This is my first story I've posted on my account. It's not great, but hey…I figured, why not? This is just a one-shot, and I know that J.K. Rowling has written this scene before, but this is my interpretation of how it happened. It's a lot different from hers haha.

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, Hogwarts, and all of the characters mentioned in this fanfic.

…enjoy :)

The beginning of the end started the day that Lily Evans kissed James Potter.

The day started off normal, just like every other day in her fifth year at Hogwarts. It was their last class of the day, and Lily had Astronomy. Unfortunately for her, sleep had been limited the previous night, due to Alice's constant raving over Frank Longbottom. Lily vowed she'd get more sleep tonight. She didn't want to have to be miserable at midnight in Astronomy tomorrow.

Lily climbed to the highest room of the tallest tower, opened the door, and there stood her prince. Her Half-Blood Prince, that was. Severus Snape, Lily's best friend.

"Evening, Sev," she said. Severus strolled over to their telescope, motioning for Lily to follow him. He was unusually quiet. "So," Lily said, placing her books on the counter by the telescope, "How was dinner with the Slytherins?" It was an everyday question Lily asked her friend, an every day thing they joked about together. Sev hated being a Slytherin—it meant that the two of them didn't have as many classes together. But lately he'd been acting differently. Severus had been spending less and less time with Lily, and more and more time off his new friend, Mulciber.

Sev had been so excited about Slytherin at first, when he was sure Lily would make the cut too. Afterwards he told Lily that he'd asked the sorting hat not to place him in Slytherin, but in Gryffindor with his friend, but there was no such luck. When they called out his name in their first year, it had been no surprise that the Sorting Hat had deemed Severus Snape a member of the serpent's house.

Sev muttered a reply. It sounded something like "Muffin."

"What was that, Sev?" Lily laughed, "I couldn't hear. You're mumbling again.

Sev looked to the ground. "I said 'It was fine.'"

Lily snorted. "Dinner with the Slytherins was fine?"

"Yeah," Severus said it even less confidently this time, "It was…good. I guess."

"Good?"

"Yes."

"Did you make more friends or something, Sev?" Lily questioned. For her, that was both a pro and a con. Good that Sev had others to hang out with, bad that the only person Lily had was Sev. Him and Alice, but all Alice ever wanted to talk about was Frank Longbottom as of late.

Sev nodded. He looked a bit green, but maybe that was just the lighting.

"Are you okay, Sev? You look like you might be sick," Lily asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, Lily," he grit his teeth, "Absolutely fine. Great, actually. Best I've ever been." Severus still avoided looking Lily in the eyes.

"Are you sure, Sev? Did something happen with Slytherin at dinner?"

Sev didn't answer.

"Was it a conversation you had with them?"

"That has to do with a whole lot of it, yes."

"Sev, please, what are you talking about?"

Severus sighed. "Do you know what we talked about at dinner, Lily?" Sev paused. "We talked about … wizards who weren't pure. Those who came from muggle families." Sev's voice was barely a whisper.

"Did you talk about me?" Lily whispered. Her heart was leaping up to her throat.

Sev's cheeks puffed out. He nodded. His eyes roamed anywhere but Lily's. His face turned beet-red. "Lily," he said, "I can't…" and he trailed off, mumbling again.

"I'm sorry? Mumbling again, Sev," Lily said cautiously, trying to keep the conversation as light as possible.

"I…I can't be friends with you anymore, Lily."

Lily's stomach dropped to her feet. She felt like crying. "Sev, what are you talking about? We've been best friends since before school."

"Lily, it's just not possible. We're two contradictory people."

"Contradictory people, Sev?" Their conversation was getting louder. A few people were staring—that included James Potter and his little posse. Lily was determined not to cry. She wouldn't. Not in front of everyone, especially Potter.

"Well, for starters, you're Gryffindor. I'm Slytherin. The two houses fight constantly. I mean, we're not supposed to be friends. We're supposed to be rivals!"

"Sev, why would I ever want to be your rival?"

"Lily, you're not getting it. At dinner I talked with the Slytherins and I liked it. I enjoyed having friends from my own house."

"But just because—" Lily was cut off before she could finish.

"Lily, you're not getting the point here!"

"Then what is the point, Severus, since I'm so obviously stupid to see it?"

"Please don't make me say it, Lily, it's the blood!"

"The blood, Sev? The blood? You're cutting off our friendship because I'm muggle-born?" Lily was furious. She glanced over at James Potter, who seemed to be having a laugh with Sirius about her conversation with Sev.

"Lily, it's not like that!"

"No, that's exactly what you're saying, isn't it?"

Severus didn't say a word.

"It is!" Lily practically shouted. Several pairs of eyes were staring now.

"Lily, I just need you to understand that we can't be friends. That's all."

"Say it to my face, then." Lily hissed.

Severus' eyes widened. "What?"

"Say it. If you can't be my friend, you can say it to my face. What am I to you, Sev? What am I?"

Severus hesitated. "Lily—"

"Say it, Snape," she scolded.

Sev looked taken aback. Lily had never called him by his surname before. Lily noticed him glancing over at the crowd. She caught the eye of Bellatrix Black, who was smiling and sniggering to herself. She noticed Mulciber and Avery, who both had their arms crossed over their chests. They were the ones who Sev was staring at.

Severus nodded, gulped, and said loud and clear, "You're a filthy mudblood, Lily Evans," he snapped. "Now get out of my sight before I die of disgust."

Before she began crying, Lily fled from the room. Once out the door, the tears began to spill.

He'd said it. Severus Snape had actually called Lily a mudblood. And a filthy one at that.

Lily ran and ran until, finally, she reached an empty corridor. She plopped herself down on a bench, leaned her head against the wall, and cried her eyes out. She could have sat there for two minutes, she could have sat there for two hours. Time wasn't real. She could only feel the pain, the sadness.

"Can I join you?" A voice said.

Lily looked up, wiping her eyes. "What do you want, Potter?" her eyes narrowed.

James Potter sat down next to the sobbing girl. "It wasn't right what Snivellus did to you, Evans," he paused before continuing. "No one should be treated like that, especially you."

"Thanks," Lily said, wiping her eyes, "but I'm not in the mood to flirt."

"I promise, Lily, if you just let me sit here with you, I won't try to take advantage of it."

Lily nearly laughed. Here sat James Potter, saying he wouldn't take advantage of a vulnerable Lily Evans. Still, it would be nice to have someone around to keep her company. Someone who wasn't against muggle-borns. Lily thought for a moment. She hesitated before saying, "Fine." Then, after pausing, "I think that's the first time you've called me by my first name."

She could hear James chuckle in the dark. "Is it?" he said. "I hadn't noticed."

"So what do you think about Sev calling me a…a…a you-know-what?"

"I've told you already, Evans. No one deserves to be treated like that. It's a filthy word that only filthy wizards use. I say move on. A person who calls you that isn't worthy of being your friend in the first place."

Lily reached for James' hand. "Thank you, James," she sniffled.

"Now," Potter said, "He called you a … you-know-what. The least you could do is call him something mean back."

Lily laughed.

"No, honest!" James said, trying to hide a laugh. "It's fun. Watch." Lily looked him right in the eyes as he dragged out the word. "Snivellus. Now let's hear you try it."

Lily giggled and covered her mouth with the hand that wasn't clinging to James. "I can't. It's so…immature."

"Oh, and there's not any time where it's okay for a fifteen year old girl to be immature?"

"Fine." Lily sighed, hesitated, and braced herself. She said it slowly, dragging out the word as long as James had. "Snivellus." She giggled. "I like it. Snivellus. It kind of catches your tongue, you know?"

James smiled. "See, I told you it was fun."

Lily grinned, leaning in close to James. "Thank you, James Potter," she whispered. The two were inches apart. All she had to do was—

And then it happened. She didn't know how, really. She hadn't thought she'd moved at all. Maybe it was James who'd moved. But all of a sudden he was kissing her, his soft lips pressed to hers, his warm hand cupped against the back of her neck. And, though she didn't really know why, Lily was kissing him back.

That was the first time Lily Evans and James Potter kissed. The first time they got along. The first time they had a pleasant conversation.

So in the end, Snape was a pretty rotten prince. It was James Potter, the boy Lily thought she hated, who had been her Knight in Shining Armor.

That was how the rest of James and Lily's night went. Kissing on a bench in a deserted corridor in Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That was the beginning of a couple destined to be. The beginning of James and Lily Potter. The beginning of the end.