a first day—, ISO: Severus, James, Lily, Regulus

[anglachel]

The little old witch coughed into her handkerchief, and then looked up at the expectant young faces in front of her. She tried to remember what it was like to be young; she couldn't dredge up any happy memories of youth and ambition, or school. It was depressing really, and she resented these little hopefuls in front of her, even though she knew it was no fault of theirs for her misfortunes. And she wondered how she could have been relegated to babysitting this motley bunch, when she had once been a fairly good auror in her day. This was how the Ministry treated its old; and she wanted to warn them to run away! Run away! The Ministry would eat up their lives and their souls and their careers.

But she was far too senile to even consider saying anything; after all, she couldn't survive on pension alone, and she need this job, no matter how desperately bad it was.

"Welcome to the Ministry," she wheezed, and then attempted a gap-toothed smile. It failed. Then, coughing into her handkerchief again, she gestured to the golden fountain behind her. "This is the famous fountain, and I suggest you all toss a few coins in for luck once a week." She failed to include you'll need it.

She gestured to the rest of the building. "Every day, before you report to your superior, you'll check in with me and your classmates here at the fountain, and we can discuss what you're learning, and answer any questions. These meetings should last about half an hour to forty five minutes. Every Friday we will forgo the morning meeting and go out for lunch together; the Ministry has graciously agreed to pay for the bill."

Not so graciously, actually, she'd had to spew something about "bonding" and "good relations", which was all true, but hardly should have been necessary to say. The Ministry was stingy, she noticed.

"Now, any questions?" She remembered something. "Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm Mabel Warrick."

[Sn00wCat]

“I have chosen four students to represent Hogwarts at the Ministry.” Severus remained in suspense, his hands tensely gripping the edge of the Slytherin table and his expressionless eyes fastidiously studying Dumbledore’s features for any visible hint as to who the four students were. It was unlikely that a single soul took notice of Severus’s intense interest, for the headmaster’s announcements typically captured the attention of every student at Hogwarts, whether they admired him or not. “These students have repeatedly proven themselves to be hardworking, disciplined, and intelligent,” Dumbledore continued, and out of the corner of his eye, Severus spied several heads gently turning as dozens of eyes ricocheted wildly all over the room, trying in vain to seek out the four individuals who were on the receiving end of such praise.

“I know that they will represent Hogwarts well this summer during their time at the Ministry, and will do well with such an honour,” he stated. A Slytherin girl to Severus’s left harshly whispered, “Who?” She hastily covered her mouth with her slender fingers and forced her embarassed gaze to her half-finished plate of food. She quietly muttered about how she was sorry and hadn’t meant to whisper so loudly until someone mimed, “Would you just shut up already?”

“Lily Evans,” McGonagall read, and Severus’s heart suddenly felt strained within his chest and he was painfully aware of how much he still missed her company. Despite how he was feeling inside, he kept himself expertly composed on the outside, not even so much as blinking at the mention of the Gryffindor girl’s name. It had been very difficult for him to gather up enough courage to talk to Lily again after she had refused to forgive him for referring to her as a mudblood in public. He had tried to say hello to her a few times in passing as they walked through the halls between classes, but she had always failed to respond. For the sake of his emotional well-being, he had tried to make himself believe that she simply hadn’t heard him, but his mind hadn’t been willing to let him fool himself, and it had kept chanting to him, “Lily Evans didn’t respond because she was ignoring you.”

“… Severus Snape...” He wrenched himself from his daydreams. By the surprised and not altogether thrilled expressions plaguing his fellow Slytherin’s features, Severus knew it had been McGonagall’s voice that had spoken his name just now. He couldn’t refrain from permitting the smallest of proud smiles to pinch his pale lips. His heart suddenly felt considerably lighter, sparks of hope lifting it up. He, Severus Snape, was being given the opportunity to work alongside Lily Evans! For a few fleeting seconds, he nearly forgot his indescribably important responsibility that came with obtaining an internship at the Ministry – to do Lord Voldemort’s work. He couldn’t let himself become too distracted by the object of his affection.

“… Regulus Black…” And why should he even hope to regain Lily’s friendship? Any sliver of hope would ultimately lead to disappointment. Severus had hoped Lily would be sorted into Slytherin, but she had been placed into Gryffindor instead. The sorting hat had practically handed her right over to James Potter and his foolish friends. He had hoped she would eventually forgive him for calling her a mudblood, but the days had turned into weeks and the weeks had turned into months, and not once had it ever appeared as if she missed him, he who had supposedly been her best friend for so many years. He often saw her smiling and laughing as she strolled down the hallway with other Gryffindors, or Remus Lupin, the only one of James’s close friends who might have a bit more than half a brain floating around in his head. And Lily hated dark magic. Severus knew she would gravely disapprove if she ever found out about his connections with the Dark Lord. In fact, she would probably be absolutely furious with him. How long could his hope possibly survive?

“… and James Potter.” Severus found himself succumbing to a state of total shock. His jaw slipped open momentarily, but once he realized he was sitting there with his mouth hanging open slightly, he quickly snapped it shut. An anchor wrapped its chains around his heart and dragged it back down into the murky depths of his soul. A heat fueled by anger crept up into Severus’s sallow face, painting his cheeks a faint crimson that gave him a rather healthy glow. Hadn’t Dumbledore said the students he had chosen were hardworking, disciplined, and intelligent?!

How was he going to survive an internship at the Ministry with James lurking about? Severus now hoped that he, Regulus, Lily, and James would be isolated from each other for every minute of every day. The thought of James being given the undeserved chance to spend even more time around Lily was highly disconcerting. The fact that Lily hadn’t yet fallen prey to James’s constant and sickeningly obvious advances was only a small comfort… A very small comfort. It was so miniscule that he could barely feel it cushioning his spirits. He leaned forward in his seat and stared down at his nearly empty plate of food, tendrils of ink-black hair falling over his eyes and blocking out the sights of his fellow Slytherins. He wished he could be alone in a dark room instead of in the brightly lit and festive Great Hall, surrounded by all of Hogwarts and tantalized by their incessant, buzzing chatter. Severus roughly stabbed the sharp tines of his fork through a modest piece of meat, brooding and sulking.

~

He flinched as Mabel Warrick coughed into her crinkled handkerchief. By the mildly disgusted expression riding his features, it was clear he was put off by her necessary action. To him, the old woman appeared lost and out of place within the vast and rather austere walls of the Ministry. Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he thought in anticipation. He had studied the short note from the Ministry for so long that its words were burned into his memory.

The Slytherin youth shoved his hands into the abyss-like pockets of his robes. They weren’t his Hogwarts robes, but they were practically identical to them. He stood nearest to Regulus, positioning himself in such a way so that the side of Regulus’s head blocked James’s loathed face from view. Severus realized just how incorrect the notion ‘out of sight, out of mind’ was.

The news that he would be graced with Lily's presence for thirty to forty-five minutes every morning should have been like music to his ears, but it wasn’t, for he knew that James would always be only one or two steps behind her. Mabel asked if there were any questions. Potter probably had a bunch of foolish ones lined up for her. Severus glanced passively at Regulus, wondering what thoughts were currently passing through his mind.