If You Needed Somebody

Disclaimer: The plot is mine, but all the main characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from any of them.

What if Lily was engaged to James, but in love with Sev? What if Severus didn't return her feelings at first? This story is AU, not even remotely canon and never will be! Constructive reviews, comments or suggestions are welcome, but flamming my story or me personally is not. Don't like, don't read!

Warning: A lot of Marauder bashing! Bad Dumbledore and McGonagall! I know that in canon the Dursley's were child-abusing creeps who never got the punishment they so richly deserved, but for the purpose of this story, Petunia and Vernon are nice, reasonable people.

Story title from a song by Bad Company, Composers, Brain Howe and Terry Thomas, 'Holy Water' album, 1990.

Chapter 1

The weather had been foul for the last two weeks. Thunderstorms, lightning, and pouring rain had pelted down on the school seemingly without end, but miraculously on graduation morning it had stopped and the sun had come out. The 1978 Graduation of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry could be held outside as originally planned. There was a small stage set up with a podium on it and on the right side of the stage were the students from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff houses while Ravenclaw and Slytherin students sat on the left side of the stage. The families of the graduating students sat directly in front of the podium.

Severus Snape, 18, sat slouched down in his chair, looking bored as he listened to Dumbledore droning on and on. Severus was tall and lean, with thick, raven black, chin-length hair and eyes so dark they looked black. His skin was pale and his face was thin with high cheekbones and his nose, while rather long was not out of proportion to the rest of his features. He alternated between sneering and rolling his eyes at the old fart's speech encouraging unity in the face of the growing powers of Lord Voldemort. Considering that he had treated Slytherin House like a poor, unwanted relation for the entire seven years Severus had attended Hogwarts, he figured Dumbledore was sitting up in his ivory tower, scratching his boney arse and wondering why many of Slytherin house had decided to throw their lot in with the aforementioned person. Severus had no use for Voldemort or Dumbledore. He thought they were two sides of the same Galleon: both egomaniacal, power-crazed individuals who used people for their own gain and discarded them like garbage when they'd served their purpose. The Gryffindorks were probably eating his speech up though. Severus eyes roamed over the audience. He had no family as his mother had died during his sixth year and his father the past January. He spotted his former best friend's parents, Richard and Iris Evans and Lily's older sister, Petunia seated in the front row. Seated next to them was Amelia Potter, James Potter's mother. He didn't see Orion and Walburga Black anywhere; he'd heard from Reg that they'd disowned his older brother so they wouldn't bother attending his graduation. His attention was pulled back to Dumbledore when he announced, "There are some special awards I need to hand out before the diplomas so I hope you'll bear with me." He took out a scroll tied with a red ribbon. "Our first award, the Miranda Goshawk Award for Excellence in Charms is awarded this year to Miss Lily Elizabeth Evans of Gryffindor House. Miss Evans also served as our Head Girl this year." There was a great deal of clapping as Lily headed up to the stage

Severus watched as Lily stepped up to the podium to receive her award. She was, as always, beautiful. Her deep auburn hair showed traces of gold in the sunlight and he knew her emerald green eyes would be alight with the same delighted surprise they'd displayed the first time she'd seen Hogwarts. As she accepted the award from Dumbledore and shook his hand, something on her left hand caught the light, sparkling brightly. Severus made a face. It was her engagement ring from Potter. How could he have forgotten? After the Gryffindor – Ravenclaw Quidditch match a month ago, Potter, always the show off, had grabbed the Magical Megaphone and proposed to Lily. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned slightly to see Darius Wilkes. "The Dark Lord is going to be at Malfoy Manor tonight and he wants you to join him."

Severus shrugged Wilkes' hand off his shoulder and growled, "Shove off, Wilkes. I'm not interested."

"The Dark Lord is going to win and if you're not on his side when he does, you die, Snape."

"Go peddle your crap to someone who cares," Severus muttered, turning back around and folding his arms across his chest. He smirked. He'd already announced his post-graduation plan was to lay on a beach in the Caribbean somewhere, dead drunk.

"Our next award is the Beaumont Marjoribanks Award for Excellence in Herbology this year goes to Miss Alice Abigail Warwick also of Gryffindor House." Alice was a modest girl with short, curly brown hair, a round face, and blue eyes. She was engaged to Frank Longbottom who had already graduated and was in his second year at the Auror Academy. She was one Gryffindor Severus really liked as she had stepped in and volunteered to be his partner in Potions after he and Lily had their falling out, ignoring the taunts from her fellow housemates. They had worked amicably together with him helping her to achieve an O in Potions which she'd needed to become an Auror and her helping him to receive an O in Herbology. She accepted her award from Dumbledore and returned quietly to her seat amid much clapping.

"Quiet down please," Dumbledore requested. "The next award is the Alastor Moody Award for Excellence in Defense Against the Dark Arts and this year it is awarded to Mr. Remus John Lupin, another proud member of Gryffindor House."

"Are the Gryffindorks going to win all the awards?" Severus heard somebody in front of him complain. He watched Remus make his way up to the stage, looking older and more tired than an eighteen year-old should look. Severus really had nothing against Lupin either aside from the fact he had no backbone to speak of. Lupin had been a Prefect and never once stepped in to stop his friends, Potter, Black, and Pettigrew when they were bullying him. Under different circumstances, he and Lupin might have been good friends.

"Mr. Lupin has also accepted my offer to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts starting September first," Dumbledore announced. He paused then said. "Finally, I have two prestigious awards to give out. They are the Nicolas Flamel Award for Excellence in Potions and the Bridget Wenlock Award for Excellence in Arithmancy. The Flamel was last awarded in 1900 and the Wenlock award in 1960. This year they are both awarded to Mr. Severus Snape of Slytherin House. Mr. Snape also served in the capacity as our Head Boy this year."

Severus rose and walked to the stage, accepted the two scrolls tied with a green ribbons, shook Dumbledore's hand and returned to his seat, ignoring the hisses and boos from some of the audience and the name calling from Potter, Black, and Pettigrew.

To cover the audience's displeasure of a Slytherin winning two of the most prestigious award given at Hogwarts, Dumbledore quickly began handing out the diplomas. After he had handed out the last one he said, "I wish the class of 1978 great luck in wherever their paths may take them."

Severus had packed his trunk the night before, shrunk it and placed it in his pocket before the ceremony. If he never saw Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry again, it would be too soon. He jumped up and started in the direction of the front gates. Once at the end of the driveway, he could apparate.

"Sev!" He stopped and turned to see Lily's parents, followed by her sister, Petunia, hurrying in his direction. Iris pulled him into a hug. "My you've gotten tall, but you're still too thin." She complained.

Severus smiled. Iris had always complained about him being too thin and had always stuffed him with food whenever he came over. He noticed the engagement ring on Petunia's left hand. "I see you're engaged. Congratulations."

Petunia blushed. "Thank you, Severus. His name is Vernon Dursley and he's very nice."

"Where have you been staying, Sev?" Richard asked. "We haven't seen you since the beginning of fifth year."

Severus figured Lily had told them about him calling her a Mudblood and they probably didn't want to see him, but apparently she hadn't. "I've stayed here during the holidays as there wasn't any reason to return home and the last two summers I've worked for the owners of Slug and Jiggers and stayed in a room over their shop."

"We're having a party later to celebrate Lily's graduation and we'd like it very much if you could come, Sev," Iris said.

"Thanks, Mrs. Evans, but I'm going to be starting full-time at the College of Potions on Monday. I was granted early admission last spring because of my OWL scores and I've been taking classes at the college this year. I'm going to spend the weekend moving into the dormitory. I'm also going to be still working at Slug and Jiggers while I attend college and I'm also taking a class twice weekly in the evening at the Ministry." He had absolutely no desire to go to a party that he was certain Lily didn't want him at and all the Marauders were attending.

So, we won't see you either this summer," Richard said in a disappointed tone. He liked Sev and considered him like his own son ever since Lily had first brought him home with her when they were nine. It was too bad she had chosen to marry that irritating, arrogant foghorn, James Potter, instead of Sev.

"You'll see me because I still have my parent's home and whether I keep it or sell it, it's going to require a massive amount of cleaning and fixing. I'll probably be doing that on the weekends." Out of the corner of his eye he could see Lily heading towards her parents with Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew in tow. "I just want to say I appreciate all the things you've done for me and all the care you've given me since I was nine. Thank you for all of it." He quickly disappeared into the crowd of parents and student, went out the gate to the bottom of the driveway, and apparated.

"Sev!" Lily called, rushing up, but he was already lost in the crowd. She looked very disappointed. "I wanted to congratulate him on winning those awards. It was quite an honor."

Sirius Black gave his trademark bark of laughter. "I'm surprised Snivellus didn't win an award for being the greasiest student Hogwarts has ever had! I felt sorry for Dumbledore when Snivellus shook his hand." Sirius was tall and had black, curly shoulder-length hair and brown eyes with movie star good looks.

"I heard You-Know-Who's going to be at Malfoy Manor tonight so Snivvy's probably rushing off so he can be the first on his block to get the dark mark." James said sarcastically.

"He said he was starting college classes on Monday and was moving into the dormitory this weekend," Iris said, giving James a glare.

"Well, he's hardly going to tell you he getting the dark mark tonight, Mrs. Evans," James said.

"James, why don't you just shut it?" Lily snapped irritably. "You're giving me a headache!"

"I'm sorry, Lils, but Snivellus was never your true friend. He can't make friends or keep them. You don't need him anymore anyway because you have Me, Sirius, Remus, and Peter."

Page Break ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Page Break

Severus apparated into the backyard of his home not even stopping to think if the Notice-Me-Not spell his mother had cast was still in effect. He opened the back door; it wasn't locked and entered the kitchen and nearly groaned when he saw its condition. Dirty plates with crusted food on them, soiled cutlery, cold cups of tea, and half-filled glasses of beer were piled in the sink. The garbage can underneath the sink was overflowing. The linoleum floor was old and cracked in places. The stove was covered with baked-on food and grease. The wallpaper behind it was dark and stained. Beer and liquor bottles littered the floor. Roaches scuttled around the counter and mice scurried off in fright. Severus shuddered at the mess. He walked through the dining room and into the living room. Both rooms contained the same type of mess, plates crusted with old food, soiled cutlery, cups of half-drunk tea, beer and liquor bottles and old newspapers scattered all over the floor. The house smelled really rancid. Tobias apparently had not done even minor cleaning of any sort since his mum's death. Severus sighed and went up the stairs to his bedroom. He took down the wards and opened the door. His room was exactly the way he'd left it on the morning he'd left for his sixth year at Hogwarts. It was dusty and musty smelling, but untouched. He threw open all the windows, allowing the fresh air in. He sat down at his desk, enjoying the fresh air. He wondered why Lily would suddenly want to see him, even calling him by her chosen nickname of Sev. She hadn't spoken to him since he called her that awful name fifth year. As Head Boy and Girl, they managed to be polite to each other when they had to be, but stayed clear of one another otherwise. He'd spent most of his time studying in the library while Lily used the Head's suite, studying with Potter, Black, and Lupin. He got up, changed out of his Hogwarts uniform for the very last time, and pulled his trunk out of the pocket of his robe. He resized it with a tap of his wand. He opened it and began unpacking, hanging up his Hogwarts robes in the closet, his shirts, and blazer. He went through his textbooks, tossing most of them into pile in the corner of his room. The only ones he kept were his books on Arithmancy, Herbology, and his Ancient Runes dictionary. He packed them neatly in his trunks and added his new textbooks, new robes, oxford shirts, and black pants and ties. He was thankful for the potions and spells he'd invented while still at Hogwarts as the money he received from them was paying for college and his eventual apprenticeship. He was just finishing up adding a few more items to his trunk when he heard voices outside. He went over to the window and saw Lily, Potter, Black and Pettigrew.

"Merlin, Lils, this is where Snivellus lives? What a dump!" Severus heard Potter say.

He heard Black's barking laughter. "A dump, Prongs? That's a compliment!"

Pettigrew's twitter of laughter followed Black's comment. "Good one, Padfoot!"

"Not everybody's lucky enough to be born with silver spoons in their mouths!" Lily said tartly as she knocked on the front door.

"Well, it looks as if Snivvy wasn't even born with a tin spoon in his mouth," Sirius snorted.

"Don't knock too hard, Lils," James advised. "The door might fall in!" His comment was followed by more snorts of laughter from Black and Pettigrew.

After a few more knocks Lily gave up and Severus heard their voices fade as they walked back up the street to Lily's home. 'Great!' Severus thought in disgust. 'Now, I'll have to ward my house to protect it from those three dirtbags!' He finished packing, shrunk his trunk again, and placed it in his pocket. He went downstairs and before leaving, opened all the downstairs windows. Maybe, the house wouldn't smell so bad by the time he returned. He grabbed the small china cauldron (one of the few things Tobias had never destroyed in one of his drunken rages) that his mum had always kept the floo powder in. There was enough for one trip. Severus made a mental note to stop in Diagon Alley and buy more before he returned. He took the last of it, stepped into the fireplace and said clearly, "College of Potions, London," and threw the powder down. When he stopped spinning, he stepped out into a large atrium. There was a reception desk in front of him and comfortable furniture scattered around. The atrium opened out on a large courtyard which also contained table and chairs plus what looked like a large garden.

A man stepped out of the office that was behind the reception desk. He spotted Severus, smiled and came over to him. "Welcome," He shook Severus' hand. "I'm Dean Roger Stanwood."

"I'm Severus Snape," Severus replied.

"From Hogwarts. We've heard a lot of good things about you, Mr. Snape."

Severus briefly wondered from whom the dean had heard about him. It certainly wasn't anyone at Hogwarts as most of the professors, with the exceptions of Sprout and Flitwick, hadn't given a crap about him, despite having top grades. His attention was drawn back to Dean Stanwood as he suggested a brief tour of the college. As the Dean Stanwood showed him the classrooms and the state-of-the-art potion laboratories, he remarked, "It was I that suggested to Professor Dumbledore last spring that you be allowed to take some classes here in addition to your regular Hogwarts curriculum based on your OWL score and the fact that you've already patented two potions before your eighteenth birthday. He consented, but he didn't appear happy about it."

"It's a good thing I could do it because I was pretty bored the last two years of Potions and Professor Slughorn didn't believe in Independent Studies," Severus answered. He grinned inwardly as he imagined the tantrum Dumbledore must have thrown at a Slytherin getting ahead of his precious Marauders.

Dean Stanwood continued his tour, showing Severus where the cafeteria was located and taking him outside to show him the college's extensive garden that grew all kinds of herbs and magical plants. He wondered if they were allowed to take any cuttings. His mum had had a garden when he was a child and she had taught him a lot about herbs and magical plants. He decided to ask as he wanted to replant a garden in her memory. "Dean Stanwood, are students allowed to take cutting from the plants in the garden?"

The dean nodded. "Yes, as long as you're careful not to damage the plants."

Severus smiled. He'd been gathering plants and herbs for his potion experiments from around Hogwarts since his fourth year. Lily used to go with him …but, he wasn't going to think about her. She and Potter would soon be married and there was no point in thinking about other times.

Dean Stanwood showed him how to get to the dormitory and stopped in front of a door, took a key out of his pocket, and unlocked the door and opened it. "This is your room, Mr. Snape. You requested a single with no roommate. I will leave you to get unpacked and settled." He handed Severus his room key.

"Thank you, Dean Stanwood, for the tour of the college. I'm looking forward to starting classes on Monday." After the dean had left, Severus looked around his room. It contained a bed which while not one of the canopied and curtained monstrosities like at Hogwarts, looked comfortable. There was also a small bathroom with a shower, a wardrobe, a desk and chair, and bookshelves over the desk. Severus took his trunk out of his pocket, resized it, and began unpacking it. He hung up his robes which were black and made of a lightweight material that had been spelled to resist stains and burns and had the college name and emblem, a golden cauldron, on the pocket. Next to them he hung his, plain black pants, white Oxford shirts, and hung his plain black ties on the tie rack. He arranged his shoes neatly in the bottom of the wardrobe and filled the drawers below with other necessities. He took his shaving kit into the bathroom then arranged his books on the shelves over his desk. The last thing he did was take two framed pictures out of his trunk. One picture was of his mum, Tobias, and himself as a one year-old seated on Tobias' lap. Both his mum and Tobias were smiling. Severus assumed this was taken before Tobias found out his wife was a witch and his son a wizard. The other picture was of him and Lily, with their arms wrapped around each other, taken just before they boarded the Hogwarts Express for their first year. They both thought they were going off to their greatest adventure. Lily had; he had just gone off to a seven year nightmare. He looked at it for a moment and then laid it back in his trunk and shut it. He arranged the other picture on his desk then opened the window. He took down one of his new potion textbooks, settled himself on his bed, which was quite comfortable, and began to read. He read for a couple of hours then decided to go to Diagon Alley and buy some floo powder and go back to his parents' house and put up the wards. He wouldn't put it past the three scumbags to return tonight and damage his house as much as possible. It was getting dark when he arrived, but he could still see lights in his Muggle neighbors' windows so he had to wait until it was fully dark and the other houses were dark. He occupied himself with getting a garbage bag from under the kitchen sink and tossing all the empty beer and liquor bottles Tobias had left behind into the bag. When he was finished he left it in the kitchen to take out to the dustbin tomorrow. He suspected there were probably more in his parents' bedroom. He opened the front door and stood out on the porch. The entire neighborhood was dark now. He took his wand out of the holster he wore on his left forearm and started putting up the wards. It took him almost two hours to securely ward the house. When he was finished, he picked up a large rock, tapped it with his wand and said clearly, "Iungo," and held the rock up to the wards. In a few seconds, he could see tendrils of light from the ward reach out and wrap around the rock. It lit up brightly for a few moments then went dark. Severus smiled. He had successfully linked the rock to the wards. Now it would act as an alarm to warn him if somebody was trying to breach the wards. He went back inside and took the floo back to the college.

Page Break ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Page Break

Lily and Petunia were helping their mum straighten up after Lily's graduation party. Iris sighed as she put the last of the dishes in the cupboard. "I do wish Sev could have come. I worry about him; he's much too thin and I'm guessing he skips a lot of meals."

"Mum, why would he want to come to a party with people who've have spent the last seven years tormenting him?" Petunia asked.

Lily reddened a bit at Petunia's comment. The Marauders had bullied him in their early years at Hogwarts, but James had stopped when they'd started dating. "Mum, you know Sev's always been able to look after himself and prefers it that way."

"Just because he can, Lily doesn't me he should and it certainly doesn't mean that we shouldn't care about him."

Richard was sipping a cup of tea and reading the Manchester Evening News. He put down the paper. "I'm sorry to have to say this, Lily, but if your boyfriend and his two friends got on my bus, I'd make them sit up front where I could keep an eye on them." Richard was a transit driver for the City of Manchester. "I didn't like the things they said about Sev or their arrogant attitudes. However, Remus did seem very nice. He also had very good manners. Obviously, his parents did a good job of raising him. I can't say the same for the other three."

Lily sighed. "There's been bad blood between Sev and James since the very first time they met. James, Sirius, and Peter sometimes went a little overboard pranking Sev and landed him in the hospital wing, but James promised me when I started dating him that he would leave Sev alone."

"I don't think it's pranking when it lands you in the Infirmary, Lily," Iris remarked.

"I suspect Potter worries about losing you to Severus and that's why he treats him the way he does," Petunia said.

"Why would James worry about Sev in that respect, Petunia?" Lily asked in confusion.

Petunia rolled her eyes. "Lily, for being the smartest witch in your class; you're certainly dumb about other important things."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Lily snapped, hands on her hips.

"Severus is in love with you and even a blind man would be able to see it!"

A/N: Iungo: to join, unite, connect.