Lily Evans was doing the most illegal thing she had ever done in her 15 years of life. She was sneaking out of her room at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and going to the Slytherin common room. And at one in the morning at that!

It would be no trouble for Lily to enter the Slytherin common room, even though she was a Gryffindor. Her boyfriend, James Potter, had been sneaking her in there since they had started going out, almost a year ago.

But Lily wasn't sneaking out to see her boyfriend, no matter how much James would've approved of that scenario. She was sneaking out to see her best friend, Severus Snape. She and Sev, as only Lily was allowed to call him, had been best friends since the train ride to Hogwarts before first year. James hated their friendship; he was always suspicious that Severus was trying to steal Lily away from him, no matter how often Lily told him otherwise. Because of this suspicion, coupled with Severus' biting wit, sarcasm, and knowledge of the dark arts, a bitter rivalry had developed between the two boys. To be sure, if James ever found out about Lily's nocturnal wanderings he would suspect the worst and probably break up with Lily and try to fight Severus.

"Power is everything," whispered Lily as the password to the Slytherin common room. Normally Lily wouldn't even think of doing such a thing as she was presently doing. The fear of being caught would be far too powerful. And, even if that wasn't a factor, Sev and James were roommates! It would be suicide for her relationship if James were to wake up when she was talking to Sev.

But, since Severus was the only Slytherin that had stayed for Christmas break, Lily thought it was safe.

Lily crept through the common room, lit only by a dying fire, towards the boys dorm. She quietly opened the door when she reached it.

Severus' bed was the furthest from the door, laid vertically from the back wall. Severus lay in the bed, propped up on a mountain of pillows. His wand lay next to his bed with his hand less that a foot away. Lily knew that he slept this way (propped up, facing the door, with his wand close by) in case anyone ever tried to abduct, or attack, him or his roommates. This mindset went along perfectly with his personal motto, "Be prepared for anything."

Lily personally thought that Sev was far too paranoid for a fifteen year old. And the fact that she was able to sneak in without him being woken told her that he wasn't as 'prepared' as he liked to pretend to be.

Lily made her way across the room and climbed into Severus' bed. Severus moaned at the intrusion and opened his eyes. H is eyes widened in shock when he saw who was lying beside him, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Hello Lily," Severus said in a sleepy voice. Severus put his arm around his friend and Lily pulled herself into his embrace. To the person that didn't know the two, this might seem like a very sexual act, but to them it wasn't. Severus and Lily both thought nothing of the position they were in. "Is there any specific reason that you're in my bed in the middle of the night? Not that I'm complaining or anything."

Lily propped herself up on her elbows and looked at Severus seriously. "It's time for you to talk to me."

"I talk to you all the time," Severus replied, a little confused.

"Yes, Sev, we do talk all the time. We have deep, meaningful conversations. You are, in fact, the best conversationalist I've ever met. But, in all the years we've known each other, you've never once mentioned your past or your family. And it's not that you just don't mention that, you purposely avoid talking about it."

Severus sighed audibly, slipped out from under Lily, and stood up. "Why the fuck are you so goddamned curious about my family and my past?"

He's nervous, thought Lily, he always swears when he's nervous or angry. He doesn't seem angry though, he's not yelling or making sarcastic comments. Lily stood up also and faced Sev, hands on her hips and eyes burning with determination. She WOULD get what she wanted.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about, Sev! Every time I bring up your family OR your past you shoot me down!" Lily paused to take a breath. "Sev, I consider you my best friend, but when you avoid something like this, you make me think that you don't think I'm your best friend. I am your best friend, aren't I?"

Severus stood, with his head down, staring silently at the floor. After a few seconds of nonresponsivness that terrified Lily, Severus nodded.

Lily let out a relieved breath and said, "Best friends don't keep secrets. I've told you everything that has happened in my life, from the time Petunia held my head down in mud until I was sure I would die to the time a drunken James puked all over me and passed out while we were making out. Now it's your turn."

For a few seconds after Lily's speech, Severus stayed silent and stood in the same position he was in earlier. Finally he looked up, straight into Lily's eyes. "Fine," said Severus in a cold, malicious voice that Lily had previously only heard directed at his enemies, "you want to hear my story? Hear of my family? You want to hear of my childhood? Well, sit down, dear friend, because it's not going to be what you expected to hear."

A/N: This is the first story in my massive Lily/Sev series that I plan to do. Lily/Sev is by far my favorite pairing. Oh, and I put James in Slytherin because of a really good, logical theory I heard once. Maybe if people read and review this I'll tell you the reasons.

A/N (Updated): It's been nearly three years since I posted this, and it's now official canon that James was in Gryffindor. I thought of changing it, but decided against it in the end. Besides, the theory still makes sense to me, even if it's not true according to J.K.