The first class on the Slytherin timetable was DADA with Professor Weasley, who was on his second year at the post. Dad had not been happy about his appointment. Consequently, Severin knew him best as 'that Weasley brat' or 'the Potter boy's friend'. He hoped desperately that he wouldn't slip and call him one of those terms where anyone but his father would hear him. The class was shared with Ravenclaw, and it became quickly obvious that Weasley liked the Ravens more than the Slytherins. Of course, by his father's complaints, Severin knew the problem was less that Ravenclaw was favoured than Slytherin was disfavoured. As soon as roll was called, Severin found that he was probably going to be the focus of most of that disfavour. He was, after all, a Snape, and, therefore, the very model of all the worst traits of his House. The first class was filled with a sort of oral background quiz to see where everyone stood on the subject.
"When do werewolves transform?" Most of the students raised their hands, including Severin. A Ravenclaw was called on.
"The full moon."
"Very good. A point to Ravenclaw. Is there a treatment for lycanthropy?" Only a handful of hands went up for that one, including Severin's.
Another Ravenclaw was called on. "Yes. The Wolfsbane potion."
"Excellent. Another point to Ravenclaw."
There were a few more simple questions on various dark creatures, all of which Severin raised his hand to answer, and for none of which he was he called upon. Slytherins were only called upon for the hardest questions, though they were awarded points when they answered correctly, which was more than Severin could say for his father in Potions. The questions veered into Dark curses and countercurses. In this topic, too, Severin raised his hand for every question. Still, he was not called upon. Weasley began to increase the difficulty, a tactic his father sometimes used to find out who had read the supplemental reading materials. No points were taken for wrong answers, since it was not required reading, but it was worth bonus points and the teacher's good will to answer correctly.
"Who can name ten members of the Order of the Phoenix, current or past?"
Severin's hand snapped up so fast his fingers tingled. Everyone else was still counting on their fingers to see if they knew ten. "Snape," Weasley called on him, sounding disappointed that he had not other immediate options. Using his fingers to tell when he had reached ten, he began listing them in the order they occurred to him,
"Severus Snape who spied for the order, Albus Dumbledore who founded it, the Potter boy," he paused as some of the class giggled behind their hands, and Weasley made a weird face. Severin blushed, but forged on, "who defeated the Dark Lord, Neville Longbottom and you, sir, who helped Potter, Hermione Granger the know-it-er-nevermind, the Longbottoms Frank and Alice who were tortured to insanity, and James and Lily Potter who died in the first defeat of the Dark Lord."
Ten was not very many. He hadn't even mentioned McGonagall, Hagrid, or the werewolf yet. "Do you want another ten?" Weasley sighed.
"That will do, one point to Slytherin. Who can tell me what defense there is against a jinx?"
Severin's hand shot up in the air again. "Anyone besides Mr. Snape?" There was no one willing to try.
Weasley sighed again. "I begin to understand your father's frustration with Hermione. Go ahead, Mr. Snape."
Potions with Gryffindor came next. Coming from the DADA classroom instead of the greenhouses, the Slytherins arrived first. When Charlie arrived, Severin waved a hand and invited him to share his lab table. Charlie grinned and sat down beside him.
"How's your day going?" Severin grinned gleefully, "I think Weasley hates me."
"Uncle Ron?" Charlie asked, sounding taken aback. Severin rolled his eyes.
"Know any other Weasleys at the school?" Charlie pointed to a red-haired girl sitting a few seats away.
"Yeah, actually. Amanda's a Weasley. Bill's daughter." He shook his head and returned to the previous topic, "Why would Uncle Ron hate you?" Severin raised an eyebrow and stared down at his brother with a patented Snape look of disbelief. To Charlie's credit, he caught on immediately,
"Oh. Guess he hasn't heard the 'we're brothers' rumour yet." Then he grinned, "What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall when he hears it. Betcha a knut he goes ballistic." From what he knew from his father about Ronald Weasley, there was no bet. However, before he could say as much, the classroom door was flung open as Professor Snape made his usual grand entrance. Dad swept down the central aisle, his robes billowing dramatically, and he spun abruptly toward the class when he reached the front. A look of annoyed displeasure was fixed on his face as he looked over the first-years.
"I do not expect many of you to understand the subtle art and delicate science that is potions making," he began, flashing a hard look directly at the Weasley girl. Severin's lips twitched. He expected the unfortunate girl would fare far worse in his father's class than he himself had in her uncle's. The rest of the class period proved his prediction true. The girl was picked on mercilessly, asked questions normally reserved for third years or older. When she couldn't answer, he would deduct points, and ask Severin who, of course, knew the answer, thus gaining Slytherin as many points as Gryffindor lost. Amanda was red-faced and furious by the end of the class, but she did, thankfully, manage to hold her tongue, thereby saving her from a detention or more lost points. Severin's father seemed to completely overlook Charlie, thus making him the only Gryffindor in the class to not lose at least one point.
When they began setting up their cauldrons for very simple first practical lesson, Severin leaned over to Charlie and whispered, "Having the Potions Master for a dad does have some advantages, doesn't it?" Charlie snorted.
"Slytherin brat."
"And proud of it," Severin agreed, then went to get the ingredients they'd need.
His other two classes of the day were Charms and Transfiguration, both in which he believed he managed to impress the teachers with his background knowledge. Neither professor treated him any differently than they did any of his fellow students, which he took to be a positive sign. The other students seemed to avoid him somewhat, including the Slytherins, but no one was openly hostile. The other houses would need time to get used to the fact that he was Snape's son. It would be unreasonable for him to expect them to forgive that fact of genetics and upbringing too quickly.
The Slytherins, likewise, were wary about his giant blood, and probably his social status as illegitimate. He didn't want to imagine what kind of twists the fact that Dad was his mother rather than his father were going to introduce into the equation. Heirship was supposed to be by the paternal line, not the maternal. Did that make Charlie the Snape heir instead of him? Not that he imagined it would make one whit of difference to Dad what the other Slytherins thought about that question. Severin was the first born son, and more importantly, he was the son Severus Snape had raised and considered completely his. Both sides needed time to figure out what they thought about him. Severin didn't mind. Charlie liked him. That was one more friend than he had before. It was one friend more than his father seemed to have, unless one counted Dumbledore, which Severin didn't.
Godfather or no godfather, the Headmaster obviously wasn't trusted enough to know about Severin until it had become necessary, and therefore he wasn't to be considered a friend of Dad's. Hagrid and McGonagall were even worse. Friends don't obliviate friends. Co-workers, colleagues, and acquaintances, maybe even a mentor in Dumbledore's case, but Dad did not have friends. An Idea began to form.
"Charlie!" Severin called, running to catch up to his brother as he caught sight of him about to enter the Great Hall for dinner. Charlie stopped, and waved for the Gryffindors he was with (including the Weasley girl) to go on ahead. "Charlie," Severin repeated, drawing even with his brother, "We're twins, right?"
"Right," Charlie agreed, carefully. He apparently was familiar enough with Slytherins not to be too eager to agree with such an obvious ploy to elicit sympathy and familial duty. "Separated before birth, right?"
"Yeah," Charlie agreed again, even more warily.
"It's our job to get our parents together again, isn't it? I mean, every story you read with twins seperated at birth, they have to try to get their parents together again."
"Uh."
"They're classics. Richter and Ryan in the Warlock chronicles. Sharon and Susan in the Parent Trap - which was so popular that muggles made a movie about it, losing the witchy stuff of course. Zurlich's -"
Charlie held up his hands. "I get the idea. You're forgetting something though."
"What?"
"We're talking about the Head of Slytherin and a half-giant." Severin's face fell.
"You don't think Hagrid would go for it?" Charlie stared at him.
"I don't think Snape will go for it. Slytherins don't like non-humans."
Severin smirked. "Now you're forgetting something."
"What's that?"
"I'm quarter giant. If he can like me he can like Hagrid. He had to have had enough respect for him to get pregnant by him. And Dad told me that your grandmother was the nicer, kinder, and more upstanding of our grandmothers, and she was a full giant." Charlie appeared unconvinced. "Look, Dad is willing to give the family thing a go, but he's not going to initiate it. We need to help it along."
Charlie's dark eyes twinkled. "Ok. We can start with you not calling your dad 'Hagrid'."
Severin blinked. That was low. It was bad enough he was brewing a plan to that would result in him sharing his dad with the half-giant. Why did he and Charlie have to share parents too? All he wanted was for Dad to have a friend like he did. There was a lot more leverage for getting Hagrid into that position than anybody else. "Fine. What do I call him then? It'll be pretty confusing if we call both of them Dad."
Charlie thought about that for a second, frowning. Eventually, he came to a decision. "We'll both keep calling our mothers 'Dad'. Our fathers, we'll call 'Father'. Sound good?"
Father sounded distant enough. "Deal. But Dad'll have your hide if you call him anything but 'Professor Snape' in public."
Charlie grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it." Severin nodded in satisfaction.
"When can we corner your - er - my father to talk to him about ways to approach Dad?"
"How's tomorrow after classes finish? I think we have Astronomy together last."
"Perfect."
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