"Stop it! James stop it!" I screamed, running across the school grounds. I almost tripped on my robe that was flowing out behind me in my hast to get to him in time. The other boy was on the ground, James taunting him from above with Sirius and Remus on either side. They were all wearing victorious smirks on their faces as they surveyed the scattered parchments and quills around them. I was completely out of breath by the time I got to them, panting as I grabbed James by the arm and spun him around to face me. "Do you have to be an arrogant toerag? Leave him alone!" James jerked his arm from my grasp, snickering at the boy on the ground as he did so. "Got Evans fighting your battles for you know? I could've guessed that was going to happen. Come on mates." With one last look at the pair of us, he strode off, his mates following close behind him. Stopping down I began to retrieve the torn parchments and various items off of the ground around us. I saw a shadow cross over me and as I looked up I saw the boy glaring at me. Confused I stood up, clutching his books. "What's the matt…" Practically spitting out his words in hate he said "You stupid Mudblood. I could have handled that on my own and now they won't ever stop torturing me and you just gave them another thing to gloat about." Stunned by his words I stumbled backwards, the feeling of a knife digging into my heart was slowly becoming increasingly noticeable and I sucked in a deep breath to try and lessen the pain. "Why would you say that?" I whispered, still reeling from his hatred in that one word. He could tell he had done wrong and he closed the distance between us, trying to take his books from me with a look of wariness on his face. "Lily, I never meant to call you a Mudblood, it just-" Tossing his books back onto the ground, I took two quick steps backward, putting my hands between us. The pain in my heart had turned into blinding anger at the one person who was supposed to be my friend. "Slipped out?" I yelled, attracting the attention of a few 7th years that were passing by. "Well it's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can even understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious Death Eaters friends." I spit out, seeing the fleeting look of surprise and then sadness cross his face. It brought me joy to see that he was now hurting as bad as me. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine." I finished, turning before he could speak again. While I should have been filled with a feeling of accomplishment, the only thing I felt was the choking sensation you get before you cry. I hurried into a side corridor and sank to the floor, the knife pain coming back in full swing. "Why Severus?" I cried to myself as I sat, all alone, on the concrete floor.

000

Lily woke up, tears streaming down her cheeks as she rolled over to turn on the small lamp she had on her bed table. She had been having the same dream night after night and didn't know why. It was always about Severus, always about their friendship ending and the feelings… No, she didn't talk about them anymore. Not to anyone.

As she took deep breaths to calm her heartbeat she saw that it was 6 o'clock in the morning and with the way she was feeling, she wouldn't be getting anymore sleep. Sighing, she climbed out of her bed, pushing the huge drapes aside as she stood. Her head was already starting to hurt and so after a quick and slightly awkward try at getting dressed in the dark, she hurried down the stairs that lead to the common room. All the rest of her house was asleep, and she was thankful that for once Sirius and James weren't around. She loved her boyfriend and his friends but she wasn't in the mood to see his face that morning, not after her dream. Tiptoeing across the common room, she snuck out of Gryffindor and made a turn to the right.

James had brought her along on one of the Map Making adventures and they had ended up at the Kitchen. She didn't think she would make it to breakfast at this rate, her head was now throbbing, and she picked up her pace, looking along the walls for the fruit bowl. She found it in between a portrait of a dragon and a very old and sleepy wizard who was snoring. Reaching up, she tickled the pear, and waited. The door knob appeared and she let herself in.

The hustle and bustle was a little comforting and gave her something to focus on besides her gloomy thoughts. Rink sprinted over to her, a huge smile on his face. "Miss Lily! So nice to see you again! Would you like some pumpkin juice, bacon, perhaps some eggs-" Lily laughed, patting Rink on the hand he had outstretched to her. "No thanks Rink, I don't need all of that but some eggs with toast would be great. I'll come with you" She called after the already sprinting house elf as he ran frenzied around the kitchen, bumping into other elves as he gathered her plate. She had meet Rink on her first visit here and he had instantly been attracted to her. He had kept saying, "You are a good person Miss Lily", and had cooked her everything she had asked for. Rink skidded to a halt in front of her, plate in hand as he did a little bow with a flourish of his hand. "Your breakfast is served."

Lily laughed again as Rink did his dramatic bow and then grabbed the plate from him. "Thanks Rink. You should probably get back to work so you don't get in trouble. I'll be sure to come say goodbye though." Rink nodded his head, skipping back down the rows to his station. The smile slowly faded from her face as he left, taking the happiness with him. What was she going to do when she saw James? Act like nothing happened, like she had for the past week? And what about Severus? The start of the new semester was tomorrow and she had a potions with him. Sighing, she absent mindedly stirred the egg yoke onto her toast. The day wasn't looking so well.