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Severus Snape was a social outcast.

He knew it was true. His housemates in Slytherin knew it was true. All the rest of the students and the staff knew it was true.

And James Potter's gang made it true.

Severus knew he was not a social person – there was not a single doubt in his mind. He was not the type to easily make friends and feel comfortable talking with people he did not know. Nevertheless there was no other reason why, after 3 years, he should not be able to make any real friends apart from Lily. And he had been friends with her since before Hogwarts. He knew he was unattractive; girls certainly made it clear they thought he was ugly. He was also somewhat sarcastic and blunt. But these couldn't be the main reasons why he could not make friends. There were students who were even uglier than he was and rather dumb to boot; if they could make friends, it proved that it wasn't his appearance. It couldn't be his personality because no one besides Lily really knew him.

He had a few acquaintances in his house; they usually traded favors with help in Potions or some other class. But none of them spent any time with him. Though he sat with his house and sometimes even next to someone, he knew the truth – which was that nobody wanted to sit next to him. It didn't matter if it was lunch or class. The Slytherins did not move away when he sat at his house table at lunch nor when he sat next to one of them during class. They did not flinch or glare or give any outward visible sign that they did not welcome his presence, but his presence was unwelcome. For the most part he was ignored.

And that was the kinder, less obvious treatment.

In class, which was always with one other house, he did not arrive too early. His fellow classmates would trickle in, taking up all the seats in the class until the only empty ones were beside him. Then the late arrivals would groan at their luck and reluctantly take the only available seats, sometimes even edging their chairs away from him.

If he arrived late, his entrance into the classroom was always watched by the other students like a group of hawks. It felt even more uncomfortable and was an even worse humiliation.

So except for Potions class, where he and Lily were always partners, he usually times his arrival in the classroom perfectly. He arrives early enough that there are still several available seats left. Students are already chatting, and he can inconspicuously choose a chair in the cluster of available seats, preferably near the back or by the wall as a precaution. Only a few minutes remained before the bell, and he used this time to study his textbook. When the professor arrived, he invariably relaxed as much as he ever did in class, secure in the knowledge that he was spared a possible humiliation.

After 3 years at Hogwarts, he had this practice down to a science.

So it was no wonder that he was surprised when only a moment or two after taking his seat – he had only just opened his textbook – a chair was pulled out at the desk beside him. He noticed there were still quite a few seats left; he counted 8 precisely.

He was baffled. He quickly turned to face the culprit – or student – and realized it was the new girl. She stood out yesterday at the Sorting Ceremony, standing with all the first-years. She was sorted in Ravenclaw, he remembered. Her robe already had the house crest.

She gave a friendly, casual smile at him which caused him to feel extreme awkwardness. He realized that everyone in the class had stopped speaking to stare.

Naturally, she hadn't heard yet that he was a social pariah. As if she didn't feel the eyes of the entire class on them, she spoke nonchalantly, "I hope you don't mind. The syllabus says that we will be working on Summoning Charms which sounds like it will be practiced in pairs." She paused, smiling sheepishly, "I noticed you had your textbook out; I'm usually the only one studying before class has even started."

He felt too awkward and nervous to say anything. She had obviously been saying that she would like to partner him for today's lesson, and he tried to think about the best way to respond. No one ever wanted to partner him, and he was determined not to lose this opportunity.

That didn't solve the problem of what to say. She hadn't actually asked a question, so he couldn't simply respond "sure." Was he supposed to ask her to be his partner? Is that what she expected?

The silence in the classroom was beginning to feel oppressive, and he scowled as he noticed they still had the undivided attention of the classroom. Even those walking in stared in shock.

He scowled at them and looked back towards the girl still not knowing what to say. She seemed to notice.

"I'm Hermione," she introduced herself, holding out her hand to shake.

He followed her example and quietly replied, "Severus," as he shook her hand.

She had a very firm handshake, and he relaxed with the feeling that she didn't seem reluctant to touch him. He wasn't a very touchy person, but she had a very natural and friendly way about her that it put him at ease.

She seemed to finally sense the stares of the other students as they began whispering and commented to him, "It seems you don't get many new students here."

He considered explaining that it wasn't so much that she was new, but rather that she was speaking with him. Of course, she would figure it out soon enough, and he didn't want to discourage her from talking to him. The most likely outcome was that she wouldn't partner him again after today, so he would enjoy the experience of having a friendly partner besides Lily.

Fortunately the bell rang and Professor Flitwick arrived. After welcoming the class into the fourth year level Charms course and stressing the importance of continued study and application, he immediately began his lecture, demonstrating the very Summoning Charm that Hermione mentioned.

He looked towards Hermione who smiled at him, and he nervously grinned back. He really wasn't used to this excessive friendliness. He wasn't sure even Lily smiled this much at him.

"So partner up now and give it a try," instructed Professor Flitwick. "Remember not to summon anything except for the cushions."

Hermione quickly stood up and gathered two cushions for them which she placed on his desk. She went back to her seat and pulled out her wand. Severus was curious about how skilled she was in Charms, considering that she had admitted to studying the material ahead of time.

She demonstrated the proper wand technique and spoke the incantation, "Accio," and sure enough the pillow came soaring right to her hands. She deftly caught it as if she expected nothing else.

He was about to congratulate her when Professor Flitwick rushed over excitedly. "Very well done, Miss Granger! 10 points to Ravenclaw." He went off again to continue observing the progress of the rest of the class.

"Your turn," she announced unnecessarily.

Though he found charms simple enough, he had never practiced the Summoning Charm before. He nearly found her continued encouragement annoying; she was actually quite bossy about instructing him just how to direct his wand. "And when you perform the spell, you have to be sure to command. It's easier than it looks; you just have to focus on the object as well as the command."

He refrained from rolling his eyes and attempted the spell again. The cushion moved quite a bit farther this time, and he renewed his efforts. Her advice was actually useful. It took him a few tries, but he quickly managed it.

He successfully summoned the second cushion as well. "Great job! You learned it so quickly. It seems no one else has quite got it yet." Indeed, it was true; he observed the other students making rather loud attempts, though only a few had even managed to nudge the cushion.

They continued summoning the cushions back and forth which quickly drew the attention of Professor Flitwick who squealed for the second time that lesson. "And Mr. Snape has done it too! 10 points to Slytherin."

At this, most of the class turned in his direction, and though he felt awkward, he tried to ignore it and continue to practice with Hermione. Most looked astonished at the teamwork and friendliness between him and the pretty new student. He looked towards the Slytherins to gauge their expressions; he didn't often win points for Slytherin outside of Potions. And even then, Slughorn tended to award Lily more often even though their potions were a joint effort. Surprisingly, the Slytherins seemed to approve – it must be the points.

To his shame, he realized he still cared what his housemates thought. And though he desired to bask in the moment, he also felt excessively awkward and wished for class to be over.

Fortunately Hermione was talkative – and interesting – which made the class pass by much sooner than he expected. As they picked up their bags, Hermione asked, "My timetable shows I have Potions next. Could you show me how to get to the classroom?"

Though he had always wanted to walk a pretty girl to class, he didn't realize that he would feel this awkward and embarrassed about it. The other students had been looking at them in such surprise that it was rather embarrassing. He didn't want her to realize so soon how all the students despised him. He decided to pretend that he didn't understand that she meant for him to escort her there himself. "It's in the dungeons. You take the main staircase all the way down and then…" he explained carefully, making sure she understood.

She spoke again, and he already knew what she was going to say before she said it. Obviously, he was too subtle! "Actually, I meant if you could –"

"But I've really got to go now," he interrupted, with a strategic look at his watch, "else I'll be late to Transfiguration." And without another word, he shot off down the corridor.

A/N: This is not usually how I picture the whole "Howarts experience" for Severus - but it just came to me and really stuck. Still, according to the conversation betwen Lily and Severus in the memories Harry viewed, it seemed that his hanging out with some of the Slytherins was a new thing; otherwise, she wouldn't be asking about it. So if he didn't have close friends in his house, who was he spending time with? Lily is in a different house, and that actually counts for a lot since the schedules are arranged by house and the common room is the typical place to spend their down time. If he was able to blend in, it wouldn't be such a big deal - but he's constantly being picked on, That's only going to cause further alienation.

I like time-travel stories a lot - they're my favorite type. Still, because it's going to be from Snape's POV, I found that I didn't need to include how Hermione travelled to the past. It won't really affect the story. Also, if you didn't catch the clue in the fourth paragraph, the story is set during his 4th Year.

So, anybody feeling a bit sorry for Severus?