FOUR

Severus and Lily had just boarded the Hogwarts Express, walking to the end of the train to find seats in the Slytherin car. Tom, under a strong glamour, had accompanied them, since he had been made History of Magic professor. It wasn't the slot he really wanted, but he figured that, if he was there under Dumbledore's nose long enough, he would eventually obtain the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. Binns had been exorcised; Abraxas had sent a curse breaker to the castle to get rid of the ghost, under the direction of the School Board of Governors. They had looked at the past performances of students in History of Magic, and saw the urgent need to rid the school of an ineffectual teacher. Tom slid into place seamlessly.

The three were sitting in a booth in the back corner when the first of the Slytherins began to arrive. Lucius saw them and smiled widely, heading immediately to the booth and sitting beside Tom. "It's about time you got here," he huffed out with a smile for his best friend. "I've been missing your invaluable assistance in potions."

"Glad to see it's not my friendship of which you have need," the dark-haired preteen snarked back with a grin. Lucius shrugged sheepishly, grey eyes going to the girl beside Severus. "This is Lily Evans," the boy continued, dark orbs softening as he looked at her. "That," he gestured toward Malfoy, not taking his eyes off the girl beside him, "is Lucius Malfoy. You've met his father, Abraxas."

"Pleased to meet you," Lily said with a tremulous smile. She'd heard from a few people that her lack of a pureblood pedigree might cause her trouble in school, so she was suitably nervous. She'd heard about the Malfoys and their politics, and was wary of the blond's speculative perusal.

"The pleasure is mine," he told the redhead, grey eyes shuttered. "I don't recall any Evans in the pureblood registries."

"She's a halfblood," Tom told the teen, censure in his voice for the boy's attitude. Lucius looked suitably cowed, shrinking back and reining in his hostilities. "She is descended from the Evanwind clan of high elves."

"Why does her name sound muggleborn?" Lucius queried curiously.

"I suspect it was so that they would be able to fit in better with those families of Irish descent that they had married into. You might as well know this, and it will give you a 'leg up' in History of Magic. Severus and I, along with your father, have been doing research and we've discovered that there are no 'muggleborns'. All of those witches and wizards that come from the muggle world are halfbloods; or, in some cases, purebloods, descended from squibs. Not that the purebloods in the magical world can actually claim themselves as such, since the first ever magical had a muggle for one of his or her parents.

"Now, I've told you enough," Tom continued with a wry grin. "I don't want to give away too much of the lesson. Be satisfied that Severus loves her, and that I wholeheartedly approve of their relationship." Severus blushed profusely, glaring at his father with a pout. Lily had also blushed, her emerald eyes glancing shyly at the boy beside her. "I can see that the feelings are returned," Tom said with a grin at both preteens.

"They are," Lily whispered, sliding her hand in Severus' and squeezing gently.

"I'm so nervous," the redhead said as she leaned into Severus' side. They were standing in the room off of the Great Hall, waiting for McGonagall to take them in for their sorting. Older children, from all of the Houses, had been filling the first years' heads with all sorts of nonsense regarding the sorting, and many of them were terrified.

James Potter, who stood a few paces away, was holding sway with a lot of the other first years, oozing arrogant pride with every breath he took. He grinned cockily as many of the other first years regaled him with the rumors that they'd heard. "I'm not worried," he said, chest puffed out. "I can beat any test they have, hands down. I'm the best flyer, so that one's mine. I'm smarter than anyone else here, so that's mine. I'm stronger magically than anyone else here, so that's mine, as well."

He looked around at all of the other first years, basking in their admiration, until his eyes lit on a cute little redhead who was standing next to a scrawny, ugly little kid. He sauntered over to them and shoved Severus aside, putting on his most charming smile and bowing his head to Lily. "What are you doing over her with him?" he asked, gesturing with a thumb at the Riddle heir. "You should be over there, where you belong, with me." He turned his head and looked at Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, two boys he'd made fast friends with on the train. They nodded eagerly back; they had made plans to prank other students at the school. All in fun, of course, and they had plotted to concentrate most of their pranks on Slytherin.

When James had seen Lily and Severus on one of the boats, he instantly knew that the dark haired boy would be a Slytherin. So he decided to prove to the cute little redhead that the other boy wasn't worthy of her time or attentions. Not like he was. So he and the other two bent their heads close on their boat and plotted and planned and schemed to win the heart of the redhead for James.

"I'm with him," she grabbed Severus' hand and pulled him to her side defiantly whilst glaring into James' hazel eyes angrily, "because he's my best friend and I love him. You are nothing more than an arrogant toe rag, and not worth my time. Now kindly leave me alone." She turned away from Potter and proceeded to ignore his existence. The eleven year old Potter heir narrowed his eyes angrily, flushing as he heard the snickers of the other first years around him.

He stomped back to his friends, humiliated. I'll get him, he thought angrily. See if I don't.

Lily sat under the hat, nervously waiting for its judgment.

Relax, Miss Evans. I mean you no harm. You are quite brilliant, and would be considered a prodigy in ANY House. However, because of your elven blood, I believe you would be safer in one House only. Better be RAVENCLAW!

She stood from the stool and waited for McGonagall to remove the hat from her head. To the loud, raucous cheering of Ravenclaw, she made her way to her House table, blushing at the shouts of welcome she'd received. The other sorted first years had informed their tables of the confrontation in the antechamber, so every House except Gryffindor was cautious of James Potter and his friends.

Black had gone to Gryffindor, to the everlasting shock of Slytherin. Every other Black since the beginning of Hogwarts had been sorted into their House, so they were suitably stunned stupid at the change of circumstances. Lupin, also, had gone into Gryffindor. The hat wanted to place him in Ravenclaw, but he'd argued with it fiercely. He didn't think, with his problem, that he would make any other friends in any of the other Houses, so he wanted to stay with Sirius.

Potter was also sorted into Gryffindor. After seeing the personality traits and thoughts in the eleven year old's head, the hat was hesitant to place him anywhere. However, as he was a pureblood, and couldn't be denied his education, the hat placed him where he would do the least damage. The sorting hat was pessimistic, however; the feelings of entitlement he'd seen in the boy's head had depressed him, and he knew that a fair few students would suffer as long as James Potter attended Hogwarts.

Severus was sorted into Ravenclaw. Though he was saddened that he wouldn't be in the same House as his best friend, Lucius, he was thrilled to be in the same House as the girl with whom he was fast falling deeply in love. He was also relieved; this meant that Potter wouldn't be able to get close enough to her to make her change her mind. Though he believed Lily's feelings for him were real, he was loath to let Potter's 'charms' convince her that Severus was unworthy.

"Oh, Sev," she gushed as he sat next to her, "I'm so happy you're here!" She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, giggling into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his nose in her vibrant red hair, inhaling deeply the fragrance of lilies and lilac that she always wore. His eyes rose and met hazel at the Gryffindor table, the rage within those brown orbs making Severus quake for a moment.

Merlin, he thought idly as Lily and he separated to watch the rest of the sorting, I am so very screwed.

"We have to separate them," James hissed to Sirius as they ate. They watched the goings-on at the Ravenclaw table closely, frowns and scowls growing deeper as they saw Lily fawn all over the ugly bastard. Remus also watched the pair, his eyes guarded as he listened to the hissed conversations of his friends. He felt sorry for Severus, but he would do nothing to go against the only friends he'd ever had.

"We just need to make that slimy bastard look weak and useless to her," Sirius told his friend with a shark-like grin. "We'll start out slow; prank him when no one is looking, just to see how he reacts to it all. Then, when we have him quivering at the very thought of us, we'll ramp up the pranks, and make them more public. Once she sees that he's a weak willed, magically inept wizard, she'll dump him like a hot potato and come running into your arms."

"I like that plan, Sirius," James said with a feral grin. "I don't think it'll take any time at all to make him a quivering, cowering mess."

"We have dorms for the first to third years," the Ravenclaw prefect said as they entered the common room. "Once you hit fourth year, you get individual rooms. Rowena Ravenclaw felt that it is in the first three years of your magical education that you gain your friendships. She also believed that, once you hit puberty, you should have your own space in which to hide, should you need it. Since we don't all hit puberty at the same time, she thought fourth year was the perfect time to allow students their individual rooms.

"Boys are not allowed in the girls' dorms, and girls are not allowed in the boys' dorms. The stairs are spelled to eject you in a most painful manner, should you attempt to break this rule. Once you obtain your individual rooms, you may invite a member of the opposite sex into it. However, nothing of a sexual or prurient nature is permitted to occur in those rooms. The wards will halt that behavior in a most unpleasant and humiliating way. This is to protect you from making mistakes from which you may not recover.

"Myself and the other prefect will take all first years on a tour of the castle tomorrow, and will provide you with a map for the first week. Once the week is up, the map will disappear. You had better ensure that you know every place you should before then. Once the map disappears, unless you have a good group of friends with which to hang out, you will be on your own. Now, get to bed; you have a long day tomorrow."

After the prefect went to her room, the rest of the students filtered out of the common room in dribs and drabs, leaving behind Severus and Lily. They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, then hugged each other tightly before saying good night. Severus made his way to the first year's dorm, finding his bed against the far wall. There was a chifferobe against the wall at the foot of every bed, and the trunks were against the foot of each bed, leaving a two foot wide aisle in which the students could traverse to the bathroom and the exit.

"How do you know her?" asked Bertram Aubrey as Severus unpacked his trunk. For a moment, there was silence, before Aubrey tried again. "Oi, you. How do you know her?"

Severus turned slowly to the other eleven year old, ebon eyes shuttered. "Are you speaking to me?" he asked lowly. When the other boy nodded, Severus smirked. "My father taught me that you should always introduce yourself before starting a conversation. My name is Severus Salazar Riddle. And you are?"

"S-sorry," the other boy stammered with a blush, "my name is Bertram Aubrey."

"I'm Adrian Lyman," another boy said.

"I'm Richard Stebbins, and that's Marcus Grimble."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintances," Severus replied with a nod. "Now, to answer your question, Lily Evans and I have been friends since the summer."

"She's very pretty," Stebbins said with a blush. "I've never seen anyone with eyes as green as hers."

"Yes," Severus drawled, eyes far away, "she is simply enchanting."

"Other people have noticed how pretty she is, too," Grimble added with a grimace. "I've no doubt that Prince Potter will take a shot at her."

"After the way he'd accosted Severus and her in the antechamber, I sincerely doubt he has any chance at her," Adrian told the group. There were nods and grins all around at the memory, before everyone sobered. "I'm afraid that won't stop Potter and his friends, however. I saw the way he kept watching you. He and Black. I don't think you'll be too safe in the castle until he's gone."