This chapter is a bit longer than the others, but that may be to make up for no new chapter tomorrow, as I will be very busy. If I don't get a chance to write a new one, I should have a new chapter up the next day :)

Anyway, onto the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own the original Harry Potter series.

Gryffindor? No, that had to be a mistake. He was expecting Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw... maybe even Slytherin if the hat was going to be stubborn. It had not so much as mentioned Gryffindor as a potential option. But he supposed that would make his mission a lot easier. In fact, he had forgotten all about his mission momentarily with the stress of the sorting. Maybe the hat knew...

The Gryffindors' claps starting out very slow, eventually picking up speed and turning into the regular cheering and whooping. A very nervous looking Severus stood up, and turned to walk over to the Gryffindor table. He was suddenly stopped by Professor Dumbledore, who put his hand on his shoulder. Severus wasn't expecting this and jumped slightly. There was a small bout of giggles amongst the students, but the room went silent very quickly, eager to hear what Dumbledore had to say.

Severus gulped. He really would prefer it if he wasn't in the spotlight. But here he was. The entire Hogwarts student body was staring at him and Dumbledore expectantly. Dumbledore motioned for Severus to follow him to his podium. Severus stood next to the famous podium while Dumbledore stood behind it.

"To our new first years, welcome." Dumbledore began. "And to everybody else, welcome back! I trust that you have had a splendid break and are ready and eager to continue your magical education."

There were a few mutters at that statement, but Dumbledore ignored them and continued speaking.

"Before we begin the feast, I believe I have a bit of explaining to do." He said, gesturing to Severus. "This is your former potions master, Severus Snape."

The hall blew up like the Weasley twins' fireworks. Dumbledore looked to Severus, who was visibly uncomfortable.

"Silence!" Dumbledore boomed. Like with Professor McGonagall, the hall abruptly went silent. "Now," he continued, his famous, warm smile returning to his face.

"Yesterday, Severus became a victim of a scheme of Voldemort. His body has been de-aged to sixteen years old." Every student and staff member had a shocked look on their face. This was far beyond what any of them expected. Severus could tell they were very surprised by the lack of chatter breaking out again.

Dumbledore continued. "Severus was sent to be a student at Hogwarts, and of course we never question the dark lord. I will not go into detail as to exactly why this is, but I will say that Severus must be treated like a normal student. Please respect him as you would your peers."

Dumbledore motioned for Severus to sit down at his designated house table. Severus stumbled down from the front of the great hall with shaky legs, making his way to find a seat at the table.

"Now, let us eat!" Dumbledore exclaimed. The hall burst into chatter again, as people devoured their dinner. The extra long sorting meant they were starving.

Meanwhile, Severus was having trouble finding a seat. Every time he walked past a small space on the bench, it would quickly close as people noticed him. Sighing, he decided to try a different tactic. He put on his best smile and walked confidently down the long aisle. After what seemed like forever, Severus finally spotted a large gap between two students. He quickly made his way over, still smiling, and sat down between the two students before they even realised what was happening.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Severus asked, as the two students turned around.

Severus gasped as he realised who he was sitting next to. The two students also gasped. It was none other than Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. And just his luck, opposite him was Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley.

"Fine, Ron! Do what you like!" Hermione exclaimed, scooting away from her friend, leaving a rather large gap between them. She saw Harry and Ginny roll their eyes at this, but simply pretended not to have noticed and continued looking at Ron in disapproval. For the next few minutes, the four friends ate in silence. Hermione was just about to get some more potatoes when she noticed a student sitting down between her and Ron. She turned her head to find the person she least expected to see.

Hermione and Ron both gasped at the same time, along with Severus, who looked just as shocked as they did.

"Gr- Hermione! Ron!" Severus quickly corrected himself. He was supposed to get friendly with them, after all.

"Sn- Severus!" Hermione exclaimed, also correcting herself.

Ron did not bother to be polite, however. "Snape! What are you doing!?" He exclaimed.

Severus looked like he was about to throw his famous insults back at Ron, but quickly changed his expression to a small smile.

"Good to see you too, Weasley," he joked.

Hermione couldn't believe her ears. How was Sna- Severus, being friendly with one of his most disliked students? Ron looked rather shocked too, as he suddenly went silent.

Harry and Ginny were just sitting there, watching the whole situation play out in front of them.

Severus looked to Harry. He seemed to be contemplating how he would address him. Hermione knew about his hatred of his father, and therefore he would naturally hate Harry. If Severus addressed him as Harry, then she would be very suspicious.

"Snape," Harry was the first to speak. His expression was neutral, not full of hatred, but at the same time not kind.

"Potter," Snape snapped back.

That was better, thought Hermione. He does hate Harry the most, after all. While she was supposedly very annoying in his classes, he really had no reason to hate her like he did Harry. That wasn't to say she didn't approve of the hatred that was shared between the two, it was just normal. And at this point in her life, Hermione appreciated all the normal she could get.

He really shouldn't have snapped at Harry. That was counterproductive. But he couldn't help the immediate reaction he had to hate the boy. He looked exactly like his father, after all, and Snape could never put James' history behind him. He loathed that man. He harassed him throughout the whole school year. He hurt him, made a fool out of him, and stole his Lily...

Eventually he would have to get friendly with Potter, but he was not ready to face that just yet. Besides, it would seem too suspicious if he was suddenly kind to the boy. Hermione was one of his best students. She could be very annoying at times with her constant eagerness to answer every question that was fired her way, but he had no reason to hate her. That made it more believable that Severus would be neutral towards her. The Weasley boy he would be slightly less accepting of, but he yet again had no reason to hate him either. It was just that bothersome Potter.

Severus started helping himself to dinner as Potter and Weasley glared at him. He was startled to hear Weasley speak again;

"Bloody hell!" He exclaimed, abruptly dropping his fork on his plate. "We have to share a room with our potions professor!"

Harry's nose crinkled as Ron said this, obviously just as displeased as he was.

"In case you have failed to notice, Weasley," Severus began, "I am a student now. Therefore I shall be staying in the student dormitories."

"You're still a middle aged man, though!" Ron said, picking his fork back up and stuffing his mouth full of potatoes.

Severus suppressed the urge to yell at Weasley and took a deep breath. He could not let his rage get the better of him. If he failed the dark lord, then he would most likely be Nagini's dinner. He couldn't get the boys to pretend, either. While Severus was a skilled legilimens, Voldemort was still a lot better than he would ever be. The dark lord could easily read Severus' mind and be able to tell if he was being deceived. Plus, he doubted that the boys would ever do something like that for Severus' sake.

Nobody spoke as they ate, not wanting to start another argument. Just as Severus had finished eating, he was tapped on the shoulder.

"Oy, mate," Weasley said, his mouth full of food. He swallowed with a large gulp and continued. "Do you mind if I have my seat back?" He said, glaring at Severus.

"I'm sorry?" Severus asked. He didn't think Weasley wanted to sit there anyway.

"I was sitting next to Hermione before you so rudely barged on through," Ron explained, as if this made perfect sense and was entirely fair.

"Actually," Severus contradicted. "I was under the impression that you did not want to sit together. Another row, I presume?"

Weasley was about to say something when Hermione spoke up.

"Ron, just leave it. Please," she pleaded. Severus could tell she was trying to avoid a full blown fight breaking out.

"What?" Weasley asked, looking incredulous. "Are you enjoying his company?"

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed. She seemed lost for words. Severus guessed she didn't want to insult him or say the wrong thing. "I don't mind if Severus sits here or not," she stated.

"Why, because he's so good looking?" Weasley snapped. Severus suppressed a smirk. Weasley was jealous of his presence, and was making it very obvious.

Hermione was beyond furious. It was the first night back at Hogwarts and Ron had already started a row.

"Why, because he's so good looking?" Ron had said, waiting for her reply. Hermione felt herself go bright red.

Sure, Severus was quite good looking. But he wasn't the most handsome man in the world and he had horribly greasy hair. Putting that aside, though, he wasn't that bad. After all, he was intelligent, witty, brave...

No! Why on earth was she having these thoughts?! That was disgusting! He was her middle-aged potions professor.

"Well," Hermione began. "I suppose you might think that, Ronald."

Ron's face went beet red. "Are you-"

"In love with your potions professor, Ron?" Ginny interrupted, noticing that Hermione was struggling.

Hermione looked at her with gratitude.

"How long has this been going on?" Ginny continued to tease Ron.

Hermione noticed Severus go slightly pink, but he quickly regained his composure once more.

"While this is a fascinating discussion," Severus began, "I would rather not be involved in your conversations about who is lusting over whom."

Hermione saw Ron's face screw up.

"I am not lusting over-" Ron was interrupted by the famous clinking of Dumbledore's goblet.

The hall went silent as the great feast disappeared. Everyone turned to face the headmaster, ready to hear his usual speech.

Once the feast had ended, Severus stood up, ready to follow the Gryffindors to the dormitories. While he knew where it was, he needed the password. He was no longer a staff member who had access to all of the protected rooms in the castle.

As the Gryffindors got up to go, no one paid him much mind. In his opinion, that was good. That meant they were not about to bully him, and hopefully would never have any interest in doing so.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a large bump on his side. The force made him fall to the ground. Severus watched as Weasley shoved past him. That vile child! He thought Potter would be the main problem, but now that he got to know Weasley better, he hated him even more.

Potter looked down at Severus, almost looking apologetic, before being swept away in the current of students. He may have misjudged Potter's kindness. At least he was decent enough to have an inch of empathy for him.

Severus took shelter under the bench seats until the majority of the students had left. There were just the few stragglers that were leaving the hall and the staff members that were left.

He quickly rolled out from under the bench and was about to stand up when he found Hermione standing there, looking down at him with a small, sympathetic smile. Embarrassed, Severus stood up and dusted his robes off.

"I'm sorry about Ron, Severus," she began, her smile being replaced with a frown. Severus could tell that she was furious with Weasley.

Severus sighed. "Thanks," he said, giving her a small smile. Should he try to flirt with her? Was it too soon? Severus was beginning to doubt his ability to fulfil his master's wishes.

"I can walk with you to the dormitories if you want," Hermione offered. "Though I presume you already know where they are," she added.

Severus nodded. "Why don't you hate me like Weasley and Potter?" He questioned. Hermione looked rather surprised at the sudden question, but still looked eager to give him an answer. Nothing has changed, Severus mused. He grinned slightly at this thought.

"Well," Hermione began as they exited the great hall. "While you have been less than kind to me in my past Hogwarts years, I am willing to put that behind me if you agree to do the same."

"I am willing to do so for you, but I cannot say the same about Weasley and Potter. You have done nothing wrong, while the boys..."

Hermione sighed. "I know," she said. "Harry will be very reluctant about the idea of being nice, but he is far too nice to say it to your face. Ron, on the other hand-"

"Has no fear in hurting other's feelings?"

"Yes," Hermione finished, nodding her head. There was a pause in conversation as the pair hiked up the moving staircases, but continued once they reached their floor.

"I am going to pretend that you are simply a new student," Hermione said. "But if you do or say anything nasty to me, I will assume you will not have changed and treat you like Professor Snape."

"That sounds fair," Severus agreed, as they approached the fat lady. Severus' heart was beating rather hard. He was still nervous about how the students were going to react. After all, they could do a lot more to him in the safety of the common room.

As always, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a review if you want to let me know what you think :)