classmates, she caught sight of Severus who tried to give her his version of an encouraging look. But it wasn’t until she looked over at James and caught his eye did she feel a bit better, with his genuine big smile and two thumbs up. The hat was placed onto her head and she was startled by the voice that spoke to her.
Ahh, hello Ms. Evans.
Umm, hello?
Don’t be frightened, even though I know you’re not truly scared about today. You’re mostly plagued with worry for your sister and how she feels left out.
Your kind heart would make you an amazing candidate for Hufflepuff, those who are loyal and true.
That doesn’t sound so bad.
Indeed it is not. But I do see a hunger for knowledge that would be greatly admired in Ravenclaw, a house that admires knowledge above all.
Lily felt more confident as the hat went on. I do want to learn everything I can while I’m here!
Yes, that much is obvious. You have big dreams and a wish to show your sister you’re not the freak she claims you to be.
As guilty as she might feel about leaving Petunia out, she was still angry at her comments and said nothing to the hat. Yet it must’ve known it was right as it just gave a sound of acknowledgment.
Ahh, and you’re also thinking about what James said about Gryffindor. Even with all the qualities I see in you, I do think all of your internal battles and your willingness to keep moving forward make you the best candidate for-
“GRYFFINDOR”
She was greeted by clapping from the students in front of her, with excited noises coming from the table full of Gryffindors. The hat was removed from her head as she was pointed towards the table Sirius had previously gone to.
She chose to sit a few feet away from him, but still close enough to examine him. He was a quiet-looking boy and the nervous energy he had in him didn’t help from making him look like a scared child.
And as a few more first-year Gryffindors were sorted and sat next to them, she saw Sirius perk up at the mention of the last boy that Lily was unfamiliar with.
“Remus Lupin”
The other boy that was sitting with James and Pete(?) got up and sat down, the same kind of nervous look that she’s seen from everyone evident on his face. For him, the hat took about a good fifteen seconds, but the result was favorable as it declared “GRYFFINDOR” once more.
She looked back at Sirius who looked relieved and excited as his friend came toward him, giving him a pat on the shoulder in excitement.
The next of their group to go up was the boy that had come to call on James when he was in her cart. Pete, or Peter Pettigrew according to the announcer, was up there the longest, the hat seemingly having a whole discussion with the boy. Peter on his part seemed to be fighting with the hat until it once again declared “GRYFFINDOR” and the boy happily went to join Remus and Sirius.
Not long after, the last of the 4 boys was up as they announced James Potter up to get sorted. He sat down and unlike everyone else, he was smiling as he sat down to get sorted, more than likely certain of where he’d end up if their conversation on the train was any indication.
In what must have been a record fast time, the hat was placed upon the boy's head and instantly let out a scream for Gryffindor once more.
Proudly, James sat himself next to the three other boys as they congratulated each other and eagerly sat down to watch the rest of the ceremony finish.
Lily only had one friend and she was still eagerly waiting for him to go up. Severus was a half-blood, and so he had a bit of knowledge of how the wizarding world worked already. He was the one that helped Lily realize she was a witch and helped her believe she wasn’t the freak Petunia claimed she was.
And when the hat was placed on his head, the hat let out a yell for “SLYTHERIN” very quickly (not as quickly as it did for James). Although she knew Sev got his wish to be put in Slytherin, a part of her wished he’d get sorted into Gryffindor and they could be in the same house together. But she still gave him an encouraging smile and thumbs up as he sat himself down with the other first-year Slytherins.
As the sorting ceremony finished up with the last few names, Lily became a bit worried about the next few years now that Severus wasn’t going to be at her side all the time anymore as a Slytherin. Yet as she looked over at James and his friends and remembered the kindness from the boy who barely knew her, she became a little less worried. If all her fellow Gryffindors were at all like him, she’s in good hands.
Well, looking back at her thoughts that day, Lily could laugh at herself for assuming what type of a person James Potter was. Although she was right in assuming most of the people in Gryffindor were good, she should’ve realized there are still some flukes when it comes to magical hats and their judgment.
Sirius Black and James Potter were the worst Gryffindors on two fronts: their arrogance and their plain rudeness.
She later learned from Severus that both boys (plus Peter) were all pureblood wizards. Severus greatly dislikes both boys plus Peter and Remus each for a very significant reason, according to him.
Peter Pettigrew due to his inability to “properly” perform magic even when coming from such a noble line of wizards. He finds it to be a waste of potential if people can’t perform their magic properly, but he especially hates pureblood wizards like that. Lily doesn’t care necessarily because she knows how hard it is to learn and improve, whether you were born good or not.
Remus Lupin was disliked for “hiding” something, according to Severus. Yet when Lily asked him to elaborate, he told her that he wasn’t ready to share his theory with her until he had enough proof. Lily found it a bit absurd that he disliked Remus for virtually no reason, but left it at that to avoid any fights.
Which that had been doing more often than not. Lily believed that once they could finally be open about what they were they would be happier, but their time at Hogwarts just turned Severus more hateful and vengeful than he was. Lily knew that Severus had a hard time controlling his emotions, but it was getting a bit out of hand in her eyes. Whenever she brought it up, Severus storms off and just tells her that he needs time around real wizards.
The real wizards comments hurt her, but she knows he doesn’t really mean it and he’s only saying that in anger. And he always makes sure to apologize to her and send her a Burty Bots every flavor bean so she can “really be mad” at something.
“Honestly Lily, are you going to let him get away with it again?” Marleen had said to her by the 4th apology he sent her.
“Oh Marls, he just has a short temper sometimes. Especially with having to adapt to a new school and all. We all are, he’s just worse at keeping it in.” It’s a speech they’ve heard before that they’ve stopped giving much credit to and to be honest, Lily is starting to see the cracks in it as well.
“I have to agree with her, Lily. If you keep allowing it to happen, he’ll think it’s okay to call you names. And it’s also a bit condescending of him to give you something to ‘really’ be mad about,” Mary says, using quotes around the really, “he invalidates your feelings that way. You’re allowed to feel hurt by his comments.”
Lily knew that they were right, but she couldn’t just turn her back around on her oldest friend. And she thought it to be a bit unfair they were judging Severus so hard when they laughed at the comments Sirius and James made towards him. Which brings her to the last two people Severus truly dislikes and Lily can see his justification perfectly. Well, almost perfectly.
Sirius Black comes from one of the most prestigious wizarding families that exist. According to Severus, he’s wasting his connections in the same manner that Peter is wasting his wizarding roots. But in Sirius’s case, he’s doing it by choice instead of lack of skills all because his family can be a bit cruel, according to Severus.
“The Blacks are a noble family and he’s tarnishing that name,” was what Severus would say every time a prank Sirius and James would go off. It was always obvious it was them with the help of their other two friends, but Severus only pointed out Sirius’s involvement in it.
And although she didn’t really know the Black family besides the few older ones that she would see in the hall, Lily felt it unfair that Sirius would turn his back on his family. In her opinion, even if they say some harsh things to you, family only wants what is best for you. Such as Petunia to her.
Yet she knew that Severus was excluding a key reason for his dislike of Sirius and the last boy in their group, James Potter: their bullying of him. It seemed like, for no reason at all, the two boys targeted Severus and relentlessly made fun of him or made him the recipient of many of their pranks. They even began calling him Snivellus instead of his real name.
Lily would have confronted the boys if not for the fact that Severus would hit them back as well, his own hexes and name-calling going their way. In some sadistic way, they enjoyed the pranking repertoire they have between each other. Because of that, she hoped that maybe they would become friends in the future. Because Lily couldn’t forget how James dropped everything he was doing to help a crying stranger on their first meeting. She hoped to become friends with him, but in solidarity with Severus, she kept her distance from him and his group and didn’t get a real chance to form a friendship with him. And she knew her hopes for a friendship between the boys and Severus were hopeless.
“Who does Potter think he is, prancing around like he’s so great? He’s a complete fool and idiot, using his magic for childish pranks,” Severus said to Lily as they saw the aftermath of their latest prank which was howlers that would come in periodically and declared their love for each of the Professors individually. Although McGonagall did reprimand the boys, Lily saw a small smile when Sirius said his declaration was as serious as his name.
James Potter seemed to be the boy that Severus held the most dislike towards. He disliked him for his pranks, for his name-calling, for his friendship with Sirius who he also hated, and for his overall attitude. When Lily pointed out that Sirius bothered him more than James, it was finally revealed the last reason for his great dislike of the boy- the train situation. He greatly disliked that he came out of nowhere and inserted himself into their conversation. But Lily knew it also came from the fact that James was able to not only help her stop crying but make her laugh too.
Even when she tried to defend him, James didn’t make it easy on her. And although there were times when he would throw her a smile or a compliment, it didn’t outweigh all the bad he did to Severus.
Yet even with all that, she kept onto the naive hope of seeing the kind boy from the train.