A Horrible Mistake
A/N:This story is currently undergoing a "rewrite" of sorts- betas are going through this, and I will be reuploading all chapters after they're done. Minor plot changes will/have occurred.
Hanging upside down and enraged, Severus Snape spat swearwords and hexes at his tormentors, better known as the Marauders. Earning himself a mouthful of pink soap bubbles, Severus gagged and choked, trying desperately to get rid of them. Out of the corner of his eye, Severus saw the knot of Slytherins looking on, seeming amused. Alphard Nott, in particular, was watching the scene intently, fingering his wand.
A flash of red hair caught Severus' eye, and he turned toward the sight to see a positively fuming Lily stomping over, her wand emitting fiery sparks as she held it tightly. She screamed at James Potter, the ringleader of the group, and he was painfully let down.
After disentangling himself from his robes, he sprang up to retaliate but Sirius Black was faster, hitting him with a Full-Body Bind. Severus's body went rigid, and he fell over, his face burning with humiliation.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily shouted, raising her wand and pointing it straight at James' heart. James and Sirius eyed it warily.
"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," said James earnestly, while Remus tugged on his robes, trying to make his friend back down.
"Take the curse off him, then!" Lily narrowed her eyes dangerously as she noticed the lingering bubbles in Severus' mouth.James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and muttered the counter-curse.
"There you go," he said, as Snape struggled to his feet again. "You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus—"
Desperate to save face, Severus shot back, "I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!" The group of Slytherins smirked and walked away, and Severus breathed a small sigh of relief as Alphard nodded appreciatively before realizing what he'd done to Lily.
With a sense of foreboding, he turned to look at her as he tried to untangle his robes and struggle to his feet before falling over again. She flinched as though she'd been hit, and fixed her steely gaze on his.
"Fine," she said coolly, tossing her auburn curls over her shoulder. "I won't bother in future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus."As Lily shouted and James tried to be suave, sixteen-year-old Severus Snape tried to get himself together and slink away, but before he knew it, Lily had stomped off and he was hanging upside down again.
"Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?" James roared.
Amidst the intense humiliation, Severus felt his heart break.
He had just pushed away the most important person in his world.
That evening Severus waited outside of Gryffindor Tower, hoping against hope that Lily would forgive him. His insides writhed when he thought of what he'd done.I actually called HER a Mudblood… what was I thinking? This is all Potter's fault; if he had just left me alone, I wouldn't have to ask forgiveness!
"Hey, aren't you…. Yeah, you're Snape! What're you doing here?" a curious voice said. Severus turned to look at Mary Albright, nonchalantly leaning against the wall across from the portrait of the Fat Lady.
He sighed. "I am waiting for Evans, if you must know." Severus answered, looking away and pretending to be completely at ease.
Mary snorted and tossed her pony-tailed brown hair over her shoulder, slightly rumpling the Gryffindor crest on her robes. "Lily said she's really mad at you. She said to tell you to go away if you were waiting around for her."
Alarm took over Severus' features before he could stop it. "Tell her I need to talk to her. I'll stay out here all night if I have to!"
Stunned, Mary crawled inside the portrait hole.
A few minutes later, Lily appeared in a dressing gown, her face stony and her arms defiantly folded over her chest. She waited for him to say something, a challenging look in her eyes. He opened his mouth several times to say something, but nothing came out. She sighed impatiently and tapped her foot.
"I… I'm sorry." He ran a pale hand through shoulder-length black hair.
"I'm not interested," Lily said curtly, averting her gaze.
"I'm sorry!" he said again desperately.
"Save your breath," she retorted. "I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here."
"I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just—" he started.
"Slipped out?" she finished harshly. "It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. You and your precious little Death Eater friends... you see, you don't even deny it!" Lily said accusingly, pointing at his defeated expression. "You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"
Suppressing a slight twitch, Severus said nothing.
"I can't pretend anymore. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine," Lily said softly.
Severus's insides writhed fearfully, thinking she meant to break all ties with him."No—listen, I didn't mean..." he started to protest, but again Lily cut in.
"... to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?"Severus' mind raced. Lily threw him a contemptuous look and turned around.
He grabbed her hand desperately. "No—Lily, please—"
"What are you doing? Let go of me, Severus!" she exclaimed.
"But Lily, I didn't mean it! Honest! Please, you are my only friend, and my dearest companion. I didn't mean to say what I did! If Lucius Malfoy had heard of me accepting your help… well, we'd both be in danger! Lily, don't you see? I did that to save the both of us! Please, Lily…." he said, pulling her closer. "Give me a chance to explain everything. I've done a horrid thing; you're the only one I can trust to help me make it right. Please," he begged, searching into the emerald eyes he loved for a spark of compassion and taking her other hand in his.
She stared back resolutely, then gave in.
"All right. But let's talk somewhere more private than this corridor." Lily consented, letting go of him and taking a few steps down the hall. Severus' heart leaped when she looked back to see if he was following, a hint of her beautiful smile on her lips.