Disclaimer: Don't own the Harry Potter series. J.K. Rowling does.
A/N: According to J.K. Rowling in an interview regarding Deathly Hallows, Lily did love Severus Snape as her best friend and would have pursued him romantically had he not been so heavily involved with the Dark Arts. Most are given the impression that Lily didn't really care for him at all.
"That fucking snake!" snarled Sirius furiously as he stalked Hogwarts halls aimlessly at night, "I'll get Snivellus back for this, mark my words!"
The person walking behind him squeaked at Sirius's overt display of anger. Peter followed as Sirius stalked the halls at the dead of night in frustration. It was Saturday so there was no need to worry about curfew and Sirius was too enraged to be concerned with such regardless. Even without Prongs's invisibility cloak, Sirius did well enough in Charms class to have mastered the disillusionment charm by now.
Sirius suddenly had a sinister idea form in his mind. Perhaps sending slimy Snivellus to see Remus at the Shrieking Shack would serve as reminder to not bother messing with the Marauders anymore. It would teach the asshole a harsh lesson and Sirius would enjoy seeing the stupid moron piss his pants. The full moon would only be in a few days time so he wouldn't have to wait for too long.
Suddenly, a rapping could be heard from the classroom to his right. Sirius paused and took out his wand. Peter hadn't been paying attention and bumped onto his back. Sirius turned around to scowl at Peter for his stupidity as Peter merely gave a squeal as an apology. Sirius rolled his eyes and decided to enter the classroom.
The rapping sound came from a shaking cabinet right. Sirius carefully backed up as he pointed his wand and non-verbally opened the large cabinet. The cabinet burst wide open as Peter walked into the room. Sirius backed away and gawked in confusion as his best mate popped out of the cabinet.
James Potter stared irately at Peter. Peter squeaked and backed-up in fear at James's gaze.
"J-James? What're you doing here?" asked Peter in confusion, "I thought you had detention with Professor McGonagall?"
Sirius stared in silent confusion. Prongs definitely did have detention with McGonagall tonight for having been caught late at night out of curfew by Evans. Prongs's infatuation with the redhead had gone to new heights. He had actually attempted to woo her by inviting her to the Kitchens with him as a late night date. Evans had laughed at his stupidity and took him to McGonagall for a more severe punishment. His poor friend had wracked his brain to think of a clever way to get her on a date and had the entire attempt blown in his face. Sirius still wondered where Prongs's brain went whenever Evans was nearby.
"Wormtail," snarled James angrily, Peter shrunk back in fear. "No, Peter, you're an awful Marauder and an even worse friend."
"What?!" shouted Sirius and Peter in unison. Peter was sweating now. Sirius held his wand ready. James wasn't even looking in Sirius's direction.
Sirius glared at what had to be some polyjuice imposter of his best mate. James would never say that to Peter.
"The only reason we've kept you around for so long is because we felt pity for you. We've had enough of your whining and explaining everything we do to that pea-brain of yours. You're hereby kicked out of the Marauders and no longer our friend, you stupid rodent!"
"B-but J-James…. I…" mumbled Peter sadly, tears started to streak down Peter's tears, "I c-c-can do better!"
"No, you really can't," said James sneering, his eyes shone with madness as he suddenly had his wand drawn and raised at Peter, "Let me do everybody a favor and get rid of a stupid piece of crap like you. You're an annoying idiot who nobody wants to put-up with. I'm certainly sick of having to do it!"
"Wait, please! Don't!"
"Riddikulus!" shouted Sirius, a whipcrack noise echoed through the empty classroom as a jet of light slammed into the imposter boggart and changed it's clothes to a pink flowery dress. Peter went from nearly breaking down in tears to guffawing at the sudden change in James's appearance. "Stupefy!"
The Pink-dressed James was slammed back into the cabinet as Sirius non-verbally shut the double doors and conjured a locked chain to wrap around the cabinet to keep the monster inside. Sirius turned his attention to Peter.
"S-sorry," mumbled Peter quietly as he tried to hide the tears by wiping them with his sleeves, Sirius had already seen Peter's eyes become red and puffy. The mirth of seeing a James in a pink dress had faded.
"Wormtail," began Sirius quietly, Peter gazed hard at the floor. "Look at me. Look me in the eyes."
Peter's hands balled into fists before slowly raising his face up so that Sirius could see his friend's tear-stained face. Peter attempted to look away again.
"I'm not going to make fun of you, Peter," said Sirius firmly, Peter looked-up at him in surprise. "If there's something bothering you then tell me. I promise not to make fun of you."
Peter shuffled his feet in agitation before sighing and deciding to comply. Sirius stood expectantly.
"It's just…" Peter began slowly, he felt so ashamed of himself. "You guys… all of you are so talented. James is one of the best in the school at Transfiguration and Gryffindor's best quidditch Chaser. You're the best at Defense Against the Dark Arts and you're probably going to be one of the best Aurors in the Auror Corps after graduating. Remus is always helping with homework in History or Potions. He's also just as good in Defense and really good in Charms."
"But me…" said Peter sullenly, "I'm… not good at anything. All three of you have the best marks in three or four classes and you guys had some of the best OWL scores in the school. I'm not talented like that. I barely got any Exceeding Expectations and my spellwork is less than average even when I try my best. I'm just… I don't think I'll ever be good enough like you lot. I always need help in classes and I know you guys get impatient when I need the subject matter repeated because I don't understand it the first time around. Sometimes I wonder if you all even want me around."
Sirius stared in stunned silence. He had never known that Wormtail felt this way. Although, in fairness, he never had the time to focus too much on everyone else's personal problems because of the rift that had grown between him and his family over the course of the many school years and helping James with his Lily Evans drama. He had assumed Remus, in his all-encompassing patience with his and James's antics, was helping out Peter but he had realized that between studying for OWLs, dealing with his monthly problem, and fulfilling his Prefect duties that Remus probably didn't have as much time to help Peter with his problems like years prior. Sirius realized in astonishment that everyone had likely been too busy last year to comfort Peter with his father's passing. Sirius needed to rectify this matter and deal with Peter's growing inferiority complex.
"Wormtail, you're really being too hard on yourself," said Sirius, Peter shot him a look of disbelief, "Grades aren't everything. The fact that idiot Slughorn only gives top marks to anyone in his stupid club of pompous assholes should tell you that much. James and I are impatient and we blurt out stupid crap a lot because we both hate wasting time. I'm sorry about that. It's not fair to you or Moony but whenever we pull off our best pranks, it's always you coming up with some of the best ideas."
Peter looked at him in wonder. Neither Sirius or James had ever seemed to acknowledge that fact and he always assumed that it was because they both could have thought of it without him there.
"James and I usually get the credit but it's really you that comes up with the ones that stand out and you're always good at helping us bail out when someone is close to finding us. You know the best hiding places and one of the reasons that James and I get most of the credit is because you're always able to avoid getting caught by finding the best hiding places even before we got our Animagi forms. Honestly, mate, the Marauders would be nothing without you."
Peter blushed and looked at the floor. He mumbled a quiet thank you as Sirius just shook his head and grinned.
"So, uh… have you thought about how we're going to get back at Snivellus?" asked Peter attempting to change the subject.
"Oh yes!" barked Sirius grinning brightly, he motioned toward the locked cabinet behind him. He nodded his head towards it as Peter's eyes lit up. "What do you think of tricking Snivellus here and having him attacked by the Boggart? Not only do we get payback but we get blackmail too!"
"Padfoot, that's brilliant!" said Peter shrieking happily.
Sirius kept his smile up even though his ears had hurt from that screeching. He was going to make an effort to be nicer to Peter for the year. It was clear that he had a lot of mending to do.
"We could get him in trouble afterwards by having Moony come in to dock points from Slytherin and getting him sent to detention!"
Sirius's grin widened at that prospect. Oh yes, Peter really needed to understand his own evil genius. Peter's ideas were simply some of the best for late-night pranks. The kid didn't realize his own sly brilliance but Sirius could see it clearly.
"Okay, here is what we'll do…"
Severus Snape crept through the night unseen as his cloak billowed behind him. He had just gained a tip off from one of his fellow Slytherins about the Marauders. They had some mysterious object stashed in the third classroom to the left on the fourth floor corridor. It was for a grand prank they intended to pull on a flock of younger Slytherins. Severus felt that it was his duty to see that they failed and to hopefully explain to a Professor by having the incriminating evidence brought to a Slytherin Prefect later on.
It wasn't the perfect plan and Severus would readily admit that he could be walking into a trap but Potter and his flunkies had been particularly cruel this year and Potter had become more outrageous with his attempts at wooing Lily. Severus hoped this would get back at them in some measure. Realistically, he hoped to find them out after curfew to curse them all and leave them there to be found by a Prefect.
Severus opened the door to the classroom and walked inside. He waved his wand to close the door and flickered the torchlight's in the classroom with a quiet Lumos. The room was now alight to see through the entire expanse as clear as in daylight. Severus jumped in surprise as he heard a loud rustling from the chained cabinet in the corner of the room. Severus glared suspiciously as he vanished the chains easily with a wave and pointed his wand at the cabinet.
The three Marauders: Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs watched under James's invisibility cloak. The three attempted to stifle their laughter despite the silenco charm already on their persons'. They sat in a dark corner of the room so that the cloak would fit them all and Sirius had a wizard camera ready to take pictures of what was sure to be a good show. James had his wand at the ready to hex Snivellus after it was over and they obtained the incriminating pictures. They didn't try to silence their mad giggling any longer. It was all part of the plan.
Severus growled in anger as he felt something amiss. He was sure that it was the Marauders hiding behind the cabinet. He had his wand prepared for what was to come. This was not likely to end well against him in a four versus one.
"Alright, whoever is in there come out," snapped Severus spitefully, "I'm well aware of-"
The sound of footsteps from the halls could be heard. Severus cursed his bad luck. He needed to hide quickly! It was likely a Prefect.
Severus cast the disillusionment charm and silenco on himselfjust as the door burst open once more to reveal Lily Evans enter the room. She looked around suspiciously with her wand out. The Prefect badge shining brightly on her blouse.
Severus had already shrunk silently towards the far wall in the back of the room to stare aghast. He needed to escape from here. He quietly scowled in anger as he realized that Potter and his gang had managed to deceive him so that Lily could catch him breaking curfew. He didn't need to give his ex-best friend any further reasons to hate him. He had strived to avoid Lily at all costs during the school year and she appeared to be happy enough to never want anything to do with him in her life.
The cabinet shook harshly. Lily's attention turned to it as she pointed her wand in front of her before snorting. Whoever had jumped into the large cabinet was not clever at all.
"Not very bright of you," said Lily assuming it was a student trying to hide, "Come on out, there is nowhere to escape. Make this easier on yourself and I promise a lighter detention."
Both the Marauders hiding under the invisibility cloak and the disillusioned Severus stared in mute horror. Severus because he had realized that the there was a trap inside the cabinet meant for him and the Marauders because Lily's sudden appearance had caused their plan to diverge toward a horribly wrong turn of events. Lily was about to be attacked by her worst fears and she was entirely unaware!
'Shit, shit, shit!' thought James Potter as he looked at Lily blissfully unaware of what was going to happen next, 'Bloody Snivellus! If only he had waited a tad for the cabinet to open!'
Dread began to fill James as he wondered what would pop out of that cabinet. Severus felt excruciatingly torn too.
'If I reveal myself…' thought Severus ruefully, 'She will just think that the slimy Slytherin is playing some awful revenge trick on her. She won't believe a word that I have to say…'
It was too late. Severus could only stare conflicted at what was to happen. The Marauders were quiet as they decided not to help Lily Evans because they didn't want to get into trouble with detentions and James was personally curious about what his crush's worst fear happened to be.
Out of the cabinet burst forth another Severus Snape. The Marauders stared in momentary confusion as they wondered how Snivellus could have entered the cabinet without opening the doors even while being disillusioned. Lily stared in alarm which slowly broke away into a visage of contempt.
The Severus in the far corner simply watched as he felt his heart shatter. The only two possibilities that his acute mind had come-up with to explain how another version of him was in the room was that either they were a polyjuice imposter, which was unlikely since the Marauders made a point to insult his stupid hair at every instance during their bullying and polyjuice potion was a rather arduous potion to make for those with barely any talent in the art, or that it was a boggart and Lily's worst fear was... him. He felt as if a raw knife had been jammed through his heart as a sharp pain was felt within his chest cavity.
'She hates me…' thought Severus as sadness melted into fury, 'Damn it, Lily! Why the fuck did you never accept my apology?! Why the bloody hell did I matter so little to you?! I thought we were friends at least for a little while before we began to grow apart, but I was wrong about that too! So much for best friends forever!'
Severus turned to leave. His body shook in raw anguish and hatred. He couldn't be here in this room, he couldn't be near Lily, and he certainly didn't wish to lose it as his world came crashing down around him. He didn't want to give his so-called ex-best friend any more reason to secretly despise his very existence. He decided that he would sleek into some quiet and dark corner to end it all as everyone secretly wished him too. His mother was dying, his father was a drunken bastard, and the love of his life had secretly hated his very presence for… who knew how long?
He no longer sought pity. He just wanted his life to be over. He was finished with trying his best and getting less than half the acknowledgement as others such as his bullies did. If life was going to be nothing but pain then he wished for the comfort of death.
James Potter had the complete opposite perspective. He grinned from ear to ear as mirth danced in his eyes. His heart soared as he realized that Lily Evans hated the greasy git as much as they did. He had worried that she would go back to being friends with Snivellus so he had promised her that he wouldn't attack the slimeball in public. He had kept good on his word, in his own mind, and made sure not to be seen attacking Snivellus and only acting when he was sure that he wouldn't be caught. Lily's depressing atmosphere throughout sixth year over the loss of her apparent best mate had made her somewhat inattentive to the happenings of the school year despite her Prefect duties.
James was careful only to attack Snivellus when he was in a corridor and floor that she wasn't patrolling late at night or when she was busy in an elective class when they were in the halls. It was fairly easy to do since Snivellus was doing his damndest throughout the year to get them in trouble as he had some absurd idea that doing so would give him leverage to get back in Lily's good graces. As if Evans would waste any more time with a treacherous dark wizard in training.
"S-Sev…erus!" said Lily hastily, she attempted to appear stern; the shock had quickly worn off from seeing her former best friend come forth from the cabinet. "Snape! Severus Snape, what're you doing out of curfew?! You shall come with me at once to Professor McGonagall and it'll be ten points from-"
The Severus in front of her snorted as his eyes gleaned a predatory gaze. The faux-Snape whipped out his wand and pointed it at her. Lily's eyes widened in surprise as she began to back away in fear. Lily would have expected him to act like this with the Marauders; perhaps even another Prefect catching him but towards her?
"Nothing that you do matters, Mudblood," sneered Lily's worst fear, Lily stared at him thunderstruck. "I'm done with playing schoolyard games and I'm certainly finished with pretending to care about you."
"B-but… y-you…!" said Lily desperately, her head was shaking as tears started to trickle down her cheeks, "Didn't I mean anything to you?!"
The Marauders and Severus stared. A mixture of horror and curiosity held both groups back from coming to her aid. There was a focal part of this conversation that was missing here. What was it about Snape that terrified Lily? James watched intently as he wondered what exactly Snivellus had done to make Lily so afraid of him. Severus frowned as he pondered the exact same question.
'If you hate me…' thought Severus in confusion, 'Why are you crying?'
This didn't seem like the type of fear that instilled terror in a person. Why was Lily afraid of him? Why had she avoided him and ignored him so swiftly in just a few short months? Severus was certain that she had only pretended to be nice to him for that reason alone. What was Lily hiding?
"I've finally made my real friends proud," said the boggart silkily, "I've made something of myself! I have finally joined!"
The fake Snape pushed up his left sleeve to reveal the dreaded Dark Mark. All occupants of the room stood in horrified alarm at the revelation. Lily began to sob as her knees grew weak and she fell to the floor broken. This was too much of an emotional trauma for Lily.
"No!" screeched Lily as she felt her chest stab painfully, "Why? Why did you do it, Sev? Did I mean so little to you? Was I just someone that you wanted to hurt for your own sick pleasure?!"
"I thought we were the best of friends! I thought that you cared! But every single time… you just chose to impress your Slytherin friends and act like a death eater in training! I thought you knew better, Sev… I thought I knew you…"
"No, mudblood, you were just a stepping stone," said the faux-Snape as a crazed smile plastered itself on his visage; Lily looked up in sadness and fear. "All Death Eaters must prove their loyalty to the Dark Lord by ending the life of either Muggle-filth or a Mudblood."
Lily stared up towards him in defeat. She recognized what would be coming next. She stared at the Death Eater Severus in betrayal. Was this the end of her life? Oh well, at least Severus would be happy. She didn't stand a chance regardless since Severus was one of the best duelists in the school.
"Obviously, I have chosen you! Die wench!"
The Dark Marked Snape raised his wand in sick glee to end the life of Lily Evans. Lily waited for the blow. She had no strength to fight back. The boggart had known exactly how to crush her spirit.
"Av-"
"Stupefy!" shouted a voice hastily in the dark, the Boggart was blasted back into the large cabinet.
The doors were wandlessly closed and the chains conjured back on. Lily turned her face from her position on the ground. She looked up to find another Severus Snape.
"Se-v-?" choked Lily in confusion, she then quickly got up and pointed her wand. Severus held his to the side. He could see the fresh tear stains from her crying. "Y-you!"
"What was that?" hissed Severus quietly, Lily stared at him in confusion. Bloody Gryffindor idiocy "That boggart! Why am I your worst fear? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me?"
"Y-you're out after curfew!" said Lily hastily hoping that he would just drop it, "That'll be two weeks detention and-"
"Fine!" spat Severus angered, he had just helped her from getting killed and it meant nothing to her. It seemed that she only thought of him as death eater scum from now on. Nothing he did mattered to her anymore. She never cared for him at all! "I should have known that this would be the thanks I got. You never cared for me at all!"
He abruptly turned around and began marching off to the exit. He just couldn't deal with this turmoil anymore. He had blurted out how he felt and decided to leave.
"I never cared about you?!" screeched Lily shrilly, Severus turned to glare at her. "You never cared about me!"
"Yes, clearly wearing my heart on my sleeve and blubbering apologies to you outside the Gryffindor common room without care or concern about any embarrassment on my own person," said Severus sarcastically, unleashing his pent-up frustration and humiliation, "surely that's a sign that I don't care about you!"
"No, you saying Mudblood to me in front of the entire school while I risk pressure from my own house to defend you. That was a clear sign that you don't care!" snarled Lily getting pissed off.
Severus could see her temper flaring but he no longer gave a shit anymore. It was clear that she had never cared for him at all now. He could see that his emotions had blinded him to the truth. He was just something that she pitied. To her, he was a charity case. It was highly likely that he was just used by a girl who pretended to be nice even for so many years to make themselves feel better. Lily hated him. The boggart made it all clear in his mind.
"I apologized! I apologized and tried to reconcile and you just threw it in my face!" snapped Severus glaring at her venomously, Lily was startled by this. She had never seen Sev's anger directed at her. "All I ever do, nothing matters! Nothing! What the fuck could I have possibly done to show I was deeply sorry?!"
"You don't get it, do you?!" snarled Lily, glaring at him just as hatefully, "You never could understand! I thought I knew you! I thought that you knew better than to delve into that blood purity crap!"
"It's like the Nazis' and the Jews! If a Jewish person's best friend began spending more time with Nazis, began acting more like them, and started verbally insulting Jews then what is that Jewish friend to think?! This is no different! You already know what horrid actions those Death Eaters do to Muggles! All those rapes and sick and twisted murders! How the fuck can you be attracted to that?! How the fuck do you expect me to keep my friendship with you, if you begin to act like that?!"
"Oh, so Potter and his bullying friends can hurt anybody they want," snarled Severus angrily, "But the moment I do it, it's unforgiveable!"
"This is not about Potter!" snapped Lily glaring hotly, "This is-"
"Isn't it?" cut in Severus, his eyes boring into hers coldly, "Potter can get away with attacking Slytherins, he can get away with attacking people in his own house, and you'll say that it's childish and that he's nothing but a bullying toerag. However, the moment I or a Slytherin does it; it's evil despite the fact that Potter uses dark spells that he stole off me!"
"Just because Potter does that doesn't mean that you should!" thundered Lily vigorously, "Sinking to his level isn't the answer to-!"
"Don't play dumb," sneered Severus as he began stepping closer, "Just admit it! Admit that it has nothing to do with that bullcrap that you keep spewing. It's all because you're attracted to him that you let him off easily!"
Lily's eyes widened as her glare slowly turned cold. She pointed her wand at him. Severus kept walking forward and glared at her in the eyes.
"Admit it, Lils," said Severus angrily, "Having a young, attractive, rich young Golden Boy and star Quidditch player attracted to you is the real reason that you always made excuses for him and never let me off lightly!"
"That isn't true!" snapped Lily in anger, "And you're diverting from the original discussion! Why the fuck are you attracted to Voldemort?!"
Severus flinched at the use of that name. Lily had never cared about the cultural norm of being afraid of a name. It had never sunk into her like the other muggle-borns. Severus felt cowed even more so than usual because Lily would use the Dark Lord's name.
Lily continued unaware of his turmoil. "What? Want to go off killing other muggles because of your father?! That's a horrible way to justify-!"
"No!" snarled Severus at once.
"Then why?!" Her eyes searched his for an answer. She wanted to know. She wanted to understand.
She wanted to know the reason. Why had her best friend become so attracted to Voldemort of all people? Why had she slowly lost him over the years?
"Because I wanted to impress you!" snapped Severus, in a mixture of anger and exasperation, "I was losing you to Potter and the only way an impecunious bastard from Spinner's End like me could compare was if I was part of an organization greater than myself so that I could prove myself to you!"
Silence followed that statement. Severus's eyes widened as he realized what he had said. Lily allowed her wand to fall to her side as she stared dumbly at him.
"…That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," blurted Lily, she didn't quite understand his reasoning.
Severus's eyes widened as humiliation was clearly apparent on his visage. He turned away swiftly to try and escape. The door, however, shut itself as Severus whipped around to see Lily's wand pointed forward.
"Sev, why would you want to impress me?" said Lily confused, she wanted to understand this reasoning. Severus wasn't one to be stupid until the blood purity bullshit had come about. "You're acting like you're in love with m…. oh my…"
Lily gasped as she finally had an epiphany. The sulking, the jealousy whenever she mentioned Potter, the days where he would avoid her and look embarrassed. It wasn't about his friends. He hadn't known how to cope with his feelings and couldn't come to her because she was the one causing it…
Severus banged on the door to flee. Lily shouted for him to stop. Severus turned around with a disgruntled look and looked pointedly at the floor. He was unable to meet her eyes as his cheeks colored.
"Sev, you should have just told me about how you felt," spoke Lily softly, Severus's gaze was determinedly on the floor, "Do you see me laughing at you or rejecting you? Why didn't you just tell me?"
Silence descended once again for a few minutes. Each lost in their own little world as the revelations churned through their heads.
"I was afraid," said Severus quietly, Lily attempted to be as attentive as she could. "I didn't want you to respond by telling me that you only wanted to remain friends. That would have hurt worse and our friendship would be awkward from then on."
Severus took a deep breath and looked Lily directly in the eyes. "We were already losing trust in each other and dealing with house rivalries that… I just couldn't bear to have told you and face rejection. I knew from your body language that… that you fancied Potter. I was so jealous of him that I couldn't stand any more of the pressure. After our friendship ended, I… I thought it was for the best because we were struggling so hard and you were… clearly sick of putting up with me whenever you had to argue in my defense with your Gryffindor friends."
"That's not-" began Lily but was soon cut off.
"It is," said Severus firmly, "We both know… it is."
Unable to take any more of the emotional pain, Severus used his wand to bang the door open and quietly left the room. He didn't turn to face Lily again. Unable to think of something to say, Lily watched him go.
"You're wrong…" murmured Lily as tears freely streaked down her cheeks. She shook her head in outward denial. "Damn it, Sev… I just assumed that I didn't mean anything to you. I expected you to be better than that. I thought that you knew better than to be attracted by some wanton murderer…"
Lily decided that she would have a serious talk with Severus tomorrow morning. It was clear that they were both hurting from the loss of their friendship. Perhaps they could make-up somehow?
Lily turned around upon hearing footsteps from behind. A wand lit up with a spell right in her face. In her confusion at the sudden attack, she was unable to avoid the hit.
"Oblivate," said James cheerily.
"Oi, James!" said Sirius, "Why did you do that?"
"We couldn't let her catch us," said James smoothly, "Let's leave."
Sirius shrugged as the trio quickly left the room before Lily recovered from her dazed state of mind. What James didn't tell them was that he had made sure to erase all memory of Snivellus from Lily's mind. After all, Snivellus was just dragging Lily down and causing her pain. James had done a kindness by wiping Lily's memory of Snivellus. Besides, James was obviously a better man than that wannabe-Death Eater.
Several minutes later, Lily shook her head in confusion and walked out of the room to continue to do her rounds. She was too preoccupied with feelings of dizziness to notice the shaking closet.