The Marauders: Year One | #Wattys2016

The Sorting Hat's Song

The Sorting Hat's Song

Severus didn't get much of a chance to talk to Lily on the Express on the way to Hogwarts. He'd been 'round her compartment to find her, but Alice Bell told him that she'd gone off with Remus Lupin. Frank Longbottom had given him quite a stare - his eyes narrowed suspiciously - which made Severus think perhaps Lily had been telling them how he'd upset her during the summer by not being around as much as she might've liked... Or else Frank Longbottom simply didn't like Slytherins. Either way, Severus had been quick to duck back out of the compartment and be on his way.

Hopeful to find Lily and Remus (whatever was she doing with him anyway? Severus wondered), he had walked on down the length of the train and right into James Potter, waiting in line at the sweets trolley. "Watch where you're ruddy going, you --" James had started, turning around. He stopped when he saw it was Severus that had walked into him and a great smirking grin crossed his face, "Oi, it's you is it? Had a whole summer off, Snivvey, and you still haven't had a chance to wash all that grease out of your hair? No wonder you walked into me - couldn't see me through all that mess, could you?" James exaggerated getting out of the way, "There you go," he said, "A nice wide path so your smell won't kill anybody."

Severus grit his teeth and, fuming, stormed off, suppressing the urge to hex the life right out of James Potter. Malfoy had been quite generous with showing him how to perform several dark spells to protect himself against the Gryffindor bullies over the summer - but it seemed a bit early on to start exercising such things. Especially with the trolley witch right there and Bilius Weasley ahead of James in line to boot.

Severus escaped off to the Slytherin compartments again, giving up finding Lily as a bad job, and slipped into a mostly occupied compartment with Evan Rosier and a couple other of the second year Slytherins. They talked amongst themselves, warily shooting glances at Severus. Those whose parents were members of the Knights of Walpurgis or the Death Eaters were aware that Severus Snape had spent the summer at Malfoy Manor, in the presence of the Dark Lord, and they seemed keen to stay clear, probably at least until they knew how much of a connection to Voldemort he had and whether it was a favorable one or not.

He fell asleep to the smooth hum of the train as it moved across the country, ever northward, and dreamed of things far more pleasant than the term that lay ahead of him at Hogwarts.

The castle was looming dark against dark sky when he awoke, the soft glow of the Hogsmeade station lanterns lit upon his face. He sat up to find the others had already cleared out of the compartment and quickly made to collect his things and join the bustling crowd in the hall of the train. They jostled and pushed their way out onto the platform, the engine steaming and hissing behind them.

"Firs' years, over here! Firs' years!" Shouted Hagrid, looming high above the students, waving his dustbin lid sized hands to gather attention of the youngsters as all the eleven year-olds scurried toward him, apprehension on their faces.

Severus followed the crowd moving away from the platform - although he didn't really know where they were going, he figured they knew better than he did. He was staring up at the castle, hoping they wouldn't be walking all the way up to the grounds themselves (and thinking he may have preferred the little boats from last year if that were the case), when he found himself looking down at a cluster of little carriages. They stood in a long row and students were climbing into them, though there seemed to be no horses to pull them. Severus stood on the crest of the hill and watched as the students filled the buggies, and glanced about, wondering where the horses were. To his amazement, though, once the carriages were filled, they began to roll forward of their own accord, away and on up the road toward the grounds of Hogwarts.