Wonderful

Chapter Two: First Day Surprises.

Finally the boats reached the end of the lake. Severus got off his boat as soon as he could. Logic said he couldn't go searching for Remus with James and Sirius next to him. He did not feel like being bothered at the moment, so he decided to look for Lily, whom he found talking to a small group of girls. He tapped her on the shoulder.

"Oh hi, Severus," she said, smiling.

"Hi, had a nice trip?" he asked with an insecure smile.

"It wasn't so bad. The train was nice and I was a bit scared of the boats, but they were ok. What about you? How was your trip?"

"Oh, it was great," he answered quickly. "I almost couldn't say hello to all the people I've-"

"Snape! How have you been?" Sirius and James appeared at Severus' sides.

"Hello Severus," Remus said with a low voice from behind them.

"Wait a minute! That's your name? Severus?"

"Yes, Black," he answered, annoyed.

"Well why you didn't tell us before, Snivellus?" said James.

"Severus!"

"Snivellus! Snivellus!" James and Sirius said in a singsong voice.

"Stop that, both of you!" yelled Lily, who until now had remained unnoticed.

"Oh, and who might you be?"

"Lily Evans," she answered coldly.

"I'm James Potter, this is Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and that," he pointed to a small boy standing next to Lupin, who was even more unnoticeable than Lily, (this is a bit lengthy; how about "he pointed to a small, unnoticeable/plain boy next to Lupin") "is Peter Pettigrew."

"Well, James, why don't you and your friends leave Severus alone and go do something a bit more appropriate for your age, like maybe, getting a life?"

James's jaw dropped in awe. It's not that what Lily said was hard for him to understand; he knew an insult when heard it. He was just more used to giving rather than receiving them. They didn't get to talk more because at that moment, the door in front of them opened.

"I will take them from here, Hagrid," said a witch, who was standing in the doorway.

"Very well Professor McGonagall, good luck."

"Thank you."

Professor McGonagall was a young witch in her early fifties. She had Piercing dark eyes and grey streaked black hair tied back in a ponytail. She seemed a bit nervous, as thought this was her first time doing this. She took a deep breath and began talking.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats you will be sorted into your houses."

Severus already knew which house he would be in. His dad had been in it, his brother was in it, and there was no doubt he would be in it. But there could still be some hope for him. His mother had been different; she wasn't like the rest of his family. She IS different, he thought to himself. He needed to stop thinking of his mother in the past tense.

"Now form a line and follow me."

Professor McGonagall's voice brought him back from his reverie. He stepped into the line behind a small, plump boy. What he didn't notice was that in front of the boy were James and his friends. Lily was almost at the front of the line. Once in the line, Severus let his mind wander. He didn't like the prospect of being in the same house as his brother. Mordred was already bad enough at the Snape Manor; he did not need him in school too. He decided to stay as far away as possible from his brother. But then again, in that house there was one person who cared for him. Jennifer had always been nice to him and when she was at his house, she would rather be with Severus than with Mordred. Somehow, she was different from all of those people, just like Severus was. Maybe she also knew someone from a Muggle family, or maybe SHE had Muggle family. He discarded that last idea; to be a Death Eater, one HAD to be a pureblood. As he kept thinking of the only friend he had before coming to Hogwarts, he didn't notice an open broom closet a few meters from him. He didn't notice that James and Sirius were now in the plump boy's place. It was too late when he noticed; he was already locked inside the broom closet. He pushed his body against the unmoving door.

"HEY SOMEONE, OPEN PLEASE!" he yelled as he banged on the door, but it was too late. The group was already too far to hear him. He tried once more, hoping that someone would happen to pass by, but the hall was silent. Severus sat down, hugging his legs to his chest, and waited to hear someone passing by that might help him.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group entered the Great Hall. Mordred looked over the crowd of first years, trying to find his brother, but Severus was not there.

"What's wrong?" asked Jennifer.

"Nothing." He decided to ignore that. He had no reason to worry; Severus must be behind someone tall.

Jennifer noticed that he did mean something, and then she noticed that one boy was missing from the first years.

***

Severus wiped his face. He was remembering the last time he had been in a closet like this: the day before his mum had left. His parents have been fighting again. His father had struck his mother on the face. Severus tried to escape the screams by hiding in the closet. Only his mum knew about his hiding place. When the screaming stopped, he remembered his mother had gone to find him there. She had held him tight, telling him everything was going to be all right. After hugging him for a while, she had said that she would love him forever. The next morning, she was gone.

***

"Sanders, Alice!"

Professor McGonagall was already all the way to the S's, but Severus was not there yet. Jennifer was beginning to get worried and Mordred didn't seem to care much. It didn't surprise her; she knew he was cold toward his younger brother.

"Snape, Severus!"

No one came. McGonagall looked toward the first years, hoping to see a lost boy or something. He was not there. After calling two more times, she gave up and continued with the list. At this moment, Jennifer saw two boys at the Gryffindor table laughing.

***

Severus had lost hope. He would probably have to wait till the next day to get out of there. He was starting to get hungry too, and tired. He stretched his legs a bit, trying to get as comfortable as he could. Severus had lost track of time. He wasn't even sure how long he had been there; for him, it felt like an eternity. Then it happened - he heard steps.

"Hey! Someone out there?! Please help me! I'm stuck here, please!"

The steps began to run away from the closet. He knew it had been too good to be true. But then he heard something even better - more that one pair of feet was coming his way. Severus listened as the people outside tried to open the door but couldn't. Someone muttered a short spell and was able to open the door. Outside the closet were four persons: one was a girl he had seen in the room before the sorting, next to her was Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore, and on the other side was another man whom he thought was a teacher. He looked a bit scary to Severus, like a vampire.

"Mr. Snape! How long have you been there?" asked McGonagall, with a hint of relief on her voice.

"Since before the sorting, when we exited the hall, someone pushed me in."

"Did you see who did it?"

"That's not important, Minerva," said the vampire man. "The thing is we found the boy. Now let's just sort him and get it over with, I wish to go to bed early tonight."

"It is important, Vincent. We have to apply the proper punishment to whoever it was. Tell me, Mr. Snape, did you see who pushed you in?"

Severus remained quiet. He couldn't tell them that James and Sirius had been the ones. If they knew he told on them, who knew what they could think of to get payback?

"No Professor, I didn't see who did it."

"Happy now, Minerva?"

"Stop it, Vincent."

"Both of you, please," interrupted Dumbledore. "Now, let's sort the boy because I'm sure he is as tired as we are and he is probably very hungry too." He turned to Severus and smiled at him. "Miss Croft, will you please take Mr. Snape to the Great Hall?"

"Yes sir. Follow me."

With this, they both began the walk to the Great Hall. The girl had wavy brown hair that reached her shoulders. She was just as tall as Severus, but not as thin as him. She looked like she had all her meals back home, unlike Severus who looked bit too thin. Her skin had more color, unlike his pale face. She kept looking at Severus with a face that seemed to know that he was hiding. They had reached the Great Hall and sat down when Severus couldn't help it anymore.

"What is it?" he asked as he began to eat the sandwiches that had appeared in front of him.

"You do know who pushed you in, don't you? Because I do."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw James and Sirius at the sorting. They looked happy, like when they pull off a good prank. They almost cheered when the professor called you and nobody came up."

"You know them?"

"I live next door to the Black's, known Sirius basically all my life. My name is Anna." She stretched out her hand.

"Severus," he shook her hand. "Are you friends with him?"

"Was for a while. He turned into an asshole and I stopped going to his house and stuff."

"I see."

Just then, the two teachers and the headmaster entered the hall, with Professor McGonagall holding a stool and a patched hat. She placed it down and signaled for Severus to sit on the stool. When he did, she placed the hat on his head, which covered down to his nose. Then something happened that almost made him jump out of the stool - the hat talked to him.

"Well, another Snape. Very interesting..."

"What is?" he asked.

"Haven't seen someone from that family who fits somewhere besides Slytherin."

Severus held his breath; maybe he had hope.

"But something tells me to put you there. You seem brave, very brave indeed, brave enough to be in Gryffindor, but something tells me I should put you in Slytherin, yes that is were I will put you, SLYTHERIN!" the hat yelled this last bit so everyone would hear.

"Very well. Professor Cassel, will you please take Mr. Snape to his house?" said Professor Dumbledore, smiling at Serverus.

"Yes Professor, follow me boy."

With this, they both exited the Hall. Severus waved at Anna, who waved back. They walked down several halls, towards the direction of the dungeons. This walk gave Severus time to analyze his teacher better. He had long, black hair that was tied back and dark, cold eyes. He didn't seem like the kind of teacher to run to in when you have problems. Not once did he look at Severus during the walk, making the boy think that he didn't even remember that he was leading a student. When they reached one of the dungeons, the Professor finally looked at him.

"I hope you memorized the way," he said coldly. "And I hope you remember this-underworld." With this the door to Slytherin appeared in front of him.

"Enjoy your stay."

And with this, Professor Cassel left him there. Severus entered to find the common room empty. Great, now to guess where my room is, he thought. Severus climbed up a flight of stairs and, luckily for him, he found himself in front of a door that said 'First Years'. This had to be his room. He was in first year and, according to his brother, the stairs to the girls' rooms melted together when a boy climbed them. Fortunately for him, his trunk was at the foot of one of the beds. He changed into a pair of pajamas, climbed onto his four-poster bed and closed the velvet curtains. Soon he fell asleep.

Severus was back in his house. How he got back there, he did not know. Then he saw his mum. He ran to her.

"MUM!" he called as he ran closer to her. "MUMMY!"

She didn't turn to look at him. She just kept looking in front of her, her long wavy hair falling halfway down her back like a dark cloak covering her. Her pale skin contrasted with the dark outline of the room. Then another figure came in, hooded and cloaked with a mask covering his face. He took out his wand and pointed at Severus' mother.

"MUM! WATCH OUT!"

But she didn't hear him. The masked figure pointed his wand at her and before Severus could warn her, he shot a spell at her, a spell Severus recognized as the Killing Curse. Severus ran to her and picked her body from the ground, where it had fallen from the spell, and hugged her tight.

"Damn you! You murdering bastard!" he screamed at the figure. But then he saw something. The person was taking off his mask, revealing his face - it was himself, older, but it was himself.

"NO!" Severus woke up to find that he was still in Hogwarts, in his room. He got off his bed, put on a robe and walked down the stairs. Maybe he could get something to eat in the kitchens. When he got to the common room, something else took his attention. There was a fire roaring in the fireplace and someone was sitting on one of the sofas. When he got closer, he saw that it was Jennifer. She turned her head, looked at him and smiled.

"Homesick?" she asked kindly.

"No, I had a bad dream."

She looked at him and patted the space next to her. Severus walked to the sofa and sat down.

"Want some?" she offered him a ceramic mug with some hot liquid in it.

"What is it?"

"Hot chocolate, got it from one of the house elves." She offered once more and this time he drank a bit. "Want to tell me what you dreamt of?"

" I dreamed...I dreamed that I killed my mum, but it was like an older me, like me when I grow up."

"You sure it wasn't Mordred?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Why do you think you'll kill your mum?"

"Because, because she is a half-blood, and I am a Slytherin." With this, he looked down.

Jennifer never could stand to see the boy that sad, so she reached out and hugged him. "Not all Slytherins are bad, just like not every Gryffindor is brave, or every Hufflepuff loyal, or Ravenclaw smart. Maybe you got placed here because of something else."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. And speaking of which, why weren't you at the sorting?"

"I...had a small...inconvenience."

"Come on, tell me what happened."

"No, it's ok."

"You can't hide it forever, Severus."

"Ok potternadblackpushedmeinsideaclosetandlockedmeinit."

"So two kids by the names of Potter and Black pushed you into a closet, locked you in and that is why you couldn't be at the sorting?"

Severus was surprised that she understood him. He nodded slowly.

"Hmmm, maybe I should have a talk with a friend of mine. He'll know what to do."

"No, you can't tell anyone! I don't know what they would think of if they knew I told on them."

"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with my dear friend Weasley and I. No one will know what happened. Now, why don't you go back to bed, you have a big day in front of you tomorrow."

"Ok, goodnight." With this, he got off the sofa, put the mug on a small table, and started to walk up the stairs.

"Hey, Severus," Jennifer called from behind him. "Want me to tuck you in?"

"But you can't get into the dorm."

"Girls can get into the boys' dorm. The founders trusted us more than the guys." She got up and accompanied him upstairs.

Maybe being a Slytherin wouldn't be that bad...

***

The next morning, Severus entered the Great Hall to find it half full. Everyone in the house , it seemed, was already up, so he went to sit with them. When he sat down, he scanned the room. Lily, Remus and Anna were all in Gryffindor. So were Black, Potter and Pettigrew. He was checking out his schedule, about to eat breakfast, when a flock of owls entered the room. One of them flew to him and dropped a letter. He recognized the handwriting immediately. It was form his mum.