Summary: Sixteen-year-old Severus leaves Hogwarts to attend school in the U.S., and possibly pursue a new life. But what of the growing darkness back home that threatens Lily and all he's ever known? (This story is an AU and does not follow HP canon!)

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Harry Potter Wiki for its very helpful information. Also, a special thanks goes to Alethea27 for taking the time out of her own busy writing schedule to help Beta-read this. If you haven't read one of her stories, go there now! You'll be glad you did.

Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter and the characters inhabiting it belong to J.K. Rowling. This story does not intend any copyright infringement.

Copyright: 2015

oOo

A Prince Rising

By Syl Francis

As he glanced over his potions notes, he considered again his decision to walk away from everything he'd known—like mother, like son, he thought sardonically—and leave behind all the darkness that had been threatening to consume him ever since "That Day."

Severus rolled his eyes. Today—almost two years since "That Day" by the lake, when the Marauders had humiliated him in front of the entire the school, and he had called Lily a mudblood—he was still mentally putting quotation marks around the incident.

If only he hadn't been suddenly consumed by his Fiendfire-like temper. If only he hadn't seen Lily practically flirting with James Potter as Severus had been hung upside-down, choking on the soapy mess in his throat after one of Sirius Black's scourgifies, while being threatened with having his trousers removed in front of the jeering crowd.

If only Lily had forgiven him when he'd apologized.

Lily refused to forgive him that day and each day that followed. Then she stabbed him further in the heart and in the back by taking up with Potter, a person she'd once called a "toe rag" because he and his friends were little better than bullies. Of course, the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, loved the four Marauders—Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin—and their antics. He believed their sometimes-dangerous actions to be little more than "harmless schoolboy pranks" and rarely called them on the carpet for their disruptive behavior.

No, it was usually Severus who ended up serving detentions, even after he'd been the one attacked. Severus had also been hospitalized on more than one occasion over one of their so-called "harmless pranks," but again they received no reprimand.

After "That Day," everything came to a head in the Shrieking Shack incident. On the night of the full moon, Severus made his way to the Shrieking Shack after receiving an anonymous note that Lily was in trouble, and like an idiotic Gryffindor, he'd rushed headlong to make sure she was all right. What happened next caused him months of sweat-soaked nightmares afterward. Instead of finding Lily, Severus found a fully transformed werewolf, snarling and hungry for human flesh—his!

Frozen in place, Severus was about to be attacked when a large stag appeared out of nowhere and head butted the werewolf back into its prison. The stag turned out to be Potter—an unregistered Animagus—who claimed to have just found out from Sirius about the dangerous prank and had rushed to pull Severus out of danger.

In the aftermath, shaken and utterly traumatized, Severus barely heard the headmaster's reproach against telling anyone else what happened. Although it was Severus who had almost been killed, he was the one threatened with expulsion should he ever reveal the secret of the Shrieking Shack, which was par for the course, and forced into taking a Wizard's Oath to ensure his silence.

Additionally, he was admonished that he owed Potter a life debt. (At least here, Severus had the presence of mind to snort in disdainful derision at the headmaster's audacity.) And just to reinforce the young Slytherin's lack of worth in the headmaster's eyes, Severus was the one forced to serve a month-long detention for being outside on the grounds after curfew.

After that day he realized that no matter what he did—achieved high grades, advanced in his knowledge of magic, and created his own spells and potions—Severus knew that he would never be good enough. Hell, he was the only Hogwarts student who had scored all O's in his O.W.L.s the previous year. His potions O.W.L. score alone was rated the highest recorded in 150 years.

'But it still wasn't enough to earn so much as a "Good job, Severus!" from the Hogwarts faculty,' he thought darkly. In fact, Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Slughorn, his potions instructor and Head of House, had begun to look at him askance, as if worried that he was fast-tracked to becoming a Death Eater as soon as he came of age.

Severus rolled his eyes at himself. 'Self-pity much?' In all fairness to the Hogwarts faculty, Severus had to admit that they weren't all oblivious to his achievements.

McGonagall didn't have much use for Slytherins in general, but even Severus had to admit that she treated all students with scrupulous fairness, awarding and taking points equally.

"That's five points to Slytherin, Mr. Snape, for successful organic to inorganic Transfiguration," she said while carefully studying the teapot he had transfigured from a mouse. "And an extra two points for successfully changing the tail into the Slytherin crest. Now, return your teapot back to a mouse."

Yes, she was scrupulously fair, but being the quintessential Gryffindor, the natural adversary of the snakes, she made no effort to talk to any Slytherin on an individual basis except for Transfiguration related issues, as she did with members of the other Houses. Perhaps if she did so in her additional role as Deputy Head Mistress, she could help convince Slytherins, who were still sitting on the fence, not to join the Dark Lord.

Flitwick, the Charms professor, was probably the most equitable of all his professors. The tiny teacher loved all his students and it showed in his manner. He enjoyed it when his students mastered a new Charm, and worked tirelessly with those who had trouble.

"Jolly good show, Mr. Snape! That's the best Wingardium Leviosa by any first year in my entire tenure as a Hogwarts professor!"

He also made time to meet with each of his students individually to ensure they were tracked appropriately to obtain a N.E.W.T.s Charm. Still, he was first and foremost the Ravenclaw Head of House, and most of his spare time was spent mentoring his Eagles.

The Hogwarts staff member with whom he had the closest relationship wasn't a member of the faculty. It was Madam Pomfrey, the school's Mediwitch. Because of the years of his bullying at the hands of the Marauders, Severus had been landed too many times to count in the hospital wing.

"I'm beginning to believe, Mr. Snape, that if it weren't for you and those other boys, I'd have no job here at Hogwarts. Before you boys were Sorted, the most traffic this infirmary saw was the need for a few stomach soothers after the Opening Feast and the Halloween Feast, some calming drafts during O.W.L. and N.E.W.T.s week, and a few scrapes and bruises following a typical Quidditch match. By the time you five graduate, the Board of Governors will have to build a new medical wing just to accommodate all of your magical ailments."

By his third year, Severus and Madam Poppy (as he was allowed to call her) had come up with a workable compromise: If he kept her monthly supply of healing potions up to date and in the quantities needed, then she would teach him healing spells. They eventually agreed on meeting two Saturdays out of each month.

While Severus had found a mentor of sorts in Madam Pomfrey, their relationship was based on a quid pro quo. Outside of Hogwarts, Severus was lucky enough to make another acquaintance, a person that as time went on also became a much-needed mentor and adult male role model in the boy's life. In fact, he was directly involved in helping Severus take a life-changing step:

The second term of his sixth year, Severus applied for and was granted an early entry scholarship to Summer Institute at the Salem College of Potions as a summer exchange student. The program had the added incentive of offering qualified students the opportunity to remain at SCoP to complete their secondary N.E.W.T.-level studies while simultaneously earning university credit. Severus learned of the program from a former Slytherin...

oOo

While browsing through the potions ingredients in Wiggenweld's, a small apothecary shop Severus frequented, the owner of the shop showed him a flyer he'd received that morning. Unknown to Severus, Jonathon Wiggenweld had been observing the young man since the first time he stepped foot into his shop. It wasn't long before Wiggenweld had taken the shy and awkward student under his wing. He approved of the boy's curiosity and was astounded by his sharp mind. He often sold him ingredients at heavily discounted prices and happily discussed the boy's projects with him.

Wiggenweld had been planning to offer Severus an apprenticeship for the coming summer, when he thought of a better idea. With rumors of the Dark Lord on the rise and knowing that the young wizard had exactly the kind of brilliant mind that Voldemort would be trying to recruit, Wiggenweld decided to research lucrative alternatives for the boy to consider. That morning's owl post arrived with information that offered just such an alternative.

Wiggenweld knew that the young Slytherin's time in Hogwarts was anything but pleasant. He just didn't understand what the headmaster thought he was doing in allowing the inter-house rivalries to reach such intolerable proportions. Dumbledore almost seemed keen on turning Slytherin into a veritable smorgasbord of potential followers for Voldemort.

"Mr. Snape, take a look at this. You know your potions better than most. It looks like this could be a good opportunity for you." He smiled to himself as Severus read the flyer, a gleam of interest suddenly shining from the boy's dark eyes. However, the next instant the light went out again. Shrugging and shaking his head, Severus handed the flyer back, his face hidden behind a curtain of raven hair.

"Thank you, Mr. Wiggenweld, but I don't have the kind of money needed for a program like that. Besides...it's in the States. I doubt my da or mum would let me go."

Wiggenweld held his hand up to stop Severus from returning the flyer. "I think the program says that qualified candidates earn a full scholarship—including room and board. It's only for the summer, and it will give you a solid grounding in potion theory as well the chance to be around like-minded people such as yourself. Young Severus, this is an excellent opportunity not to be dismissed too hastily. If your parents object, point out that it's a step toward independence following graduation. What is the harm, lad?"

"What if they turn down my application?" Severus asked, suddenly sounding very young and unable to look Wiggenweld in the eye.

"Then they turn you down," Wiggenweld said with a fatalistic shrug. "You'll be no better or worse off than before. You will at least have tried." Seeing the boy's continued hesitancy, he added. "Of course, if they turn you down—which will be to their own detriment—then it will be my gain."

"What do you mean?" Severus asked, raising a single eyebrow.

"Then I will have the opportunity to invite you to apprentice under me this summer and next—if you'd be willing to apprentice in such an humble apothecary as this." He waved his arm around the small shop with a self-deprecating shrug. At the man's words, Severus felt a sudden feeling of warmth spread through him. He liked and respected Wiggenweld.

The shop owner and potions master had been nothing but kind and helpful through the years. He'd always had time for him, answering an endless string of questions on ingredients and their properties. Severus' eager mind was hungry for knowledge and practically ingested any new potions-related information that Wiggenweld fed him.

As such, the kind gentleman became one of the two people in his life that had encouraged Severus' genius for potions, his mother being the other. His two mentors knew that a mind for potions like Severus' came along but once in a generation.

When Severus read a potions recipe in his Borage text, it was obvious to him how it could be easily improved. He just knew that if he adjusted the instructions by cutting an ingredient lengthwise instead of crosswise, or crushing a bean to get more juice rather than slicing it, the final potion would be improved. His Potions-Making texts from first year to the present had so many marginal notes, substitutions, and lineouts of the original text that they were practically different textbooks altogether.

The writer, Libatius Borage, might have been a Potions Master in his day, but he was far from a genius. Most of his recipes were merely copies or translations from earlier texts. There were no original potions of his own creation. Severus had always thought it a shame the mediocre Borage textbooks were the best the wizarding world had to offer. On the other hand, the series had proven to be a worthy challenge for Severus in finding ways of improving the existing recipes. More importantly, it had been the catalyst that steered him toward inventing his own potions...

Smiling, Severus bowed his head slightly. "Thank you, for your kind words, Mr. Wiggenweld." Holding up the flyer in his hand, he added. "I promise to look into this and apply."

Wiggenweld grinned. "Indeed, Mr. Snape. You do that. And remember...there is no need to inform your parents of this until after you've been accepted. It's sometimes easier to get permission after the deed is done than before."

Smirking, Severus said, "Spoken like a true Slytherin, sir."

An identical smirk in place, Wiggenweld replied, "Slytherin Class of 1960."

oOo

Thanks to Wiggenweld's encouragement—the shop owner even wrote a letter of recommendation for him because Slughorn certainly was not going to—Severus applied to the Summer Institute of the Salem College of Potions and was accepted. Part of that acceptance was due to Wiggenweld's insistence that Severus submit a couple of his improvements to the potions recipes in his textbook.

"The way to flatter is to say that you have always dreamed of studying potions at their institution," Wiggenweld said somewhat distastefully. "The way to impress them and catch their attention is to show them the kind of mind you are offering to bring to their place of learning." He gave Severus a meaningful look. "Showing is much more persuasive than merely telling."

When the letter from the Office of Admissions, Salem College of Potions arrived, Jonathan Wiggenweld was the first person with whom Severus shared it. With shaking hands, Severus opened the sealed envelope...

oOo

November 15, 1975

Dear Mr. Severus T. Snape:

It is with great pleasure that the Salem College of Potions accepts your application for study during the coming summer session (June 7- August 20, 1976).

The members of the Admissions Committee were very impressed by your application and were especially interested in the methodology you employed when developing your improvements to the two (2) well-known and oft-tested potions recipes you included with your application. We believe that our institute has much to offer you in the advancement of your knowledge of potions; similarly, we feel our institute has much to gain by your creative endeavors.

While you are enrolled here, we highly encourage you to apply at mid-term for continuing studies in the fall term when we offer qualified students in the seventh (7th) year of their wizarding education the chance to remain at SCoP to complete their secondary level studies while earning university credit at the same time. Successful completion of the program is the equivalent of the British Educational Ministry's N.E.W.T. exams. (In the US, we refer to the wizarding exit exams as the H.S.P.P.s: the Horribly Stressful Professional Placement tests.)

Our office has a wizard liaison with the British Consulate, who will ensure that your H.S.P.P. scores are properly converted to your country's equivalent.

On a lighter note, the mid-term break coincides with the American Independence Day celebration (July 4 – 10). As you are no doubt aware, 1976 marks our nation's Bicentennial. There will be several events that you and your parents are invited to attend on campus and off. The Wizarding Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the entire United States, is putting out the welcome mat for everyone.

Attached, you will find all the necessary paperwork, including: parent/guardian permission forms; application for housing and meals; and a complete list of required supplies and textbooks. Also, highly recommended, but not required, are the following clothing items for our potions students: two (2) protective-spelled robes, one (1) pair of protective gloves and boots. (Dragonhide is the preferred industry safety standard.)

Please forward your completed paperwork and any questions to: Dean, Summer Institute, Salem College of Potions.

Respectfully yours,

Cerridwen Haliwinkle

Potions Mistress

Dean, Summer Institute

Salem College of Potions

oOo

Wiggenweld was extremely proud and happy for his young friend. In celebration, he closed his shop and insisted on treating Severus to lunch. The potions master enjoyed watching and listening to Severus as the boy talked, emphasizing a particular point with his hands. His dark, expressive eyes were lit from within not only for having been accepted to the prestigious summer institute at Salem, but also for being encouraged to apply for the fall term, as a seventh year student in residence.

As Wiggenweld had predicted, the Snapes ultimately signed the permission forms. When he went home for the Christmas break that year, he presented them with the paperwork. He wasn't sure what their response would be, but he hoped to convince them that it would be a step that would put him that much closer to his potions mastery...

oOo

In the case of Eileen Snape, she was terribly upset that it was the first time she had heard of her son's plans to study abroad.

"Sev...I know this a great opportunity, but—the United States? How could we possibly afford this?"

"Mum, the school is offering me a full scholarship—room and board! All I need to do is come up with the money for books and supplies. Please, Mum! Mr. Wiggenweld has even offered to give me a part-time job at his shop on weekends so that I can earn some money."

"That will hardly be enough—"

"I know that, Mum! But...I'll think of something!" Severus didn't mention that he was already earning a small income on the side with a few potions he was selling on the sly to his more financially well off classmates. It was nothing bad, just a few topical unguents for a variety of teenage skin problems.

Sighing, Eileen knew that she couldn't deny her gifted son such an opportunity. She gazed on him with quiet pride. "You have the Prince gift, Severus. It is a gift that appears but once in several generations. You have eyes that not only see what is before him, but a mind that sees what is beyond. You see...possibilities." With those words, Eileen took quill in hand, dipped it in the inkwell, and signed.

In contrast, Tobias was only too glad to give permission so that he wouldn't have to see the "worthless" boy's hide for the entire summer...

oOo

As the second half of Severus' sixth year began, James outwardly seemed to have lost interest in Severus as the Slytherin no longer had Lily's attention; however, James still joined his mates in ambushing Severus whenever the Slytherin happened to be alone in the long, dark Hogwarts corridors or even outside on the grounds.

Severus' Slytherin housemates—Evan Rosier, especially—were actively seeking to recruit him into the Dark Lord's ranks. It was an outcome that Severus himself was just as actively seeking to avoid at all possible costs. He had even turned down the Malfoys' invitation to their annual Winter Ball. Severus sneered at the memory of the embossed invitation with gold lettering.

He remembered back in his first year, when seventh-year Prefect Lucius Malfoy had taken him—a half-blood—under his wing, bestowing the protection of the House of Malfoy on the young potions prodigy. At the time Severus had been flattered and grateful.

Now, older and wiser, Severus realized that Malfoy's friendship had been merely a ploy to groom him toward the Dark Lord's ranks. Severus snorted in disgust at himself. He'd wanted so badly to be recognized for his achievements that he had basked in the older Slytherin's phony praises, dismissing Lily's concerns as unfounded.

Now, Severus could honestly admit that his own interest and curiosity in the Dark Arts had also begun to lead him down a twisted and dangerous path of self-delusion. Each new spell he learned fed on his ego and bolstered his belief that he was the one in control of the darkness and not the other way around.

And then he created his darkest curse—Sectumsempra—a cutting spell to be used against his enemies. He'd developed it in a fit of anger against the Marauders the week following his humiliation by the lake. When he thought he had the incantation and correct wand-movements down, Severus had gone to a secluded spot in the forbidden forest adjacent to the school grounds...

oOo

He found a large tree in a clearing that showed telltale signs of lightning damage. Ensuring that there was no one else in the immediate vicinity, Severus concentrated on his intent; allowed his simmering anger to reach its boiling point in his quest for revenge. When he could visualize his tormentors at the mercy of his wand, Severus called forth his magic and let loose.

"Sectumsempra!" he cried out, while slashing his wand in a Z-formation. He felt his magic erupt in a fury from his core and flow violently through his wand, fighting against his control like a raging river struggling to overflow its banks.

To his shock, the tree began to topple over, cut through cleanly where the spell had struck it. Severus imagined James Potter and Sirius Black at the end of the spell and immediately felt his lunch in the back of his throat. He struggled to keep from regurgitating the contents from his stomach, breathing through his nose for several minutes. When his stomach finally settled down, he approached the tree stump cautiously and studied the path of destruction left by his spell. He touched the jagged splinters left across the surface of the tree stump with shaking fingers.

'If I'd used this against another human being...' He swallowed feeling ill. 'Even Potter and Black don't deserve this. What am I doing? Are they right about me? Am I nothing but a Death Eater-in-waiting? Is this how I want to use my magic—for killing and torturing people? Lily was right...the Dark Arts are a slippery slope, and I'm in danger of going down a very dark path if I don't stop now...'

In the end, Severus knew that he had stop studying the Dark Arts before they succeeded in completely ensnaring him to that side. He firmly believed that if were to be successful in his defense against the Dark Arts, then he needed to know and study the Dark Arts to be able to counter them effectively. However, he also knew that at sixteen, he still had years of study and advancement in his own knowledge of magic before it was safe for him to proceed. So, perhaps it was time to put this area of study aside until he was older and more experienced.

And while his obvious brilliance in the Dark Arts had gained him friends of sorts in Rosier, Mulciber, and Avery, it had already lost him his one true friend in Lily...

oOo

It hurt to think of Lily.

Severus missed his best friend. He wanted so badly to share his good news with her about his upcoming summer in the States. But that was just not possible as things stood between them.

At the start of sixth year, he knew that he had completely lost her faith and friendship. He had considered apologizing and begging her forgiveness once again, willing to do almost anything to regain her friendship; however, he knew that there was little point in attempting to do so. She had made her position clear at the end of fifth year and over the summer when she had failed to turn up in any of their usual haunts in the park.

No, Lily wanted nothing more to do with him. Perhaps she never would again. Severus had to accept that this was his new reality—a lonely existence with no real friends; despised by his own father and the Marauders; disliked by the rest of his classmates with few exceptions; and overlooked by his teachers.

He thought of those few exceptions. Severus didn't keep others at arms length because he hated people in general. He kept them at arms length because he didn't want to be bothered by idiots. The trouble with being a genius was that he could visualize problems and their solutions instinctively and had little patience for those that couldn't match his intellect.

Through his years at Hogwarts, Severus' study habits had been set. He liked to sit at the same table each day after his final class and before dinner in the Great Hall. This way he could get most of his homework and reading done quickly. In the early days, it had usually been just Lily and him studying together, bouncing ideas off each other. Sometimes when Lily had study dates with some of her other friends, then it was just Sev alone.

During these solo study sessions, a few Slytherins, some daring Ravenclaws, and even an exceptionally brave Hufflepuff had ventured forth and dipped their toes in the water by asking to sit and study with him. At first, Severus had made his excuses and turned them away, suspecting that they merely wanted to copy from his meticulous notes. When one particular Ravenclaw, seventh year Prefect Kingsley Shacklebolt, approached him for a record fifth time, Severus finally caved and invited him to sit.

To Severus' surprise he enjoyed Kingsley's quiet demeanor and sharp mind. Before long Severus found himself with a small group of study partners who somehow always appeared on the days that Lily was absent, spending time with her other friends. Rarely were there more than three sitting together at Severus' table, but this little group made his lonely sixth year a bit more bearable.

Two surprising regulars were Regulus Black (Sirius' younger brother) and Edmund Avery. In the younger Black's case, he knew that his brother and the rest of the Marauders were a topic verboten. As for Avery...there were to be no discussions that included the Dark Lord, Death Eaters, or blood politics in general.

Surprisingly, a third-year Hufflepuff, Amelia Bones, approached him at one point to ask for help with her potions assignment. As Severus wasn't known for his cuddly personality, he had to give her points for the sheer guts it took to speak to him. He agreed to help her, and she became one of his regular study partners. He enjoyed the younger girl's studious and serious demeanor, and found himself tutoring her in some of her other subjects, as well.

The biggest surprise came when one day she braved a study session with three Slytherins—Severus, the younger Black, and Avery. Amelia claimed later that these study sessions gained her a reputation among the student populace as "...someone with a tough-as-nails, no-nonsense temperament, who didn't suffer fools. In other words, Severus," she said straight-faced, "I've become you!"

In Kingsley, Severus gained more than just a study partner; instead, he gained someone that was closer to a friend, someone with whom he was able to share, a bit hesitantly at first, some of his creative potions projects. In fact, besides Mr. Wiggenweld, Kingsley was the only other person with whom he shared his present attempt at brewing an anti-lycanthropy potion.

Severus sadly brooded that once upon a time, he used to share his original creations with Lily, but now? Now he was forced to acknowledge that he no longer existed to her. For all intents and purposes, he was dead in her eyes. He just didn't know it yet.

Tragically, a few weeks before the Hogwarts school year was to come to a close, Severus' personal life was once again struck a heavy blow...

oOo