Lily was tired, so very tired of being Severus Snape's only friend.
He ran to her for everything, from studying together to spending free time together. And when he was with her, no one else wanted to be around her.
Lily had her own friends, people she wanted to spend time with.
It was okay to be best friends with Severus when they were young. There were no other small children around, and Severus told her about magic. It was a secret they shared among themselves, something no one else they knew had. It kept them hidden, giggling about it where no one would bother them.
It was okay to be best friends the first year at Hogwarts; Lily had been amazed, confused, and a little frightened by the magical castle. Severus was someone that could reassure her.
Lily though had soon grown out of the phase where she needed Severus's reassurance. She grew into a popular girl that had many friends and many boys wanting to date her.
Severus though only grew more sullen and alone. He learned Dark spells that no one else knew and created other spells with ease.
He complained about James Potter and his silly friends to Lily, saying they never left him alone. And while it was true that they teased him, they teased everyone. Lily privately thought that Severus should move on with his life and forget the silly pranks and teasing the Marauders pulled. After all, everyone dealt with a harmless bully at some point in their life, right?
Now, years into school at Hogwarts, Lily was ready to stop hanging out with Severus. She was ready and willing to study with him, but she didn't really want to be with him outside of classwork. And she had thought about telling him that, but she had a feeling he would just ignore it. After all, she was pretty sure he had a slight obsession with her. At least that was what her best friends told her when they were gossiping in the dormitories after lights out.
"Geez, Lily, what is up with Snape and him following you everywhere?"
"Yeah, it's like he's obsessed with you. He always wants to hang out with you and no one else likes to hang around you with him around."
"Aw, Lily, you're such a nice person to let him follow you around like a little puppy."
She would laugh at them and say Severus wasn't that bad, but her heart was swelling inside. People thought she was nice!
And that was another reason she hadn't said anything to Severus about them not hanging out anymore. She felt like she was doing a good deed, spending time with him and such. And Lily did so like to feel like a nice person and have everyone else mention how kind she was.
Everyone loves to feel like they are a good person after all, but Lily wasn't like most people, just pretending to be nice. She really was nice, because she was friends with Severus before anyone said she was a good person because of it, before anyone ever cared that she spent time with such a gloomy person.
It was time though, in Lily's opinion, for Severus to find some other friends to spend time with. She was terrified of the day he would ask her out (because of course he would). She was trying to find an excuse to part ways (she couldn't just tell him she no longer wanted to be friends, that's not what good people do), when a perfect chance finally occurred.
She was outside talking with some friends, when out of the corner of her eye she saw Severus approaching. However, he was quickly surrounded by James and his friends. Lily sighed and excused herself to go save him from their teasing, knowing she would hear about it for hours if she didn't.
She couldn't get there fast enough. They had already turned him upside down, in front of everyone.
Lily brought her hand up to smother her giggles. He really should have worn pants today.
Lily made it there in time to make James put Severus down, and tried to help Severus, but he snarled and called her a Mudblood for her efforts. She made herself tear up as she walked away from Severus, but inwardly she breathed a sigh of relief. This was the chance she needed.
Severus had never ever insulted her before, or even sad anything mean to her, so this was probably the only chance she had. Even better that it was in a public place, where everyone would know why she stopped talking to him.
So when Severus came to beg forgiveness for calling her a Mudblood, saying he didn't mean it and Lily was his best friend in the whole world and he had just been angry and he was so sorry… Lily felt no guilt in turning him away, saying she was sorry but he had become too Dark to be friends with and unless something seriously changed, she no longer wanted to hang out with him.
Shutting the door on his grief-stricken expression, Lily told herself that this was for his own good. Now he could find other friends. She was happy with her choice and sure that Severus would eventually be grateful for what she had sacrificed for him.
Now though, it was time to find James…
And so Lily never considered that she wasn't Severus's only friend or that his friends were the type to Curse first then laugh later.
She didn't know about Malfoy and his Dark Lord. She didn't know what her choice would cost the world, or her own son.