You're the One That I Need, I Am the One That You Loathe

Severus was pulled from his thoughts when Lily stood, leaving him on the seat confused. Had he missed something that caused her to suddenly stand? He must have because the next words out of Lily's mouth were sharp. He almost didn't believe his ears, it was that shocking. But the question was even more painful.

"So you're going with Bat Boy, now, Lily?" James asked, looking Severus up with scrutinizing eyes. "I didn't know you'd sink that low to get a date. You know you could have asked me, if you really wanted someone badly. I wouldn't have refused."

That stung.

"I am not going with Sev," Lily stated through pursed lips.

Sev examined the situation. Lily and James glared at one another through slit eyes. Potter's friends were flanking him, glaring into the compartment with an intense hate. The air was thick with tension, everyone waiting for the other to make the first move. It was just like the fights at home. The feel was the same, the tension the same, the intense burn of hate directed at him. This scene was all too familiar.

Sev's hand grasped his wand tucked inside his blue flannel shirt. He was ready to defend Lily if the time came, but he wouldn't hope for it. No matter how arrogant James was, he wasn't stupid enough to raise his wand on the train.

"Right... Just don't let him get too close to your neck. He'll do more that give you a hickey..." James retorted, as if there hug was proof enough that they were dating.

"Don't speak about him like that!" Lily spat, pulling her own wand out and pointing it threateningly at James. "I am not afraid to hex you."

"Ohhh, because you know I am afraid of a little girl with a wand!" James laughs, turning to his posse from support. They laugh generically, almost as if they just want to leave and get away from the frightening creature Lily's defending.

Lily took a step forward. She pointed her wand at James, a glare piercing his skin. Severus was immobile. He desperately wanted to help Lily, but it was like he was a statue, only able to witness the events.

The train came to a slow stop, its breaks barely audible in the station. Students clambered off the train, leaving their luggage behind and hurrying off to find the friends they couldn't on the train in the heavy drizzle. The first years were called over to a large man with a short black hair cut and a black beard. He led them to the boats while the rest of the school headed to the horseless carriages. The cobble stone path echoed with the sound of hundreds or wet shoes and the drops of rain.

Severus was the last person off the train. He'd lost Lily in the jumble of students trying to get off the train. But it didn't matter. They wouldn't be able to be together anyway. Lily's friends would most likely take her way so she, in their words, "wouldn't be changed into another nasty vampire Slytherin".

He scuffed along after the mass, savoring the familiar scent of the damp leaves and honeysuckle. A breeze blew softly through the canopy of trees above him, shaking loose some of the droplets. They fell on Severus' head, dampening the dark locks and making them look more greasy than they already were. Of course, as most people thought otherwise, Severus was actually a very clean person, but because his hair seemed to always shine and give off the greasy look, most stayed away, thinking he had some sort of disease.

Severus reached a carriage, noticing that all the rest had left and were wobbling down the wet, muddy path, and climbed in, ignoring the sighs and clicks of tongues he received from the inhabitants. He sat far away from them, in the back corner as the carriage lurched forward and the sound of disembodied hooves reached their ears. Two girls at the front were whispering, their heads bent together and snickering every minuted or so. Sev didn't look at them, knowing they were talking about him. He knew these two girls. They were third years in Ravenclaw and he had an unpleasant encounter with them last year during Easter Holidays. They giggled and whispered with their heads together every time he was near, it seemed.

"...Oh, I never thought he'd actually be brave enough to show his face around us!" The girl with the blue hair whispered to her best friend. "Not after what happened last year, at least."

"Yeah! That was sooo embarrassing! I can't believe he did that!" The other snickered, glancing over at Sev innocently. "And look at him now, he's not changed! Not one bit!"

"I don't think he will. He'll always be creepy, Sin."

Severus did his best to ignore the two, blocking out images from that day out of his head. He didn't need these two to remind him about how embarrassing it was to be pushed into the girls lavatory during break. Of course, there wasn't many girls in the school during the holiday, but those to happened to be in there, washing their hands, and at the sight of him bursting in....

"Silence!" a booming voice ordered. Immediately the chatter in the Great Hall died, leaving behind an erie silence. Heads turned to look up at the High Table full of the school teachers, who were all expressionless. "Welcome... to a new year at Hogwarts. I trust you all are settling in fine, but before we begin the feast, I have some announcements," the old wizard glanced over that a caretaker, who was in his standing be a door behind the long table, a kitten held in his hands. "Our caretaker, Mr. Filch, wanted to remind all students that the Dark Forest is forbidden to all students and he also wanted to make note that magic is not allowed in the halls between classes." His arms raised and his head raised, pulling his long beard with it. "Let the feast... begin!"

And with that the tables filled with all sorts of food. From chicken and gravy to the finest apple pie. The first years' faces lit up with surprise and amazement at the sudden appearance of the food. Severus stared at the food being grabbed at by the hands of his house mates around him, wondering if James even had a heart and soul. Surely he doesn't, Severus thought. How can he with the way he's been treating me. Along with his friends. They can't have hearts and not feel one bit of remorse...

"Severus! Man, are ya goin' ter 'ave any o' that pie?" Drawles nudged his arm, speaking in a heavy accent and motioning to the pie next to him.

Severus turned to him with a blank look upon his face. Nothing Drawles had just said made any sense to him. It all had slipped past him before he could comprehend it, and by the time he was able to, he had forgotten what Drawles had said in the first place. After Drawles repeated himself twice, and even slowed his words down so Severus could gasp them, he finally understood and shook his head, moving out of the way so he could snatch a piece.

"What's up wit' ya, man?" Drawles asked as he scooped some pie onto a gold spoon. "Ya've not even eaten!"

Severus looked around him, noticing that he was the only one with a sparkling clean gold plate in front of him. Didn't he take some turkey while he was thinking? Hadn't he eaten some of the potatoes and creamed corn? Didn't he pour himself some pumpkin juice just now?

"Huh?" Severus' eyebrows furrowed. Had he only imagined that he brought his gold fork full of potatoes to his mouth? Had he only dreamed of the taste of the elf-prepared Hogwarts food sliding down his throat only to land happily in his empty stomach? "I... where'd my food go?"

Drawles eyed him with raised eyebrows, thinking that Severus had lost his mind. "Ya never got none, man."

"I... didn't?"

"Naw, man... Are ya feelin' right? Ya don' look good."

"Yeah, yeah..." Severus lied. He was hungry, but he wasn't going to admit that. He didn't feel like eating. "I think the train ride got to me."

"Yeah, man that can do ya in," Drawles gulped down a particularly sticky bite of pie. "But jus' think, 'morrows first day! Think Binns'll hand out work?"

Drawles didn't even noticed that Severus was slumped in his seat, sick with the thoughts of Lily actually dating James. She wouldn't do that, he thought. No, you heard her on the train defending you. She hates him, why would she date him?

"Yeah..." Severus whispered to himself.

"What?" Drawles asked, turning to Sev, gravy dribbling down his chin.