On Lily's first morning at Hogwarts, she had vowed she'd never get used to the sound of hundreds of owls swooping in to deliver the post. Not only was it rather strange, but she had also never been particularly fond of birds. One of Lily's new dormitory mates—a rather energetic and brazen girl by the name of Marlene—had laughed herself silly when she'd heard why wizards' post made her so uncomfortable. In Lily's defense, those birds at the zoo's aviary were greedy for food and well accustomed to getting it from visitors. At the age of four, she hadn't been quite prepared for a swarm of them to come at her like that.

When Severus found out, he had smiled and assured her she'd get used to Hogwarts' owls before long.

He'd been right, of course.

Two months later, Lily had begun to watch the owls with the same amount of enthusiasm as her fellow Gryffindors. Her change in heart had little to do with her growing fondness for the school owls, to whom she had become quite acquainted during her worst period of homesickness, but more to do with the excitement of receiving letters and parcels from home at all. It was a sign her parents were taking every opportunity to better understand the world she'd been thrust into, and it filled her with so much joy and love she could hardly contain it.

If only her sister could have followed her parents' lead.

Lily had been writing to Petunia as incessantly as she had their parents, but she had yet to receive a reply. Her mum and dad had passed along news of her sister instead, saying Tuney was busy with school and her friends. Lily had only felt stirrings of disappointment before she, too, was distracted by her own course load and social life.

By mid-November, Lily couldn't help but miss her sister dreadfully, especially when she realized Petunia's thirteenth birthday was fast approaching and, due to a Transfiguration practical, she'd nearly forgotten all about it.

If she had been home, Petunia would have done everything in her power to prevent anyone from forgetting her birthday.

Thank heavens for Marlene. She had helped Lily with the wizarding world's mail order, and together, they had purchased a big basket of sweets from the nearby village's famous Honeydukes. It was full of delightful things—Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Fizzing Whizbees, Sugar Quills, and Cauldron Cakes—and since Tuney was the worst sweet-tooth Lily ever met, she was positive her sister would love the gift.

And she told her mates so. Repeatedly.

The morning after Petunia's birthday, Lily hardly ate a bite of of breakfast while waiting for the post to arrive, and when it did, she nearly pushed little Peter Pettigrew into his plate, she was so eager to see above the other students' heads.

Most of the owls had dropped off their packages before Mary Macdonald pointed and said, "Hang on, Lily! I think this one's headed your way!"

Lily, who had been about ready to resign herself to another day of waiting, smiled when she spotted the owl, which was carrying a far larger load than she expected. Her smile faded, and confusion overtook her as the beautiful barn owl she used for the Honeydukes mail order deposited a colorful basket of sweets before her. Banking gracefully, it landed and began to scavenge the table for food.

"I don't understand," Lily said. This was certainly the basket she ordered. She could see the note she'd attached to the order, Petunia's name written in a flowing and beautiful calligraphy. It was unopened, so surely… "Did…did it not reach her?"

"This is my favorite of the school owls," Marlene said, stroking the bird's downy chest. "He's reliable and clever. And Honeydukes is well-known for its fast delivery. I don't think…"

"It must not have reached her," Lily interrupted firmly. "I mean, what else could—?"

A second owl—a small grey thing that looked more pigeon than owl—suddenly flitted overhead, dropping a letter into Lily's lap. If the Muggle stamps weren't enough to prove who it was from, she would have recognized that loopy hand anywhere.

She tore the letter open. Upon reading the first line, she wished she hadn't. A lump built in her throat, tears blurring the words written before her. She suddenly wanted to be anywhere but here, in this Hall. Everyone around her, including that arse James Potter, was staring now, whispering amongst themselves. Face flushing with humiliation, Lily folded the letter back up and blinked away her tears.

"Lily, I'm so sorry."

That was Emmeline, reaching out to comfort her, but she jerked away and leapt from her seat, causing the barn owl to shuffle his wings and click his beak reproachfully.

"I—I need to talk to Severus," Lily mumbled, and the moment the words left her mouth, she was aware how overwhelming the need to see her best friend truly was. She didn't have her sister—not anymore, not after this—but she did have Sev.

Marlene and Emmeline pulled faces, as they always did whenever Lily mentioned her Slytherin friend, but it was Mary who spoke, her words searing like a welding iron. "Why would you need to talk to him?"

Lily whirled on Mary, the only other Muggleborn in her dormitory, the only one who had as little experience in the wizarding world as she did, and narrowed her eyes. The other girl's tone did not sit well with her at all, and as upset as she was, an explosion was imminent. "I expected better of you," she scolded, and Mary blinked. "The others are lost causes, but you! Are you beginning to mindlessly repeat everyone else's opinion, or is this how you truly feel about my friends?"

"He's a Slytherin, Lily," Marlene argued in Mary's defense. "You know how we feel about them."

There were some grunts and nods of agreement from several people around her, and Lily glared at them until they realized the argument they were eavesdropping on was really none of their business. "Yeah, I know how you feel," Lily said quietly, turning back to her friends. "The whole school knows how Gryffindors feel, but I don't understand. And I don't think I ever will. It makes me sick, how you go around pretending you're better than everyone else simply because you're in Gryffindor."

Mary looked as though she were about to burst into tears. "Lily, I-I—"

"I don't want an apology! I just want you to realize something: Severus doesn't have to be your friend, but he is mine. The least you can do—" Lily choked, catching sight of the rejected gift before her. The tears she worked so hard to hide came rushing back with a vengeance, and she needed to get out of there. "The least you can do," Lily finished awkwardly, "is respect that."

Without waiting for a response, Lily bolted from the table, leaving the basket of sweets behind. She powered down the row, and she was about to cut across the room to the Slytherin table when she noticed Severus surrounded by his housemates…laughing.

Any other time, it would have made her smile. Severus had gotten just as much grief in the name of their friendship as she had. Slytherin House, however, did not seem to be particularly forgiving of defiance, and though Severus was far too proud to ever mention it, she knew he was having far more trouble making friends than she was. Seeing him smiling and jesting with other Slytherins was a welcome thing.

And she couldn't ruin that. Not now. Not like this.

Before Lily knew it, she had turned on her heel. She was out the door and nearly up the staircase to the second floor when she heard someone rushing to catch up with her, calling her name.

Severus.

Her smile was weak but genuine when he trotted up to her, and though Petunia's letter felt as though it weighed more than a sack of Galleons in her hand, she felt lighter knowing he was there.

"I saw you leave the Hall," Sev said by way of greeting, dark eyes brimming with concern. "Is something wrong?"

Her relief was swallowed by guilt, and she fiddled at the letter in her hands. His sharp eyes were drawn to it immediately. "You didn't have to come follow me, Sev," Lily said. "You were having a nice breakfast with your friends."

"They won't miss me."

"Sev, please, go back with your friends. Don't worry about me. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Shrewd as ever, he scanned her face and shook his head. "I don't think so. You haven't answered my question."

Lily bit her bottom lip and took a hold of the sleeve of his robe, pulling him to the side of the corridor, where they wouldn't be trampled or overheard by other students. Once there, she pulled him into a tight hug.

Awkwardly, he patted her back, and when Lily drew away, she wiped her cheeks and handed him the letter.

"I—I know you don't particularly care for Petunia, but…I just…Sev, she wants nothing to do with me. She—she sent back her birthday gift and wrote me saying she doesn't…"

Thin fingers carefully unfolded the letter, but he didn't read it. His gaze was fixated on her, understanding, listening...The other girls would have already leapt to her defense had she given them the chance, but Severus was different. Lily needed different.

"I should have realized it sooner," Lily said. The pain of rejection overwhelmed her as she pieced together the signs she'd done her utmost to ignore. "She called me absolutely horrid things last summer, and she shouted at me when we left for Hogwarts. She's been ignoring my letters, and now—now she…she thinks we're such freaks she won't accept sweets?"

"Sweets are sweets, Muggle or wizard," Severus muttered.

"Exactly!" It made so much sense. Why didn't Tuney see that?

What had happened to her? The more Lily dwelt on it, the more wrong it felt. This was so unlike her. Tuney was logical, hardly allowing emotions to get to the better of her. Lily, on the other hand, wore her heart on her sleeve, and their opposite personalities often clashed as a result. Lily's relationship with her sister might have been as tumultuous as a typhoon at best, but she thought she knew her sister better than anyone. How wrong she'd been. In the span of a few short months, Tuney had somehow become a stranger to her.

How could I have let this happen?

"I've been so stupid," Lily whispered, burrowing her head in her hands.

Severus squeezed her shoulder. "Not stupid," he said. She lifted her head to scoff at him—he had expressed words of caution concerning her sister's jealousy and coldness at least a year ago, so surely he'd be aching to say I told you so—but the expression on his face stopped her. "She's your sister. She's family. We always try to see the best in them, don't we? That's hardly stupid. That's human."

"But she's been awful, Sev!" Lily exclaimed. "She didn't have to send her gift back if she didn't want anything to do with it. She could have just ignored it, tossed it even! Anything is better than this! She didn't have to do this, tell me to stop…stop…I never would have expected she'd be this cruel, Sev. We're sisters."

"It's okay to be angry at her for it, you know," Sev said. Watching her expression carefully, he added, "And it's okay to take your time forgiving her, too."

Lily nodded, a horrible thought worming its way into her mind. "But what if she's right?" she asked.

"About?"

"About everything. Is there something wrong with me? Why else would she be so angry and hateful? Why would she do this to me? I must have done something to deser—"

Severus caught her gesticulating hands. "Lily, stop. I can't watch you do this to yourself. You know that's an absolute load of hippogriff dung. What Petunia did was rude and spiteful, and none of that is your fault. None of it."

"But—"

"No." Severus' tone was sharp, almost angry, and the haunted look in his eyes was all too familiar to Lily, who had her private and horrifying suspicions of its origin. "I said we look out for the best in our family, but sometimes—" Severus' expression hardened into a calm and collected mask "—sometimes we need to realize they're not the best of people…and maybe there's nothing we can do to change it."

Lily's eyes burned. This was her sister, one of her first and greatest heroes. Though she was behaving atrociously, Tuney was better than this, and that was a part of the reason why the rejection stung so keenly. What Severus said was dark and depressing, and she couldn't take it to heart, no matter how true it was.

She did her Gryffindor predecessors proud when she drew herself up and said, "But we can try."

"But we can try," Severus agreed, attempting a hollow smile and holding the letter out to her.

His support emboldened her. Lily took the proffered letter from him and eyed her sister's neat handwriting. She would not force herself to read the rest. The main message had been delivered and received, but despite the all-too-obvious signs Tuney wanted nothing to do with Lily, she would surely find herself frustrated on the morrow.

Because no matter how much it hurt, Lily wasn't about to let this stop her from reminding Tuney what it meant to have a little sister.

"Sev? I…" She tackled him with another hug, unable to really express the scope of her gratitude in words. "Thank you for skipping breakfast for me."

"Always, Lily." Severus drew away and nudged her, a real smile now adorning his face. "C'mon, then. I have an idea."

"What? Don't you want to go back—?"

"Hardly! You've got about fifteen minutes 'til Charms, haven't you?" He nodded toward the letter. "I don't suppose you need anymore practice on your Fire-Making Charm before class?"

A sly smile spread across Lily's face.

AN: This was a gift for LadyHeatherlly, who is not only a dear friend but also an amazing writer. An intimidating undertaking, considering her Snily fic is out of this world, but I did my best. Hope you've all enjoyed it!