A quick reminder before this chapter: In this story, anything underlined is a direct quote from one of the Harry Potter books. The source chapter of the quotes will always be listed at the end of the chapter in which it is included.

Also, sorry for the brevity of these chapters; it's why I made sure I had three of them to post at once. :)

"You are," Severus insisted. "You are a witch. I've been watching you for a while. But there's nothing wrong with that. My mum's one, and I'm a wizard." Severus reminded himself not to say, And my friend Hermione's a witch, and she's from the future!

Petunia's laugh was like cold water. "Wizard!" she shrieked. "I know who you are. You're that Snape boy! They live down Spinner's End by the river," she told Lily. Severus was used to other people laughing at him for where he lived, but he wished Petunia wouldn't do it in front of Lily. While they were in the same class at school, Severus hadn't worked up his courage to talk to Lily until now, and he didn't want the girl hating him before he even got a chance to get to know her. Hermione had said he should try to be friends with Lily, and he trusted Hermione. She was older, and she knew things because she was from the future.

But how can Lily be my friend if she doesn't like me?

Still shouting, Petunia asked, "Why have you been spying on us?"

"Haven't been spying," he insisted uncomfortably. Stop saying that stuff in front of Lily! Deciding that he needed to defend himself, Severus held his chin up and told Petunia, "Wouldn't spy on you, anyway, you're a Muggle."

Looking at him strangely for the word he used, but obviously understanding that it was meant as an insult, Petunia started to turn away from him. "Lily, come on, we're leaving!" To Severus's dismay, Lily did as her sister said.

When they had left the playground, Severus plopped down on a swing and lowered his head, upset with the turn things had taken. He only looked up when he heard the swing next to him start to creak and felt a familiar presence.

"Hullo, Hermione," Severus said softly, happy that she was there but not wanting to explain what had happened. Hermione simply returned his greeting and sat in silence with him. Severus liked that about her—she knew when he needed to just think.

Finally, Severus sighed and said, "I tried to talk to Lily today, but her sister doesn't like me much because we're poor, and she took Lily away."

He heard a gasp. "Severus, that's terrible of her! Money is completely irrelevant. I've known nice people that have money, and nice people that are poor, and I've known people that are quite the opposite of both wealth and poverty, too. That's horrible, that Petunia would judge you like that. I'm sorry she got things off at a bad place for you and Lily."

"That's okay, Hermione," he said, shrugging. "I figure, if Lily is nice, she'll like me anyway, no matter what Petunia says."

He looked up when Hermione didn't say anything, finding her smiling gently at Severus. After a moment, she nodded and said, "You know what? You're absolutely right." Hermione got up and pulled Severus into a hug. "Don't give up on her," Hermione whispered.

I never will, he vowed to himself.

The quoted portions of this chapter come from chapter 33 (The Prince's Tale) of Deathly Hallows.