A/N: Posting this story for Round 2 of the QLFC, Wimsbourne Wasps. Special thanks to my team for betaing. The prompts I used were:
(word) partners
(word) holding
(style) third person present tense
I hope you guys like it!
EXCEPTION TO THE RULE
"Sev!" Lily exclaims in excitement. Which was obvious. She doesn't exclaim in dissatisfaction, after all.
Severus turns around at the mere sound of the high pitched squeal.
"Lily!" Severus shouts back, unneccessarily loud since, after running quite fast, Lily has caught up to him. She winces at the loud shout from her normally soft-spoken friend.
"How's your day been going?" Lily asks, knowing that this conversation'll go no where with Severus leading. She'll never tell him, he's far too dear to her heart, but he's got zero social skills.
By this time, they tend to gain a bit of an audience. After all, it's not everyday you find a Gryffindor and a Slytherin conversing civilly. The insane students of Hogwarts always view it as a catastrophe in the making...and don't want to miss the buildup of it. The more sane people at Hogwarts, though, simply thought that those two must have missed a memo. Severus Snape and Lily Evans, they were definitely the outgroup. No one ever suspected that they might just get along or have history. Because the formula was simple, Gryffindors and Slytherins don't get along. There are never any exceptions.
But the students never ridicule it, at least, not without prompt and encouragement. There is never any reason to, all people who were magical were free to do whatever they want. It is to be accepted.
James Potter can never accept it. He's ridiculously loyal to his house, and ridiculously against his "rival" house. He makes sure everyone knows it too. Including Severus and Lily.
Today, James decides to walk to the two friends, surprisingly alone. Normally he's backed by his cronies, the real reason for the gathering. Without them, there would be no encouragement, seeing as no one's going to listen to one student. But four students...it's a big difference.
"What's this whole thing about the two of you being partners?" James drawls, looking at the two of them. He sounds pompous, and more annoying than he would normally be. "McGonagall was telling us about the beauty of your relationship, and how the two of you are going to be partners for the assignment." He spits out the word 'partners' like it's a vommit flavoured Bertie Botts bean.
Severus grips his fingers over his wand and starts to bring it out.
"Oh come on, Snivellus, you're not even holding it right," James continues.
Snape glances down at his wand questioningly, sneering at James at the same time by some weird miracle.
"Okay, Potter, you have no right to be saying what you're saying!" Lily finally says, getting mad. "Don't worry, Sev, you're holding it perfect."
"Going against your own House, are you, Evans?" James asks, raising his eyebrows. "Not that I'm surprised, anyone who goes against their own House..."
Lily has no clue where this is going. It almost seems as if James had come over to them just to mock them over their friendship.
"I'm just far more mature than you," Lily says, sticking her nose up in the air.
By now, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew arrive on the scene. No one saw them walking, but the next thing Snape knows, they're no longer dealing with just James, but the rest of his 'mates' as well.
"What's going on, James?" Sirius asks, knowing full well what's going on.
This further infuriates and aggravates Lily. This time, Severus tries to calm her down. Her face is getting continuously more red, and is totally clashing with her red hair. Of course, Severus will never tell her that, but a red face and red hair do not look good together.
"Oh you know, the usual, the traitorous Gryffindor with her Snivelling Slytherin friend," James says, a weird gleam able to be seen in his eye.
Sirius snickers, "Funny really. They say opposites attract, that's clearly not the case here."
James laughs too. Lily is only getting angrier.
"That's not fair to say! You know nothing about me!" she yells. "I'm nothing like Sev, I've social skills and I show-" she freezes, biting her tongue.
James and Sirius only start laughing louder, "Oi, she said it!"
They walk off. Lily no longer has the guts to look at Severus, yet she does anyway. He's staring at Lily as if he's just been punched, and looks down at the floor.
Yet somehow, the next day, Severus is still waiting outside the Gryffindor Common Room for Lily, and she comes out at his request. She bursts into tears upon seeing him, feeling terribly guilty about what she said as she throws her arms around him. Severus forgives her. He could never stay mad at his first real friend, and she never meant any of the mean things she said. It was only because of James and his cronies that she ended up saying what she said.
They continue to be friends.
Hogwarts accepts it.
Soon, even James and his cronies come to accept the fact that Lily, a Gryffindor, being friends with Severus, a Slytherin, is just part of the way things work, and that nothing could be done to change it, no matter how much they try. And James eventually comes to learn that just because Lily likes a Slytherin does not make her a traitor. It doesn't mean he has to like the situation.
And soon, the teasing turns to James, as Sirius points out the obvious obsession James has with Lily. It's a seed that was planted, but only starts to thrive now. And soon, the obsession turns to a crush, and then love.
Lily never likes James. She only likes Severus, her best friend.
But it never happens again. There never is another pair who comes in and remains friends while being from both Gryffindor and Slytherin.
Fate plays his part with the utmost perfection. During a major fight with the Marauders, Severus utters the word "Mudblood" with enough venom to make it seem real. Lily is more hurt than she's ever been in her life. Unlike Severus, she doesn't forgive him, though. Her Gryffindor stubbornness shines through, and she no longer wants anything to do with Severus, no matter how much he begs.
The halls no longer consist of exclaiming in excitement and shrieks of laughter from Lily or Severus. The teachers are distraught. Yet finally, the students are at peace. Things are normal at Hogwarts now. Gryffindors and Slytherins are rivals, and that remains to be so. Because there never is an exception to the rule. Things always come around. Accepting the fact - that's what's hard.
To this day, Lily's moved on. Severus has yet to accept his fate.
And, even though there's an unwritten law that fate must be accepted, it seems that it won't. But it will. Because there's never an exception to the rule. They know that now.
THE END