Chapter 31: Snape is now Prince

Hermione and Draco had gone to the Hogwarts Express by themselves as Severus had decided to go on his own.

When they arrived they expected to meet Lily but she wasn't there so they both entered the train and searched for a wagon.

Both assumed that Lily would look for them on her own when she arrived, so they decided to go and find a wagon to sit in.

Once they were seated Draco and Hermione didn't talk much, each had their own worries on their minds which kept them quiet as they watched the view.

"Jaime..." Hermione whispered softly suddenly catching Draco's attention.

Draco noticed how her bottom lip trembled, curious he looked out the window she was looking at and he saw two young wizards outside her carriage.

'She must be thinking about Potter already' Draco thought as he realised who the people outside were.

But even he had to admit that the resemblance between Potter father and son was too much, the only thing that made them look significantly different was their eyes.

Suddenly the door of the wagon opened and Potter along with Black stepped inside.

" Oi, listen, most of the other compartments in this carriage are full, can we stay here?" asked James with a smile.

"Sure, go ahead" Hermione quickly replied.

Draco frowned.

" I remind you that we're still waiting for someone," Draco said to Hermione.

" No problem, there are up to 6 people allowed in here and it's not even certain that she will come" Hermione affirmed causing Draco next to her to scoff at the obvious interest she had in meeting and talking to them.

'She's definitely thinking about her dear Potter..., but this just complicates everything. Well, her problem' Draco thought with a shrug, he'd rather not have anything to do with them, but he wasn't stupid either, and being in Gryffindor having a good relationship with them was better than having a bad one.

Besides, if they wanted to defeat Voldemort they would need the help of the Order of the Phoenix and the marauders should already be a step away from being members if they weren't already.

James and Sirius nodded and put their bags on the rack.

Draco was amused by the look Sirius gave Hermione.

He was interested in her.

Draco noticed that Hermione didn't notice Sirius as she was distractedly staring at Potter.

No doubt it's going to be a nightmare for her to see Potter's father being so similar to him' Draco thought and shook his head, then looked at Sirius again and he almost laughed as he watched Sirius frown at being completely ignored by her, probably thinking that Hermione was interested in his friend and not him.

Once the two of them had finished settling their things they sat down.

"I don't remember seeing you two before, which House are you in?" asked Sirius looking at the two of them but focusing his gaze on Hermione who was still looking at Potter.

Sure the look Hermione was giving Potter could be mistaken for interest, but Draco knew there was only melancholy in it.

"That's because we're new students," Draco replied.

"My name is Draco Prince. And this is my half-sister Hermione Prince" he added making Hermione finally stop looking at Potter and wake up from the old memories with Harry that she was re-living by seeing Potter father.

"New students? I've never heard of a new student entering Hogwarts that wasn't a first year," said James squinting his eyes suspiciously.

"Maybe they're transfer students," commented Sirius.

"No, we don't study at another magical school," Hermione denied.

"Then..." Sirius was about to say something but Hermione interrupted him causing him to frown again as he looked at her.

'Oh... he doesn't seem to like that someone didn't let him finish talking, Hmm... I remember Professor Snape mentioning that Black always had a bad temper' Draco thought.

"We both always did Homeschooling. We only moved to Britain just over two months ago and enrolled at Hogwarts to finish our studies," explained Hermione.

"Wow, Homeschooling...that sounds bloody boring" mentioned James making Hermione laugh lightly.

"It's not that bad, it has its advantages," said Hermione.

"But it's like being cut off from all of magical society, I couldn't stand it," said James disgusted with the idea of having to study alone at home without being able to make friends at school or joke around with anyone, it was like hell to him.

Sirius nodded in complete agreement with James.

Studying at home with his parents, yeah...that was worse than hell for Sirius Orion Black.

"One has more freedom to do what one wants," Draco replied in disagreement with Potter.

"But you miss out on all the fun of a magical school," said James.

Draco was about to continue arguing in disagreement with Potter, but Hermione intervened before he could say anything.

"Well, now we can experience it so it's not so bad. By the way, you are?" Hermione quickly changed the subject not wanting to see a discussion between Draco and Potter, it was as if in this time things hadn't changed between the two sides.

And for her watching them argue was like watching Harry and Draco fighting, just painful memories she'd rather not remember.

Draco wanted to complain, but he could understand that it wasn't easy for her to watch Potter, so this time he decided to let things go.

James and Sirius took a few seconds to nod as if the subject no longer bothered them.

"James Potter, you can call me whatever you like," James grinned.

"Sirius, Sirius Black, I would prefer to be called just Sirius."

"So... Do you guys know which House you're going to yet?" asked James.

"Yes. When we were admitted to Hogwarts a few weeks ago, the Sorting Hat sorted us right away" replied Hermione.

"So, which dormitory are you in?" asked Sirius staring at Hermione with intrigue.

"I'm in Gryffindor as well as Draco" answered Hermione.

"Gryffindor?!" shouted James and Sirius in unison with wide eyes.

" You are in Gryffindor?!" asked James looking at them in incredulity.

"Yes" replied Hermione with a giggle at their behaviour.

'Why am I not surprised that at the word 'Gryffindor' they react like that' thought Draco rolling his eyes.

"That's great you should have said it before!" said James with a smile.

"So we're housemates then, good, Jamesy you know what we should do," said Sirius.

"Yeah, two new Lions is something to celebrate" nodded James quickly.

Immediately the two of them started bombarding the two of them with things about Gryffindor and Hogwarts.

And it all got worse when Hermione mentioned that they would both be joining the sixth year along with them.

~~~~~~~

"Wait, Snape, doesn't your Potions book say that it's the property of The Half-Blood Prince?!" said Avery suddenly catching Severus and Rosier's attention.

Severus was surprised to hear what Avery said, he hadn't expected him to know about it, but it wasn't strange.

Avery was always trying to copy his Potions homework, so in one of his many tries, it was likely that he had seen that.

Rosier who heard this looked at Severus very intrigued.

"Severus, do you know any Prince?" asked Rosier suspiciously.

Severus looked at them for a few moments without saying anything.

Then he just sighed.

"Congratulations Avery looks like you found out," Severus laughed lightly.

Avery smiled proudly but a doubtful Rosier stared at Severus as if seeking to know something of the utmost importance.

"What do you mean he found out?" asked Rosier again with many thoughts in his head.

"Oh, well, I didn't expect to give the news so early, but I suppose it's not worth waiting any longer. I am the Prince's heir," said Severus lightly.

"What?!" exclaimed Rosier and Avery in unison.

This had taken them both by surprise as the Princes were a very important house in the magical world.

"You... Impossible..." commented Avery shaking his head.

"Severus don't joke with us," said Rosier looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, Snape, don't say such things, I almost fell for it," Avery complained and then he gave a chuckle that was quite annoying to Severus' ears.

"Well, if you don't want to believe it, that's your business," said Severus and continued reading as his two fellow Slytherins stared at him trying to discern if what he said was true or a joke.

"Tell me, Severus, no jokes, are you really the Prince heir now?" asked Rosier seriously.

"Why would I lie to you?" asked Severus with a faint smile.

'Severus Prince...' thought Rosier suddenly.

'This..., indeed it is him, the new Lord Prince, Severus Prince, damn it how did it not occur to me before?, Severus is really the heir of the Prince house' analysed Rosier with wide eyes, he had seen in the newspaper the name of the new Prince heir, but it never occurred to him that it was actually the Severus he knew, the idea didn't even cross his mind.

"Damn it, Severus, how come you never mentioned it!" said Rosier, frustrated that he had been living with him at Hogwarts since first year and never knew about something so important.

They always thought Snape was a half-blood from a poor magical house or the rejected son of some wizard who had relations with a Muggle.

They didn't expect him to be the heir to a noble house like the Princes.

"Wait, you actually believe him?" asked Avery in confusion.

"Idiot, it's obvious now, didn't you see in the paper that the new Prince heir was Severus Prince, do you think it's just a coincidence now?"

"Huh, so Snape is now Prince, wow," said Avery not knowing how to react to the revelation.

The three of them kept talking about many things.

Severus thought they would be a bother, but part of him knew them so well that he even enjoyed talking and joking with them a little.

After all, Snape didn't talk to many people and they tended to be some of the few people he talked to, they might not be friends, but they were better than nothing.