The Death Eaters Ball

The DeathEaters Ball

Prologue

Severus Snape stepped out of the Hogwarts Express and onto the pavement loading dock. The first year, unlike most students, he felt no nervousness. He simply looked around to see the older students pointing the first year in the direction of a huge man with a long black beard.

Severus was unlike most children his age. He was abandoned by his parents nearly six years ago and had to live in an orphanage for the past six years. His robes were worn, tattered and frayed at the bottoms. His hair was long and black as well as lank and greasy. It looked as though it hadn't been washed in years, and considering the orphanage's hygiene it wasn't surprising. Yet despite his clothes and hair he still had a royal way about him. Some people would pass by him as if he were nothing more then a poor, unlucky homeless child. But if you take a closer look into his eyes you could see something much more.

These eyes were totally black, with not a line of color or light.They were haunting, they were so dark. They were almost like pitch black. As if they bottomless pits or black holes waiting to consume their next victim, protecting the boy they belonged to.

But of course, whether it's from his eyes or not Severus was comforted in the dark. It was his safe place. The darkness was where young Severus was at home the most. The cold hard comfort it gave had a way of soothing him when he needed it the most, for he had known it all his life.

He remembered very little about his parents. It is said that when you want to forget something so badly, sometimes it does happen. The very few memories Severus did have of his parents consisted mostly of his mother going away to parties and dances for days at a time, while leaving him with no one. She said that there was no use in leaving him with a house elf or servant. Her opinion was that if a child does everything for his or herself when they're young, they'll appreciate servants and house elves more when their adults. His father was more or lease involved then his mother. He was never around, mostly making and selling over priced potions. Severus could only remember his father saying one thing to his mother and that was "It's your job to raise him. We all know he's not my child, but he sure as hell is yours."

His life at the orphanage wasn't much of an improvement. He always was looked upon as that odd one out, the child who would always have problems making friends. But it seemed he had got used to it.

His intelligence was something to be marveled at. There was an old library a few blocks away from the orphanage. It held old testaments, essays and dusty books with ripped pages that were falling half way out. But it was in one of these books that Severus found his passion.

It was a huge book with a green cover, and a silver snake coiling around the words Dark Arts. Severus will never remember what about that book had attracted him so, but he felt compelled to take it and read, no study it, no memorize it. And so he did. This old green book had spells, charms, plants, death signs and the thing that fascinated Severus the most potions. He studied these books, memorizing them word for word, page by page and chapter for chapter until he could nearly recite the entire book. It was that very book that helped shape Severus's destiny.

That very same book was still with Severus. It sat at the bottom of his luggage trunk, just waiting to be opened again and to be read once again.

Severus followed the mob of first years to the giant man. They were loaded into boats with three or four into a boat. Severus sat across from two other boys. One had short black hair and glasses that were too big for his face. Blue eyes glittered through them. The other boy was taller and more tanned with long black hair that was tied at the back of his head into a ponytail. Both boys were dressed in fine black robes that looked as though they had payed nothing short of a few hundred galleons.

The two other boys were talking about which houses they would be sorted into. They both seemed to want to be Gyffindores. The boy with glasses hadn't really noticed that Severus was there. Hi smiled a lop-sided grin. "Hi I'm James and this here," he said gesturing to the boy sitting next to him. "is Sirius, what's your name" James asked. Severus was about to answer when red headed boy, whose name was Remus leaned over to their boat. Severus had rather rudely told Remus to leave him a lone on the train ride over to Hogwarts.

"Don't talk to that freak guys. On the train he nearly pushed me out the window." Said Remus to Sirius.

Remus went back to his own boat to talk with a pretty red headed girl. Then Sirius looked at Severus with a slight sneer on his face. "So you were the one who got Remus so badly scraped up on the train. He came over to our compartment at the point of tears he was so scratched up." Sirius looked even more angry as he continued. "Why the hell would you do a thing like that," Sirius was about to punch Severus hard in the face when James grabbed his arm.

"Do you really want to start this year with a detention. Just calm down, we're nearly there anyways." James hissed at Sirius through gritted teeth. Sirius was not impressed with James 's reasoning and shook his head at him.

"Trust me I know what I'm doing." Sirius snapped at James. James shook his head sadly and leaned over to chat with Remus and the red headed girl he sat with. Sirius glared at Severus with pure and utter hatred. "Listen I don't want you picking on my friends ever and I mean ever again, understand." He said with venom dripping from his voice.

Severus replied in an equally icy tone. "I'll beat up who I want, when I want. And if that means that I can beat up your little friend too that's even better." This made Sirius if possible even angrier then before.

"That's it" Sirius screamed at him. He threw the hardest punch aimed right at Severus's face and knocked Severus into the dark water of the lake.

The moment that Severus hit the water he felt all his senses heighten. You would think that hitting an ice cold lake, with your head under the water as well as your body that it would block some of your senses but that's not what happened. Severus's body felt the water around him and he felt even more comforted by the soothing darkness. It was completely like nothing he had ever felt. The coldness had never been that strong, the bleakness had never been so white and the dark had never been black. He was addicted to the ice in his lungs and the feeling of his blood running colder and colder until it comes to the point of freezing. He could see better then ever before. It was as almost as if he could see the darkness, just like you would see light on a sunny day. He could hear the water rushing in his ears and smell the seaweed of the lake. He could taste the water that was slowly flowing through his body and filling his lungs. But it was all over to soon. He was pulled from the water by a thick, burly arm.

Severus came up from the lake spitting water and coughing up seaweed. His entire body felt heavy. When his senses returned he could see and hear the other first years. All the boats had stopped and all the first years had turned to see what was happening. The giant sat in the boat Severus had been sitting in, helping him to get back in. Some of the students were staring wide eyed at him, wondering how stupid you had to be to fall out of magical boats. Others were shaking their heads as if to say, are we going have to put up with this for seven more years. And then there was Sirius Black sitting across from Severus, perfectly dry, with a smug smile on his face.

The giant rapped Severus up in his cloak and brought him up to the lead boat with him. But as they were passing Sirius, Severus leaned down and whispered "This is only the beginning Black. I'm going to make your life here a living hell on Earth.

Once docked, and loaded off of the boats the first years were a brought up into the castle, passing portraits that moved and staircases that switched areas. An older looking lady with dark brown hair worn tightly in a bun was waiting by a set of old oak doors, engraved with creatures that seemed to be moving as well.

"Here are the first years Professor McGonagall." Said the giant to the women standing by the doors.

"Thank you Hagrid. I'll take it from here" said Professor McGonagall. "Welcome first years to Hogwarts school of Witch Craft and Wizardry." She said, glancing around to the new students she would be soon teaching. Her gaze found Severus, who was still soaking wet with lake water. "Child what happened to you, you're all wet."

"Yeah he fell into the lake on his way here" said Sirius from the back of the mob, standing with Remus, James and that red headed girl as well.

"Well let's get you dry, we can't have you dripping water all over the carpets" said the professor in a slightly irritated voice. " Dryuios" she said while pointing her wand. Warmth spread through Severus instantly and his wet clothes also be came warm, as though they were just washed. "Now in a moment you will go through these doors and will meet the rest of Hogwarts. Once you go in you will all be sorted into a house. There is Gyffindor, Sytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. While you are at Hogwarts you will attend classes with your house, board with them and any right doing will earn your house points while if you rule brake that will lose you points. And the house at the end of the year with the most points wins the house cup." She paused and looked around once again at the new students. "Now welcome to Hogwarts" she said as she pushed the oak doors open.

Severus looked around to see hundreds of students sitting at four long tables. They looked upon each new first year, as if trying to determine which house they belong into. The roof of the Great Hall was the evening sky. The storm clouds that were once there were starting to fade and the stars were starting to come out. The teachers table was at the front and the teachers seemed to be doing the same thing as the students were.

Once at the front Professor McGonagall made another announcement "Now when I call your name come up to the front and place the sorting hat on your head and then once your sorted go and sit with your house." Severus looked up to the front where a three legged stool was, with an old wizarding hat sat a top it. It was frayed, with patches sewn on and ratty holes everywhere.

"Hey look, the fabric they made that hat out of is the same as Snape's robes" announced Black loudly. This caused all of the first years to start giggling, much to Severus's dislike.

People, one by one were called up to the sorting hat. Severus didn't care which house he got in, because he truly didn't know anything about each one, but he was hoping, no praying that he wouldn't be put in the same house as Black.

The first Gyffindor sorted was Black, as well as Remus Lupin and James Potter, who followed. The red headed girl whose name Severus found out to be Lily Evans was also sorted into Gyffindor, just after Black. And so Severus was dead set against all Gyfindores.

The sorting continued and it seemed to go on forever before the hat got to Severus. His name was called and once he was on the stool and the hat was firmly placed onto his head he began to hear a curious quiet voice in his head. Well maybe not in his head but around his head.

"Well that's see a hard worker that's for sure, quite a sharp mind, brave yes most definitely brave, you want to prove yourself and yes will go to no ends to get what you want. Well Hufflepuff, no that wouldn't work. Ravenclaw, yes you could make a good Ravenclaw, but no that wouldn't do either. Gyffindor, yes quite possibly but I do believe you are a true SYTHERIN" the hat shouted the last word and Professor McGonagall removed it from his head.

There was a loud burst of cheering from the sytherin table on the far left side of the hall. Severus jumped down from the stool and went to go join his house table.

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Well this is my first attempt at fanfiction so be gentle ok. And do please review for me. Whether you like it, love it or even hate it just please review. Cause I need all the reviews I can get. This is just a Prologue so next time I update will be chapter 1. And yeah I know it's a pretty long prologue ;}

Oh yes and none of these characters, places of objects or whatever are not mine. They all belong to miss J.K Rowling, because if they did belong to me why would I be writing fanfiction fir them