Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the Potterverse, and the characters, of course, unless I end up coming up with any original ones. And I'm not making any money on this.
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It was the custom of Abraxas Malfoy, as head of the board of Governors of Hogwarts, and former Slytherin, to give a Slytherin party on the Saturday after the beginning of fall term. He invited all of the current Slytherin students, the Slytherin head of house, any parent who was a former Slytherin, and any teachers at Hogwarts who had been in Slytherin House. The stated purpose of the event was to celebrate Slytherin solidarity and welcome the new Slytherins into the fold, and that was, in fact, one of the purposes. The other purpose was to allow a public, but Slytherin-only forum for Abraxas to recognize and reward those who supported him, recognize and punish those who opposed him, and in general, make sure everyone knew their place.

The sifting began with the RSVPs. No one turned down an invitation to the Slytherin Start of Term Ball. To do so was instant social death, which usually led to financial problems as well. The Slytherin pack was closely controlled by Abraxas, and through it, he influenced much of the Ministry of Magic and Diagon Alley as well.

And yet, the affair was formal, and required expensive dress robes, of the kind that most wizards and witches wore only on their wedding day. The poorest witches and wizards often ended up making a spectacle of themselves by showing up in robes that were unavoidably shabby or out-of-date or both. Invitees would go to sometimes desperate lengths, often putting themselves in debt, to buy or rent the best robes they could get their hands on.

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Severus Salazar Snape had just been sorted into Slytherin House. Eileen Snape read the note from the school owl that Dumbledore, the dear man, always sent immediately to the families that could not afford owls.

"Tobias," she called to her husband from the kitchen. "He made it!"

The tall, thin, pale man came into the kitchen, hugged his wife, and spun her around. Then, breathless, he sat down at the kitchen table where Eileen also reseated herself.

The moment of quiet elation passed, and became a more somber silence. Both Eileen and Tobias knew this meant they would have to face The Party. They would need to add to the few galleons they had managed to save, by begging or borrowing from both sides of the family.

"It could be worse," Tobias remarked. "We only need to outfit you and Salazar." Only Tobias and Eileen called their son by his middle name.

Eileen smiled wryly at her husband. As if having a Muggle husband, even one who was more comfortable in the Wizarding world than some Muggle-born witches and wizards, could be an advantage to a Slytherin these days!

Back when she had married Tobias, it had not yet been a disgrace for a younger daughter of a working class family to marry a Muggle, as long as there was a son who married appropriately to carry on the family name. And Snape was a Muggle name that witches and wizards in the Manchester area were used to hearing. Ancient Marcia Fudge had been a Snape, and Snape Muggles had produced or married witches and wizards for hundreds of years. Times were different now. These days, blood mattered even outside of the Wizarding "aristocracy".

Eileen looked at the invitation. They were to arrive at 6 p.m. at a side entrance, and woe betide them if they were not on time. Those of her class had been locked out of The Party in the past for being late. The wizards and witches of higher status would begin to appear at the main entrance around 7 p.m., and would be formally announced. The lesser witches and wizards had to be there already to provide an appreciative audience for those grand entrances.

Eileen remembered the drill from her own appearances at The Party with her half-blood parents. The Princes were traditionally Slytherin, but despite their name, had never been particularly pure of blood, and never risen above the occasional middle class shopkeeper. And now, she would go through the ordeal with Severus. But it was worth it, to have their son in Slytherin.

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The Snapes could not afford to home school their son, so he had been sent to the local Muggle school for the basics. Eileen's family were accustomed to this, and had developed other means to provide the introduction to magical culture so important to a Slytherin child. Eileen's mother had taught Severus the waltz and other ballroom dances; her grandfather taught him Prince family history and Slytherin tradition. Ancient grandma Marcia Fudge, a Muggle-born Snape, taught him to speak "proper English", which he was to use outside his family instead of his harsh Manchester whine. Tobias taught him Snape family lore. And Eileen had begun to school him in magic when he started to have "incidents" at the age of five.

Grandma Prince, Eileen, and Severus were standing outside of Madam Malkin's on Diagon Alley the day of The Party. Even though his mother made sure he visited Diagon Alley or some other wizarding area at least twice a year, he still found all the magical people and magical displays overwhelming.

He would have to get used it, he thought to himself, though he gave no outward sign of discomfort. For the next nine months, all the people he lived with would be wizards and witches.

Grandma Prince pushed open the door to the shop, and the three entered. They had arrived very close to opening time, so there was only one Slytherin boy waiting to be fitted ahead of them, as well as the Slytherin girl currently being attended by the couturier. They waited patiently for an hour, until it was their turn, then put their galleons on the counter. Madam Malkin looked approvingly at the sum, and then eyed the lank-limbed, lank-haired boy critically. Severus would wear a shabby, ill fitting secondhand robe to his classes at Hogwarts, and carry marked-in, secondhand books, but he left the shop with a dress robe that a Malfoy might deign to wear to a lesser Ministry function. Eileen made do by altering the dress robe she had worn to her own seventh year appearance at The Party.

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Tobias fed his ever hungry son while Eileen readied herself for The Party. "Remember, you take only one starter at a time, and only when a house-elf offers you one. You do not serve yourself." He was going over the plan Eileen had developed for The Party yet again, but Severus did not seem to mind.

"But I may take one from any witch or wizard who offers it to me," continued Severus, adding with a smirk, "especially if one of them is a Malfoy." His father smirked back, sharing the joke. As if a Malfoy would ever serve a Snape.

"When you are seated, eat only what has been served to you. Do not accept more, even if offered by a house-elf," Tobias continued. "However, be sure to accept any additional food offered by another witch or wizard, even though you may only eat a bite or two." It was essential that his son not appear at all hungry -- that was the reason for the full supper before leaving for The Party. However, it would help his status if he could get himself served by another witch or wizard. It would be quite a coup if it were a higher class person, but that was unlikely for a Snape.

"Under no circumstances am I to bring any food or drink to another guest, unless to a Malfoy," Severus went on. "What about the Blacks, or Professor Slughorn, or the other purebloods?" he asked. He knew, of course, all the pureblood lines in Wizarding Britain and Ireland.

"If you're asked to serve a Black, you must cause an accident with the tray the other person is holding, and blame it on a house-elf, " said his father. "The Blacks would be excellent patrons, but Walpurga Black is insane on the question of Muggles. There is absolutely no chance they would take on someone with a Muggle father. Serving one of them would only lower your status. As for other purebloods, use your judgement. We're trying to get a Malfoy to take you under his patronage, but it's a high goal. If you think it makes sense, you can aim for someone else suitable. You can always try for a Malfoy again next year, after you've made a bit of a name for yourself at Hogwarts."

Eileen appeared in the doorway between the kitchen and the sitting room. She had not been able to hide completely where she had mended one sleeve on the hopelessly out of date robe, or the slightly lighter area around the waist where the stain removing charm had removed a bit of the robe's color as well. Her pearl necklace and earrings were paste, and her upswept black hair, although elegant, was clearly not done by a hairdresser or a house-elf, since it had none of the fussiness that was the current style.

And yet, Tobias rose from the kitchen table and bowed gracefully to her. He took Eileen's short-fingered hand in his much paler, long-fingered hand, and raised it to his lips. For a moment, it seemed to Severus that his mother was the queen of England, and his father her favored manservant. He blinked his eyes, and saw once again the dowdy middle-aged working class witch, as he went up the stairs to put on his own dress robes. But the other image never faded completely from his memory.

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Eileen Side-Along Apparated Severus with her to the designated entrance at 5:55 p.m. She was not happy to recognize many of the witches and wizards who were already there, all at least as shabbily attired as she. She took little consolation in the splendid effect her son's appearance made in the gathering -- the company meant that she and Severus were ranked at the bottom end of the scale.

Severus looked around at the other wizards and witches. There was one other first year there, Walden Macnair. He compared himself favorably with the crowd, and was happy to see that even his mother did not come out too badly in the comparison. His face bore an expression of carefully composed indifference. He offered his arm to his mother, and she took it. He was tall for an eleven year old, taking after his father for height, and his mother was short, so the height difference was not very great. Severus fancied himself quite grownup and elegant, as he stepped up to the door with his mother on his arm.

They were greeted by a manservant dressed in expensive green and silver livery. Eileen inclined her head the barest fraction of an inch, trying for a look of disdain at being greeted by a mere servant, and achieving only a scowl. The servant kept his head high, giving no further notice to the crass woman. It was the first test.

Severus moved his head not at all, lifted his right upper lip in the barest hint of a sneer, and arched his right eyebrow the merest fraction of an inch. His icy black eyes stared straight into the manservant's grey ones. The man could not maintain eye contact, but bowed to Severus and Eileen, waving them in. Severus smirked for a split second in satisfaction, before re-establishing indifference on his face. They were the only guests arriving at that entrance that would receive a bow from the doorman that evening.

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Lucius watched the bottom rung witches and wizards arrive at the west servants' entrance through a wall sized charmed mirror. They were mostly expendable, but sometimes useful talent showed up in this group. Such tended to be gratifyingly grateful, and conveniently willing to settle for less payback than the next group up.

"Ah, there's Snape," he thought, meaning the first year boy and not the woman. He watched approvingly as the boy stared down the intimidating servant they had purposely stationed there. He'd never seen Huligan cowed at this door before. "Good, Snape," Lucius thought. "Very good." The plain witch in the atrocious robe on Snape's arm did not register at all.

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Eileen felt herself reverting to the sullen, scowling girl she had been during her days at Hogwarts. She recognized herself slighted at every turn, and felt like a coarse servant girl who had wandered into her mistress's party by accident. Painful memories of other Parties returned, where she had fetched and carried like a house-elf, and only been mocked for her trouble. Then she saw Lucius Malfoy approach her son, looking through her as if she were invisible. She silently slipped her hand from her boy's arm, and stepped aside.

"Hello, old boy," Lucius said jovially, clapping Severus on the shoulder. "What's going on here? Why aren't you eating?" The seventeen-year-old with the silky white blond hair raised his hand lazily, and a house-elf appeared. "Pumpkin juice and caviar canapes for Mr. Snape," he drawled, neither looking at the elf, nor asking Severus what he wanted. He knew that Severus would never have tasted caviar, and he knew it could provoke quite a reaction from someone who didn't know what to expect.

Severus was shocked at the sudden attention. He had hoped to worm his way over to Lucius or one of his cousins as the evening progressed. He had certainly not expected to be greeted by Lucius himself, and that before they were even seated to dinner. But neither his face nor his manner betrayed his surprise.

"I'm afraid I was so busy admiring the portraits that I forgot to eat," he said, reciting one of the many phrases he had practiced in preparation for this evening.

Lucius smiled, noticing the slightly stilted delivery. "Why Severus, I thought you from the Manchester area. You certainly don't sound it."

Severus had no idea what to say to that, and arched an eyebrow, as he often did when he was stymied. Lucius, however, remembered Snape's handling of the doorman, and thought Snape was indicating that an answer was beneath him. Lucius stood with a drink in his hand and a smile on his lips, trying to decide whether he should consider this a slight, or be pleased with Snape's composure.

The house-elf arrived with the food and drink, and Lucius came to a decision. He would see how Snape handled the caviar.

"Here you go." Lucius handed Severus a plate with canapes. "You simply must tell me what you think of these."

Severus took the plate, feeling that things were going quite well indeed. The black spread reminded him of chocolate. He had no idea what caviar was; he knew only that it was something very expensive. He bit into the canape, and instead of sweetness, encountered a salty fish taste. But once more, his face did not betray his surprise. He finished the canape in two more bites.

Smiling slightly, Severus thanked Lucius. "I defer to your superior judgement," he said, inclining his head in a shallow bow.

"Of course you do," Lucius smiled patronizingly. "You don't mind if I tend to our other guests, do you, old man? Do stop by for a chat after dinner, will you?"

"As you wish," and once again Severus inclined his head. He reached for the pumpkin juice the elf was holding for him, and sipped it thoughtfully. Yes, this was going quite well, he thought.

Eileen avoided her son for the rest of the evening. Severus had a patron, and it was Lucius Malfoy.