Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, obviously JK Rowling's.

Summary: Lily Evans needs a date; the problem? She's torn between a pale Slytherin Potions genius and a Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. Who will she choose?

Reviews would be wonderful.

~1~

A young fifth year Lily Evans found herself panicking at the sight of the blinding snow outside her dormitory window; it was the solid reminder that she still had not found a date for the upcoming Christmas Ball. She and Severus Snape, her very best friend, had planned on going together, but for reasons he refused to disclose, he had backed out that afternoon.

"Lily, I don't know why you don't just take Potter."

Mary MacDonald, her fellow Gryffindor dorm-mate, collapsed onto her bed.

"Mary, I would rather go alone than ever take that git. You should know that by now." Lily looked impatiently over at the messy haired brunette.

"I don't understand why you don't like him; he's handsome, he's smart and he's the Quidditch Captain."

Lily rolled her eyes and sighed. She'd heard this speech from just about every Gryffindor, including Potter himself, more times than she could count. In fact there were many reasons why she refused to dance with, or for that matter date, James Potter. Most of these reasons, she admitted didn't matter that much, though they certainly didn't help his chances, but one she vowed never to say yes to him for.

"How am I supposed to like him when he tortures my best friend?"

Her mind flashed with various horrible pranks the Marauders had played on Severus throughout the years, most of them orchestrated by Potter or his best friend Sirius Black. One particularly nasty time, she remembered, he had to stay in the hospital wing for almost two weeks after Potter and Black decided to show him their animagus forms.

"Why are you even friends with him?" Mary sat back up, "I heard he's planning on becoming a Death Eater."

"You're going to take everything that comes out of Potter's mouth as the truth? Severus is my friend, I would know if he were becoming one of them. I know you don't like him, but you're going to have to deal with that. Anyway," she changed the subject, not wanting to go over this again, "you like James, why don't you ask him?"

"He said no. You're the only girl he'll say yes to."

Lily couldn't help but laugh a little. You could say a lot about James Potter, but you couldn't say he wasn't persistent.

~2~

Potions was Lily's favourite class for two reasons; she was quite talented when it came to the subject, as Slughorn liked to remind her, and because it was the only class she could sit next to Severus in.

As she walked to her usual seat, she couldn't help but notice that Severus was looking worried and even more pale than usual.

"Something wrong?"

He looked up at her and she could tell something was wrong. She had known him since they were young and she could always tell. He would get the same look in his eye when she found him down by the river after his parents had been fighting.

His eye kept wandering over to two Slytherin boys named Avery and Mulciber, obviously not paying attention to her.

"That's why you're not coming with me to the Ball, isn't it? They don't want you taking a muggleborn."

He looked back suddenly.

"Oh, hi Lily. Uh... no, that's... that's not why."

She waited quietly for him to continue.

"It's just..." he continued, his pale cheeks flushed red quickly, "I... I... I uh don't know how to dance..."

"C'mon Sev, everyone can dance."

He shook his head still seemingly distracted the boys who now seemed to be staring at both of them. Both Avery and Mulciber were not considered the brightest, and frankly Lily never took much notice of either of them until she noticed that Severus had become close with them. Everyone knew that they both were planning on becoming Death Eaters. She glared over Severus' shoulder at them, knowing for now that that was all she could do.

"I really can't."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to teach you then." This sparked a look of fear in his eye that made her laugh.

"I'm not that bad, you know."

"No, I..."

She simply rolled her eyes and stood up as the bell rang.

"Tomorrow night, eight o'clock, here in the potions room. Slughorn probably won't mind."

As she waved goodbye to him, she could see a smirk crawl across his face, even though he was still blushing quite noticeably. He was likely over ecstatic to know that James would despise Lily doing anything that would mean Severus touching her.

~3~

As Lily was making her way to Charms, she could see a group of Slytherins giving her the same look she had been given by Avery and Mulciber earlier, which made sense when she noticed them among the group. Also among the group she spotted Severus' face, the only one not looking angry, but more scared and sorry. That's when she began to worry a little.

She made on her way, only to loop right back around to listen in on their conversation. Severus refused to tell her what they talk about, and she thought it was about time she knew.

"Please tell me you're not going with the mudblood." Lily flinched, disgusted by how easily they threw around such a word. "You'll never get in if you do. The Dark Lord does not approve of such filth."

"Listen, I'll take you if you can't find anyone else." She recognized the voice of Sirius' cousin Bellatrix Black.

"Bella, I don't need your help. I was... just on my way to ask that one Ravenclaw girl, I don't remember her name... she's one of us don't worry."

Lily's anger boiled to the surface and she couldn't stand to listen to it any longer. Finally making her way to Charms, she wondered if she should even bother going to teach him to dance. He promised that he wasn't going to turn into one of them. She didn't know what to think, not that she had time to anyway. It seemed to have slipped her mind that she also had Charms with the Slytherins, even if they were on the other side of the room.

She could see his dark eyes looking over at her, and quickly looked away, feeling for some reason, almost as guilty as he looked.

~End of Chapter~

I'll probably have the next chapter up soon, in the meantime I'd love to hear your opinions. Thanks for reading.