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The Moment It Began by sindie11 [Reviews - 3]

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Severus endured two days and three nights of sharing the dormitory with people he now hated and attending boring and dull classes. He was already beginning to think it had been a mistake to return to Hogwarts, but Lily was here, and she was the only reason he had come back in the first place. He wondered how he would survive two more years of grueling classes and annoyingly rude students.

His time with Lily was severely limited, but thankfully, today he would be having Double Potions with her. He knew the class would basically be a joke and prided himself on being a better Potions Master than Slughorn. Lily and he had always been partners in Potions, even after they had stopped being friends in his past life, and they had been the top two students in the class.

As Severus entered the classroom, he almost went to the front where he had stood and lectured as a teacher. Forcing himself to take his old seat as a student, Severus immediately smelled the vapors coming from three large cauldrons. The gold-colored cauldron was emitting very seductive scents, and as Severus smelled the fresh outdoor scent from the forest where Lily and he met, new parchment, and Lily's sweet hair, he knew it was Amortentia.

Within a minute, Lily had joined him and flashed him a quick smile.

"How are you holding up, Sev?" she asked.

"All right, I guess," he tried to say noncommittally. He didn't want to give her reason to worry.

Before Severus could reply, James and Sirius entered, talking boisterously, and took seats right behind them. Severus groaned to himself. How typical that Potter would choose to sit directly behind him, only so he could whisper taunts into Severus's ear and try to ruin his work. Thankfully, Slughorn followed closely behind, so James didn't have a chance.

"Good morning, everyone!" Slughorn's jovial voice boomed. "Scales out and potion-making kits, and of course, your copies of Advanced Potion-Making."

Severus heaved his old, tattered copy out of his bag. He already had everything else on the bench, as did Lily. Lily glanced at his old copy of the text, and he grimaced at it, thinking of Harry Potter using it and learning his spells. Thankfully, Severus's copy was clean of his writing. He remembered covering it with notes on improved methods to the protocols to different potions and how he had invented several spells during his sixth year in his other life. Deciding to keep those things in his mind, Severus knew it was less likely that anyone would find out his spells and use them against him.

"All right, then," Slughorn was continuing on, "I've got three potions here for you to take a look at. These are exactly the kind of thing you might expect on your N.E.W.T.s. You've probably heard of them, but probably haven't actually made them yourselves yet. Can anyone tell me what this one is?"

Severus knew it was Veritaserum. He knew Slughorn started every sixth year class with the same lecture at the beginning of the school year. He could have raised his hand if he wanted, but decided not to. With a bored look on his face, he glanced over at Lily, who was waving her hand excitedly in the air much like Hermione Granger used to.

"Yes, Miss Evans?" Slughorn asked, clearly pleased.

"It's Veritaserum, sir," Lily rattled off. "Without color and smell, it forces the drinker to tell the truth."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Slughorn. Severus thought the large man's buttons might pop off, he was so exuberant. He ambled over to the next cauldron and proceeded to ask the class what it was. In the back of the room, a Ravenclaw girl answered correctly that it was Polyjuice Potion and explained what it did.

Severus frowned at that cauldron, remembering how ingredients from his private stores had gone missing during Harry Potter's second and fourth years. He had never been able to prove Potter had stolen the ingredients, but his suspicions had been valid and strong. Polyjuice Potion was over-rated and overused, anyway. One hour of being in disguise was better than nothing, but Severus knew of better ways of hiding himself from being found out.

Finally, Slughorn came to the last cauldron and asked what it was. He waited patiently for someone to raise his or her hand. Severus glanced at Lily, thinking she might know what it was. He couldn't recall if she had known the first time around. Severus obviously knew, but he didn't want to say. However, he wondered if answering might put him in Slughorn's good graces. He had never really gotten fair recognition before for his brilliance at Potions because he had kept to himself.

Knowing it would give fuel to the fire for Potter and Black, Severus raised his hand regardless. He wasn't going to be a coward.

Slughorn, looking surprised, said, "Er, yes, Mr. Snape? You know the answer?"

"Yes, sir," Severus said evenly. "It's Amortentia, the most powerful, er, love potion in the world."

Slughorn's eyebrows were raised with shock, and he nodded. "Yes, yes, that's correct, Mr. Snape. Very good."

Severus wondered for a moment if Slughorn would award house points, but since he hadn't done so for Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, Severus didn't think he would. Instead, the large man went on to talk about how Amortentia worked: in that it couldn't create love. Here, Lily smiled at him, and he blushed a little, shaking forward his hair to conceal his cheeks. The potion merely created infatuation or obsession.

Potter sniggered loudly and turned around to gaze at Severus. "I bet that's the only reason Evans thinks she fancies you," he spat in a harsh, mocking whisper.

Black joined in the laughter. "Yeah, that's how Snivelly knew the answer to the question."

Severus bristled at their words, not wanting to give them more ammunition. Slughorn cleared his throat, saying, "Now, boys, let's place our attention on the lesson, shall we?"

James and Sirius sobered, and Slughorn explained the lesson for the day: making the Draught of Living Death.

Severus knew this potion without even glancing at the book. He idly began preparing the potion. Within twenty minutes, he had it bottled. Lily looked at him, astonished.

"Wow, I knew you were brilliant at Potions, Sev, but this is record timing for you. Have you been practicing over the summer or something?"

"Something like that," Severus replied nonchalantly.

"I was watching him," James blurted out, turning around. "He didn't do it the way it said in the book, so it's gotta be wrong. He's just trying to impress you, Evans; that's all."

"Shut up, Potter," Severus retorted. "Just because your head is inflated with thoughts of how great you are doesn't mean other people's minds aren't more focused on thinking about other things, like how to improve and think outside the box. Really, your narrow-mindedness has reached a new level of pathetic."

"You take that back, Snape!" barked Sirius.

Slughorn came in between the boys, breaking up the potential fight. "That's quite enough, boys!" he exclaimed. "Mr. Snape, I had expected better of you." He picked up the vial on Severus's bench and examined it. "Although," he muttered, "you did successfully create the Draught... perfectly and very efficiently, I might add. Hmmm, well, perhaps I can overlook this little argument with your fellow students. Ten points to Slytherin. Keep up the good work."

Slughorn walked away, and Severus smirked triumphantly at Potter and Black. The lesson ended, and Lily walked out with Severus. She was beaming at him.

"That was great, Sev!" she exclaimed, holding onto his arm. "You not only made the potion perfectly, but your comeback to Potter was spot on!" She laughed.

Inside, Severus was glowing. He felt better than he had in a long time. Finally, he had gotten some recognition for his talents, and he had made Lily laugh.

The Moment It Began by sindie11 [Reviews - 3]

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