Hey guys, sorry for the delay. Hope everyone had a nice xmas and good new years! Please keep reviewing, really keeps me going. Finally - hope you like it!
Snape walked into the dungeons for Potions the following day. Upon entering, however, he immediately noticed that something looked different about the place.
Lily was rummaging through her satchel, sitting in the front row, alone. The row had not been occupied since the end of fifth year, when Lily had moved to sit next to Lupin, and Snape too had abandoned their old seats to sit in solitude at the very back of the dungeon, where he found he worked almost as well as he had done with Lily as his partner.
He assumed her eyesight was going, and so she needed to sit closer to the board, and that she was saving the empty seat next to her for Lupin, or Alice, or another of her Gryffindor girlfriends. Potter, of course, had been forced to drop Potions, as his grade was no-where near good enough for Slughorn to allow him to pursue it as a NEWT.
Thank Merlin.
Lily looked up as Snape entered and smiled widely. Snape nodded his head as a greeting, and began to walk towards his seats, at the back of the dungeon.
"Sev! Where are you going?" Lily whispered.
Snape spun around, half confused, half dizzy that she had just called him Sev. He couldn't believe that he had actually been forgiven.
"To sit down."
Lily waved her arm over the seat next to her.
"That's what chairs are for, genius."
Snape frowned and took a few steps towards her. Half expecting Potter to jump out of nowhere and hex him, he glanced around the room. Lupin, who had just entered, was watching curiously from where he and Lily had been sitting the last year.
Snape sat gingerly. Watching Lily out of the corner of his eye as she began humming and setting up a few standard ingredients, he realised that he really did not know what to say. He hadn't had much practise in the art of conversation recently.
Snape sat still, watching Lily drop some base skewerton juice into their shared cauldron, preparing to get started on the anti-venom Slughorn had set them.
"Look," Lily said, rolling up her sleeves, "if you're suddenly crap at potion-making, I can find a new partner."
The word partner started buzzing around Snape's brain like a small, infuriating and hormonal bee.
Snape smiled slightly and rolled up his own sleeves, ready to start cutting up the roots of asphodel Lily had collected.
About ten seconds into the work he realised that on the underside of his forearm was a grotesquely obsidian and noticeable black tattoo. His heart stopped for a few terrified moments as his arm flew under the table and he pulled down his jumper.
Lily turned her head to look at him, puzzled.
"I just – I have a cut, and I don't want it to get infected with any hellebore." Snape spluttered, trying to sound believable.
Lily rolled her eyes.
Snape tried to seem normal the rest of the lesson, but inside could not escape from the realization that Lily did not know he was now a death eater.
He couldn't even comprehend that he was a death eater. It had all happened so quickly. Not even one week ago. He had yet to tell any of his Slytherin friends at Hogwarts yet – although he knew they would be impressed – he was the youngest to ever be branded a death eater, at just seventeen.
He watched Lily under the pretence of measuring the asphodel, and resolved that if she could forgive him – and she had – then she deserved to know the truth. If he ever wanted anything to become of this – then he knew he had to be honest.
At once this was both the only course of action and the one course of action that was doomed to ruin their friendship. Snape had been denouncing the death eaters for years, promising he would never join them, just for the sake of keeping her.
His thoughts were cut short by the short, fat, balding and protruding mess that was Slughorn waddling up to them.
"Can it – can it be?" He exclaimed excitedly.
Lily and Snape looked at each other worriedly.
"Are you alright Sir?" Lily asked, genuinely concerned.
Slughorn spluttered. "Hah! Better that I should be asking you two the same question!" He surveyed the pair from behind his large, walrus moustache.
"It was my understanding," he continued, "that the two of you were not, ah-" he leant in to speak to them quietly, so far that Snape had to recoil backwards slightly. "-friends anymore."
The entire class was, of course, listening in.
Lily smiled up at him, and Snape marvelled at how she could actually like or show respect to such a sickening man.
"Well, sir…" Lily said, mirroring Slughorn's almost secretive tone. "We are now."
Slughorn beamed. "Wonderful!" He boomed. "My favourite little duo – back in action I daresay!"
Lily smiled and looked at Snape, who was scowling. She hit him and he forced his grimace into a weak smile.
"The rest of you now have something to really worry about! This pair consists of two of the best potion makers I've ever had the pleasure to teach! Better work more swiftly, everyone! Chirrup!" Slughorn said, chuckling his way back to his desk. Before sitting, he smiled knowingly at Snape, but Snape was too busy telling Lily that she must never hit him again to notice.
Perhaps four seconds had elapsed once the lesson had ended, before Lily was being whirled away down the corridor, a hand tightly clasped on her arm.
"TELL ME THAT WAS A JOKE!" Alice practically screamed.
"Will you keep your voice down?" Lily breathed, trying to smile gracefully at a first year Hufflepuff who had been almost hurled to the floor by Alice's exclamation.
"Tell me it was a joke, Lily." Alice muttered through gritted teeth.
"Look, we're friends again, and I don't care if-"
"Have you considered what this is going to do to my life?" Alice spat, steering Lily around a corner as they approached their DADA class.
"Covering for you during your little midnight swarees, lying to everyone about your whereabouts, and what about James' map? It says where everyone is at all times! How are you going to ever be with Snape in private – James'll know where you are! Have you thought about that? In fact, have you thought about James at all?!"
Lily blinked and looked at her friend's enraged face. A few seconds passed before Lily grinned widely and waved a finger in front of Alice.
"You almost had me there. Almost!"
"Shit. Yeah well… I had you going for quite a long time." Alice grinned back.
"You're such a prat it's unbelievable." Lily shook her head in amusement and annoyance.
"Don't think I'm okay with this, though! I was joking, but that doesn't mean I think this is smart. I can't say I've missed Snape's presence in my life."
"Look," Lily began, but seeing Snape walking towards them from the other end of the corridor, quickened her pace. "- we're just friends. James is still my boyfriend. Not that much has changed. And he knows that."
"Yes, but does James?" Alice asked simply, knowing Lily couldn't argue back.
Lily looked at Alice, smiled, and then turned to greet Snape, who had reached them.
"Hi! Sorry about that… Alice just needed to discuss private matters with me urgently… Period problems, you know how it is."
"Hello Severus." Alice said, decidedly restrained.
"Alice." Snape replied curtly. He failed to mention that he had no idea whatsoever what these 'period's were.
"Glad to see you're back in Lily's life." Said Alice.
"I bet you are." Snape drawled.
"And I'm not glad that my two best friends are five-year olds." Lily sighed, shaking her head.
"Lily." Alice suddenly whispered, sounding urgent.
Lily looked at her quizzically before following her eyeline down the corridor, where James and Sirius were bounding towards them.
"Darling!" James roared, throwing his arm around Lily and kissing her cheek. "Where did you go last night? I came-a-calling, but some lady on your door told me I needed a password to get inside!"
Sirius nudged James. He was staring dumbfounded at Snape, who had edged away slightly, but nonetheless was still standing right by Lily and Alice.
James instinctively took a step forwards in front of Lily, and it what seemed like a lower voice, said "Has he been bothering you again, Lily?"
Snape rolled his eyes.
"No… We were just talking." Lily replied calmly.
"Hard to believe." Sirius perked up. "Everytime Snivellus opens his mouth, grease drips out. I wasn't aware he was capable of actual speaking."
Snape's eyes glistened with hatred and long suffering.
"Lily, I'll see you later." He said, taking a few steps backwards and turning to enter their DADA classroom.
"No you won't!" James barked, obviously affronted. "Lily doesn't mix with scum like you."
A collective intake of breath seemed to be taken. Snape's head dropped a fraction, and as he looked over the cold, stone floor, he thought about how much more lively it would look with Potter's face on it. Ideally with Snape's foot on top.
Snape turned around and looked at James blankly. Lily was almost shocked at his restraint. The Snape she knew would have had his wand out already.
No-one said anything. Most of their DADA class had arrived by now, but instead of filing in to the classroom, they were clotting up the corridor, watching. Even the witches and wizards in the tapestries were pointing.
"Well, if you've nothing else to say, Potter, I'll be going, exciting as this may be…" He again began to turn, but stopped upon seeing Sirius remove his wand from his robes.
"Sirius, put it away!" Lily exclaimed. "Grow up. James, we were only talking." She walked out from behind James, but James grabbed her hand and wheeled her around.
"You two aren't talking. He called you a mudblood." James said, and his tone sounded half like a plea, half like an order.
A few gasps sounded at the word, whilst Snape winced at the memory.
"Mudblood! What are children like these days…" An old witch muttered from her painting a little way down the corridor.
"We're more than talking." Snape said flatly, though his eyes glinted momentarily, and James noticed.
"No you're not." He said, taking a step forwards.
Lily realised that quite a few things had changed since their last fight, which had been over a year ago. Firstly, Snape had more control. He seemed older. Something about him almost seemed threatening. And whilst James had a reasonable physique, Snape was now a good head taller than him. It changed the dynamic somewhat.
Snape looked over James at Lily, who looked back at him apologetically.
"Oh aren't we?" Snape asked, his gaze returning to James. "You'd better ask your girlfriend about that one, Potter."
He turned and briskly entered the classroom. James followed suit, ready to continue the discussion, wand out, but Professor Banestra was already inside.
The lesson passed slowly and painfully. James shot daggers at Snape throughout, and kept trying to ask Lily what was going on, with the result of 20 points deducted from Gryffindor for his disruptions and noise.
When class ended, Snape was the first to leave, unwilling to get into another embarrassing public argument where he risked losing his temper. Lily ran after him.
"Sev!" She called. He stopped walking, turning back to look at her.
"Maybe you should think about asking your boyfriend to loosen your leash slightly." Snape spat.
Lily stopped. "Excuse me?" She asked, thinking she had misheard.
"In fact, maybe you should think about getting a new boyfriend." Snape snarled. "If he isn't going to let you talk or, dare I insinuate such a thing, befriend people clearly not up to his mighty standards-" he paused, fumbling slightly over his words, "-then maybe you should look for someone a little better."
"Obviously he'll take a little getting used to the idea of us-"
"-Well yes, obviously, since you thought it'd be fun not to tell him." Snape glanced up, seeing James, Sirius and Alice approaching them, and instantaneously stormed off down the corridor just before James could reach them.
"What's going on?" James immediately demanded.
"Why are you so pig-headed?" Lily shot back. "I'm allowed to talk to whoever I want, James."
"We're looking out for your best interests, Lily!" Sirius exclaimed. "You don't want to be friends with some low-life-"
"-Smelly…" James added.
"Evil…"
"Putrid…"
"Ugly…"
"Death eater wannabe!" James finished. "That's all he is and you know it!"
Lily folded her arms. "Oh shut up – he's not any of those things anyway."
"Oh come now – you can't deny he's ugly." Sirius chimed.
"You two – are baboons." Alice said, taking Lily's arm. "Goodbye."
"Don't get involved, Alice." James sneered.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Look. Snape apologized to me, and he means it. He's my best friend."
"So what am I?" James asked, put out.
"At the moment, just some berk I go to school with." Lily smirked, and started walking towards the Great Hall for dinner.
"Boyfriends are more important than friends, Lily! Remember that!" James shouted after her.
The next day, Lily apologized to Snape, after finding him in the library in the afternoon.
"Guess who." Lily said, having sneaked up behind Snape, who was sitting at a desk between bookshelves in the emptier section of the library, and covering his eyes with her hands.
"Horace Slughorn."
"You wish."
"You wish."
"Fantasies are the sign of a healthy sexual being." Lily said, knowingly.
Snape raised his eyebrows.
"If you could remove your hands…"
Lily did, and squatted next to Snape.
"Hey… I knew I'd find you here." Said Lily.
"How?"
"No-one else ever comes to the Austrian potion maladies aisle." Lily smiled.
Snape was silent.
Lily sighed, before saying, quickly, "I'm sorry. Sorry I didn't tell James. That was stupid."
"James…" Snape said the word as if he were mulling over the taste of a fine wine. "James…" He bowed his head slightly. "I'm not used to you calling him 'James'."
"Well, it'd be a bit of a formal relationship if we only called each other by surnames." Lily said. She smiled, though this time slightly uncomfortably.
"So it's an 'informal' relationship?" Snape asked, not looking at her.
"No – that's not what I meant. I mean – it is – it is serious." Lily mumbled.
"Ah."
Snape put his quill on the table.
"So, what's involved in this relationship, then? Does he kiss you?" Snape's voice was cold, unfeeling.
It seemed too difficult for him to ask the question "Do you kiss?". He couldn't truly comprehend the idea that their relationship was in anyway instigated or enjoyed by Lily.
"Sev…" Lily began, quietly.
"What? This is what friends talk about, isn't it? Does he kiss you?" His voice was slightly louder now, slightly more challenging.
"If you mean 'do we kiss', then yes. Sometimes I even – kiss him."
Snape laughed mirthlessly. "I am sure you do."
Lily, who was still squatting down next to Snape, started to rise.
"Lily," Snape said suddenly, urgently, "I'm sorry. Sorry. This is just – it's new to me. Have a little understanding."
"I do." She replied seriously, "I just wish you would, too." She put a hand on his thigh, as if to comfort him.
Snape jerked slightly, and Lily removed her hand.
"Sorry." He muttered quickly. He glanced over his desk, and grabbed the nearest chocolate frog. He passed it to Lily. "And – I will. I will. Just give me time."
She smiled and took the frog. It leapt onto her shoulder.
"Yuck!" She screeched. "You know I hate these things!"
Snape smiled and Lily stood. She patted him on the shoulder lightly before leaving.